One of my takes on pre-puppet Spamton in my fic is that he likes the success that being in the limelight brings but he doesn't like the attention. It feels uncomfortable, fake, like one huge sales pitch. He can do it, but that didn't mean it's what he'd prefer. If he could have the esteem and the opportunities it brings without being in the public eye as much, he would absolutely take it.

On the other hand, Tenna loves the attention but doesn't necessarily care much about the success outside of his desire to be needed. Don't get me wrong, he does equate the success to that desire being met but if he could feel needed by just having some genuinely close relationships (friendships, romantic partners, whatever) then he wouldn't care as much about the limelight.

I have posted this before as a reblog, but I thought it deserved its own post so here it is again!

Working with the Addisons-

For this era I feel that Spamton wouldn't really have much of a signature, maybe a sloppy one but nothing very nice or consistent.

Living at Queen’s mansion-

Above is sort of what I envision Spamton’s uniform as an Addison to look like. Very plain, seeking to match each of them across the board. In my AU, Spamton has always had the black hair—making him somewhat of an outcast from the other Addisons. He just leans into those differences as he gains success.

This is the look for when Spamton is living in Queen’s mansion, prior to the Big Shot Era. He’s ditched the Addison uniform for something with a little more class and flair, and has let his hair start to grow out some. At this point he’s establishing his image as an individual and is seeking opportunities outside of advertising.

What’s it called?

The title of my au is called the legacy code au. I’ll tag posts about it with “lcau” and “legacy code au”

Where can I read it?

I’m posting it on ao3, you’ll find the link to chapter one on my master post. This blog is going to house a lot of my planning for the au as well as some scrapped plans and artwork.

What’s it about?

This au primarily focuses on Spamton and Tenna, their relationships and struggles. Yes, Spamtenna is highly involved.

Edit: There is still a light and dark world in this AU so be aware of that.

I do use elements involving the knight and the voice on the other end of Spamton’s phone in this fic, but I will not speculate or draw conclusions about their identities. The closest I will get is the other characters questioning who those identities are.

While I think it’s interesting to theorize and write about who we think they are, I’d rather personally not include that in my writing. (I will absolutely read other people’s fics about it though)

What’s the timeline compared to cannon?

The story begins with Spamton just before he starts getting help from the mysterious contact on the other side of the phone and spans all the way through the events of Ch.3

How long will the story be?

I can’t give an exact length but I can promise you that it will be fairly lengthy. I plan on making it in two main parts: before their separation and after.

Edit: I am considering expanding the AU beyond just their story but that’s tbd. Mainly I think writing Seam and Jevil’s story would be interesting.

Does this story reflect your views/thoughts about the cannon?

Not really. While some of my theories might be incorporated into the story minorly, this is decidedly not how I think their relationship or other events went down in the actual cannon. Feel free to ask me about any of my theories and how I use them in the story!

What’s different about this au from cannon?

Without spoiling too much, some things about specific character designs are different or have different reasonings for being the way they are—such as Spamton’s puppet design.

Events that happen in cannon are also different. The events the night they (Spamton and Tenna) separate and of Ch.2 and Ch.3 specifically are going to be largely different from canon. So stay tuned.

Edit: I might make some fake screen caps of the moments that would be “in game” interactions during those scenes, could be fun!

I’ll have separate posts for some of these differences and their reasons.

Added Dec 5th:

What are some of the “rules” of the AU?

A general rule of thumb is that anything that happens in the light world affects the dark world and vice versa. This is technically canon to an extent, but I’m taking it a little further I feel than what has currently been shown in canon.

There some specific world building things that I will link here that explain some other rules.

Spamton’s and Tenna’s Big Shot Era designs are a combination of their own individual styles from before. They incorporate Spamton’s yellow color and more simplistic style, but use Tenna’s preferred tie style and red color. Individually they still keep their own look with Spamton wearing a more modern blazer, accessories, and his white dress pants; and Tenna keeps his older style with a tail coat and gloves while adding the pop of color with his yellow shoes. In this way, they form a “unified brand image” without looking like a part of a matched set.