#lore masterpost

A time travelling anomaly, the Wanderer doesn't have a true home. They have had many families, but none that the universe permitted them to stay with for long. Starting from early childhood and growing more frequent with age, the Wanderer developed a tendency to time travel to different eras throughout time with no control of the when, the where, nor the how.

The only link is that it only happens when they sleep. Not every night, not even most of them, but some. Always some.

Sometimes the Wanderer would be allowed to stay in one era for years at a time, growing more and more content with their life and their found family until, one night, they would inevitably wake up to a new sky, a new era, a new life. Never given any time to adjust (no time to grieve when they need to get employment in order to not starve on the streets), never given an explanation.

The Wanderer had three families by the time they were ten, though they were too young to remember much before their third. They have vague glimpses of a young couple with smiling faces, then a different couple with a child, then the family they remember the most: a foster family that they lived with from ages ten to thirteen.

After another time-jump, they ended up with a different foster family from the ages of fourteen to sixteen. After their next uncontrolled time-jump, they weren't accepted into another foster family, now told they were too old for adoption and the foster system at the age of sixteen. Seen as close enough to adulthood to send on their own, the Wanderer was thrust out into the world.

As the years passed and the Wanderer was yanked from life after life, one after the other, they recognized the persistent factor in each nonconsensual time-jump: sleep.

They began to avoid sleep in any way they could, whether by distraction, caffeine, avoidance or substances, they steered clear of any form of rest. To their surprise, they found that they could go days, even weeks without sleep. Now with another factor of their existence to ponder, the Wanderer despises their body and their abilities for not matching that of other humans, while also feeling paradoxically uncomfortable when their body does act particularly human.

Thrown through yet another time-jump (and growing deeply resigned to their misery more and more with each lost family through time), the Wanderer finds themselves in 1920's Soho. With no relevant skills, no useable knowledge of the times, and not a single possession to their name aside from what they donned before their time-jump, they trudge along to find a way to survive. The bright, shining interior of the Mr. Emporium toyshop is enough to lure the Wanderer in, not to mention the odd under-the-skin thrum of energy that radiates through the entire property like a trap about to snap shut.

The Wanderer may dislike kids, but they enjoy bright colours and tinkering with toys. It was their best option for employment, as temporary as it might end up being.

They enter and greet the shopkeeper, unintentionally using a phrase that wouldn't exist for at least sixty more years. Curious about the eccentric man who calls himself the Toymaker (though admittedly more interested in employment), the Wanderer politely introduces themselves and explains that, if the Toymaker is ever looking for an assistant, they'd be happy to help.

To their partial surprise, the toyshop owner instantly agrees. Detecting an odd energy from the Wanderer, as well as noticing their out-of-date phrases and mannerisms and the lack of reaction to the Toymaker's more out there comments, the Toymaker opts to keep this new toy close to him, able to examined at any moment.

The Wanderer is unaware of this. Though, when they do learn of the Toymaker's abilities, their search for answers about their own existence may be relit.

Whether they find these answers, is unconfirmed.

After all, why would the Toymaker let such an interesting specimen out of his clutches? He coyly implies that he can help the Wanderer find his purpose and even avoid time-jumping, as long as the not-quite-human stays and does as he says.

The Wanderer enjoys it too much to want to leave anyways.

WILLIAM: -> reference sheet -> lore page (personality, relations, history, likes, etc) -> how william treats his kids -> william's relationship w/ his kids -> yes william was pregnant yes he hid his pregnancies -> william's childhood (slightly outdated) -> does william regret it

HENRY: -> reference sheet -> lore page (personality, relations, history, likes, etc) -> headcanons! -> more headcanons (crimes, company role, charlie's origin) -> henry's childhood -> how henry discovers the MCI -> MARIA!!!!! (henry's wife) ref + thoughts

CLARA (MRS. AFTON): -> info -> lore page -> reference

AFTON KIDS: -> evan (CC) info -> evan + william hcs -> evan reference -> lizzie info -> lizzie reference -> lizzie is henry's daughter -> charlie and lizzie are half siblings -> michael reference -> michael's adolescence -> scooped michael hcs

PHONE GUY: -> info -> reference

CASSIDY: -> info -> reference

THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE BACKSTORIES:

No Way Back (he/him) (ref + toyhouse info here) is an Iterator who was created specifically to try as little as possible and to put no effort at all into solving the Great Problem. The Ancients thought that by being effortless NWB would actually end up solving it in the end somehow, but that's not what happened, and so his creators turned out to be quite disappointed in him, which resulted in him being blamed, neglected, and more. However, there was one Ancient, who, after finding out that NWB was a dissapointment (just like them), decided to befriend him. The both of them ended up being best friends, close to family, spending almost all of their time together and teaching each other new things about life. In the end, though, despite promising to never ascend and to always be there, Wade ended up leaving NWB along with the rest of the Ancients. Ever since then NWB has been pretty much alone, just making music and trying to still find meaning in life, all the while repressing his emotions regarding the Ancients (including Wade, too). Needless Separation (they/he) (toyhouse) is an Iterator who was created specifically to work as hard as possible and to put all their effort into solving all problems, not just the Great one. In the beginning, they were handling it just fine, even finding the time to indulge in art and many more things that they found joy in. However, after NWB's failure to provide any results, all of his workload got transferred to them, all because their creator was too prideful to let any other Iterators handle it. NS was obviously struggling to keep up with it all, which is when Waves decided to take matters into his own hands and make his creation more 'productive'. Waves ended up purging NS' memories, even those of skills they have taught themself, until all NS could think about was work. Waves ended up ascending before NS could truly fulfill any of his expectations. Ever since then they have been overworking themself to death, unable to come to terms with their trauma, instead blaming NWB for most of it. Wade (any pronouns) (ref here) was an Ancient who was never like the rest, who came from a traditional family consisting of her parents — Waves and Breeze — but hated everything about tradition. She was just a chill guy who wanted to get away from everything and to live the life she always dreamed of: by the sea, with her best friend, doing whatever they wanted. It has not yet been revealed why or how Wade ended up ascending and leaving NWB.

IMPORTANT SIDE CHARACTERS:

Weaving Tales (they/them) (toyhouse) is the senior of the Entwined Local Group. They are most concerned with NS and his overworking habits, even though WT chose to share some of their senior duties with him. Weaving also seems to always be worried about CD and FTA, although for vastly different reasons.

Cognitive Dissonance (she/they) (toyhouse) was an experimental model who caught a virus and basically ended up rebooting. Before that, her and NS used to be very close, although neither of them remember that now.

Fates Torn Again (he/she) (toyhouse) is a younger Iterator who, paradoxically, is both best friends with WT and has a secret vendetta against NS. Is it really just jealousy? Or is there something more to it? MISCELLANOUS STUFF:

NWB has a pet lizard, Slinky (who at one point got the Mark of Communication), and NS has a pet lizard-slugcat hybrid, 33. You can see more of those little guys on the askblog! Both Iterators are also part of an entire local group, who you can read about here — the characters from it will show up in the story and be important (specifically WT, CD and FTA, but others will also play a role). THE CURRENT STORYLINE: NWB opens his broadcasts and begins receiving anonymous messages. That's cool. However, after a bit, he starts getting messages about the Ancients, specifically about how they mistreated him. Which is not something he wants to think about! Ever! But everyone just keeps bringing them up, and NWB ends up having a breakdown over it, all his repressed emotions coming to the surface and making themselves known.

After he is forced to finally start unpacking his issues, he stops messaging NS — who, by the way, he's kind of enemies with! They're the entire opposite of everything he stands for, and he just thinks they suck, and they say they hate him anyway, so he usually only interacts with them to troll them or something (even though they both did share a few good moments together).

But anyways — he stops messaging NS, who, by this time, has gotten used to talking to NWB (and slightly started caring about him because of that, and started getting slightly worried because of the radio silence, but they'd never ever admit it). After fighting with themself over it, NS, with little warning, decides to contact NWB to see how he's doing, which results in, well...

So, now NWB has to deal with both the Ancients' and NS' bullshit (as well as some not-so-pleasant memories), and he crumbles under the pressure just a little bit. He decides to take a break from receiving messages (he goes to host the Iterator OC Swag Awards specifically, which you would think would be a non-canon event, but, err...) and instead lets NS take the wheel.

Long story short: they do not have a good time. Despite being painfully aware of the fact that they messed up, they try their hardest to avoid admitting it. In the end, after a panic attack regarding their past leaves them vulnerable, their conscience sneaks up on them and forces them to face everything they've been trying to ignore. NS doesn't take it too well and also stops responding to messages, even though they do still read them.

They decide to go to Weaving Tales, their mentor and close friend, for help, who tells them to own up to their mistakes and apologize. So that's what NS does. Or, at least, tries to do — it doesn’t go like they expected at all, but maybe that’s for the better? The both of them make up, in the end, a new start to their relationship. And — even though they do come across some bumps in the road — it seems to be the start of something good.

Well, keyword: seems. Because while NS is indeed trying to be better like they promised, and while they have fun answering messages together with NWB, they keep speaking out of turn. They come to the conclusion that, perhaps this one time, NWB isn't the problem, they are.

So how does NS deal with this information? They do some research on how to improve your relationships with people. And it actually works! Look! See? Or, wait, that's not right... Why does Wayback look so bothered? Could it be that Sep's self-improvement plan actually made everything... worse? Well, there goes that idea. But hey, at least now they know they should be (2% more) honest with each other.

Extras

GA Regions: Toxic Marsh Radio Towers, Sky Bridge[OLD] Pump Station Sundown Canopy Lush Valley 1 , Lush Valley 2 Unkempt Forest Space Collective 1, Space Collective 2 Extracted Prism Sunsets Endless Beyond Last String of Life Ruby Skies by Sapphire Shores Sunrise Solar Starlight Lunar Twelve Far Away Dreams

Spotify Playlists

GA Fauna and Flora: Dart Worm, Pixie Lizard, Swan Divers, Flora page,