while swansea figures out how to jury-rig a lock onto anya's door, he and daisuke do the next best thing they can think of to help her feel safe. it's actions like these that assure anya she isn't alone anymore.
(also please don't tag as any ships, thank you. they care about each other platonically 🙏 only thing being shipped here is mouthwash.)
Is Anya even still alive? Cuz I see no way in the entire...
Oh, who am I kidding? This kind of stuff happens in real life, too. Like what was the social worker even thinking. Does anybody even know what Jimmy did.
Anya is very much alive. Just signed away her rights. No one knows what Jimmy did aside from the crew and they’ve all cut contact. Even Curly. There isn’t really and Social Worker lol
Responsibility au but instead of being redeemed through the powers of Being A Big Brother Xornoth continues on their conquest while still raising the WRA, Scott, and Shrub. They grow up to be his right hands. He’s a really good brother, too. Oh, Scott has a crush on the prince of the empire theyre conquering? Invite (force) him over for dinner! Oh, one of the children of the current emperors has shitty parents? His little sibling now bitch! I just find this concept really funny
Okay, okay, I'm absolutely losing my mind over this??? So like, offset of the Responsibility AU, don't know what we'd call it, but!
So, of course, it starts out the same. Xornoth finds a tiny Shrub in the land he destroyed. His first thought is still to go see if his older brother can help.
Things change meeting the Wither Rose Siblings. Maybe it's a bit more apparent that he's the bad guy, maybe the siblings are just that tiny bit more vicious-perhaps they're even just desperate to prove themselves capable in anyway they can, to not be left behind.
Either way, well. A village ends up in flames at the hands of Xornoth's new tagalongs after one too many rude comments.
The seemingly helpless kids he doesn't know what to do with suddenly have to potential to be an asset. The idea doesn't come up immediately, of course. They're still heading for Rivendell, but things have ready shifted that much to the left, and its...there. An option, a choice, a seed long sowed.
They find Scott in the sheep pen. Does this scene change in anyway? Maybe. Maybe he's just that much more exhausted, and that much more vulnerable, and all the more miserable looking. Maybe ice is already crawling up his fingers refusing to thaw, maybe people are already shying from their young ruler's too cold gaze.
The seed blooms. Xornoth doesn't find guidance here, but he does find his little brother, alone and lost in the kingdom that doesn't want him. That never wanted either of them. With four children at their back that do, that burned down a village to prove it, and a realm still in need of conquering.
Rivendell's ruler disappears, and in the Nether, Xornoth's generals begin their rise. That much closer, that much crueler, that much wilder, and so very loved all the while.
Imagine the children that find safety in the castle of the villains. Imagine one of them sent for infiltration, only to realize how much nicer this is, and abandon their kingdom for it. Imagine Jimmy as the one constantly being the one to fight Scott as their kingdoms war, and not even noticing as he's slowly integrated into the family, and Pixl panicking and saving one of them from death and finding himself welcomed where he'd never been before.
I think my favorite thing is when aus cross over so may I offer
Xornoth kid au meets Responsibility au
That's it that's the ask
Okay but legit I have thought about this idea before, or at least something similar.
Responsibility!Xornoth: That's a child!
Possessed!Kid!Xornoth: And that's an ugly ass bitch!
They're both really confused but Responsibility!Xornoth sees this as an opportunity to tell the kid what he really needed to hear at that age. Mostly things will get better, keep going, don't listen to Exor because he's full of shit, you know, that sort of thing.
Meanwhile Shrub is holding this baby version of herself at arms length because what is she supposed to do with a baby?
I though of a random story idea where Kid!Xornoth and Responsibility!Xornoth get swapped through inter dimensional shenanigans.
Kid!Xornoth is freaking out, because suddenly his mom is a baby, the wolves here don't know him, and Scott's his age, and everyone is looking at him weird why is everyone looking at him-
Meanwhile both Shrub and Responsibility!Xornoth have to deal with the surprisingly awkward situation of "This person that I consider close enough to be family, who is in some capacity like my child, is suddenly a full grown adult, and I don't know them at all."
ALSO! Baby Shrub handing Xornoth one of her wolf plushies to help him calm down and Xornoth holding onto it like a lifeline.
He and angsty teenager Scott fall asleep in the sheep pen together. Without their guardian figures all of their self care capabilities and like 85% of their impulse control just goes out the window.
Meanwhile the WRA is tearing the server apart. At first it was like heck yeah, no adult supervision, but then it went on for longer than a day and... well, they started trying to find their Xornoth and got more frantic the longer it went on.
So I was heavily inspired by @shyrose57 's Responsibility AU and all of the fun shenanigans that all these characters get up to that I decided to write a little "where are they now" that takes place about 13 years later. (Also as a note I have had a LOT of these headcanons for awhile before some lore was written (like Canon Seablings) so some things were minorly edited to make things fit (also also this is really long so read more below if you wanna!)
We'll start with the Wither Rose Trio, as they have the most moving to do of all the kids.
At the age of 14 or 15, Gem was accepted to a Wizard School located in the Crystal Cliffs, a magic-based empire society. The strongest wizard would be appointed to be the new leader and, supposedly, Gem was being considered for how powerful she was with little to no training.
At first, she was only gone for a couple days at a time. But days turned to weeks, and weeks to full on months, until her siblings and friends had to visit her because of how busy she was. It got to the point that her baby dragon became a glorified pigeon at some point to keep up communication when she was too tired to cast magic. Gem spent the next several years training under powerful wizard after powerful wizard until she was deemed apprentice of the current Head Wizard. Under their watchful gaze, she grew to even surpass him.
With the Head Wizards' untimely passing, she was crowned the new leader, helping train new hopeful wizards that hope to one day follow in her footsteps. The Crystal Cliffs also, under her rule, became the host to dragons yearly, so her dragon could welcome other dragons and see more of its own kind. Secretly, though, she really misses her family. And she always tries to find micro excuses to see them. Afterall, what is she without her siblings?
Next is fWhip. When Gem went off to school, he found himself alone and not really sure what to do. Xornoth tried their best to distract him, but he was a twin without his other half. Directionless.
One day, he stumbled across an old torn down ruins of a town, the collateral damage of one of history's wars. A sign laying in the mud read the words, "Eastvale", and he remembered it briefly from one of the few times Xornoth had gotten him to sit down for a history tutoring lesson. As he looked around, he noticed that most of the buildings were in ruins, and yet a small settlement of people still resided in the town, unable to leave.
Over the next several years, he took this old, ruined town and turned it into a thriving metropolis with emphasis on creation and innovation in redstone contraptions. He found ways to over farm gunpowder for the explosives that the newly rebranded Grimlands were now exporting, and found himself as a natural born leader. Over time, the Grimlands filled with more people, and was deemed as an Empire in the eyes of the other rulers (and it definitely wasn't because a certain demon threatened war if not).
FWhip still finds time to see and welcome all of his siblings and friends, though he especially loves that Gem is just one quick flight away, as he spends a lot of time harassing his twin as he once did.
To round out the Witherfam, Mythical Sausage takes center stage. The youngest of his siblings (well, minus Shrub), Sausage found himself watching his siblings with a little bit of jealousy. He wanted magic like Gem, he wanted a project like the Grimlands. He wanted Jimmy to be HIS best friend, not Scott's.
And so, when he one day stumbled across the Mythland Ruins right next to the a new land called the Cod Empire and discovered the Staff of Mythland, well, he got to work.
Sausage worked tirelessly, building an entire Empire from the ground up (with Xornoth's help, of course). He spent hours building, using the staff to slow down time as needed, and Xornoth to help him move faster. He found an old, abandoned church that worshipped these "blood sheep" and decided, "yes, I WILL make that my entire personality, thank you very much!" He rebuilt the church and, over time, people found themselves moving into this new Empire, drawn in by the young king (and definitely not the blood magic). He also starts an Assassin's Guild but he would never tell Xornoth (it's fine, the demon already knows).
Sausage finds himself constantly flying and vying for his siblings' approval. He's boastful and loud, always showing off his new shiny Empire. He also created a mini war with Jimmy once a certain stolen music disc got involved, but Xornoth intervened once a crater was blown to bedrock and Scott got temperamental, but that's just normal behavior for the young king.
Now that Witherfam is finished, I think it's time we focus on the 3 remaining siblings: Shrub, Scott, and Xornoth.
Xornoth remained as leader of Rivendell until Scott turned about 19, finally feeling ready to lead. In their time as leader, however, Xornoth worked to help their younger siblings in their empire building endeavors. They'd help tutor Gem while she was around, teaching her little magic tricks to cut corners on some spells. For fWhip, they'd help gather resources and help teach him how to not blow up redstone machines. And for Sausage, it was all about helping him speed through the building process and keeping him safe from the things that lurk in the Dark Forest.
However, once Scott took over, they took more of an advisor role and had more freedom to do as they pleased. They continued to help fWhip and Sausage, as their empires were still in some form of rudimentary building phases, and they spent a lot of time with Shrub as she continued to grow. But since they were no longer leader, they had more time to go around and cause some of the shenanigans that they hadn't been able to before. They finally understood why their younger siblings loved to torment Jimmy so much.
Overall, the former demon found themself enjoying some of the lighthearted shenanigans that he didn't feel like they could before. They are always there when their siblings or honorary siblings need them, though. They wouldn't say it outloud, but a part of them fears for the day that these kids go into full blown war. They know its unlikely, considering how close they all are, but they still fear the day that they'll have to pick a side or break apart a war. For now, though, they enjoy the peace.
As for Scott, he enjoyed his time getting to rely on someone else and hold his boyfriends hand when he thought no one was watching (spoiler: everyone saw it). But there comes a day where responsibilities will catch up to you. It happened to Xornoth way back when little Shrub decided to follow behind a scary demon, and, eventually, it caught up with Scott.
But he was ready this time, his brother made sure of it. Scott took over as leader at 19, and no one could argue that he was, surprisingly, a natural at it once given the proper tools to lead. Xornoth remained as his right hand man, always on call should he be needed. In his spare time, Scott worked on bringing warmth to the cold mountains in building the greenhouse and bringing in bees. He also built a little cave in the side of a mountain, but only he and Jimmy know it's exact location.
It doesn't help that, sometimes, that overwhelming feeling from when he was 13 in charge of a crumbling nation creeps in. He feels fear that it will all crumble around him again. On those days, Xornoth sends him to go spend time in the new Cod Empire with his boyfriend, or to Katherine to relax and make flower crowns. After a couple days, he's good to go once more, thankful that his brother stepped in to help. As of recent, rumors have floated around about a royal engagement between the King of Rivendell and a certain fish boy, but, well, they haven't said anything… yet.
And, to round out the Demon Siblings, Shrub! Our favorite, tiny toddler gnome grew up. She became a thousand times more talkative once she hit around 8-9, and with that talkative spirit came a deviousness. She often pranked her siblings and friends, although all it would take to get her to back off was a threat to throw her in the water (as no one bothered to try to teach her to swim).
Around the age of 12, she stumbled upon a small grove with large mushrooms and tree stumps. She had been lead there by her steadily growing pack of wolves. In the grove, her pack is swarmed by a zombie hoard. She, along with the wolves, manage to fend them off, but one of them, Lord of Mars, is gravely injured. Xornoth, who was alerted to the fight by their demon sense, shows up just in time to see the spirit of Lord of Mars merge with their tiny gnome sister. They go into a protective sibling mood and try to find out if anything is wrong. It turns out, this merging of spirits lead Shrub to unlocking spirit powers. Shrub affectionately calls her new "alter ego" the Wolf Spirit and promises to become a vigilante like the Phantom Assassin much to Xornoth's annoyance and horror.
While currently (as of 13 years later), Shrub isn't quite old enough to be a ruler, she has been working with Xornoth to rebuild the newly named Undergrove. They helped carve out the tunnels and build structures as she needed. Meanwhile, she found ways to make wooden carvings and imbue them with the souls of the forest, creating villagers as well as golems to protect them. She finds herself to be good friends with Katherine, both of them bonding over their love of nature.
With the big 6 out of the way, I figured it be best to talk about our other favorite siblings, as well as Joel since why not?
Jimmy and Lizzie were both in line to be the sole Ruler of the Ocean Empire. A competition was being discussed amongst their guardians to see who would take over the Empire, and who would be sent off on their own. It wasn't fair, but the Ocean Empire was meant for one ruler, and there was never meant to be two heirs. But they both survived hatching all those hundreds of years ago, as well as growing and developing a human form and, well, what else could their people do? Eventually one would be, well, not exiled, but made to live somewhere else.
About a week before the tourney, Jimmy backed out entirely and moved without a word. The people were confused, and rumors spread that he had possibly been killed in an incident. No one knew where he went until one day it was discovered that a small subsection of the Ocean Empire that bordered and crossed over to the land was split from the rest of the Empire and formed into a new much smaller faction: the Codlands, headed by a faceless monarch who publicly only wore a cod head. And the rumors spread, rumors that this was the runaway Prince, but, as of now, it has never been confirmed one way or the other.
As ruler of the Codlands, Jimmy built it up from disrepair. As the sector had been mostly on land, it had gone to the wayside. He kept a close friendship with his sister and other rulers, all of them who knew who he was, truly, and they all kept it a secret if only because they didn't want to cause a political scandal within the Ocean Empire.
Overall, Jimmy enjoys his time in the Codlands, even if he misses the Prisma Palace sometimes. Jimmy found it quite funny, seeing the other rulers react to his "disappearance", especially with how dramatic Scott was publically. The Rivendell King even pretended to hate the Codfather persona until the two started to, once again, publically date. The two also recently got engaged but are holding off saying anything outside of the friend groups and family because, well, its nice to have something that isn't known by everyone.
As for Lizzie, well, she became a graceful leader of the Ocean Empire. She was a natural born leader, bringing a sense of prosperity to the ocean. Publically, she mourned the loss of a brother, leading countless goose chases for someone who was in hiding, and she knew where. But she couldn't say. But privately, she found time to visit her brother and sneak him home whenever she could. Once his persona was announced, she created an alliance within the first 24 hours.
Meanwhile, her relationship with the now crowned King of Mezalea blossomed into the world's most public courtship. It was hard to find time to just exist and be alone now that they were adults, but they were still just as in love. A royal engagement followed within the year they were both crowned rulers, a big, grandiose wedding held in the newly recognized Empire known as Mythland. The Church was… well, it was something, but Sausage was excited! So of course they held it there. And it was a lovely ceremony. Some even say that a certain demon was crying, but, well, they would never fess up to it. It's okay, though, everyone that was there knows the truth, and Xornoth's siblings love to tease them about it.
And finally in this trio, Joel! Lovely murderous Joel. His hatred of horses and chickens haven't quelled in recent years, though he's less inclined to go hunting for horses and only kills them if he sees them. As a young teen, he was fond of building. As an adult, his buildings escalated to the creation of the Mezalean Matral Palace, a project that is currently being built by the King.
When it came to proposing to Lizzie, well, it was a very public affair. He arranged a lovely boat ride around the Ocean Empire and the shore of Mezalea. The two watched the sunset, and it was there that he proposed. Of course she said yes, and the two planned a lovely wedding. If asked whether Xornoth was there, Joel always says, "No, of course not. The demon man doesn't even exist. Who are you talking about?" This comes to the annoyance of everyone, but, well, they can't chastise him for his joking manner.
He creates alliances with the other Empires based on how he perceives them to treat the Codfather persona publically. It's because of this that he publically made a diss track against fWhip and nearly declared war against Sausage, but luckily the situations were handled privately and in a very jokey manner, but Xornoth wouldn't lie by saying it helped their anxiety.
Now we just have 4 empires left, and so I'mma just go based on what I've got. It's not as much as some of thebothers but, well, they're all pretty cool and deserve a spotlight in the AU "wrap up".
Pixlriffs was the first of all of Xornoth's siblings and adopted siblings to ascend the throne. The old king had passed prematurely, and he had to witness it around the company of friends. He was practically crowded once he came out of the vision, saying a quiet resignation that he was going to be King.
Pixandrian society is a theocracy, and his prophet abilities put him into a position of power at a young age. The day of the coronation found the city bustling with activity, the area around the Vigil roped off. Pixl was surrounded by friends the entire day. And they all watched as the young king carried an undyed candle to the Vigil, setting the candle in the spot of the former ruler. The rest of the day was spent in celebration, the celebration of a life since past, and in celebration of the new administration that was starting. But no amount of celebration could shake the nerves.
Pixlriffs was a kind ruler, spending his time with his people and helping bring excitement to the lands. As every new ruler took the throne, he replaced the candles and lanterns around the Vigil to a single candle. He worked to create innovative ways to bring copper, Pixandria's main export, to the other empires. He still found time to go to Rivendell and sit in the expansive library just to read for hours. He also finds time to pull elaborate redstone pranks with fWhip or Jimmy, depending on who was available that day.
As for Katherine, well, she became a social butterfly once she became ruler. Her friendly demeanor lead her to having the best relationship with all the other rulers, if only because she never got involved in conflict. She was a confidant to the rulers when they were angry or frustrated, always managing to talk things down from an all out war. She was the main reason that Sausage and Jimmy's music disc altercation never went past the ravine that was blown to bedrock.
Beyond her relations to the other Empires, she worked on another project, just on the outskirts of the Overgrown. The project was dubbed "Baby Town", which consisted of smaller buildings that were indicative of the different empires that inspired them. This brought tourism to the Empire, which in turn helped bring awareness to the work of the Overgrown and it's efforts to preserve the natural habitat.
Alongside Baby Town, she started a small side business with Scott one of the times he came to visit her when he needed a break from being King. The created a plushie business because the two were currently swimming in mob heads. And hey, listen, Katherine really LOVES her mob heads, but there were so many! And so they got into the plushy business, selling them in Baby Town for a profit. Xornoth couldn't be prouder, if only a little concerned about the amount of heads that two had amassed.
Pearl's interesting in how she's one of the few leaders who took the throne because her parents stepped down, rather than some kind of death or forced prophetic powers that made her the next ruler. Her parents just saw how strong willed she was, and how she was willing to go toe-to-toe with a LITERAL DEMON and thought, "yeah, she's exactly what the Smallholding needs right now". They of course waited for her to be ready for leadership, but they stepped aside to let her shine as the natural leader she is, offering a helping hand when needed.
When Sausage settled nearby in the Mythland ruins, the two set out to create the Arena so that Pearl had better ways to deal with her natural tendencies to want to fight the biggest threat in the room. People would come from everywhere to watch her fights. Newbies would always bet against her because there's no way the girl with sunflowers woven into her hair could ever beat a giant Ravager and- what do you mean she oneshot the gigantic Beast?
Overall, she finds a strong kinship with the Witherfam, joking that she's their long lost older sister. She often joins in on their shenanigans, and, of course, always tries to fight Xornoth. With age, she's gotten craftier in hiding and planning sneak attacks. But their demon sense always keeps them on alert, ready for the next potential attack.
And finally, our dearly beloved Joey. With time, his playful, young "crush" on Xornoth faded into the wayside, turning to admiration to a simple respect for the work that the demon had accomplished in his time as ruler. He spent a lot of time with the demon, taking notes on how to repair some of the structures of the Lost Empire while still preserving their natural and historical feeling.
One of his closest friendships early on came through the young Shubble as she would often tail along with Xornoth as the demon tried to help Joey with some of his projects. While exploring the wilds of the jungle, the three found a raptor egg, which was nurtured until it hatched and, well, that's how Joey got a raptor!
He never has a corruption arc like in canon which leads to Joey finding new hobbies. He helps Sausage with his Assassin's Guild in a scheme to help hike up the sales of Totems of Undying. Xornoth almost respects the hustle. Almost. But their older sibling energy makes them want to scorn the two but, well, it is a little bit funny.
The first four true emperors on the server!
And another weird rule.
We went from a cod sanctuary all the way to only eating cake, it will be a very odd experience if a ruler made a rule that all previous rules are in effect.
Didn't truly realize how weird it was that Jimmy wears a codhead all the time till I had to draw it, it's mildly unnerving.
her name is paloma. she's spanish because i heard swansea makes a mean paella and i like to headcanon that he learned how to do that specifically to try and win her heart (spoilers: it worked). i wanted her to give ms. frizzle vibes from the magic school bus series. she likes wearing different cute earrings and is just a funny, quirky auntie. she copes with things with humor. swansea is a softie with her and a total pushover. also she and swansea's dog is a yorkshire terrier named pío. he's a rescue who's missing an eye but that doesn't stop him from doing crimes.
daisuke isn't dumb—he just has adhd and sometimes your brain wanders off while you're doing a task that's kinda monotonous and next thing you know you've put the legs on the chair on backwards and now your mentor is crying.
"why is swansea's hand bandaged up in the 2nd pic?" asked no one. this is because in my Responsibility AU, swansea burns both hands pulling curly out of the fire when they crash. they'll heal eventually, but in the meantime daisuke steps up to do the repairs n stuff under swansea's guidance/supervision. i NEED them to have more father-son bonding moments for my mental health ok? plus daisuke gets to do more things and show what he's made of. 💪 plus plus swansea gets to be a Proud Dad. :')
curly's injuries are bad but they aren't as bad as in the original timeline because he got rescued faster. he might lose a leg but the rest of his limbs are saveable. anya teaches him sign language once he gets more movement in his hands. jimmy's loser ass is still knocked out in the cryopod. at least he's supposed to be—the crash made the cryo room inaccessible so nobody has been able to confirm, but it's probably fine. probably.
yes i'm lining up a final big conflict with jimmy in which he gets terminated permanently this time
