#side!thomas

[pattons-time-capsule]

Escape the Mind Palace AU

(note: i wouldn’t exactly call this a system au, but it does work on system logic and also used that terminology :])

basically, Thomas is yeeted into the Mind Palace and gets stuck in the Imagi-Nation (eeeyy) with the core five and they all have to trek across the Nation to get Thomas back in the real world. 

MEANWHILE. REMUS IS IN FRONT.  WITH NICO. and he’s trying to sort out what’s is going on while also making sure that his “boyfriend” doesn’t kill himself on accident.

okay now AU ART DUMP (click for better quality and also ignore how i wrote “imagi-nation” in the first image):

please feel free to send asks about this au i have a lot of thoughts

[starlightinhumanform]

ok this au has probably been done before but I can’t stop thinking about it so: 

au where character!thomas is a side and one of the canon sides is the main character instead of a facet. there’s just so many possibilities... 

I think c!thomas could definitely be characterized as maybe appreciation (like a side whose role is primarily based around media and their influences) or maybe c!thomas could be the main character’s (whichever canon side that may be in this au) social media face (a side whose role is based around the persona that the main character presents themselves as on social media and whose main concern is their success as a social media influencer). 

Then again, side!thomas and his resulting function as a side could really vary depending on who he is a side of. For example, (going with the later version of side!thomas in the previous paragraph because it’s my favourite lol) Thomas as Logan’s side might be very driven, focused, and businesslike. As Roman’s, incredibly ambitious if a bit unrealistic. As Patton’s, fanciful and always looking to please the audience. 

Which also opens the question: would the canon sides be changed? Would Virgil as one of Logan’s side be more logical? Would Janus’ lies as Roman’s side be more fictional and possibly unrealistic? 

I just aaaaaaa have so many ideassssss. I would love to hear others’ thoughts on this!!!!! 

[pattons-time-capsule]

*drops this with no elaboration and runs*

[pattons-time-capsule]

you mention wanting asks for the etmp au on the first post about it, so i'm curious on the thoughts behind the jester motif for thomas in it! and any other thoughts on his side design you might want to share that aren't in a post yet (super fun design i am tempted to make fanart of-)

I CAN YAP ABOUT THIS WITHOUT SPOILERS HURRAY!!!!

to answer the first question: tbh. original i kinda just thought jester!thomas would be cool and just built lore around that. 

the initial idea was that c!thomas doesn’t really have very high self esteem rn, so i kinda wanted to give him a clown-ish motif (yknow like a fool) but also he does have a lot more control over things than he thinks, specifically the Sides. jesters not only entertained the court but also advised/criticized the king, as they were the only ones who were allowed to do that. not necessarily a perfect parallel to c!thomas’ place in the sides, but it kinda made sense at the time.

also, i kinda wanted his design to mix up elements from the some of other sides’ designs while not directly referencing them. jesters’ are part of royal court so that’s Roman & Remus (there’s also a lore reason but that’s spoilers) and also references the over-the-top-ness of some of the sides’ outfits. his jester “hat” being a hood + the eye makeup was meant to reference virgil. and the fact that his shirt is just a normal ass shirt was meant to represent logan and patton having the most normal outfits out of everyone.

few details i haven’t really mentioned before:

the flowers on his crown shows the sides’ colors in order of their appearance (logan, roman, patton, virgil, ect), which is why there’s no orange one on it yet.

also, each of the flowers has a pink center except for the green one, which is greyed out (the leaves around it are also darker), which was meant to represent which sides thomas has accepted at this point! 

another detail that i really like is that the bits of black and white around his outfit aren’t actually perfectly black or white. they’re all shades of grey, because he’s learning that things aren’t as black and white as he thought they were :] 

thank you so much for the ask!!! i love getting to yap about this au! i’ve been working on the fic whenever i can. first chapter won’t be out for a while, but i’m really excited to share it when it’s ready :3