#I work a pretty chill retail job (they exist I swear)

[fawwning]

it’s funny how much a healthy work/life balance will do for ur mental health

[bugflies00]

do phil & techno exist in your au?

yes they do!! i keep forgetting to talk about them and i think it's because i haven't explored their characters enough in my head so im not as attached to them in this au, but i really want to develop them more. originally this was an sbi au but then my crimeboys solo brain (and my tntduo brain) took over. but sbi is very much a found family in this au too!!!

i think i mentioned that wilbur met techno first, probably through their job? originally i wanted phil to be a college prof who meets wilbur when hes a student, but then i scrapped wilbur going to college after school because he doesnt have the money or time (he does eventually go in his late twenties!! because he really wants to like he loves learning and it was always a dream of his), so phil is still a college prof in my heart but yeah.

he's techno's dad, and techno's mum isn't even in the picture, i guess she's dead lmao. yeah im making that canon she's dead because then wilbur and techno can make dead mum jokes. <- you just saw the live process of a fact being canonised.

anyway twinsduo bond at their retail job over talking about history and ancient greece and literature. techno is a classics major at his dad's college, and he took a job to get some money on the side. sometimes he sneaks wilbur his textbooks just because he's really passionate about the topic and he's really jealous of techno who gets to learn about it and have the college experience and live at home with his dad.

phil and wilbur have a Somewhat? fatherly? relationship? over time as crimeboys & emeraldduo grow closer phil definitely starts acting as a father/mentor figure for wilbur, but it's never like. official. wilbur doesn't call him Dad or anything. but they still love each other a lot it's very much found family but i suppose not in the traditional sense.

it takes a LONG time for wilbur to warm up to phil though, he has a tendency to distrust adults given. well. His Whole Life Experience i guess. but the second tommy meets techno he makes it his life's mission to annoy him as much as possible. This is a mark of love. it takes a long time for techno to realise that . tommy and phil also get along pretty quickly, phil's chill, easy-going vibe matches well with tommy's . General Presence.

they live a couple streets away from wilbur & tommy's flat (and later in the story when wilbur buys a house with q they buy the house right beside phil and techno's. they make a hole in the fence separating the houses so they can hang out in the other house more easily!). phil gets really worried about wilbur when he learns that he has a teen and a baby in his care alone, so he tries his best to help out where he can, but obviously wilbur's a stubborn asshole who refuses help, so phil has to be subtle about it. one day when he's visiting he finds the fridge is empty except for baby formula and a single sandwich for tommy's lunch, he doesn't leave wilbur a choice he makes him come over and feeds all of them. and wilbur keeps protesting but phil's like "it hurts them too if you refuse help" and so he shuts up.

phil teaches english, and he's kinda the cool old teacher who always swears and talks shit but who cares a lot about his students, and it's a similar relationship he has with crimeboys. he and techno also have a very funny (to me) relationship because often when they talk it doesn't feel like a father and son, more like two weird old friends who constantly jab at each other. it's very confusing if you don't know them.

techno also doesn't have a lot of friends (mostly by choice) and phil is like. The One Person he trusts the most. he begrudgingly starts allowing wilbur in that circle. eventually also tommy although that takes work (thats a lie techno loves tommy but he has to act like he hates him because yknow. The Principle).

to a lot of people's surprise, fundy and techno latch on to each other very quickly. it's surprising because fundy was a very very shy and anxious kid, and as a baby, he would cry if he was held by anyone who wasn't wilbur. and techno is this big burly socially awkward guy who doesn't know how to give hugs. but for some reason fundy immediately trusts him and lets him carry him and techno is very gentle with him. he doesn't talk to him like a baby, he has conversations with 6 month old fundy about ancient greece and politics and linguistics. he's the only person besides wilbur who fundy will fall asleep in the arms of. even when fundy's an older kid they still have that bond, at any social events they'll be in the corner so they don't have to talk to people.

techno also plays the violin, and when he learns this tommy begs him for months to play him something and he refuses. one day tommy comes home crying because he had an awful day and skimmed his knee and got a bad grade and his lunch got soaked in the rain, and techno leads him up to his room and silently begins to play a piece. tommy never shut up so quickly in his life LMAO

i think that's all i have for now but if you prompt me i can talk about anything in this au for days

[gammagoop]

more details for all my dedicated readers

skizz has worked like 200 different jobs, so it's a running gag that if anyone needs help with something they'll ask skizz, no matter what it is

^ skizz gives grian, joel, and jimmy advice for their bakery endeavors

there needs to be some kind of allegory for them killing each other in the canon -- maybe everyone's really into weekly dodgeball or something

mumbo never actually appears in the show, but is brought up a lot by grian. he often says things like "i miss mumbo" or "i wish mumbo were here". not everyone is convinced that 'mumbo' is actually a real person. scar swears he's met mumbo before, but that's honestly just more evidence that he doesn't exist

almost everyone in this au lives on the same apartment building, rather than separate houses, so the next few bullets will be about that

obviously cleo, bdubs, and scar all live together. etho doesn't live in the building but his living situation is never shown on-screen. he's just shown arriving at the complex

pearl and bigb are roommates and live next door to cleo

grian and jimmy are also roommates. joel used to live there too but moved in with lizzie a little while after they started dating

^ jimmy plans a goodbye party when joel moves out and grian helps him set up for it. jimmy is like teary-eyed “we’re gonna miss you joel! goodbye!” and then joel is like “okay” and walks to his new apartment across the hall

im not sure if skizz, impulse, and tango would all live in that same building as well, but if they do it's on a different floor. they don't all live together but they live very close to each other

scott and martyn are roommates

ren doesn't live in the complex, but is often crashing at various people's places. sometimes he'll mention that he's been staying with his friend 'doc'

grian would make most sense as landlord since he owns the limlife server but i dont think that makes sense narratively so maybe its just never mentioned

ok back to the non-living situation points

scott and cleo are the most openly queer characters, though lizzie being bi is mentioned once or twice. even though etho and joel dated, they're both usually included amongst the heteros

various other related-mcyts show up for specials. oli in specific initiates a musical episode

there's a valentines day special in which bdubs and scar try to set etho up on dates so he can find a new partner (etho is not very invested in this mission)

^ the rest of the side plots are pretty chill. joel and lizzie go on a fun date, cleo enjoys some alone time, some of the other folks organize a platonic valentines celebration

^^ bigb brings cookies, grian asks him if he wants to be part of the bakery coalition, but bigb tells him no because baking is just a fun hobby for him

^^ the episode ends with most of them at the party. bdubs and scar show up looking tired and worn , presumably the etho dates went pretty badly

scott and jimmy have a very on-and-off relationship that's mostly dictated by scott. for a lot of the show it's played for a joke, but there is a more serious plotline in which jimmy sets a boundary against it. scott hadn't been messing with him maliciously, of course, but there was a lack of communication between them-- especially because jimmy didn't quite know how uncomfortable he'd been. they come to an understanding that leaves them as mostly just good friends

in terms of jobs, we've established that cleo is a zumba instructor and TIES work in IT. but for the others:

^ pearl is a cleaning lady, of course, and makes good money doing it

^ bdubs works in retail but hates it. scar is a door-to-door insurance salesman but has dreams of working in a theme park (disney)

^ joel and jimmy are coworkers (outside of the bakery) but im not 100% on what they would do

i think that's all i have for now! if you want more from this au, check out this drawing cloud did! :D

limited life 90s sitcom au