#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