#i don't know if screwball or peepers are present enough to tag....

[ashysmultifandomcatdump]

another roleswap AU (because i have lost control of my life)

these things. are all i know how to make now.......

ANYWAY it's my take on a wander<-->sylvia roleswap AU!!! i didn't Properly draw sylvia here because i couldn't get her to look right, and she's basically the Same anyway. just without her saddle and with the hat tied around her neck. i don't know if i'm entirely happy with these designs (struggled with the colors for wander and i'm not sure i really like them) but they're all i could think of....and i didn't wanna just copy anyone else's. so that's how they Are for now until i think of something better! (general stuff about the AU and additional doodles under the cut)

for sylvia, i was thinking about her differences in reforming people compared to wander's. while we don't exactly see her do that in the show, she does get Somewhere with villains that wander can't/hasn't tried to do anything with: dominator and peepers. the fact that she almost got dominator to appreciate the beauty of life, someone who is Definitely irredeemable—yeah, i think she could definitely redeem someone, if she tried. how does her method differ from wander's?wander's is precise, time-tested, and based on his analysis of the other person's character; he constantly pushes their buttons to see what makes them tick. while sylvia, from what we see—it's just to mostly...treat them normally. like, relate to them: she has fun brawling with dominator, she and peepers find similarities in Their Idiots. she talks to them. basically, sylvia works from common ground and wander works from uncommon ground. if that makes sense

so, i imagine in wander's place, sylvia's just kind of. Chill! she doesn't have wander's thousands of years of experience, but she has her own down-to-earth attitude, and it's not like her less than thousands of years experience isn't valuable at all. she probably hasn't redeemed a villain before, but she's definitely helped people, and well if they cross paths grop darn it she's going to try. who knows? it could work! it worked with wander, at least. (and like, this is just a small thought that i'm not sure would apply but: mini hater and peepers swap perhaps, not in the complete roleswap way, hater's still the boss, but more like. maybe swapping who's the Main Guy to be redeemed? sylvia's way of relating to people might work more with peepers than hater...but i don't know, i could see it either way)

and speaking of wander: how's our non-violent do-gooder make it to the point of being The Fighter? what got him to abandon his carefree attitude to be The Protector? well! nothing!! he simply never had it in the first place!!! instead of learning to go with the flow and take things as they come...he kinda just Didn't. he never got the hat which to me is what allowed him to start doing that (i have a whole backstory about this but it's a bit long so i'll just move on) instead for the rest of his life continued living in a constant state of anxiety. which is, you know, Not Good for a guy, especially when this lasts thousands of years. i think he still has to help people, but he hasn't gained the courage to go above and beyond or confront villains like in canon. Wander With Survival Instincts, basically. and his main reaction to fear is to run away; but i think, over time, that might not be sustainable, or he might meet someone that convinces him to start fighting back just a bit.

yes, i am sneaking in just one other swap here: screwball and lil bits. this might seem strange and it kinda is. i'm still kinda workshopping it, like maybe screwball should swap with ryder instead...but i dunno, i've always just associated screwball and lil bits with each other. two villains specific to wander and sylvia respectively, whom the other is not able to understand as a threat throughout their debut episode. i think it would be funny. and screwball being a bounty hunter when swapping with bits just Fits, since wander eventually ends up as a bounty hunter before meeting sylvia...of course lending to the idea that they were partner bounty hunters in the past. which works really well, i think

and considering comedy and horror are two sides of the same coin, and that this wander is primarily focused on his Fear, it'd be fun if he had more of a horror theme. a really campy, goofy one. my thoughts are maybe that screwball helped guide wander to lean more towards a Fighting fear response, but eventually scared him away somehow. i don't know how yet, but i'll figure it out. here's a visualization:

and as for how wander and sylvia met, i still have to figure out some parts, but i think that sylvia would notice how anxious wander is, ask him if he's okay, and he would promptly break down, as such:

and from that moment on, wander solemnly swore that he would protect sylvia for the rest of her life, and she's been stuck with him since. (not that she's mad about that)

of course he's still energetic and hyperactive...i think his fighting would reflect that. he's a feral little creature

oh, and for sylvia's relationship with The Hat: she probably found it beat up and bruised one day, with no one around (wander not stealing the hat all those years ago meant a happy ending for No One). yet another thing i have to figure out fully is how she ended up taking it with her, but she did. i don't think she fully understands it, she hasn't realized that it gives you what you need, but she does know that it dispenses items that are sometimes useful (it's a sassy little thing to her) and might somewhat realize its sentience, so she keeps it around, though she's still building trust with it

anddddd yeah that's basically it so far :) i'm always up for questions and suggestions! i hope people like it hehe