#new art atyle who this

[d011zk1ll]

She didn't cook that hard but ig she's my pfp till I draw something better

[crystalverse-project]

au where dan and tray are librarians instead of scientists and grim is a cat

idk guys. at the start of today i hadn't thought of this at all and now i'm making a secondary au to the crystalverse, it's kind of a counterpart but they are definitely a different dan and tray

it basically goes similarly to the crystalverse, but when trayaurus gets his library job in his village he finds it's not just science that's a passion, he also finds interest in history, geography, literature and just about everything he can read about. just knowledge and learning as a whole. still, he feels like he doesn't fit in with other villagers, so he moves away into a city nearby with a huge, highly respected library where he studies to get a phd in literature.

the city happens to be the same one dan lives originally (i still haven't thought of a name for it) but by the time dan meets him for the first time trayaurus already has the degree. because of his family issues dan gets more and more reserved, distant from his friend group, ignored by everyone else and invested in learning and reading.

probably the biggest difference at this point is dan, serving as 28, sat through every lecture without any complaint, and it lead to him getting out in the allocated time, but so reserved that he's almost mute. after returing, not even straight As in his final exams earn any praise from his father and brother, so he ends up giving up getting any approval.

two moons university was BEGGING for him to attend but he still wasn't allowed to go (getting the news early), and during the summer he frequents the library and the coffee shop more than anywhere else, which is when he meets trayaurus and finds a small, but growing bond with him.

eventually dan still gets disowned with even less notice than in the crystalverse, without even a chance to pack up. the first place he thinks to go is the library and he breaks down explaining everything to trayaurus, who lets him stay at his flat, and their bond gets even stronger

the two of them are still smart and successful, but they don't go on as wild adventures, and still being based in the city means they're both more and less isolated from people.

grim was adopted by them both already as a skeleton, after another contact of theirs asked if they'd be interested in keeping the cat. nobody knows how grim became a skeleton but it might have something to do with fossils. unlike in the crystalverse where they knew grim was male before he was a skeleton, the cat grim's gender is unknown, so is referred to as they/them by dan and trayaurus, who adore them because they can bring them to the library, they don't have fur to shed hehe

another big difference is tray knew dan was trans from the beginning, he was very open about it, and of course there was no issue. dan still wears goggles even when they don't have a practical use, he says to anyone that happens to ask that they're for keeping out dust from old books, in reality they're plastic ones for a steampunk cosplay and barely functional, not that he's ever actually WORN them. not even once. he just found them in a store and thought they were neat. tray got second hand embarassment from it at first when he started wearing them in public, but now he doesn't mind

dan still draws and plays the guitar, but he doesn't post on youtube and only plays in the apartment for trayaurus. they also still play video games but they only like "retro" ones. the wii is the absolute newest console they'll even consider. while cav!dan has a 3ds he plays regularly, dbc!dan has a gba sp. he paid somebody to install a backlight mod lmao

i know i know i should really finish my other story before i start other aus but this got stuck in my head all day ajsjsjdjjd...the six of them (both trios) are absolutely going to meet at some point. it's not going to take any priority i'm just brainstorming

as mentioned before this was based on old challenge art based on the dark academia atyle. tray is still with the dark academia aesthetic but dan is closer to chaotic academia (particularly with his sneakers, and the badges on his sweater)

he still has the pencil tucked in the strap of his goggles but the picture's at an angle you can't see it. that's my story and i'm sticking to it