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yukidragon · 2 years ago

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SDJ Headcanons

I got a request to hear some of my headcanons for the vanilla universe of my fandom noodling with Something’s Wrong With Sunny Day Jack. Well, maybe vanilla isn’t quite accurate considering we’ve got quite a bit of spice with our resident yandere Jack. Maybe more like vanilla mixed with caramel and fudge.

Anyway, these are some thoughts that more than likely are going to show up in my fanfic, Sunshine in Hell, if they haven’t already. So, uh, spoiler warning I guess?

To start with, I will have to say that this headcanon started building from the classic demo, where a number of details are different from the extended demo. Not to say that I’m ignoring things the extended demo added or changed. This is to say that Sunshine in Hell’s continuity will be slightly different from the classic and extended versions, like the two versions of the game are slightly different from one another, and will likely be different from the fully released game. I pieced together a lot of hints sprinkled throughout Jambeebot’s twitter, and have formed a few ideas about where the plot might be going. It might not be how it actually turns out, but why not run with them in my fic?

Originally I didn’t have anything in mind for y/n other than the classic namable first person MC playthrough. Hell, originally I didn’t plan on writing fic or fan art at all. Then I started developing some headcanons because Jack is so interesting and appealing, and I thought, ya know what, why not use this as an opportunity to do some character designing? I can even challenge myself with details that I struggled with in the past, like curly hair, plus size body type, and intricate tattoos. I picked the name Alice because Jack is a common name in literature, so why not go with another common one for his sunshine? It also became pretty fitting for different reasons as the headcanons slowly bloomed outward and Alice started developing a life of her own.

Just as a heads up, these are current headcanon thoughts. They might wind up getting changed by the time I actually get them written down for Sunshine in Hell. Some things have already changed since my initial headcanons as I’ve started writing and since more information came out after all. So just think of a few of these as fun possibilities for the future~

Now then, let’s go for the specific headcanon bits. I’ll put them under a cut and sort them by character. This isn’t all the headcanon stuff of course. I can make a follow up post with more, but here’s some of the bigger ones floating around in my head. Oh, heads up, some of these headcanons will be 18+ only, going into pretty dark and/or spicy places, but then again, that’s the type of game SDJ is. You have been warned.

Oh, and of course I can’t forget to tag @channydraws because I’m serving up some SDJ content over here.

Jack

Jack loves Alice. Full stop. Yes, this is a canon fact that Jack loves his sunshine, but I’mma emphasize that the man has fallen so gosh darn hard for Alice that it’s almost scary.

Speaking of which, the man is desperate for Alice’s love. It’s not just because he loves her, but because he’s convinced that she needs him to love her. He could feel it calling to him while he was still trapped in the hell of that VHS tape he was cursed to. He needs her to love him, not just because he loves her, but because her love is the only thing that’ll save him from being damned to that hell all over again.

Other people played the tape before, not just Alice, but not many. Jack experienced this happening and to him it was the closest to relief from his hellish damnation he could find. It was like reliving his memories... then the ending of that incident would tear him apart all over again.

Jack doesn’t remember the incident itself because it was so painful, he blocked it out.

Jack blocked out a lot of painful things from his past. It’s part of why he’s currently Jack and not Joseph anymore.

Might as well give my headcanon here of the incident itself - Jack was murdered by someone from his past before he reinvented himself from unloved delinquent Joseph Cullman to actor Joseph Haberdae.

Changing himself after abandoning his past is something Jack has done before... and the incident was such a trauma that he did it again, clinging to the Jack persona... the only version of him who was actually loved.

Well... unless I go with the death and rebirth plot point I’m sort of half-considering for Alice. If I go that route then Joseph was loved... he just lost that love to tragedy and it played a part in him running away to begin with. Might just save that for an AU though.

Regardless, Joseph wasn’t loved by his parents. They kept up appearances, even lied that they loved him, but they didn’t, not really. They ignored him, were into drinking and coffee, sometimes even physically abusive when he acted up... but at least they paid attention to him then.

Joseph acted up in a desperate bid for attention. It was the only way he knew how to get people to stop looking through him as though he didn’t exist.

This included teachers and his peers. Joseph wasn’t exactly the greatest person at this age...

You know that image where Jack talks to the crying guy with the knife? Well, Joseph has some experience with the things he says there... such as phrases like “burden to the class” and “worthless.”

Needless to say, his relationships with his peers were... not the best.

This is why there was one person who would never forget Joseph. This person nursed a grudge hunt him down to the set of the SunnyTime Crew and there, well... a lot of traumatic things happened as skeletons Joseph had buried were dug up and exposed for everyone to see.

Between the murder and unsettling past details about their beloved lead actor, the studio decided it was best to bury the whole show in the aftermath of what happened.

Little is remembered about the SunnyTime Crew show in the present, mostly rumors that became ghost stories and then creepypasta. Tapes and official merchandise are hard to come by, but they are still out there hidden away in places... waiting for someone to dig them up.

That’s how the VHS wound up in the thrift store after all. Someone got a copy of the incident before it was scrubbed... and decided to keep it as a little snuff film for personal amusement. The tape got rewatched a lot and it... definitely had an affect on Jack.

The tape was sold on accident by a relative of the sicko who kept it in their private collection. They thought it was just old junk that was worth getting at least a few pennies for it rather than just chucking it into the trash.

How Jack got into the tape in the first place was a mixture of the trauma of what happened, Jack himself unable to handle the way he died or being forgotten... and possibly a curse from a murderer who was bitter enough to nurse a grudge for a decade and hunt Joseph down to get revenge in such a public and cruel way.

Jack remembers very little, suppressed by trauma. He clung to his persona as Jack to keep his sanity, to be a person who is “clean” and worthy of loving.

Jack is what he thinks he should be, what type of person who can be loved. It’s not a mask so much as who he is desperate to be.

Jack will do whatever it takes to be loved. He will need time to understand that he doesn’t have to work so hard to earn Alice’s love, as his sincere feelings are enough to sway her heart.

On that note, Jack will be delighted that he and Alice bond so quickly without him having to resort to... desperate methods. His sweet sunshine responds to his sincerity, proving just how special their bond is and how right it is to love her.

Yes, this basically means Alice is doing a kiss/yes route. Spoilers, I guess?

Jack wanted to make friends with other people too, as many as possible. Alice would always be his best friend and number one in his heart, of course. That’s obvious. A pity that no one can see/hear/touch him...

Needless to say, that makes him all the more desperate for Alice’s love.

I fully plan on Sunshine in Hell having a happy ending where Jack and Alice help each other heal from their respective scars and they can be happy together. Spoilers I guess?

Also, yes, some of that healing will involve sexy times. Jack is touch starved to the extreme, and he just can’t get enough of Alice’s soft warmth...

Alice

To briefly touch on the rebirth plot line I may or may not add in, Alice’s name in her past life would be Mary. She would’ve been Joseph’s childhood friend and the only one who showed him any affection, and she related to him in having shitty parents, just hers were rich and didn’t like punk delinquents like Joseph... especially since their daughter had a big crush on said bad boy. Unfortunately she also had a disease that the doctors never found a cure for and she died from it not long before Joseph finally ran away. This ties in with the bloody pills and scalpel imagery in the opening screen.

Alice has a medical condition that 40 years ago would’ve killed her. Fortunately, in the present with modern medical technology, it’s treatable with medication. She keeps the pills in the safe in her bedroom and takes them daily.

Yes it’s the same disease she would’ve had as Mary if I go the rebirth route.

Alice will eventually keep the tape in the safe to keep Jack safe.

Alice has albinism, which she inherited from her dad who also has albinism. This makes her more prone to getting sunburned and makes her dislike the sun more.

Alice also dislikes alcohol. She tolerated it because her friends enjoyed it, but she hated how it made her feel. She won’t drink at all in the present day, not even socially.

Alice had a pastel goth phase in college, complete with dyed pink hair, until classes got to be too much for her to keep up with the look.

College was exhausting for Alice and she struggled with her major.

The major she wound up taking wasn’t actually what she was passionate about, but it was what she felt was most realistic for her to attain at least a decent future.

Alice likes to draw.

Alice’s parents are really nice. Her mom is a bit of a flake, but very loving. Her father is very affectionate and at times her parents remind her of Gomez and Morticia. They were also childhood sweethearts who are still madly in love as adults... which colored her view of her relationship with her own childhood friend, Ian.

Alice really did see a future with Ian. She hoped someday they would get married and they would have children together just like her parents, but...

Well, in school, Alice wasn’t very popular.... to put it mildly. Kids can be cruel, especially to those who are unusual. She was bullied all throughout her school days until she reached college age.

The reasons Alice was bullied were mainly due to her appearance (pasty pale and chubby) and the fact that when she was little she was pretty nonverbal.

It took many years for Alice to get better at talking to people. Part of her therapy to develop her verbal skills included using a puppet to speak for her.

Yes, this is where the puppet in her concept sheet, Honey Bunny, comes in. She still has that puppet even after all this time, though it’s currently tucked away in a box. Yes, Jack will eventually have the pleasure of meeting Honey Bunny.

Alice is the oldest child with at least two younger siblings. They haven’t been fully developed yet.

Alice is a survivor of SA and that greatly affected how she deals with intimacy and feelings of being trapped.

Alice currently suffers from very low self-esteem. Between a past of being bullied for her looks and personality, the SA incident, and being betrayed by the person she trusted with her heart...

Alice did forgive Ian and she did try again... but ultimately ended things after she realized that she just couldn’t forget what happened and she couldn’t stop feeling like she wasn’t “enough” for him.

Alice doesn’t think anyone would be attracted to her, not really. With Ian, it was a special case, where they grew up together and things developed over time. What she had with Ian was something that happened only once in a lifetime... and it all fell apart.

In the present Alice is lonely. She’s given up on being loved but still feels empty and wishes desperately for it... and that wish summoned Jack.

Alice is an empathetic person, and it has gotten her in trouble in the past trying to help people because she felt sorry for them... even if they didn’t necessarily deserve it. It’s something that Jack is concerned about now that he’s there even if he benefitted the most from her being too kind for her own good sometimes...

Alice chose to save Jack. She doesn’t remember it because the process of saving him required giving him a piece of her soul. He gave her a piece of his in return. This is why she’s the only one who can see, hear, and touch him. While she didn’t fully consider all the implications of this choice at the time, the soul trapped in the tape was so desperate and suffering so much, and she was the only one in the whole world who could save him from hell... she couldn’t live with herself if she just chose to leave him damned when she could do something to save him... and he did promise he would never hurt her, never do anything she didn’t want to do...

This piece of each other’s souls is why Jack and Alice can feel each other’s emotions as well as overhear thoughts. Alice doesn’t remember this ability, and Jack doesn’t want to tell her for fear of scaring her. After all, she doesn’t remember the agreement they made and she was so scared when she woke up without remembering what happened...

This agreement can be ended frighteningly easy. It’s part of how Jack got Alice to agree in the first place. If one of them doesn’t want him to be there... then it’s all over.

Alice can feel Jack’s love for her and responds to it very strongly, even if she’s unaware that it’s happening. It’s why even though only a day has passed, she feels the need to take care of him.

Needless to say, all Jack really needs to do is love Alice and be patient with her. She likes him and wants the love he is offering her so desperately... She’s just going to need time to heal from her scars...

Speaking of scars, the scar on her forehead is from the night Ian cheated on her.

Ian

With that, let’s turn our attention to the cheater in question. Why did he do it? Well, he was lonely. He had moved someplace all on his own and no longer had someone to support him by his side all the time, someone to reassure him and tell him he was beautiful and worth loving and desirable...

Until, guess what, his glow up finally was paying off. People started flirting with him at the college and, hey, what’s the harm in flirting back a little? It’s just paying a compliment and it felt good. He told Alice about the new friends he made there on campus and it was all innocent...

And dang were some of these people hotties. Skinny ladies with big boobs just like the animes... and they were flirting with him like he was the protagonist of a harem isekai story.

You know the song “Say No to This” in Hamilton? Ian had the same vibe going when he finally gave in to his base desires.

He didn’t know what happened! One moment he’s having a nice time with his new friend at the college and he was so lonely without Alice and suddenly they were kissing and it felt so good and she wanted him and for a while he forgot that he was lonely and missing his girlfriend...

Then post-nut clarity hit and he was like OH SHIT.

Ian really hoped that if he confessed right away, the damage wouldn’t be so bad, right? It was just a mistake. Alice has always forgiven him for his mistakes. She forgave him when he got too rough during sex despite her issues due to SA, so this can’t be much different. She herself said there was nothing that would make her not love him when he was down on himself thinking he would never be worthy of love or attractive...

Ian has self-confidence issues out the wazoo. He was bullied as a kid, had his looks insulted, and generally was treated like garbage by the other kids. Being the center of attention and desired as an adult is a new experience for him... one that, unfortunately went to his head... both the one on his shoulders and the one between his legs.

Ian was the only friend who consistently hung out with Alice. They were two “losers” at school who stuck together. It was almost natural that feelings would develop between them.

Alice and Ian both struggled with shyness, fumbling with crossing the line from friendship to lovers. Their relationship really was sweet... but not without its issues...

Ian apologizes a lot. A lot a lot. It gets to the point where Alice spent a lot of time just reassuring him. He missed that terribly when he went to his dream school and had to leave her behind.

Unfortunately, flattery and lust served as temporary, if empty substitutes...

Ian greatly regrets what he did, what he lost, and he’s determined to fix things... Alice did forgive him and gave him a second chance. They’re just on a break. Just a break. If he gives her a little space, but makes sure she never forgets him, if he just does the right thing to prove that they belong together, then everything can go back to normal...

Although, confidentially, the cheating wasn’t their only issue that made Alice see that ending the relationship was the best thing she could do for the both of them.

Shaun

Let’s hop off the cheater train and board the cat daddy express, shall we? Dude is a bro of the highest order, a Grade A pal.

Shaun met Alice when they shared a class in college. He thought she was cute and so sweet. He would’ve asked her out, but then he found out she had a boyfriend and, oof, heartbreak. Still, he sincerely was happy to be friends with her, and he liked Ian and was happy to make friends with the dude.

Until the night Ian made a frantic phone call to Shaun to check on Alice since she wasn’t answering her phone and he thinks she’s hurt and he’s the only one with a spare key to their place!

Shaun got Alice to the hospital that night. Turns out alcohol can’t make you forget heartbreak even if you drink enough of it to get alcohol poisoning and wind up bashing your head on broken glass. It was a pretty traumatic sight for him to come across, and he was so relieved when he heard the news that she would be alright.

Naturally this put Ian on Shaun’s shit list after finding out why Alice drowned herself in booze that night.

Shaun was the MVP, and his friendship with Alice strengthened in the aftermath... and he was one of the people who helped her see that forgiving Ian was the worst choice she could make for both her and Ian. He was there to support her decision to break things off for good and was her shoulder to cry on during her heartbreak.

Shaun and Alice bonded in college over liking the goth aesthetic and cats. At least half the posters in Alice’s apartment are from Shaun.

Shaun, sadly, had very poor timing when it comes to anything romantic with Alice. He came into the picture when Alice was already deeply in love with Ian. Alice couldn’t even think about dating after the breakup, let alone risk their relationship by letting it change. Then he had to move away for his own degree to become a director... and when he finally moves back into the area, his bad timing shows up again as he finds Alice once more has a boyfriend...

Shaun has mixed feelings about Jack. He’s not just suspicious about Jack’s whole deal, but he feels protective of Alice after what she went through.

At the same time HOLY SHIT A REAL LIVE CURSED VIDEO TAPE WITH A REAL LIVE, ER, DEAD GHOST! Or maybe not a ghost but something else? Either way holy shit this is awesome. Shaun is totally geeking out.

Yes, Alice told Shaun about Jack the day he came to stay with her for a while. I already have a little scene written up of Jack and Shaun having a little... chat.

Chances are good that Shaun and Jack will actually become friends, though Jack is definitely going to make sure Shaun remembers who is most important to Alice...

Needless to say, it’s hella awkward for Shaun when Jack makes sure he’s going to hear Alice cry out Jack’s name at least once. Poor guy. Jack is a poor winner isn’t he?

Moon Pie

Fortunately, there's Moon Pie to give Shaun love and cuddles in his hour of need.

Moon Pie is a sweet little blind bundle of floof. Shaun adopted her after seeing her info and pics on a website and fell in love. She is a very affectionate baby and sticks close to her daddy.

Shaun loves Moon Pie to pieces and will commit a violence if anyone were to threaten her.

Alice, too, quickly falls in love with Moon Pie. Pity she doesn’t have the energy or financial stability to adopt a cat of her own yet. Maybe someday... till then, she can be the fun cat aunt.

Initially when I first saw Moon Pie I was going to make her Alice’s cat, but I can’t bring myself to steal a baby away from her daddy, so Alice will have to simply love her from afar. Alas, this is the true tragedy of Something’s Wrong With Sunny Day Jack.

Fortunately, Shaun is the best cat dad a precious bundle of floof like Moon Pie could ask for.

Moon Pie can sense Jack.

Don’t worry, Jack likes Moon Pie and thinks she’s cute. Though he does admittedly get a little jealous when Alice cuddles Moon Pie and gives the baby little smooches.

Moon Pie might or might not have unintentionally provoked Jack to assert his place as number one in Alice’s heart. Good thing she can’t have her innocent eyes besmirched by the things this lusty yandere clown does to his sunshine when Shaun isn’t home!

Moon Pie will nap on Jack at least once. Shaun will take pictures. All of the pictures.

Carol

Carol is at least 5 years older than Alice and worked longer than her at the yogurt place, so she’s an expert on doing as little of her job as she can get away with while still earning a steady paycheck.

She is a worldly lady who leans strongly towards women, but finds guys hot too.

Her eyeliner game is absolutely on point. When not forced to dress as a clown, this lady has style.

An example of that style is how Carol absolutely owns her vitiligo and makes it into a fashion statement.

Carol enjoys teasing Alice and thinks she’s kind of cute sort of like a pet rabbit kind of way. She’s gotten some details about her younger co-worker and has teasingly offered to set Alice up on a blind date with a guy she knows who thinks plus size ladies like her are cute.

They’re not exactly friends, but friendly and they get along well enough. Whether they become friends eventually is up in the air... especially when there’s a very possessive yandere best friend now in the picture.

Nick

Got a crush on the cute lady working at the funky clown yogurt place.

Tried to shoot his shot and unfortunately got shot down instead when she told him she has a boyfriend. That sucks.

In another world, that would only be the start of his worst night ever. Fortunately in the Sunshine in Hell universe, a certain supernatural yandere didn’t see him as enough of a threat to bother with. What wonders a little feeling of security in a relationship can do...

However, just because Nick lucks out in not provoking the yandere haunting treatment doesn’t mean that there won’t be other people who cross the line...

Ho my, this has turned out much longer than I was planning. I’ll save other details for another post. I hope y’all enjoyed me rambling on and let me know if there’s anything you want me to focus on for next time! If you liked any of this stuff, please read Sunshine in Hell and let me know what you think. Your feedback/reviews/comments give me life.

#Sunny Day Jack #Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack #Headcanon Ramblings #sdj #swwsdj #Sunshine in Hell #Jack #Joseph Cullman #Alice King #Ian Duff #Shaun Durand-Cofer #Moon Pie #Carol #Nick Herreras

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