#the dolls of new Albion AU

[cipher-the-sidhe]

Listen. Listen, ok? Dolls of New Albion Fnaf/DCA AU. It’s ✨perfect✨

Steampunk London with life sized dolls inhabited by the resurrected spirits of peoples’ dead loved ones, but they can only speak what the radio has played (like the transformer, you know?).

Edgar: William Afton

Both Byron and Priscilla are narratively similar to Michael Afton

The DCA as Jasper the Doll but the Puppet/Charlie Emily also hella fits this role

SERIOUSLY. If you listen to only one song from this musical make it either “Annabel Raises the Dead” or “The Movement 1”

[earako]

Eh screw it, dolls is back in my head again

Get ready for a quick angst snippet

-/-

He found him.

He was in the forests near the outskirts of the city holed up in an old tower that was overgrown with vegetation. Vines scaled the walls, bushes peeked through cracks in the stone, and tall grass nearly hid the door that lead to the inside.

Where he was.

Where his love was.

His love lay, armour off, curled up on the couch as a scarlet trail steadily dripped from the stump where his arm used to be-where his arm should have been.

Where it would still be if Ambrosius...if he hadn't...

"Oh...Bal...." The Golden night fell to his knees, his armour scraping loudly against the floor.

He expected Ballister to jump up in surprise, to bolt off the couch and stare at Ambrosius, to yell, scream, something.

There was so much blood on the couch...

Ballisters eyes opened, a shallow breath escsaped his chest.

"....'Rosius?"

"Bal...Bal I-"

"Innocent...not...me-"

"Ballister-"

"Don't....hate...me..." Ballister sagged backwards, body tilting, eyes glazed over.

Ambrosius could only watch. He was frozen, ice in his skin, lead in his throat. His mind screamed at him to leap forward, to put his damned training to use and at least get a torniquet on Ballister-

Ballister was falling off of the couch.

Ambrosius' mind and body decided to finally sync up. He leapt forward and cradled Ballister to his chest, wincing as he hit his head on the table.

"Bal? Ballister?" His breathing was slow.

Too slow. Ambrosius desperstely ripped off his gauntlets and pressed his fingers against Ballister's neck searching for a pulse.

"Please....please please please-"

It was faint. Barely there.

No...nononononono-

Ballister....Ambrosius mind filled with static, eyes watering, his own lungs failing to draw in a breath-

Ballister. Ballister, Ballister, Ballister, Ballister.

Ballister smiling at him, Ballister singing to him, Ballister remembering to ask for nachos without olives because Ambrosius always forgot to-

The pulse fluttered for a few moments, then stopped. Fluttered then stopped.

Ambrosius pressed Ballister against his chest, eyes frantically scanning the tower for something anything-

He couldn't live in a world without Ballister. He refused to live in a world without Ballister.

On a quiet evening on the outskirts of town something inside of Ambrosius Goldenloin snapped. His thoughts were nothing but BallisterBallisterBallisterBallister-

He screamed. He screamed, cried, raged, begged and pleaded.

And then?

And then he vowed he would rip the very heavens apart if it meant having Ballister by his side again, Queen killing be damned.

Ambrosius laid Ballister gently back on the couch, butterfly pulse still beating weakly against the fingers lovingy placed on a cold neck.

Ambrosius would fix this. He took another glance around the tower.

There looked like what seemed to be an old lab

Perfect.

First, find a way to stabalize Ballister.

Second?

Bring him back.

Through any means possible

Gone was the institutes golden boy.

In his place?

A budding, but perhaps not entirely stable, necromancer.

[jaedoesart]

Universe @ everyone else: oh we'll just put a little flower or two on your arm or smth, it's no big deal ^^ <3

Universe @ Saul: HAHA GET BLINDED BITCH-

[tadc-harlequin-au]

HI, SORRY! - here’s the fixed list + some other songs I found while re-writing it all out!

- Pomni -

The Ballad of Jane Doe - Ride the Cyclone

Who are you really? - Mikky Ekko

Tounges & Teeth - The Crane Wives

My Alcoholic Friends - The Dresden Dolls

- General Vibe songs -

Le Monde (From Talk to Me) - Richardson Carter

Little Dark Age - MGMT

Vale of Tears - Jason Tai

Card Castles in the Sky - Jason Tai

Dance Macabre - The Oh Hellos

(Also bonus I just thought of:

The Dolls of New Albion: A Steampunk Opera Album is good too for general vibes maybe)

- Showtime -

Curses - Crane Wives

Never Love an Anchor - Crane Wives

Allies or Enemies - Crane Wives

Me & The Devil - Soap&Skin

The Garden - Crane Wives (if you can’t tell uhh, crane wives is a very good source for angsty love songs skdhjs)

Wasteland Baby - Hozier

I’m not in love - 10cc

Duvet - bôa

(Also *maybe* Too Sweet - Hozier too?)

Like I said before - sorry if some of these don’t fit + it’s a long list 😭

WOAHHH okay okay, let's rate it then

Pomni:

Ballad of Jane Doe: I can see why you think of this. It actually surprisingly fits, what do you know

Who are you really: This one, definitely. You're on a roll so far

Tounges & Teeth: I can see this as early Pomni in the AU, when she's still pretty much following a blind directive.

My Alcoholic Friends: I can't really see this one all too much, but I do get where you're coming from. Mostly because I already know how Pomni turns out in this AU compared to what I've revealed on the public so far.

General vibe:

Le Monde (From Talk to Me): Ooooooh! I agree! For some reason I'm imagining a badass ballroom scene with this-

Little Dark Age: Honestly I can see this working with pre-Pomni/Caine meeting, when Pomni was still wandering all over the lands to look for something to fight, and Caine is just spending most of his time being isolated in the mansion

Vale of Tears: OH MY GOD ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS IN HERE?!?! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! I can somehow see this with Boss!Ragatha-

Card Castles in the Sky: Mhm.... mhm.... yeah I can see this as the vibe of the entire city before current events of the AU, like... just an aerial view of the broken city before Pomni came.

Dance Macabre: Wow, I can see this as music for a pretty epic trailer lol, this is a vibe

I can't say anything about The Dolls of New Albion: A Steampunk Opera Album yet, because that's.... that's 25 songs- LMFAO

Showtime:

Curses: Okay, why is this so fucking upbeat yet so dark?? HELP?? I can kinda see it, but it's not fully convincing me... But at least I got a new song to listen to

Never Love an Anchor: This one.... I see it as early Pomni/Caine interactions, and somehow them both dueting.....

Allies or Enemies: Yeah.... Just- yeah..... LMFAO

Me & The Devil: This one I can't see :(

The Garden: POINTS??? THIS IS A CAINE SONG YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, SHAKING IN MY SEAT

Wasteland, Baby: Holy shit, Hozier? Damn I've heard of this guy from GoW Ragnarok, but ANWAYS. YOU. YOUUUUUUUUU. /POS... THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE HARLEQUIN!SHOWTIME SONG IN THIS LIST YET..... WHAT THE HELL..... CAINE SINGING THIS.... UEUEUEUE.....

I’m not in love: LMFAOOOOOOOO the denial stage harlequin!showtime song HAHHAHAHAH

Duvet - bôa: This one I can't see either-

Too Sweet: I'M GOING TO CRY this felt sm like Pomni.....

Most of these are going in my playlist now thank you for the meal

[shaperaverse-brainrot]

Can you do the character ask thing for Raven?

Thank you for the ask!!!

First impression

Oh good lord. Right. Confession time. I gave myself so many spoilers as I was listening to the albums. I was scrolling the New Albion tag for months before getting into Shaperaverse looking for exclusively DoNA posts, because I was struggling to find any ones I hadn't seen before, and of course I discover the "weird narrator named Kate" had a whole backstory thing. And when I eventually listened to radio hour and had a Lloyd Allen moment of course I stalked his tag and found the Lloydven stuff.

So I kind of knew him as a fan favourite character, and was pretty excited to get to the carnival album on my listen through, to see why everyone seemed to like him so much. And. Uh. Yeah I immediately knew why. Silly clown man who was also a bit of a villain?? Absolutely sign me up.

Impression now

He's my favourite little guy to write about I love him so much. Definitely in my top three favourite Shaperaverse characters if not my absolute favourite of all time. It's really interesting to see how my perception of him has changed in the almost three years (HOW HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG) since I first listened to BotLH, but I think now it's just settled on "Fucked up human being who should probably go to therapy but is trying his very best with what he's got"

Favourite Moment

THE SHOW MUST GO OOOOON THE SHOW MUST GO OOOOON OH DAVID I AM LOSING AND WE NOT NOT WHAT WE'RE DOING BUT MY SMILE GOES NEVER WRONG

Idk if I got the lyrics right but. Honestly that bit in Raven's storytime theatre hits me like a damn truck every single time. Screaming crying doubled over in pain the vocals the vibes the everything.

Second favourite honourable mention has to be the pursuit with Sarah. Because oh. My. God. Being forced to give up your past self as you push harder and harder to save the family you have now. Aushshs

Idea for a story

I am a fanfic writer through and through how dare you make me choose between my babies-

If it counts I really want to finish my WIP on David running into William in level 5 instead of the August Sky Playhouse, and he gets to adjust in a somewhat healthy way and loosening the dam on his powers and doesn't lose his sense of self in the progress

If we're talking about ideas that aren't even wips I have an urban fantasy au where the whole Raven/David identity crisis is that he's a weird demon thing that has to unlearn a bunch of repression to like. Be able to use weird powers and not die.

And as a bonus I have to admit Fayz your Lloydven Cinderella au are some of my absolute favourite Shaperaverse fics of all time I love the way you write David/Raven in them.

Unpopular Opinion

I am. Unfortunately. So basic with most of my Shaperaverse interpretations. The only thing I can think of that relates to him at all is that I wish there was less linear time? Like the whole "Marjolein being with them for two years" and "Lloyd leavimg in a year" and, tying into Raven, him (well, Paul in the cabaret) explaining to Asha in the cabaret that Lloyd's been a doll longer than human, and later to the audience that Lloyd has been in the doll and he in the CU for a hundred years. Just... Not in my head. Nope. Time is fluid. Lloyd may have been a doll for a century but in my head he was like... Both centuries old when he died yet also only like 41. Time doesn't exist. They're immortal yet so breakable mortal at the same time. Raven was in the CU for both a week and until the universe was ripped apart by the chaostrophe. There's such an emphasis on time not making sense and then- (I'll shut up now.)

Favourite Relationship

It has to be Raven and Han Mi. I don't think much more needs to be said. If you haven't already you should check out the twitter tales wiki page and you'll fall in love with Raven and Han's relationship I promise.

Little child sleeping in my arms so soft and safe are you the only truly real I can aspire to create-

Favourite Headcanon

CANE USER RAVEN. It mentions in the podcast he takes to carrying a cane around for pizzazz but in my head he carries it around both for pizzazz and because he needs it to walk. Depending on mood and context it can be because he needed it as David and overcame internalised ableism while getting through his other issues and started using one, because he got injured by Sarah in the postie war and it was an injury that resulted in him using a cane, or simply because he gaslit himself into needing one as part of the Raven persona, starting as pizzazz and then solidifying itself as something Raven Always Used, to the point that if he doesn't have one he will struggle.

[sw33t-oubliette]

Hey I wanna chat abt smth, cause you know Steampunk better than I do

How would you like. Go about making a steampunk Hatchetfield au. if this question makes any sense. It's okay if it doesn't shugnkb

steampunk can mean alot of things depending on how you use it this ones kinda hard to answer . Best i could think of would be making hatchetfield the place itself steampunk . kinda like new albion [in dolls of new albion] . Excuse the poor quality but smthn like ⬇️ [this is the only illustration of steampunk era new albion iwouldve . Used another image if there was one]

like i mentioned steampunk is hard to define as a thing its very malleable :P

[project-catgirlpillar]

The dolls of new Albion au where instead of focusing on how He wants to die again Jasper asks the mcalistairs to please Stop projecting all their issues and desires onto him by playing Barbie Girl very loudly and sarcastically on repeat

[redrobemerle]

hey what if i made an ffvii au based around a very niche musical i enjoy. woe dolls of ffvii be upon ye

the narrator : the Planet itself (tells the story, also tries to warn people about the consequences of their actions but cannot be heard by the rest of the cast) the gambler and the monk : JENOVA and a cetra (maybe ifalna, maybe just a random one. its not like theyre mentioned by name anyway) jasper : grimoire valentine (this is mainly bc annabel had to be lucrecia) annabel : lucrecia (she canonically sort of brought vincent back from the dead. sort of. she probably wouldve brought grimoire back if she could have. its also lowkey implied that she may have had a crush on grimoire?)

((now heres where the roles go off the rails in regards to what their original relationships were))

edgar : hojo fay : vincent (THATS RIGHT BAY BEE IF JASPER IS GRIMOIRE VINCENT HAS TO BE FAY. whos the guy vincent leaves hojo for when he realizes Oh This Guys Fucked Up Actually? probably cid or reeve. i dont really ship vincent with anyone so like. as long as its not one of the Kids. anyway also thinks about how grimoires last words in canon are "tell vincent im sorry". thinks about "i took the liberty of bringing your dear old dad back. you can talk to him again! but only if you come back and marry me". thinks) byron : sephiroth (let sephiroth be an anarchist lmao) amelia : angeal ("amelia"s shitty dad is hollander obvs) priscilla : aerith (the obvious choice, but also im always thinking about the similarities between aerith and vincent (vincents similarities with cloud are far more obvious, but listen to me. aerith and vincent have their parallels too). priscilla reminding jasper of fay (aerith reminding grimoire of vincent)) soldier 7285 : theres so many people it could be but im leaning towards zack or cloud? everyone else gets to be voodoopunks

BUT TUMBLR USER REDROBEMERLE NONE OF US IN THE FF7 FANDOM HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT DOLLS OF NEW ALBION IS! YOU ADMITTED IT'S NICHE AS HELL!

fear not, for i have typed up a summary of the musical under the cut! if you read the summary and get upset about the way ive fucked with the relationships from the game for the sake of this au, please refer to this post <3

CONTENT WARNINGS: offstage but explicitly mentioned suicide, also very brief but explicitly mentioned parental abuse, immolation mentions (sort of), execution by a militaristic police state (near the end)

The Dolls of New Albion: a Steampunk Opera is a folk opera by Paul Shapera

the opera is split up into four acts, each following a generation of a single family. each act has a narrator telling you about the world as time passes. while not all of it is directly relevant to the story at hand, it tells you something interesting about the world. however, there is a recurring motif of a gambler and a monk who played a never-ending card game. this is important later. the city of new albion was built around them by the people who came to watch them play. but more importantly, in the Now, annabel(/annabelle/annabella. the script cant decide how its spelled) mcalistair is raising up the dead

okay so basically. annabel had a big ol crush on a guy in school. they had never talked until one day they talked and kissed and they became friends for a little bit. but then annabel was expelled for stealing cadavers for her own research. and she became a shut-in and he got married then died young. and she's figured out how to call his soul down into a doll she has built!

the doll is very lifelike but cant really move and cannot talk but he can play the radio! isnt he great? look at annabels doll everyone! she can go anywhere now bc hes proof that shes brilliant! shes conquered life and death! but not everything you love loves you in return. and when she realizes that he cannot, will not ever love her back or speak to her, he doesnt want to be back, she destroys the doll. and throws all of her notes in an old trunk in the attic.

and so passes the first generation.

the narrator informs us that annabel gets married and has a son named edgar at some point. edgar grows up and falls in love, as people often do, with a woman named fay, and on the night he was planning to propose to her, she tells him that while she loves him and she really tried to make the relationship work, hes got Issues and so she leaves him for another man.

in his anger, when edgar goes through the old trunk in the attic and finds annabels notes on necromancy, he makes a business out of it! he summons back the souls of the dead for anyone who asks and pays, and when his business becomes successful enough he uses the money and influence he has to run the business of fays new partner into the ground.

he goes and finds fay and is like. "look. i have a very successful business. the man that you say you love is ruined and poor and I know you cant live like that. and whats more than that, you know your dead dad who you loved so dearly? yeah i brought him back for you, but the only way you can talk to him is if you come back and get married to me. :)" and fay does but shes also like "what the fuck. i actually loved you once why did you end up like this this is why i left you in the first place" also the person whose soul edgar brought back is jasper, the same man annabel brought back originally.

and so passes the second generation.

edgar and fay have a son named byron. now, byron becomes a voodoopunk. voodoopunk is one part religious movement, one part political party, one part punk subculture. yes i know voodoo is a closed practice i dont know that the person who wrote this does and yeah.

so basically his whole plan is to run jasper for mayor? and theres this girl named amelia whos also running with the voodoopunks. it is unclear how old she is, but she is referred to as "a girl" rather than "a woman", so it is likely she's either a teenager or a young adult.

but jasper has figured something out. jasper has figured out how to string together songs on the radio to finally speak for himself. and byron is like "here listen to our doll give you a speech and prove that the dead can run this country better than any of the vultures that are politicians in any part of the political spectrum!"

and jasper sings.

and he sings about how he did not want to be brought back. death was peaceful and he did not want to be here.

and amelia heard this. and she had no friends. and she lived only with her father who was abusive (presumably both verbally and physically? it is never elaborated upon but we do know its at least verbal.)

and she kills herself with only the words of the song jasper sang as her note.

at which point theres public outcry bc ALL the dolls have been singing this song. in the publics eyes, the dolls killed amelia. and so people start rounding up the dolls -- who there are more of than living people in new albion by now -- and burning them alive (for a given definition of alive? its really more of releasing their souls again but really violently) byron manages to "save" jasper though.

and so ends the third generation.

we revisit the card game. the gambler died of a heart attack during the final hand, and cursed with his dying breath that the game was not yet finished, promising the two would come back to finish it one day.

and so begins the fourth generation.

New Albion has become a military police state, killing anyone with any sort of memorabilia of the dead. we see priscilla, byrons daughter, hiding in a basement and playing a never-ending game of cards with jasper. (YEP THATS RIGHT ITS KINDA IMPLIED THAT JASPER AND PRISCILLA ARE THE REINCARNATIONS OF THE MONK AND THE GAMBLER, and even if theyre not, theyre still the ones continuing the game they started).

we also see soldier 7285 join the police.

priscilla loves her great grandfather jasper dearly -- and he loves her back. she reminds him of fay, when fay was younger and more innocent, and jasper lets slip during their card game that he still wants to die but he is willing to stay because he wants priscilla to live even more. because if theyre found, they both die.

priscilla is like what the fuck thats not? fair??? why should you have to sacrifice your death for my life??? and she thinks about it. and decides that a life of hiding isnt much of a life at all.

and she calls the cops on herself.

a firing squad happens, despite jasper doing all he can to prevent it because her life for his death isnt fair to her, either.

but soldier 7285 doesnt fire.

he is court martialled and stripped of his duties/rank for it. soldier 7285 thinks about how priscilla loved jasper so much she was willing to die if it meant his freedom, and goes. hey what the fuck sort of country do i serve that thinks caring about the people we loved past their deaths is punishable by death??? im going to tear this country down and rebuild it on the graves of the people who decided this, and if i die in the process, at least i can be a martyr and inspire people to finish what i started the way she inspired me.

and thats the dolls of new albion!

[exdraghunt]

15, 24, 42

15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?

Hmm, hard to say. Probably the Titty!verse, just because it contains all the things I like xD It's very self-indulgent

24. Are there any easter eggs in [insert fic], and if so, what are they?

I hide little easter eggs in a lot of my fics. In "Behind Blue Optics", Prowl's serial number is "ETU 7285". 7285 is also the number of a police officer/soldier in the opera "The Dolls of New Albion." 7285 refuses an order, is discharged, and sets about tearing down the corrupt government.

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

Probably not for the best reasons, but I got a comment on my Thomas the Tank Engine mpreg fic that was like "I hate mpreg and think it's really degrading to trans men, so I came to this fic ready to leave a horrible comment, but actually this fic was really good."

And sure I'm glad they didn't hate the fic, but at the same time. Please don't go onto people's fics just to leave hateful comments.

[cipher-the-sidhe]

Wheewhoo! Dolls of New Albion DCA AU!

Do you like:

Haunting the narrative?

Steampunk?

The damning hubris of man?

Necromancy in the name of love?

Highly symbolic cyclical storylines?

It’s got it all folks!

Taking place after the Bonfire of the Dolls (end of Act lll), Eclipse is a haunted doll- once one of hundreds, but now one of the few left not condemned to the purging bonfires that consumed New Albion. The two spirits inhabiting this doll don’t remember their name in life, or who it was that called them back up, but they each answer to Sun and Moon respectively depending on the time of day. When it’s Sun speaking through the radio in their chest, the volume turns up and the channels skip sporadically. Moon tends to stick to short clips of a single channel, but with a terrible, gravely quality to the sound.

You, on the other hand, are an enforcer. It’s your job to find stray dolls (and disobedient citizens) and to put them down. But when you come across this strange celestial doll, something about them gives you pause… now you’re the very kind of fugitive you were meant to hunt down, hiding this haunted doll and trying to unravel the mystery of their dual existence and their obscured past.

[earako]

So

This'll be incredibly niche but brain wants to combine Nimona with The Dolls of New Albion

- In this au Ballister ends up bleeding out [or maybe just comes very close to dying, idk yet]

- Ambrosius comes across him and instant panic

- Something in Ambrosius just...breaks. He just scoops up Ballister and starts running

- Ends up at the abandoned tower, sets Ballister down, grieving him when something snaps

- Ambrosius had heard stories of necromancy...He couldn't live in a world without Ballister

- Maybe Nimona tries to help him but later on goes 'hang on this seemed funny at first but this is reaching unhinged levels not even I wanna touch'

- So now theres weird sorta necromancer Ambrosius with somewhat reluctant sidekick Nimona

- Wait ooo, if Ambrosius is a necromancer he could try to revive the queen

And I have no idea where it goes from there-

[jaedoesart]

they <3

[stargazer-tps]

Stargazer’s Art History: Best of the Amino Era (Portal)

Around 2017, I joined Amino! Most of what I posted was Barbie-related, but there were a lot of good posts I had there so I'll be crossposting them here individually (and slowly). However, I also had some Portal-based stuff that I was pretty proud of.

First up was this humanized GLaDOS design, based off of an earlier humanization I made of the Broken Age character Lorraine (the fork). This is basically what my design for Lorraine looked like, except in white/black/gold instead of blue/orange/white, and also a little more intense looking. She's a design I used in a sort-of-series I called "Project HuXLEY"—a Portal and Brave New World crossover. You can find that on AO3!

I also made this watercolor painting of her! I don't paint with watercolors very often, so this was a fun experiment for me.

This comic used lyrics from "The Mascot 3000" from Paul Shapera's New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, which I thought would make great crossover content with Portal. I also wrote out this mess along the same lines:

[...] Anyway, without further dithering, let's get into the idea! Usually I would write this out as a fanfiction, but I have a nasty habit of writing a chapter or two and then never finishing it (R.I.P my Undertale x Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter x Drowsy Chaperone, and Harry Potter x Dolls of New Albion AU fanfics), so this time I'm just going to write out the whole timeline/idea in bullet points and half sentences.

The Cast

Chell as Rachael: our protagonists have to stick together! Also, in the original Atompunk Opera, Rachael is the one who escapes the asylum, learns about the past, and eventually goes free in Elysium (and is really the only one who does so). It kind of fits. Chell is believed by Rattmann to be Cave Johnson’s reincarnation. She’s not, though; she’s no one’s reincarnation, at least not from this universe.

The Companion Cube as the Mascot 3000: this one has changed since the original comic, and even since I first started writing this post. Originally, I had set GLaDOS as the Mascot because of the song from Act 4, but given the differences between Mascot and GLaDOS (personality and role-wise), that didn’t really work. My next thought was to have it be Wheatley, since the Mascot is Rachael's guide throughout the opera, and Wheatley is Chell's guide (originally). But that doesn’t work great either given the second half of Portal 2. I settled on the Companion Cube because a) the Mascot 3000 is given to Rachael by Connor, who I’ve made Doug in this version, b) the Mascot yearns for companionship and people to go on adventures with, and c) Rachael and the Mascot go off together to explore at the end of the atompunk opera. Unlike the atompunk opera characters, though, they're not half-siblings. Or, uh, Chell's not the non-reincarnation of its half-sibling. Whatever. It’s confusing.

Doug Rattmann as Connor: although he may or not be old enough to fulfill this kind of role following the canon Portal timeline (which is super duper confusing anyway), I figured he was kind of perfect for this role. Connor is originally an employee of Arcadia Corp., the Voodoopunks’ science company, is against their AI experiments (for him, though, it's because they're using his toddler child), and frees Rachael from the asylum. Or helps, at least. It's unclear. He also uses the radio (through Lee's song) to communicate to Rachael, whom he assumes is Adrian's reincarnation. In this AU, Rattmann fills many of the same roles: an Aperture employee who doesn’t agree with all they do, who aids the protagonist and, while not the primary culprit behind its use, is at least somewhat associated with the radio. He helps free Chell from her confinement, sends her on her way with the Companion Cube, and is trying to rescue Caroline from Elysium, I guess. (It’s a bit ironic, though, because in order to do that, Caroline will have to be uploaded into an AI—as was the plan for Lee in the original opera—thus becoming GLaDOS.)

Caroline as Adrian: I kept going back and forth as to whether Caroline should be Lee or Adrian, but settled on this, I guess—but modified a little bit. She went through the portal into Elysium along with Cave. She was killed basically immediately, and reincarnated into… Doug, I think? However, Doug thinks that she is the one in Elysium who is still alive—not Cave—and wants to save her. He doesn’t know she’s gone.

Cave Johnson as Lee: I don’t have a very good description here. He’s the one in Elysium using the radio to communicate out with a song, but I guess unlike in the Atompunk Opera it might just be like the Still Alive instrumental thing and that’s why Doug doesn’t know it’s Cave who’s still there and not Caroline.

Aperture Science as Arcadia Corp.: a given, I suppose. Instead of working on GLaDOS as a solution to Cave's moon rock poisoning, they just kind of try to shoehorn themselves into Elysium. I mean, they do work on AI for a while (hence the existence of Wheatley), but it's kind of a complicated mess, and then they realize "ooh, portals," and try to make one into the world of the dead. IDK, maybe they think that going there will make them immortal: "This illness can't kill me if I'm already dead, dammit!"

The Plot (kind of)

Alright, I’ll level with you—I started writing this like a year ago and now I don’t remember what I was doing with this at all, but I wanted to at least post what I had written. Anyway, I do know that in my mind this AU basically just followed the plot of the New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, so what I’m gonna do is summarize song by song, I guess.

New Albion 9: Don’t worry about it. It’s the expositional worldbuilding song and we don’t care about it in this context.

Rachael: Somewhere in Aperture, Chell awakens. She escapes from where she has been confined or whatever and starts trying to find her way up and out. I think the backstory here was that Portal 1 wasn’t really a thing (b/c GLaDOS doesn’t exist rn); the scientists were re-focusing their energies on Project Elysium (getting into Elysium to live there/have Cave go there/whatever) instead of the handheld portal device, but they figured they’d need test subjects at some point and put her in long-term relaxation. Since many of the scientists died in the migration (also in whatever legal action was taken against them), no one was left to reawaken her except like… Doug, but that took a little while.

Introducing the Mascot 3000: Chell runs into Rattmann, who gives her the Companion Cube to guide her. It’s a little more sentient than usual in this version, or maybe Chell is hallucinating as a result of whatever soup of chemicals they had her on in long-term relaxation. She continues on.

The Shopogopolis: Aperture is Aperture, so there’s still things out there that could kill her—whether it be rogue AI, turrets, or the stray employees left (she doesn’t want them to know she’s out b/c they might put her back into LTR)—so while she isn’t hiding in one place like Rachael, she is sneaking around, trying to figure out what to do next.

What the Trite and Banal Say: Chell and the Companion Cube follow a rogue radio signal. It leads them to the back offices, where Rattmann is waiting for them. He wants to tell/show them a little bit about what has happened over the years in Aperture, maybe the Companion Cube has the capacity to show them, maybe not.

New Albion 8: Also exposition, but basically Aperture Science is as twisted as ever, but with an extra layer—this would bring us back in time first to describe Aperture’s golden days, then the goals of Project Elysium and how things were in the company right before they actually completed that—they’re convinced it’s a great idea to go there, because if Cave is already there, then by some twisted logic he won’t be able to die or whatever. Or maybe he just wants control over the dying.

Kyrie: I don’t know, this kind of describes the plot too. Cave is really talking up the whole plan, even though it’s probably not a great idea.

Connor: Doug Rattmann gets an aria to explain his reservations, I guess. He’s not romantically involved with Caroline like Connor is with his unnamed wife, but he is just as disillusioned with the company he’s working for and their goals.

The Lovers: Idk. This would be where Cave and Caroline are having a dialogue about the whole plan but I’m not sure it would be in the same style or of the same flavor.

The Deceit: I’m cutting this one, it isn’t needed here. But Rattmann is planning on sabotaging the operation IG.

The Voodoopunks’ Ascension: Kind of the same as the original. They’re crossing over.

Ark 1: The scientists who are still in Aperture (who didn’t go over) are checking in on the groups (who are Not Doing Well); Rattmann has ratted them out to the authorities or whatever for something illegal (cause there’s a lot of potential things that they could be reported for aside from, you know, trying to cross the bridge into the land of the dead). They shut things down (on the surface level; there’s still stuff going on in the lower levels and in the relaxation centers that no one finds). Rattmann did not realize that Caroline had gone with the group into Elysium and his plan had banked on her still being around to run the company.

Elysium 1: in the opera, this is just some vague commentary. We don’t really need it here.

Postcards from Perdition Trail: the Aperture folks who went through before Doug ratted them out are stuck in Elysium now, and it’s Bad for the same reason as in the Atompunk Opera. It’s not great being Alive in the land of the dead because the creatures will kill you.

Lee: Cave sings his musings on the situation and the loss of Caroline (who was killed by the creatures and thus reincarnated into Chell IG(but not really; if we’re following the Atompunk Opera to the letter, then technically Caroline would have reincarnated into… Doug?).

Rachael Returns and The Moth: Chell and the Companion Cube arrive in Elysium. It was at this point in my writing that I switched Cave to being Lee and Caroline to being Adrian, so if there’s inconsistencies in my writing, that's why. Anyway Doug has that personal interest in saving Caroline—but she died. He did not know Caroline was killed but knows Chell is special. When Cave hears that someone is coming through, he thinks it’s Caroline reincarnate and is disappointed that it’s not her.

The Show No One Saw: Chell is bitter that this whole thing was for nothing—there was no Caroline to save (her mission) AND Cave was very dismissive and rude. She runs.

The Mascot 3000 and In This Episode: The Companion Cube gets some songs explaining its origin and drive for, well, companionship. (They ARE sentient, you know.)

The Rescue Plan, The Creatures Speak, and Lost Night’s Lullabye: Cave confronts Chell like “are you nuts?” thinking the creatures are gonna kill her. The Cube gets everyone’s attention and gives them the choice to either “go through the gate” and reincarnate OR be put into a robot body back in Aperture. If Caroline was still there, they’d have told her she HAS to upload but she’s dead. Cave is going to upload himself but gets killed. Those who want to are uploaded (minus Cave). Chell stays in Elysium with the Cube—symbolically, she’s already dead.

Connor Reprise: Doug waits indefinitely for Chell, Caroline, and the Companion Cube as the other Aperture folks upload.

New Albion 10: Narration to say goodbye.

[stringless-arthur]

uhhhh dolls of new albion tomcat disposables au. the mouse is sam

THE MOUSE IS SAM.

[sw33t-oubliette]

Splatoon dolls of new albion au . All i know so far is jasper is agent 8 👍

[warrior-of-waistbands]

This AU doesn't have a plot I just have a series of bullet point concepts let's gooooo:

- George and Harold are this universe's Post-Humans—able to break the fourth wall and directly interact with the narrative. At some point they have an argument with the narrator a la this bit from New Albion Radio Hour.

- Melvin is the AU's Annabel McAlister equivalent, in that now he's the mad scientist who invented the Dolls. For what reason? Who was he trying to bring back? Mystery. I just think Melvin in general is sooooo McAlister coded.

- Melvinborg is Melvin's future self who died and was brought back as a Doll. He uses Tansan to keep himself tethered to the past but the side effect of that is that the constant usage is slowly eroding his sanity.

- The reason why Melvinborg went back to the past to team up with his younger self in this universe is a mystery but I imagine Melvin would be kinda freaked out to see what becomes of his creation in the future

- Technically, this post would be canon to this AU's timeline. Somehow.....

* (for context, this is the Shaperaverse)

Hey did I ever share my pitch for an extremely niche CU Shaperaverse AU