#Armikrog Revisited AU

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Howard Van Tall has little idea how he came to be, just that he one day was. Deciding that the teasing, peckish and annoying wheelk birds were much too annoying to tolerate, he decided to walk until he found a new, much less annoying home. Howard also decided at the same time that he wasn't the least bit irritating, himself. Whole days and nights passed and he seemed to walk the whole continent over, stopping only to sit and contemplate each new location he visited. Eventually, as it happened, he decided that the abandoned fortress of Armikrog was where he would sleep, but it wasn't so abandoned anymore when a ship crashed down from the sky one day. It carried a man, a woman, and a baby. Although his conversations with the man, who he and the Octovators decided to call Father (being the father of the Child and husband to the Mother) were brief and rare, he enjoyed him and his family's company. Every day, at each dawn and dusk, he read Father's story as more and more words appeared on a wall and decided he would let them stay once he'd reached the final word. There was a sort of kinship Howard felt towards Armikrog. No matter about where or when they came from, they were both here now, and it was at that thought that he decided he was content.

~~~

More concept art I buffed 'n polished. He's so stinkin' cool. I love him so much. I forget how much I ended up changing from the initial sketch, but I don't think it was very much.

[flovey-dovey]

Once free of its walls, the beast climbed the tower with such ferocity you'd think the smoldering summer sunset had set its tail on fire.

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I still don't know what Vognaut's arm marking look 's like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hm? What's that? Context? Never heard of her.

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Numnaut: “Tommy, Tombo, Tomone, you know I love you- and Vog too- so don’t take this the wrong way, I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here.” Tommynaut: “Sure, what’s up?” Numnaut: (pulls him in conspiratorially by the shoulder) “I was just wondering if anything’s happened to Vognaut lately.” Tommynaut: “What do you mean?” Numnaut: “Well, we all know he has trouble with his emotional side, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it feels like...”

Numnaut: “... He’s a lot more prickly than usual.”

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In Connection to what i posted to you a few hours ago... do you have any other headcanons about the Astro Bros's Ixling (My word for a baby Ixen) days? Any bad blood between the brothers at any point?

In their early years, Tommy almost had to raise himself emotionally because his parents were more focused on his education and their careers. He did a lot of reading when he was old enough to, being read to by the nursemaid before that, and has a 'secret library' with all his favorite books and stuffed toys (his friends) that he'd retreat to. He had a Carpathian Brain-sucker toy (it came in a set) and was so afraid of it he put it under a box in the back of the closet, never going close to it until he was sure it 'died' from lack of brains to eat.

Vognaut grew up in a simple nuclear family with a sibling some years older than him who ran away. Ever since then he was an only child. Secretly, Vognaut has always had a fear of worms and bug-like things that goes back as far as he can remember. He can deal with them now but they still make his skin crawl. He also actually did have a space mobile, and when he was still young imagined there was a pilot in the spaceship who would encourage him.

Numnaut doubts sometimes if he had ever seen either of his parents' faces. His earliest memories are dark and dank places under bridges and through the bars of shopping carts. Maybe he was picked up by accident, or left behind on purpose, but there he was all the same. It's a miracle he's still alive, really. In his younger school years he secretly started living on campus, and once he got adopted by Tommy's mom (who's name, as I forgot to say before, is (at least currently) Cruithne) got introduced to the Big Honkin' Mansion of a House but made himself right at home while squirreling stuff away in a secret spot "just in case". A boy full of survival skills.

I might've touched on it a bit in the other ask but yeah, for a bit none of them really got along. No bad blood, per se, but a lot of butting heads and bitter feelings (mostly between Vognaut and Tommynaut on Tommy's side), most of which Vognaut was oblivious to. Numnaut just sort of passively observed Tommy but, as it is wont to do, time goes on, they learned stuff about each other through one way or another, and they realized they're actually pretty fun and cool and smart and etc. and hanging out becomes the natural state of things.

Until, of course, they get into the Astronaut Academy and Vognaut and Numnaut start pulling that much farther away from Tommynaut status-wise, and nothing Tommy does seems to help him catch up. And then Vog and Num 'die' on their mission to find a power supply for Ixen and Tommy puts all his past beef aside to chase after them yet again when nobody else would. And then he finds Vognaut, but he's changed (literally), and they have to Deal With That (through the plot of my Very Cool Armikrog: Revisited AU ;D) and it's just a bad time that gets Very Badder but they do come out of it all the closer.

This was more about their childhood situations and roughly a third of the plot of my trilogy one singular AU-fic thing than anything but I hope this was still a somewhat satisfactory answer to your query :]

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Wanna Hear some of my Awesome Headcanon?

The Astro Brothers, (Vogul, Numeral and Tommothy) passion for space exploration began with a crib mobile. it had a rocket in the center and planets spinning around it. It was Originally bought for Vogul, but it was handed town to the other Brothers too.

Rumor Has it that the Brothers kept that mobile and it's stashed as a nostalgic momento in one of their Space-Pods

Add to some Astro Bros's Past Headcanon? If you can't that's ok.

Aw, that's neat~* And of course I must discuss my Boys(tm).

In my headcanon, they're unrelated brothers-in-arms and actually first met in school, when they were young and Vognaut (Vogran in my AUs) basically became the son Tommy's dad never had and got on an accelerated track to becoming a Naut. He hung out with Tommy because of the 'our parents know each other and your dad likes me enough I can basically come over any time I want' situation and likes Numnaut because he could do really neat tricks even he wouldn't think to do, even if he thinks he could stand to take a few less risks sometimes. Takes things seriously. Like super serious. He never could and still can't understand sarcasm or subtext. A very by-the-books boy, that Vog. Also extremely popular. THE Cool Kid on the block.

For Numnaut, he was an orphan who lived on the streets and got himself into school. He was adopted by Tommy's mom since she was charmed by him when the truth came out about his enrollment. In his youth, and even now, he had a big social presence and always walked around surrounded by other kids, second only to Vog. He didn't think much of Tommy at first but got to know him and genuinely came to feel for him, wanting the best for his step-bro. He typically plays peacekeeper between Vognaut and Tommynaut. And Tommynaut and his various bullies. He was a very crafty kid, in every definition of the word.

Tommynaut sort of felt like he wanted to be an Astronaut, since his biggest interest still is space (and all the creatures that inhabit it), also being one of the biggest bookworms ever, but his otherwise floundering athletic grades had earned him a few "nicknames" around the schoolyard, a kid who's popular, yeah, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. His mother, though sympathetic, was never very actionable in his life. At first he was supremely jealous and bitter towards Vognaut, wanting to prove to everybody (especially his dad) that he was just as smart and capable, but as he got to know Vognaut outside of an academic setting couldn't help but admire his ambitions and in the end honestly just wants to do right by the only two Ixens who would ever stand up for him. He has every episode of the Ixen equivalent of Animal Planet memorized.

[klaymoggs-armikrog-blog]

Got to thinking about my Armikrog: Revisited AU-thing and realized I came up with some 'Toniums and never shared. So share I shall!

As I was making this little graph it was as I initially suspected; P-Tonium is green!

Some were artificially created in a lab while trying to find a solution to Ixen’s power problem, such as U-Tonium 2, U-Tonium 3, A3-Tonium, M-Tonium, Q-Tonium, X-Tonium, and X.y-Tonium. Also, not all of them are crystals, though if you try hard enough they can adopt such properties.

As an interesting note for the AU-thing, Vognaut, once corrupted by the P-rasite, becomes more sensitive towards the different Toniums. Who knows what might happen if he was exposed to them?

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Hither and thither, heather and thistle, midlarynx and hypothermagland, the Striped Witch carries herself like a summer storm-- a bit impatient and not much for talking unless to offer an irritating drizzle of suggestions the likes of probablies and possibilities. Even so the witch herself is never truly dedicated to any one particular. What she has tied around her horns are like the two sides of a line, two faces of a coin, two participants of a trade. Unless you enjoy getting swept away by unpredictable outcomes you'd best be careful with which foot you use to step over the lines she draws in the ever-changing sands of fate...

~~~

A redesign (kind of) of a concept character I saw in some old development art for Armikrog. I liked it so much I decided to try my hand at developing it. Might tweak the colors and such but I quite like her overall vibe.

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Headcanon about P-Tato and P-tonium: P-tonium is like pure unbridled happiness- the energy of joy and emotion- that P-Tato can channel and give form (as inspired by the fact she gives you a crystal after doing something that makes her happy; comforting her, playing with her mobile, and saving her from a corrupted Vognaut). In its raw state, it’s a bubble-y, lightweight mass that crystalizes after a few moments. As well as being a power special to her species, it’s also incredibly rare and only manifests every dozen generations or so. Lucky Tommy!

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I know I already did a sort of redesign of P before but it was still sorta bugging me so I gave it another go and I’m very glad I did! Sort of a yeti-bunny-goat-style body and horns. The symbol on her medallion is one I made up but I’m not sure what it could mean just yet. ‘Precious child’ maybe?

I’m also going to be referring to her as P-Tato (in honor of her rather potato-esque design in-game) since I figure she should have a proper-er name as well as a proper design. Her eyes can also glow in the dark :3

[klaymoggs-armikrog-blog]

Armikrog AU info

Yay I’m not dead! Have some stuff for fun and because I want to. Pretty self-explanatory, for my own future reference and because organizing AUs is fun :)

:AU 1: Irredeemable (spin-off sequel of The Neverhood: Afterword)

    Takes place in a shared universe where Numnaut went on a risky solo mission (and gets presumed dead in the process) while Vognaut and Tommynaut teamed up to search for a source of power for the people of their planet, Ixen. Focuses more heavily on Vognaut’s redemption arc and his relationship with Tommynaut after the events of Afterword. Contains a different backstory on how Vognaut was corrupted.

:AU 2: The VogTom Chronicles

    Takes place in another headcanon-heavy timeline where the events of Afterword (and subsequently Irredeemable) and the Armikrog Revisited AU never happened, at least not yet and in a much different way; basically if Ixen didn’t have as much of a power problem and Vognaut never got corrupted. A ‘neutral timeline’ that looks at Vognaut, Tommynaut and Numnaut at a slightly younger age and has the most backstory revealed for the three of them. It can also be seen as self-contained.

:AU 3: Armikrog Revisited

    A rewrite of the Armikrog timeline. The Neverhood and Ixen/Armikrog/Darshon’s Orb are not in a shared universe. Expands on pre-established lore while also going into more headcanon territory with the addition of the P-rasite and which features another Vognaut redemption arc, a reunion with Numnaut in a fan-sequel of mine and the reaction of the Ixens when they’re finally able to return home.

NOTE:

For all three AUs, neither Vognaut, Numnaut or Tommynaut are related by blood. Numnaut’s the closest thing to it by being Tommynaut’s foster brother, taken in off the streets by his mother in his pre-teen years. Reason being because I like thinking about how such a dynamic would affect them and their histories and the resulting circumstances they find themselves in.

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Wanted to make a meme and this came to mind.

[Context: Alright, so, one of my Armikrog AUs is sort of a soft rewrite, and it involves Vognaut being possessed/manipulated by a parasite-thing I’ve lovingly called the P-rasite. When Vognaut crashed, he met the locals and struck a sort of “you scratch our backs we’ll scratch yours” deal, but he also met the P-rasite, who whispered doubts into his ear that he’d never get P-tonium (non-violently), never get back home, etc, etc, and poor Vog ends up overhearing something that made it sound like the truth and his loss of hope is what gives the P-rasite the leverage it needed to possess him (& transforms him as a result) and get closer to its precious P-tonium... After that, the rest is more or less the same. Violent, that is. The P-rasite is a voice in the back of his head, telling him all sorts of other dark things, but hopefully someday Vognaut will see the light again.]

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An evil wurm approaches 🪱 (And a decently edited height chart, just because.)

Didn’t use all of the colors beside the P-rasite but it felt neat doing everything on a single layer. The colors are inspired by those gel pens that come in cases too big to keep. You know the ones. We all know the ones.