#TwistTheScript's Warehouse AU

[twistthescript]

Warehouse AU Lore Dump: Karnak, His Backstory, and The Warehouse-

I've been working out a double reality scenario for Karnak, where he exists in the 'living world' (the fall fair) and the 'afterlife' (the warehouse). As I came up with his backstory, I knew I wanted him to have firm roots in the living world, so I allowed him a few interactions building up to the Wonderville and Family-Friendly Mode we see in the show.

I never really saw Karnak as the traveling type (unlike the week-long fairs that exist where most everything gets packed and moved when the fair leaves)... But also, I wouldn't truly be able to explain why Virgil had been chewing on Karnak's power cord for two years if the fair packed up and moved constantly (I doubt the fair would take the rat... unless Virgil was just that spiteful and found his way in the loading truck anyhow. I wouldn't put it past him).

Uranium is a small town- there are probably a few run-of-the-mill stores amongst the few houses and St. Cassians. Karnak would certainly be an odd item out, especially being able to read death fortunes. So, what did I do? I sat him in a 'mom and pop' shop before throwing him into a family circus act as a luring attraction. (Which led to him getting picked up by Wonderville).

Besides, I always found it odd that there was a full stage in a warehouse. I never figured there would be, unless there was a driving force behind it... and every circus needs a performance space, so there. (Plus, the son's ring of fire in KARNAK! Chapter 3 I threw in to mark the stages' turntable).

Wonderville seems to be a lazy company- they wouldn't go out of their way to remove something complex... like the stage. So, the stage stays, Karnak stays when he's not needed, and stuff piles in the warehouse around it all.

Double Reality input below the line:

Okay, so now we're at the double reality:

Up until one 'living world' year before the Cyclone accident, Karnak lives solely in the living world- 1 week at the fair, and 51 weeks in the warehouse. Emotions are odd things (and it's clear that he has them, to an extent. Annoyance is still an emotion... which is something sarcasm stems from. Karnak is nothing if not sarcastic).

After an incident [KARNAK! Chapter 4] causes him to short circuit (or for lack of better term, lose it), the 'time loop' of the warehouse is created. Time works differently here. A month can pass in the warehouse, and a full year can pass in the living world. (An example from the show would be during the final song's Penny Lamb slideshow, where we see Penny's full life in a matter of maybe 30 seconds).

It was during this one 'living world' year that he created his favorite project- and it was complete (mostly) before he was pulled for the fall fair where he read some choir's fortunes and they died on a roller coaster. (Shame).

The moment the dead choir stepped in the warehouse, the 'time loop' became 'the afterlife.' Time is still odd here. The events of RTC happen, and that's where my AU begins- in the aftermath of Karnak dying too early (He did say in a little over an hour... and the show is an hour and a half... which is not just a little), and the choir picking the pieces up after Sugarcloud.

Anyways, here are some rules about the double reality:

Karnak still exists in both. (Albeit a little differently now- he still did technically die, but now he IS the warehouse... or rather, in the electrical system). His box still exists, short-circuited and all.

Anything moved in the warehouse by the choir in the afterlife, WILL NOT show up as moved to the living world.

Anything moved in the warehouse by someone living, WILL show up moved in the afterlife.

The doll is the anomaly to this rule (there will be another post on this), and will show up moved to all, no matter who moves it.

Karnak's box is also an anomaly (Will probably be in the same post as the one mentioned above).

If an object in the afterlife drops and makes a sound, it will still make a sound to the living, which could not be traced back to the object.

As mentioned before, time acts differently in the afterlife... which might end up being semi-important to some scenes.

[twistthescript]

Exploring The Warehouse Masterlist:

Here's a little link tree to navigate easier. Listed alongside the titles and links, I've added the rating, characters involved, basic tags, and status.

I'll add to this as I update the series on Ao3:

How to Talk to Dolls (But People are Probably Better): Rated G; Ocean-centric & Jane Doe; Fluff & Hurt/Comfort; 1/1 COMPLETE

Nightmares Can't Hurt You... Can They?: Rated M; Full Choir (Ricky, Noel, Mischa w/ Jane; Ocean & Constance); Trauma/Nightmares & Found Family; 5/5 COMPLETE

Monique 2.0: Rated T; Noel-centric, Monique character study + Jane Doe; Bullying, Childhood Trauma & Fluff; 1/1 COMPLETE

KARNAK! He Sees the Future! (But Not Anymore...): Rated G; Karnak-centric; Second Person, Dialogue Heavy, Backstory; 4/? ONGOING [On Hiatus until the end of June Doe]

[Current Warehouse Map- As of 5/3/24]

[twistthescript]

[[As of 4/19/24- The initial link has been moved and split up into another post, which can be easily found through my pinned link tree.]]

My ongoing series, 'Exploring The Warehouse', I started with the intention of making seven character study fics to get myself back into writing; One for each person in the choir + Karnak. Clearly, it didn't go like that.

The thing has lore now, and it's pretty Jane Doe-centric. It's definitely an alternate universe, canon divergence story set in the warehouse IMMEDIATELY after Sugarcloud. It is, however, not Legoland-compliant... (Sorry). I will gladly allude to Penny and Ezra Lamb though.

As the story builds, I will be dropping extra lore hints over here. And because I can't be bothered to struggle with adding art or upcoming maps to Ao3, those will be shoved here too.

I typically try to update once a week, typically Sunday night or Monday morning.

So, yeah... Welcome to this crazy roller coaster ride (hopefully it won't crash), if you find yourself interested!

~ Twist <3

[If you'd like to read more about my AU, check out Lore/Worldbuilding!]

[twistthescript]

Warehouse AU Lore Dump: Jane Doe, Her Doll, and Connections to Karnak-

There are quite a few spoilers for KARNAK! He sees the future! in this, so if you haven't read it but care about spoilers, this is your time to click away.

If you haven't seen my first post about Karnak, His Backstory, and The Warehouse, you can find it here. It might provide more insight into some of this post's missing links.

Now, let's talk about Jane Doe (under the line):

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There are plenty of theories behind the mystery of Jane Doe. Multiverse theories, Murder theories... some even believe that Jane was never human to begin with; That she was created by Karnak to teach the choir a lesson. I've seen many versions of this one, so let's call it the 'Catalyst Theory' to keep it simple.

This theory has become my focal point for Jane, and something I can slingshot off of.

So, to backtrack. What do we know of Jane's backstory in my AU?

Karnak didn't create her from nothing. He grew quite attached to the two porcelain dolls mentioned in KARNAK!

He also didn't create her to directly affect the choir (though it happened anyway), but rather for a more selfish reason. He is a very lonely being after all, and most lonely beings latch onto the first things they can connect with. (The dolls.)

What she believes and what Karnak (and eventually the reader) knows are two different things. Congratulations, you know more than the choir and Jane and you can do nothing to stop the rockslide.

^^^ To connect to this: Jane's memories are warped and twisted. We'll get back to this point in a minute.

Now... who is Jane Doe?

The simple answer. She's a doll. But the more complex answer? She's made up of two. Karnak can't fully separate things that were never meant to be apart. (He doesn't have a physical heart, but he still has a heart.)

Her body is human ("Sadly, I've only ever possessed the power to bring one back to life.")- It is made up of the one doll whose head was shattered off by one of the twins. (It's said that Jane has a thick, jagged scar that overlaps the porcelain head, connecting the two. I'd like to think the remaining porcelain chunks sewn onto the neck was an attributing factor to the appearance to that.)

Since Karnak only has his programming, and brains are complex (and I'm already explaining quite a bit... but not this), the unbroken doll's head is the one on Jane's shoulders. She carries around the body. (A little morbid when you think about it, but yes, that is Jane's Dolly.)

So yeah, Dolly is very damn important to her.

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What about the memories?

As mentioned above in points 3 and 4, what Jane believes is different from what Karnak knows.

Jane is already shown to remember the pain and screams from what she believes is the Cyclone Accident. [Mentioned in 'How to Talk to Dolls']

In 'Nightmares Can't Hurt You,' Jane is shown to remember falling and losing her head [Ch. 1], and is even shown to bleed from the scar (and her eyes during that mess, but we'll ignore that for now).

Aside from the Lion Catchphrase in the show, I've also thrown in a fact about Wolverines [Nightmares, Ch. 4].

If they're not physical memories of the Cyclone Accident, what are they?

It's all summed up in KARNAK! Ch. 3, or as I like to call it: The Circus Chapter. The screams Jane remembers? The audience's reaction to the girls getting hurt + the panic from the family and the cries from the little girls. The fall and head loss? The dolls always sat on a crate overlooking their girls. Simple answer: they fell, and a girl landed on the porcelain head (which, ouch. porcelain cuts hurt).

Well, what about the blood? Half human body meets porcelain head. (Let's go with that.) I have no other justification because that will be something the readers figure out with the choir.

The animal facts just came from Penny Lamb and Karnak's auditory memory. While my story isn't Legoland compliant, and Jane Doe is NOT Penny Lamb- I couldn't resist throwing a small cameo of Lego!Penny and Ezra Lamb in.

And that's Jane Doe. There's more to her, but that's all you need to know for now. With that being said, have fun watching it all go down, knowing what you know now...

~ Twist

[twistthescript]

Lore/Worldbuilding

Warehouse AU Lore Dump: Karnak, His Backstory, and The Warehouse- Slight spoilers for KARNAK! He Sees The Future! (But Not Anymore...)

Warehouse AU Lore Dump: Jane Doe, Her Doll, and Connections to Karnak- Spoiler warning listed at the top.

[Elevator to the Exploring The Warehouse Masterlist]

[Also, have a map. (It's updated as far as I have written as of 5/20/24)]

[twistthescript]

KARNAK! He Sees The Future! (But Not Anymore...)

Hey guys... here you go.

Chapter Four: Answering Question 2.A

Some added tags: Jane's Doll is the VIP (my personal favorite), Jane Doe is Not Penny Lamb, Alternate Jane Doe Backstory, She's the Mystery Contestant for a reason.

[twistthescript]

KARNAK! He Sees the Future! (But Not Anymore...) Chapter Two:

A new chapter is out!!

[twistthescript]

I went through a while back and made a map of what the warehouse looks like in my AU. Currently, it’s up to date and matches just as far as what’s written (up to KARNAK!).

I’ll certainly update as new locations get discovered in the writing, but for now (as font is a little small in places), I offer some smaller locations to track:

Karnak’s old booth, near the stage.

Ricky’s bumper car, red (under Karnak's old booth) [From Nightmares]

The broken sink, top right [Nightmares Ch. 3]

Right side hall from stage [How to Talk to Dolls (where choir left from); Ocean, Constance, Ricky in Nightmares Ch. 4]

Marionette (Smiley face, top left)- [Nightmares Ch. 5]

{[Warehouse AU Masterlist]}

In time, this map will be filled out at its fullest. Until then, we’re all here to enjoy the chaos.

~ Twist

[twistthescript]

The best thing about the mystery of Jane Doe… her backstory can be changed around a certain amount and still make perfect sense. And even better… Karnak never truly had one to begin with.

What kind of monster have I created..? We’ll see in an hour or two when I finish editing, I suppose.

[twistthescript]

This very moment I’m unsure how to word the most complex (simple?) concept (theory?) in existence. I’m probably overthinking it. (I’m definitely overthinking it). Time will tell if it reads correctly to readers…

Yay… world building.

Time to go bug some of my unfortunate friends to see if they can read it for some input.

[twistthescript]

Following my last post… if I miss my series update this week, we’re gonna blame the allergies and my utter drowsiness.

[twistthescript]

Sometimes I can’t tell what’s worse: not knowing information about someone and being surprised or scared when something happens to them, or having all of the information about someone and still watching the shit play out, knowing you can’t do a thing to stop it.

Questions, questions.