so uh I've been addicted to Welcome Home since the beginning of the year(2023)...and I'm normally the type of fan that just wanders around and gives my silent support with the odd comment left here and there....but seeing all the Welcome Home AUs I've got inspired to make my own...specifically by the who made the CreaturePirate AU...(don't let them see this pls I-I-I don't think I could function if that happened lmao XD)
....I haven't made any art for it yet but Ive got lots of notes so I'm just going to dump it all here so I've got it written down some where lol...keep reading on if you like or just keep drifting doesn't matter much to me...tho I hope you enjoy my info dumping :D
OK so to start I didn't have a proper name for this AU when I first wrote this but now I do!..it's going to be called Lost Media AU but for tagging purposes it will be WH Lost Media AU! Now onto the actual info :P
So the main thing that's different right off the bat is that instead of aimed at kids and being educational, this Welcome Home is aimed mostly for adults, young adults and maybe older teenagers but certainly not for kids [tho this doesn't stop parents from letting their kids watch it -_-]
The show leans into some heavy themes though horror seems to be its main theme with the goal of unsettling the viewers with reminders of advice given when they were kids. It started airing in 1949 and has had two hiatuses since then, one around 1957 lasting a year and the second one being 1970 lasting only a week.
Since their first hiatus in 1957 their broadcasting company has been changed but there isn't any information on the current company in charge of broadcasting the show, not even the location of the broadcasting studio could be found. The show had also went from being a mainly English broadcasted show to a multilingual one, being shown in whatever language was used most in the country the show was played in.
The Welcome Home! show was known for its lovable and eccentric cast of characters but also for its odd scheduling and bumpers. It played throughout the day and late into the night with the only interruptions being the 1-2 hour long bumpers. Depending on the time the viewer watched the show you'd get a different variant of the show. For example...
2 - 5am = horrifying visuals, sounds and a generally haunted feeling, odd creatures were mostly noted along with a few...noteworthy changes to the seemingly friendly neighborhood. [has caused many deaths tho these were wrote off as natural causes]
5 - 7am = the first of three bumpers. the mildest of them, its a bit weird and surreal as if you took way too many psychedelics at one time. Viewers might think they hear something in their home but don't pay much attention. [anyone whose seen this bumper can't remember what they saw]
7am - 9pm = the usual TV show that most people have seen, with episodes ranging from lighthearted adventures to horror/slasher plot lines. Nothing out of the ordinary here besides the odd detail or two being oddly colored or misplaced. [nothing noteworthy here besides the characters sometimes going a bit off script]
9 - 10pm = second bumper. a bit more intense than the first but again not the worst. Massive drug feel to everything as if you are on the way to having a very bad trip. Everything begins to bleed together and become oddly colored while seeing the characters head inside their homes. Wally's house becomes the focus with a sudden wide shot of the neighborhood. [has traumatized kids and caused many to faint once the bumper is done, an odd eye mark showing up on the nap of the neck barely noticeable anyone including the viewer]
10pm - 1am = the once happy and inviting neighborhood becomes very much unwelcoming, becoming an odd liminal space of sorts with distorted voices drifting in and out repeatedly. The camera is fixed on Home with things moving at the edges of the camera but that's all at least on the surface [has driven people to insanity and paranoia]
1 - 2am = the last bumper...very intense and the feeling of being watched comes to the forefront and quickly becomes overwhelming the mark given on the second bumper burns intensely and the viewer can feel themselves stiffen up leaning more towards the TV screen. [while somewhere in the viewer's home faint chanting can be heard]
A big coincident that occurred started during its run in the 60s seemed to plague the show till now. A cult had revealed themselves to the masses though the name has been seemingly lost due to some meddling by someone. At the same time quite a few people [between 12 and 33] began to go missing with no traces as to what happened or where they may have gone. The only key thing tying them all together was that Welcome Home! was on in their residence when they went missing. The cases had gone cold after a few years but many speculate that the show and the cult had something to do with it.
wow that was quite a lot now that Ive written it out XD and that's only like the lore stuff Ive got sorted out atm haven't even gotten to the characters and such lol...maybe when I get home from work I'll get all that stuff written down and posted? idk XD we shall see I guess
[A sad violin song plays over an image of a sad hamster]
Pac: This doesn't have anything to do with me – I wear a blue sweatshirt, you're crazy, this mouse doesn't even have a sweatshirt, this hamster! [Reading chat] Am I a depressed hamster?
[ Transcript continued ↓ ]*
–
Pac: Actually– that's fine! I embrace that idea – of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy? [He hits his desk, then starts counting off people on his fingers] Fit is gone, Richarlyson is gone, Ramon is gone, Bagi and Empanada who were always there when we were there are also gone, I haven't seen them! It's just me and Tubbo, and sometimes Philza shows up.
Pac: I lost Chume Labs, I lost the Favela, I lost Murder Mystery, I lost Ilha Chume Labs, it's crazy! Look at how much I've lost, and I've gained nothing! Of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy?! How am I supposed to be happy?!
Pac: [Reading chat] "You have us Pac," that's true, thank you. No, that's true, sorry.
* NOTE: Please note that this is an incomplete transcript, as I was primarily relying on Aypierre's translation mod at the time and if I am not confident of the translation, I do not include it. As always, please feel free to add on translations or message me corrections.
i think a major thing that is overlooked in the x files is that when they do their little cutscene of them driving from washington dc to the bumfuck middle of nowhere at the start of each episode, their roadtrips must be SO long. so what are they doing in that time? are they fighting over which radio station to listen to? filling the silence with conversation? is that how they become inseparable, over mind-numbing hours on the road where stories slip off of the tongue with ease?
Just to minimize my chances of being genuinely misunderstood OR deliberately misinterpreted, and crucified for something I don't think, How Dare You Say We Piss on the Poor website etc...I'm gonna say this right up top. I absolutely understand why people don't like Thessaly as a character, if anyone does completely unironically stan her as some kind of feminist hero who Did Nothing Wrong uwu, I personally see it as a bit of a red flag. I don't like terfs real or fictional. In a vacuum, I could even completely sympathize and agree with the people who want her cut.
HOWEVER.
It's really something to me to see people clamoring for her to be cut, because she carries and expressed an ugly indefensible prejudice (transphobia) in words towards (1) person. Meanwhile Hob fucking Gadling enacted one of the most violent forms of antiblack racism I can even think of against thousands no, millions of people, the ripple effects of which still affect billions more today. Just a little light idk, profiting off the fucking slave trade and had to be told by someone else that it was bad...and he's a fan favorite.
People are saying Thessally being Dream's love interest reflects badly on him or is somehow endorsement by the narrative (?!?!?!?!?!? Didn't she (SPOILER ALERT AS IF IT MATTERS BY NOW) help participate in his extended assisted suicide? She's not painted as a great person to me just another character what are y'all SMOKING whatever fine. It's fine this is fine.) But shipping Dream with Mr. Former Slaver is not only not verboten or frowned on widely in the fandom but its THEE most popular pairing by far. So...why the difference?
Like where are the same fans who are saying Thessaly shouldn't just be more clearly shown to be wrong, she shouldn't even be in the show at all when it comes to Hobert's crimes??? Yes, transphobia is indefensible. Isn't racism?
And I hear the cries of "it's fiction!!!" Already rallying (if anyone who needs to hear this even sees it lol) to which I say:
HORSESHIT. I KNOW you don't, deep down, really agree because if you did, why get upset about Thessaly being included??? Why does what she said to one person matter if it's Just Fiction You Guyze. Fictional characters are allowed to do bad things and fiction isn't reality sweaty....except when you only apply that standard to fictional racists you like and simp for, but fictional transphobes you don't are SO HARMFUL they shouldn't even be portrayed in fiction.
Like. Give me a big fat BREAK. This looks like bullshit, no? I'm sorry, but I'd love for someone to try and give any other explanation besides one personally offended you or hit home for you, and the other doesn't.
And if that bothers you or you feel like it says something negative about you...idk what you want me to say??? You can't control how other people perceive you and that's how people outside this majority-of-the-fandom bubble see it. You don't need to respond, I just wish and genuinely hope this gives you a moment to think about why fans who ARE bothered by both (and not just paying lip service to being bothered by the one but railing against the other) are so frustrated with people saying everyone is welcome but in practice only bending over backwards for the comfort and emotions of themselves, and people they can easily relate to.
You don't have to like Thessaly (I don't. I find her an interesting antagonist, I don't stan her. And frankly that's not the point of her character) but you'll pardon me for feeling more than a bit cynical and side eying people's motivations for what seems a...pretty obvious double standard, on what fictional crimes related to real world issues matter to y'all, and which clearly don't. Either actually bring the same energy to the table for fictional people who committed atrocities, even if against a group you're not part of and thus don't feel the need to empathize with, or just carry on, but accept that you don't have the SLIGHTEST room to talk about cutting characters who do immoral things. And you also need to accept that you look like a hypocrite when you do.