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dysfunctionalcreature · 1 month ago

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so I have this Michael Shelley/Gerry Keay/Mike Crew AU and fanfic idea, which I know doesn't at all match up with the canon timeline but I don't care

The very simplified tldr of the plot is: Michael Shelley and Gerry Keay and Mike Crew became very close as young adults when they were all still human, but then Michael is taken by the Spiral, and Gerry dies of his brain tumor. Things follow canon for a while after that, but diverge around episode 91 because Mike isn't killed by Daisy. Things continue to diverge from canon after that, culminating in Mike and Gerry and Michael all being reunited, and going to live together in a house overlooking tall cliffs. But of course things are a bit different now, considering now Mike Crew is an avatar of the Vast, and Michael Shelley is an avatar of the Spiral, and Gerry Keay is an avatar of the End...

And my full fleshed-out outline/rough draft of the plot goes:

Michael and Mike became roommates when Mike was still searching for a Leitner to save him from the Lichtenberg Figure, and Michael had just applied to and gotten hired at the Magnus Institute. And they bond over the Spiral related childhood trauma they each have, they're the first ones to really understand or believe eachother's supernatural experiences, and they quickly become close friends.

Michael also encounters Gerry at the Institute and they become friends, Gerry hanging out (and probably flirting) with Michael whenever he stops by The Archives. And once they've gotten close Michael introduces Gerry and Mike, and while Michael and Gerry got close faster, Mike and Gerry do end up bonding over their experiences with and curiosities about Leitners. Gerry even eventually tells them all about the Catalogue Of The Trapped Dead.

Mike and Michael are still living together by the time Mike finds Ex Altiora, he was missing without a trace for like 2 days after he used Ex Altiora and jumped from that building to escape the Lichtenberg Figure and join The Falling Titan. Michael was so worried and stressed about what happened to him, and them and Gerry tried to look for Mike. But then Mike just returned one evening, still himself just with far bluer eyes and a more relaxed energy than either of them were used to, they're very happy that he's safe and to see how much freer Mike seems now.

Mike and Michael stay roommates until Michael disappears on his trip to Sannikov Land with Gertude. Once she returns from the trip without him, Mike goes to Gerry since he knows her but he doesn't understand Michael's absence either. So Mike questions Gertude, and when she tries to avoid telling him, he does to her the thing he did to Jon in canon, makes her feel like she's falling at terminal velocity, and she relents vaguely telling him that she sacrificed Michael in Sannikov Land to save the world.

Mike relays that to Gerry, and they both spend awhile searching for any sign of Michael, but eventually accept that he's actually gone, they mourn him together and also privately. Mike's sadness feels somewhat distant as a result of being part of The Vast, but he does keep the apartment, and all of Michael's stuff where he left it. Mike and Gerry stay in contact and even get closer, though they actually hang out less often.

Gerry continues working with Gertude, cause though her methods upset him, she is still protecting the world (as far as he knows). Mike travels a lot more, doing Vertigo stuff, but he still keeps their old apartment.

When Gerry doesn't come back from his final trip with Gertude, Mike confronts her, and she tells him that Gerry died and she left his body behind, but she doesn't tell Mike where he died or that she put him in the Catalogue Of The Trapped Dead. But Mike does remember the Skin Book, and he guesses that it might have something to do with that. He searches for Gerry and the book, but he can't find either.

Now Mike is alone without his two closest and only friends, but the lonelyness and missing them doesn't hit as crushingly hard as it would for most, due to the perspective he has from having been an avatar of the Vast for a number of years by now.

Mike meets Michael The Distortion once. It informs him that it knows that Michael Shelley cared for him, but it isn't Michael Shelley, and the fact that it (more-or-less) looks like him and has access to his memories is nothing but an inconvenience, Mike gets away from it quickly, very shaken by the encounter.

Episode 91 happens mostly similarly to canon: Mike gives his statement to Jon, he mentions that he used to be close with one of Gertude's assistants and also Gerry Keay, but it's clear that it's hard for Mike to talk about them. Mike survives the interaction cause they don't get interrupted by Daisy (she'll find Jon to kidnap once he's like a block away), so Mike bids Jon farewell with a remark about how he couldn't care less whether Jon's a better or worse Archivist than Gertude was, but he hopes that he's a kinder person to his assistants than she was.

After Michael The Distortion's statement to Jon in episode 101, it doesn't "die" like it does in canon, instead it spits Michael Shelley out and he's released from The Distortion, who does still become Helen now. Michael was part of the Spiral and The Distortion for long enough that now freed Michael is still connected to it, only now they're a more human avatar of the Spiral. As a result he can still access the Spiral's halls and make and use doors, so they easily find their way to where Mike is currently staying.

Michael looks much more human now but they are still somewhat distorted and strange looking - limbs elongated just slightly beyond what's normal, hair curlier and longer than it once was, eyes shimmering too many colours, body temperature noticeably warmer than it used to be, and he's shaky and tremblely in his hands - despite that Mike quickly understands and believes what happened to him. They're so relieved to be reunited, they hug and cling to eachother for a long while (Vast avatars and the former Throat Of Delusion can and do get touch-starved).

But then Mike has to tell Michael what happened to Gerry, and of course they're very upset.

Michael wants to try looking for Gerry's body and the Skin Book again so they do, and with the help of being able to travel through The Distortion's halls they actually find the Skin Book (before Jon would have gotten to it in episode 111).

Gerry's very happy to see them both again, but he doesn't want to just remain part of the book. So they start trying to figure out a way to free Gerry from the book and bring him back to life, and with Mike's experience with reading and safely using Leitners they do figure it out.

Gerry can be freed by becoming an avatar of the End, it's a process that involves sacrificing some people, specifically Gerry has to be summoned from the book so he can like drain enough peoples life forces. Gerry insists that the people are he kills be ones that probably deserve it, and Michael agrees and makes sure that the victims they find have it coming, Mike doesn't really care about the morals of it but he goes along with it, he doesn't mind as long as it works.

It does work, and once there have been enough deaths, Gerry is free and has a physical body again, though he's not technically alive. He's pretty undead, his skin is practically grey, his irises are dark, and he doesn't breathe or need to eat or drink anymore, and he's not only cool to the touch but Gerry himself feels like he has a constant chill, but, he is still capable of sleeping.

There's lots of hugs and some relieved tears once he's free. Over the following days as he starts to adjust to his new state of being he starts wearing only the warmest clothes he has to deal with his constant coldness. He also realizes that wearing trad goth makeup works well to hide how grey his skin is now whenever they're in a public setting.

And now they're all three reunited, Michael is no longer lost in The Distortion, and Gerry is no longer trapped in the Skin Book. So at Mike's suggestion they all decide to pack up and get away from London and go stay at a cottage on the vertigo-inducing coastal cliffs of Ireland. The cottage is actually owned by the Fairchilds but Simon offered to loan it to Mike years ago.

They settle into the cottage together easily, it's cozy but big enough for the three of them to not feel crowded. And it's a comfortable place for them all to get to know eachother all over again, now as avatars of It Is Not What It Is and Terminus and The Falling Titan.

They also spend a lot of time outside, in the garden and landscape around the cottage: Gerry and Michael often snuggled together in a sunchair on the cobblestone patio - Gerry wrapped in a thick blanket and curled around Michael since their unnaturally warm body temperature is a pleasant contrast to Gerry's unnatural coldness - Michael holding him close, enjoying the sun, and rambling softly about patterns and shapes he sees in the clouds.

Mike likes going on walks in the area and often Gerry or sometimes Michael will accompany him. Mike also enjoys "going for falls" off of the cliffs, just stepping off and falling until he feels like landing on the ground at the cottage's front door again.

And there's a village somewhat nearby that they stop into sometimes, to poke around the local antique and book stores. The town has a graveyard which Gerry appreciates and will linger in, and every so often Michael will add a new strange door into a townsfolk's house.

There's also castle ruins and such that are tourist destinations around that they'll travel to, as ancient buildings and places like that are perfect spots for Spiral and Vast and End fears to crop up, but they do it infrequently as they're all kinda anti-social beings who would rather just spend their time with eachother.

Aaand maybe at some point (like late season 3?) while they're living there Jon shows up, cause he tracked them down because he had more questions for Mike. And he talks with them and learns some answers, it's similar to his conversation with Gerry in episode 111, but with more information and perspectives since he's getting answers from three avatars now.

And maybe that interaction changes how things happen moving forward: maybe Tim survives the Unknowing? maybe they inadvertently help Jon figure out his feelings for Martin sooner? or maybe even the apocalypse doesn't come to pass?

Or maybe nothing actually changes, and the apocalypse does still happen... So then Gerry, Mike and Michael end up just vibing together as avatars throughout the Eyepocalypse: the cliffs around their home now dropping off into endless blue sky, no beach or even ocean in sight below. The town nearby now transformed into a mess of strange structures with too many doors, surrounded by a sprawling graveyard full of bodies that do not want to rest.

But inside their cottage all is peaceful, though it is weirder than it was before: there's extra doors on most of the walls. And sometimes the hallway goes on longer than it should. And the windows all show nothing but infinite, occasionally stormy, skies no matter what direction you look.

But thanks to the influence of the End, Mike and Michael are actually able to sleep peacefully, as long as they're in Gerry's presence.

So they spend plenty of time in there together, Mike and Michael cuddled up in eachothers arms fast asleep, Gerry settled close next to them with a book, he could sleep too if he wanted, but he'd rather watch over them and listen to their soft contented breaths, as lightning spirals through the blue sky outside their window.

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