I love your art so much and this Michael survives au is filling up my whole brain. Do you. Have more ?
Yeah- I’m going to be making more! This is stuck in my head and I feel my art drive returning after a long set block session. Fasten your seatbelts and have fun with my nonsense-
Idk if you're a doorkeay shipper or not so if not it's ok if you don't want to do this
But I'd love to see some of Gerry and Michael growing close in your Michael survives AU
I SURE AM GOOD BUDDY- I SURE AM
sorry for the inbox spam, but…so in this au, was Michael not completely distorted or do they just have slightly more control over their own mind. Also how did they escape??
I like to think that he managed to figure out how to read the impossible map (and maybe come to the realization on some things) before he found his own way out, but he definitely didn’t leave those corridors unscathed, and he’s going to have a lot of trust issues from now 🫠
I ADORE the way you draw Michael and literally everything about the Michael survived au. Was there anything in particular that gave you the idea for it?
Thank you!!! Honestly, I’ve always drawn Michael all smiles and such. And that’s fine and dandy but I really like drawing expressions, so I was wondering “what would make Michael mad? Or sad?” Just to give a reason for drawing the expression.
And the only thing that came to my head was “he’d probably be those things if he escaped the spiral, and then was stuck at the institute. He’d be sassy about it for sure.” The train of thought just kind of took off from there. “How would he be sassy? Probably passive aggressive. How can you be passive aggressive at work? Malicious compliance- highlighters, glitter glue, sticky notes, lying to your boss, telling the truth to your boss but you lie so frequently that they need to second guess if you’re actually doing your job-“ and that’s not even considering all the ways being in the spiral has still messed up Michael but he still has a firm grasp on his humanity.
It’s just a lot of fun!! Thinking a bunch and making concept art!
Anyway- here’s MORE CONCEPT ART cause I’m having fun with all the squiggles-
I LOVE THIS AU SO MUCH AAAH
Is there any doorkeay involved? SORRY ITS JUST. I LOVE YOUR AU AND I LOVE DOORKEAY AND UH YEAH Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ
Oh yeah there’s Doorkeay alright
But it’s the bittersweet sort for sure 🙂
MOMO
DROP MORE DOORKEAY ART, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS
You hear that, dad? I’m getting paid with lives now 😎
Jk, please keep your life, it’s too valuable. I’m just glad to make more Doorkeay content 🥺
Ello! Would it be too much to request another humble doorkeay comic inside of your fantastic Micheal-didnt-die-but-the-spiral-made-
him-passive-agressive au? :3 hope your week is going great
Many thanks!! Hell yeah, here’s when the two actually start becoming friends ;) and Michael gets to say one swear word!
looking at your Michael concept art and seeing how his clothing choice got "sharper" and the colours get darker over the years
something about it stabs my heart a bit oughh 😞💔💔
i adore how you draw him so much 💛💛💛
Yeah!! I made sure to dress him very specifically :)
even if it’s a bit ill-fitting sometimes :)
I really like your Michael survives stuff! He deserves to spite Gertrude, pull some pranks and whatnot if he so desires (and with his new affinity for the Spiral, I'm sure he could do some wildly disorienting stuff if he wanted to, though mundane tricks have their charms as well haha)
Thank you! He’s going to start off small for sure to try and get out of being Gertrude’s assistant. As he thinks about more elaborate and complicated pranks, he’ll unknowingly start to develop some abilities for sure :3
Fun fact: all of his reports are TECHNICALLY still legible to people who are more Eye-oriented, Elias just doesn’t want his paperwork to look like a rainbow threw up on it.
I adore this Micheal au so much, and the way you draw is absolutely amazing! I love seeing Micheal giving literally everyone trouble, does Micheal ever get to meet Jon and his assistants?
Thank you!! Yeah! I feel like Michael will have to work with Jon and the team. He’s the only other person who was working with Gertrude before she “disappeared” so it makes sense that he’ll be around as a sort of mentor. But for Jon, it feels like Michael doesn’t think he’s suited for the role and that he’s a threat to his position. And for Michael, he’s suspicious in why Elias picked him to take over instead of Sasha.
so is the implication here that michael stays at the institute/in the archives even after gertrude's death? gotta say I am very charmed imagining the bitterest man alive passing up a chance to finally get out because god damn it. these new idiots are just like he was aren't they.
Yes! He’s still stuck at the institute and he just gets better (worse) overtime! I feel like after a few pranks and some shenanigans more directed at Elias, he ends up with a re-negotiated contract.
He’s still tied to the Institute but he’s no longer tied to Gertrude. His role is changed to “Assistant to the Archives.” At the time, Michael is all for it, he doesn’t want to be ordered around by Gertrude. But when Gertrude passes and he realizes he’s still STUCK there, he regrets that his past self was manipulated like that.
By that point, he’s a lot more Spiral-inclined, and he becomes a friendly but difficult coworker for the new archive time. It’s hard to get a straight answer from him both from his nature changing and the fact that he knows Elias is watching him. But he does his best!
I saw it mentioned that in your Michael survives AU he gains some spiral powers, could you explain kinda how those work? :D
Yes! In the beginning, it’s all things he’s doing unconsciously. They’re really small at first, but become more frequent if Michael is particularly frustrated that day. Extra/Missing steps on a stairwell, the doorknob being on the wrong side, the paper size in the printer is wrong, the pen someone is writing with is a different color, etc. Not enough for anyone to REALLY notice but it does start to build up.
Even when he is intentionally being vindictive and trying to be chaotic, like the highlighter reports, he starts to accomplish things that aren’t physically possible. He doesn’t really realize what’s happening unless someone actively points it out to him or he’s making an conscious effort to try and control himself.
Once he’s more aware, he works with Gertrude and Gerry to develop techniques that keep him grounded, and he tries to use his abilities as little as possible unless the situation is dire.
As for his abilities LATER ON… those are more complicated and I’ll take time to elaborate in another ask cause I have some silly ideas.
i love your michael lives au! could i perhaps ask how you imagine michael and sasha’s dynamic?
Yeah these two actually become HUGE besties, probably one of Michael’s only other friends at the institute. Once Sasha joins the Archives team, he does his best to look after her, both because he believes she should have been the next archivist, and that she’s one of the few people around he’s comfortable with. He tries not to hide TOO MUCH from her, and knowingly leaves hints and clues that he knows she’ll pick up in because she’s that sharp.
I keep thinking about your Michael survives au doorkeay, they’re so beautifully tragic!! Did they start to date before Gerry’s death or should I shed a couple more tears?
Gosh I’m not heartless, of course these two get their time together in this AU. Now, does that make it less or more tragic for later on? I dunno! 🤗 that’s subjective!
What was Jon’s “bad first impression” of Michael
It’s a lot of miscommunication right off the bat (may or may not have been meticulously orchestrated by Elias so that Michael can’t get too friendly). Michael expected Sasha to become Archivist, and Jon doesn’t really understand Michael’s differing job description. The two of them will eventually come to a mutual understanding but the first few months are very rocky between the two.