Compactor and I have been sailing this ship (these ships?) for ages, and finally I went a wee bit batshit in May 2021 and loudly suggested we should make a joint ficlet collection, which she heartily agreed to; I posted that same day. And here we are! I have permission from Compactor to cross-post here any chapters she adds on AO3, since FF doesn't have a collaborative option.
Polyshipping and multishipping ahoyyyy! Whereas Love and Chaos is (mostly) canon compliant, this collection focuses on "pure" AUs of all stripes (with any explicit spice to be in a separate collection for FF). Comment moderation will be made use of ;)))
This first chapter is swapped over from Love and Chaos. Original notes, circa March 2021: Another tumblr trawl dug this up. Pardon the interruption from mini-fics but rareship hell = the freedom to steer the ship lmao
My co-captain mricg sent me an ask about my headcanons for a boarding-school, probably-maybe-Victorian times AU for the Sigsquare. Some of it came from both our brains and I expanded a bit. original notes: "this is a hot mess i'm just warning you now oTL im probably pilfering from not-quite-victorian times but who cares lololol also i'm like cramming 4 HCs into 1 but I DO WHAT I WANT"
1. So. The crew are always in each other's orbits, so to speak. Moving through each other's periphery with subconscious awareness. but they all Truly Meet at different points. In kinda sorta chronological order: Robert and Roxie. Their families know each other (somehow) but Rox is so vivacious and bright and loud he just finds himself pulled in and before he knows it they're friends.
Neil and Roxie, randomly, when he sneaks off to smoke a cigarette and realizes he can't light it– Roxie's there smoking too and helps him out.
Neil and Rob end up in the same classes a lot, and Neil is… always Neil-ing and so gets in trouble all the time. Rob feels obligated to bail him out when he can. But then Neil targets him for pranks and general snark, and honestly Rob has no clue why he puts up with him– but, yknow, Roxie likes him for some reason so he can't be that bad, right? (wrong. and yet)
Roxie met Eva when Eva stood up for her (Roxie got caught "experimenting" with another girl). They both got corporal punishment for their "sins". After that they're rarely seen without each other.
Neil and Eva, once Roxie's met her; Eva's the type to command attention effortlessly and Neil is in awe. She seems so cool and untouchable, and that makes him want to figure her out, and get under her skin (in the way only he can).
Rob and Eva: sure, she's got magnetism, but what really helped it along was Roxie chattering endlessly about her.
2. Neil plus Roxie equals CHAOS. they're forever trying to play pranks on: each other, their classmates. the faculty. random passersby. and they snark at each other a lot. Rob and Eva are the "over it/studious/"etc pair, buuuut Eva often gets dragged into Neil and Roxie's shenanigans somehow and also… Eva's Eva and Neil's Neil so? ((shrugs)) which leaves Robert as the perpetually 1000% done one (who secretly loves these massive dumbbells).
3. Neil appreciates stargazing, thanks to his gramps; he can name some constellations/knows a bit about what seasons they appear in, but overall kinda casual. Part of how he and Roxie become friends is Rox is ALSO into stargazing but like. way into it. (i'm thinking self-taught idk tho) She knows multiple myths about almost all the constellations, some by heart, has their seasons memorized, knows the best times to see certain planets… Neil thought he knew a lot but Roxie has more to teach him.
4. Eva likes to collect pens (and quills, but those are hard to find). She practices calligraphy a lot, and sometimes doodles. Later on she amuses herself by learning herself the others' handwriting for (mostly) good not evil.
5. Robert likes to play piano occasionally. He had lessons when he was young, lost interest/motivation for some years, but not his love for music in general. (Roxie has a lovely voice, but she's embarrassed to use it. Rob heard her once without her knowing and he felt inspired.)
