The Toyboxverse is another universe that takes inspiration from the Omegaverse and was also created in the Japanese fandom community of Pixiv.
In the Toyboxverse all humans possess a second nature, similar to a secondary gender or designation in the Omegaverse. Their second nature can either be toy-like (or toyness) or box-like (or boxness) and their second nature typically manifests around the age of thirteen.
Those with a strong toy-like nature have the desire and compulsion to be locked up, put away and be in a room where they can feel safe and relaxed and those with a strong box-like nature have the desire and compulsion to confine, put away and provide a safe space in their own room for their beloved Toy.
For a Toy, their Box’s own room/the special room their Box made from them is where they feel the safest, followed by their own room and then followed by other rooms in their homes or another environment they consider safe. But how safe they feel in a room depends entirely on the trust and security they have in the room’s owner.
In Toys the phenomenon of “inspection days”, “malfunctioning” and “bottom of the box syndrome” occurs and in Boxes the phenomenon of “empty box syndrome”, “nest box syndrome” and “wastebasket” or “trash can” occurs.
INSPECTION DAYS:
Inspection days are when a Toy loses the energy to move and does nothing except what is necessary for their survival and are unable to defend themselves against whatever another person might do to them.
During inspection days, a Toy emits pheromones that trigger empty box syndrome (the compulsion to confine a toy within their rooms) within Boxes, even if they’re already confined something or someone in their room.
How long a Toy’s inspection days lasts varies depending on the level of trust a Toy has in a Box, but the more trust a Toy has in the Box and their room the shorter the inspection days.
A Toy’s inspection days can be suppressed with special medication, but the Toy will feel lethargic for about a week. Inspection days can occur approximately every three months.
A Toy’s inspection days can be considered similar to a heat cycle an Omega in the Omegaverse goes through, but instead of wanting to reproduce a Toy just wants to be confined and kept in their safe space.
MALFUNCTION:
However, even though there are medications a Toy can take to suppress their inspection days, suppressing their inspection days too many times can cause the Toy to start malfunctioning.
While they don’t become completely immobile or paralyzed, a part of their body stops working as they should, for example their tastebuds change, or they lose their sense of taste entirely, they have difficulty moving their arms or legs or they can even have temporary memory loss.
However, the malfunction can be cured if a Toy is confined in a trusted Box’s room for a few days.
BOTTOM OF THE BOX:
A Toy’s Bottom of the box period happens regularly to a Toy who is in a committed relationship with a Box or is consistently surrounded by a Box they trust, but usually when a Toy goes through Bottom of the box period, they usually just have the strong compulsion to lock themselves away in the room of the Box it trusts immensely and feel really safe and comfortable.
A Bottom of the box period usually isn’t something to be worried about and doesn’t last long.
EMPTY BOX:
A Box’s empty box period is similar to an Alpha’s rut in the Omegaverse, but instead of wanting to mate and reproduce, a Box going through their empty box period will feel the strong urge to confine a nearby Toy in their room. Sometimes a Box can release pheromones that can trigger a Toy’s inspection days allowing the Box to confine the Toy more easily.
The more a Box likes a specific Toy, the more satisfaction they feel when going through their empty box period and the short their empty box period will last. There is special medication that can help suppress their urges, but the emptiness the Box feels can’t be filled.
A Box’s empty box period usually occurs when a Toy or loved one hasn't entered the Box’s room for an extended period of time.
NEST BOX:
Nest box is the urge a Box feels to confine themselves together with their Toy, and this happens regularly to a Box that is in a committed relationship with a Toy, or is consistently around a specific Toy that they care for. A Box periodically goes through a nest box period when they want to connect more with their Toy or loved one and usually isn’t something to be worried about, and neither does it last long.
WASTEBASKET/TRASH CAN:
When a Box’s empty box period is suppressed for too long, they can go into a wastebasket/trash can state where they feel the urge to destroy the room they have carefully arranged for their Toy or loved one.
After a while of making a mess, a Box can come back to their senses, but after seeing what they had done to the room they had arranged, the Box suffers immense mental and emotional stress and can even become sick.
EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT:
An exclusive contract is a kind of partnership agreement between a Box and their Toy. When a Box goes through their empty box period they only feel the need to confine their own Toy and not any of the other Toys in their vicinity and neither are they triggered by the inspection days of other Toys.
The same goes for Toys in an exclusive contract, they will only feel the need to confine themselves in the rooms of their contracted Box and the empty box periods of other Boxes will not trigger them and neither will their inspection days trigger other Boxes
A Toy has a special keyhole shaped birthmark somewhere on their body, and an exclusive contract between a Box and Toy can only be formed when a Box kisses that spot with blood stained lips.
The exclusive contract can be broken when the Toy wipes the spot where the Box had sealed their bond with their own blood. An exclusive contract can be terminated relatively easily and quickly and there are no particular consequences to a contract being terminated, things just go back to the way they are.
Many Toys prefer to hide the location of their birthmark.
Along with their being Toys and Boxes whose second nature are stronger, there are Toys and Boxes whose second nature are weaker too, meaning they don’t get as affected by their second nature as much as those with a strong second nature.
For example, a Toy with a weak second nature would just feel a little lethargic during their inspection days, or won’t feel like going out when going through a bottom of the box period, but usually it can be easily ignored and the Toy can go about their day normally.
And a Box with a weak second nature would just feel lonely during their empty box periods, but they wouldn’t feel the urge to confine a nearby Toy.
Some dynamics that can be explored in the Toyboxverse is:
— A Box with a strong box-like nature wanting their Toy to stay in their room as much as possible x A Toy with a weak toy-like nature that’s outdoorsy and prefers to go camping instead of staying at home all the time.
— A possessive Toy trashing the room of their Box friend to keep them from finding partners x A Box that tries hard to tidy up and arrange their room for their Toy soulmate
— People around them think the Toy and Box don’t get along, but the Box likes to hide the Toy away in their room during their empty box period and the Toy confines themselves in the Box’s room during their inspection days.
— After they fight a Toy and Box break off their exclusive contract and try to find other partners, but they always go back to each other
— Plus so many more!
The Toyboxverse is another AU style trope that’s in its infancy stage, meaning there is room for this universe to be expanded upon as more authors and readers find out about it!
But anyway, this has been my exploration into the Toyboxverse and I have to say the ideas brewing are immense and I can’t wait to see what other authors and readers make of this new universe!