#I love rping so much

[futuristicallyshadowyface]

God I love rping like 😩😩 fuck yeah that's so what he'd do and react in that situation

[desultory-novice]

Sorry Noir, I'm the one who said Gooey could eat the fish. I didn't know it was for you

"...Eh, it's on brand for me. As long as he enjoyed it."

(I guess I could try using my powers on it to make another, but I've never done that for, like, food and living stuff. That was always more Adeleine's thing...)

-

But trying once couldn't hurt, right? A test to see if you can still use your "gift" of materialization?

-

((...Mom, Dad, I know that on the list of bad things I've done you're horrifically ashamed of me for, using the Power Most Dark to materialize a fish ranks really, really low, but still...))

((...Also, you weren't REALLY watching from heaven during all that, were you? God... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I failed you and I failed myself and I'm such a...!!)

*POP*

"...Huh. Damn. It's just another fish bone..."

*POP**POP**POP**POP**POP**POP**POP**POP**POP*

"Uhhhh...?!"

...

[BONUS?!]

If you wish, you can have an awkward teen in an ugly scarf transport to YOUR OC a perfect duplicate of this EXACT fish bone, because *SOMEONE* may have let his intrusive thoughts mess up his experiment and now has way, way too many.

It only carries a mild Aura of Darkness.

[Noir's Field Trip Masterpost]

[keemitthefeog]

im so mad for riz right now from a story perspective. he is putting his health, his mind, his heart into everything right now, helping his friends, reassuring his mom, trying to find out more about the people SABOTAGING everything he has RISKED HIS LIFE FOR, DIED FOR, and he is the only one taking it seriously

he is a poor goblin kid who has had every card stacked against him and even when he is pulled down by his friends, he wants to help them back up, he needs to, because he loves them, but also because without them, its over for him. he wont get into college.

he is making connections with clubs he doesnt even know about, and yeah the beekeeping club has only one member, but fabian has literally made an enemy of that club in less than five minutes. riz NEEDS extracurriculars. he NEEDS every step up he can get, and his friends own self destructive tendencies or lack of social manners are catching riz in the shrapnel.

and that's good storytelling! thats tension, thats interesting!

but my heart breaks for riz. near the end of episode 6 he tells his friends multiple times that the ratgrinders are trying to get them kicked out of school!! he is investigating and keeping his head on a swivel and trying everything in his power to stay above water. and the fact that his best friends are making it hardest for him breaks my heart.

and i loved that at the end riz said to the bad kids, lets make all our effort worth more. the time, and blood, and spells, and growth we have thrown into saving the world have to be worth it. lets make kristens platform angle it so kids that risk their lives can have an easier go of it at school. and i do love that all the bad kids felt the same way. because they are all going through rough times, they are all confused, and stressed, and breaking up and breaking down. the bad kids are all really really sweet kids, with their hearts in the right place

but still my heart breaks for riz because he is the only bad kid taking the steps and searching for a way out. and im glad riz has the heart and the love for his friends to make the tunnel out big enough for all of them

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 3: Paranormal Teens

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

The jolt happens again, and Bro finds himself--well this is not ideal. It's a public bathroom. A very clean public bathroom, with pastel blue and white tiles forming a checkerboard pattern, but still. Not ideal. At least it's empty. 

Bro reorients himself and then blinks in confusion. “Huh… well, this is a first…”

There's some faint music coming from the closed door leading out into the rest of the building. 🎵 The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now, My universe will never be the same, I'm glad you came, I'm glad you came 🎵

Bro’s ears pick up on the music and he heads over to the door to peek out of it.

This is a restaurant of some sort, with pastel pink-and-blue walls and a checkerboard floor. Looks pretty crowded. There are all sorts of people sitting in booths and at tables. The music is almost drowned out by their chatter. There's a big set of front windows showing a nice sunny day outside.

Bro whistles a bit to himself as he walks through, “this is a cute place! Heh… I would take Stacy to a place like this…” he smiles to himself.

As he walks through the crowds towards the front of the shop, he suddenly hears a shout. "Holy crap!" a voice says. "Hey! Bro! Is that you?!"

Someone sitting at a table by a window suddenly stands up and starts waving. A teenage boy wearing an oversized T-shirt and black jeans with rips in the knees...and a snapback cap pushing down messy brown hair.

Bro jumps slightly and looks- then smiles wide and bright. “yooo no way!! Little me???” He hurries over, grinning, “…wait what??? Who said you were allowed to get this much older, huh?!”

The younger Chase laughs. "Yoooo it's been forever since I've seen you! I was like--thirteen or something? That's wild! It's so good to see you again!" He holds up a hand for a high-five. 

Bro high-fives him instantly. “Jesus… what are you now? 16?? It had not been 3 fucking years oh my god-“ Bro laughs breathlessly. “That’s insane…”

"Older Chase?" Someone else stands up--the other person at Chase's table. It's a girl around the same age, with wavy blonde hair. She's wearing a pink pair of glasses, a pink skater skirt, and a T-shirt with the graphic of a skull wearing a pink bow and the words Monster High. "What're you doing here?"

Bro blinks at the girl and his eyes widen. Oh hey- she… kinda reminds him of Stacy… “uh? Hi? Iii don’t think I met you last time! But hi! Uh- we’re here to actually fix our multiverses traveling thing… that’s why we never got to come back to visit you guys!” He takes off his hat and pushes back his hair, “God… I feel like when I would visit from Uni and suddenly Alt grew an inch-“

"Huh? What d'you mean?" The girl blinks, confused. 

"You don't remember Stacy?" Chase asks. "I mean... you guys didn't meet her the first time you showed up.... And what d'you mean you never came back here? What were all those other times?" 

The girl--Stacy--puts her hands on her hips. "Is there some weird time stuff happening?" 

"Ohhhh, that must be it." Chase nods. "So like--those visits haven't happened for you guys! God, this must be even crazier, then."

Bro blinks in bewilderment. “What?? Yeah uh- we didn’t come back since the first time! …oh no this is gonna break my brain oh god-“

"God, I know, right?" Chase laughs. "I have no idea how Jays deals with everything." 

“Jays?? He deals with this kind of stuff??” Bro asks with wide eyes. 

"It's a long story," Chase says, shrugging. 

"Anyway, um... in that case, hi, I'm Stacy!" Stacy smiles and waves. "You guys are here to fix your TRVLR?"

Bro focuses back on Stacy and smiles, “Nice to meet you officially then, Stacy! And yup! It’s- god such a long story but basically it got broken and then got sucked into other worlds and we almost got all the pieces! But now we gotta go collect what’s left! Which led us here!”

"Ohhhh, cool." Stacy nods. "Is there anything we can do to help?" 

"Wh--I mean--Stacy, we were--" Chase suddenly stammers. "I-I mean--we didn't even... get our food or anything..." 

"Oh, I mean, uh... yeah! We can totally keep going!" Stacy looks embarrassed. "It's not that I, uh, don't like this or want to leave, I just... it seems important." 

"Uh, yeah, it does, but uh... I-I was gonna... I mean, uh..." 

"We can come back here some other time. Any time!" 

"Yeah, I just uh... yeah." 

They are both blushing.

Bro blinks a bit in confusion and looks between the two of them. Then it clicks and he goes, “OHH! Oh! You two are-! Awww-! It’s okay little dudes you two can finish! I gotta figure out where Alt went anyways!”

"Wh--I mean, we're, uh--y-yeah, we're--I-I mean we've done stuff before, but like..." Chase messes with his hat distractedly. "This is like... stuff." 

"Yeah, it's like... stuff." Stacy fidgets with a bracelet on her wrist. "Um... he'll probably be with the others, I guess. Or... nearby." 

"So he's gonna be at Jackie's house," Chase says. "They're all hanging out there. They asked us if we wanted to come, but uh... stuff."

Bro laughs, “You guys are so cute- you can just say it’s a date!” He waves himself off, “You guys gimme an address and I can find them then! Maybe you can come catch up once you’re done!”

The blushing intensifies. "Y-yeah, it's like... a casual thing," Stacy says. 

"Uh, yeah, hang on." Chase grabs a napkin from the napkin holder. "Stace, d'you have a pen?" 

"Yep." Stacy takes a sparkly gold pen out of her pocket and hands it over. 

"Thanks." Chase writes something down. "Here!" He hands it out to Bro. On it is written the address 45 Hyder Lane, as well as some other stuff. "Uh, I know you can fly so you'll probably be able to just go there, but just in case here are the bus lines to get there from Zelly's--that's here, by the way."

Bro takes the address from them and laughs, “yeah but that’s probably not a good idea here-! Luckily I got my phone- …that should still work right?” He whips out his phone to type in the address.

For some reason, the maps app takes a lot longer to load. Chase and Stacy lean over his shoulders. "Oh, you have a GPS on your phone?" Chase gasps. 

"I hear they're gonna do something like that soon!" Stacy says excitedly. "This fall or something." 

Eventually, something seems to connect and it shows the address.

“Oh right- this is still the past.” Bro giggles, “it’s… 2012 now then?” He whistles, “man.. that’s crazy.” Once it’s loaded he grins and shows them. “Alright! See we’re all good! You guys can enjoy the rest of your date!”

The two teens blush again. "Th-thanks," Chase says. "Good luck with your, uh, search." 

"We'll see you later, maybe?" Stacy says. 

“Hopefully!” Bro grins as he waves, heading towards the door- “have fun you guys!”

"See you!" Chase waves Bro off.

 ----------- 

Alt lands in a hallway at the base of a staircase. The floor beneath his feet is covered in a brown shaggy carpet and the walls are painted pale yellow. There's a door to the left that's ajar, showing a laundry room of some kind. There's also a door to the right that's ajar, through which come a series of voices and shouts. 

"How are you guys winning?! You don't have a fucking Medic!" 

"You don't need a Medic when you got mad skillz--oh god damn it!" 

"Hah! That is what you get for talking shit!" 

"To be fair, we are like, four years older than you guys--" 

"And so? That means you're better at video games? I beg to dif--fuck! Where were you?!" 

"Ahahahaha! I could be in this very room! I could be you, I could be me, I could even be right behind you!"

Alt shakes himself out and blinks as he takes in the hallway. All those voices… it sounds like a bunch of teenagers? …weird- he glitches a bit forward and tries to peek in through the door.

This room is full of stuff. Right by the doorway there's a bookshelf full of stuff for something called Caverns and Creatures. Up against the opposite wall, underneath a high-up window, are a series of stacked plastic boxes full of what look like old clothes. In the corners of the rooms are piles of outdoorsy equipment. But in the center is a small island made by pushing a desk up against two folding tables (looks like the desk had been pushed over from a spot by the wall, judging by the impressions in the carpet). On this island are a bunch of computers, most of them laptops but two clunky older models. 

Six young guys are sitting there, all focused on the computers. "Jameson how the fuck are you typing while shooting me?!" one shouts. Another one just grins and sticks out his tongue in response. 

"Marvin I need to fucking heal you!" 

"Oh that's you, I thought that was Aodhan, sorry!" 

"It could be me! You don't know!" 

"Dude, shut the fuck up." 

"Hehehehehe."

Alt blinks a bit in confusion. …are these all? But- last time they were like- 13! These can’t be the same guys right? He furrows his eyebrows and tries to lean closer- but then leans too far onto the door and it flies open- leaving him standing in the doorway with wide eyes.

The nearest guy--wearing an old red hoodie, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a bit of stubble on his face--looks back towards the doorway first. "Dad, did you want--" Then he stops. And grins. "No way! Alt?!" 

Alt glitches a bit in surprise and awkwardly waves his hand. 

The others all look up. "Holy shit, it's Alt!" one of them shouts, standing up. He has a black streak dyed in his hair, and is wearing a black t-shirt with a band name over a longer-sleeved striped shirt. "Hey! Alt! You probably don't recognize us! It's me!" He waves, and little green fireworks pop off around his hand. "Marvin!" 

Alt grins big, “No fucking way- what the hell?!” He laughs. He glitches further into the room and his eyes widen as he sees the magic. “Oh my god hey!”

"Alt?" A boy with round glasses and a blue flannel shirt looks up. He grins. "Alt! It is so good to--" 

"From behind!" 

"Hey!" The glasses boy glares at the guy sitting across from him.

Alt pushes his hair back in disbelief, laughing breathlessly, “Jesus Christ… h-has it been that long since we’ve seen you all? You’re all… you’re all grown up..!”

Marvin laughs. "Yeah it's been like--three years or something? Fucking insane!" 

“Jesus- it hasn’t been that long for me and Bro!” Alt laughs.

"Huh?" One of the guys looks over, wearing a blue hoodie and an Irish flat cap. "Oh, so you're that Alt guy from their one adventure with other worlds?" 

"Yep!" The guy in the hoodie--obviously Jackie--nods. "Alt, this is Jack, we met him a bit after you guys." 

Alt blinks at the new kid and smiles. “Yo nice to meet ya! Any friends of these lads are a friend of mine!” He grins.

"Nice to meet ya!" Jack says cheerfully.

"Schiesse!" shouts the boy with glasses. "Jackie, pause the fucking server, Aodhan is making camp on me!" 

"Noooo, I'm camping you, that's different," the guy next to Jack cackles. He's wearing all black, a black leather jacket over a black t-shirt with only highlights of silver on his bracelets and the choker around his neck. 

"Okay, I'm calling time-out," Jackie says, turning back to his computer and pressing some buttons. 

Alt looks over at the computers and chuckles, “oh man whatcha guys playing? Sounds intense-“ he laughs.

The guy in black looks back at Alt. His eyes are bright green. He grins. "Hey! I remember you!" 

Alt blinks at the boy in all black and his eyes widen, “Woah- you’re … you’re A-Anti??” 

"Yeah!" Aodhan nods, grinning. "Look at me! I'm normal now! Well, almost." He's suddenly over by the the corner of the room. Then he's sitting up on the ledge of the window, crouching awkwardly since it's so close to the ceiling. Then he's back in his chair. 

Alt blinks rapidly then grins, “You’re just like me!” 

"It's still crazy to have him here," Jack laughs, leaning closer to him. Aodhan leans close as well and the two of them bump shoulders. 

The last boy stands up and waves. He's wearing a green t-shirt over a white button-down shirt, and has an old-fashioned pocket watch on a chain around his neck. It's so good to see you, Alt, the boy with the pocket watch says. It's me, Jameson! 

"And I am Schneep." The boy with glasses grins. 

Alt glitches around to look at Schneep and Jameson properly, “Damn! Look at you all! …some of you are taller than me what the hell?!” 

"Chase and Stacy were gonna be here, but they had plans," Marvin says. He wiggles his eyebrows, making JJ laugh. 

Alt’s eyebrows raise at the mention of Chase and Stacy. He shakes his head and laughs, “you guys have a lot to catch me and Bro on it seems! Man… I was hoping it wouldn’t be this long before I got to see you all again…” he sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

"What are you doing back here, Alt?" Schneep asks. 

“Well… We wanted to visit long before this but… we ran into problems that broke the TRVLR and now we… we gotta find the missing parts. One of them should be here.”

"Oh no, your TRVLR is broken?" Schneep says, distressed. "That is terrible! I do not think we could help put it back together, but we can help find your piece that is stuck here." 

Alt smiles, “We just gotta find the parts but thanks Schneep-“

Alt's phone lets out a squawk of static. "Actually there are two parts in this world," Anti's voice says. "One of them arrived here at an earlier time, closer to when you were first here, but the second was shot to a later point in the timeline. That's why so much time has passed." 

He jumps when Anti’s voice comes out of his phone and he pulls it out, “I gotta get used to you just speaking randomly…” he grumbles.

Aodhan gasps. "There's a voice in your pocket! I know that voice!" 

"You do?" Jack looks at him. 

"Yeah, that's the guy who showed me the Fissures, I'd never forget him." 

"Oh. I don't think that was me," Anti says. "But it was probably that other version of me." 

"Ah, okay." 

Alt blinks at this and tilts his head, “wait ...does that mean we gotta travel even further into the past? Man.. that’s gonna get confusing-“ He blinks a bit shocked at Aodhan then nods at Anti, “Oh yeah it’s…complicated- this guy is theee same guy- just a different timeline basically.” He flips his phone to show everyone Anti inside, “This is Anti guys- he’s from one of the first worlds we ever went to!”

Anti waves as the guys crowd around to look at him. "Oh he's a little guy!" 

Marvin gasps. "And he does look like Anti--Aodhan!" 

Your phone is so cool, Alt, Jameson says, smiling. 

"I'm not normally this little, I'm just hanging out in his phone until I regain my energy," Anti explains. "And no, Alt, we won't have to travel further back. The piece still exists in the future, after all. We can pick them both up from here." 

“Oooh- right okay. What I said sounds dumb now-“ Alt laughs sheepishly.

"Ooooo." Aodhan reaches out and pokes Alt's phone screen. He abruptly disappears, reappearing on the screen just like Anti is. 

Marvin laughs. "C'mon, dude! You're probably gonna fill up Alt's memory storage." 

"Sorry!" Aodhan pops out again. 

Alt jumps a bit at this then laughs, “Dude- we’re more alike then I thought! Though I don’t think I can appear on the screen like that… maybe I could though.” He muses. 

"Never know until you try, Alt," Anti says from the phone. "But uh, not right now. The teen Marvin is right, I'm taking up a lot of your storage." 

Schneep narrows his eyes at him. "Were you using your powers to cheat?" 

"I'd never do that!" Aodhan gasps, mock-offended. "Not for TF2, you all suck too much at the game for cheating to be necessary!" The others all immediately shout out protests.

Alt listens to the others bicker and laughs more, “Oh! TF2! Man- that takes me back!” He grins.

"Oh yeah, they said you were from the future!" Jack gasps. "Or, a world that's in the future. That's so cool." 

And it explains the phone being so cool, JJ says. 

"Yes, look at the apps, they are all so smooth and without texture," Schneep says. 

Alt laughs, “Yeah in my world it’s 2020!”

Jackie shakes his head. "We're getting distracted. Alt, d'you know what these pieces you're looking for look like? Or where they might be?"

Alt blinks at Jackie then digs in his pocket to pull out the tracker, touching the pupil. “Oh I can find out, one sec-“ The two TRVLR pieces are in in the city, one in Hollewych Park and one just outside city hall.

Alt looks at the others, “There’s one in Hollewych Park and one just outside of city hall-“ He relays to the others, putting the tracker back in his pocket.

"Ooooo, was that magic?" Marvin says excitedly. "Like some sort of--scrying thing?" 

“Oh yeah kinda?” Alt chuckles, “that’s probably the best way to describe it!” 

"We are kinda close to the park, but we'll have to drive a bit farther to get to city hall," Jackie says. He sighs. "I don't really want to go back there. I mean, I know it's fine now, but like..." 

JJ looks at Alt. Do you remember the Circle? They used to have a location at city hall. I think we all remember city hall for that, even though it was years ago by now.

Alt blinks at Jackie’s response but then his expression darkens a bit. “Oh yeah- I remember you all talking about them… but hey you got rid of them it sounds like! So it should be fine- but you guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to!”

"No, it's fine," Jackie insists. "You're right, the Circle is gone now, so there's nothing to worry about. I just get nervous, you know?" 

"You can wait in the car or something," Jack suggests. 

"I mean... I definitely want to come. I wasn't around for the other times these guys showed up!" 

"We are going to the park first, yes?" Schneep says. "So we can think about city hall on the way there." 

Marvin frowns. "I don't think we can all fit in Jackie's car. And Chase is the only other one with a license so we're shit out of luck for taking two cars." He looks at Alt, eyes wide. "Can you glitch us there?!" 

That's probably too many people, Jameson points out. 

“I can try- it is kinda reaching my limit though-“ Alt says.

"I can try to help?" Aodhan suggests. "But shouldn't we ask something first?" The others stare at him. "Like--where's the other guy? The big Chase? And did that cat guy come along?"

Alt blinks with the others then smacks his head kinda, “Oh yeah! Bro should be around here somewhere- probably with little him since the rest of you are here! And no don’t worry- Mag isn’t here this time, thank god.”

"Oh good." Aodhan relaxes, looking relieved. 

Alt seems to process something and looks back at Jack, “Wait…you said other times- as in plural? We’ve only been here once…” he says, looking confused.

Jackie blinks. "You mean you don't... remember your other visits?" 

Maybe it's more time stuff! JJ says excitedly. Like Dr. Who! In the episode with the angels where they meet the lady who gives them a guide for the questions-- 

Alt’s eyes widen as he blinks at the boys in surprise. “…woah- this is some fucking timey wimey shit all right-“ he laughs. “…god that makes me feel a bit better- I was really bummed that guys thought we just… forgot about you guys.” 

"Oooo, yes, of course!" Schneep nods. "Like your watch!" 

That too. JJ grabs the pocket watch around his neck. 

Alt tilts his head at JJ then glitches over, looking at his watch. “Oh? Do you have magic now too??” 

JJ grins. I found this a couple months ago! I don't know if it's magic, but it's very cool! He shakes his head. I'll hold back for now though so I can explain to you and Bro at the same time.

Alt nods, “That’s fair! I’m very interested to learn more.” He grins. 

"I wonder if Chase and Stacy will want to come," Marvin says. "Or d'you think they'll want to, yknow... do whatever people do when they date?"

Alt looks at Marvin and laughs, touching his necklace. “Well- probably the latter if I had to guess. Lemme see if I can catch Bro and tell him where we’re going-“ He pulls out his phone and calls Bro.

Bro has been walking for a while, despite how Chase gave him bus directions. He's in an area with tons of businesses and restaurants, and a lot of people walking around, enjoying the sunny day. That's when his phone starts to ring.

Bro grumbles to himself, “Fucking- should have listened to little me… why isn’t flying more wildly accepted?” He sighs. Then blinks as his phone rings. “Yo? Alt?” 

“Hey Chase- where you at?” 

“Trying to walk to Little Jackie’s house-“ Bro grunts. 

“I’m with the others! The TRVLR parts are at hollewych park and then city hall- are you anywhere close to there?”

"Oh, if he started at Zelly's then he'll probably be kind of near the city center," Jackie says. 

"Is he surrounded by five-story buildings or two-story buildings?" Schneep asks. "Because they tend to get taller the closer you get to city hall."

“Here let me put you all on speaker so he can hear this,” Alt laughs, “Say hi to the kids, Bro!” 

“Yooo little dudes!” Bro’s voices says over the speaker.

"Hi!" Jackie says. 

"What's up, bitches!" Marvin shouts. 

"As Chase would say, 'sup?" Schneep says. 

Jameson whistles. 

"You haven't met me before, but I'm Jack, nice to meet you!" Jack says. 

"And when you met me I wasn't normal!" Aodhan says cheerfully. "It's me, Anti! But my name is Aodhan, too." 

“Oh wow hi eveyone!” Bro laughs over the speaker, “and uh- hi Anti! Glad you’re … normal now?” 

"Bro, where are you?" Jackie asks. "What bus did you take?"

As Jackie asks his question there’s a long pause on Bro’s end before he mumbles, “I- uh… didn’t take one-“

A second passes in silence. Then Aodhan starts laughing. Marvin starts giggling after him. "Are you--are you fucking walking?" he asks. 

Schneep frowns. "I know this is a small town, but it is not that small." 

Alt covers his mouth to hide his laughter, “Chase… really?” 

“Well I can’t fly right now can I?? I thought- how bad could it be?? Plus like- don’t you need to… show id or something on buses or- be a citizen?? I don’t know how buses work I’m a superhero goddamnit!” Alt rolls his eyes. 

"You need to pay for a bus, so if you don't have money, that's an excuse," Jack suggests. "I don't think you have to show ID? At least, they've never asked me or Anti."

"So you're probably still close to Zelly's then," Jackie says, nudging Marvin and Aodhan. "You probably didn't get past Queen Cleo's--that's the pizza place with the red roof. I mean, assuming you don't have super speed or anything." The pizza place Jackie is mentioning is right next to Bro.

Bro looks over at his side and then makes a face, “…yeah I see the pizza place-“ he says in a defeated tone.

Jackie holds back a snort of laughter of his own now. "Okay, okay, it'll probably be easiest if you head towards city hall. I can drive over there to pick you up and take you the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Alt can take some guys straight to the park and look around for your TRVLR thing there, then once they've found it they can go to city hall." He looks around. "Does that sound good to everyone?" 

“Sounds good to me!” Alt grins. 

Bro sighs heavily, “Yeah that’s chill- lemme see if I can pull up directions there-“ 

“You’re using your gps?? Dude it tells you how long it takes to walk there-“ Alt laughs, “Did you see how long it would take and still chose to walk?” 

Another long silence follows before Bro says quietly, “…I had it still on the drive time-“ 

“Oh my god chase!” Alt bursts into laughter now.

Schneep chuckles. "You really are an older version of Chase. I am not quite understanding this conversation, but it sounds like something he would do." 

Alt laughs, “I can see it.” 

"Alright, who wants to come with me to pick up Bro, then?" Jackie asks, looking around. 

"I, uh... want to meet him," Jack says. 

"I do not imagine being much help with the park search, I will go, too," Schneep says. 

"I can do both!" Aodhan grins. 

JJ and Marvin look at each other. They nod in unison. "Me and JJ will go with Alt to the park," Marvin says. "If that's okay."

Alt blinks then grins wide at Marvin and JJ, “Of course dude! Us magic bros gotta stick together!”

The twins grin right back at him. 

"Great." Jackie nods. "Now... I just need to think of a reason why I'd be driving off with Jack and Schneep. To tell Dad, I mean. He'd want to know. Maybe we're getting snacks...though in that case we'd need to actually get snacks." 

"I should text Chase all this, yes?" Schneep says. "Or do you think that would interrupt him?"

Bro chuckles on the speaker, “We can get snacks- we aren’t in that big of a rush. Alt could always use extra anyways if you all are glitching pretty far.”

Jackie laughs. "Okay, okay, we'll stop by, then." He looks at Alt, JJ, and Marvin. "You guys will probably have to glitch right out of here. If you went upstairs Dad would be confused as to who this older guy is and when he got here." 

“Yeah I don’t wanna alarm your dad,” Alt laughs. “Keep me updated bro-“ 

“Will do dude- see you all soon!” Bro says before Alt hangs up. He then stuffs the phone in his pocket and offer a hand out to the boys. “Alright! Let’s get moving then~”

Marvin grabs JJ's arm and then Alt's hand. "Great!" He looks at the others and grins. "See you all later! Tell Bro we say hi when you find him!" 

"No problem!" Jackie says.

Alt waves his other other hand and then glitches the 3 of them out of there towards the park.

They appear on a concrete path surrounding a wide green space. More paths crisscross the area, as well as some steps, as they seem to be standing on top of a slight hill. In the center of the park is a large fountain with some angelic looking figures--though one of them is missing a wing, like it broke off. There are some people wandering around the park. A woman walking a dog, a family with two young kids, some teenage boys in the corner skateboarding. 

"Heheh. Hey look, it's Chase's people," Marvin says, pointing at the skaters. 

Suddenly, Aodhan appears next to them. "Hey, this is where I first saw Chase!"

Alt laughs at Marvin’s comment then can’t help but jump a bit as Aodhan joins. “Oh right- hi,” He laughs. He pulls out the tracker again to see if he can get a more accurate read on where the piece is as he looks out over the park. “This is a nice park! Cozy almost.”

"Yeah, it really is!" Marvin nods. "When me and JJ were younger we used to take the coins from the fountain that they threw into the basin for wishes. But as we got older it started to feel kinda bad doing that, y'know? Like, if greenlight is real, what if wishes are? So I started doing like, pet sitting stuff for money. I'm really good with cats. We have a cat, named Sinney, she's a Russian blue and very adorable." As Marvin talks, the glass eye tracker tells Alt that the TRVLR part is in... what do you know? The fountain basin.

“Oh yeah I remember you talking about Sinney!” Alt smiles, “and that’s a good way to get money dude - hanging out with cats all day? I’d do that!” He blinks then laughs as the tracker tells him the location. He starts to walk towards the fountain. “Hey! The part is actually in the fountain apparently!”

JJ laughs. What a coincidence! The group heads down the path and reaches the fountain. 

Aodhan looks up at it. "Did I break the wing off that angel?" 

"Yeah," Marvin says.

 "Oops." 

“That sounds like a wild story,” Alt giggles.

JJ leans over the edge and looks into the basin. Do you know what the piece looks like, Alt?

Alt sighs and leans over the fountain, “Not really- but I guess something mechanical will be easy to spot, right?”

"Well, your TRVLR was very small, wasn't it?" Marvin says. "Like... this big?" He pantomimes holding it. "So there's probably a lot of small parts in it..." 

"Guess we just have to look close!" Aodhan says, leaning right up to the water, his nose two inches from its surface. 

JJ chuckles. Don't get wet, your eyeliner will smear. "I don't have the time for eyeliner! I'm not Marvin!" 

"Hey!... well, that's true," Marvin admits. "But I'm not wearing eyeliner today."

“Oh my god the eyeliner phase-“ Alt laughs, hiding his face a bit.

While they're talking, they circle around the fountain. Alt sees a glint of something gold--unusual compared to the rest of the copper and silver coins. 

Marvin also notices it. "Oo! What's that?"

Alt brightens and reaches over for it, “I think this might be it!”

It looks like a little rectangle, no bigger than the coins it's surrounded by. Most of it is black, but there's a smaller gold rectangle in the middle that's the source of the glint. 

"Hey! What are you doing over there?"

Alt snatched up the rectangle before standing up quickly and looking towards the source of the question. “I-I dropped something in here! Just getting it real quick!”

The asker is a man in a gray suit, looking very out of place among the casual summer fashion of everyone else. He nods slowly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bite your head off. But I hear some people like to steal coins from the fountain." 

JJ and Marvin glance at each other. 

"Are you all... family? Brothers, cousins, what?"

Alt tilts his head and then answers quickly, “Yeah I’m uh- cousins with these two! Just visiting-“ He smiles.

"Hmm." The man looks at Aodhan. "And you?"

Aodhan just stares. A slight static hum comes from him. 

"He's just our friend," Marvin hurriedly says. "You know--" 

"Stranger," Aodhan mutters. 

The twins look at him in confusion. 

"Well, I'm also from out of town," the man says, seemingly not hearing Aodhan's comment. "It's a lovely place, isn't it?"

“Yeah I love visiting here,” Alt says carefully, narrowing his eyes at the man. “…but if you’re from out of town, why do you care who’s in the fountain…?”

"Oh, I don't like to see people causing trouble," the man says. "I hear there was a lot of trouble in this town about three years ago? Have you heard of that?" He looks at Marvin and JJ. "What about you boys?" 

"Uh... yeah, we remember it," Marvin says. "It was crazy."

Alt narrows his eyes a bit more, crossing his arms. “…can we help you with something?” He says shortly.

The man stares at the four of them thoughtfully... then sighed. "Alright, I can see you're the type to see through the small talk." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. "I work for an agency, we're very curious about what happened here in Hollewych three years ago. I know it was very confusing for everyone who lives here, but we've already had the details of what happened. So we've been going around asking people if they know why it happened."

Alt just stares hard at the man and his card. “I don’t think we can help you with that. These guys were just kids back then- and I wasn’t here.”

The main raises an eyebrow. "Teenagers are more observant than we think, you know." 

"Sorry, we don't know anything," Marvin says. "It was fucking weird, that's all." 

"Alright. If you need to contact us, if you remember something, our phone number is on this card." 

Jameson silently takes it. 

The man nods. "Be seeing you, maybe." And he walks away.

Alt glares at the man as he walks away, “that was… really fucking weird. Everything about that seemed off.” He mumbles.

"I don't like him," Aodhan mutters. "He reminds me of the people in the Circle." He looks over at Alt. "Bullies." 

Alt nods, “Yeah I get that vibe…”

"Why'd you take the card, JJ?" Marvin asks. 

JJ hands the card to Marvin so he can sign. 

He seemed like he wouldn't go away otherwise. 

"Hmm." Marvin looks at the card. "Department of Impossible Sciences? Never heard of it."

As Marvin reads out the card, Alt feels a pit in his stomach and glitches over to look at the card.

One side of the card has the department name on it, along with a phone number. The other side is black, and has a white design of an eye on it, complete with eyelid and lashes. It does not have three irises.

Alt deflates at little bit- a bit relieved. Still he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t trust anyone who says they’re from a ‘department of impossible science’-“ He grumbles. “I’d definitely stay away from those guys.” 

"Yeah, no, definitely fucking not," Marvin agrees. 

Alt checks to make sure he still has the piece of the TRVLR and cleans it off before putting it in the black bag. “Well- at least we got the piece! Let’s head over to the others-“ 

"I'll go right now," Aodhan says, and disappears. 

No fair, JJ says, rolling his eyes. 

"Well... guess we're going to city hall without him, then," Marvin says, laughing a little. 

Alt chuckles, “I can just as easily glitch us over too- or do you guys wanna walk?”

"No that's what I meant." Marvin holds his hand out, grabbing onto JJ's arm. "It's just like--funny that he did it without us."

Alt shakes his head with a laugh, “maybe he just prefers glitching solo!” He grabs Marvin’s hand and glitches after Anti towards city hall.

----------- 

Meanwhile, Bro has been walking for a while. The businesses have taken over the area, pushing out the restaurants. But then a car pulls to the side, a silver car with big windows and a rounded top. The driver's side window rolls down, and a guy with long brown hair and an old red hoodie looks at him. "Wow--you really haven't aged a day!" Jackie laughs. "JJ's right, there must be some weird time stuff going on."

Bro idly looks at the buildings then blinks as the car rolls up. He grins as he sees the familiar face. “I can’t say the same about you! Look at ya!! Couldn’t even drink the last time we saw ya! Now you’re old enough to be in uni!!” He pauses then sticks out his tongue, “Ugh- I sound like an old relative coming to visit-“

Jackie laughs. "Yeah! It's crazy." He grins. "I--I'm actually on break from uni right now. I've made some friends there, I think. Here, get in the passenger side. If you think I look really different, you'll be so surprised to see Schneep." 

"What is that supposed to mean?!" A voice comes from the backseat. 

"It means you had a massive growth spurt, you doof," Jackie calls into the back.

Bro grins and hurries into the car. He climbs into the passenger side and quickly turns around then gasps in delight in seeing Schneep. “Oh my god! Little Hen!! You’re definitely not little anymore!”

"I was not that small, was I?" Schneep says. 

The other guy in the backseat laughs. "Hey, the first time I saw you, I legit thought you were, like, eight years old." 

"Hmph. Well, at least that has changed now!" Schneep grins. "It is good to see you again, Bro!" 

Bro grins back. “It’s good to see you all too! I can’t believe it’s been so long for you all! I wanna say it’s been… god… maybe 6 ish months?? Since we last saw you? Maybe longer-? Things have been kinda crazy.” He laughs. 

"Only six months? It sounds like there is some strange time stuff happening," Schneep chuckles. 

“Right?? It’s blowing my mind!” Bro laughs.

"And it's good to see you at all. I'm Jack." He holds out a hand for a shake. 

Bro blinks and takes Jack’s hand and shakes it, “Pleasure, Jack! I’m Chase but you know that’s confusing so call me Bro~!”

"Bro, then!" Jack laughs. "That's Chase's favorite word, it's really fitting that it's what we call you." 

Bro grins at Jack, “It’s my favorite word too! Why do think I picked it as my hero name?” 

Jackie puts the car into gear and pulls back into the street. Bro can tell that he's a lot more confident in his driving skills. "We're gonna find a corner store or something to get snacks from, then head over to city hall."

Bro sits the right way in the seat now and grins, “Sick! I can get some 2012 food- …was there anything good from then we don’t have now?” He asks himself, making a thinking face.

"Hey, I mean... you'd know more than us, we haven't been any time after 2012 yet." Jackie laughs. "That's sort of how time works, usually." 

Suddenly, there's a whine of static, and someone appears in the empty seat between Jack and Schneep. "Hey!" 

"Jesus focking christ, Anti!" Jack jumps.

Bro screeches a bit in surprise and grips over his heart- “…you think living with Alt I’d be used to this kinda shit!”

“You never get used to it,” Jack mutters. “Trust me.” 

“Sorry,” Aodhan says. “But look! It’s me! I’m not a shadow anymore!” He leans into the space between the two seats and grins. 

“Hey man! I’m so glad! I bet that’s a fucking crazy story,” Bro grins. 

“What are you doing here, Anti?” Schneep asks. 

“Telling you that the other three are going to city hall,” Aodhan says. “And that there was a weird guy talking to us.”

Bro blinks and tilts his head, “A weird guy?”

“Weird guy in a suit,” Aodhan continues. “Asking about what happened three years ago. He said he was from the Department of Impossible Sciences.”

Bro knits his eyebrows together, “…that sounds familiar… weird though- why ask about that now?”

“Yeah… I mean, it’s been a while,” Jackie says thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s only like… relevant now? For something this department is doing?” 

“If it’s a department, what is it a department of?” Jack wonders. “The government?” 

“Well they are not going to get any answers from the townspeople,” Schneep says. “It seems everyone has agreed to forget about it.” 

“Corner store,” Aodhan points out the window. “Snacks.” 

“Yeah, I see it, thanks,” Jackie says. 

“Yeah… seems weird that a guy like that would just- approach Alt and a bunch of teenagers… just out of nowhere…” Bro muses.

“I’m not a teenager,” Aodhan grumbles.

“Yeah, we’re old enough to drink in America!” Jack adds. 

“To be fair, Aodhan, you do act like a twelve-year-old a lot,” Jackie says.

Bro giggles, “I mean- still seems weird to approach a bunch of younger guys about this- out of just nowhere right? You all weren’t like- doing anything weird or magic?”

“We got the TRVLR part out of the fountain,” Aodhan says. 

“In the fountain?!” Schneep repeats. “Are you sure that the part will work?” “It looked like a solid thing. No place for water to get in or ruin it or anything.” Jackie pulls up to the corner store. “Well hopefully this was a one-off thing,” he says. “Now. Snacks.”

Bro hums in thought but then nods and hops out of the car, “Snacks!”

[derelictheretic]

I have become the tumblr guy that pops in every now and then to interact with all my mentions and spam post and then peace out into the ether again

[junonureyev]

Season 1 thoughts, initially: (partially/a lot of anaylsis and partially just... rambling. I talk a lot.)

When I started this relisten I listened to the murderous mask and then thought "this'll be easy, I remember how the murderous mask functions I was 16 and I was amazing at understanding this podcast, evidenced by how well I rped at Juno at the time" and I did rp Juno well. I have no evidence of this but... take my word for it.

I think where I personally struggle the most is the individual plot story lines, because it's true. I do understand the characters boarder functions more than I do individual plotlines. I think (especially because of how Juno is written) it's incredibly well conveyed how Juno as a character (and also Nureyev) functions, in season one our protagonist is more of a mystery in the sense we don't know why he functions the way he does whereas with Nureyev we eventually do find out. The character writing is so stellar, and unique, and colourful, and immediately vibrant that it makes sense the thing that drives the story is obviously the character. The plot takes a minor backseat to that.

I fucking love Nureyev as much as I did when I was 16 and it was 2019 and he's completely earned the title of "my favourite fictional character of all time" when he got it without a doubt and remains at that level even now. I love the angel of brahma as an arc, I think it's my favourite season one pair of episodes. It's the perfect cocktail of Juno and Nureyev getting tortured, Nureyev comforting Juno (holy shitt) and character development for the both of them. I feel it's a arc fully-hellbent on conveying their romance to the audience and it makes me feel like what I imagine people who really love romance in stories feel like all the damn time. I also love the conclusion, that the people of brahma rely on Nureyev as a robin hood boogeyman because being a comfort to people who need it and scaring people who suck, it makes me think that Peter Nureyev would really love the role he's played in real peoples lives outside of his fiction. (And the role he's played in my life.) And that weird parallel brings me a lot of joy.

Peter Nureyev is an incredibly good person regardless of whether he likes to acknowledge it or not. He has a very interesting relationship to the concept of being a saviour, because Juno fully has a saviour complex, but Nureyev doesn't seem to realize that he does default to being a good person with an incredible amount of patience and a saviour figure. (Which is something he at least subconsciously wants to be) He just doesn't let people in, and so maybe his lack of self awareness in regards to his not-saviour-complex-in-the-way-juno-has-it, comes from his lack of experience with intimacy. He wants to be with Juno and has decided that Juno is a good person and will do anything to compensate for that, but Juno is way more complicated than both he and Nureyev would like him to be at the moment, and so it fucks up and Juno takes advantage of his kindness. Peter Nureyev deliberately presents himself as the guy of your dreams to take advantage of people, yeah, but for Juno it's all genuine. So inexperience. (He doesn't even realize what he's doing when Juno points it out. He is not self aware about it at this period of time)

I think this is what makes the ending interesting is that Juno is absolutely being selfish and terrible to Peter, (taking advantage of him and ghosting him) because Juno anticipates that someday this will all go wrong and is too afraid of that so cuts it off before it happens (BPD behaviour. Do not get me started) but narratively it makes sense because Juno absolutely is not ready for a relationship at that point and had been genuinely way too mean and non-communicative towards Nureyev to ever even remotely start a healthy relationship. Nureyev couldn't compensate for Juno's behaviour forever so, it was a good decision to cut it off. Not for those reasons or in that way, it was a total fuck up indicative of Junos most intense neuroses, but still. Juno at that point did not deserve that man. In my opinion. Although I can see an argument for otherwise, I think Juno leans too heavily on the explaination that they're on other sides of the law for his distrust even though it's mildly unclear how much he actually cares about being on the right side of the law. Considering. I personally don't think he cares that much and this is a case of him justifying his distrust by going for a more surface level explanation than what is truthful (deep seeded mental health issues and trust issues)

I personally find this last scene truthful to the core of their characters and the relationship they've built, and I think it does a wonderful job portraying the types of mental health issues Juno has.

I think he's insane for leaving Peter Nureyev in a hotel room after he just said "I'm in love with you" but I get it. (If I was in that situation I don't even know what I'd do, but the likelihood that'd it'd be something similar is... a lot, I'll admit) The writing is so good and that scene goes so smoothly it doesn't feel unjustified at all and I think we can attribute that to how well written Juno is. Nureyev also presumably had some inkling that Juno was going to pull this, since he can read Juno and also confirmed twice in-ear that Juno was okay with this. But he believed, because Juno was communicating otherwise, which is what makes it such a bad decision on Junos part? and why I specify specifically that Juno took advantage of him. It's not like he didn't have an out to communicate like a normal-ass person. He was given at least 1 onscreen and we all know how comforting and needy Nureyev is.

It's why I'm so compelled by them, and why they're my favourite fictional romance, is the entire latter half of season 1. I stopped in 2019 (so the beginning of season 3) and I hope they resolve what happened late season 1 well, as I never got to that.

My urge now to listen near constantly is going to be at an all time high even though season 1 took so little time because you think "oh I have so much podcast left" when in reality you have like 5 days of podcast left and I'm not going to survive the next 5 days because stopping feels like letting Juno rot in that grave he dug on purpose 'cause he's a fucking idiot. I love him and I can't leave him in there for long. I need to get him out.

[generationa1trauma]

I am kissing u all on the forehead

[ladyseidr]

standing in the open doorway of my blog. the fn.af hyperfixation is creeping back in ( not that it ever fully left ).

[bowtiestash]

one of the things i find funny now with my past shitty dnd experience is the fact that the problem player only seemed to really care about their own character, and whenever they drew dnd art it would look like this:

[leggylift]

fandoms may come and go, but by god I will always RT good prųssia art! that is my best boy of FOURTEEN FUCKING YEARS- cringe be damned!! 😤

[fanaticartisan]

proudly adds senshi to the list of characters i have rpd as

[haresvoid]

Also yes I admit it, Omeluum is a "hear me out" for me

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 17: Fantasy Masks

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix 

Read Swapboys | Read Fantasy Masks | AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT | Septicheroes | Fantasy Masks

Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata  

True enough, at first light Bro and Alt hear a voice outside their tent "Alt? Other me--Bro? It's time to get up." It's Chase.

Alt glitches outside of the tent pretty much immediately, his bag of stuff prepared and slung over his shoulder. He looks like he barely slept at all.

Bro stumbles out a few beats later, blinking sleepily and pulling on his tunic and grabbing his own stuff. “Mhm ‘morning-“ He yawns.

“Whoa!” Chase jumps a little when Alt appears in front of him. “Elders, I forgot… You were really fast there.” He laughs. “Hi you two. We’re going to grab a quick breakfast at the fire and then head out, okay?”

Alt flushes a bit, "ah sorry... been trying not to glitch as much..." He mutters. He nods and starts heading towards the fire.

Bro shakes his head, "If it makes you feel better I live with him and I'm still not quite used to it." He laughs, readjusting his stuff and making sure Alt and him didn't leave anything in their tent.

“Well don’t hold yourself back for our sake. Then we’ll never get used to it.” Chase looks through the tent opening. “Have everything? Alright. Let’s go.”

Alt probably only half heard Chase as he stumbles towards the fire. Bro sighs a bit in worry.

The camp is less busy this early, but it’s never entirely quiet. People are already up and walking around, and breakfast is already being made. As they approach the fire, they see the other four already there.

Henrik is busying himself with packing food into a bag, but he looks up when the others approach. “Ah, good to see you. Chase and Chase and Alt, do you have anything you think we should take? In terms of food supplies, I mean.”

Alt waves a little and stifles a yawn, pixelating a bit. “Um- anything we can eat quick… my magic can be a drain but I can bounce back with some good fuel- like… jerky probably.” He shrugs.

“Good! We have lots of that already.” Henrik closes the bag, buckling the flap.

“Are you okay, Alt?” Jackie asks. “You look really tired and… your form is breaking. Did worry keep you up?”

“M’fine,” Alt mutters, rubbing at his eyes. He’s definitely lying. “We just gotta keep moving… I’ll wake up.”

Chase gives Alt an odd look, clearly not buying that he’s fine, but it’s not worth the trouble.

“I could have provided a sleeping tonic, if you asked,” Henrik says. “Oh! But here is the opposite of that.” He reaches into one of his belt pouches and withdraws a small cloth bag. Inside are a handful of brown beans. “I asked Nemet about your ‘kohfi,’ and she says these are the beans that makes it. This is all she had but she insisted we take them anyway. How kind of her. I am not sure how to make the drink but she says they are fine to eat, if bitter, and provide the same effect.”

Alt’s eyes do brighten a bit at the coffee beans. He laughs and smiles some then grabs a couple to eat. They are bitter but he takes his coffee black. “Mm- that’ll help. Thanks dude.”

“Ah yeah! We eat chocolate covered coffee beans at home all the time!” Bro grins. “Sometimes I like it better than actually coffee- it’s like a fun pick me up!”

Henrik grins. “I’m glad this is not so strange, then.” The beans are a bit different than the ones back home, a bit softer but still with a good crunch. Henrik pops a couple in his mouth too.

“You sure that won’t conflict with your medicine, Schneep?” Jackie asks.

“Is alright, I asked Nemet about that.”

“We’d better hurry,” Marvin says. “The days are only getting shorter.”

Alt nods, gaining a serious expression that sharpens up his features. He double checks he has all his modern things- his headphones, his old pants, the TRVLR. Huh- he actually hasn’t checked the TRVLR since they got here… but he’s sure it’ll work… right?

Bro sneaks some beans too and makes a face, “mhm- could use chocolate.” He chuckles. Then he stands up at attention. “Alright team! Let’s get this show on the road!”

When Alt checks the TRVLR, its screen is at first only that low battery sign. When Alt gives it a jolt, it powers on like usual, but there is now a fourth circle in the middle of the usual three. This one is red, and marked with an exclamation point.

Alt’s eyes widen slightly and he checks on the new circle.

A message in red text pops up, with an X in the upper right corner to close out of it

WARNING Latency Detected

This unit is having difficulty connecting to the universal database. This is for one or more of the following reasons:

-A Ripple is happening

-Current location is too far from unit's home universe

-Current location does not have the technical capabilities of helping connection

Please take this into account when jumping.

Jameson leans over Alt's shoulder to look at the TRVLR screen. What strange symbols, he says.

Bro looks over Alt’s shoulder to read and Alt’s face pales. “…it- it might not work…” he whispers with slight horror. “We-We’re somewhere without technology- I-I didn’t even think…!”

“C-Calm down Alt! I’m sure the fancy Iris guys accounted for something like this! Besides… we can’t leave without Mag… let’s focus on one thing at a time, okay?”

Alt shakily nods and puts the TRVLR away, trying not to panic again. “Right.. right- w-we gotta focus…”

Marvin watches the two of them with concern. "Your talisman for getting home is having trouble? Is there anything we can do?"

“I’m not sure…” Alt mutters, “It says it’s having trouble connecting… cuz we’re lacking some- modern things. Things I dunno how to get here… my- lightning might not be enough…” He squeezes his arm and tries to take a deep breath. “B-But Bro’s right we’ll… have to worry about that later.”

“If it does work I’m sure there’s some other way,” Marvin says, a bit awkward in his reassurances but clearly genuine. “I’ve heard of other worlds so there must be a way to get there.”

“We’ll do everything we can,” Jackie says. “I swear it.”

Alt tries to smile and nods, “Thanks.”

After a quick breakfast, and a brief stop where Jackie, Henrik, and Marvin discuss things with the second in commands, it’s time to go.

Alt is anxious all throughout breakfast and Bro watches him in worry. Usually Alt gets a lot of his anxious energy out through glitching but he’s being unnaturally still. Bro doesn’t see him suppress his glitching much…

Once it’s time to go Alt anxiously bounces on his feet. Bro stands next to him and tries to put a hand on his shoulder but Alt glitches out of his reach. “…it’s gonna be okay Alt- we got this!” He tries to reassure.

The group heads out of camp, passing the Phantoms on perimeter part roll and heading into the woods. Things quickly start looking similar to Bro and Alt, but everyone else seems fairly confident. Chase and Jackie are leading the way.

“Yes, we have this,” Henrik says, overhearing the two of them. “I know it is intimidating, but we are all practiced at this by this point.”

“Ha! I’d believe it! With all the training and you all being so prepared, I feel confident!” Bro smiles.

Alt picks at his shirt, glancing at the woods like something could come out of them at any second and grab them.

Chase glances back and notices Alt looking around. "Hah... worried about animals?" he guesses, grinning. "Don't worry. Predators won't attack a group of humans this big unless they're desperate. Trust me, I grew up in these woods. And as for other people... well, no one comes up here. It's a hard climb and there's nothing nearby." He faces forward again. "Although... I wonder if a storm is coming..."

Alt slowly nods. He gets like this sometimes, thinking about Mag. Like he can constantly hear his laughter in his head. See the slinking of catlike shadows in his peripheral vision. He tries to shake off that feeling, clutching the bow he borrowed from the Phantoms close.

-----------

"Magnificent."

The palace is surprisingly dark right now. But not because it's night. No, looking out the windows shows a gloomy sky overhead, crowded with heavy black clouds. The King is standing by one of said windows. "Are you awake?" he presses.

It takes a second for the magician to stir but soon enough he opens his eyes and sits up right quickly, rubbing at his face and putting back on his mask, “ah yes. Forgive me- didn’t mean to oversleep.” He pushes himself off the bed and dusts himself off before approaching the King. “Hm- looks like it could be a storm…”

“Exactly.” The King nods. “And we don’t want to travel in weather like that. It’s a sure way to catch the shivering. Do they have that where you’re from?”

It certainly looks bad out there. And in this strange land {he should probably trust the judgment of someone who lives here.}

“…I don’t know if we call it the shivering but I’m assuming we do.” Mag comments. He huddles his cloak around himself and thinks. Then he shrugs, “Weather can’t be helped. I certainly don’t want to get soaked- mayhaps I can find more books about the magic here…”

“Oh, you know… fatigue, confusion, shivers, difficulty breathing.” The King lists off the symptoms in rapid succession. “Caused by the cold. And walking in wet clothes will definitely leave you cold enough to catch it.”

“Sounds like a bad cold or the flu-“ Mag muttered with a shrug.

“But enough of that. I’m assuming you checked the library. They may have a secret section there, if I remember correctly.”

Mag flares out his cape dramatically to head towards the library, “Well then- if we’re stuck here I shall spend the day in there.”

"Very well." The King reaches out to the candle sconce on the wall. A spark leaps from his fingertip to the wick, lighting it with an electric hsss. "Let me see if I remember where the secret section is..."

As they walk down the hallways towards the library in the center of the palace, the King continues lighting the candles in a similar matter. It doesn't do much to help penetrate the darkness, but it's better than nothing.

Mag blinks at the king doing this and every so often he’ll light a candle before he does with a twitch of his head- lighting it with green fire. Mhm- a castle would look so pretty covered in such a lovely color. The thought makes Mag smirk to himself.

"Best be careful in there," he says, more to himself than Mag. "Dry paper. Best hope they have candle shields in there."

The library is not as grand as it probably should be for a palace. It's small, and probably would have been cozy if it hadn't been so dusty. The King walks back behind a desk, brushing aside some cobwebs to open a drawer. "Oh good. They do." He pulls out a candle holder with a single candle, a glass bowl attached to the base, high enough to shield the flame. He reaches in and lights it. "Now... where is it...?"

Mag coughs at the dust and uses some of his magic to sweep it and more cobwebs away. “Eugh.”

The King chuckles. "Not a fan of dust? Me neither." {That's something else they have in common.}

“I deal with it enough at home,” Mag grumbles.

The King begins searching the shelves. "If memory serves me... There's something we can pull or slide that opens an alcove on this wall. Here, search with me. Or on your own, if you wish."

Mag nods and starts to look across the shelves, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He lights a flame in his hand but flickers a shield around it like the king’s candle.

It takes a long while--maybe frustratingly long--but eventually the King shouts "Aha!" One of the shelves on a bookcase slides back into the wall when pushed. Next to it, a section of the stone wall swings open with a grinding noise. "After you, then," the King says, {ever gracious.}

Mag startles a bit at the sudden noise but then smirks at the king, taking advantage of going first. “thank you Aodhan~”

The King nods and steps aside.

The room beyond is small and windowless, but packed with things. Scrolls and old, crudely-bound books line the walls, dried herbs hang from the ceiling, and various crystals, powders, and pressed flowers fill bowls and jars on shelves. Surprisingly well-preserved pumpkins sit on the floor. A large cauldron takes up an alcove on the opposite wall, hanging off the ground by about a foot. A staff hangs on the wall, a red-speckled green stone embedded in the top. Candles sconces hang off the walls, holding blue candles.

"Ah, I see, this is for both witchcraft and wizardry," the King says from the entrance.

Magnificent’s eyes light up at the sight. He seems to actually smile as he looks at the witchy things. He tries to carefully clean off the dust as he looks at the trinkets. “Ha… this reminds me of playing witch as a boy…” He muses.

The King smiles, looking {almost fond.} "You studied magic as a child as well? I suppose that makes sense."

Magnificent laughs quietly, running a finger across some of the crystals, “My family were sorcerers. Prestigious… we had a family name to uphold. My birth was mainly just to keep the family name in tact for my father. He was very strict in what magic I could and could not learn. Very strict with my studies. So much so I did not interact or go out much as a child.” He laughs and then touches around the caldron, “then.., I met my best friend. Jackie. He got me out of my house… and together we learned things together. He showed me forms of witchcraft his family knew- though he didn’t practice. But it was fun… to rebel and learn things that would enrage my father.” He then becomes more aware of himself and flushes some, coughing and turning back around to look further into the room. “But uh- of course that’s all irrelevant. Apologizes.”

The King tilts his head, {softening a bit.} "It does... help me understand you more. Do you think the child of a monarch is ever born with anything other than 'the family name' in mind? The royal line is especially honored in Glasúil, in a way that isn't often found in other lands. And it is because of the legend of legacy. Something I've already told you I never cared for." He pauses. "My powers were weak, once. Limited, as magic here has always been limited. I spent ages studying, strengthening them. And my family never approved of it." Another pause. "But that's all irrelevant. Apologies."

Magnificent looks at the king and shares with him a wry smile. “…we have even more in common then, Aodhan. Never thought I’d have much in common with a Royal-“ he snorts.

"I never thought I would have so much in common with anyone." The King pauses. Then he turns and heads off. "I'll leave you to explore here. If the weather lets up I'll let you know." And he disappears. {Perhaps he wasn't as bad as their first impression led Mag to think.}

Magnificent watches the King go- expecting to narrow his eyes as he back when he left. But… he had been… decent today. Even… pleasant? Perhaps it was the weather.., Nevertheless, he was here to see if could better understand that magic here. There had to be some way to get the upper hand on the king.., and now- he had the whole day to search. And so he began.

It slowly starts to rain, accompanied by distant rumbling thunder. {It's strangely calming.}

Magnificent always did like the sound of rain, what a soothing soundtrack to his research…

-----------

It is not raining in the mountains as the group finally leaves the Greatwoods, finding themselves on a sloping field, grass pushing up between rocks and boulders.

"Aaaand this is officially where my knowledge ends," Chase says.

Marvin shields his eyes from the sun and looks into the distance. Next to him, Draco hops onto a rock, tail swishing as he hunts down some bug or something. "It does look like there's a storm out there."

I think that would be good, Jameson says. If it's in the direction we're heading, it means they'll be forced to stay in one place because of the weather.

Alt seems to brighten at this, “Oh- that’s… that’s good! Maybe we can catch up!”

"It also means we'd have to walk in the rain," Marvin grumbles.

Bro laughs a bit and lightly nudges Marvin, gesturing at his mask. “Afraid of getting wet, kitty?” He lightly teases.

"Yes," Marvin answers plainly.

"Don't you have some sort of water repelling spell or something?" Jackie recalls.

"Yea, but it can't cover all of you, just me. I'm not going to be responsible for all of you getting the shivering."

Chase shudders. "True, that's not pleasant."

"But Alt is right, we will catch up," Henrik says.

"Maybe it'll be clearer by the time we reach that area," Marvin hopes.

“Oh- well, guess that makes sense.” Bro says, messing with the back of his hair and grinning sheepishly.

Alt hums, “The shivering- that must be hypothermia… I’ve gotten that before- s’not fun… so best to avoid the rain if we can.”

“…you’ve gotten hypothermia before?!” Bro asks alt in alarm.

Alt gives him a steady look, “I was on and off the streets for almost a decade, Chase. Lots of stuff happens there.” He moves to keep going, adjusting his mask.

“Ah.. right…” Bro replies quietly.

"Hmm." Chase glances at Alt. "I got the shivering once. It's actually how I found the Phantoms, I was wandering in the woods sick and they decided to take me to Wyvernlair."

Is that what happened? Jameson asks, surprised.

"Oh, right, you and Marvin weren't there. Well, yea, that's what happened, basically." The group is now slowly walking down the rocky field.

Alt has a faraway look in his eyes, "... I had a really bad night... once. It was storming so hard and I was low on magic... and food. I couldn't find a good place to hide and just- had to stay in the rain. in the cold. I thought maybe that might be the night I would die." Bro listens with wide eyes. He hasn't heard this story. "I'm really lucky... someone found me. A group of magicians, noticing I was low on magic and sick. Called themselves the Chaos Circle." He smiles to himself, faintly, "... found some good people there. They saved me from dying out in the cold." He smiles a bit more at Chase, "Kinda like the Phantoms finding you, huh?"

Chase smiles back. "Yeah. Sounds pretty similar. I'm glad you had those guys."

"Sounds like a rebellious coven of sorts." Marvin grins. "Covens here are mostly sorcerers and witchcraft practicers but sometimes others will join. I was always interested in the idea of those, but I wasn't very sociable."

Alt laughs quietly, "Yeah... It was. We thought of ourselves as punks. We didn't wanna conform to the actual circle's practices."

"I guess Henrik and I were your coven, then, Marvin," Jackie says, half-jokingly.

Bro is staring at Alt with wide eyes, "...you don't-... you never really talked about all of that with us..."

Alt's expression darkens. "...it was another... hard part of my life, Chase. I lost... people I cared about from there. I did... bad things. I didn't fit in. I ran away eventually- when the actual magic circle had enough of us. ... I dunno if they're even still around."

The others are silent for a minute. This feels like a somber moment. "You're in good company, at least, then," Marvin says quietly. "I was on my own for a while. Ran away from these guys. Did some... stuff. So... it probably wasn't the same, but I can understand."

Alt looks at Marvin and shares a look with him before smiling softly, "Yeah..."

"At least... now you have your brother, Alt," Jackie says slowly, nodding at Bro. "Didn't you guys also mention you had other friends? I'm sure they're there for you."

Bro smiles and nods, "Yeah! You won't ever have to worry about that happening ever again."

Alt chuckles and shoulder-checks Bro slightly, "Yeah... you're right." Alt looks back at Jackie and smiles, "Yeah- we got.. other versions of you all actually. We have our Jackie... he's a dad- 3 kids. Sweetest things in the world. And our Jameson... he's a doctor. But a doctor of the mind. And our Henrik- he's... he's a performer. He can't hear well but he's just- a ray of sunshine. ...they're good lads." He shakes his head, "They're not gonna believe all of this when we see them again."

"They all sound so nice!" Jackie grins. "I couldn't picture myself as a parent. I'll leave that to you, Chase."

"Heh." Chase gives him a small smile.

"Would you want to be a doctor, Jameson?" Henrik asks. "Because I cannot see myself as a performer."

Jameson thinks about that. I'm not sure I'd be cut out for doctoring. Of the mind or the body. If anything, I'd prefer the performance. I could be a musician. Perhaps the violin!

"A traveling minstrel?" Marvin laughs. "I can see that. Maybe in another world."

Alt smiles, "I like music- m'not very good at it but I can least put stuff together for a show. I like... drawing more. Painting." He flushes.

Bro laughs, "Maybe once the king is defeated you can travel around Jameson! I think being a traveling musician suits you!"

Jameson smiles sadly. Maybe eventually. I'd have to go home first. Sort out the mess the King made up there. Marvin leans closer to him, bumping their shoulders together.

"Maybe you two can return to this world one day," Chase says. "And you can show us some of your art. Or bring your other friends. I think it would be... interesting. For both of us, since our worlds are so different."

Bro beams, "Dude, the others would love it! Jackie is just as much a nerd as I am- he'd love to try sword fighting. We spar all the time." He laughs, "And i bet Henny would love not feeling like the most out of time anymore."

"I'd love to teach another me how to sword fight!" Jackie exclaims. "I wonder if we'll learn the same way. Well, I'm sure it'll be different. I learned when I was a child."

Alt blinks at Jameson and wants to ask more but.... sounds like its a loaded situation. He anxiously starts to chew on a few more coffee beans.

"Ah, be careful, Alt, we do not have many of these," Henrik says.

"oh- right." Alt blushes and hands the bag back to Henrik, "You should hold onto these then..." He hides in his hood.

"Do not worry about it," Henrik reassures him, putting the beans in his pouch.

"He knows... how to fight! But with his fists, and with fancy moves!" Bro laughs, "Me and Him know more of how to fight with our bodies then with weapons. Cuz- they're illegal in our world- or at least the UK."

"Wait--weapons are outlawed?!" Chase repeats, wide-eyed. "What?!"

"Wait, what?" Marvin snaps back to the conversation. "All of them? Entirely?"

Jackie and Jameson seem equally shocked.

"Do not be so surprised," Henrik says to the rest of them. "Your cultural obsession with weaponry and warriors is a strange thing. In Alterde only the knights and performers may carry weapons."

"You don't know that we're out alone," Jackie says defensively. "I hear that Yuko's home nation is similar."

Bro blinks then laughs, "Well in our world... weapons are more... dangerous now. We have weapons that can... they can kill you in an instant. Faster than a sword could- and easier to carry. And we have a bit more of a structure- there's less to fight for. So, to try to make sure less people get hurt, only certain people can have weapons. But even our... guards for cities- they don't even carry dangerous weapons anymore. It's completely different in other countries though. Our country isn't perfect but- we definitely don't need weapons every day anymore."

"...huh." Jackie blinks. "I can't imagine that. I..." he laughs. "I genuinely can't imagine that. It's easier to think about using lightning as money."

"Something you must understand about this kingdom is that fighting is not just a necessity here," Henrik says. "It is, but it is also a form of... glory, I suppose? And entertainment. And a hobby that you can indulge in. I found it just as strange when I arrived here, but you get used to it. I will remind you that Jackie started training to use a sword as a twelve-year-old."

"Which has made me strong," Jackie says confidently. "Strong enough to handle almost anything."

I hope you're right, Jameson says.

"I get it! That's how our Jackie feels about his fighting- and his job. He can like- travel really fast and do these cool moves. He's really passionate about it. Makes him feel like a hero- like me!" Bro replies. "But yeah... I'd bet you guys would find it strange... how- i want to say peaceful our world is but... that's not true. We just... don't really carry weaponry around and do cool battles anymore."

Alt grips at his knife he has in his bag- Chase always had it a little more easy than he did. He never had to spill blood with a knife. ...sometimes he wonders if that made them too different.

[katt1281]

literally blushing kicking my feet squealing into a pillow because I’m getting married in Skyrim for the first time !! I’ve had Benor as a follower for a while but I wasn’t sure how much he liked me (idk if there’s a way to check? This is my first playthrough) so I put on the amulet immediately after I bought it and looked at him and he was like ‘oho you’ve got the amulet on’ and I was like yeah you interested and he was like yeah ngl I am (!!!! Like! Wtf! He hasn’t indicated that at all so I was SO SURPRISED ) and then I was like yeah ngl I’m interested too so now I’m gonna have a husband?? Marrying Benor my beloved omggg

[angelgendered]

When you're happily child free and never want kids snd the idea of being pregnant personally makes you want to vom but your specific rp thread with a pair of chars you LOVE goes the way of them having unplanned kids and you find yourself almsot crying bc the character you play loves his partner and his kids so much

[adventuringalchemy]

BRO I AM GETTING ASKS OUT THE ASS HOW COME NO OTHER FANDOM WAS THIS INTERESTED WITH MY MUSE???