#the world is crazy and wild and i love it

[confessioncassette]

𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐞 - 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝟏𝟖+. 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭.

Part 1

“you and me alone in the dark, forever i stay, with you”

summary : after having a drug fueled revelation on his life, Thanos decided to create a private account. For weeks, this account was his sanctuary where he could “unplug” from the normalities of his life of partying. With no one to watch him, no one to make fun of what his interests were, he posted snippets of his daily life and created an algorithm that suited his secret interests. And one day, he had stumbled upon you.

tw : taking drugs, pinning, not proof read, reader knows little Korean

words : 5.7k

notes : this is a longer version of my drabble. In this specific AU (without the games), I wrote Thanos as someone who longs for a bond and needs someone to understand him on a deeper level. This maybe out of character juuuust a tad from him in the games, but this is what I feel like he would be as Choi Subong rather than Thanos.

“I tried this shit a while back and it’s wild, bro.”

Nam-Gyu sits cross legged on the floor before his friend, an outstretched hand pedestals two little colorful tablets in his palm. Thanos eyes widen, lips curling downward as he shifts over his tailbone.

“Don’t give me that shit,” the black haired man pushed the other playfully, “trust me, I wouldn’t give you this if I didn’t already know what it felt like. It was eye-opening, bro.”

Thanos shakes his head, “I don't know bro, I’ve never taken something like that before.”

Nam-Gyu clicks his tongue, “just trust me. I’m taking it with you.” His eyes shift to look at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. “It's similar to shrooms,” he muses, “Plus, I’m a good trip guide. I won’t let you do any crazy shit.”

Thanos stares at the colorful tablets laid before him, contemplating if this was a good idea. It’s not like he hasn’t tried this stuff before, or worse, but this was newer on the market and Nam-Gyu’s past of harder drugs doesn’t set his mind at ease.

“For real, you won’t end up in the street naked or anything. When I tried this a few months back, it literally saved me, bro. It was like, like uh, like I saw all the beauty in the world…” He paused sheepishly before adding, “or some shit.”

Nam-Gyu smiles, “look, I don’t do hard shit anymore, you know this.”

Which was true, Thanos thought. They’ve tried almost everything under the sun when it came to experimenting when they first met, with the exception of needles when it came to Thanos. When it came to trying newer drugs, Su-bong was extra cautious about them being laced. But, his friend is trying it with him, and he’s done it before… what could go wrong?

”This was the same batch you tried before?”

”Yeah, I saved these last two for just us.”

”I take just one?”

”Just one.”

The purple haired man takes a tablet with confidence and pops it in his mouth.

“Now let it dissolve over your tongue,” Nam-Gyu follows his friend by taking the tablet, which eases the other.

“How long will it take?” Thanos lets out a breath, sinking his back to the floor. His friend follows suit, flopping his body to the floor beside him to stare at the ceiling in Thanos’s high rise apartment.

“Won’t be long, bro. Just enjoy the ride.”

The lights in the apartment were already dim. The faint glow of purple LED lights and the twinkle of the night sky of Seoul made a soft atmosphere. The high was gradual but overwhelmingly apparent. Thanos’s body flooded with an initial rush of adrenaline, causing his body to buzz. Time felt all-being, fast as light but slow as molasses, and his body was just an anomaly between it all.

The emotions inside his mind bursted at the seams, exploding with undescribable love and admiration for life. The fleeting thought deep within his mind made him realize that he’s never truly felt appreciative of life before, but he chose to ignore it. How could he ignore the overwhelming excitement for living? This is beautiful. His friend was beautiful, his apartment was beautiful, these lights were mesmerizing.

He stared at Seoul’s skyline for what felt like hours, completely entranced in the way they sparkled. Neon lights flashing on billboards, the barely-there stars peeking through the city’s light pollution. Maybe one day he’ll see the night sky for real and count every star up there. How come he had never realized how beautiful the city was? The people in the street enjoying food, groups sticking together on a night out, a couple hugging each other in an intimate moment and forgetting the world around them.

He wanted to find love like this. Could this feeling be love? Is this what it felt like to appreciate everything he had been through? He had never felt this love with another human being before, but he can remember the last time he had felt love.

When he was a child, he loved to create. This mostly came through rapping and making music, but he also adored creating through drawing and painting. He loved to dance, he loved to express himself in any way possible through a form of art.

Maybe he had lacked this as he got older. With tough times and life experiences, he began to revert inside himself. In school, he got in with the wrong crowd, tried drugs and got hooked at a young age. He became rebellious, ultimately becoming the leader of the pack. He still created music, though, but it was the only mask he had. Rapping got him exclusive invitations to more popular crowds. He had spiraled and partied regularly before it became a lifestyle.

A new girl every night and waking up with regret, on a vicious cycle of drugs and alcohol, partying way past sunrise and waking up just when the sun began to set.

Was he proud of it? He’s lived this life for too long to remember, so he couldn’t tell.

Did he even have his own conscious? Did his lifestyle dull his senses to what really matters? He can’t tell.

All he could feel was right now, this moment in the lick of time. And time was fleeting.

-

Choi Su-bong woke up the next night alone on his couch. He blinked, once, twice before reaching for his phone on the floor beside him. Cringing at the bright screen and scrolling through notifications, Nam-Gyu had left a text a few hours ago.

남규 🙈 (4:14 pm) : I left earlier to make an appointment. I checked on u before i left to make sure ur alive lol i also locked the door. Txt me when you wake

Sighing and rolling on his back, Su-bong sent a response to notify that he was okay before switching apps.

Instagram was his first choice, per usual, and he was immediately flooded with his fellow idols and influencer ‘friends’' posts. Flashy cars, luxurious dinners, lavish outfits that cost hundreds of dollars… it was always the same. He swallowed, noticing his mouth withered before discarding his phone once again over the fur carpet.

It was Friday night, the start to a weekend, where he would usually get up to shower and head out to the high scale clubs to meet with friends. But tonight he only hopped in the shower to cleanse himself and threw on a hoodie and sweats, because he cringed at the thought of doing anything else.

Sitting alone on his plush couch, tv faintly glowing in the back, he racked his brain on his experience from yesterday. It’s actually surprising that he didn’t feel the effects still. It must have been a short term high.

Though short term, it had lasting effects on his system. His thought process tonight was completely different from normal. No doom scrolling, waking up craving immediate numbness or even hungover. Maybe it was time for a wake up call, and this was what he needed. And to think that he was hesitant at first to take them.

He was tired of the surface level relationships and everything that came with that. His entire adult life had been a blur, a ticking time bomb with fleeting memories. Sure, times were fun, but waking up each day feeling like his body got pummeled by a train wasn’t…fun.

He missed art. He missed making music that came from his heart. He missed creating. Not this senselessness that made him fit in.

Pulling out his phone, Su-bong’s slender fingers tapped along the screen.

Create a new account

The blue letters stared back at him, and he was eager to press. Pursing his lips, he contemplates a new name. And why was thinking of anything original so hard right now? It felt like a ghostly pressure, but this was his first choice he’s consciously made in years. Was it really that hard?

He lets out an airy laugh, “shibal.”

Pattering his colorful fingernails along the screen, he came up with Mystic_Legend.

Was it original to his persona? No. But he liked it that way. It was a little ode to himself, but honoring his attachment.

He kept the profile blank for now, not opting to add a profile picture.

This was a clean slate. The explore page filled with vacation pictures of palm trees next to private pools, someone cooking a healthy meal for their family, a few memes - but what caught his attention was a beautiful art piece hung along a blank wall.

What he could perceive as a skinless torso without the flesh, unmasked and slimy twisting up like a tornado. Brilliant hues of blue and dusty grey explode through the top like a cloud exploding and expanding. Thanos was mesmerized by the painting. He’d never seen anything like this before.

His whole body stalled as his eyes scan every detail of the picture for a while. His mind races with thoughts of what could this be? What was the artist interpreting?

But maybe it wasn’t up for interpretation, maybe it was to feel.

What he felt was a tainted soul blossoming into something new.

This was a deep connection, a coincidence to a new path of life.

A beginning.

-

Su-bong spent less time on social media in the following weeks. From what used to be entertaining fans through comments, responding to DM’s, collaborating with other big artists and liking videos of his appearances and shows to spending most of his time on his burner account.

He had grown an algorithm catered to interests long forgotten and had followed things that genuinely interested him. From thousands of followers to zero, from following a few hundred to 13. It was refreshing, to Su-bong. Something he had needed.

No followers didn’t stop him from posting his daily routine. It was rather fun, actually. Posting things that he was doing without having thousands of people watching his every move. It felt more invigorating to post things that were out of his online persona.

An americano from the cafe down the street, his weights at the gym, his record collection, his at-home studio setup, a new pair of shoes he just bought, a colorful sunset from his apartment, a video of him filming the Han River as he went on a run.

He found a new love in posting things that caught his eye, a new love for things he didn’t really see before.

Nam-Gyu was always around, too. Like usual, he’d stop by the apartment to share a drink or smoke a blunt. The two would watch movies and order take out every few days, leaving Nam-Gyu to pass out on the couch for the night. The bond they shared was always special in regards to the fakeness of the crowd Thanos hung around, so it was natural and comfortable keeping him close.

Though, he’d never share the burner account. That was solely his.

Thanos would still keep a presence online through his main account, but not as much. Fans would ask if things were okay on his posts, but he never responded to those. He did his tasks led by management and kept his social life relatively strong to cause any other suspicion.

However, he did loosen the reins on making appearances. In a span of 2 weeks, he didn’t show up to any night clubs or perform at any shows, much to his managers' dislike. However, he continued to make music, music like he’s never created before.

His new routine would be spending hours in his guest bedroom/home studio making music from his soul. Raps about love and heartbreak, about a life he feels like he’d never lived. Raps about living vicariously through movies, how he longs for companionship but can’t seem to allow himself. Raw emotions would flow, allowing himself to set in a new territory of his mind and heart.

It was like therapy. Years of burden lifted off his shoulder poured into his music. Sometimes angry and intense, spitting painful memories and emotions through the mic - and others loving and soft, thoughtful for genuine affection.

Choi Su-bong felt at ease for the first time since he was a child.

Nestled in his king bed, damp hair draping over his brow, he scrolled through his explore page.

A beautiful face he had scrolled past.

Scrolling back up, he tapped on your picture with lightning speed.

A simple photo, but unremarkable. You posed in a simple dress that accentuated your body modestly, holding the phone up to take a selfie in a park.

Officially 1 month in Seoul!

Seoul? You’re here?

Swiping to your profile, he noticed that you didn’t have much. With only following barely over a hundred people and less than 40 followers, you were an anomaly.

You didn’t even have a caption, just a simple text heart emoji under your name.

Your profile had only 12 photos and 2 of which were you. The rest had been photos of your adventures. A photo of a record store, good food you had tried here in Korea, and pictures of landscapes.

Thanos eagerly tapped on the second photo of you.

You were in bed, phone angled high to capture your beauty with flash, holding a plush animal.

I rewarded myself with a friend today

Su-bong swelled, grinning to himself. The plushie you had looked soft, tuffs of its fur touching your cheek as you smiled sweetly back at him. Scrolling down, he found your first post of an airplane illuminated under airport lights.

Today, I start fresh. I’m nervous. #movingtokorea

Checking the date, you had posted this 2 months ago. You must have moved here recently and are living in the same city as him.

Running slender fingers through his hair, Su-Bong considered interacting with you or not. He had scrolled up to see your face at least a dozen times, practically stalking your entire page. Unable to control his emotions, Thanos buzzed with adrenaline.

He’s made the first move countless of times, but not in a… specific way like this. He never had a problem getting the girl he desired for the night, and he never had to try hard at that. This was a completely different situation.

He didn’t want that type of relationship with you. He felt it reverberating deep within his bones. He wanted more than that. Looking through the screen into your eyes marked him in a way he could never describe in words. It was a pulling, a chain that linked and locked with a click deep in his soul.

One message couldn’t hurt? Right? You didn’t even know who he was, or what society had written about him. You didn’t know his past, his current or even his name.

Would it be weird sending you a message? He doesn’t think he could even cope with being left on read by you.

This was fate, this was more than limerence - it was affinity.

-

You sigh, plopping yourself over your couch and covering yourself with a blanket.

Your apartment was small and barren. It was nothing to look at, but it was home. Little trinkets line your bookshelf in the corner of your living room glow under the tv’s light. Scrolling through your apps, you select a comfort show from your childhood and unwind.

Starting a new life in Seoul wasn’t on your bingo card a year ago, but you had made the rash decision for a job with decent pay. You had never left home, so why not take an adventure to see if you could do it? The best part of all of this was that you always had the decision to move back, or move somewhere else completely.

It was beginning to feel like home, though. It was the perfect amount of space you needed and the environment was a perfect mix of introverted activities and extroverted. You had the freedom to become a hermit, but also had the option to go out if you so please. You lived in a part of the city where you could walk to work, dine and drink down the street. You also lived in an area close to bars if you ever felt the need to socialize.

It was beginning to feel like home after 2 months. Your job was easy to follow, despite you not being an expert in Korean. The people were nice, though they were curious and stared. You stuck out like a sore thumb with your demeanor, but you were becoming accustomed quickly, better than you thought you would.

You should be going out tonight, but you don’t feel ready yet. You should be getting dolled up to enjoy a night of fun, but… this was fun for now. Cuddled up in your cozy apartment after a long week at work.

The tv muffled in the background as you stared out your window, appreciating the skyline.

Your phone buzzes against your tight, drawing you from your thoughts.

Mystic_Legend wants to send you a message

Your brow furrows at the notification, but you’re anxious to see the message. You had little to no lies from your home country, and no one knew you here in Korea. Must be a bot.

Mystic_Legend (9:56 pm) : 나는 당신의 사진을 좋아합니다

You blink, staring at the message in curiosity. Pulling up google on your phone you translate the sentence.

I like your photo

“Weird,” you mumble.

Another instagram notification pops up on your screen and you tap it.

Mystic_Legend (9:57 pm) : 최근에 한국에 도착 했나요? 당신은 그것을 좋아합니까?

Have you arrived in Korea recently? Do you like it?

Uneasiness bubbles within your gut. Wasn’t your profile private? You tap around your screen to double check - and it wasn’t. Curiosity got the best of you and you tap the users profile.

20 posts, 13 following and… zero followers.

An anomaly.

Scrolling through the users posts, you find random things. A pair of new shoes, a video of a hooded figure with his back turned to the camera playing on a soundboard, a picture of the person’s outfit, hat covered with a beanie and phone conveniently covering his face in the mirror. Filtering through more posts, you find the Seoul skyline at night, a deck of cards littering a coffee table, gym equipment and landscape photos.

“What the,” you sigh under your breath before another notification pops over the top of your screen.

Mystic_Legend (10:01 pm) : I’m sorry. I should have written in English.

Mystic_Legend (10:01 pm) : I like your photos. Did you recently move to Korea?

Your fingers hesitate before swiping across the screen to accept the messages.

You (10:02 pm) : Do I know you?

A typing bubble appears before disappearing for a few moments.

Mystic_Legend (10:03 pm) : No, I found you on explore page

Ahh, it clicked. But you won’t tell a stranger sensitive information, the whole situation is weird in the first place. You were hesitant to even respond, leaving the message on read while you stared at the screen.

Mystic_Legend (10:04 pm) : I’m Su-bong. Not a creep, I promise.

You (10:04 pm) : Nice to meet you. Thank you for liking my pictures.

Keeping it short and sweet, you lock your phone, hoping to leave the conversation at that, but your phone vibrates not once, but twice.

Mystic_Legend has followed you

Mystic_Legend (10:06 pm) : I could help you speak Korean, if you don’t know

You contemplate the message, looking at it on your Home Screen. You could use the help with your job and navigating the city. It wouldn’t hurt, right? You could have a native speaker help and just keep it at that. Just for the knowledge, of course. Keep it surface level.

You (10:07 pm) : That helps me, actually.

Mystic_Legend (10:07 pm) : Cool. 😎

Mystic_Legend (10:07 pm) : Maybe we could call?

You (10:08 pm) : Not tonight, it’s pretty late.

Mystic_Legend (10:09 pm) : That is okay, get your rest. We can speak tomorrow?

You (10:10 pm) : Sure.

Seen 10:10pm

You left it at that, and the stranger does too. You get ready for bed shortly after that, confused as to how anyone would even find you on the explore page. You weren’t a big account at all and hardly interacted with content on the app, so what had led to the discovery of your profile?

You did have similar interests, but that couldn’t be the only reason for him to message you.

Before closing your eyes, you tap the instagram application and go to the strangers profile and press follow.

-

It caused Su-bong physical pain to let you go to bed. He wanted to message you more, all night if he could. But you had agreed to a call tomorrow, and he was reeling with adrenaline.

Scanning over your photos in his darkened room overlooking the city lights, he couldn’t keep his gaze off the picture of you in the park. Turning over to lay on his side, a strangeness swells within his chest. It must have been stupid, only a virgin could react so strongly just by pictures and dry messages.

But something had told him this was everything he had been missing. Not ever had he looked at a girl with such a sweetness. He’d hooked up with models, influencers and everything in between, although not remembering most of the nights. He’d share hot kisses with wet tongues in night clubs, inviting high class women to his place to experiment something new, had intense sex fueled by molly, and even bent women over in grimy bathrooms.

This was not new to him, picking up women and getting what he wanted.

But the purity was.

Something swam in your eyes, mesmerizing him in a daze. Something fueled him to keep pushing, to dig deeper as to where this stems from.

You are beautiful, elegant and ethereal actually.

He’d hate himself forever if he didn’t try.

The buzz of a notification almost sends his heart leaping out of his chest to find that you had followed him back.

-

You didn’t hear from the stranger, or Su-bong overnight. To your conflicting disappointment, he wasn’t in the pile of notifications when you woke.

Something pulled you in. Men now-a-days have a large following, or a large number of who they follow. You didn’t mull this over to its extent last night, but when you checked his following, it was all art, photography and music accounts… all 13 of them. He didn’t have a profile picture, but the same silhouette showed continuously through his posts.

He didn’t have any followers, and this led you to think this was a secret account. Maybe he had a girlfriend to hide… but honestly that wouldn’t make sense, because if he were to hide an account, wouldn’t he be following girls? At least one? But the only one was you.

And you were now his only follower.

It seemed like a simple account, purely made for enjoyment. Social media is used for that sort of thing anyways, right? You shake your head, reminding yourself that not every man is out to get you. Not every stranger is here to hurt you.

It’s not that big of a deal, and you shouldn’t even be bothering yourself with it.

So you opt to forget about it and carry on with your day.

Saturday - a day to catch up after the work week and do whatever you want to do. So, you do. You work out, shower and make your way to the little cafe down the street to catch a light breakfast and coffee.

Sitting down at an empty table near the window to people watch, your phone buzzes over the table.

Mystic_Legend (10:01 am) : Good morning

Bzzzzt

Mystic_Legend sent a photo

You practically leap from your seat to snatch your phone, a rush of adrenaline courses through your veins. You pray to god that this doesn’t go south, please for the love of god do not be an unsolicited dick pic.

Preparing yourself with a breath, you go to his message embarrassingly fast and tap on the photo.

You squint before opening, as if to allow yourself to be a victim of a terrible sight, but to your delight, the picture opened to a pair of pristine white sneakers next to some weights.

Mystic_Legend (10:03 am) : I am hitting the gym this morning. I hope you slept well.

You (10:04 am) : I beat you to it, I already worked out today. I am getting breakfast.

Sending a picture back can’t do any harm, right? Angling your phone over your food and coffee, you snap a picture and send it.

Mystic_Legend (10:06 am) : Looks good

Mystic_Legend (10:06 am) : What are your plans today?

Mystic_Legend (10:07 am) : I am excited to call, let me know when you are ready.

You purse your lips, blushing at the thought of having a phone call with a stranger. This was unhinged right? No one in their right mind would be doing this… right? Why did your heart flutter with every message he sent?

It’s literally a blank profile.

You tap on his account and scroll down to the photo of him in a mirror. The purple beanie covers his hair and the phone covers most of his face. The hoodie he wears is black with neon coloring and you can’t see past his waist. The one eye you do see, gives a glimpse, a sliver, that who you are talking to is a real person.

You (10:10 am) : I have to run errands today, but I will text you when I am home

The chat bubble lifts above the keyboard, then disappears. You await his response in silence.

Mystic_Legend (10:11 am) : I will wait for you.

An… odd message, you blink. Maybe even sweet… but you don’t know the customs and courtesies of Korean culture enough to have a real judgement. All you need to worry about is finishing your errands and chores before a phone call with a stranger.

-

Flicking the light to your apartment on and dumping your grocery bags on the counter, you stretch.

A day out was just what you needed, and the weather was perfect to walk around in, but damn do your feet ache. Slipping off your shoes by the door, you begin doing your final task of the day.

You barely put the egg carton in your fridge before you hear your phone buzz from the counter. Padding your feet over to your phone, sits another photo message from mystic_legend.

Tilting your head, you open the photo.

An outstretched hand gingerly caresses a wine glass halfway filled with a deep red in front of a kitchen counter.

Mystic_Legend (8:00 pm) : I hope you had a good day.

You (8:00 pm) : Sorry it is so late, I met up with a coworker for dinner.

You cringe at your apology, it’s not like he deserved one. But it was true. Your coworker saw you shopping at a local store and asked if you’d be down to have drinks and food. You couldn’t say no, especially since you have no friends. And this coworker is also a foreigner, so it works out in terms of no language barriers. But you did have plans to call with him, so maybe you felt the need to mention that?

You (8:01 pm) : Is that red wine?

Mystic_Legend (8:01 pm) : Yes. I like this one.

Mystic_Legend sent a photo

You open the photo to see an exquisite bottle of red with the label in French.

You (8:03 pm) : Looks expensive, are you rich?

Mystic_Legend (8:04 pm) : It was a gift.

You (8:05 pm) : I will call soon, I need to finish cleaning up and shower

Mystic_Legend hearted your message but said nothing else.

You freshen up after a long day, letting the hot water cascade down your back. Rubbing your shoulders to ease the tension, your mind wanders.

Was this a trick? Was he a creep? How could you be so naive in trusting a complete stranger? It was weird, what you were doing.

But in reality, you are lonely. Making this move was huge for you and your confidence. You’ve never ventured out like this before. You are a big girl, you don’t need to explain your reasons for making friends. You are completely on your own, working in a completely new country, and doing good at it.

You’re not tied down by anything but yourself, so why was it hard to accept the fact that this was a little unconventional?

You’ve tried dating apps in the past- you physically cringe forcing yourself to stop your thought process. Shrugging your shoulders against the water in a visceral reaction, you shake off the thought. This guy is not an interest, why were you thinking it was? Instagram is not an app to date.

Even so, he had never asked anything other than to talk to you. You’ve had guys in the past ask for nudes almost immediately. You’ve had guys thirsting over you in such an icky way that it completely turned you off.

But…

You lean your head back into the waterfall and puff your cheeks.

He hasn’t done that.

You couldn’t help by think of all the reason why. Why he had messaged. Was it a cover? He could be a complete fuck-boy underneath it all and he’s just grabbing your attention.

What if he isn’t even real. What if he’s some mama’s boy living in a dingy basement?

You groan, anticipation swelling deep in your belly. You feel like you might be sick at the thought of a measly voice call.

You can’t help that it excites you.

-

Silk pajamas caress your skin and the plush comforter of your bed warms your senses as you whip out your phone and settle yourself in a comfortable position.

Your finger lingers over the phone symbol next to the strangers name… and you can’t do it.

You (11:01 pm) : I’m ready

WIthin seconds, like he really was awaiting your message, your phone screen illuminates with a voice call.

Your body tenses at the mere sight and you suck in a breath, hitting accept.

“Hello?”

“Annyeonghaseyo,” he calls, his voice low and smooth like honey. You melt at the slow infliction of his tone.

“Oh- annyeong-“ You stutter, but he doesn’t react. “How are you?” You try to hold it together to keep your voice from shaking, praying that he doesn’t notice. Your poor Korean could be embarrassing to him.

“That was good,” he comments before proceeding, “I am good now. I told you I would wait for you.”

The more he spoke, the more you caught on to his thick accent. It wasn’t perfect. But you didn’t care, you understood him just fine.

You give an airy laugh, “you did.”

”What did you do today?”

You hum. “I worked out, went to lunch… I went shopping and met up with a coworker of mine for dinner. It was nice. What did you do today?”

He hums in response.

“One second-“ he says, followed by quick tapping on his screen. After a moment, he begins to speak again.

“I worked out too. I had chest day. Then I made music.”

“Music?”

“Yes,” he pauses, “I like to make music.”

”Is that why you post pictures of you in a studio?”

“Yes,” the tapping on his phone is rapid now, “I have my own studio in my house.”

”That’s so cool! I’d like to hear your music…”

The stranger was silent on the other line.

”Maybe.”

“Okay, well no pressure. I don’t like to show anyone my personal stuff either.” You opt to keep the conversation light.

He hums in agreement.

“Why did you come to Korea?”

You shift under your covers, thinking of a response.

“I… just needed a new start. I wanted to see what I could accomplish.” Is what you ended up with.

He hums again, slow and low, taking a moment to respond.

“I understand. I have lived here my entire life. I always wanted to travel, that is good that you did.”

You laugh, “it was scary at first, moving to a new country and all…”

”I could tell you all the best spots around here.”

”I’d like that, I’m still getting used to it.” You turn your head to look at the moon outside your window.

”Do you remember my name?” He questions.

”Su-Bong.” You respond quietly.

”Yes, I’d like to know yours.”

You swallow, internally battling yourself with how to respond. You don’t want to give him your real name in the means of safety. But he did give you his.

“Is that actually your name?”

“Of course, why would I lie?” His accent was thick and questioning, low in bass. It rang so nicely through your ears. His infliction doesn’t waver, and it draws you in.

You slowly said your own name, giving him the benefit of the doubt. It was just a name after all, and he had already known what you looked like.

He repeated your name quietly, like he savored it on his tongue. His deep voice electrified your nerves in a way you’ve never experienced, triggering your body to grow hot in embarrassment.

“Beautiful name,” was all he said.

You sheepishly give thanks before yawning.

“Are you tired?”

Your eyelids grow heavy to the sound of his voice. “I am.”

”I will let you go to sleep, can we talk tomorrow?”

You wait a moment to respond as your heart flutters in response to him.

“Yes, I’d like that.”

”Okay,” he whispers, “an nyeong hi ju mu se yo.”

”Goodnight, Su-Bong.”

-

Thanos hung up the phone almost too quickly, but not because he wanted to leave the conversation, but because he needed to let out a breath he had been holding.

Your voice was sweet and calming. It had lulled his system like waves of the ocean.

Running his fingers through his hair his eyes dart around the room and curses under his breath.

You’d definitely be the death of him.

[comas-are-for-sleeping]

i love things that happen because of a specific thing

[epicfirestormer]

What I love about Hellboy and Abe Sapien's dynamic in the comics is that, if you came into this blind, you'd expect Abe to be the voice of reason or the straight man to Hellboy's impulsive and hotheaded personality. But no, Abe is more often than not the crazy one. Hellboy would deal with fighting evil monsters and bad guys by just sighing and getting it over with, while Abe is going rabid over tearing the creature apart when he does get into a fight. Hellboy acts like it's a 9-to-5 job and will reasonably talk things out with a guy that had nearly killed him before, Abe acts like a madman in a slaughter house and his first instinct is to shoot first kill second and ask third. They're both insane, but on completely different levels.

[hplonesomeart]

Guys call me crazy but I think the crazy robots would get along swimmingly. The tragic fact that these two don’t have more art interacting is an offense in my rule book and I have come to remedy that. They say you must manifest what you want to see in the world and this is me doing that jskjsksp. I will take initiative! Enjoy a smidgen of Mr. Puzzles and Mettaton art then. Although I think the only reason they initially decided to co-host collaborate together here was the prospect of getting more stars/ratings- because that’s show business babyyyy leverage off of famous people for viewssss/j

Also here is version without the speech/dialogue bubbles! Just two gay bots being fabulous and gossiping or something (platonically. Or you could lean into this being a ship I don’t really care lol). Maybe they’ll exchange some advice about the logistics of incorporating musical numbers in the boardcasts without losing too much revenue on the budget idk. Because if you think about it Mettaton did a musical number in a dress with Frisk and then Mr. Puzzles had his whole Creative Control moment. And both where marvelous performances by the way absolutely slay ✨

My “toxic trait” is supporting the theatrical livelihoods of fictional computers who have committed atrocities, and they both will probably never make an apology video for the attempted murders and trauma inflicting. Wow so girlboss of them :))

[queenlucythevaliant]

We see him come and know him ours

Russia: "Carol of the Russian Children," traditional // Kenya: The Nativity, Elima Njau // France: "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella," Nicolas Saboly // Haiti: Madonna and Child, Ismael Saincilus // Australia: "The Three Drovers," William James // China: Tryptic by Lu Hongnian // Canadian/Algonquian: "Huron Carol," Jean de Brébeuf

[seyaryminamoto]

Scenes of a Peaceful World: Sokkla Saturdays 2024

Day Eight - Intuition

Rated: T

On FF.net//On AO3

"Do you ever get the feeling that mom and dad haven't told us everything?"

"Everything? What do you mean, Shun?"

"Well, it's just… I don't know. They have a lot of big friends, and they're all important people. Isn't it weird? Most my friends in school… their parents aren't like that. Ah, and all their parents know our parents, but our parents don't know theirs. Does that make sense?"

"I mean, our parents are famous. That's obvious, right?"

"But why?"

Hotaru bit her lip. She had no answers for that particular question��� none that made sense, anyway. Shun pouted, sitting beside her by the fire, as Yuuna worked on some mysterious sculpture with a pile of ice, by Hotaru's other side.

"Dad's from the Southern Water Tribe," Shun said, glancing about himself, at the ornate, beautiful igloos, the strong ice walls, and of course, the beautiful fireplace they sat by. "This is where he was born. So why did he ever marry… w-well, someone from Fire Nation royalty?"

"Because they fell in love," Hotaru responded, simply.

"But how? Why? Are you sure it makes sense that they just…?"

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" Hotaru asked, with a wicked smile. Shun tensed up, cheeks heating up at once.

"B-because…! They're going to get all mushy and make fun of me for asking about that kind of thing," he grumbled. Hotaru chuckled. "See? You're making fun of me already!"

"You know, there's nothing wrong with admitting you're curious about romance," Hotaru said. Shun pouted, cheeks redder still. "If that's what you want to know…"

"That's not it! I've heard more than just… well, weird stories that make no sense about their relationship!" Shun exclaimed. "It's also about… how the war ended. Have you learned about that in school, Hotaru? B-because…!"

She had learned some things about it, certainly, but… not that much. Not at length. Hotaru frowned, eyeing her brother warily. He knelt by her now, careless to sink his knees in the snow.

"I don't know much about it. And everything I hear… doesn't sound real," Shun said, softly.

"I know," Hotaru sighed. "The Fire Nation lost and surrendered… Fire Lord Ozai was defeated. Our grandfather…"

"Mom doesn't talk about him much," Shun mumbled. "Everyone else says he was, uh, well…"

"A son of a bitch," Yuuna interjected: both her siblings winced.

"D-don't just blurt that out like that, Yuuna!" Hotaru said.

"We're not supposed to curse…" Shun swallowed hard.

"Nobody's listening. Doesn't matter," Yunna continued: the ice sculpture she worked on only continued to grow in size… though its shape still made no sense to her siblings.

"Either way…" Shun sighed, shaking his head. "I just don't think any of the stories we hear make much sense, you know? They're so… ridiculous?"

"But we have seen some of it ourselves," Hotaru pointed out. "Mom told us about the Spicy Ramen Challenge…"

"That's the only believable one."

"And the Spirit Library?"

"W-well, that's…! Very cool. I suppose. B-but do you seriously think our parents singlehandedly convinced a scary spirit owl that humanity wasn't that far gone and deserved a second chance?" Shun said, eyeing Hotaru skeptically. "We're talking about our parents here, you know? Just this morning they had an argument about the right way to pronounce 'leisure'… for twenty minutes!"

"They can take nonsense really far, that is true," Hotaru conceded. "But… they're really respected at their jobs, you know? People look up to them."

"That's what I don't understand. That's why… well, I want to know, but at the same time, I don't know if I do," Shun sighed, glancing towards the mountains. "Whenever we come here to visit grandfather… they always go on their own for a while and leave us here. Why… why do you think they do that? Are they keeping some big secret from us until they decide we're ready to hear it?"

"Thing is, Shun…" Hotaru sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "I have the feeling we've been hearing the truth since ages ago. You know… those bedtime stories they always tell us?"

"Oh, Princess Jing and her champion, Wentai?" Shun asked. Hotaru bit her lip. "What about that?"

"Don't you think it's weird how most people haven't heard of them? No one in school told us about those two great heroes of old…"

"U-uh, I guess not, but… I kind of figured mom and dad made them up?"

"They didn't!" Yuuna exclaimed, frowning. "Princess Jing and Wentai are a real legend!"

"That's what I think too," Hotaru said, with an awkward smile. "But… I just think their actual names aren't Jing and Wentai. And maybe they are hiding a thing or two anyway besides that, maybe they don't tell us the full story anyhow, but I think…"

"Heh? Heh?!" Shun's eyes widened, glancing between his sisters. "Y-you're not saying… Princess Jing is mom, and Wentai is dad? T-that's…! That's impossible!"

"You know, the more you believe it's impossible, the harder it will be for you to accept those secrets you're so worried about," Hotaru pointed out: Shun, however, was entirely beyond being reasoned with now.

"Wentai is so cool! He's like… the coolest non-bender ever! He fights and kicks so much, u-uh…"

"Ass!"

"Thank you, Yuuna, but… I mean, there's no way our goofball dad could be him! And Jing, w-well, she's nice, and she's the best firebender of her age, but I'm sure mom's cooler than her!"

"Well, I think they're both awesome," Hotaru smiled. Shun shuddered, shaking his head.

"There's just no way. There's just no way…!"

Hakoda smirked, witnessing the children's discussion from a safe distance – he supposed he'd have to report on Yuuna's curses to her parents, but he doubted it would make a difference, considering how the child tended to disregard any scolding that lacked logical, solid reasoning she could accept.

"So much intuition… and yet, always stopping just short of an uncomfortable truth. Sokka's son, that's for sure," he chuckled, dropping his head against the frame of his igloo's front door.

Should the kids sneak off now, following the tracks their parents left behind, they would be certain to find them in a whole different light right now. In the ruins of an old building, long demolished, by the bay where a dangerous battle had been won by the Southern Water Tribe…

"Still don't think this is the right way to go about this tradition of ours, love. We didn't have swords back then, remember?" Sokka smirked. Azula scoffed, raising her white blade in his direction.

"Humor your wife. What's the point of coming all this way without a rematch?" she smirked. Sokka laughed.

"I really shouldn't have put that thought in your head, all those years ago," he concluded. Azula chuckled, as he unsheathed his sword as well. "But it always feels right… coming back to where it all began with you."

"Just how far have we come this time, Wentai?" Azula asked, teasingly.

"Let's figure that out, Princess Jing," Sokka smirked. Azula huffed, twirling her sword in a teasing flourish before diving forth.

Their duels were never truly dangerous, if simply because they knew each other all too well, so used to sparring together that they would always be effortlessly synched. They moved smoothly, almost as though they danced, as though they were fire and water swirling side by side, never snuffing each other out, never clashing fully, only brushing together so lightly, causing sizzling electricity to bloom between them in consequence.

Their outcomes were seldom predictable, but this time, it was Sokka who found himself disarmed, with a blade by his throat. He smiled, raising his hands in surrender.

"Now… don't you dare yield," Azula teased him, stepping closer to him, without setting aside her sword. Sokka chuckled, basking in the tenderness and danger alike. "That would be no fun."

"I can think of a better way to settle this, then," Sokka teased her: Azula smirked as his arms slid around her body.

Her sword clattered over his once she dropped it, fully enticed into his embrace, kissing him deeply as the pale sunlight of the South Pole bathed them. Sokka pressed their brows together, nose gently nudging hers.

"Still think this is the right way to finish any arguments," he said. Azula scoffed.

"You're still pronouncing 'leisure' wrong."

"Am not!"

"Oh, please…!"

He dove in again, as though to prove his earlier words correct: Azula laughed, hands cupping his face first, then slipping around his neck so she could hug him tightly. Their careless laughter echoed across the pristine landscape, the place where so much had begun for the two of them, and where their ever-growing love never failed to find renewal and strength, providing the best warmth in a frigid landscape… highlighting the beautiful balance between fire and ice that the two lovers had long discovered by each other's side.

[bongosinferno]

Interesting thing with the Bethesda fallouts (I've been playing a bit of Fallout 4 recently) is that they, at least in my opinion, misunderstand the fun parts of the first 2 games. I don't think think the setting is a very important part in those games, it's a part of it but it's just set-dressing for the gameplay and fun quest stories and how the players interact with them. I think there's some potential in say Fallout 4 for interesting quests or stories (I've done a couple of quests but a lot of my knowledge is from the Joseph Andersson video), but the solutions to any story just leads back into the shooting gameplay loop. This is, I think, antithetical to the format of the originals, which were based a lot more in having the format of a TTRPG. If your TTRPG sessions all boiled down to shooting people with basically no alternative solutions to quests I think your players would get bored. Since it's got shooter mechanics this kind of salvages it, it becomes it's very different own thing. But the wonderful gameplay loop of those first two games is lost, and I kind of miss it. Man, I need to replay Fallout 2.

[theprinceandthewitch]

Hmm... it's interesting how they made Luz wear a witch's cloak in Hunting Palisman - the episode where she introduces Flapjack to Hunter. This is also the episode where Hunter defies Belos by choosing Luz over him. He goes back to his palace empty-handed and he doesn't hand over Flapjack to Belos. Unbeknownst to Hunter, he is following Caleb's footsteps.

But then, in Hollow Mind, they made the choice to have Luz not wear her witches cloak - instead they made Luz wear a jacket with a giant "E" on it. They could have given Luz a completely different outfit like they did in Hunting Palisman. But they don't... they make her wear this specific jacket...

...They also make Hunter wear Caleb's symbol in Hollow Mind... an episode where Luz and Hunter are trapped in Philip's mind... where we can see paintings of the two most important characters in Philip's life - his brother and a witch from another world.

But I'm sure this is all unintentional.

You know, like this is:

oh, nbd, just a painting being paralleled with the scene happening right before our eyes

here's a more high def image of the painting

Oh, hmm, okay, this is a painting of Caleb standing next to a witch with short dark brown hair and who just so happens to be a witch from another world. Both of them are startled by Philip...

Hunter, the Grimwalker who looks the most like Caleb, is standing next to someone who ALSO just so happens to be a witch from another world with short dark brown hair... both are startled by Philip's monster form...

Hmm, must be unintentional I guess.

there's also this:

Mhm, okay, I see... I see, very interesting. Here we have Caleb being lead away from Philip by a witch from another world after the brother's have a fall out. This fall out marks the point of no return for them, as Philip later kills Caleb out of anger.

Hunter and Philip's relationship completely deteriorates because of Luz, which leads to Philip's decision to kill Hunter. She shows Hunter Belos' true nature and she offers Hunter sanctuary at The Owl House right after he finds out Belos has been lying to him his whole life... Luz saves Hunter's life and changes it forever.

Hmmm... very interesting

But I'm sure this is unintentional [I'm being sarcastic]

[forlorn-plushie]

One thing I'd love to see Magpie lean into for the FLTTRPG is the opportunity deck. They mostly do PbtA and should continue in that genre, but the idea of having a deck of custom one-shot moves local to each region goes hard.

I do have high hopes for it, FB seems likely to be involved deep in the development compared to the Avatar game so it'll probably be strong.

[skitskatdacat63]

This is my personal crossover event of the century

[infizero]

oblivion theory is the best deltarune theory bcuz every inconsistency with the legend and the knight and everything is just explained away by "this whole premise is fabricated so you'll keep playing the game forever" and it also makes actual perfect sense

[frolicksome]

I got bored... So, decided to draw these two!

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 8: Banished Fae

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

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

The town really isn't all that big. The group leads Bro and Alt back in the direction of Chase's cottage--which, from the outside, has white walls and a yellow roof that's missing some shingles. They go in between the cottages out here on the edge, through their gardens, and into the wilderness. The north forest is pretty close to the edge of town. There's just a short stretch of empty grass and flowers, maybe about half a basketball court in length. This is where Jackie gets out of the pocket and starts zipping around.

Alt and Bro brighten once they see Jackie start flying around. Bro stretches and then falls back- letting himself hover in the air kind he’s laying in a hammock. “Ahhh! That’s better!”

Schneep whistles. "You were not kidding about that flight. I only see sylphs floating in the air like that." 

You never see sylphs doing anything, they're invisible, Jameson says jokingly. 

"Nearly invisible!" 

Jackie flies over next to Bro, hovering by his head. "Wow. No wings or anything!" He laughs. "That must be pretty helpful." 

Bro grins, “Yeah! It’s amazing!” He rights himself then flies around in circles over the clearing and zipping through trees before he joins the others again. 

They start going into the forest. This isn't a thick woods. Sunlight easily pierces the canopy, sending ripples across the floor. 

Marvin climbs into a tree, hopping up to the nearest branch, and walks along next to the others, effortlessly balancing on branches that look like they should break under his weight. 

Alt watches Marvin climb into the tree. He thinks then in a flurry of glitches he’s on a branch by Marvin- in the shape of black calico cat. He hops and glitches along the branches.

"Oooo!" Chase's eyes light up. "Double cat!" 

Marvin meows, sounding delighted. Alt meows loudly and sticks his chest out proudly.

Jackie laughs. "Schneep, you do something, make it an animal party!" 

Schneep frowns. "I cannot become a cat, though. Mammals are hard for me." 

"No no no, do something!" Chase encourages. 

"Hmm... I can do one mammal," Schneep says slowly. He walks around the trunk of a tree--and a small, furry animal trots out, low to the ground, brown on its back and cream on its belly. It's about three feet long.

Alt blinks and glitches down by Schneep and sniffs at him. Then he grins and in a quick zip becomes the same animal as him, running around him in circles and making chittering noises. 

Bro laughs, touching down to walk with the others. “…he doesn’t show this one off as much- I can tell he’s having fun.” He says quietly with a fond smile. 

Jameson chuckles. What is that animal? I've never seen it before. 

"I think it's an otter of some kind?" Chase says. "I remember seeing some in the aquarium back in Cali. But this one is darker, I think, and its head is somehow different." 

Schneep raises up onto his hind legs and bobs his head. 

"An otter? Huh." 

Must be a different type than the ones you saw in the New World, Jameson says. 

"Oh that makes sense!" Jackie says. "It's another river animal." 

Alt chatters and tries raising onto his hind legs too but wobbles a bit. He makes a laughing type noise then in another quick glitch he’s now a brown wolf that sits down and barks slightly at them.

"Ohhh wolf!" Jackie says excitedly. "Fell yeah! They're so cool. Elves and goblins sometimes ride them into battle, you know." 

And piskies sometimes ride squirrels, Jameson says jokingly. 

"No, they're too small. A house cat, though? That could work." Jackie flies up to Marvin in the trees, landing on his back. "Even Marvin could work!" 

Marvin mrows and shakes himself, throwing Jackie off. Jackie, luckily, manages to catch himself and start flying again before he hit the ground. 

Alt makes a laughing like sound then whistles and glitches himself back into his cat form and walks up to Jackie, shaking himself off and showing off his back.

Jackie's eyes light up. He lands on Alt's back, right behind his head. "Onward!"

Alt meows and then charges ahead, even adding some speed with his magic- making bits of green sparks curl off his fur. 

Bro covers his mouth with his hand to hide his laugh. “Oh my god- that’s amazing!”

Schneep in his otter form bounds after the two of them. Marvin does not, but his tail does flick excitedly. 

Chase laughs. He takes his phone out of his pocket and films a video of all this. Bro follows Chase’s lead to get a video too. Why has he never thought of that? …Maybe cuz Alt might kill him. 

After a while, something happens. At first, it's bits of litter on the forest floor. Sad, but not too worrying. Until they notice that it's not exactly normal litter. It's broken phones and wires, and the occasional microchip. Marvin hops out of the trees as cables start to appear, draped across the branches. The mood seems to fall a little. 

We're getting close, Jameson says, frowning.

Alt starts to slow down as he notices the litter. His hackles raise slightly as he anxiously looks around the path and at the trees. 

Bro shudders, “… never thought seeing these kinda things in a forest would feel so… creepy.” He mutters.

Jackie takes to the air again. "Imagine if it was something that hurt you by touching it," he mutters. 

Schneep becomes human again--though he looks slightly different, his skin and hair tinted a bit green, his teeth a bit sharper. "This is where we start being careful," he says. 

Alt glitches back into his human form too, a serious expression on his face. His pupils look a bit slitted- but he’s able to blink that away pretty fast. 

"I'm guessing we shouldn't touch anything?" Chase says. 

Probably for the best, Jameson agrees, looking vaguely troubled. 

More and more junk shows up. Most of it is related to computers: laptops with keys missing from their boards, old boxy monitors with cracked screens, CPUs that have casing missing. But just about any technology is represented. TVs both flatscreen and boxy, kitchen appliances, projectors and speakers and car radios. 

Marvin starts doing that careful cat walk as he steps in spaces where wires don't cover the ground. Jameson starts veering to the side.

Alt glitches around to the objects and frowns. “…listen I used to collect stuff like this- but this is excessive…” 

“I’ll say… this feels like a fire hazard just waiting to happen… somehow-“ Bro comments. 

Alt pulls out his tracker to try to see his close they are… and if the piece is actually in the hands on the iron-mad Prince or just nearby. If they can avoid his other self… he thinks that’d be best.

The piece is deeper into the domain, in the center, sat in a little nest of steel wool. Alt relaxes a bit, at least it’s not literally in his hands. 

"Jameson, you good?" Chase asks. 

Jameson doesn't answer. He's making a beeline for a tree... a tree with autumnal leaves, out of place in the green forest.

Alt’s about to tell the others when he looks up and sees Jameson heading towards the autumn tree. Alt glitches up next to him and tries to get his attention. “Hey! Jay! You okay?”

Jameson blinks in surprise. Then he nods. I just wanted to check on it. He's standing in front of the autumn tree. Its branches are draped in cables like all the others, but those branches seem abnormally weighed down. 

Chase hurries over. "Check on what? Is everything fine?" 

In the next moment, Marvin is in his human form again. "Um... I can explain if you want, Jems?" 

Jameson nods, reaching out to touch the bark of the tree. 

"Okay," Marvin says softly. "Um... have you all heard of dryads? They're from Greece. They're guardian spirits of nature, tied to a tree. Jameson is... sort of like that. This is his tree."

“Oh!” Alt says with wide eyes, “A dyrad! That makes so much sense-“ he glitches around and frowns in concern at the cables. “…is he hurting your tree…?”

Jameson sighs. Not on purpose, he says. But... yes. His domain has been slowly getting bigger over the decades, and one day it reached here. 

Chase frowns. "Being, uh... 'tied to a tree'... that's not... normal, is it?" 

Jameson shook his head. 

"Do you... want to talk about it?" Chase asks softly. 

If you all want to hear.

Bro comes up and looks at Jameson, “Yeah I… if you’re willing, dude.” Alt looks concerned and tilts his head.

Jameson still hesitates. But then he slowly starts to sign. My family is gentry, one of the rulers of fairies. They did not like humans much... not as equals, at least. But I thought humans were very clever. I started messing with some of their ideas. 

"Clockwork, right?" Marvin says. 

Yes. But not made of iron, of course. When my family found out, they sent me here, and tied my life to the tree so I couldn't return to Faehome if I wanted. 

"Pricks," Marvin mutters, ears dropping back. 

"They were part of the Green Court, like me," Jackie says. "The king overrode Jameson's banishment, since you know... it wasn't fair. But even he couldn't undo this. Only the ones who cast the spell can do that, and uh..." 

"Fucking pricks," Marvin says again, making a growling sound in his throat.

Alt and Bro look horrified and heartbroken. “That’s… that’s awful,” Bro whispers. 

Electricity zips around Alt angrily as he bares his teeth, “All because you were a little curious?! That’s… what the fuck?!” 

"The Fair Folk aren't actually that fair," Marvin says. 

Jameson sighs. I've had a lot of time to adjust to that. This happened back in... one of the 1920s. I like this small town and all the people in it. I'm happy here. He rubs his eyes. But the iron in the area IS bringing the mood down.

Alt snorts, still feeling anger for how unfair this is all is. “…I’m glad you found a way to be happy… despite all that.” 

"I'm so sorry, Jameson," Chase says quietly.

Jameson looks back at him and smiles. It's fine, really. Henrik has it worse. 

"We do not compare suffering here," Schneep says firmly. "It does not mean yours doesn't count."

“…what happened with Henrik?” Bro asks quietly, looking back towards him.

Schneep sighs. "As Chase briefly said, I got 'super kicked out' of my home. But I do not mind. Because I got kicked out for, oh you know, not wanting to kill people." 

"It's still pretty shitty, dude," Chase says. "You like... can't go anywhere in Europe. I mean, Ireland is Europe, but you know what I mean. Like, the mainland area. That's a lot of place you can't go."

“You’re banished from all of Europe???” Bro exclaims, his jaw dropping. “For not wanting to kill people?!” 

Alt looks equally as disturbed by this. “…how does that even work?? …wait I don’t even know what kind of fae you are-“

Schneep laughs. "I am not technically a fairy, because fairies are from these two islands. But I am something else. A nix. We are... water spirits, of sorts. And many of us tend to be... not kind. You are probably more familiar with sirens? Imagine that, but in a river." 

"It was more that you were healing people, right?" Jackie asks. 

"Yes." Schneep nods. "They said it was ruining their fun." He sighs. "I am glad to be far from the rest of them, to be honest."

Alt bares his teeth, “…that’s messed up.” 

Bro nods, “…guess it’s probably good to be away- even if you’re … stuck in Ireland. And I say that as someone who grew up here-“

"Heh." Schneep smiles. "Yes, that place was... not good. I like this town much better." 

Bro smiles and claps Schneep on the shoulder. Schneep smiles back.

Jameson takes a deep breath, and removes his hand from the tree. Alright. I'm ready to move on now. Where are we going specifically?

Alt looks back out into the forest, “The tracker said it’s in the center… in a nest of steel wool.” 

“Eck- steel wool? Don’t like that stuff-“ Bro stays, sticking out his tongue. “Bad sensory shit-“

Chase frowns. "And steel is made of iron. So... it's like he's protecting it even more against any other fairies who come this way." 

Alt makes a face, “huh… I wonder if… he knows what it is then…” why else would he be protecting it from other fae? 

"We won't let that deter us though!" Jackie says, determined. 

Marvin is in cat form again. He meows at the others, indicating they should follow him. 

Onward, Jameson says, following him. The others trail after.

Bro hurries after the others. Alt trails behind, cautiously watching the trees.

More and more old technology shows up as they go further into the forest. Grass and bushes are replaced by dirt and piles of metal. Cables wrap around the tree trunks, snaking between them, sometimes forming something like a spiderweb between trees. They almost seem to be coming from one direction. The ground crunches beneath their feet as stepping on small bits of tech becomes basically unavoidable. 

Marvin returns to his human form--boots are better than walking on all this iron with his bare paws. 

Once it seems like it’s hard to avoid the debris, Bro starts to hover a bit but tries his best to stay out of the way.

They have not reached the center when, suddenly, an old iPad with a cracked screen turns on, showing pixelly squares of color. Other screens follow: computer monitors, televisions, even regular displays, like on microwaves and digital clocks. 

Alt startles slightly as the electronics start to turn on. He builds up magic in his hands, trying not to shiver as he hears the voice. He bares his teeth and growls, eyes flitting around to look for any sign of trouble.

"I can seeeee you," says a voice on the wind.

The others all whirl around. Jackie conjures up his small sword again. 

"Wh--where are you?" Chase calls out hesitantly. 

"All over, everywhere!" the voice says, seemingly echoing from all around them. "What do we have here? Three humans, a sidhe, a pisky, a cait sith, and something I don't know that smells like river water. Strange! Strange strange strange." 

“Show yourself, fucking coward!” Alt snaps out, lightning snapping around his hands. “You have something that belongs to us!” 

“Alttt I’m not sure it’s a good idea to antagonize this guy-“ Bro mutters, but he gets into a fighting stance regardless.

"I'm already there, though!" the voice says. "Look up!" And a blackbird dives down from a higher branch, flying at Alt.

It smacks against his face, talons making small scratches.Alt yells out in surprise and pain, trying to throw the bird off and glitch backwards. “S-Son of a bitch?!”

The bird spins backwards, tumbling through the air. As it hit the grounds it suddenly bursts into feathers that fly into the air, and a man is standing where it just was. The resemblance to Alt is clear, though this man has one blue eye and one green eye. Both of them are bloodshot. The man is pale and thin, hair wild and entangled with wires and leaves, pointed ears sticking out to either side. His clothes are fine, somewhat medieval in style, black with hints of green and silver. Cables are tied around his arms like makeshift bracelets. Random microchips and other computer parts are tied to his belt with silver wire. "Welcome!" the man spreads his arms wide and grins. "Welcome, welcome!" 

"So, you're this prince guy, then," Chase says. "The Iron-Mad Prince."

Alt staggers back, momentarily thrown off guard by the prince’s appearance. But then he glares, magic sparking in his eyes as he bares his teeth. 

Bro looks unnerved- “…yeah I get where the uh ‘mad’ comes from-“ he mutters.

“Mad? But I’m not mad! In fact I’m so very glad to see you all!” The Prince smiles wider. “It’s been so long since I’ve had visitors, especially humans. Do you want to stay?” 

“Leave them alone!” Jackie flies out in front of everyone, brandishing his sword. 

The Prince blinks in surprise. “One of my brother’s knights? But where is your crest?” 

“We’re not here to visit,” Marvin says. “We’re here for something.”

Bro shudders at this then gets into a fighting stance, “We’re not humans you wanna mess with, dude!” 

“You have something that belongs to us,” Alt growls.

“If it’s here, it doesn’t belong to you at all.” The Prince folds his arms. “I’m no thief. I take only what’s been left behind.” 

“Then there must have been a mistake,”Schneep says. 

Do you know every part of your domain? Jameson asks. If we said that what we’re looking for is in a nest of steel wool, would you know what we mean? 

“Oh! The one that fell from the sky!” The Prince’s eyes light up. “But—that one is so special. I haven’t seen anything like it, so intricate and unknown.” His fingers twitch. “That is so, so special. I couldn’t part with it for nothing.”

Alt glitches a bit in anger. Bro looks at him warily then steps up, “This thing is part of a larger thing that’s ours! It fell into different worlds and we need to collect all the parts or your world could be in danger. …what would you want in exchange?” Bro says slowly. 

Alt looks at Bro with wide eyes, “Chase! We can’t negotiate with him!”

“Oh! It would have to be special as well,” the Prince says, ignoring Alt’s outburst. “Hmm… I don’t even know who you are. Can I have your names?” 

“Well I’m—” Chase starts to say, but Marvin’s hand shoots out and covers his mouth.

"You can't have our names," Bro says firmly, remembering what his aunts taught him. "But you can call me Chase- or Bro... I guess. Weird for you to call me that..." He gestures to Alt, who is bristling like a cat, "And you can call him Alt. ...how special are we talking here? cuz uh- we're from like... super out of town? We could have something that interests you."

"Chase and Alt," the Prince repeats, fascinated. "And the rest of you?" 

We've met before, Jameson says. "We have? Ohhhh, you're the one worried about the trees." The Prince pauses. "Jems?" Jameson sighs and nods. 

"Call me Jackie," Jackie says. "And these all are called Henrik, Marvin, and Chase." 

"Two Chases! Interesting." The Prince grins, then looks back at Bro. "Well, I won't know if it interests me until I see it, will I?"

Bro makes a face and pats down his pockets and utility belt. “Uhhhhhh-“ he scrambles to think of something. He can’t give him his phone- or Alt’s phone. It looks like Alt will bite this guy’s head off for trying to take any of this things.

Chase looks at Bro, eyes wide. He doesn't want these two to lose any of their stuff." Um--look, all your stuff is broken, right? Maybe you want a fully functional one?" He pulls his phone out of his pocket, showing it to the Prince. "Here, see, i-it lights up, and I can give you the code to open it--" 

"What's that?" Suddenly the Prince is right in front of Chase, and Chase takes a step back. "It's a phone?" 

"No, on the screen," the Prince says. "That woman and child. They look familiar." 

Chase goes white as a sheet. "...what?" he whispers, the word barely a breath.

Bro tries to protest, “Hey no dude- what the hell??” Then he cuts himself off and stares wide eyed between the two. “…shit- is that…?” 

Alt glitches closer, eyes wide. “…do you have a family, Chase…?” 

“Y-You said you didn’t have one…” Bro whispers.

"I-I don't... not anymore," Chase says quietly. "They... disappeared. E-everyone back home thought I... But I would never!" He looks at the screen. The woman has curly pale brown hair, smiling at the camera wide with a bit of paint on her cheek. The boy is young, with darker hair, hands covered in paint as well. 

The Prince blinks. "Yes... they were in... the Wilds." 

"The Wilds?!" Marvin repeats, alarmed. 

"So you're probably not going to see them again," the Prince continues.

"What?!" Bro gasps, "T-That can't be true... there has to be a way past these wilds- right?" He looks to the others with wide eyes.

"It's um... not that easy," Jackie says slowly. "The Wilds are a Fairy World. And a really big one, too." 

"Like... a pocket dimension?" Chase whispers. 

"Yes, exactly like that." 

Bro looks very worried at this, looking back at Chase with concern. "M-Maybe we could-" 

The Prince's eyes light up. He leans closer to Chase, and Schneep reaches out and pushes him back. The Prince doesn't even seem to notice. "Is she an artist?" 

Chase blinks. "My... my wife? Y-yeah, she did--does paintings." 

"Do you have pictures of them? Can I have them?"

"Why would you want a painting?" Alt asks, narrowing his eyes at the Prince. "You're called the 'Iron-Mad Prince'- paintings don't really go with that..."

All fairies appreciate art, Jameson says. Because art... is unique. 

"No no no, not a painting, a picture of it," the Prince corrects. "Made of pixels. A-and electricity." He laughs a little. "I have screens you can transfer them to." 

"You mean... I wouldn't have pictures of her art anymore?" Chase asks quietly. 

"I think that's a fair trade." 

"Surely you have the originals, Chase," Schneep says, glancing at him. 

Chase shakes his head slowly. "She... she sold a lot of them..."

Alt blinks at this then hurries to grab out his iPad. “Don’t do that Chase- I have like, a million pictures of my art. Especially digital art, I can part with something.” 

“Yeah!! Alt’s art coming in clutch!!” Bro cheers.

"Oh, you're an artist?" Chase says, looking at Alt, barely managing to hide his relief. "That's cool." 

Alt smiles, “Yeah I dabble. Graffiti, some cartoon stuff. Things like that~” 

The Prince grins. "Yes, that would work! Here, come come come, I'll take you to my screen and your piece." 

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Jackie asks, narrowing his eyes. 

The Prince takes a step back and bows. "I promise you, that as long as you do not try to harm me, and you provide the art as promised, you will leave here unharmed and with the iron piece you're looking for."

Bro blinks then hums with a nod. “Seems fair enough to me!” 

Alt looks a bit skeptical and holds his iPad close to his chest but he approaches the Prince. “Alright… how’re we doing this?”

"That's your device?" The Prince leans to the side, looking at Alt's iPad. "Cable, cable, cable." He sticks an arm out to the side, untying one of the makeshift bracelets. "This should fit. We'll plug it into a screen." He laughs excitedly. "This way!" There's another flurry of feathers and the blackbird is back, flying through the air deeper into the forest, tilting back and forth to the side. 

Marvin narrows his eyes. "That is not how birds are supposed to fly--but in any case, do we trust this?" 

Schneep shrugs. "Clearly he is not going to bring their piece here, so we must go farther anyway." 

I can find the way out, Jameson says. I'm familiar with the area.

Alt makes a face, “…I’m not sure I do. But- I dunno. My stuff is backed up back home so if he fries something it won’t be… the worst thing I guess.” He quickly glitches after the bird. 

Bro sighs and ruffles his hair, “Alright- time to follow the crazy bird Prince then.” He says, following after Alt.

They don't have much farther to go. The pieces of technology turn into piles. Leaves litter the ground, knocked down from the trees by the heavy cables. Bits of non-tech metal sprinkle the ground. Pots and pans, metal figurines, picture frames. 

"You can smell the iron," Jackie comments, sitting down on Chase's shoulder and riding the rest of the way. They eventually reach a clearing, a spot of blue sky clear of branches or cables. Metal bookcases line the area, forming rough walls, their shelves overflowing with old computer parts. There's a table set up with a new-looking flatscreen TV and a laptop that looks pretty functional except for some missing screws. And there's a bed with a metal bedframe and a comforter meant to look like a desktop screen. Some more computer parts litter the folds of the blanket. The bird dives down onto the bed, bursting into feathers again and reforming into the Prince.

Alt looks around the space with a tilted head, “…uh- nice place you got here…” 

“Kinda looks like your room, Alt,” Bro laughs.

 Alt flushes and hits Bro, “Hey! It does not?!” 

“When you’re working on a project it does!” Bro laughs more, covering himself from Alt’s rage.

Marvin shudders slightly. "Gods. This place reeks." 

Schneep frowns. "I-I am not as susceptible as the rest of you, but... yes, yes it does." 

"Are you all okay?" Chase asks, concerned. Jackie is leaning against his neck, looking exhausted. 

Bro looks at the others with concern. 

Let's just get out of here as soon as possible, Jameson says. 

The Prince stands up again and walks over to the laptop. It turns on before he even gets there. "Plug plug plug plug plug," he mutters, putting the cable into the USB port. It takes him a couple tries, as his hands are shaking, but then he gets it and he grins, looking back over at Alt. "Well?"

Alt jumps a bit but then goes to kneels down by the laptop, plugging in the cable. On his iPad is a combined photo of a couple pieces of graffiti he did. “There’s multiple here- should be more than enough.” He mutters.

The Prince leans uncomfortably close to Alt. "I've never seen art like that!" Multiple PNG icons show up on the laptop's desktop as Alt's drawings are copied to its hard drive. "Oh, that's fascinating!"

Alt flushes, “Uh yeah it’s… modern. It’s stuff humans do on like… buildings and stuff.” 

Bro marvels at how well kept the laptop and flat screen are. “…bro how are you even powering all this?” He asks the Prince.

The Prince looks back at him. "Most gentry have the power to do things like make their plants look better. I decided to put that power into the cables instead. Lightning in rubber, isn't that clever?" He giggles. 

Bro blinks, “Well… that is how electricity works-“

Chase glances at Jameson. "Is that true? About the plants thing?" 

Yes, actually, Jameson says. Though mine has been reduced since the iron surrounded my tree.

Alt unplugs the iPad quickly and glitches back, hugging it to his chest. “Okay that’s… that’s it then right? We can get our piece?”

The Prince gets distracted for a moment, opening up Alt's downloaded art and looking at it. Then Jameson coughs for attention and he snaps back to the others. "Piece, right? Yes yes yes." He nods and walks over to one of the metal bookcases... where, right in the middle of the shelf, displayed prominently, is a pile of steel wool. He brushes it aside and picks up a small item. A microchip the size of an American quarter, black and intricate. Some ribbon wires trail from the top and bottom. "This, right?"

Alt brightens up and glitches closer, “Yes! That’s it!”

"Here it is, then." The Prince holds it out, dropping it into Alt's hand. 

"That was... easy," Chase says slowly. 

"Yeah," Marvin mutters. "But he did promise we'd be unharmed... and that's not something fairies do lightly."

Alt stares at it, expecting some trick. Then he quickly puts it in the black bag and glitches back. “Uh… t-thank you.” 

Bro looks worriedly at the others. “We should… go then. Since this place is… a lot for the other guys.”

"You get used to it," the Prince says, picking up an old motherboard from a shelf and turning it over. His head twitches erratically as he seems immediately drawn into staring at it. 

"...riiiight," Chase says, backing away and pushing Schneep, Marvin, and Jameson behind him. "Let's head on out." 

Alt's phone crackles. "You know, you two could technically leave right now. But I know you won't yet, right?"

Alt jumps a bit at Anti’s voice then takes his phone out to shake his head. “I want to make sure the others are okay first-“ He says. He glitches over to the others. “if you guys want I- I can get us back to the pub.. or one of your houses?”

"I think I'm the only one with an actual house," Chase says. "Unless you count Schneep's clinic. But yeah, if you can do that..." His eyes dart down to his shoulder, where Jackie is sitting. "That would probably be good." 

The Prince's head suddenly snaps up. He looks up into the sky. "There's lightning in the air," he whispers.

Alt looks back to The Prince with wide eyes. “W-What?” 

“The fuck does that mean? A storm?” Bro asks, squinting up at the sky.

"Something's coming," the Prince says. His eyes widen. 

"Wait a second--!" Anti shouts. "There's--" 

Then the sky explodes into a wave of red light. The Prince shrieks, and throws up a hand, and a shield of yellow lightning appears above the clearing, rebuking the shockwave that follows. 

As the sky explodes, Bro grabs Alt and as many of the others as he can and covers them up with his body. He blinks in confusion as the shield gets made. 

A figure forms in the center of the clearing, hovering a bit over the ground. A figure made of red light. "Did you miss me?"

Bro and Alt gasp and stare up with wide eyes. “No…! No- why are you here?!” Alt shouts, bristling as magic sparks in his eyes.

"Wh-who the fuck is this guy?!" Chase gasps. 

"Did you think you could escape me?" Red Anti laughs. "Even if that eyeball thing was able to toss me out of the last world, I know everywhere you go. And I'll continue to know." He reaches out. "Let's see if I can use this." And a bit of purple energy pulls out the black bag with all the TRVLR parts in it.

“NO!” Alt shouts and tries to grab the bag and hold it back.

But it's too fast. The bag zooms up into the air, and red Anti's image mimes grabbing hold of it. "Courtesy of your friend Mag's magic!" he says, grinning. "Hope you like this world! You should get used to it." 

A bit of the air rips open, a rift unfolding. And red Anti tosses the black bag towards it.

Alt screams in anger and doesn’t even think about it- he glitches to try to go after the bag- diving into the rift. “ALT!” Bro screams, and bursts into the air to try to follow him.

"Oh no you don't!" Red Anti growls. Lightning charges in the air, a bolt shooting for the two of them-- --but a bolt of bright white lightning intercepts before it can reach them. 

"What the fell?!" Marvin gasps, and all the others turn to look at the Prince. "I promised they'd be unharmed, didn't I?" he says in response to their looks. 

"Fine!" Red Anti snaps. "Go after it! You won't like that world at all!" He laughs, and his image disappears. 

"Be careful!" Chase shouts after Bro and Alt.

Bro grabs Alt before he gets too far and holds onto him and they both manage to look back towards the Prince defending them. 

Bro smiles and shouts, “You too!! Thank you for your help!!” Alt nods back to the others with a slight smile before he focuses on glitching after the bag, falling into the rift.

Chase and the other fairies watch the two of them disappear into the rift, grim hope in all their eyes.

[bmpmp3]

tbh the biggest thing that drives me towards synthv and cevio/voisona 2.0 isnt even the smoothness and clean "realism" of it all, its actually the fact that said realism allows for more variation in vocal provider pronunciation mouth and tongue positions etc to shine through. i know people in da vsynth scene often use "character" to refer to a voice's robotic or engine noise-y elements (i assume because of piapro and such) specifically but i think the character that comes directly from the vocal samples/training itself is a little underappreciated. cevio ia's か゚-y がs <3

[junk-culture]

hooooooooooooo bastille are doing some small "candelight" intimate gigs including one 20 mins away from me in october ............. but i kind of don't care as much for what they're doing right now so i don't knowwww......but it would still be nice to see dan in this kind of capacity regardless......i guess ill see what the ticket prices are and ponder

[daphnebowen]

happy bday to the one and only walker scobell!! you’re genuinely funny and soooo soooo good at playing percy Jackson. (And probably the other things you’ve been in but I haven’t seen anything else with him in it haha) I can’t wait to see all the other amazing things you’re going to do with your life. here’s to you cutie!

he’s such an adorable lil boy who will surely grow up to be a heartbreaker one day! Love you goofball!! (like a little brother, because you’re just a little too young for me haha)