#(<- alt spelling just in case)

[saliosis]

she's so excited to be

[dokidokitsuna]

The Diary of Penny Polendina

The other day I was inspired to try working on a different NeverFell Projects installment, one that would probably be a lot shorter and quicker to write, because it's not like I care that deeply about Penny, right??

Well, I was incredibly wrong. ^^; So wrong that I'm actually having trouble with this story now...essentially, Penny goes through a bit of a 'rebellious phase' (gross oversimplification, but that's all you get for now) and there are, surprisingly, a lot of aspects of that character arc that I want to explore. Plus, a pivotal connection with Pyrrha, the climax of which I haven't quite figured out yet...

God only knows if I'll be able to finish, or if I'll just write the first 2/3rds of the story and leave it at that. But I figured I might as well warm up by talking about the designs. ^^

Penny's new look is basically 'Disney's Pinocchio, color picked from Arthur Watts' character design'~

I didn't necessarily want her to look evil, just...bolder. Like she specifically picked 'daring' items that maybe her father or Ironwood's PR team would rather she didn't wear, at least not compared to the more innocent frilly pastels she had on before. Between the chest window, midriff, and short sleeves, she's actually showing a lot more skin than before, despite still being 90% covered up. ^^;

Those multicolored wrist accessories are prototype weapons invented by Dr. Watts, that mix and pressurize Dust from the cartridges to cast "artificial magic". This way I get to do a bit of the 'Winter Maiden Penny' stuff in this Vol. 3-locked AU~

Penny's magic usage is one of the things that stumped me when writing this story...In NeverFell, magic isn't just glowy rainbow lasers or weather powers-- it essentially allows the user access to any conceivable semblance at any time; its potential is limitless. Being a beginner, Penny would probably just come up with one signature 'spell' to use in tandem with her Floating Array...but I can't decide what I want her to do. ^^; I think I'd like for her to do something connected to dance, because I feel like that's something unique to her, the way she dances with her weapons before striking. Nobody ever points out how the "robot" in the cast is the one who chooses to spend energy on unnecessary movements that aren't even used to maneuver around an enemy; they're just cute and fun. ^^ I think that's a great encapsulation of who Penny is~

Redesigning Pyrrha is always super difficult, because her original design is so perfect. But I like this end result a LOT. ^^ I may need to adjust the pant legs a bit, but overall it feels like a very believable alt outfit that keeps the spirit of the character.

Pyrrha is another one of the stumbling blocks in this story, because I'm now forced to create at least one malleable personality trait for her-- i.e. one that isn't intrinsically tied to Jaune and/or the plot. Something that she could actually take into a meaningful relationship with a different character... I had the idea to expand her "I'm sorry!" gag into a real guilt complex, where she has trouble letting go of instances where she's made mistakes or hurt someone. In this case, dismembering Penny 1.0 and essentially ending her life. :T She seeks out 2.0 in a desperate effort to make things right, and ends up helping her with ...things, and growing as people or whatever, and all that other stuff I have yet to write. ^^;

I just realized that Pyrrha could use her polarity semblance to pull Penny towards her in a situation where they need to reach each other...that's so cute. ^^ I gotta remember that~

[aheathen-conceivably]

Long before the last note Antoine had grown aware of Zelda’s presence; but as he finished, he looked up at her with a newfound vulnerability in his eyes. As she stared at him unmoving, he absentmindedly moved his hand along the strings to fill the quiet left by the watching stars, “Was it alright, you think? Writing lyrics, it’s new. Harder than assembling notes, if you ask me.”

She looked at him in amazed silence. His original piano pieces had been brilliant, and sometimes he had written ditties for her to sing, but never before had she heard him sing his own lyrics. She had always known how much he loved it - this place that he had left but that walked alongside him everywhere he went; but it was so much clearer this way, so full of both love and hate, loyalty and disdain, longing and relief, that it was difficult for anything other than music to encompass it. 

She brought her hands together in something that may have been a clap if she wasn’t so afraid to disrupt the stillness of the desert air. On silent footsteps, she left her reverie behind and moved to sit where he had made room for her on the worn wooden bench.

She looked at him earnestly, trying to ease his fear with even just the movement of her eyes, “It’s brilliant, Antoine, truly.” And she meant it, not just because she was under his spell and not her own now; the judgmental eyes of God and her sisters were shut out when she was in his orbit. Now there was only him and his memories for her to get lost in. 

He left his hands on the strings, still playing the familiar notes as though they helped make the admittance easier to utter, “You were right, you know? When I play it’s like I can see it all laid out in front of me. Or better yet, under me. Like I’m above it, observing it all like a story. Makes me realize I loved it more than I thought I did. That house. That place. Her. I wrote it because I know it’s gone now, probably nothing but rubble under a cheap government build. I just don’t want to forget. Or maybe I don’t want the world to forget.”

The stars looked down on them as his smile widened with every inch she drew closer to him. They reflected brightly in her eyes as she leveled them to his, “Would you sing it again? So I can hear it better?”

He let out a small laugh, just as much in relief as in humor. “Surely you would prefer to sing it? With a voice like yours I would hate to imagine what mine must sound like.”

She brought her knee up on the bench with them, curling as close as she could without dislodging the guitar from his arms. “Hush and sing. You don’t need me now.”

“I always will, Mrs. Duplanchier. No matter what. But as you wish….” 🎶

Part 3/3

Previous / Next

(As Antoine is meant to have written House of the Rising Son in this universe, I’m going to leave a little disclaimer about this song and its origins under the cut, in case you are interested!)

The origins of the song House of the Rising Sun are much older and more complicated than I have presented here. Folklorist Alan Lomax has written more on it if you are interested, but it is commonly thought to have originated as an English folk song, morphing into the version we know today amongst various groups of American immigrants.

Perhaps best known for its 1964 version by The Animals, it has long formed a staple of American folk, blues, rock, and country recordings, with recorded versions by everyone from Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Doc Watson, Nina Simone, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Alt-J (amongst so many others). However, I have taken inspiration from the earliest known recorded version, which was done in Appalachia in 1933.

Of course, in having Antoine write this song I have compressed much of this history into a single figure, as well as slightly twisted the meaning of the song to fit the story line. The latter is mostly based on personal interpretation of the lyrics and is purposefully meant to draw a line from this family’s musical heritage through the 1960s and beyond. It also gives a face to the very real figures behind many of the staples of American music that have come to us from the early part of the 20th century, many of which were written or played by black men and women whose songs have continued onward while many of their names and stories may have been forgotten.

[nabesthetics]

Classification of draconids encountered in the Dragonverse, defined by body types

Greater dragons: one of the most iconic magical creatures first defined as "dragons", characterized by four legs, large wings and the ability to fly. Origin/natural habitats are mainly mountains and cliffs. Primarily highly intelligent, though there are a few "beast" species. Magic affinity varies, but the average power potential is higher than in most other draconid types. Rare even by post-dragon-war standards.

(The term "greater dragons" is often debated, but no suggested alternative ever managed to replace it due to the cultural effect of them being the first bearers of the "dragon" title. Originally, the group was even named "true dragons".)

Knuckers: while they share the limb count with the greater dragons, knuckers have shorter legs and small wings not capable of flight, instead aiding in swimming. Sizes vary from small to medium. Natural habitats are almost exclusively wetlands. Majority of species aren't capable of speech. Magically inclined towards water and biomatter magic, many species also possess venom glands. Uncommon.

Wyverns: exclusively flying type with a pair of hind legs. While they share many characteristics with greater dragons - varying sizes and magic affinity, preference for mountainous habitats, similar hunting behaviors - most wyverns are "beasts", which makes them one of the most dangerous draconid types. Gradual disappearance of greater dragons initially gave wyverns more hunting grounds, but that in turn attracted attention of dragon hunters. Nowadays large species are near nonexistent within human borders.

Drakes: one of the most versatile and adaptable types of draconids - which isn't very surprising, given their body plans (and consequently natural niches) resembling that of large predatory mammals. Primarily medium-sized dragons found in all kinds of land habitats and possessing various magic affinities, though their magical prowess is relatively low in "beast" species. Semi-common, though most avoid humans.

Wyrms: the type's belonging to draconids has been contended on multiple occasions, some people claiming them to be "just big magic lizards". The line between wyrms and reptiles does get somewhat blurry in a few cases, but the presence of "dragonstone" in their bones both grants them magical abilities and separates wyrms as draconids. (Notably, some reptiles are indeed magic animals without being draconids. The question of classification can sometimes only be solved through complex bone analysis.)

Wyrms are a versatile group with the largest range of sizes, some species being the smallest known draconids, while others are only outmatched by saltwater serpents and some ever-growing ancient dragons.

Lindverns are another controversial group of draconids, put into their own type after long debates about them being wyverns or lindwyrms. The fact that there are only two known species (both "beasts") does not help the matter. It's been theorized that they are a rare product of interspecies breeding - but lindverns do not share territory (wetlands and surrounding forests) with any known lindwyrms. Initially curtly named "pseudowyverns" or, as put by a frustrated draconologist, "a pain in the ass".

(Nab note: they actually evolved from knuckers.)

Basilisks: a particularly odd type of near exclusively beastial draconids featuring six legs and all sharing some degree of magical hypnosis ability (the myth of them turning creatures to stone stems from them using hypnosis to slow down/paralyze prey or opponent). Prefer forests and caverns in warmer climates. Uncommon type overall, with large species being very rare due to hunting.

Lindwyrms: (alt. spelling "lindwurms") serpentine draconids with a single pair of forelimbs. Medium-to-large in size, with only a few non-"beast" species. Found in various habitats, though they are the most common type of draconids in deserts. Most have magical affinity to water and/or air magic.

Loongs: exclusively intelligent, highly magic-dependent draconids capable of flight despite most species lacking wings. Due to there being no beast-like loongs, their existence is mainly unknown to humans. Have a strong affinity to water magic, though their energy is highly versatile, a trait shared with some greater dragons'. Most prefer to keep to themselves rather than hide among humans, very lengthy lifespans making long-term connections both risky and emotionally difficult.

Saltwater serpents: a group of large-to-colossal species with a self-explanatory type name. Most are creatures of legends, their habitats, rare appearance in human-controlled waters, and sheer power making surviving records of them near-nonexistent. Even other dragons rarely know much about their ocean-dwelling cousins.

[katsurinssims]

Thank you so much for doing afterflow defaults of the maxis hairs, they are wonderful! Do you think maybe one day you could do the maxis eyebrows or strangetomatoes defaults to match? No pressure either way.

Hiyo! luckily @spell-bloom has you covered with the maxis brows as they uploaded @antoninko's version of the maxis eyebrows defaults.

Personally, I use the Poppet brow DR SB made on that same upload page as they better suit my semi realistic style.

I went ahead and made a version of @strangetomato's DRs in case you or anyone else prefers their edits over maxis' originals ^^

For the combed brows I just used Antoniko's as they weren't included in Strangetomato's default. Everything's in one package file for your convenience.

Download Strangetomato Aquilegia + Oepu edit + Antoniko maxis default brows in Afterglow

Alt- Download on Simblr

[talizoraa]

Some early game Baldur’s Gate 3 tips

- Once you’ve rescued Shadowheart from her pod on the Nautiloid, you can press K on pc (idk about controller) to see her spell list and change her prepared spells. Swap out one of her spells for Command. Now you can use command to make the devil drop his sword and easily go and pick it up. Even if you can’t use it, this is a very strong early game sword even for your party members and there’s no reason not to do this. Once he’s dropped his weapon it’s easier to kill him, but still very tough. He gives a lot of xp though, so it’s your choice. (Thanks to my gf for this she’s a genius)

- Long rest as often as possible. Especially if you care about your companions personal stories and your relationships with them. As you progress the story and recruit your party members, camp events get added to a queue with different urgency attached to them. If you don’t long rest enough, you will miss a lot of these. Some of them are important for quests, some are just for learning more about your companions, but you can get a lot of approval if you do them, if that’s something you care about. The majority of the time there is no downside to long resting frequently, with camp supplies being very easy to come by. There are a small number of quests that will change after you long rest, but by far fewer than I thought there would be. If you’re worried, you can f5 to quick save before long rest. On my earlier saves, I used long rest very sparingly and missed a lot of events I would’ve liked to have seen. (Also obviously restoring spell slots and hp and stuff)

- If you are not playing a cleric or a druid, and don’t feel like constantly having Shadowheart in your party, you can go here to loot a necklace with Guidance on it. Guidance is extremely good for dice rolls and I absolutely recommend picking this up.

- This last ones mostly just for fun, once you reach the Emerald Grove, head up the path to the east from the entrance and you can meet Alfira the tiefling bard. Talk to her and offer to play with her, pass all the difficulty checks and you’ll learn to play musical instruments. There’s also a chest here with an item for bards inside. Head north east from her to fight some harpies and rescue a tiefling boy, who will give you access to the kids hideout. Again these aren’t super important, just helpful, and the instrument proficiency is fun. These will NOT be available after you complete the main quest for the zone. (Image is from google, don’t know what the other markers are)

- Oh also, these are pretty well known but just in case. As I said, F5 to quicksave, F8 to quickload. Hold ALT to see almost all lootable objects. Hold SHIFT to see enemy’s cones of vision.

These are just a few tips that would have helped me out had I known them sooner, that I’ve hardly seen mentioned anywhere else. There’s more obvious ones, like making sure you recruit Wyll and Karlach before moving on to act 2, as they’re easily missable, and fully exploring the crash site to find all the available companions. Feel free to let me know if there’s any more I should add or reblog with your own!

[key0-m0ve-al0ng]

Ah hello. Did you know in the T1 script book John Doe 009 VD, when 09 introduces himself, "Mikoto Kayano" personally introduces himself with the kanji spelling of his name but its alternative reading (furigana) is in katakana, not hiragana. He is the only prisoner that introduces himself in full with an alt spelling in katakana rather than Es imparting or calling a prisoner with their katakana code name in the beginning.

The speech style he has here also matches the speech style in Neoplasm where Boku was using gobi due to the usage of the particle 「さ」。(I've written a speech style analysis of 09 before but I'll have to find the notes again. I'll likely send a follow-up ask or something ^^')

This has me thinking about one of your previous posts which brought up the possibility that Mikoto "boku" Kayano, or, how others say, 🔵 and 🟢koto, don't realize that they're separate identities.

「ボクが僕を救ってあげましょう」 <- these bokus

There's also the possibility that when people have been referring to 🔵koto, they've actually been meaning 🟢koto this entire time. So are color code[name]s appropriate for 09 anymore? (/rhetorical)

What do you think? Any changes in how you perceive 09? I look forward to seeing more of your really cool analyses or thoughts on him.

Hello! Thanks so much for the ask! I did not know that; super interesting that it's unique from the other introductions. What you pointed out here is actually so intriguing, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I have been wrestling with this for some time now because it's truly a case of "Schrodinger's Alter"; we have several instances that seem to indicate 2 "boku"s, but when they're speaking without the pronoun visually accompanying it, there's no gurantee of which one is fronting in any given interaction (let alone if a completely seperate alter is masking as "Mikoto," which is unlikely because writing that would get complicated, but not impossible).

Telling them apart is likely as difficult for them as it is for us given the amnesia; however, we don’t get insight into these things without the narrative explicitly stating such. This is interesting to me because this uncomfortable ambiguity is how systems operate in daily life, sometimes even amongst ourselves.

While color codenames have lost their usefulness to me personally, colloquially I find it helpful in discussing basic theories (and even tho it's gimmicky I've just personally liked the concept); that said, for all we the audience know, ボク ("Mido") and 僕 ("Miko") could be interchangable alters in the narrative; people may very well be referring to ボク as 僕 or vice-versa in any given interaction that John isn't around.

As far as changes in perception, it's dawning on me more and more how little we know about "Mikoto" (僕 or otherwise) as an individual in his system. He's high-masking as it is, but on top of that, we have no real way of guessing which alter "he" is at any given time unless they give an indicator. It's just simplest to assume 僕 in most cases. In the case of 俺, he's an easy guess only because he is made outwardly distinct by the narrative in both speech pattern and attitude. If there is a third, we may see glimpses of them in hindsight, but either way "Mikoto" (僕) as an individual alter is yet to be known as his own person beyond his passive, "professional" demeanor.

Tbh it's giving me insight into why a system host may be widely "liked" while remaining relatively or even completely unknown as an individual person. The demeanor shown by 僕 and his desire to be popular further shows that his sense of self is purely dependent on others' perceptions of him, which is as expected as it is tragic. I think if there is a third, we're gonna see a resigned, perhaps even apathetic tone from them; the system all tried so hard for seemingly nothing. I think the more 僕 tries to disappear, the more the other could realize their place alongside John in the system, if we explicitly see ボク at all.

It's all very ambiguous so I don't get really care how others label them, but I'm near certain that "僕" is not always who we think he is. (In John's case, I typically use his name rather than his pronoun bc even if he picks a more suitable name for himself later on, I feel strange using a first-person pronoun in place of a name when he has one; in the case of "僕" Mikoto, I do find it a necessary distinction from "ボク" given the ambiguity of it all, and it's more solid than color theory imo.)

This is all just my personal conjecture on how they are writing the system. It's definitely a kind of narrative I never thought I'd get to analyze, so I'm so happy to have others to discuss with! Thanks again for the ask. I'd love to see the follow up w the speech style analysis! I love yapping w you about the little guys 🙏

[bratzboykai]

Its just very puzzling to me how white autistic folks can't grasp that "Autism doesn't make you susceptible to bigotry: your whiteness does". Like it's a very simple concept, it's truly not rocket science and it most definitely is not ableist to point this out.

Whiteness in a society that runs on white supremacy will nurture you with ingrained and inherit bigotry as a basis to keep perpetuating that the system of white supremacy through you; it is bigotry that you may not even recognize is bigotry in yourself because its literally normalized and unquestioned in your life!!

Bigotry doesn't always have to be overt acts of racism for it to be recognized, it can be insidious and non chalant to YOU as a white person because you do not face particular types of marginalization like racism, xenophobia, etc so you wont even recognize it as such unless pointed out to you. And even then, most of you deny it is racism when it is spelled out for you, like this very fucking conversation for example lol

Your whiteness, the white supremacist bigotry normalized to you, is what made you find a connection with fascist content online and go down that alt right pipeline, not your autism. Lonileness and a need for community is also not an exclusively autistic trait or need, if that was the case could we call EVERY fash who felt that same draw autistic? Of course not, cause its fucking ludicrous to keep perpetuating and avoiding accountability with autism to infantilize yourself.

And if you actually cared about moving on and growing like y'all keep retorting with, you would have come to terms with the responsibility your whiteness plays in the harm you've perpetuated, not use autism as your reasoning. You would recognize why people of color, especially those of us who are neurodivergent, don't see that growth given you're exhibiting a lack of accountability with these arguments. Whiteness at the end of the day is central, nay, PIVOTAL in recognizing as the core of white supremacy and racism and its on going harm in society.

[clovers-housetree]

Good morning, my little starlings! ^w^

ALT ID: A GIF of a little white puppy in a dog bed waving its paw, with white text at the bottom spelling out "Good morning!"

(I hope I did that right, I've never thought to do image descriptions before- if I missed anything, please let me know!)

I hope you've slept well!

It's a whole new day today, full of new possibilities and a fresh start!

Let's get up out of bed whenever you're ready, alright?

Get some yummy food for some energy for today, have something tasty to drink to go with it, put on some clothes that you like that make you feel sunny, brush your teeth today if you can-

Do whatever you need to to help yourself out today! Even if that means staying in bed a little longer, watching your favorite show while you eat, playing or singing your favorite songs...

And I'll always be right here for you, alright? Whenever you need me.

I'm proud of you for doing what you can today, just opening your eyes and waking up takes a lot of work! (I should know, I like to sleep a lot... ^^;)

I'll keep a little extra strength and energy for you in case you need it.

...And maybe a treat. :3

May your day be the best it can be for you! ^w^

"Fluttershy protects this blog! SFW interaction only, please and thank you!"

"Wouldn't show a kid? Doesn't belong here!"

[gracebethartacc]

I’m pretty curious about the Mirror World as the sorta EQG substitute, can you explain a bit more on it? like what differences are there compared to the main world? And how does Sunset’s arc change here?

my thoughts thus far is it’s more akin to a What If universe and not a swap but it just presents itself that way (think like winter kings world in Fiona and cake)

-instead of Luna being envious of tia, celestia gets power hungry and becomes daybreaker, which leads to Luna banishing her to the sun (instead of mare in the moon she’d look like a sunspot sort of ?) this makes Luna the ruler and tia would be the one to return younger (bc i love the thought they’re twins or close to it but bc of luna being banished it made her younger due to being frozen in time)

-twilight I enjoy the thought of maybe the same events DO happen for her! Up until magical mystery cure, in which she doesn’t fix things and so the mirror world mane 5 are all swapped around (both in personality but also looks/probably names effected as well) and possibly there’s a bit of magic intervention/universe rewrital to make nopony question it besides twi, spike, and the princesses who would remember, perhaps this would be how midnight sparkle happens because twi would just get soooo fucked up over all this bc she essentially lost her friends and nopony cares or knows but her, and she’d go a bit crazy trying to find a way to fix it/researching Starswirls spells until she cracks, seeing as og midnight was after knowledge it would only fit if my version of her is as well but now it’s more bc she’s desperate than manipulated into it yk

-I feel similar plot plays out of sunset helps midnight but in this case it would be mirror/princess sunset, and the first films plot would be similar set up of our sunset getting corrupted and our twilight helps her (who would go through the portal one way or another) (not sure if I’d keep the element stealing or not? Maybe? Seeing as all the og elements have been switched around and mirror twilight doesn’t have her friends anymore thus her element doesn’t work anymore (no friendship equals no magic) so our sunset can’t get mirror twilights element so she goes to og world to get the og twilights element instead (unsure Why she’d do this though? Love any help brainstorming beyond just she’s power hungry like I’d want there to be more to it? Maybe revenge for how twilight basically took her place as star pupil? Shrugs? Like she sees it as twis fault she was banished?? Idk id need to chew on it more)

-our sunset hatessss mirror sunset bc it’s one big reminder that she’s a fuck up and that this could have been the future she had if she didn’t betray tia (iirc in the original she went into the portal willingly? Where as I like the idea in mine she fucked around with things she wasn’t supposed to, and or found out something she wasn’t supposed to (probably something to do with nightmare moon? I always love the idea the stars aiding in her escape is actually tia due to the sun being a star n all idk I love the concept She’s the one to help Luna escape and not just random prophecy, so maybe sunset figures this out and gets pissed, that or just finds out a lot of things tia is hiding bc I like her being flawed/morally grey so idk what Specifically this Thing She Fonds Out ™️ should be) anyway sunset gets banished bc like. That’s how tia copes with her problems. God is evil? Put him in stone! Sister got evil? Put her in moon! First student got evil? Put her in mirror! New student is antisocial? Put her in social place! Etc etc minus discord bc I don’t think I want him to be in stone in mine lol bc that’s a bit too fucked up considering he’s literally a god. Concord would NYAT let that shit slide)

-mirror sunset/princess sunset would have friend group comprised of twilights old friends/the twilight clone characters I’d think (in my initial brainstorming I thought of them as the element bearers but I’m scrapping that bc again it’s a what if/alt events timeline and Not a swap au, so the elements are theoretically the same (and again it plays into the plot (points at the MMC going wrong thing)

-I think our sunset would eventually come back to og world (bc in this version she wouldn’t make a new friend group or anything bc I basically split her in two (og movie antag sunset (ours) and later goody two shoes redeemed sunset (mirror)) and would reluctantly get a redemp arc and would join my group of “side characters cast” (starlight, trixie, sunburst, thorax, pharynx, that whole group)

I’m not sure When specifically this would happen but probably later on just bc the thought of sunset coming back after sunburst has already come to terms with her being gone and has a family is soooo funny. Sunset gets back and is Jumpscared by her brother getting bitches and having a whole ass baby while she was gone wtf….

sunset and twilight having a kind of miles and spot dynamic like “YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!!” “NUH UH? I DONT EVEN KNOW YOU???” if I go with the sunset is mad at twilight for taking her position thing lmao

also midnight sparkle would similarly be redeemed to canon and almost be mirror sunsets version of how our twilight has starlight ? Extra cast member that learns from the princess before eventually going off to do her own thing w her own friends (no midnight getting banished to our world, again it’s not a one to one swap and even then this is Luna as ruler not celestia so she’d do things differently )

ummm that’s honestly about it? TLDR: celestia and luna are swapped, sunset and twilight are swapped, and mane five are swapped. Except not Actually but close enough yk

[walker-extended-universe]

Bodyswap, Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Relationship(s): Geri Broussard/Cordell Walker, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester

Tags/Warnings: Bodyswap, Magic, Confusion, Paranoia, Canon-Typical Violence

Summary: Sam gets settled into his "new life" while Dean and Cas search for answers.

Written for @whumptober Alt prompt 1: Bodyswap

Taglist: @theladywyn, @ihavepointysticks, @klaatu51, @itsjessiegirl1, @neptunium134

-----------------

Dean grunted as he pulled Sam- or at least Sam’s body- down to the dungeon of the Bunker. “You gotta cut down on the burgers, Sammy,” he muttered as he strapped his brother down to the chair in the middle of the devil’s trap.

He sighed and turned to Castiel. “Can you figure out what’s going on here? He was fine when we got in last night.”

Cas nodded and walked over to Sam, pressing his fingers to Sam’s forehead. After a few seconds, he frowned. “I…. Sam doesn’t appear to be in this body.”

“What? So like he’s soulless?”

“No, there’s a soul in there…. It’s just not Sam.”

“Are you sure? Don’t you have to do that soul-fisting thing to know that?”

Castiel glowered at him. “I’m well aware of the limitations of my power. I could do that to learn whose soul this is, but I can tell enough to know that it isn’t Sam’s. The more pressing question is how his soul was transferred, and to where? Did anything strange happen on your most recent hunt? There was witch activity, if I remember correctly.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, it was a witch. A pretty strong one too, one of Rowena’s old rivals. We took her down, but she did try to do some kind of spell before we killed her. Maybe that was it?” It would make some kind of sense; he remembered that kid that switched bodies with Sam several years ago. It was possible, but it took an insane level of spellwork. Was that something she could’ve done on the fly?

“That is possible,” Castiel agreed. “I wager that since it was cast in the heat of battle, the spell may not have had the desired effect, which would explain why it didn’t work until after you two had gone to bed….”

“But that doesn’t tell us where Sam is or who replaced him.”

“No.” Castiel sighed. “I could ‘soul fist’ him, as you so elegantly put it, but I hesitate to harm Sam’s body. I suggest we wait until this stranger wakes up again and try to interrogate them. Based on what I witnessed, they seem as confused as we are. I doubt they’re malevolent. In the meantime, I suggest we figure out what spell the witch may have used or find a way to reverse what happened. The sooner we can get everyone back into their appropriate body, the better.”

Dean couldn’t agree more. “Alright. Sam grabbed some of the old hag’s books, so we can start there. Maybe we could call Rowena, just in case. She might know something about soul transfer shit.”

“I agree. I will keep a watch over our new friend while you investigate, just in case he wakes up soon or he’s not as friendly as I hope.”

Dean hated being relegated to research, but nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Shout if anything happens.”

“I will,” Castiel promised.

—-----------------

Sam had worked side-by-side with law enforcement on several occasions over the years. He’d used fake badges to get access to case files, intimidated his way into meetings with coroners, and occasionally given a lucky officer insight into what real monsters looked like.

Despite his many years of varied experience, Sam felt woefully unprepared for a day pretending to be a Texas Ranger.

Could he have called and taken a day off? Sure. But he was curious to know more about what he’d gotten dropped into so attempting to leave the ranch he woke up on was step number one. Since he was, in fact, able to drive away and arrive at a completely new location (even if he was late because he got lost), that told him it was unlikely this was some kind of simulation or heavily guarded facility. Not even the British men of letters could make a city appear out of thin air like this.

However, there was still a chance he was stuck in some sort of dream state or that he was being closely watched for…something. Whatever the reasoning was, he needed to play along and try not to break the rules, whatever those rules may be.

It never occurred to him that there might not be a game at hand at all, that he was rather just unlucky after a run in with a witch, but when were things ever that simple for him?

Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t seem to get a grip on what, exactly, he was supposed to be doing or how he was supposed to act. Getting into his computer had been easy enough as there was a well-hidden note with his password information. There were no active cases as far as he could tell and he wasn’t meant to go on patrol today. However, there were several reminders about paperwork that was due for something to do with a jackal and he didn’t even know where to start with that.

Apparently, the character he was supposed to be playing was really bad at the admin side of his job because he couldn’t even find any blank paperwork around his desk and he didn’t want to arouse suspicion by trying to ask someone. He spent a good half-hour sorting through his emails to at least find a template to go off of, which was surprisingly fruitful. Once the templates were printed out, he sat back at his desk and grabbed a pen to get to work.

Only… he had no clue what to write. He hadn’t worked this case, and searching through his computer only brought up documents from a different case that had closed five years ago. Was that case even related to what he was supposed to do now? He had no idea. And he definitely couldn’t ask someone about it. This stuff was usually pretty classified and given the amount of cluttered decorations on his desk, he’d been at this job for a while. Letting his coworkers know he’d suddenly forgotten everything would only arouse suspicion.

Maybe he should’ve taken the day off after all. He could’ve faked an illness and spent the day looking for hex bags. Or maybe he could’ve taken a bigger risk and attacked his “family” to try to get information out of them. Either of those would’ve been more productive.

“Walker? You feeling okay?”

Sam startled, dropping his pen and looked up to see a man looming over his desk. Probably the “James” that had been bugging him with emails. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just- paperwork, you know?” He tried to fake a smile. 

James nodded slowly. “Right…. Look, I understand the Jackal case was rough on you. It was hard on all of us. I know taking a leave of absence helped but…. Maybe you aren’t ready to get back into things.”

“I’m fine, sir,” Sam insisted. “I’m just trying to get my head clear on the details.”

“I’m sure.” James didn’t seem convinced. “Look, why don’t you just go home early today and tomorrow we’ll talk more. I’m going to insist you take that therapy option.”

“I don’t need-”

“This isn’t negotiable, Walker. I need you sharp; you’re the best man in my office and you’ve dealt with worse before. Just take some time off, enjoy an afternoon with your family, and we’ll talk tomorrow. Okay?”

Sam wanted to argue more, but decided to take the out in front of him. Fighting this would probably only cause problems for him later. Besides, that was more investigating time for him. “Okay, sir. I’ll…see you tomorrow.”

“Good man.” James clapped his shoulder as he walked past his desk and Sam waited until he was out of sight before packing up and leaving.

He had work to do.

—--------------

Geri had gotten the call from Cassie that something was off with Cordell at work and decided to take her afternoon off as well to help deal with it. She knew The Jackal case had been difficult for him (even if part of that suffering was self-inflicted) and she hated that it was still bothering him like this. She wished he would just open up to him about his problems, but she also knew that would be a long, hard battle.

Still, she had to try. What kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn’t? So, she drove to his house and, seeing she was there before him, decided to make them some lunch. Hard conversations usually went better with food.

By the time Cordell got home, she had freshly toasted sandwiches put on plates and ready to eat. “Hey!” she greeted, smiling brightly as he entered the door.

He looked at her wide-eyed. “Hey…. What are you doing here?” he asked carefully.

“I heard you had a rough day at work so I figured you could use a little pick-me-up. And let you know if you wanted to talk about anything, I’m here.”

He nodded slowly. “Right…. You didn’t have to do that.”

She shrugged. “I wanted to. Now, eat, before your mother decides to butt in.”

That got a small laugh out of him and Geri counted that as a win.

She waited until Cordell was well into eating his sandwich before she tried pushing the subject. “So, about what happened at work…. Are you feeling okay?”

Cordell slowed his chewing and stared at her, searching her face for…something.

Once he was done, he set down the other half of his sandwich and folded his hands in front of his chin. “Do you ever feel like…you woke up one day and now you’re living someone else’s life?”

Geri’s heart ached for him. She knew his job had caused him and his family grief over the years, but he’d always been determined for the cause. Maybe all the strain and stress was starting to wear on him and the Jackal was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or, maybe with Stella and August moving on in their lives, he was starting to look at his own future and past regrets. 

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “I remember when I took over the Side Step after Frank died…. It was like I was just playing a simulation game, just going through the motions until I reached some arbitrary goal.” She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You know I’m always here for you, right? No matter what you decide you want for the future?”

Cordell’s eyes never left hers. “What if I’m not the person you think I am?”

“Then I’d love to get to know you better.”

“What if I told you something that didn’t make any sense?”

“Then I’d help you figure it out until I did.”

“Even if that meant losing me forever?”

“If that’s what’s best for you….” It would hurt, but she would do it. “What’s with the existential questions?”

He looked back down at his plate. “Nothing. Just- thinking.”

She nodded. “I understand. But I’m still here, Cordi. No matter what.”

That earned her a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

[sophieinwonderland]

Reminded again how r/systemscringe and pluralphobes are borrowing right-wing talking points...

Earlier today, we happened to click on a link on Reddit about how adult websites are locking out Texans due to new restrictions. One thing popped out to me though...

While this is about adult websites, it's also been a major trope of anti-LGBT groups for the past few years to manipulate a hateful base.

And when they point it out, it's pretty clear that r/systemscringe is using this same exact tactic.

When deciding to make their hit list of acceptable targets, r/systemscringe mod u/Goat_Alter justified this by saying it would raise awareness of people who have "groomed countless minors" into having a "fictious" disorder. (Which is easily the strangest spelling of Factitious Disorder I've ever seen.)

The wording here of referring to this as having "groomed countless minors" is not incidental.

It's not innocent.

It's manipulation.

u/Goat_Alter is using a manipulation tactic taken straight from the alt-right and queerphobes. Only this particular manipulation, in this case, is even worse as it's aimed largely at survivors of childhood trauma and abuse who are likely to become triggered when the r/systemscringe mods accuse people of having "groomed countless minors."

The language is designed specifically to prey on your emotions and draw a parallel between endogenic systems and child molesters.

If any r/systemscringe members are reading this right now, know that the people who are pretending to be your friends are utilizing alt-right queerphobic tactics, and frankly, are using your own trauma to manipulate and control you.

And this isn't an isolated case.

In another post, when a member of r/systemscringe talks about how someone convinced other people they have DID, one user replied saying "that's straight up grooming."

And while I don't support trying to convince other people that they have a mental disorder (assuming the OP isn't lying or exaggerating as r/systemscringe often does,) it is NOT "straight up grooming."

Here's another one referring to "grooming children into believing they're systems:

And another:

And another:

And another:

And there are so many more just like these. Every single one designed to prey on emotions, especially of people who are CSA victims themselves, and manipulate them into into equating systems with child molesters.

The same exact way the alt-right uses this tactic on LGBT people.

...

Hopefully by pointing this out, making people aware of this manipulation tactic will make them more resistant to it in the future.

[open-hearth-rpg]

The TTRPG Year So Far

I’ve been away from the blog for a couple of weeks, mostly because I’ve actually had a burst of productive energy. This week I released Danger! Unexploded Spell, a series playset for Girl By Moonlight: “Unacceptable mages drafted by the authorities protect their city from damage wrought by arcane air raids and bombings while trying to survive and create a community.”

Before that I finally cracked down and finished writing up Numberless Secrets, my Hearts of Wulin sourcebook for running mysteries. That came in at about 110 pages, and includes six sample mysteries. I’m really happy with the end results. Of course leading up to that I posted the draft of the new Celestial playbook for HoW on the blog and a tweaked version of the Villain playbook. 

Then in early April ago I put out Veil: Iterations, my version 1.5 rules for The Veil. I’ve had some feedback, but it is a pretty niche release (like all of my stuff). I have to make a couple of tweaks to that. 

Assuming I get this next GBM playtest written up, I have several other things in the queue: a couple new cases for Apocalypse Keys, my fantasy/samurai hack of Free from the Yoke, Hearts of Yokai (PbtA inspired by Changeling the Lost), and maybe more campaign frames for Hearts of Wulin. I’m sure there’s a couple of other things I’m forgetting. 

ACTUAL GAMING

All of that has been in parallel to all of the games which I’ve been running online and locally. Here’s what I’ve done so far this year, 87 sessions total with nine as a player. I have links to actual plays where they’re available. You can also listen to these in podcast format on our Open Hearth site:

Before the Sith: My hack of Before the Storm for the Star Wars minicon. I’d run another hack of this for superheroes before and realized that a four hour block just didn’t work. So I ran this as two three-hour blocks with an hour break in the middle. That helped and gave us room to let the scenes breathe. Even with that, we still ended up cutting out one of the rounds to make sure we had enough time for the ending. 

My Star Wars framing worked, but I think particularly because we had three Jedi and one non-Jedi character. That created a really solid set of tensions and questions. In the end two of the four characters had tragic/heroic deaths in the final battle. The core game’s mechanic for the cards works really well and would be worth adapting for other games. (one session)

Bounty of the Week: We just started this as a stand-in for the Veil: Iterations game I’ve been running on alt-Sundays. I managed to over pack my schedule so I asked if someone else could step in to run something. We did our session zero and I’m looking forward to playing. I’ve played vanilla MotW a couple of times in both editions and dug it. However I found it tough going when I ran it, I think because I have a different approach to structuring mysteries. (not recorded, one session)

Dreams and Machines: Oof. I ran a couple of sessions of D&M from the starter set last year, and even wrote up my impressions. I picked up the physical boxed set afterwards. So when someone asked for a series to see how 2d20 worked, I volunteered to run the full game complete with character creation. It crashed and burned.

I don’t want to go too far into this here- it deserves a full write up. But I only remember canceling one other series in mid-run because the game itself just didn’t work for us (that would be Dangerous Times: Muckrakers and Magic in Old New York). I like 2d20– I have two other series using it on this list. But Dreams and Machines has some serious problems. After the second play session, the group talked about our frustrations. I switched over to a Hearts of Wulin series, to help cleanse my palate. (two sessions)

Dune (not recorded): This remains probably my favorite implementation of 2d20. It has its issues (move as an action, spatial duel set up, slow advancement) but I dig the presentation, resources, and the mechanics generally. We’ve gotten fairly deep in our story. The world our PC house has taken possession of has developed nicely– with interesting ideas about society and ecology. Plus we’ve had some fun interactions with rival houses. We will be hitting a stopping point for this soon. That’s because the group’s schedule can be uncertain and we want to do some short-run things we can likely finish. (six sessions)

Fearful Symmetries: The Second Aethyr: We did a full three-month campaign arc of this Trail of Cthulhu series at the beginning of 2023. I loved Fearful Symmetries' combination of magicians, folk horror, and a specific historical place. Towards the end of that series it became clear we could easily do another arc. 

We took up that story a year later real and in-game time, checking in with our characters and how they’d recovered from the conflict at the end of the last series. Despite the break, everyone fell right back in. We ended up with three “mysteries” (including a country house murder) plus some transitional sessions, and an action-packed coda. I loved it the whole way through. It has renewed my faith in simple, streamlined Gumshoe. 

We decided we would do a third and final arc, even talking in the final session about the framing for the start of the next campaign. We might do this later this year or at the beginning of next. I’ve done some pipelaying already for the campaign, and have been thinking about how to integrate the Bookhounds of London material with it. (twelve sessions)

Girl by Moonlight: On a Sea of Stars: Another one we started last year, though right at the end. It became one of my favorite series; I dig GBM’s approach and mechanics. The group enjoyed it, though I think one of the players significantly less so than the others. We decided to do a two-month series to finish out the campaign this year. I imagined it as a mid-season break for a prestige TV show. On Wednesday we hit our 14th session, playing out the final, world-breaking mission. Next session we will do role-play and epilogues to finish out these stories. 

I really like GbM. The mechanics drive an interactivity which feels right with the genre. Any action can be from the individual, but becomes stronger when you wrap in the other characters. It may be the rpg with the strongest support-class mechanics I’ve ever seen. (four sessions)

Godbound: Sundered Cycles:We finally ran the third and final quarterly arc of this series. I really enjoy Godbound. I love how the wild powers combined with an OSR adjacent system make people think carefully about how to solve problems. It has some wonky bits– and the problem of the flat OSR combat, but overall it works. 

I really enjoyed returning to this because we’d built up the characters and world so fully in the previous two quarterlies. Going back made me a little nervous but– as I mentioned in an earlier post– I’ve found it's much easier to go back to previous games when playing online. We also added a fifth, new player which added a great dimension to the play. They had a unique perspective on divinity and the characters’ role in that. 

Had a great set of epilogues and we tied the finale into events from the Mountain Home game. I like the world we’ve built and will probably go back there again. I used some of the Thousand Thousand Island bits early on, but there’s still a ton of that I could integrate.  (ten sessions)

Hearts of Wulin: Ageless Sin (not recorded): A solid four-part HoW series using the supernatural set up. I ran for three folks I hadn’t before which was great– and everyone really leaned into the genre. Big, hot tragic ending in the last session. (four sessions)

Hearts of Wulin: 3 Mountains, 1 Heart: A great series. This is what we transitioned into when Dreams and Machines collapsed. We used the fantastical materials, even doing an initial playtest of the Celestial playbook (which needs some proofing and tweaking). We had some great characters, including our Celestial. The Fox-spirit PC from Ageless Sin returned and I integrated several elements from that story into this one. We also had a really fun take on the Aware and a PC who used music in a unique way. I’ve had players run musician characters, but I don’t ever think I’ve seen someone lean into performance and musicality like they did. (five sessions)

The Hunted: I need to write up a review of this. It’s one of the best one-shot frameworks I’ve ever played. It uses Forged in the Dark to create an amazing, tense, and propulsive game of characters being hunted by something terrible. Great play structure, dynamite tools for collaboration, and just dripping with atmosphere. Highly recommended. (one session)

Imperium Maledictum: 3 Cycles from Retirement and Plausible Deniability: So I have been running this to justify buying the core book (and the GM screen as it turns out). This is a newish 40K game, clearly intended to be a kind of follow up to Rogue Trader– though it is both narrower and broader than that. It uses the same mechanics as the latest version of Warhammer Fantasy, creating some consistency between the games. 

I’ve enjoyed both series– despite the tradness of the system. There’s enough interesting flexible choices for success and combat to make it really interesting. But it's abstract in a lot of places (like zones for movement and influence as a resource). I originally planned to just run one series during the day, but I had enough interest that I put another on the calendar for the same day in the evening. I’d always planned to do different adventures for the two groups, but having one player in both confirmed that for me. I’ll admit I had some worries going in, but I’m having a great time running this and leaning into slightly-satirical grimdark combined with the 40K elements which attract me. (seven sessions)

Mecha Hack: The only rpg I played besides the newly starting Bounty of the Week campaign. I thoroughly enjoyed this OSR game which combined a dynamite GM with a great group. I had some of the most tense moments I think I ever have. The combat clicked, exploration merged tension with narrative, and the final fully role-play session tied everything together. Plus I learned about Owlbear Rodeo which I’ve been using in a couple of campaigns. (nine sessions)

Murder in the Jedi Temple: I ran this one shot for our Star Wars mini-con. I’d playtested the scenario with a group which helped me trim and fix a couple of things for play. While the playtest went OK (pretty clear one player hated it), the game went well at the table and we managed to get a full, rich story done in four hours. (two sessions)

Pressure: One of the two newish Osprey rpgs I did a two-shot of. I found it decidedly mid but I had a really good time with the two adventures I ran. In particular I dug my set up for the second session and how wild things got. You can check out my review of it here. (two sessions)

Pulp Cthulhu: I did a short series of this by way of justifying my purchase of the Humble Bundle for Call of Cthulhu 7e. I enjoyed the play which adapted and drastically changed an adventure from the book. Pulp Cthulhu is pretty much CoC 7e with a few talents and more ability to spend luck. It’s a minor adaptation. It reinforced for me that if I’m going to do trad-ish Cthulhu I’m pretty off running Trail. 

It’s probably the last time I run CoC, given that Chaosium decided that their best move was to hire an unapologetic shitheel who doxxed folks who were already subject to harassment. After this, despite my love for Glorantha, I’m done with their stuff. (three sessions)

Star Trek Adventures: We wrapped our multi-year 13th Age campaign in 2023– we’d started it well before the pandemic. I pitched out several concepts and this one tied for first. Since I’d already invested in the books I cast the tie-breaking vote. We have a big table (six players). I was worried about that originally but it has been fine. We’ve done four “episodes” so far, each split over two sessions. I’ve encouraged them to keep thinking of this as a TV show– with that kind of dramatic logic. 

One of the challenges has been that we have two people who really know Star Trek, two who know Star Trek, and two who don’t know Star Trek.

Of course shortly after I started (and picked up the last of the physical books) Modiphius announced Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition. I don’t think I’ll switch over– in part because I spent a bunch of money buying sets of Effect Dice which the new edition doesn’t use. (face to face, ten sessions)

Tomb Raider: The Last Guardians: I ran a short playtest of this last year, but only a few sessions. This time I’m running in the Open Playtest with more room, trying out a new adventure and team playbook. I continue to dig the mechanics here– and the character interactions work throughout. I’m hoping that after the playtest period I’ll be able to post the videos. (three sessions)

Tomorrow City:The other Osprey RPG I ran. I did a two shot of this (you can see the review here). I liked the system and the setting’s solid. It’s not a bad start for something simple and dieselpunk. But it is one of those cases where you have to decide if the setting’s something you really want to lean into and learn. If not, then the evaluation’s really on the strength of the system. (two sessions)

Veil: Iterations: This is our every other Sunday game. I started this last year to playtest some of the new elements. However we had a bunch of bumps in 2024 and only got in a few sessions. Right now it is on hiatus until after our Bounty of the Week game, when my time frees up a little bit. (not recorded, three sessions)

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 1: Swap/Bad End Revisited

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

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

Alt, Bro and Oliver are all in Alt’s old apartment before he moved in with Bro. The big area has been cleared of all the TVs and stolen goods- and instead has been padded with mats and supplies for training. Punching bags and equipment for them to learn to fight with. They even have wooden swords and targets with dummy arrows- just in case they felt nostalgic for the medieval world. 

It’s been a couple months since they all returned from their last adventure. Alt had been putting his nose to the books, trying to learn more about Glitches, theories of multiverses and working on his magic. But, a 1-2 months could only get him so far. Bro wanted to try to keep them both sharp while they waited- even Jackie wanted a better place to practice things. So they converted Alt’s old place into this training space. 

Oliver is sitting on the window sill, watching Alt and Bro trade blows. A med kit sits next to him, just in case.

Alt ducks and rolls away from a punch Bro sends into the ground. 

Bro grins and nods, “Good one!” 

Alt pants and wipes sweat off his face, “How are you not exhausted??” 

“Hero stamina, baby bro!” Bro laughs, patting his chest. “That’s why we’re doing this more! We gotta build yours up too!” 

“I-I need to be studying more magic-“ Alt mutters and then glitches out of the way of another blow. 

“You also need to get out and move, Alt, magic or not.” Oliver gently reminds him, “Sitting in a dark room everyday hunched over books isn’t good for you!” 

“Yeah, listen to Ol! He knows what’s he’s talking about!” Bro grins. 

Alt rolls his eyes. “I don’t really see how trying to get me to fight like you is helping…” 

“You never know, dude! You could face something that like- takes your glitches or magic away! You can’t rely on it forever- “ 

“Says you…” Alt smirks, “I’m a Glitch, remember? I’ll just bend the rules around~!” 

Bro can’t help but shiver a bit at this but he tries to shake it off, “It’s still good practice! Glitch or no- you gotta get your blood pumping, bookworm!” He goes to strike again and Alt blocks his punch with both of his arms then throws him back with a little zap. Alt grins as he watches Bro stumble, his blue green eyes sparking a bit. 

And then--there's another zapping sound. A bit of green electricity appears out of nowhere at the edge of the room. It zips through the air, leaving behind a black line, hanging unsupported by anything. The line opens up, becoming a wide rip--a wide rift. And out of the darkness steps a man wearing mostly black, with a green scarf and an eye-patch hiding his right eye. He looks around the room, taking in all the details. "Impressive set-up," Anti says.

Alt glitches back in surprise. Oliver nearly falls off the ledge, “what that hell?? Hello??” 

Bro turns around then grins brightly, “Anti! Wassup??” 

Alt’s eyes widen as he straightens up, “…i-is it time?”

Anti looks back at the Brodys and nods. "If you want it to be time, it's time. I don't want to rush you. But sooner would be better. You'll probably want to call your friends and such."

Alt’s eyes narrow in determination towards Anti, magic sparking around him. “Y-Yes! We’re ready!” 

“Uh- I’m not??” Bro raises his hand, “I mean I’m okay if we go now but if it’s not an immediate rush then like… I wanna change out of these sweaty clothes at least.” Bro also points a thumb back at Alt, “I’m also not like Alt’s who’s had a bag ready for months, just in case.” 

Alt flushes bright red, “Chase! C-C’mon man!”

"Heh." Anti grins. "Really? A bag ready? That's... fun." He glitches over to the wall, leaning against it. 

Alt blushes even more, “L-Look last time I didn’t have my spell books or-or our bracelets and I-I need fuel especially if we’re gonna be glitching at all so that needs to be stocked and Oli, Jackie and Dr. J would throw a fit if I didn’t bring first aid and-“ 

Bro laughs and claps Alt on that back. “Relax bro! I was just teasing- lemme just get changed okay?” 

"Well, like I said, you'll probably want to take care of things. Go on. I can wait." Anti says. The edges of the rift crackle with green electricity and it shrinks until it's barely big enough to stick your arm through. 

Bro grabs the bag he brought with his spare clothes then hurries down stairs, “I won’t be long!” 

Anti looks up at Oliver. He blinks. "...Oliver, right? Or is it just Google here?" 

Oliver blinks in confusion, “Um- what? T-That’s a nickname for my brother but uh-“ He looks to Alt for context but Alt just shrugs, shaking his head. He’s only met one other Ollie. 

"Where I'm from, there are four... brothers... all called Google. They're friends of a friend. You look like them."

Oliver blinks back at Anti, “O-Oh! Huh… n-never thought me and my brothers would be in… these things. But I guess if it’s a multiverse- that makes sense.” He laughs, “Imagine calling all of us the googles- Griffin would be so mad about that.” Then the nurse tilts his head at Anti and kicks his feet slightly. “So, uh… Anti. What is it exactly that you’re taking Alt and Bro away for again? They’ve tried to tell me but… I dunno- it’d be nice to hear from the person they’re going with.” 

Anti nods. "We're going to find the pieces of a device called a TRVLR. When it broke they got scattered across different worlds. I think that all of us working together will be faster than just me." He glances back at Alt. "Though... we'll have to stop by Sam's world first, to get the rest of the parts I've already collected. Don't worry--a lot's happened since they were last there. They won't have to worry about that Anti attacking them." Then back to Oliver. "Once we get the TRVLR together, we'll have to track down the person who broke it. Another version of me. But we don't have to do that right away... probably." 

“Oh… right- that… doesn’t sound so bad…” Oliver says, biting his lip a bit in worry.” 

Alt had headed over to the corner and has been changing into his other clothes while they talk. Mostly just changing his shirt and putting on an oversized short sleeved hoodie with different patterned long sleeves. He ruffles his hair as he walks over, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He tried to smile at Oliver. “Don’t worry Ols, we’re used to this kinda stuff. I’m sure this will be a breeze.” 

Oliver huffs out of his nose and crosses his arms, “Yeah- but every time you go on these things… you come back hurt…”

Anti stares at Oliver silently for a moment. Then, a bit after the moment starts to get uncomfortable, he says, "I'm coming with them too. I can help protect them. Not that they'll need it, of course." 

Alt looks at Oliver with worry and opens his mouth to say something but Anti says something instead. So he just grins nervously. “S-See Ol? We’ll be fine.” Oliver frowns, not looking any less worried. 

Anti looks over at Alt. "Did you hear what I told your Oliver here? We'll have to go back to Sam's world first. There's no more corrupted, though. And we won't be there long."

Alt can’t help but freeze a bit as he hears this but he nods, “No more corrupted huh? That’s… that’s good.” He holds onto his arm, rubbing at the back of his hand… as if he can still feel the burning of the corruption there. 

After a few more minutes, Bro hurries back up the stairs. “Sorry! I’m good!” As usual- he’s wearing some off-brand bootleg stuff of his own hero merch, a big cozy hoodie version, ripped jeans and sneakers, with a slick half collar tank top with the eye logo on it. He fiddles with his utility belt- his mask pushed up into his hair, making it shimmer halfway between green and brown. “I texted the lads but uh- how long do you think we’ll be gone this time?”

"Hard to tell," Anti says. "One of the universes is a bit lacking in technology. But hopefully Sam will be able to drop us close to where the TRVLR parts are." He pauses, thinking it out. "Four days, maybe. But time is inconsistent, of course."

“Okay… four days… could be worse! I’ll let them know.” Bro says, pulling out his phone to text them. 

Oliver fidgets a bit at this and then finally jumps off the windowsill and grabs Alt’s hand, “Alt, let’s talk over here real quick!”

“Oli what are you- agh!” Alt gets tugged to one of the corners. Alt frowns at him. “Oliver… What's wrong? It’s… better this time right? We’re not just… disappearing without a trace.” 

“I know I know I just…” Oliver bites his lip, “I can’t help but worry! Especially after last time when you got a concussion and didn’t even tell anyone and-“ he stops in his ramblings and sighs, holding both of Alt’s hands in his own. “…I know I can’t stop you… I know you need to do this… I just… you all went through so much last time.” He hesitates then runs a hand against Alt’s jaw, tracing the very faint scar there. Alt leans slightly into it and closes his eyes before looking back. “…I want you to try to stay safe and… look I… I know you’ll be okay but j-just in case I have something I’ve been wanting to give you and just- now feels like a good time!” 

He lets go of Alt’s hands, leaving Alt to blink in confusion as Oliver digs around in his duffel bag of supplies. He pulls out a box and then opens it and takes out what’s inside- handing it to Alt. “…I asked Blaise what good charms she had in her shop for you… for l-luck and protection even if I don’t.. f-fully understand. She said this was… indicative of your magic.” He holds out a necklace on a thick black leather chain with a sliver chaos star charm. 

Alt’s eyes widen as he gently takes the necklace. “O-Oli…” 

“J-Just- use this to… to promise me you won’t do anything d-dumb… and you can use it to think of m- u-us! Us… if you need to. Everyone who’s waiting for you to come back… s-since all those worlds… gotta make this place feel k-kinda boring, huh?” Oliver says timidly, looking away. 

Alt’s face drops and then he looks nervous, cheeks flushing as he pulls in Oliver for a quick kiss. His face is super red but he just whispers. “Never… We’ll come home… I promise.” He slips the necklace on and gives Oliver a weak smile. 

Oliver smiles back, cheeks flushing as he squeezes Alt’s hand. “…Good. Y-you better.” 

Bro blinks at the two of them exchanging stuff- then can’t help but smile dopily at them. He chuckles and walks over to Anti. “Guess they need another minute… wonder if I should pop by to say bye to Stacy…”

Anti also watches, more fascinated than anything. So this is what a version of him who was into romance would act like. He'd only ever met ones who didn't care for it. That didn't mean they were all heartless of course... even though many were. He shakes himself out of it and looks over at Bro. "That depends. If she tried to text you or call you during this absence, would she shrug it off and wait or get worried? If she would get worried, you should probably at least send her a message explaining it."

“Mmm… she knows about my hero stuff now… but m-maybe I should pop by…” Bro says nervously, “But I uh… haven’t really explained like.. magic and the rifts…. And I don’t want to delay us more… I’ll just explain to her I’m out on a mission…” he says hurriedly and sends her a text, his own cheeks kinda red. 

Alt and Oliver kinda just stare at each other for a second before Alt coughs and looks away and Oliver does too. “T-Thank you… for the gift. I-I’m sure it’ll help and well… I-It’s nice to have a… a piece of you.” 

Oliver giggles, “Sap-“ 

“Hey! you were first-!” Alt laughs. 

Oliver pulls him in by his shirt and kisses his cheek. Then, he pushes him towards Anti and Bro. “…go on- you got multiverses to try to go save, right?” He smiles. 

Alt touches his cheek and flushes more but he nods. “Y-Yeah…” 

“Hurry up before I decide to keep you~“ Oliver says with a cheeky smirk. 

“R-Right!” Alt glitches over to the others, hiding his face somewhat in his mask and now fiddling with his new necklace. “S-Sorry! Ready-“

Anti tilts his head, looking faintly amused at all this. But he doesn't say anything. "Alright, we can head on out then." He turns towards the small rift. That green lightning appears around its edges and it grows larger once more until it's big enough to step through.

Oliver watches with awe as it opens back up but keeps his distance. 

Alt hoists his bag onto his back and straightens up. “Alright- let’s do this.” Then he blinks and looks to Oliver, “Oh Ols! Y-You’ll take care of Glitches right??” 

“Of course, you doof!” Oliver laughs. Alt laughs too. 

Bro finishes typing up his message and puts his phone away. “Alright! Let’s do this! Bye Oliver!” 

Alt smiles and waves, “Bye. Be back soon… promise.” 

Oliver smiles and waves them off as the Brody bros step through the rift.

Anti nods back at him as he steps through right after. And then, with that, the rift disappears, leaving no sign it was ever there.

—————

Walking through a rift isn't the same as being pulled into one. Bro feels a jolt, like he stepped down a curb when he wasn't expecting it, and everything grows dark with the hint of the green light usually found in the space in-between. Then, sensation returns. 

He is standing in what looks like a cafeteria of some kind. There are rectangular tables lined up, and up against one wall are counters with food. And not only that. There are appliances like mini-fridges and camping stoves. White lights in the ceiling light up the area, but... they don't look like traditional fluorescent lights. There's something off about them. Honestly, this whole place looks weirdly temporary.

Bro stumbles a bit and catches himself as he steps into the new area. He looks around a bit in confusion- especially since Alt and Anti aren’t there. Man- it’s been a while since they were immediately separated. But, he’s not too worried about it.

"Chase? When did you get here?" an accented voice asks. The question comes from one of the tables--the only one currently occupied. 

There are three men sitting there, each with a mug, and a teapot and coffee pot in the space between them. One man is wearing glasses and a pale blue sweater, some yarn bracelets on his arms. Strange branching scars crawl up the left side of his face. Another is wearing a yellow button-up with overlong sleeves. He has a mustache. The last is wearing a maroon sweater with the words Stay Strong printed on it in white. His hair is short around the edges but a bit longer on top, slightly covering the raised scars lining the upper half of his face. 

Bro jolts a bit as he hears his name and then he grins awkwardly and raises a hand in a wave, “Oh uh hi! Not… not the Chase you know uh sorry- um… I- didn’t meet any of you guys last time-“

The man with the yarn bracelets blinks. "Last time...?" 

The man with the mustache gasps slightly. He nodded, and looks at Bro in recognition. Of course! You're that Chase from another world! 

"Huh?" The man with the scarred face looks at him. "You remember him?" 

I do, but it sounds like he doesn't remember me. Which... makes sense. I wasn't really there. The mustached man waves. I'm Jameson. This is Henrik and Marvin. But... I assume you know that? I think we're all your friends in your world, yes? 

Bro’s eyes widen a bit as he takes in Jameson’s face. “Oh- Oh you were… you were the one that… that Anti used to-“ 

JJ nods. Don't worry about it. I know what you mean. 

Bro swallows nervously then tries to smile. “Well, N-Nice to officially meet all of you. I wondered if that’s who you guys were but uh- s-sometimes it’s hard to tell.” 

Henrik pulls on his bracelets. "Ah, right. Of course you are not our Chase. You look... um... more... fit?" 

Marvin laughs into his mug. "Be glad Chase didn't hear you say that." 

"Well it is true." 

Bro laughs a bit more at the comment, “Yeah I get that a lot… but I think he even realized that when we met.”

Marvin laughs some more and put his tea down. "Alright. So... you're the Chase from another world. Nice to officially meet you, too." His smile falls into something more serious. "What are you doing here?" 

"Do not be rude, Marvin," Schneep says. 

"Oh. Sorry, didn't mean to be." Marvin looks a bit embarrassed. "But—last time you came—with that other Anti and that other Jackie and that fucking..." He goes a bit pale, and doesn't mention Magnificent by name. "Last time you all came here, you were lost or something, right? Are you... still lost?" 

"And those others, are they with you, too?" Schneep adds.

“Mag isn’t here,” Bro says hurriedly, “Just me and my brother and our friend, Anti. I think he said we’re just here to see Sam and pick up supplies!”

"There are two Antis where you come from?!" Marvin blurts out. 

I'm sure that's not it, Jameson says

Bro laughs, “No just the one! Other Anti is from another world- he’s like- pretty powerful though so he’s helping us find our device that got broken that we used to travel between worlds. We gotta… find another anti and… try to stop him from doing something… bad.” 

Oh, you want to see Sam? I don't know where They are right now... 

"If They are in camp, They will be at Jack's tent," Schneep says. "Ooooh, should we tell our Chase that this Chase is here?" 

He and Stacy might be with the kids, though, JJ says.

Bro tilts his head, “Same camp as last time? …I wanna say I know where that is but then I’d probably just get myself lost-“

"Oh right!" Henrik nods. "Last time you appeared, the resistance was still in the caverns. Well, that has changed since then." 

"God, the time loop was still in effect, too," Marvin mutters. "That's also been fixed since then. In fact... a lot's been fixed. Though we, uh, still have problems." 

“Oh fuck I forgot you guys were in one of those! We didn’t stay long enough to really… feel that though-“ Bro says sheepishly.

Henrik stands up, smiling a little. "Do you want to see the camp?" He points at a set of double doors. 

JJ sighs. I suppose we're cutting tea time short, then. I'll clean up. 

Bro waves his hands a bit, “Oh I didn’t mean to interrupt! You guys can finish, I'm chill!”

JJ blinks. Are you sure? 

Schneep sits down. "We could finish our drinks, then. I'm sure there is no risk. The camp is very safe, ever since we drove Iris out." 

JJ nods slowly. Would you like a drink then, Chase? We have mint tea and coffee.

“Oh I’d love a coffee-“ Bro smiles and goes to sit down, even if he feels a bit awkward. “…did you guys say IRIS?”

Schneep gets up to grab an extra mug. "Yes--Iris Hopkins, the fucking.... worst." 

Marvin swirls his mug of tea like it's a glass of wine or brandy. "Fucking worst. She's a magician. Used to be on the Réalta Council which is... apparently? The magician government?" He shakes his head. "Anyway, she did some shitty things, so they kicked her out of camp. Now she's on the run somewhere in the city." 

“Oh.. they’re a person- okay,” Bro says, looking a bit relieved. “I’ve heard that name with like a pretty fucked up company so… got worried there for a second. Glad you all drove her out! She sounds like bad news.” 

Schneep returns and pours the coffee pot into the mug. "Here you are." 

Bro looks up at Schneep and gratefully takes the coffee, “Thanks!”

JJ nods. Very bad news. Sam says she likes to push the borders of magic. 

"I got locked in a room overnight once," Marvin mutters into his tea. "Jack had to uncorrupt me before she agreed to let me out, even though Cat was no threat to anyone."

“What?? Jesus that’s… that’s awful-“ Bro gasps. “That’s… Jesus-“ He shakes his head. “You’d think she’d have some kind of empathy if you weren’t a threat…”

"Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" Marvin says. 

She's who we're dealing with now that Anti is... no longer the center of corruption, JJ says. 

"But we have not seen her in some time, so it is all fine!" Schneep says.

“Yeah our Anti told us the corruption is gone… so… Anti is… what’s his deal now, then?” Bro tries to say casually, but his fingers dig into his mug, a bit of anger bubbling deep in his gut. 

"Anyway--you probably have to find your friends, yes? Your Antis?" Schneep says hurriedly. 

Bro blinks then smiles a bit at Schneep and nods, “Yeah uh- we have a lot of places to visit I think… but you know- …coffee.” He says with a small chuckle as he takes a big sip.

"Coffee." Schneep nods understandingly. "I have forgotten much, but I never forgot the sweet taste of coffee." 

Sweet? It's rather bitter, I'd say, JJ says jokingly. 

Neither of them had addressed Bro's question about Anti. After taking a big drink of his tea, Marvin mutters, "Anti got more than he deserved. By which I mean... more mercy than he deserved. But apparently it was necessary, because of how he and Jack are linked."

Bro’s expression darkens, gripping his mug tighter, threatening to crush it. “…is that so?” Dangerous light flickers in his eyes. Like the first sight of lightning before a storm starts.

JJ puts a hand on his arm. Breathe, he says. And don't break the mug—it's communal. 

Bro blinks as if he wasn’t aware of what he was doing and looks down at the mug, carefully letting go. “Oh- r-right, sorry…” 

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Marvin says. "But... this is how it is." 

"Anti is... actually... trying to be... not bad," Schneep says slowly. "Though clearly, he is not going to win back hearts."

Bro nods to the others, his expression still somewhat stormy. “I guess… he’s only still around because of Jack. Still… doesn’t seem fair to all of you- to have to see him.”

"Oh, I'm not seeing him if I can help it," Marvin says. "I don't know how these two are okay with... being there." 

JJ shrugs. It's not worth ruining the peace to me. 

Schneep is thoughtfully silent. He finishes off his coffee.

Bro follows Schneep’s lead, downing the last of his like a shot. “Well uh- thanks for filling me in. This is all good to know… I should really go find Alt…”

We'll go with you, JJ signs. 

"Yeah, I'd... like to see Alt... again," Marvin says awkwardly. 

Bro smiles, “I’m sure Alt will be happy to see you all alright… I remember him uh… talking about what… happened to you. It really affected him…” 

Marvin nods slowly. He subconsciously rubs his neck. JJ puts a hand on his shoulder. 

"I will put the cups away, then we will go," Schneep says, standing up. 

Bro gets up to help. Hopefully Alt hasn’t run into any trouble… 

----------- 

After a jolt, Alt appears in a grassy field. Surrounding him are some temporary-looking buildings and round, colorful tents—a campground, of some kind. The sun hangs in the sky in its afternoon position, a few wispy clouds drifting across the blue expanse but not enough to dull the sunlight. There are some people wandering about. They all give him a second look, surprised to see him... but no one approaches him.

Alt blinks at the appearance of the field. So much different than what he dealt with last time. He looks around, wandering towards some of the tents. Guess… it was time to try to find Sam, right? He plays with his necklace as he goes- already finding it comfortable to fidget with.

As he walks past a green tent, the flap unzips and someone starts walking out—almost running right into Alt. "Oh, sorry!" The man backs away. "I didn't see you. Are you here to see..." He trails off. "You're not Chase." The man is wearing a blue t-shirt with a cloud pattern on it, a red hoodie tied around his waist. Many scars marr his arms, all of them unnaturally straight lines.

Alt glitches back in surprise, “No, I-I wasn’t watching where I was…” He trails off as he takes in the sight of the other man and his eyes widen as he scrambles back a bit more. “Y-You’re - you were E-Error…!”

Jackie's eyes widen. "A-Alt?!" He also backs up. "I—you—what're you—I-I um—" He looks nearly as panicked as Alt is. 

Alt tries to keep his breathing under control- because clearly Jackie isn’t Error anymore! But he sees- he sees him leaving with Anti- abandoning him as the corruption ate him alive.

There's a slight green glow in the tent behind them. A small golfball-sized green eye slips past Jackie, where it then grows bigger, to soccer-ball size. {ALT!} Sam says cheerfully.

Alt swallows shakily and then glitches again in surprise but relaxes at seeing Sam. “S-Sam! Hi…!” He grins nervously.

Sam tilts to the side, like an animal cocking their head. {ALT... I UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS.} Their mental voice is soft, gentle. {BUT JACKIE IS NOT THE SAME. HE HAS GONE THROUGH A LOT AS WELL. YOU DO NOT NEED TO FORGIVE HIM, BUT REMEMBER THAT.} 

"I... I can... leave," Jackie says slowly. "I just... th-thought I would... get Jack something from the cafeteria..." He can't look away from Alt.

Alt winces a bit at Sam reading his feelings. But soon enough he shakes his head, “n-No it’s… it’s fine. Y-You were… you weren’t you… then.” He tries to laugh but it comes out forced. “and you had it w-way worse than I… I did.”

Jackie nods slowly. "O...kay. Yeah. I... I really am... so sorry. I'm... so sorry." 

“It’s okay… really.” Alt says sincerely. 

"Jackie?" A voice comes from inside the tent. "Who are you talking to?" 

"Uh..." Jackie glances back over his shoulder. "Do you... remember Alt? Did you see him?" 

"Do I remember—oh, I'll never forget Alt—wait, is he here?!" There's a shuffling noise. 

"Jack no, be careful!" Jackie hurries back into the tent.

Alt perks up and then smiles brightly at the sound of Jack’s voice. “J-Jack?!” He blinks in confusion at Jackie’s reaction then glitches inside after him.

There's some furniture inside the tent. The central area has a circular table with two chairs, then there are two alcoves to either side--one with a twin-sized bed with a metal frame, the other with a series of cubbyholes that have various things inside--a couple card sets, puzzles, and folded clothes. Jack is sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a white hoodie and gray pants. He looks a bit thinner and paler than the form Alt saw last time... but he's solid. He has a physical body. Jackie is standing nearby, holding a pair of arm crutches out to Jack. 

"Alt! Hey!" Jack waves at him cheerfully. "Oh my god, it's good to see you!"

Alt’s expression brightens as he sees Jack. “Y-You’re awake…!” He gasps and glitches over. “God- it’s good to see you too, dude!”

Jack laughs. "It's good to see you too! Hey, is it okay if I hug you?" 

"Be careful, Jack," Jackie says. 

"C'mon, I'm not gonna shatter if he hugs me."

Alt laughs and nods, “Y-Yeah of course!” He glitches a bit closer, hesitates for just a second then goes to hug Jack.

Jack hugs him back as tightly as possible. "God--I missed hugs," he says, and laughs a little. 

Alt laughs and smiles warmly. “I’m… really happy to see you’re okay…”

As they pull away, Jack asks, "What are you doing back here?" 

{THE THREE OF THEM ARE HERE FOR THIS.} Sam flies over to the cubbyholes, landing in one near the top.

Alt blinks and looks to where Sam is going. “Oh yeah! Sam has parts of the TRVLR… it got destroyed so we’re going to go look for all the missing pieces.”

"Right, your device." Jack nods. "Sam said something about keeping an eye out for things a lot recently..." 

Jackie walks over to the cubbyhole and grabs the things in the cubby where Sam landed, bringing it back to the table. There's a plastic bag full of computer-y parts, a small clutch of some kind made of slick black fabric, and three small items. Meanwhile, Jack straps on the arm crutches Jackie left by the bed and walks over to the table. 

{THE TRVLR IS NEARLY COMPLETE,} Sam says. {THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT PARTS LEFT, BUT THEY ARE THE MOST ESSENTIAL PARTS.}

Alt’s eyes widen as he glitches over to the table. “Woah! You found so much- honesty I thought we’d have to find a lot more!”

{THE GOOD GLITCH HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP,} Sam says. 

"What're those?" Jack indicates the three small items. They're orbs made of glass, designed to look like eyes with green scleras and blue irises. The pupil is the size of a fingerprint, slightly indented. 

{THEY ARE TO HELP FIND THE PIECES,} Sam says. {TRACKERS, OF SORTS.}

“Ohh! Neat!” Alt grins, picking up one to look at. Then he looks at the fabric clutch. “And what’s this?”

{WATERPROOF BAG,} Sam explains. {TO PROTECT THE TRVLR PARTS.} 

Jack raises an eyebrow. "Going somewhere with lots of water, then?" 

{OH, I AM NOT GOING. BUT YES, ALT, BRO, AND ANTI WILL FIND A WORLD WITH A GREAT OCEAN.}

“…one we’ve been to before or- somewhere else?” Alt asks, blinking back at Sam. He starts to take the TRVLR parts and puts the plastic bag inside the fabric one.

{YOU WILL ONLY BE VISITING TWO WORLDS WHICH YOU'VE BEEN TO BEFORE,} Sam says. {THE FIRST OF WHICH, YOU WILL MEET UP WITH THE HENRIK WHO GOT CAUGHT IN YOUR LAST JOURNEY. THE SECOND OF WHICH... WELL, YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO TRANSFORM INTO MERPEOPLE.} 

“So somewhere new,” Alt laughs. “That was a really round about way of answering that.” 

"You went to a world where you turned into merpeople?!" Jack gasps. 

"They what?!" Jackie's eyes widen.

Alt blinks then grins, “We’ve been to two worlds where we got to do that! One was in the far off future on an alien planet with really weird fish but they had like- mermen alien fish hybrids so we got to be some of those. Then- once we landed in a world where actual mermen existed too! Honestly it was really cool,” Alt laughs. “I got to practice some cool spells to make it happen!”

"Whoa..." Jackie whistles, impressed. "I don't think Marvin could do that. Don't tell him I said that, though." 

"Alien planet with weird fish? That sounds cool!" Jack says. "So... you need to meet up with your brother and this other Anti, right? Sam, do you know where they are?" 

{ALL THREE LANDED IN THIS CAMP,} Sam says. {I BELIEVE THEY WILL MAKE THEIR WAY HERE. YOU DO NOT NEED TO MOVE.} 

Jack sighs. "Yeah... probably for the best." He looks at Alt. "Turns out, having your body in a coma for years has some side effects. But we'll take what we can get. Better than being ghosts."

Alt looks relived the others aren’t far. “Well if they’re on their way here then- I don’t mind keeping you company.” He says with a shy smile. “Maybe you guys can… catch me up? Seems like a lot has happened since we were here last!”

"Oh you have no idea." Jack sits down at the table. Jackie hovers nearby. 

"Uh... short version. Surgeon left the Place where Anti was keeping him. But unfortunately the tradeoff was the cave where the resistance was hiding was found. But in the escape I managed to uncorrupt JJ. Then, turns out, this camp was here the whole time--this place is run by magicians, turns out there's more of them than just Marvin and Raven, hah. So we all came here. I uncorrupted Schneep. Then this group of other magicians led by a woman named Iris arrived--turns out she was secretly doing shady magical shit. We got Cat out of the Place by tricking Anti into thinking we were somewhere else. I uncorrupted him, he's Marvin again. Anti then freaked out, and..." He glances at Jackie. 

"He... really held onto Error tightly," Jackie says slowly. "Ended up... fucking with my head enough that I wanted to leave, even in that state." 

"So I uncorrupted him, then," Jack says. 

Alt listens carefully to the story, nodding along. He seems relieved to hear that Marvin is no longer Cat. Then, He looks sympathetic towards Jackie when they explain about Error. 

"Then uh... the Place kind of... became part of the world? And the corruption... became its own thing? And started controlling Anti?" Jack continues. 

"That part will probably take a little more explaining," Jackie mutters. 

"That whole thing made Anti start to reconsider shit," Jack says. "That, and some of the voices--holy shit, you don't even know about the voices, uh... that's a long story too. But to sum it up, I went into Anti's mind and got rid of the corruption, but as a result... we both... returned to this body." Jack pauses. "Anti is... in here." He taps the side of his head. "He's... asleep right now, though."

Alt’s eyes widen as he hears about the corruption. Then, at Jack’s last statement, he inhales sharply and glitches back. “H-He’s what?!” He squeaks, turning a bit pale.

Jack winces. “Yeah no I expected that reaction. Don’t worry, he’s not gonna pop out or anything. He only wakes up once I fall asleep, and I’m not planning on doing that anytime soon. A-and even if something happened, he’s not… going to… H-he doesn’t hurt people anymore. Or, he’s trying not to. And the corruption is gone anyway…”

Alt slowly relaxes- even if he still looks wary. “Oh uh… o-okay. If you say it’s nothing to worry about… I-I trust you.”

Jack lets out a breath. “Yeah… it’s uh… really awkward, given… everything that happened.” 

“Understatement,” Jackie comments. 

“Everyone’s keeping an eye on him, but he’s really not gonna try anything,” Jack continues. “Besides, we both lost a lot of our powers once we got our body back, so he couldn’t if he wanted to.” 

Alt nods, giving Jack a weary smile. 

“Oh, I can do some party tricks, though. Jackie, hand me the tablet.” 

Jackie picks up a small tablet—like an iPad, but slightly different—from the bed, and walks over to hand it to Jack. He props it up so Alt can see the screen. A bit of static flickers across it as Jack opens and closes some apps just by concentrating. YouTube, some idle matching game, an art program that’s currently on some drawing with a lot of red splatters—which Jack closes quicker than the rest. “See? This is the most we can do now.”

Alt blinks a bit- impressed. “hey- that’s pretty neat!“ he laughs.

“Really?” Jack brightens. “I mean—I know you can probably do a lot more with your like electric magic but I’m really proud that I’ve managed to do this, it’s taken some practice—” 

“Ha I can’t do anything like that! So I think it’s pretty cool!” Alt laughs. 

Then suddenly, there’s the sound of static. Anti—the green scarf wearing, eye-patch’d Anti—appears inside the tent near the entrance. 

“Jesus fucking christ!” Jackie jumps in surprise.

Alt glitches a bit in surprise but quickly recovers, “Oh hey Anti! You gotta give these poor guys a warning or something-“

“Sorry,” Anti says to Jackie. “And sorry I’m a bit late, Sam. I showed up right next to this world’s Chase and Stacy, had to convince them I wasn’t this Anti who’d suddenly escaped his body. I think they’re coming here to check.” 

“Oh yeah- that’d probably freak them out,” Alt laughs nervously.

“Oh. Cooooool.” Jackie nods slowly, still looking a bit rattled. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box of BandAids, applying one to a cut that’s suddenly on his arm. 

{ALT’S BROTHER IS HEADING THIS WAY AS WELL,} Sam says.

Alt blinks at Jackie a bit in confusion. Then brightens as he hears Bro is on his way. “oh good!”

Anti glitches over to the table--surprising Jack in the process--and picks up one of the glass eye trackers. "Did you explain to him how this works?" 

{I FIGURED IT WOULD BE EASIER TO EXPLAIN WHILE THEY'RE BOTH HERE,} Sam says. 

"Fair enough." Anti pockets the glass eye. He then looks at Jack. And seems to freeze. "...Hi... Jack." 

"H-hi?" Jack gives a little wave and laughs. "This is so weird."

Jackie notices Alt's confusion from the bandaid and looks away, seeming somehow ashamed. 

Alt looks even more confused- and now concerned. He glitches over and he hesitates before asking, “…you okay?”

Jackie jumps slightly. His eyes dart around a little. "I... don't want to freak you out." 

“You won’t, it’s okay-“ Alt tries to say gently.

Jackie hesitates... then nods slowly. "The... the glitches. You probably remember Error's glitches. They're... still around. Meaning... there's still a bit of corruption in me." He whispers that, eyes wide with panic. "I-I don't think it's affecting my brain. But... the glitches are still there."

Alt doesn’t look too freaked out- he looks more worried than anything. “O-oh… I’m so sorry Jackie… t-that must be really hard…” he glances over at Jack and Anti, “…I’m guessing Jack can’t help anymore, huh?”

Jackie shakes his head. "He tried. We uh... did this spell to go into my mind to check on things. It's... If there's some way to get it out, we can't figure it out." He gives a small smile. "But on the bright side... no one else has any left in them. Just me."

Alt’s eyebrows furrow, “…that’s still not something you should have to deal with… that really sucks. I… I wish I knew how to help…”

Jackie smiles. "Thanks. It's okay, we'll figure it out eventually. It'll just take a while. Besides... sounds like you guys have something else to work on, right?" He glances towards the tent entrance. 

Alt chuckles, “Yeah… we got a pretty big mission from the sounds of it.” 

Jackie hums, "Wonder how far your Chase is. The camp isn't that big, he'll probably be here soon." 

----------- 

"--and over in that direction is the meeting building, the magicians set it up very quickly," Schneep says. He's been giving Bro a verbal tour of the camp as they walk. "It is amazing, actually." 

"Yep, magic's amazing," Marvin says a bit smugly. 

Jameson chuckles. 

There are a few people up and about camp. They occasionally glance at the group, but apparently this isn't an odd enough sight to stare at.

 “Yeah dude this is really impressive! This was a magician’s camp?” Bro says. He smiles at people as they walk by, trying to appear friendly.

Jameson nods. Turns out, the Council that's in charge of all magicians in the area knew about the time loop and set up this camp to keep an eye on things. Once the time loop broke, we all came here and let them know about the corruption. They've been a great help since then. 

"Can't believe I never knew about them," Marvin mutters.

“Damn! That’s really great- well besides that Iris woman but… good you guys got help right away!” Bro smiles.

"Yes, very good," Henrik agrees. "Oh, perhaps if you stick around a bit I can introduce you to Fern, she is a magician doctor! I think she is at the clinic now." 

"Fern's great," Marvin says. "A real miracle worker." 

“Oh! That’s cool! Don’t meet too many magician doctors! You’d think that’d be more prevalent…” Bro laughs. 

"Hey!" A voice shouts. "Guys!" 

To the left, a pair of familiar faces are running towards the small group. 

"Hello Chase!" Henrik waves. "And Stacy!"

Bro blinks then grins, “other me! Stacy! Hi!”

"Oh! Hey." Chase skids to a halt next to Bro. He's wearing a brown aviator jacket, his hair a bit longer and shaggier than last time they were in this world. 

Stacy's hair has also grown out, now only the lower half of her shoulder-length hair is dyed blonde, everything else is its natural brown. She's wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt with little pink dots around the cuffs. 

"You are here, then. Uh, good to see you!" Chase says. 

Stacy nods. "So... weird question, did you really come here with your brother and some other, glitchy version of Anti? Or should we be worried?"

Bro laughs, “I really came here with Alt and another Anti! We’re picking up some stuff to try to fix the thing we use to visit other multiverses- Sam collected a bunch of it!”

"Ohhhh, that would explain that plastic bag in Jack's tent," Chase says. 

"We are heading to that tent now, actually," Henrik says. "Do you two want to come?" 

Stacy nods. "Sure, why not? The kids are being tutored so we might as well keep an eye on things." 

As the group continues, Chase explains, "We were in the hangout tent together when this Anti guy suddenly appeared. Gave me nine consecutive heart attacks seeing him. He, uh... really looks like our Anti. Except with an eye-patch. And a scarf. I don't think Anti would like scarves." 

“Oh yeah he’s kinda freaky when you first meet him,” Bro chuckles, shaking his head. “I never got to see what your Anti looked like but I can imagine. You can trust him though- Sam does. And he’s also like… saved me and Alt multiple times. He’s moody and acts aloof but he’s- he’s a good guy.”

So like Marvin? Jameson says. 

"Wh--hey!" Marvin sputters. 

Chase laughs. "Alright. If Sam trusts him, we'll trust him." 

"I'm not moody," Marvin grumbles. Henrik pats his shoulder.

Bro hides a laugh, “it’s okay dude- some of the best people I know are like that! Alt is like that too.”

Marvin smiles a bit. "Heh... that helps." 

"Honestly, it's good to see you be a little moody," Chase says, smiling back at him too. 

"Really? O-oh." Marvin blinks. "Hah... I'll try not to be too moody, but, uh... thanks." 

Bro smiles warmly at Marvin. 

They're approaching a green tent. Jameson points at it. That's Jack's tent. He's not staying with the rest of us because of the... Anti situation.

Bro blinks at Jameson before looking back at the tent. “Oh yeah uh… he was in a coma right?”

"Yeah..." Chase nods slowly. "I remember you and Jackie could hear him. But, uh, now he's back in his body!" He smiles... then the smile slowly fades. "Unfortunately... the side effect of that is that Anti is also back in the body. He, uh... They kind of take turns. When one falls asleep, the other takes over." 

But Jack should be awake right now, you won't have to deal with Anti, JJ reassures him.

Bro’s smiles hearing Jack is awake- but it quickly falls as he hears Anti is with him too. “…that’s- gotta be hard to deal with… t-the way you all were talking about him… thought he’d be separate from Jack at least-“

Marvin winces. "Well... it meant that the corruption went away, and everyone was uncorrupted again. So I think it's... worth the trade-off." 

Chase sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "At least they don't just randomly turn into each other. That'd be weird. And at least Anti's not trying to hurt anyone any more. He's, uh... trying to... redeem himself?" 

Marvin looks away. Jameson purses his lips and doesn't say anything.

Bro’s expression darkens again, “Hm… hard to redeem turning people into corrupted monsters against their wills. …I believe in second chances but that… I dunno if I would… I dunno if I could with him. Not after what he did to Alt.”

Stacy nods. "Well... you're not alone in that. All of the uncorrupted people are staying in camp too. And a lot of them..." 

"They are not happy," Henrik states. "To put it lightly." 

"The fact that he's stuck with Jack does make things difficult," Stacy says. "We don't want to punish Jack for what Anti did. But the magicians are at least keeping track of him." 

Bro at least feels a bit better knowing he’s not the only one upset. “Yeah… poor Jack… having to deal with all this…” 

As the whole group approaches the tent, Anti--the one who came with Alt and Bro--glitches outside the entrance. 

"Holy shit!" Marvin jumps. 

"Yeah, freaky, isn't it?" Chase mutters. 

"Sorry," Anti states. "Hi, Chase. Bro Fantastic, I mean. Alt's inside."

Bro blinks then grins, “Yo Anti! Heard you gave other me a heart attack-“ 

There's the sharp sound of more glitching and Alt appears by Anti at the entrance. He grins at Bro and the others, “There you are!”

"Ah, hello!" Schneep waves. "So you are Alt. I didn't meet you the last time you were here, nice to see you now." 

"Hey!" Chase waves, and Stacy nods. 

Good to see you--though you are a bit strange, Jameson says, looking at Anti. 

"I can imagine," Anti says, shrugging. "We won't be here long, though." 

Marvin stares at Alt. He raises a hand. "Hey. You look... good."

Alt blinks at eveyone then smiles sheepishly and waves, “Hi…! Good to officially meet you all…” His eyes meet Marvin’s though and they widen. He glitches over, then smiles a bit. “H-Hey…! It’s… god… good to see you out of that… y-you know. You… look good too.” He laughs a bit.

"Whoa!" Marvin takes a step back, then laughs. "Thanks! I'm sure even the scars are an improvement to how you last saw me." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, uh... yeah. It's good to be uncorrupted." 

Alt smiles and nods, “I’m sure it’s a relief…” 

The tent flap opens again, and Jackie peeks out. "Oh, uh... hi everyone. H-hang on." He disappears for a moment, and then he and Jack come out, with Jack using his crutches to support himself. Sam flies out after them. 

"You, uh, forgot these, Alt." Jackie holds up the two glass eye trackers. 

{YOU'LL NEED THEM,} Sam says. {HELLO, CHASE.}

Alt jumps a bit as everyone else comes out and then laughs, going to grab the trackers. “oh I- didn’t mean to lead everyone outside! T-Thanks though.” 

“Yo Sam!” Bro grins, “Good to see ya!” He blinks at seeing Jack and Jackie but then smiles more, “And Jackie and Jack! Good to properly meet ya both!” 

Jackie waves a bit, smiling shyly. "Nice to properly meet you, too." 

"Hey!" Jack grins. "Yeah, last time I was still a coma ghost. So glad that's over with." 

"Ah yes, because it was so easy for you to become not a coma ghost," Schneep says, deadpan. 

"It only took the whole Place being dragged out to the city," Chase says jokingly. 

Anti blinks. He looks over at Sam. "Was that what you were dealing with that time those five got stuck in-between? Is that why you were late?" 

{YEP.} Sam swishes Their optic nerve. 

"Well... shit. No wonder."

Alt and Bro blink in surprise. “T-The whole Place?” Alt asks in awe, “wasn’t that place like… infinite???” 

"Oh--no, not infinite," Jackie says. "I mean, it definitely seemed like that when you were wandering around and its hallways were shifting, but at most it was as big as the city." 

"If you look over thaaaat way..." Chase points to the side. Part of the sky seems... red? "That's where the city is. You can see the effect the Place had from here." 

Bro looks at Anti and Sam and tilts his head, “Damn… then it’s only been like… what? 2 months? Since all that happened? That’s crazy…”

It's been longer for us! Jameson says. It seems time in your world runs slower than ours. I think it's been about... four months or so. Twice as long. 

"Even so, yes, that is a lot that happened," Henrik agrees.

“Still… four months isn’t long at all… you guys seem to be adjusting well,” Bro says with a gentle smile. 

Alt looks towards the city with furrowed brows, “…what happened to the city? I-Is that why you all are out here?” 

"Yyyeah..." Jack says slowly. "It's uh... it has a red sky now, and there are weird hallways everywhere and the sewers and caves are a maze... it's a fucking mess." 

"Yeah... that's our main problem now," Marvin says. "Fixing that and finding Iris again."  

“why are you looking for Iris? I thought she got ran out of here…” Bro asks. 

"Yeah, ran out of here and into the city, where she's probably plotting something." Marvin folds his arms. 

"Besides--she's broken magician laws, so she's basically a fugitive." 

“Ah… makes sense then.” Bro nods. Alt frowns at the city in worry.

"What are those things, by the way?" Stacy says, pointing at the glass eyes. 

{ANTI, YOU EXPLAIN, MOST OF THEM CANNOT HEAR ME,} Sam says. 

"Right." Anti nods. "They're trackers so we can find what we're looking for." He takes out his own glass eye from his pocket. "You put your finger against the dent where the pupil is and the information gets beamed directly to your mind."

Alt’s attention gets drawn back from the city as Anti explains the trackers. He hands one to Bro. 

Bro whistles, “Impressive! … and a tad bit invasive but- guess that can’t be helped-“ He and Alt immediately go to try it.

Immediately, Bro knows that all the TRVLR parts in this world are in that black clutch Alt is carrying. 

Alt merely becomes aware that there are no other parts besides that in the area. 

Bro and Alt still seem impressed. “Cool!” Alt grins. He stuffs it into his pants pocket for safe keeping and Bro stores his in his utility belt. 

"Oh, it works on a world-by-world basis," Anti adds. "But Sam knows which other worlds have the remaining parts. We're actually going to that universe with the Glitch Henrik next. He probably found the part there by now.”

Both of them look delighted to hear they’ll be seeing Schneep next. “Aw fuck yeah! I bet Schneep crushed that-“ Bro grins. 

"So... are you guys just gonna leave right away, then?" Jack asks, a bit disappointed. 

The brothers exchange looks before Alt says quietly, “I guess… we can stay for a little bit longer- if you guys want.” He smiles sheepishly.

"Well I mean--this is important, isn't it?" Chase says. "I'd hate to delay you. And there's not a lot to do at camp, really." 

Marvin brightens slightly. "We could play Insane Monopoly." 

The others all groan and immediately start to protest. 

That's sure to make them want to leave! JJ says. 

"And that will literally take all day!" Jackie adds.

Alt and Bro burst into laughter. “As crazy as that sounds… we.. we probably should go.” Alt says, holding his necklace. “…we have uh.. people waiting for us at home….” His cheeks turn a bit red at this and Bro smirks.

"Ah... of course." Schneep notices the blush and nods. "W-we... we understand." 

"Hen's gonna spend the rest of the day with Trisha, oooo," Chase says teasingly. 

Schneep nudges him. "And? What about you two?" He gestures at Chase and Stacy. 

"Huh, what? I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Chase protests, face getting red. 

Stacy's eyes widen and she fidgets awkwardly with her sleeves, looking away. 

Bro smiles at Chase and Stacy though, maybe they’re getting along better! That makes him feel more secure with his own relationship. 

“Careful guys- you’ll make Alt jealous~” Bro teases, “His boyfriend threw a fit that we had to leave-“ 

“C-Chase!” Alt protests, pushing him slightly and looking away, hiding his face in his mask. Bro laughs.

Sam flies away from the tent. {LET'S GET SOMEWHERE CLEAR, THEN. THAT IS BETTER WHEN MAKING A PORTAL.}

Bro looks at the others and smiles, “Wanna help send us off then?” 

"Hmm? Help how?" Marvin asks. 

"I mean, sure, we'll wave goodbye!" Jackie laughs. 

Bro laughs, “That’s what I meant!”

"Alright, come on, everyone after Sam," Jack says, making his way after Them. Everyone else follows, matching his slower pace. Except for Anti, who immediately glitches over to where Sam is waiting in a clear spot away from most tents.

Alt glitches to walk beside Jack, playing with his necklace timidly. Bro keeps up with the others.

It's a clear day. The clouds are only wisps. 

But... suddenly... there's a feeling of ozone in the air, like the moment before a lightning strike. 

Anti's head whips to the side, eye widening in alarm. 

{NO!} Sam shouts. {THAT'S IMPOSSI--} 

And then a shockwave of red light blasts outward from midair as a rip is torn in space.

Bro holds his arms over his face and digs his feet into the ground to try to not get blown away but he ends up getting thrown back. Alt yells out in surprise and glitches to cover Jack, curling his body around him to keep him safe-Jack gasps as Alt suddenly appears in front of him, stumbling but managing to keep his feet. 

Chase and Stacy, out in front, get thrown through the air. JJ and Marvin are just behind them and both get knocked to the ground. 

Anti glitches out of sight and then returns just in time to glare at the black rip in midair. "Y͏̛ou.̶̷" 

A figure forms from the red light as a low, threatening laugh echoes through the clear day. Another Anti, glowing red and black, eyes filled with white static and a scar wrapping around his neck. He floats a few inches off the ground. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" His voice comes from all around them. "Those three little blips I could brush off, but you. The ripples you caused getting here again... I'd be a fool to ignore it." 

Alt got knocked to the ground too trying to keep Jack up but he quickly glitches back up to his feet. He goes to hold an arm out in front of Jack and the others and his stomach drops. “N-No…!” He breathes, blood running cold. 

Bro hurries to push himself up and rushes forward. His eyes fill with blue light as he growls. “Y-You! …w-what are you talking about??”

"Oh? Do you not recognize me?" The red Anti grins, and his image shifts, until it's abundantly clear--this is the Anti from the first world with the rifts. The red light quickly returns, darkening his appearance. 

Bro bares his teeth at the red Anti. “oh, I’d be hard pressed to forget you bitch-“ He snarls. 

"And do you think I'm a fucking moron? There's always people like you in every world! People like you who will get in my way. And that's what you're doing now, isn't it? Are you trying to stop me?" 

“Of course we’re trying to stop you! We’re not gonna let you destroy innocent worlds!” Bro bites back.

"Who the f-fuck is this?!" Marvin says, climbing to his feet. 

"Someone bad, clearly," Schneep says, shuddering. 

"He's the one who broke the TRVLR," Anti says, glaring at the red image before them. He summons a knife. "Leave this world alone! It's been through enough!" 

{I WILL PUSH HIM OUT!} Sam says. {I WILL--} 

"You won't do anything," Red Anti says, snapping his attention to Sam. He grins, tearing his face in two. "Don't you think it's strange how you couldn't see me?" 

Sam backs up. Being just an eye, it's hard to read Their expression, but They seem taken aback. 

Bro’s eyes widen, “S-Sam can’t see you?!” Then he growls, “That doesn’t matter cuz we’ll find a way to stop you!”

"I'm an anomaly," Red Anti says in a soft, threatening voice. "You can't fucking stop me." 

Alt pushes Jack gently towards the others, “G-Guys…! G-Get Jack to safety- g-get out of here!” He warns them- but he doesn’t take his eyes off the other him.

Red Anti laughs, and turns his attention to Alt. "You care about him then? I'll show you what happens when you care." His image disappears, and red lightning races towards Alt and Jack.

Alt panics and yells out, holding out both hands and shutting his eyes as a green-blue electric bubble curls around him and Jack.

The red lightning bounces off the shield. Red Anti's image appears outside it, growling at Alt through the electricity. "Why can't I grab your power?!" he demands. "It's magic! It's energy! It should be--" 

Alt stares at Anti with terror clear on his face and he stumbles back. “I-I don’t…!” He tries to say. 

A bolt of green light passes through the image from the side. Marvin, having got to his feet, has his hand extended, green light coming from his eyes, his pupils now contracted to narrow cat-like slits. 

"Did you think that would work?" Anti's voice says. "I'm not there. I'm everywhere." More red lightning forms behind Marvin and shoots towards him. 

At the same time, another bolt shoots towards Bro. Bro yells and tries to rush at Anti but gets blasted back and skids a couple times across the ground.

Marvin cries out, falling to the ground as the lightning sneaks up on him. 

"Marv!" Chase gasps, scrambling to his feet and rushing over. Henrik also runs over, his doctor training kicking in as he checks Marvin over.

“Chase! Marvin!” Alt calls out and then he tightens the bubble more around him and Jack- unable to hide his shaking.

"H-he is okay!" Henrik reports in a shaky voice. 

"You bastard!" Jackie shouts, a few squares of colorful static flickering around his shoulders. He rushes for the image of Red Anti, but he disappears well before he gets there. 

"He doesn't have a physical body!" Anti snaps, his eye darting around. "I'll buy you some time. Sam, a rift!" 

Abruptly, he dissolves, turning into shadowy pixels and then disappearing. Red and green lightning flicker around the clearing, zapping through the air. 

Bro slowly pushes himself back up and then quickly nods, momentarily watching the Antis battle before he rushes over to Sam. 

{RIGHT!} Sam grows in size, now more like a beach ball. {YOU ALL MUST GET TO THE NEXT WORLD! AND I MUST EXPEL HIM BEFORE HE DOES ANYTHING ELSE! JAMESON, WE NEED TIME.} 

JJ, now kneeling by Marvin's side, looks up in surprise. Then he nods. He takes a deep breath, and his irises turn gold. The lightning... slows down. Like someone put a video in slow motion. 

"Y-you have to get out of here!" Jack says, grabbing Alt's arm. "Don't worry about me. The others can protect me."

Alt jolts a bit but then nods, holding onto Jack’s arm and squeezing it. “O-Okay- just- be safe okay?” He then lets go and glitches out of the bubble- leaving it intact just in case as he glitches over by Sam. 

“S-Sam what do we do?!” Bro pants, “We didn’t think he’d be on our trail already! We can’t even fight him!”

{FOR NOW, WE CAN ONLY STAY AHEAD OF HIM,} Sam says. {AND THERE WILL BE A WAY TO FIGHT HIM, I AM SURE OF IT. WE JUST HAVE NOT FOUND IT, YET.} A bit of green lightning appears, unzipping a rift. {HERE. GO HERE!} 

"Wait, your Anti!" Chase gasps. The green and red lightning are moving slowly, crashing against each other. 

Jameson glances around at the others. I can't hold time forever!

Alt looks at the lightning with worried eyes. But then he shuts his eyes and grabs Bro’s wrist and turns them towards the rift. “H-He can catch up to us-! I-I think…! Right, Sam?” He hesitates right before it.

{I'M SURE HE--} 

Then JJ gasps and time starts up again. The red and green lightning crack through the air, and two figures form as a red one tackles a greenish shadowy one to the ground. The shadows glitch over, reaching Alt and Bro in a second. 

{YES, HE'S WITH YOU NOW!} Sam says. {NOW GO!} They turn around towards the red figure, slowly growing in size as a second rift opens up behind it. 

Alt doesn’t hesitate now and both him and Bro rush through the rift. Alt looks back with a bit of worry towards the others then turns to hurry through.

Jack waves them off. The others also all look over, watching them leave.

The last thing Alt and Bro see before the rift closes is a shock wave of green light pushing all the red light towards the second rift.

[ampresandian]

My (unofficial) PJO season 2 episode 5 script part 1/4 (connected to this post)

Please ignore any and all spelling/grammar errors, I thought about rereading/editing and decided not to so you're looking at basically a first draft. I would love to hear if you think anything is out of character or doesn't really make sense, but a lot of it is basically straight from the book.

Images of script and copied text (bc I'm lazy and don't want to write out alt text) under the cut, just in case I didn't get enough spoiler warning or people aren't interested <3

Annabeth Tries to Swim Home

FADE IN: INT. DARK VICTORIAN HOUSE - NIGHT. 

A YOUNG ANNABETH runs down the hallway. A storm can be heard outside. She stops, looking behind her, then frantically all around. 

YOUNG ANNABETH: Luke? Thalia? 

Someone in the house screams. 

Annabeth begins running again. She turns a corner, finding herself in a study. The walls are lined with half-empty bookshelves, books and loose pages all over the floor. The antique desk in the middle of the room is broken, the chair overturned. Heavy velvet curtains block the light out, but one sways, as if the window behind it is broken. 

Annabeth backs out of the room slowly, then runs back the other way. 

She gasps for breath, but makes very little noise. 

Annabeth runs up a flight of stairs, into a new hallway that looks just like the one she just came from. As she enters different rooms, she hears her friends over the storm. 

GROVER (O.S.): Luke!

LUKE (O.S.): Thalia!

THALIA (O.S.): Annabeth!

Annabeth is still running, turning corners over and over. She enters a nursery with a broken crib and wooden toys strewn all over the floor. She runs through a dressing room with a mirror shattered on the carpet. She backtracks out of a bathroom with a cracked claw-foot tub and blood dried on the floor. 

THUNDER crashes outside. 

CYCLOPS laughs ominously off screen. Annabeth runs faster. 

She turns a corner and has to catch herself with her hands to stop from running into a wall. She pauses, breathing heavily as she looks down another dark hallway. 

THALIA AND LUKE (O.S.): Annabeth!

THALIA (CONT, O.S.): Run--

Annabeth starts running again. 

DISSOLVE TO: EXT. QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE – NIGHT.

Camera pans down from black sky, pausing on Hercules constellation. ANNABETH and PERCY are standing on the deck, near the steering wheel. 

ANNABETH: (Turning from the stars to look at Percy) Percy.

Percy, who has been looking out at the sea, watching for monsters, looks at Annabeth. 

ANNABETH (CONT): Can I ask for a favor?

PERCY: You just saved my life.

ANNABETH: Soon... We should be coming near the Sirens’ Island. When we’re in range of their song… (Staring at the tub of candle wax across the deck) I want to hear them.

PERCY: Why? Don’t their voices kill people?

ANNABETH: They lure people in, Seaweed Brain. The song doesn’t kill you, you die when you jump overboard. The myths say they’re so enchanting because they sing the truth about what you desire. Things you don’t even know about yourself. If you survive...

Annabeth looks out at the sea. Percy looks at Annabeth.

ANNABETH (CONT): You become wiser. I want to hear them. (Makes eye contact with Percy) How often will I get that kind of chance?

PERCY: (After a thoughtful pause) Okay.

ANNABETH: Okay?

PERCY: Okay. It makes sense. If anyone would want to hear it, it would be you. What’s your plan?

ANNABETH: You’ll have to tie me to the mast. And, Percy, I’m going to want to get free. I’m going to beg, but you can’t untie me. I’ll just go straight over the edge to drown myself.

PERCY: (trying for levity) Are you trying to tempt me?

ANNABETH: Promise me, Percy.

PERCY: You don’t have to worry about it, Wise Girl. You won’t get away from me that easily.

They look at each other. 

PERCY (CONT): How long until we get there?

ANNABETH: A few hours, I think. You should go below. Get some rest. (before Percy can argue) Go, Percy.

Percy heads below deck, settling into a hammock in the Captain’s Quarters. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.

CUT TO: INT. PRINCESS ANDROMEDA STATEROOM – NIGHT

PERCY stands alone in the dark room. Near the windows is the golden sarcophagus, glowing faintly.

VOICES (INDETERMINATE): Beware. 

VOICES overlap and echo.

KRONOS: (laughing) You don’t have the courage, young hero.

Percy uncaps his sword, but remains frozen in place.

KRONOS (CONT): You can’t stop me. 

Percy struggles against his frozen legs, clearly frustrated. 

THALIA: (appearing suddenly) Well? Are we going to stop him or not

Voices continue their echo in the background. Percy stares at the unknown girl, clearly trying to solve the puzzle of who she is. 

THALIA (CONT): Well? Come on, dude.

Percy remains frozen. THALIA approaches the sarcophagus, sword and shield at the ready. Percy tries to call out for her to stop, but no sound comes out of his mouth. The voices crescendo. 

Thalia opens the sarcophagus, staring down at the golden glow in horror. 

THALIA (CONT): No. No, it can’t be.

Kronos’ laugh echoes as Thalia screams. The light grows brighter.

(PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4)

[sdyuteiaok]

All right, trophied my second FF draft, after a 5-3 run last time. Both were basically two colors with just a slight splash, and in this case, I only splashed for the 7/7 Sultai giant thing that reanimates stuff. Never cast it, but I did toss it to my Ninja equipment for the trophy, though my opponent was already well dead from that combat step, so I never actually cast it, but we were able to pretty much every game thanks to our solid landbase. But I had two of the deathtouch first strike B guys plus Cecil, which is also a B spell, and slugged away with these consistently, though I'm not sure Cecil's too great, since he just kinda helps even out life totals when you're beating down, but I never was able to flip him and have him recoup the life, so at least as a slugger, he's not quite reliable in a deck like this. Maybe he's better in a BW deck. But this was base UB and I even had an Ether, which cloned one of my two Sephiroth's Interventions across multiple games, which is incredible cuz you're killing two things and gaining 4 life. I was wary of Ether cuz it looks a little slow, but man it really delivered, even when just casting it cuz I had one of the 1/3 Merfolk or Fish guy that grows and is unblockable when you cast a 4-drop, so you let that guy sneak in, and then you set up for a brutal double-kill the next turn, which further grows the Fish guy, so it was a heck of a play pattern that was entirely reliable. Granted I'm still in the Silver leagues, but at least here these are some sweet moves. But I also had some excellent equipment to help make my 2/1 deathtouch first strikers really painful to block, and there was one game where my opponent had just a wall of sluggers, but he couldn't afford to let my guys through, but they were guaranteed lethal in combat, so they just slayed his board as he tried to draw his way out of it. Really cool deck. No illusions that it probably wouldn't trophy at higher ranks, but at least for now we're learning the cards and getting our gem count up. And so we've got at least one gem-fueled draft waiting in the wings, which is particularly great cuz that means we can spend gold on Jump-In games so we can get those lands, and thankfully the alt-art bundles aren't too enticing, but who knows. These early ranks always lull you into thinking you've gotten the format down, but you always gotta brace for the reality check once you get into Platinum...but at least we still have Gold to plow through. And in any case, the format does feel approachable, at least.