#it looks so cool in my google doc

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 11: SepticHeroes

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix 

Read Swapboys | Read Septicheroes | AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT | Septicheroes Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata  

  Jackie and Bro had been flying for a while. Jackie would never admit it, but he was starting to get tired. He settles down on the edge of a shingled roof for a moment and sighs, looking at the ground below. This is an area lined with shops. Lots of foot traffic. "Jameson used to live here, yknow," he says, pointing at one of the shops. "It was a family business. I mean, no one's taken over the building, but... sucks that he can't run it for now."

Bro touches down next to him and he looks tired as well. He shakes out his head and refluffs his hair under his hat. "Oh really? Why can't he work there now?"

Jackie sighs. "It's... complicated. I mentioned I was looking for a villain earlier. One we don't know anything about? Basically, he made JJ do some fucked-up stuff. Now the police and the League are after him so he and Schneep are hiding out. Oh yeah, did I mention they're cousins? I don't know if relationships are consistent across universes, since our Chase doesn't have a brother. Anyway. They're cousins here but neither of them can run the family business due to being, you know, wanted."

Bro's eyes widen. He shakes his head, "Yeah no.... our Schneep and jj- they're close but... not cousins."

Then, he gets a righteous look of fury in his eyes as he looks out. "...I get that. Magnificent did the same for my brother. Made him do fucked up shit. and Even though he was really disguised when he worked for him... Alt is convinced he needs to hide back home. He's afraid of getting caught... Even though it wasn't his fault! Mag tricked him- manipulated him... controlled him!" He grips his hands into fists. "... i don't get why- villains can just do that to someone...!"

Jackie lets out a huff of laughter. "Yeah... good and bad are complicated, but I know that hurting--manipulating--innocent people is terrible." He pauses. "Maybe your brother and JJ could talk about that stuff together. Maybe we can suggest that when we find him.”

"Heh... maybe- dunno how open he'd be about it though... he's a tough nut to crack. Our Dr. J knows that." Bro laughs.

Jackie pauses, squinting down at the street below. "Oh would you look at that. If that's what I think it is, it's perfect timing." He points at the street, where there's a flicker of green pixels on the sidewalk.

Bro blinks and looks down towards the street with a raised eyebrow.

In a fizzle of green blue pixels, Alt skids out onto the road and then heaves a bit, bending over his knees. "Goddamnit- why is this city so big??" Then, there's a shadow over him as Bro whoops and then divebombs his brother in a huge hug. "Alt!!"

Alt yelps in surprise and then pushes off of Bro and glitches away. "Jesus Christ Chase!" He acts mad for a second then slowly laughs. "You know for a flying hero- you're pretty tough to find-"

Jackie laughs as he sees Bro divebomb his apparent brother, a few pedestrians scattering to give him room to maneuver. They all look unsure at first, until Jackie flies down and starts making casual small talk with the pair. At which point they relax and go about their business... or stay to watch.

"You're pretty tough to find, too. Alt, right?" Jackie holds out a hand. "I'm Windstorm. No real names with all these people around, but you met some friends of mine so you should know it anyway, hahah."

Both the boys look a bit startled at the fact they just said each other's names out loud and look around at the apparent crowd they attracted. Alt hides in his jacket for a second, covering up his face. Then, he blinks and drops it to study Windstorm. He narrows his eyes and tries to think of who this reminds him of, before his eyes widen. Then he laughs, "No fucking way-" And he takes Jackie's hand to shake it. "Well, Windstorm, nice to meet ya!"

"Yeah!! Isn't it cool!!" Bro grins, stimming a bit. "Dude!! Heroes are apparently everywhere here! There's even a league!"

"Yeah i heard-" Alt laughs with a shake of his head.

Now Bro notices Alt's hair color and mask and he gasps, "Alt!! Whats with the costume change- is that a hero outfit??"

Alt immediately blushes- "N-No! No- i uh.. I'm just trying to you know- blend in! The others mentioned it might be good to..." He looks away, embarrassed but trying not to show it.

Jackie glances back and forth between them. Then smiles at Alt. "Well I think you look super cool, dude!...That was unintentional, I promise." He giggles. "Seriously though, you'd look right at home in a comic book. Right, Bro?"

"Hell yeah dude! It's awesome! We can totally make a cool uniform for you back at home too! If that's what you want!" Bro is bouncing on his feet with excitement.

Alt still looks sheepish but he laughs quietly and looks back at them. "I'll... think about it." But then he sighs, "... we can't get too comfy though, Bro. We need to try to find Magnificent before he gets someone around here seriously hurt." Alt looks back at Jackie, "... the others mentioned someone called uhhh" He quickly finger spells out the name M-A-R-V-I-N. "and i.... i think that could be Mag's target if i had to guess... do you know where he might be?"

"Oh shit, right, you guys gotta get home." Jackie had been so caught up in knowing new supers that he forgot they had to go back to their home dimension. "Uh--hang on, let's get to somewhere less crowded." He glances around. Most of the onlookers have moved on by now, so he turns to the shop he pointed out to Chase earlier. The sign reads Jackson Legacy Crafts. "Come on, in here." He takes a key out of his pocket, mutters "I knew I had that in there" and unlocks the front door.

Bro and Alt share a look and then nod, following Jackie inside.

"Jackson crafts huh...? Guessing JJ owns this-" Alt muses as he looks around.

"Yeah, I was just telling your brother about this place. JJ doesn't run it right now, I don't know if he told you about the situation with... why he's staying somewhere else, but suffice to say he can't right now."

Alt nods, "Yeah- they mentioned a bit about it. About that villain that can use tech and stuff. that super sucks..."

The interior of the shop is basically empty, floor collecting dust. The back wall is the only thing that gives any indication that it was once used. Framed family photographs--and one poster of a super called Timekeeper--decorate the wall behind the counter.

"Okay," Jackie says. "I promised Chase--my Chase--that I'd call him once we found you, keep him updated. Actually, I'll FaceTime him so he can see you guys." Jackie takes his phone out of his pocket, still talking. "Anyways, nice to meet you, Alt! That glitching thing you do is really cool, I love how it looks."

Alt blinks and then looks bashful again at Jackie's compliments but he does grin slightly. "Oh! Thanks! And you're- god, I can't believe you're Jackie...! our Jackie can do cool stuff but i think he'd break every bone in his body trying to be a superhero." He laughs and Bro can't help but join in, nodding. "Yeah- we used to be mates in uni- but i re-met him trying to save his neck doing a dangerous parkour move."

Jackie laughs. "God, I can see myself doing that. I really can. The only reason I haven't broken my neck doing stupid stunts is because I can fly. Hell, sometimes I still get hurt." As he talks, he dials Chase's number. It rings for a while. Then it picks up, showing Chase's face. "Hey bro, did you find one of the other guys?"

"Yoooou bet!" Jackie turns the phone so all three of the guys are in shot. "Look at us all!"

Alt grins and then glitches a bit before waving. "Hi! I'm Alt!" Bro grins and wraps an arm around Alt and then gives him a noogie, even as Alt tries to glitch to get him off.

Chase laughs. "Hey, nice to meet you! My brother in another universe, apparently. Hey, since the other-me got to meet him, here's Frosty." Frosty shoves his head into frame. "And also since he keeps trying to get on my lap.”

Alt smiles, “Aw cute!” He’s a lot better around dogs now then he used to be.

“Anyway. What're you guys gonna do now? You have some villain to find, right?"

"Yeah." Jackie nods and looks back at the brothers. "You guys know more about him than me, what d'you think he'll do?"

Alt’s eyes darken and he nods. “Yeah… knowing Mag- he’s either gonna try to find a crazy big power source to drain… or he’s gonna go after this universe’s version of him… and try to kill him. Or drain him- or both.”

“Why he got such a grudge against himself is beyond me.” Bro mutters.

Alt shrugs, “self esteem issues I guess. But- that’s what he’s been aiming to do for the last couple of worlds.” He looks back at Jackie. “That’s why I think we should probably find Marvin… make sure he’s okay. I’m really hoping Mag has stayed knocked out for while but… I know we’re not usually that lucky.”

"Marvin?" Jackie blinks. "We know a Marvin. I--you guys probably know that by now, I don't remember if I told you but maybe JJ and Schneep did. I, uh... don't know where Marvin is, though. He's never told us where he lives. Or what he does, mostly. He has some trust issues, to be honest--"

Alt raises an eyebrow at this but then shrugs, “I guess I get that…”

“You were kinda like that when we first met-“ Bro quips.

“Only cuz I was being used and controlled by a cat bitch every other day.” Alt deadpans back. Bro shuts up.

"Hang on, bro, the messenger's going again," Chase interrupts. If the guys listen closely, they can hear the sound of pen against paper.

"Really? Okay, maybe JJ and Schneep figured something out, then." Jackie looks back at the others. "While that's going on. What do you mean by drain?"

Alt meets Jackie’s eyes and hums, “well- in our world. He’s a dark magician- and dark magic is serious shit. People who use it constantly are always looking for more power- and Mag can steal that power from other magicians or… what you guys call super humans. Or if he’s desperate- even take the life force of someone… taking out all their energy until they’re just a husk and converts that into magic power.” Alt shudders at this before continuing. “…I don’t know if he even can though here… life force maybe but… magic? I’m not sure… that exists here- from what I’m hearing.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t try though,” Bro adds darkly.

Alt nods. “Yeah he’s ridiculously stubborn… and is convinced he needs to drain power from every world he can get his claws on. Mad quest for power and knowledge- you know- classic villain shit.”

Jackie is silent, pale beneath his mask. On the other end, Chase is also silent. "What the fuck..." Jackie whispers. "That's... that's different than an absorber or copycat... Those guys can't kill anyone. That's... that's fucked up."

"Supremely fucked up," Chase agrees. "Uh... to change the subject really quick. The message is done." He holds up a note in front the screen, then puts it down before anyone can read it. "Marvin's at the safehouse. He's freaking out because... well what do you know?" Chase laughs darkly. "Because he had some encounter with a weird absorber who kind of looked like him."

"Shit," Jackie curses. "Is... is he alright?"

"Message doesn't say. And we can't just ask them, you know that."

Alt and Bro don’t reply but their expressions reflect their grim acceptance. Alt’s eyes glow with anger as he hears the description. “Yeah… that’s probably him.”

"We should get to the safehouse fast, then," Jackie says.

"Yep. I'll hang up now so you can do that. Good luck guys." And with that, Chase is gone.

"Okay. You two. This is going to sound a bit weird," Jackie says. "How good are you guys with tunnels?"

Alt seems a bit nervous about the tunnels, “uhhh… depends on if it’s narrow or not. I don’t do good in… tight spaces.”

“I can handle a tunnel, I think.” Bro responds.

"I don't think it's too narrow?" Jackie says. "It's about the size of one of those underground maintenance tunnels. If that doesn't sound good, you can teleport to the safe house where Schneep and JJ are, you know where it is. Bro, I'll definitely be taking you to the tunnel entrance. It looks like a sewer entrance through a manhole, but it's not. It's also not suspicious to see heroes going underground, so don't worry about that. For all anyone knows, we're tracking down some arms dealers down there. We're going to take it to the safe house."

Alt frowns and then sighs, “it’ll be fine- I gotta save up my glitches anyways…”

Bro wraps an arm around Alt and grins, giving Jackie a thumbs up. “Alright! Let’s do this then~”

"Okay." Jackie nods. "Stay close to me. I'll show you where it is. It might be a bit of a walk, so be prepared for that." And with that, he leaves the shop.

Alt grumbles, “yayyy walking.” Bro nudges him with an eye roll before dragging him after Jackie.

-----------

It is not normal hospital policy to let someone go immediately after the SDER department treats them. But Magnificent has his ways. He walks out only about forty-five minutes after being admitted. The burn pain has not faded entirely but it has significantly lessened.

Magnificent had convinced the doctors that he was healed enough to leave so he staggers out of the hospital, thinking of all the ways he’s ready to tear that orange masked kitten apart. Wounding him that much, humiliating him! He was going to pay in the most painful way possible. Now… he just had to find him. …but how?

He's barely out of the hospital car park when something floats out of an alleyway toward him. It's... a flying robot, like the one back in the office building. But slightly different. This one is larger, about soccer-ball-sized, and completely black. The camera in the center fixes on Magnificent's face. A ring around it spins, revealing a set of speakers. "Where did you come from?" a computerized voice asks... a voice that almost sounds like a robotic version of Alt's voice, like someone used samples for the voiceback.

Magnificent jumps slightly and then he narrows his eyes at the robot. He opens up a hand just in case he needs to summon some magic as he eyes it down. “…I could ask you the same thing. What are you?”

"This is merely a device for communication," the voice says. "Called a Semi-Autonomous Machine. The fact that you haven't heard of it is suspicious. As is the fact that you appeared out of nowhere in the East SepTech location.”

Magnificent chuckles and eyes the machine. “Well- very clever. I guess machines here are far more advanced than I had anticipated.”

“Your face is not registered anywhere. Or, it is, but that cannot be you, because Spitfire Cat was there in person with you. My only conclusion is that you either come from somewhere very isolated, or you are not from this world at all."

“Spitfire cat huh… well at least I have some kind of identifier now.” Mag crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at the SAM. “So- your machines have caught me. But- you must have something else in mind for you to approach me outright. Who are you? And what do you want?”

"I prefer to remain anonymous," the voice says. "It has been my greatest strength so far. But if you must call me something, you may call me... Anti. I think that will suffice. As for what I want... I imagine you are planning to go after the man who burned you, are you not? I wish to lend my aid. It would be to my advantage if him--and others he associates with--were eliminated."

Magnificent’s eyes light up with mad glee. Ah… another Alt seeking his aid. How amusing… He smirks and shows off glowing eyes. “Is that so? Well then… I suppose we have a partnership then, Anti. Catch me up on what I need to know… and I can get rid of these pests for you.” Usually he’d ask for more in return- but the thought of revenge is too sweet to turn down. Besides… he’ll get his worth from this he’s sure.

The SAM's peripheral flicks like a tail. "There are four of them. Technically five, though the fifth is not a threat. You have already met Marvin Nedra, the Spitfire Cat, and his solid-heat energy that he forms into shapes and beams. The others are Chase Brody, who is but a normal human, Jackie Skye, who can fly and control air, Henrik von Schneeplestein, who can become invisible and intangible at will, and Jameson Jackson, who can produce strings to control other's bodies. Those last two are currently hiding somewhere I cannot find, some sort of safe house. Marvin is likely to head there as well after you absorbed his power. But if you wish, I can locate the other two easily. I've also armed this SAM with minor combat capabilities, if you require aid."

Mag can’t help but look impressed. “Your knowledge of your enemies is impressive, Anti. And very straight to the point.” He grins. “Send me to one of them and I can track down the other annoyances- I assure you. I’m sure my own are probably teaming up as we speak…”

A moment passes in silence. "Okay. I believe we should take out the weakest link. Chase is at the apartment building 88 Parker Street, in flat number 1010. If he is in danger, the others will come running. It kills time. The building is in that direction." The SAM's peripheral points down the street.

Magnificent chuckles darkly. “I like the way you think. Consider it done.” He sends a little cheeky salute at the SAM’s camera then starts to teleport down the path they indicated.

The SAM dips, like it's nodding its head. Anti says nothing as Mag disappears. The SAM merely rises into the sky and moves in that same direction.

-----------

There is a trapdoor in the hallway of the safe house. A knocking noise comes from it, and Schneep hurries over, opening it up. "I was wondering when you would get here," he says.

Jackie floats out of the trapdoor. There's a ladder, but he decides not to use it. "Sorry it took a while," he says. "But hey! We found these guys."

Bro follows Jackie’s lead and also floats out. Alt glitches up and then shakes himself out, grumbling. Bro laughs and then waves, “Hi guys! I’m Chase! Or Bro Fantastic~! Whichever you wanna use!” He beams.

Schneep jumps a little when Bro flies out, then laughs. “I see, I see. The resemblance is truly uncanny. Ah, Bro would probably be less confusing for me.”

Bro laughs and nods, "Fair enough!"

Alt half heartedly waves at Schneep. “Hey again-“

Schneep nods at Alt. “Good to see you again. I’m glad you found your brother.”

“Marvin is here, right?” Jackie says. “We need to ask him about the guy he ran into.”

“Yes, he and Jameson are in the living room.”

The group moves down the hall to the room in question. JJ is sitting on the sofa with a man in a white, orange, and red costume. He quickly puts his cat-shaped mask on when he sees Bro and Alt, but for a split second before, they saw his face, and it was familiar. “Whaaat the fuuuck…” He whispers upon seeing them.

Alt and Bro blink at the cat masked man and then Bro can't help but laugh, "Yeah that's a fair reaction!" He smiles, "Hi Marvin! I'm Bro Fantastic!"

"..m'Alt-" Alt mumbles then steps up, "Chase told us your message- can you tell us more about who attacked you?"

“Uhhhh… right.” Marvin is still clearly a bit weirded out by this, but he moves on. “Alright. I was in the East SepTech building—”

“Wait, what?” Jackie interrupts. “Why?”

“Becaaaause that McLoughlin guy is sketchy and you know it.”

“He is not. He’s just a bit weird.”

Alt and Bro exchange looks- wasn't McLoughlin Mag's former last name?

“I really don’t want to get into this with you right now,” Marvin says, looking like he very much wanted to get into it, “so I’ll just move on. Anyway. While I was looking around for… something, this guy appeared who… looked like me? If my face was all scarred up. He grabbed my wrist and… and I felt really terrible. Like my life was being sucked out of me. So I got out of there. I think I hit him with one of these on the way out, though.” He holds up his hand, and a small red ball of light appears, giving off a significant amount of heat. “A-anyway, he can teleport so I thought he’d follow me but I guess I hit him really good.”

Alt's expression darkens, "Yup... definitely Mag-" Then his eyes widen as he sees Marvin's power. "Oh woah-"

Bro laughs, delighted. "Oh! Sick power! I hope you made that motherfucker feel it~!"

Marvin gives a small little smile. “He really didn’t seem happy with what happened, I’ll tell you that much.” He curls his hand into a fist and the ball disappears. “JJ’s been filling me in on this whole multiverse thing. So that guy actually was me from another world, then?”

Alt slightly chuckles before nodding. "uh... yeah. His name is Magnificent. Formerly Marvin McLoughlin. Though- say that around him and he'll kill you. He's... bad news. And... if he knows you're this world's him... he's gonna try to go after you again... and probably do much worse than he already has."

“Not… happy to hear he’ll be back for me. Felt like shit after he did whatever… absorbing that was. But I’d be glad to give him a piece of my fucking mind.” Marvin replies.

"Yeah... he drains powers- or life forces if he's desperate... it's not fun... sorry he put you through that," Alt mutters.

“If we all look for him, we could overpower him, probably,” Jackie says. “Just through numbers alone.”

JJ frowns. You want me to help?

Jackie pauses. “Only if you want to, of course,” he says in a quieter voice.

“Bro, Alt, what are Magnificent’s powers?” Schneep asks. “We must be prepared if we are to help you confront him. Which, if he is looking for Marvin, we will eventually.”

Bro makes a thinking face, "uhhh what does Alt call it- freaking mind control bullshit-"

"Mental magic..." Alt sighs, "He can overpower the mind... hypnotism used to batter defenses- he can control you- turn you into puppets. Or.. if he has enough time... even turn you into a pet." He shudders, and in the dim light, the others can see Alt's eyes are almost reflective, like a cat's. "He can also summon other magic... fire usually- sometimes electricity. But, he'll aim to take someone down in his power first. Oh and- you saw, he can teleport, too."

JJ flinches when Alt mentions puppets, but he says nothing. And before either of the brothers can bring it up, Marvin says, “How many fucking powers did he absorb?”

“Marvin, no, he is not an absorber,” Schneep says. “Those are just his powers.”

Marvin blinks. “I’m sorry? What the fuck?”

“They are from different universes, the rules must be different there, I already had the breakdown you are going to have,” Schneep says tiredly. “Do not get me started on Alt’s technopathy and teleportation and fucking… spell circles.” He points at Bro. “I do not know what your powers are but I will bet they are just as confusing.”

Bro looks at Alt who just shrugs in response. “It might be a magic thing- magicians are close to being Jack-of-all-trades- some are expected to be even if they’re not made for it. Some specialize but… the circle likes a wide variety of powers under their belt.”

Bro thinks, “uhhh I think- I can kinda control the energy in my body- and I got an abundance of it! If I wanna run fast, I push it in my legs. If I wanna punch hard- I put into my fists! Flying… is kinda just something I’ve been able to do right away- but maybe it has something to do with that. Oh! And I can kinda use electricity and do like a cool electric bullet thing- but I hear it hurts like a bitch so I try not to use it too much.”

“Well in that case I guess the suggestion I was about to make about using Windstorm’s neutrinalin probably wouldn’t work,” Marvin says.

“I don’t want to use that anymore anyway,” Jackie says.

Alt hums, thinking. “…we’re still trying to figure out what we can use to stop him… usually- the rules of magic would stop him but he’s cheated the system. All I know is- Bro’s his biggest threat but we aren’t sure exactly why.”

“It’s cuz I’m a hero, duh! That’s just a law of the universe!” Bro laughs. Then the hero blinks, “What’s Neutrinalin?”

"Oh, it's a chemical that will muffle supers' powers when it's injected or consumed," Jackie says, sounding like he's quoting a textbook. "The League controls the making and distributing of it. I, uh... don't use it anymore because..." He glances at JJ and Schneep. "Well, uh... I didn't realize there could be... side effects. A-and even though the side effects don't appear for a while I... still don't... like to use it... after seeing them." He clears his throat. "Anyway, your powers are really cool, Bro. Sounds handy."

"I don't like this Magnificent's lack of weaknesses," Marvin mutters. "I mean... I probably could still blast his head off but--I mean, that's a last resort sort of thing."

Alt shudders, holding his arm. "I mean... that might could work but... he's also as hard to kill as a cockroach. and yeah- I dunno what will happen... if we did that." He looks anxious thinking about it.

"Also I don't kill, " Bro says with finality. "It's wrong. Magnificent has done awful things but... killing isn't the answer. Even if we don't have a name to his weakness.. it's something I can do- or Alt. Ive seen him able to neutralize Mag... he just doesn't get his powers as well yet."

"Not to mention we do not know what will happen to Bro and Alt's universe if all three of them do not return," Schneep says. "It may cause problems."

🎶 Dadada da dadada da dadada daa daa 🎶 Jackie jumps, surprised, then slowly settles back down to the ground and takes out his phone. "Uh... sorry..."

"You brought a phone here?!" Marvin gapes at him. "Did you not listen to Kanchana's safe house rules at all?!"

"Hey, there was no time to drop it off, I was concerned about you, dickwad!"

"Well thank you, prick."

Don't worry, they're not actually that mad, JJ says to Bro and Alt.

Bro smirks a bit, "Yeah no i get it- me and Alt bicker like that all the time."

Alt looks at Jackie, "...who'd be calling you here...?" for some reason, dread is starting to bloom in his gut. He has a bad feeling....

"It's Chase," Jackie says. "Which is weird, because he knows he shouldn't call me at the safe house." He pauses, also feeling that same bad feeling Alt has.

"Well... maybe it's an emergency." He picks up the call.

[dekupalace]

isatcord got this so I'll just drop this family bonds thing here too teehee

[todayisafridaynight]

I’m fairly new to the fandom, but I do have a question if you can answer it! Why do people ship Daigo with Aoki / Masato? I tried looking to see if they’ve interacted before, but couldn’t find anything! Sorry for asking I’m just </3 dumb AND I LOVE YOUR ART OF THEM!!! Nerd looking ahhhhhh

hi ! welcome to the community i hope you're having a lovely time so far and ty for enjoyin my stuff :) no need for apologies it's a very fair question to have :]

i cant speak for everyone (all. ten people into masadai anyway) but Personally To Me i just think the idea of them together is very funny. thats quite literally it im afraid..

[comradecowplant]

firefox are you fucking stupid

[keeps-ache]

💫💥today💥💫 i start learning blender >:| !!

[inkedhorror]

oh when did that happen...

[sanchoyo]

literally so excited/nervous abt artfight ive been wanting to join for years and years and finally feel hyped up enough 2 do it and its happening tomorrow ...yay :")

[filthforfriends]

https://twitter.com/pacinosturner/status/1630988799491670018?s=46&t=s3VaA9nG9G01BKQ55DTbOQ

no thoughts head empty 💀 thomas raggi you are the man of my dreams

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

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Stage 5:

[coconut530]

mARTch 19: Morning

“Trinny awoke, gasping. Tears were gathered in the corner of their eye. I was just sitting on my makeshift bed, scrolling through my phone. My head whipped around upon hearing them.

‘Hey, are you awake?’ I asked quietly, getting on my knees to face them.

They stayed looking up at the ceiling, catching their breath. Something must’ve jarred them awake. One of their hands went to their chest, moving up and down.

‘Yeah… I am.’”

[katscatnip]

Helooo

hello hi so just incase you follow me for like,, NOT horror themed art, ill try to be tagging things properly so you can block the tags and what not ^-^

i have characters that go to a foggy island based horror story i Tag with ( #Tranquil Harbor ) so thats one so far lmao. ill be sure to update on any future tags that fit under this so yeah yay :]

[cipher-fresh]

Mutual #1: Ruby is DEFINITELY Missy’s daughter guys

Mutual #2: I wish 15 had condemned cops or something when Ruby asked why the TARDIS looked like that

Mutual #3: CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON. CHRIS. CHRIS COME BACK BABY

Mutual #4: She Charley on my Pollard till i Scherzo

Mutual #5: I hate that Moffat is returning to write an episode. Can Steven Moffat kill himself please

Mutual #6: I love that Moffat is returning to write an episode. Can RTD kill himself please

Mutual #7: What if we kissed in front of Ianto’s shrine in Cardiff and we were both girls

Mutual #8: Chibnall’s episodes outside of his era are some of his better ones. I think for every cool thing he does there’s law of conservation of energy applies and the next episode he makes sucks

Mutual #9: I really do not mean to TJLC but i think the Doctor is going to realize he’s in a TV show this season. Bc i don’t know what to do with the death of RTD’s subtlety in foreshadowing

Mutual #10: I’m not misogynistic but I just hate everything about the 13th Doctor era and I just think it doesn’t have a single redeeming quality.

Mutual #11: You are literally an anti-feminist if you hate anything about the 13th Doctor era

Mutual #12: Spydoc are pegging each other rn in my Google docs

Mutual #13: Guys I’m getting a tattoo of the 8th doctor should it say “autism” or “lesbian” underneath in impact font

Mutual #14: It’s so sad that Simm!master turned into a puppygirl. Oh well I must comply to canon

Mutual #15: Was Thasmin queerbaiting? No nuance pick one

Mutual #16: Everybody listen to the TV movie soundtrack NEOWWWWWWW

Mutual #17: Tegan and Nyssa would have the Monkees on their sex playlist

Mutual #18: I just wish 14 got a whole season, you know? Or maybe two. Or three. Who needs 15 anyway?

Mutual #19: If David Tennant steps foot on a Doctor Who stage again I will kill him with my blade

Mutual #20: Link to pirating big finish in reblog. everybody please come to 6th Doctor land with me

[sugarandspicewriting]

Jealousy, Jealousy!

Summary: You're approached by someone at the bar. How do they react?

Warnings: 800 words. Mentions of insecurities on Marcille's part.

A/N: These were starting to rot in my google docs so enjoy!

Laios

girl

Congratulations on getting this man to understand that you are interested in a monogamous romantic relationship with him and got him to agree. The hardest part is over.

If he sees you having a conversation with someone it’s unlikely he’ll care. Unless they’re beastkin or some type of monster hybrid then he’ll care.

Even if he’s standing there with you and blatantly hitting on you he’ll probably say something like “yeah aren’t they so cool :) “

Sighs

It’s far more likely that you’ll be the one experiencing jealousy in the relationship since he's just as oblivious about people flirting with him than he is people flirting with you.

Marcille

She is the one who gets jealous in a very obvious way but at the same time is the one who will most vehemently deny it. 

You're having a polite conversation with an adventurer about your respective experiences in dungeons and you can almost feel her pouting at you.

When you turn to look at she has the same face she makes when Laios has a meal recommendation.

Disgust and general upsetness.

Marcille hates that she feels this way, but her insecurities always get the better of her, especially if you're a short lived race.

She already has so little time with you in this world, and she's loath to share it.

As much as she wants to, it’s unlikely that she’ll interrupt the conversation. If she sees that whoever you’re speaking to is making you uncomfortable she’ll step in but she’ll most likely just sit and pout into her food.

When you go home, she’s unusually quiet.

Unless you’re the kind of person that’s completely oblivious to other people's feelings, you’ll understand what’s going on.

The best course of action is to gently remind her that you love her and that you want to spend your life by her side, no matter how long it is.

Kabru

Somehow turns it into an opportunity to gain information

You’re chatting away and all of a sudden he’s sliding next to you and putting his hand on you somewhere and he’s doing that smile he does at the other person that tells you that he’s about to get this person's life story

If you’re introverted this could be a blessing, because he can honestly just take over the conversation from there. Kabru will buy you a drink for your troubles and you can sit there and sip while they yap.

If the person is actually interested in you the interaction will become hostile but only in its undertones.

Kabru has invested too much time and energy into being seen as kind and charming and he doesn’t want to wreck it.

He’ll start saying things like ““It’s very crowded here. Do you think anyone would notice if someone disappeared?”

“I think red is your color. Would you want to wear some soon?” 

Okay weirdo (affectionately) 

Hopefully the person he’s talking to gets the hint. If they don’t he’ll make up some excuse to remove both of you from the situation. 

Mithrun

He leans more towards possessiveness rather than jealousy.

If someone is talking to you and he doesn’t like it he will simply grab you or the offender and teleport away.

Which one he grabs depends on how aggressive he deemed them to be

If it's just a normal conversation he’ll teleport you away outside the bar. It’s pretty irritating especially if you were enjoying yourself or you were getting good information. Threaten to make him sleep on the couch. He’ll say he’s sorry but he will absolutely do it again. 

If he decides your conversation partner is being flirty with you, you’ll sense his anger without even seeing him  just before he disappears with them.

When he makes his way back you angrily ask what he’s done. He tells you he just gave them a stern talking to. Yeah sure. That person is never seen again and he receives a strongly worded message from Pattadol everytime it happens.

You should probably actually make him sleep on the couch.

Thistle

Thistle does not get jealous because he has no reason to.

No one in the Golden Kingdom is dumb enough to try and invoke his wrath especially when it comes to you.

You’re all he has left after Delgal disappeared.

Similar to Mithrun, he’s more possessive than jealous.

If he is spending time with you, he expects to have 100% of your attention.

He took a break on searching for Delgal to come and see you because he loves (is dangerously obsessed) with you! Don’t you appreciate it! Love him!

Even before the mess with Delgal when he was still a jester, I can’t imagine him being jealous.

He’s got such a one track mind, focusing on your happiness and Delgal’s, he wouldn’t really notice anyone else.

[writers-potion]

Writing Mad Characters

Okay this is a bit awkward because I had this question copypasted into Google Docs I use to draft my answers, and I realized I've lost the question in my inbox (which is being flooded).

So...I'm so sorry for whoever asked this question. Sorry for the delay because I was struggling with life in general for the past month and definitely SORRY for losing your question (－‸ლ)

Q: I'm writing a story where a major character is slowly spiraling into madness where small details kinda hint into the downfall right before the bigger details appear and then it the floodgates open. Is there anything I should avoid? Anything that I should keep in mind? Anything that I should research?

Things to Avoid

“Mad” or “Insane” is too general. Writing a cliched ‘crazy’ character who randomly talks to imaginary people and lashes out at strangers, you’ll offend a whole bunch of people who've gone through/have mental illnesses. Read up on existing mental conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic disorder and borderline personality disorder, etc.) to see what your character might have. 

Words like “mad” “crazy” or “insane” aren’t enough when you’re describing their status. As mentioned, these words hardly mean much when it comes to providing a clear description.

Contradicting yourself. Throwing random unhinged symptoms here and there wouldn’t work. In fact, you must have a clear arc on which they’re traveling and ensure that your “hints” are all getting at something.

Making the character overly destructive or harmful to others (when nothing really justifies it)

Justifying damaging behavior with this “madness”. Mad or not, your character will still have motives and goals that drive them forward. 

Making them look incompetent just the fact that they have a mental condition that makes them appear “mad” to others shouldn’t prevent them from achieving success. In fact, they may be even more cool-hearted and logical when it comes to their obsessions/goals. 

Research Tips

Narrow down the mental conditions your character experiences. Even if it’s a fictional condition, try basing it on existing ones and building on top of them. 

Take some time to study characters and/or real clinical cases that resemble the kind of madness you’re going for. 

- Anxiety Disorders: excessive fear and dread (ex. phobias) - Mood Disorders: persistent swings in mood or persistent feelings that interfere with daily life (ex. Depression, bipolar) - Psychotic Disorders: disordered thinking (ex. schizophrenia) - Eating Disorders: extreme emotional attitudes toward food (ex. Bulimia, anorexia) - Impulse Disorders: unable to resist urges (ex. Kleptomania, pyromania, gambling) - Personality Disorders: extreme inflexible personality traits (ex. Anti-social disorder, OCPD) - Past Traumatic Stress: persistent, frightening memories leading to emotional numbness 

Does your character have empathy?  

A sociopathic kind of madness is different. 

General Writing Tips for Spiraling into Madness

Establish a Baseline 

A lot of factors (stress, family history, innate personality, trauma, etc.) can contribute to madness, but it is not going to happen in a week. Define the existing mental and physical conditions your character has, and start from there. 

If you’re aiming for suicidal tendencies at the end, you want to start with symptoms of depression (a condition that may lead to suicide) - growing apathetic, erratic sleeping patterns, irritability, etc. 

This is also the stage where you want to plant some triggers that’ll go off later.

Trigger Events

A perfectly sound character suddenly spiraling down the madness route due to a single accident or traumatizing event isn’t convincing. 

A madness “snap” denies the reader the experience of watching the character’s journey into madness and how they feel about it. 

Internal Conflict (antagonist in himself) 

You must remember that madness is incurable. If someone could “cure” themselves by eating healthy, exercising and taking a few pills, it wouldn’t be much of a madness, would it? This means that the worst antagonist is going to be the character themselves, or the part of them that’s been taken away. 

Show how they are frustrated with themselves, scared of themselves, angry at their “alternative self”. The experience of not knowing yourself is a whole journey of its own.

Physical Manifestations/Quirks

If your character has a routine, show how they break down. 

They might develop habits that they otherwise would never allow themselves to have, perhaps as an effort to “keep this madness out”

Deteriorating Relationships

Depict how the character’s madness impacts his closed/loved ones. In the earlier stages, those close to him might be faster to notice and accept the signs of madness, even if the character denies it him/herself.

The first signs of madness might show when the character is trying to deal with difficult relationships - like losing patience and being unable to pick up subtle social clues.

Choosing Obsessions Over Primal Urges 

For these characters, obsession can take over a person’s normal urge to eat, sleep or even live. This can lead to, more or less, suicide. 

Example: In Black Swan, Nina’s obsession with becoming the perfect ballerina drive her to insanity, to the point where she doesn't mind dying on stage for the show.

[miharuki]

(I still haven't been able to find the account that contains all my Google Docs stories, pray for me please, in the meantime keep this idea in mind:P)

𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖓 𝕬𝖒𝖊𝖘

(x reader)

Provoking Finn would be so much fun!

Holding his arm against your chest while resting your head on his shoulder in front of the group (Dot banging his head because Finn got a girlfriend and he didn't).

Suddenly appearing behind him and wrapping your arms around his neck would be cool to see him blush at your action.

Or hugging him from behind while he's doing something, startling and shocking him with your cute pink cheeks.

Always calling him "dear," even though there's no relationship of that sort.

Kissing his cheek and affirming that he's adorable while he blushes and tries to question what you're doing.

Kissing his cheek every time he does something for you or helps you, as a thank-you gesture.

Using your lap to lay on while he tries not to look at you.

Kissing his face but avoiding his lips.

Teasing him and whispering embarrassing things in his ear.

Reaching the point where Finn can't take it anymore, he kisses you instead of you kissing him, and as he pulls away, he's all red and says that if you really love him, you should have said it earlier instead of teasing him.

And introducing yourself as Finn's girlfriend to your older brother Rayne, sealing your relationship with several kisses because this guy deserves it.

I love Finn ames, he deserves more love :)

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 Where to find good XF fanfics

👽 On Tumblr

@lilydalexf has an encyclopedic knowledge of fics and continues to be an invaluable resource. You'll find a boatload of themed fic lists, individual rec posts and helpful answers to anon asks.

@txf-fic-chicks-blog seven years of almost daily recs, with well-written blurbs and a lot of fun, run by @kateyes224 and @piecesofscully. Look out for their themed days: "Casefile Monday", "Tumblr Tuesday", "Editor's Pick Wednesday", "Post-Ep/Missing Scene Thursday", "Novel Length Friday", "Smut Sunday", and the very cool "Because You Watched"

@msrlibrary a well-tagged library of MSR fics; each entry includes a short excerpt and a nicely chosen image from the show.

@201daysofxfiles a rewatch blog by fandom veteran @wendelah. Each episode in season 1-7 is paired with its own fic rec post.

@enigmaticxbee an aesthetically pleasing and neatly organized rewatch blog that is packed with great content, including excellent fic rec lists categorized by season, story type, trope, and more. Each episode guide sometimes features related fic recs.

@thatfragilecapricorn30 posts one fic rec every Friday, accompanied by a nice writeup.

@randomfoggytiger curates many fic rec lists sorted by often fun and creative categories.

@cecilysass has a google doc titled "fics I love", which is a fantastic fic list categorized by story type, complete with thoughtful blurbs. She's also shared two episode-related fic rec lists on Tumblr: here and here.

@pookie-mulder writes a monthly fic journal with good recs.

**self-promo plug** I post fic recs on my Tumblr blog @fine-nephrit under #nephrit's fic rec. Plus, I reblog others' fic recs that I come across!

👽 Rec Communities

XF Book Club: the best thing ever, an absolute gem that deserves to be preserved for posterity. During its run, 270 fics were recced and discussed in depth here. The community's intelligent and insightful comments on this blog are sometimes even more enjoyable to read than the fics themselves.

The Fic Filter (xf tag): well-curated selections with short blurbs.

Multifandom Het Recs (xf tag): a major rec site's xf section that offers nice "why this must be read" writeups. @het-reccers

Crack Van (xf tag): another major rec site with a big xf section, featuring endless recs and blurbs

Fancake (xf tag): another major rec community's xf section boasting an extensive thematic tagging system

👽 Personal Blogs

Emily Shore aka Naraht: meta essays, fanvid recs, fic recs—great stuff aplenty

Bad for the Fish aka Scarlet Baldy: fantastic fic list paired with highly enjoyable reviews and analyses of the fics she's read. @badforthefish

Ramblings of a Mind Untamed: reviews of a dozen or so classic fics

xxSKSxx XF Fanfic Recs: still active in 2024! @xxsksxxx

X-Libris: more of a fic library, this is the best place to download nicely-formatted ebooks of pre-AO3 oldies. What I love most is the incredibly detailed and extensive tagging system.

👽 Individual Rec Lists with good writeup

Character Manifesto - Dana Scully: a character analysis and 10 Scully-centric fic recs, categorized by "best of .." selections. Amazing format and choices!

Character Manifesto - Fox Mulder: same format as above for Spooky

bachlava's awesome fic rec essays, covering classic fics and slash fics

ShipRecced blog's classic MSR fics and newer MSR fics recs

luminary's 16-fic rec post

RivkaT recs fics and writers @rivkat

Anna Otto's favorite stories

Syntax6's rec list on her site, great rec list on Tumblr and FTF rec list @syntax6

👽 90s Old School Rec Sites

The Basement Office - Musea: a treasure trove of extensive fic lists with lovely written blurbs, recced by a group of talented writers from back in the day

The Other Side - Fanfic Recs from Beyond the Grave: a large collection of 'scary' or 'spooky' story recs with nice blurbs. Beautiful web design.

the Rookery - Favorite Authors: nice commentary on a list of classic fic writers

X-Files Fanfiction 101: an intro guide to fic categories and what to read for each

The Primal Screamers: a fun site run by a mailing list that hosts fic recs with blurbs, and a 'Coffee Talk' section full of delightful discussions of canon

Idealists Haven - Elemental Fanfic Archive: an archive with rec blurbs

Chronicle X: a large, well-organized archive with blurbs, plus a 'Can We Talk' discussion section of novel-length fics, plus a total of 46 author interviews. Simply incredible!

👽 Special Mention

The X-Files Lost and Found: a fic finder message board that is miraculously still very active today—How wonderful! Its FAQ page hosts a huge collection of well-categorized themed fic lists (not recs), including "Classics (or, Your Fanfic Education is Not Complete Until You've Read ...)".

Where do you find your next read? What did I miss? Reblog and share your favorites!

[2soulscollide]

my favorite free tools for writers

hello, hello! hope you're doing well.

today i am bringing you another list with my top 3 favorite (free!) tools that I find helpful for each phase of writing a novel.

brainstorming phase

Fantasy Names Generator - not only for fantasy (you can also generate real names). this website is just... amazing! it helps you come up with names for characters, places and locations, descriptions, generate traits, outfits (yes, outfits!!), and probably something else you could ever think of.

The Story's Hack - this one is so cool! you can generate names for everything, create your own generator, and practice writing through writing exercises! plus, you can save your generated names to see later, and you earn coins for each idea generated (you can later buy themes - dark, snow, forest, etc)

RanGen - my last favorite generator on this list is RanGen! you can generate plots, appearances, archetypes, love interests, cities, worlds, items, and more.

developing the idea phase

Bryn Donovan - in this blog you can find master lists under the tag "master lists for writers". it is so helpful when you first start developing the characters and need to find the right words to describe them and to find some quirks and flaws!

Writers Write (350 character traits) - again, this is so helpful!

Story Planner - ah, the number of times I've talked about this website... please, PLEASE take a look at it, you won't regret it. this website has literally everything you need to fully develop your idea with outlines for you to fill in step by step.

writing phase

Colleen Houck (80+ barriers to love) - need more romace conflict? there you go!

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language - so, you know how your character's feeling, but don't know how he'd physically act? check out this list!

Describing Words - honestly, this is a lifesaver. don't you struggle to find the right word to describe something? well, with this website all you have to do is to type the object you're trying to describe and see which description fits better to you!

revising phase

Language Tool for Google Docs - i know we all have heard about google docs before, but the truth is, it's almost impossible to find free softwares to check grammar and spelling. so, google docs is useful, because it automatically revises it for us, and it's completely free. plus, you can add adds-on, such as "language tool".

Unfortunately, there's only one (free) tool that I actually enjoy for the revising phase. if you know some others, please let me know so that I can try them out and feature in this list.

exporting phase

Google Docs - i find google docs very easy to format and export to .epub, so i'd recommend using it as a free tool.

Reedsy - this is also a free tool available online. all you have to do is to write down each chapter (copy and paste) or import your word document. it will format the document to your liking and export it to pdf, epub and mobi.

that's everything for now! i hope this post was somehow helpful or inspiring!

if you want to see more master lists full of resources, check these:

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

BEST accounts to follow as a writer

BEST SITES & SOFTWARES TO WRITE FICTION

DIALOGUE IDEAS TO GET RID OF THAT WRITING BLOCK (masterpost)

Useful Resources & Tips for Writers

also, if you are a notion lover just like me, check the free template I just released with everything you need to develop and write your novel!

thank you so much for reading! hope to see you around, and have a nice day <3