#I really like the idea of Jazz and Jason eventually together in this but if you don’t

[supershot73199]

Hey so this is kinda inspired by @virgamsysxvolumes lucky rush au but it's more my own twist on the bioshock inspiration. Actual prompt / idea below the cut

Ok so this would be a good parents au where Danny revealed himself to his parents shortly after the series (excluding phantom planet) and they were super supportive and asked for his help in learning more about ghosts. He also managed to track down Dani and brought her back to Amity only to learn that the ecto dejecto was only a quick fix. Eventually with Frostbites help they cure Dani but the only way is to essentially turn her into her core and let her form a new body in a special pod only she would be a baby. Now at first Jack and Maddie were going to fake a pregnancy and pretend she was Danny's and Jazz's sister however she and Danny bonded while they were looking for a cure and she accidentally called him Daddy. Danny was smitten and decided he would not pretend to be her brother and would be her dad.

The fentons pass it off as an invention gone weird that basically made a baby from Danny with no mother and Amity just shrugs at the Fenton weirdness and accept baby Dawn (She asked Danny to give her a new name before she was turned to a baby and I think that would be a cute name Danny would come up with.) Now 4 years later Danny is 19 or 20 and Dawn is 4 years old and Danny had been studying inventing like his parents and medicine from Frostbite. At Dawn's most recent check up Frostbite gave Danny one as well only to discover that Danny has been absorbing more ecto-energy than his core can handle because he is a primordial in the making (yes this is master of space Danny). So the solution to this is two-fold he has to move to another dimension with less ecto-energy and he has to where a special suit in his ghost form that frostbite and his parents made together. Which is this.

Just without the drill and maybe a little more astronaut themed.

So eventually they pack up Danny and Dawn and find a new dimension with a city where they can live without people asking too many questions. Gotham city. With the number of vigilantes already there Danny won't feel obligated to go out and fight and he can finish his degree at Gotham U and start a business making and selling meta specialized medical equipment and other helpful inventions. (But no weapons.)

So Danny and Dawn with their new identities and parents/grandparents, aunts and uncles (blood and honorary) settle in pretty well with Danny and Dawn going out on moonlit walks in Ghost form. Thus the people of Gotham meet Big Daddy and his little starlight.

Now as for who I would ship with Danny I personally love DannyxCass or Dead silent as I think the current ship name for them is.

So maybe she meets the single dad Danny at college or at the park for the first time but they don't really hit it off until Danny signs Dawn up for a ballet class that Cass teaches.

Meanwhile Bruce and the more paranoid Bat's are trying to find out more about this tank like Meta that the public named big daddy (I imagine people heard Dawn calling him Daddy and No one ever asked his name so they start calling him that as a sort of meme) after he beat down a feral ManBat who tried to go after Starlight. (They heard Danny call her that in the suit and ran with it)

Basically we have creepy tank man and his glowing ghostly daughter on one side and sweet Cass and Danny romance with little gremlin Dawn trying to play matchmaker on the other.

Also what I think the other bat's think of Cass new boyfriend.

Dick is full overprotective big brother.

Jason after seeing the way that Danny is trying to help the underprivileged and the fact that they are like something out of a Hallmark movie ships it.

Tim is paranoid about this stranger and is back to his old habits(stalking) to find answers.

Steph is full Gung ho wing women she will be Cass bridesmaid God dammit.

Damien starts off hostile thinking there is no way he's good enough for his favorite sister until he meets Dawn and suddenly he is declaring that Cass needs to hurry up and marry him or else he will because he will have that adorable little girl in his family no matter what.

Duke is wary at first because he hadn't ever seen someone who glows as bright as Danny and Dawn but the more time he spends with them the more he realizes that the bright glow is a safe and protective aura and that it reaches out and covers everyone Danny cares about. (Danny has a ghostly aura he subconsciously covers people he cares about with that let's him react to danger faster)

Alfred is already planning out weddings and birthdays. He always expected Dick to be the first one to give him Great grand babies but he's not complaining.

Bruce much like Dick is full over protective dad maybe he even borrows one of Alfred's guns to try to intimidate Danny.

Barbara who is both a big sister figure and a almost mother like figure to Cass is absolutely delighted. (It doesn't hurt that Danny made a set of leg braces that can read nerves to allow her to walk naturally again without needing surgery)

Selina adores the two and thinks they make a cute couple.

Also I think it would be funny if after all of Bruce, Dicks, and Tim's paranoia Danny just strait up tells them that he is from another dimension and even offers to let them tag along on the next visit to his parents so they can do a proper background check (which freaks them out because they hadn't told him they were doing that. At least until while they are discussing it and if that was evidence that Danny is more than he appears Cass says she told him that they were doing a background check on him. Not that Danny didn't already know but it helps the suspicion.)

But yeah part neutral Meta and park Hallmark romance.

Also maybe a side plot of Jazz coming to this dimension and maybe she has a relationship with Supergirl because I haven't seen that before.

#danny x cass #danny phantom #dp x dc writing prompt #dp x dc #dead silent #dani phantom is now dawn #kara danvers #jazz fenton #jazz fenton x kara danvers #what would their ship name be #super therapy?

[spacedace]

hey in your tags you mentioned a “batfam leverage au” can u explain what that is

Happily! :D

So I'm not sure if you're familiar with the show Leverage, but the quick summary is that it's about a group of "bad guys" (a hacker, a hitter, a grifter, a theif and the mastermind that directs them all) that help people who have been hurt by the rich and powerful by using their skills to pull heists and cons on the bad guy of the episode to ruin them and get back whatever was taken/right whatever was made wrong.

It's an amazing show that I can't recommend enough, very clever, very funny, big found family vibes and an OT3 that's *this close* to being canon (and has been supported by the writers). The heists are amazing and it's all around an AMAZING show.

Anyway, the BatPham Leverage Au is basically just: a collection of DP & BatFam members join together to make a robin hood heist team like in the show Leverage. I have a couple versions of the BatPham Leverage AU rattling around my head, but most fleshed out right now are:

Business of Family - the Uncle Oz AU (Penguin Adopts Jazz & Danny): My plan for this story is for Jazz and Danny to decide to start running heists in Gotham on the people in the city that tend to fly under Batman's radar but who are still very much doing a lot of harm to the city and it's people. The Leverage AU part of this story is going to have Jazz as the Mastermind, Jason as the Hitter, Tim as the Hacker, Danny as the Thief/Maker (basically engineer), and Elle as the Grifter (shapeshifting Elle for the win lol).

Another Leverage AU I've been thinking about for awhile but that I haven't turned into a story yet is one where Team Phantom (Danny, Jazz, Sam, Tucker & Elle) are tasked with finding and returning various Infinite Realm artifacts that have ended up in the mortal world. And for some reason Gotham has just so many Infinite Realm artifacts in it. Like most of the artifacts in the world are in Gotham for some wild reason (it's Gotham there doens't need to be more of a reason).

They're on the run from the GIW/Fentons, so they're trying not to advertise any ghostly/liminal powers if they can help it, so they largely do heists without powers (minus Tucker doing all his hacking and everything from the Ghost Zone and some occasional invisibility/intangibility when it's called for, but they really do try and keep any power use to a minimum).

In this AU, Jazz is the Mastermind (again, because I love that role for her haha), Tucker is the Hacker, but that's when I can't quite decide who should be who.

I love the idea of Sam being a Hitter, but I think she'd be able to play Grifter pretty well knowing the rich as well as she does, Danny would love being a Hitter and being able to fuck some assholes' shit up while being completely feral but he could also still be a good Thief. Elle could go either Grifter again, but I like her as a Theif in this one, maybe running into Damian in the vents while she's trying to get into a vault or something lol. (I think it'd go with Danny: Hitter, Sam: Grifter, Elle: Thief, but I have no idea if that'll stick if/when I ever write this lol)

Whatever the team looks like, because there are so many artifacts in Gotham & because they can't just use their powers willy-nilly to grab them and run, they're going to be in Gotham for a long time, possibly years. Which means they need some kind of side hustle to pay the bills, which leads them to doing more heists, but this time on various rich assholes that deserve to lose a bunch of money.

Eventually they get on the Bats radar, and there'd be some fun cat & mouse back and forth with the BatFam trying to catch the Phantom Crew (Danny shouldn't be allowed to name things, but he already told Red Robin that was their team name before anyone could stop him). Eventually the GIW do show up and things start getting even more complicated (and maybe someone activates an artifact, resulting in a powerful entity being released in Gotham that they all have to team up to fight).

I have no name for this au other than the DP X DC Leverage Au, but I do know that'll have plenty of Anger Management, Brain Dead (or really Brain Dead + Everlasting Trio, don't know what the ship name for that is), Serious Chaos.

It'll also have Batman aggressively trying to adopt them all because he doesn't actually have anything against them stealing from these assholes as long as they don't hurt anyone. They're acting outside of the law yes but they're doing it in order to give justice to those who have been made victims by the system and he's all about that (the real final battle of the story is between Bruce & Selina who both want to adopt the Pham, who would like to know if they get a say in any of this - they don't).

#spaced asks and ace answers #dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp prompt #dp x dc leverage au #leverage au #uncle oz au #penguin adopts jazz and danny #danny phantom #batman #danny fenton #jazz fenton #tucker foley #sam manson #danielle fenton #dani fenton #dani phantom #danielle phantom #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #anger management #brain dead #everlasting trio #serious chaos #look if I'm in a fandom for longer than five seconds I'm gonna make a leverage au #that's just how it's gonna be #batpham #batfam

[stealingyourbones]

Your asks are back! Im prolly gonna send a few tomorrow bc its late and i have many idea but an idea that Wont Let Me Go:

Danny gets caught by his parents. They dissect him and jazz is the one to free him, but he has to go. Now. But where does he go?

Gotham. The drs fenton went there once and caused enough chaos to be banned from the city or else risk arkham. Its the one place they might not find him.

Danielle goes with him. Maybe shed hunkered down in gotham for a bit, maybe shes passing by amity when sht hits the fan. Either way, its her and danny. They figure it wont be too hard to get by. Break into an empty apartment and hide out there until they get caught, couldnt be too hard, right?

Too bad the building they go for is the one jason stays in, as a civillian, and hes got every apartment on his floor so that the risk of a neighbor seeing him as hood is minimal. Jason has to figure out how these kids got into the apartment and who is making them spy on red hood.

He does this by giving them the one thing kids in need cant afford to turn down- free meals. He invites them over to cook and teaches them how, both to see what hes dealing with and give them those skills once theyre out of whatever situation theyre in.

This goes on for a while before jason had the horrifying realization.

Hes turing into Bruce. Two kids in need with black hair and blue eyes who tense up when vigilantes are brought up? Hes never going to live this down. Probably frantically texts dick(?) About how hes turing into bruce and then doesnt elaborate

Unbeknowst to him, theyve secretly been "treating" him by acting as filters/replacing some of his extoplasm so he can be sure of his control over his feelings. This doesnt necessarily make him 100% calm all of the time, he still gets angry pretty easily, but. Jason gets control of himself back.

As they get closer they start being significantly more domestic. Somehow nobody has crashed jasons apartment while theyre there (they dip invisibly) and jasons relationship with bruce has improved as he no longer has to worry about pit rage taking over. Hes trying to figure out how to break the news to bruce that hes a grandfather even though he hasnt officially adopted them yet.

Dani, on the other side of town, is gossiping with a cool girl at the library named barbara about how shes been trying to figure out how to tell her neighbor that Hes Her Dad Now.

(Danny doesnt call him dad. He cant, anymore. But theyre still family)

Jason decides to introduce the topic of them meeting bruce (because 1. even though its still rocky their relationship has improved and 2. He wants it to be on his terms) and dani bursts out with the "I have a GRANDPA???????" and from there on commits to calling jason her dad and bruce (unmet) her grandpa.

Bruce meets them first and is just. In awe. He has grandchildren. His emotional constipation vs his absolute adoration of the fact hes a GRANDPARENT fight fight fight.

When danny and dani eventually meet everyone theyre all like oh sick bruce picked up a duo this time nice to meet you. And they absolutely cannot comprehend it when bruce and jason walk in and dani goes to jason first. Nobody expected jason to take on bruces adoption tendencies but they should have.

(Also fun hc i couldnt work in naturally but i do fully stand by- the ectoplasm in dannys body does affect his injuries somewhat, meaning he heals naturally very quickly from most ghost fights. Why?

It heales based on emotional healing.

He doesnt really care all too much about the average cut from one of his rogues and they heal within the day, but a hit from valerie takes a few weeks.

The first injury his parents ever gave him still hurts.

He can barely move and cant talk for the first few weeks with jason. Only once he starts feeling safe with him do the cuts start coming back together.)

The casualness of “hi so glad your asks came back” [drops at least 1k worth of fucking stellar content that’s basically a fic] is just making me truly awestruck. God I’ve missed seeing y’all’s neat ideas.

I dont have any words that I can say that could describe just how wonderful this is so I’ll write a lil addition to it instead because I am in love with this sm.

Jason’s point of view when he’s slowly getting better and isnt afraid to meet his family because of the pit rage, has he explained that’s the reason he distanced himself? Do the bats just think that this is simply Jason finally getting the courage to reach out? Do they know that the Pit rage is stopping Jason and do they try to help him by using alternative means of communication? How much do they help and understand.

When Jason experiences his first injury. How much does it hurt? Valerie shoots him with an ectogun. How much is this man in pain for and does he have to fight pit rage inside him to not lash out and attack her after being injured?

And how does his core react to his new kids. This I NEED to know

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dc comics #writing prompts #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc #bones replies #this is some stellar writing my guy #ever-after-aaa

[pickleking8]

So I actually had an idea for a fic that is inspired by this by @cyrwrites and I got all excited so here it is. Also, warning, I haven’t watched Danny Phantom or any Batman stuff at all so… all of my information comes from random fics…

Danny is on the run from the Fentons/GIW with Jazz, with the vivisection scar. They go to Gotham. He looks remarkably similar to Jason when he died (in my mind, it’s been a couple of years since then and the Batfam haven’t found out he’s alive (sorta) again)

One of the Batfam sees him, and because none of them can be normal, they just casually kidnap him. They are even more convinced it’s Jason because they mistake the vivisection scar for an autopsy scar, plus Danny just gives off death vibes idk + Jason’s grave is, in fact, empty. Perhaps they also come to the misconception that this is Jason from the past, or he’s been de-aged and that’s why the doesn’t recognize them. They need to re-earn his trust, and they can’t just let him go, now can they. That’d be dangerous. And sad, they just need to wait, he’ll come around eventually and remember them/bond the same way as before.

Meanwhile on Danny’s end, Danny is weakened enough from the Fentons he can’t really use his powers. He tries to tell them he isn’t whoever this Jason guy is but they don’t believe him. He tries to escape, but without his powers he gets caught and they bring him back ‘for his safety’. Danny is upset and getting more traumatized by the minute. Jazz must be worried sick (she is. She is freaking out).

I also like the idea that Jazz full on becomes a rogue to more effectively and efficiently look for her baby brother. Like, a really powerful rogue. Because the Batfam kidnapped her brother. The Batfam can have a realization about this later.

Anyway, real Jason eventually comes back after maybe a month or two of Danny being kidnapped and after a lot of confusion and Danny being like ‘oh thank god does this mean you’ll let me go home now? Please my sister is probably worried sick’, Jason ends up pissed that they kidnapped a random, already traumatized kid, and refused to let him go. Jason takes the kid back to a safe house and gets the full story. Jazz is contacted, and they get a nice reunion. At this point maybe the Batfam show up and have their realization that this is the new rogue they’ve been having trouble with. They also realize that they Fucked Up.

they try to make amends, but Danny and Jazz are having none of it. Jason supports them. (maybe Jason and Jazz get together? I imagine them both to be like twenty ish at this point, and Danny like 15)

Anyway that’s my idea, I haven’t really ever done creative writing that wasn’t for a school project, but I like this so maybe I’ll actually try and write it.

Edit: I did, in fact, write it, or at least the start. Here's the masterpost if you want to read it.

#danny phantom #batfam #fic idea #dp x dc crossover #danny is mistaken for Jason todd #I haven’t consumed the source material #For both parts of the crossover #I have no idea what I’m talking about #Jazz Fenton becomes a rogue

[npcemi]

The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God Chapter 8-10 Kidnapings and Plane rides

Link to master post

AO3

Dani, Sam, Tucker, Vlad, and Dani sat in the back section of one of Bruce's larger private jets. In his seat, the eldest halfa sat grumbling to himself, “What was that Vlad?” Danny asked...

“I said I could have at least flown in my own private jet!” Vlad nearly shouted.

“Do you have any idea how much fossil fuels that use, Do you have any Idea what that does to the earth, I can hear the green actively dying, I can hear the anguished cries from the spirits of dead flora, you’re lucky we’re using even one jet!” Sam said, signs of obsession starting to filter into her personality.

“Yes mom!” Vlad drawled being as sarcastic as possible. Dani went up to Tucker, “Father I’m tired can you make a bed.” Tucker used the scarab scepter to turn a group of seats into two California king mattresses pushed together.

“Okay, you all know the drill,” Tucker said.

“Yeah no for sure, one sec, Sam?”Danny said as Sam got up from her seat and grabbed some blankets from one of her carry-on suitcases.

“Danielle really,” Vlad asked only for Dani to look at him with supernaturally large puppy dog eyes.

“Fine.”

“Yay you’re the best.” She said as she dragged the last of her family to the bed when three flashes of light filled the room.

_____________________________________________________________________

“Babs, how many is it this time? Five, I don't think any of us.… Don’t get me wrong, I love Cass and Duke, but…” Jason turned to look Bruce directly in the eye, “I think there is a legal limit to how many kids you can adopt.”

“In my defense, I am not adopting any of them.” He replied,

“So they belong to the other billionaire we for some reason have to bring to Gotham.” Jason snarked, Jazz took the moment to mention that technically Vlad was Danny’s ‘son’. The crime lord looked like he was about to say something, stopped, tried to start again, and gave up. Barb began giggling that same harmonious laughter Jazz was beginning to enjoy greatly.

“Look, I gotta piss,” Jason said getting up to use the bathroom which was on the other end of the plane, just past the now-sleeping phantoms. He went to open the door and fell back screaming, “What in the HP Lovecraft is that?”

Jazz and Barb went over to help and saw what frightened the large man. There was a bed with several of the sleeping phantom family. The bed itself was guarded by what appeared to be green-glowing ghost jackals. The bed was lined with roses, and circling around the bed were two gyroscopic wheels covered in half-lidded eyes. In the bed were Sam, Tucker, Some kind of blue vampire, a small cat-like Lamia with white fur, and curling around all of the beings protectively was a lamia, a man thing with a giant flaming hole in its chest with massive wings that also had half-lidded eyes. If one listened closely they could hear three distinct pitches of cat-like purrs.

“Aww, they look so cute.” Jazz cooed softly before shutting

“Wha…what…cute…what... Just who are we flying into Gotham?” Jason stuttered, the eldest Fenton sister turned to look at Jason sympathetically, eyes soft.

“My brother, his partners, and children. Sorry, when they do Danielle asks for the cuddle pile they all like to be in their ghost forms, it’s a security thing.”

“You expect me to believe those are the same kids, the same Wayne adoption bait we picked up in Illinois?” He asked, still breathing heavily from the previous scare.

“Yes,” Barb and Bruce said.

“Yeah, The vampire-looking one is Plasmius or Vlad Masters as you know him aka Danny’s second child (he’s adopted), The big one is Danny, you know Sam and Tucker, and the little one doing her best to imitate her daddy is Danielle. The wheels are actually an extension of her core. She’s a spirit of safe travels and a patroness for the mirror born. Why do you think this flight has gone so smoothly?” Jazz said with a smile on her face which Barb found contagious and mirrored her smile.

“So we aren’t in a plane with biblically accurate angels?” Jason joked feeling a bit calmer now.

“Well that’s a little racist, Vlad is best described as an Upiór, and Danny and Danielle are now more classed as primordial spirits being more embodiments of a concept rather than something as mundane as those lesser spirits in a myth called angels, which are really no different than gods like Zeus. If you have to-- you can call them completely different species.” Jazz attempted to tease but she got caught up in an info dump. She went red at the embarrassment but Barb rubbed her hand reassuringly.

“I’m guessing I won’t be able to go to the bathroom then?” Jason said, peering through the doorway at the multitude of half-lidded eyes daring him to interrupt the family’s sleep.

“Probably not….”

“It’s fine, I can sneak a leak after we land, it's a bit of a drive from the airport to the mansion.”

It was in fact, not fine. As soon as they landed a bunch of goons dressed and were on the runway getting ready to board the plane. Danny, Dani, and Vlad were about to jump into action and phase through when Danny spotted a green stick note on the back of one of the goons that went unnoticed by the rest of the crew.

“Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!” He said as Vlad, who was cracking his neck getting ready for the fight, asked him what the issue could be. Danny pointed out the plane window at the note.

“Butter biscuits, Clockwork better have a point to all of this…” Vlad muttered as the Phantoms detransformed. Danny had his sister and partners hide. The goons were rather efficient having somehow caught Jason mid bathroom break and locked him in there; barb wasn’t much of a threat at that moment. The goons, thinking Dani and Danny were Wayne children took them, Bruce, and got a bonus billionaire in Vlad as hostages. They had sacks thrown over their heads and drove off.

About fifteen minutes later they were all tied to chairs and the sacks on their heads ripped off to reveal the Riddler and Joker. Riddler with his cane and Joker with a crowbar. Danny was about to go after the clown, it was a clown and it was his right.

“Daniel!” Vlad reminded him of what Clockwork had said in his note. Danny relaxed against his ropes and muttered, "it wouldn’t be worth it anyway."

“What was that?” Joker asked irritated.

“He said that it wouldn't be worth it to beat your butt, I mean where did you two get your costumes spirit Halloween?” Dani laughed

“Dani question mark guy's outfit is clearly self-made, no self-respecting clothes designer would make an outfit covered in question marks. Everyone knows the rule about one tasteful symbol.” Vlad snorted.

“Well, Joker’s outfit is so clearly off the rack,” Danny said as the two supervillains were getting more irritated. Joker took the time to hit Danny with the crowbar causing Bruce to flinch.

“Clearly the only thing funny about you is your outfit.” Danny spat back.

“Maybe I can recommend you two a better tailor,” Vlad smirked.

“No helping supervillains remember you’re reformed.” Danny chided, Vlad rolled his eyes and replied, “They don’t even have powers, I’d hardly call them super anything.”

One of the goons having enough and trying to impress his bosses picked Dani up in an aggressive manner, “Yea well what if I harm the little princess over here!” He growled. He went to look at Dani, whom he was expecting to see a frightened little girl. He in fact was looking into pitch-black eyes and a literal shark tooth grin.

“Hi,” The Goon stumbled back dropping her chair, dropping back to the ground.

“Oof!”

“D…De…Dem...Demon!” He sputtered out crawling away. Dani tilted her head to the side, her eyes the normal blue for everyone to see.

“That’s a little racist.” She said in a sweet innocent voice.

“Yeah man, just because you see something spooky doesn’t mean it’s a demon,” Danny said,

“Yeah, it could be a ghost.” Dani snickered,

“Or a vampire!” Danny nudged Vlad who scowled,

“Bruce, help, we’re surrounded by juvenile morons,” Vlad complained only for Bruce to say he understood his pain. Joker scowled, “Where are the bats, they should be by now right?”

“I don’t know, do I look like the master of time?” Riddler snarked back,

“No,” Dani, Danny, and Vlad all said automatically.

“You know the master of time?” Bruce asked only for Danny to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Right.”

“He doesn’t even have the staff!” Dani said,

“Or the Scar.” Danny nodded,

“Or speak in inane cryptic riddles.” Vlad also nodded.

“Hey, I speak riddles!” The riddler interjected as Danny laughed,

“Your riddles come from the first five search results on Google!” Riddler stormed out of the room.

“Unless you all want to end up in a shallow grave.” Joker threatened, however, he did not get the response he expected.

“Really, I get a grave!?” Dani grinned, Danny raised his hand not realizing he just phased it out of the ropes, “While you’re handing out graves.”

“I, too, would not be opposed…” Vlad said surprisingly sheepishly. The Joker looked directly at Bruce giving him a ‘what the fuck’ look. This is not how this normally goes,

“Any clue on when the bats or birds will get here?” The clown said, still looking directly at Bruce.

“I’m not sure what’s holding them up,” Bruce said as Joker stormed out of the room.

“I guess that’s a no on the graves,” Vlad said trying not to sound disappointed.

“I don’t get a grave?” Danielle started tearing up, so Danny phased through the ropes and gave her a hug. Vlad also Phases out of his bindings and puts a reassuring hand on Danielle's back and gently rubs. Bruce silently was wondering what his life became.

____________________________________________________________________________________

“What do you mean all of the bat vehicles, planes, and boats are out of gas!?” Jason screamed.

“It's like I said, Todd!” The voice from off-screen on Jason’s phone replied.

“And the EVs?”

“No charge, We just got gas, we’re on our way with your gear,” Tim said,

“Just hurry up.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Danielle was still crying when Danny had an Idea.

“Hey Dani, since it looks like this is a self-rescue, how about you fight the bad guys.” Dani looked at her father skeptically.

“You and Vlad won't interfere?”

“You remember how to seal souls into the ghost ice right?” Dani nodded at his question.

“Then yep, this will be one hundred percent on your own, just remember to grab the clown’s soul.” He said forming a crystal of ghost ice.

“Yep, I remember what Papa wrote in the note, we need it as a gift for the revenant.” She nodded and transformed.

_______________________________________________________________________________

That same night on a rooftop in Metropolis Superman flew down to find a bunch of men in white suits by a big “S” signal light.

“A signal is more Batman’s thing.” He said,

“Well, this was the best way to get a hold of you.”

“What do you want?” The man of steel asked, The agents went on to say they knew about his fight against a phantom and were offering to help develop weapons so he could fight the ghost menace better. It would take some time but they could do it. That made sense so he agreed. Especially after they told him phantom attacked a random family in Illinois and rendered the parents believe they were three years old and kidnaped or killed their two kids and two of their son’s friends. Just as he was about to fly off, they mentioned one more thing,

“We were working with the Fentons at the time, and they managed to capture Phantom for a bit, however, according to them he is now taking the form of a small girl with white hair. “ They pulled out a tablet and showed a video of a small girl with white hair, green eyes, and the Phantom symbol on a black hazmat suit. Superman thanked them for the info and went patrol Metropolis.

Jason, Barb, Sam, Tucker, Tim, and Damian were all gearing up getting ready to look for where the rest of the Phantoms and Bruce were located. Barb was using a laptop to go over possible locations. However, Tim noticed Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were a little too calm.

“Danny get kidnaped often?” he asked.

“Why do you ask?’ Sam snapped.

“You all seem awfully calm…” Tim accused. Jason put a hand on his shoulder and told him to let it go, “No, Bruce said these kids and one of the scummiest billionaires alive were the highest priority and I don’t get why!?”

“Wow, and I thought Dash had anger issues.” They all turned to see fourteen-year-old Danny Fenton.

“Danny!” Jazz, Sam, and Tucker went and hugged him,

“Hey guys”’ He smiled as Tim and Jason stood in surprise and their jaws on the floor.

“Sooo, how’s the kidnapping going?” Jazz sing songed.

“Pretty good, got to make fun of this clown and some dude with a question mark kink. Not too happy about that last bit. Danielle is a little young to be exposed to some dude running around in a skintight leotard with a boner.” Danny frowned before smiling again, “But she did get to use scary eyes on some goon…” He was cut off by some shorter-than-danny spiky-haired kid dressed like a traffic light bursting through red robin and Red Hood.

“How are you here?” The kid demanded.

“I’m the ancient of space kid, anywhere there is the concept of space, or space itself I or a copy of myself can be.” The Kid scowled,

“So on top of teleportation, super strength, energy beams, sonic attacks, summoning stars, black holes, and some kind of eldritch form, are you basically omnipresent?”

“No, I won't be omnipresent until I die fully, something about the human body not being able to properly contain that much ectoplasm.” all three bats looked at him like he was insane, he was just glad they didn't need to go over all of his abilities because they didn't even really scuff the surface.

“Anyway I gotta get going, Vlad and I are letting Danielle beat these so-called supervillains to a pulp, oh, and Revenant we’ll have a present for you when you meet us at the warehouse,” Danny said as he faded out of existence. Barb started typing on her laptop knowing they were at a warehouse and there were only a few that matched the needs of the kidnapers and was listed as taking on some of the villain forums.

“So he let himself get kidnaped?” Tim asked.

“Yes….” Sam said unable to make eye contact.

“Why?”

“The ways of the ancients are all-knowing and mysterious,” Sam said,

“There’s no point in fighting it, just stand by, watch, and trust the process .” Tucker continued.

“And everything will be as it should.” Jazz finished.

“Soooo, you have no idea,” Jason said,

“Nope,” the three liminals of the phantom family replied.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Joker and the Riddler were in another room wondering who the hell they just kidnapped. Bruce was one thing. His “secret” identity wasn’t much of a secret. No one cared, it was part of the game. Joker knew that better than anybody. Why ruin the fun, which is exactly what these three additional hostages were doing? They didn't behave right. If he was being honest it was kind of interesting.

“Having fun Jack?” The joker heard a soft gentle female voice call out to him. They didn’t hire any female goons. He turned to see a young, attractive, slim woman of average height in her early to mid-20s. She has very pale skin, dark eyes, long jet-black hair, and has an Eye of Horus painted under one of her eyes. She was dressed like an 80’s Goth Rocker and had a large ankh pendant.

“Who are you?”

“You know who I am, Jackson William Napier.” His eyes went wide at the name he hadn’t used in almost two decades.

“You okay?” Riddler asked Joker, clearly unable to see the woman.

“Yes,” Joker snapped, throwing a chair at the riddler.

“Relax, I am not here for you today.” The woman smiled.

“Then why are you here?” The clown prince of crime’s eyes narrowed.

“Why don't we go say hi to our friends in the other room.” She gestured toward the main section of the warehouse. He yelled for the Riddler to follow him. When they made it to the large warehouse space he noticed that the little girl was missing. He was about to demand where she was when a large voice boomed its way through the space, he nearly needed to cover his ears.

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I am a merciful spirit. Lay down your weapons and surrender and you will remain unharmed.” He turned his head upward to look in the direction of the voice and saw the unbelievable.

The girl they had kidnaped was floating mid-air surrounded by gyroscopic wheels covered in eyes. Her hair was now snow white. She wore pure white Grecian armor. She had two wings that looked like they were made of the night sky. A silver tiara that held a gem the color of Pluto floated above her head.

The look on her face seemed disappointed, “Dad my shadows aren’t eating anything yet!” She whined, surprisingly still childish.

“That will happen when you get older, honey you’re still under a millennium old..” The teenage boy said with a surprisingly proud grin.

He looked to see all the goons and Riddler bowing to whatever that thing was,

“Nygma what the hell.”

“I signed up to fight Batman and his Flock, not whatever the fuck that is!”

Joker scowled and saw the pale black-haired woman from earlier, walk over to one of the goons and help him up. She said something to him before the goon loudly complained, “I only did this because my wife just got fired and we need the extra income, what’s going to happen to them now?” The woman turned to look at the teenage boy they had kidnapped, “Your Highness?” The boy looked at her and the goon. “Everything will work out, you know that…” Was his reply to the woman who frowned slightly, “You are far too often in the presence of Time.”

“You should visit, he says he gets lonely, I can’t be the only one to keep him entertained.” The boy smiled.

“Perhaps I will consider the request. It has been a while since I have visited Time. Maybe I should visit him.” The woman said as she and the goon calmly walked out of the warehouse. Joker turned to look back at the goons who still bowed, except for one.

The Goon that had walked out with that woman, was still there in the room, dead on the floor.

“So are we going to stand around all day or are we going to fight?” The childish voice said in the Joker’s ear before he was launched across the warehouse with a swift kick to the gut.

Where did she come from was all he could think as he saw the white-haired girl calmly walking towards him. He didn't take this sitting down like some dog. He threw a joker grenade at the girl who blocked and redirected it back at him with one of her wings. He jumped out of the way, picking up the crowbar he dropped along the way.

“You aren’t the first kid I’ve killed in this warehouse and you won't be the last!” He growled, swinging his crowbar only for Dani to slip out of the way and push him into a wall, he used his acid flower. It was a direct hit, however, the now skeletal-faced girl was still coming after him. She brought her arm up and summoned an Xiphos that looked like it was going to crumble apart. It was black with red cracks that radiated heat. He barely dodged the slash and rolled out of the way only for the room to become momentarily filled with fire.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now in Gotham Propper, the rescue crew was still having trouble locating everyone who was abducted. Barb, now in her Batgirl exoskeleton, was still on her tablet working overtime. However, their prayers were answered when a massive crescent of fire exploded out of the sides of one of the warehouses dissipating into the sky. Everyone had a flat expression.

“I’m guessing they’re at that building,” Robin said.

“Yep.” Everyone responded.

“Of course, it has to be that warehouse,” Redhood said as the remaining members of the Phantom family noticed the rise in his ectoplasm levels. They asked if he was okay.

“No, but I’ll live.”

“Is it the Pits?” Red Robin asked.

“Yeah…”

“Pits, you mean the rise in his ecto plasma levels?” Jazz asked.

“What?” Tim and Jason asked.

“You’re liminal, you have high levels of ectoplasm. I’d say you're death-leaning like us.” Sam said as Jason got in her face only to feel Jazz pull him away.

“Look, I get that for some reason that warehouse is triggering some kind of revenge obsession and your emotions are high, but if you’re going to be any help you need to regulate your emotions.” She said,

“RedHood control his emotions?” Batgirl snorted.

“What do you mean?” Tim cut in, Jazz sighed not wanting to have this conversation right now, however, it looked like things on her brother's end were going fine so she decided it was best to explain. She turned to Jason,

“You’re a death-leaning liminal. Like Sam, Tucker, and I. You have strong ghostly attributes that will leak into your physicality as well as your mentality. You have an obsession centered around revenge and justice. I know this because my own obsession with knowing, understanding, and helping people makes me a really strong empath.

For you, I'm assuming better stealth skills, enhanced durability, enhanced speed, strength, etc. However, this also means any emotion you experience is multiplied by a factor of a thousand or more. Meaning if you don’t work through any issues or don't regulate your emotions you may find them controlling you in a way. “

“Are you talking about the Pit madness?” Jason asked.

“Pit madness? What, no, there is no madness. You just fucking need therapy!” Jazz exasperated to a stunned group of bats and birds.

“Let's get going before Danielle burns down Gotham,” Sam said, ushering Tucker into the assault vehicle, he was followed by Red Robin, Robin, Jason who was basically pushed in by Sam, And finally Bat Girl who led Jazz into the vehicle hand in hand. Sam got in the driver's seat and sped off.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Joker barely dodged the slash and rolled out of the way only for the room to become momentarily filled with fire. When the fire dissipated there was a giant hole shaped like a half-moon in the warehouse that was glowing a molten orange. He started to run away only to run into Dani’s elbow. He fell to the ground covering his now bleeding nose. He noticed she no longer looked skeletal

He activated traps that would have attacked her from behind, but her existence blurred out of the way before reforming.

“What made you think all the eyes are just cosmetic?” She said pointing to the rotating wheels that never seemed to be in her way, but flowed effortlessly around her.

“You know, let's play another time, bye Brucie.” He said turning around and trying to run away only for Dani to run her hand right through his chest. She followed him to the ground and phased her arm out of him. He suddenly felt extremely cold.

Dani turned around to face her father, brother, and Bruce with a large grin declaring she was done. Danny untied Bruce and they all tied up the goons, riddler, and Joker. Who looks ready to kill Bruce,

“No metas in gotham?” The clown spat.

“They aren’t metas.” Bruce said.

“What the fuck are they?” Riddler demanded

Dani, Danny, and Vlad turned to face the Riddler and in sync said, “We’re ghosts.” And to the eyes of Edward Nygma, all three were for that moment in their true ghost forms. They all then walked over to the body of the goon who had died. Bruce mentioned something about a no-killing rule.

Danielle found a tarp and covered the body. She appeared to be looking at something and muttered something under her breath before looking at Bruce.

“It was his time, he would have had that heart attack whether we were here or not.” She said softly and continued,

“At least she was here to comfort and guide him, with the ectoplasm from all three of us, along with the abnormally high ambient levels he wouldn’t have moved on properly.”

“Who?” Joker asked, praying his suspicions were wrong.

“Death,” Danielle said, proving his suspicions depressingly correct.

“And how would you know he was meant to die, he was a good man!” One of the goons yelled.

“His name was in the ledger.” Dani covered her mouth as soon as she spoke. She knew only the ancients and the royal family knew about the ledger. For some reason unknown to her and her family she is also one of three spirits who can read the ledger. Something not even her father could do. When she asked Clockwork about it, until she was born only death and time could read it.

“Danielle!” Danny chided his daughter.

“You mortals will never speak another word of the ledger!” Danny’s voice echoed unnaturally loud through the warehouse and every mortal's soul. He looked at Bruce who looked like he had some questions,

“Let's just say for a reason only Ancients know why, she has some unique abilities when it comes to death.” Bruce nodded, understanding that was all he was going to get. All three stood around until Red Hood, Robin, Bat Girl, Red Robin, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz who was armed with a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick burst through the door. Only to be disappointed that the fight was over.

“How did she do?” Sam asked.

“Phantastic!” Danny grinned as Danielle leaped into Sam’s arms yelling “Mommy” as she nuzzled into the woman. The vigilantes called the GCPD for the pick up and they all got back into the assault vehicle. In the vehicle, Dani gave Redhood a purple green, and white crystal saying it was a gift from the royal family as thanks for letting them stay in the city.

“Thanks?” He said slowly.

“That’s one half of the Joker’s soul. Anything that Crystal experiences he will.” She smiled.

“So if I shoot it?”

“He will experience the pain of being shot.” Jason grinned at this, then frowned

“Does this mean as long as this crystal exists he will not be able to die?”

“No, while it may be impossible to destroy the crystal, it will crumble to dust when it is his time,” Dani reassured him.

“And when will that be?” Jason said, eyes glowing. Danielle looked to see her father glaring at her.

“I couldn’t tell you, just know basically that gives you the ability to torture him whenever you like. It’s like a supernatural stress ball.” She said as Bruce sighed in disappointment. Jason however grinned like a madman and began poking the crystal with one of his knives.

“I think I’m going to like this gift.”

#danny fenton #ghost king au #dani phantom #danielle phantom #vlad masters #death of the endless #bruce wayne #the joker #the riddler #dpxdc #dpxdc au #dp x dc fanfic #The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God

[tea-and-vodka]

Okay I know I'm still being metaphorically crushed by my last post but I need to get these thoughts out there- I already halted posting a different DP x DC post because that last one startled me bUT LISTEN-

Okay so it's one of those parallel timeline things, and the Danny Phantom timeline/s is parallel to the Batman one/s attached to this idea. Everyone's got their alternate version in the different universe:

Danny: Damian

Jazz: Babs

Jack Fenton: Bruce

Madeline Fenton: Harley Quinn (stay with me here-)

Dani: Jason (I'm sorry but also I like this concept)

Sam: Cass

Tucker: Duke

And finally, my personal favorite that ties the story together: Vlad is the alternate Joker.

Because listen! Didn't Harley, Bruce, and Joker go to college together? Just like Maddie, Jack, and Vlad! And also, two of them ended up in a relationship (though Bruce isn't ever really pining for either of them). Also I think it's very funny.

(I don't have any good ideas for who else would be who I'm sorry)

There's some sort of inciting incident that causes the barriers between the two worlds to become blurred, and everyone starts meeting with Danny and someone else from his world of your choosing accidentally crashing into the DC side of things.

Eventually, the Joker and Danny end up somehow crossing paths, and there's a bleed-through across timelines from Vlad into Joker, causing him to suddenly get a rush of [keep protect mine son protect take mine want take keep mINE-] that's directed at Danny, causing a whole new slew of problems.

Also I just really like the idea of Bruce meeting his other-timeline, himbo self in the form of Danny being in danger (again), and hearing from the other side of a very sturdy wall (concrete, Superman-proof, take your pick), "NO WALL CAN STOP JACK FENTON-" and him crashing through it Cool Aid Man style. (Yes that's someone else's idea, I can't remember who they are but I would credit them if I could because I think about that part of their post almost every day and it takes up space rent-free in my brain)

#dp x dc #caps tw #tw repetition #teavod posts

[gayfrogs03]

I don't remember if it was a Tumblr post or a fanfic on AO3 but there was like a game of 20 questions about Tim that the Batfam was doing, Damian was asking the questions and everyone was answering them, I think Bernard won, anyway I got this idea from that, if you know them tag them plz!

So like the Batfam (as the Wayne's because duh. Also tho I don't really mention him, Jason is there, they make him coming back to life public when he joins the fam again, it's Gotham, definitely not the weirdest thing to happen), plus partners/friends are doing an interview on TV, and like they play a game of who knows so and so best, 20 questions, and they volunteer Tim to be the one the questions are about

So like, they have a question, and Tim writes the answer down, seated away from them, then when writes their guesses down on a whiteboard, when times up they show their guesses and then Tim shows the answer, if you get three wrong your out.

Also Tim made the questions (like during a commercial break of something), so like the Tumblr post or AO3 fic there are still questions like, "What fair ride has Tim fallen asleep on" and "what organ is Tim missing" (I think they made that public, with some odd way on how he lost it, like a mugging gone wrong or something, so it can be on his medical records and if he gets hurt as a civilian doctors can properly take care of him, a missing spleen is VERY important) along with a few trick questions

So the game is on, it's filled with the Batfam and their partners/friends being VERY competitive, yelling at each other and just pure chaos, but also lots of laughter.

Bruce, Steph, Dick, and Bernard last the longest, until eventually it just became Dick VS. Bernard, but they kept tying, so more questions were added.

Dick and Bernard are also very competitive, and yelling at each other, glaring, odd threats or curses like "I hope both sides of your pillow are warm tonight!" or "I hope when you wake up tomorrow you look at your phone, only to realize its dead because it wasn't charging!", accusing each other of cheating, ect. It would seem aggressive but you can see the both of them fighting back smiles, sometimes even breaking the act and laughing a bit before pretending that they didn't

Eventually there's a question like, "How old was Tim when *insert life event here*?" And while Bernard remembers being told about the event, he doesn't remember the age, and gets this one wrong, making Dick the winner, which he of course stands and cheers loudly about.

I genuinely feel like Dick would win this, especially when it's about Tim. They are very close in canon, always hanging out inside and outside of patrol, having sleepovers, calling each other all the time, and all that jazz, I'm sure they know just about everything about each other. I think that's what made the events in Red Robin so hurtful for the both of them, or why Tim was so hurt in WFA when talking about Dick always ditching plans with him to be with Damian (along with his worries of Dick stretching himself to far trying to be there, to do everything for everyone).

I like to think a little while after the events of the Red Robin comics Dick, Damian, and Tim all sat down together one day, apologized for what they did wrong (they ALL did things wrong), explain their thoughts processes and how they felt the time, ect. And while the trauma is still there for all of them it helped them begin to heal and grow closer again

Or in Tim and Damian's case begin to form a bond. I don't think they ever stop fighting and antagonizing one another, but it's more in a sibling way, like Damian will do that little sibling thing where he walks into Tim's room, states at him for a bit, knocks something over, then leaves without saying a word, keeping the door wide open, he also uses Tim's things without his permission, refuses to do anything Tim says, judges him (daily, all the time), ect. Tim retaliates by hiding/using Damian's stuff, teasing him, embarrassing him in public, while he's still taller than him puts thing out of his reach, Damian brings a friend over? Tim has like 35 embarrassing stories to tell them. But they also take care of/protect each other, it's a big, "Hey! No ones allowed to mess with him but me!" type thing. Damian not only threatens Bernard with a sword when he first meets him to, "Never hurt Timothy" but also does extensive research on him and his family when he first hears of Tim's boyfriend to make sure he was good enough for Tim. Tim def does the same when Damian gets a partner, just without the sword but in no way less threatening. Everyone in the family knows not to get involved when it comes to Tim and Damian. Sorry, that got off topic, DC let Tim and Damian be brothers!

#tim drake #red robin #batfam #bruce wayne #jason todd #batman #red hood #dick grayson #damian wayne #nightwing #robin #stephine brown #spoiler #bernard dowd #timbern

[angelz-dust]

masters of none - part 4 (jason todd x reader)

summary: after many months, we are back in action and back in reader’s head. pls enjoy these jason crumbs. if you need a refresher on the plot, the other chapters will be linked below!

word count: 3.7k

warnings: food/eating. alcohol. cursing.

part 1 /// part 2 //// part 3

gravity

ever since i ever felt ya, right there life couldn't seem better. tulip flowers in my sweater. ask me now, is this forever?

…

you rested your chin on the table before you, your arms hanging limply between your knees as you listened to your manager, dana. you were really just watching her mouth open and close while she pointed at a powerpoint. god, what you would've given for an extra hour of sleep. the all nighters in the studio were starting to take a toll. 

the feeling of the back of daisy’s soft hands brought you back to earth. the smell of cocoa butter dancing beneath your nostrils as her smooth engagement ring rolled across your cheek. you breathed in her smell, exhaling in content through your nose.

“you good?” she mouthed and you closed your eyes, giving her a little nod. the bassist rubbed her calloused fingers against your forehead, pushing strands of your hair past your hairline. you pouted when she eventually pulled away, leaving you only with the sensation of touch that once was.

you heard tyler shift in his seat and then felt some air graze against your hand. you looked under the table, noticing he was holding something out to you. you two made eye contact briefly before you scooted back in, grabbing what felt like an envelope. looking down at your lap, you saw a sticky note attached to it. jason’s money was what it said. you carefully put the envelope in your jacket pocket, sitting back in your seat now and looking at dana’s powerpoint. she was going over reports from your publicist, jerry, which you didn't particularly care about.

“now, i have to ask,” dana’s words pierced your bubble of inattention. “have you all thought about what i said about this next album?”

jordy raised his hand like a school kid. “yes?”

“y/n and i decided that we'd be okay with making our album a group project. it has been, admittedly, kinda hard and boring without everyone else. we’d honestly be doing ourselves a disservice by not doing it together,” jordy explained, dana clapping her hands together.

“wonderful,” she nodded, keeping her hands clasped. “i know you two were excited to do your own thing, but i was talking to jerry and he was really pressing me to get a group album from you guys. the people wanna see you guys as a unit of established artists, which you all are. so what's the concept? we never discussed it.”

“uh,” you verbally paused, raising your arms above your head to stretch. “disco, jazz, and funk. it's a mix of those.”

“retro is in right now,” dana nodded, pacing around the room. “how far back will this set us on a release date?”

you grimaced, leaning back in your seat, the back of the seat lightly bouncing as it absorbed your weight. you pondered the question for a moment. “if it’s gonna be a group thing, it'll have to be significantly longer. we have a decent starting off point but i'm gonna need way more songs now.”

“what about the rest of you? any tracks that we could swing?” dana asked, looking at the rest of the group. 

grabbing a pen and piece of scrap paper, you started jotting down notes as everyone spoke out to you. dex and quinton didn’t have anything, but they wouldn’t be a problem. you just needed to give them a beat to rap over and you’d be set. the twins had a finished song already that fit the concept, which was good. with tyler’s voice and aly’s excellent song writing abilities, you doubted very seriously that anything else needed to be done to it. daisy and hector had plenty of lyricless songs, too. funk and soul was their specialty, after all. misha even had a demo track she was willing to share. 

you looked over the notes you had taken, tapping your pen on the table as you hummed to yourself. “this could probably work. we’ll need to go over everything in the studio, though.”

“we should just do it now. no one is doing shit else today, right?” dex asked the group, who all shook their head. 

“i have a request,” you raised your finger, looking at dana. “i want gotham to be involved in this project.”

“gotham…” dana repeated slowly, unsure of what you meant. “care to elaborate?”

“music videos directed by student directors from gotham university, commissioning local artists for album art. dancers, actors, musicians, whatever. all of them have to be from gotham. i don't want any of the money we put into this project leaving this city,” you stated firmly, dana giving you a blank look. 

“i like that idea,” hector said, giving you a kind smile before turning to dana, shifting in his seat. the drummer was like a big brother, always backing you up in moments like these. “accessibility to the arts is really limited here and we should change that.”

“i’d rather give back to the city, too,” quinton agreed, playing with the gold cross hanging from his neck. “we’re one of the only groups in gotham known outside of gotham. we should use that as an opportunity to rep our city.”

“it sounds like you have your minds made up on this,” dana narrowed her eyes, letting out a sigh. “it would definitely be good PR.”

“because god forbid we do something out of the kindness of our hearts,” misha laughed, rolling her eyes. “we're trying to put the city on and you're worried about how it makes us look.”

“that's my job, misha. don't you want me to do my job?” dana retorted. “besides, i'm more concerned with the funding. you all don't have disposable income, believe it or not.”

“but i know someone who does,” she said with a singsong tone, giving you a look.

“i hope you're not referring to me,” you deadpanned. your income was far from disposable.

“i’m referring to our good friend, bruce wayne,” she explained, grabbing a business card out of her purse, handing it over to dana. “ever since i got invited to that charity gala, i've had a direct line to a representative with the wayne foundation. i say we ask them to help fund the project.”

“now that could work,” dana admitted, eyeing the card as she tapped her foot. “if we pitch for more youth involvement, it'll probably go over better. we all know how much bruce wayne loves saving the children.”

you frowned at how dana described bruce’s initiatives as a philanthropist. you were sure his motivations for favoring youth projects were good intentioned, considering his parents had been killed when he was just a little boy. you wanted to go into this good intentioned, too and you hoped that they'd agree. they being the wayne foundation and subsequently, bruce himself.

“ty and quinton could do something with forrester. if we’re going for the youth involvement route, i mean,” aly spoke up. 

“forrester correctional. our old stomping grounds,” quinton sighed wistfully as he patted tyler on the shoulder. “i think that would be a good idea.”

“they use the arts as an outlet for them, so it could be beneficial for everyone,” tyler nodded. “there are a lot of good kids there. just unfortunate circumstances, that’s all.”

“wasn’t one of bruce’s son’s a troublemaker before he was adopted?” aly continued, not noticing the look you and tyler shared. “i’m sure he’d probably be interested in doing something with them if his son comes from the same background.”

“it’s settled, then. you all keep working on the music. jerry and i will handle the rest. we need this album out before hector and daisy’s wedding,” dana said, grabbing her suitcase. 

…

hey, i have your money. did you still want it?

you stared down at the unsent message, your thumb floating over the send arrow. you hadn’t spoken to jason since that night after the race, as per his request. your mind kept wandering back to it, even as time still went on. what happened was scary, to say the least. fun, but scary. you wondered how the hell jason didn’t get the two of you killed. that part, you didn't want to think about too hard. everyone in gotham had their secrets and it was an unspoken rule amongst citizens to not pry. secrets were secrets for a reason. nothing good ever came from unearthing them.

speaking of secrets, you hadn't exactly told tyler and quinton what happened that night. not in detail. you conveniently left out the chase and stopping to get something to eat. omitting the first part was obvious, but the second one was for your own sanity. you didn't need them teasing you over nothing. besides, all that mattered was no one was dead or arrested. and for the way the three of you used to get down, that was a win. 

you considered texting jason earlier this week, just to check in on him, but you decided against it. he obviously wanted you to text him and you obviously had to do the opposite. his little mind game wasn’t going to work on you. you pressed send, frowning immediately as you did so.

maybe it already had.

“it’s too many people in this bitch,” dex sighed, the cold of the water bottle you had asked him for against your hand bringing you back to reality. blinking, you were suddenly very aware of the chaos surrounding you in the studio as you put your phone back in your pocket. you looked to your left, where jordy was leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone. to your right was aly, who was scribbling in her songbook in the chair next to you. you remembered you were supposed to be working, too. “we need a new stu.”

“i’m working on it!” hector hollered from inside the booth as he and daisy were setting up equipment and instruments. you glanced up at the glass in front when you heard his voice, accidentally catching the pair share a little kiss. you quickly averted your gaze, smiling to yourself.

“new stu, new view, what it do?” quinton began to freestyle to a beat he was making on the coffee table in front of him. “off 92, posted up with southside crew.” 

“okay,” dex laughed, noddinh his head as he was vibing with the beat, making his way out of your line of sight. you heard someone, presumably tyler, join in and add some depth to the beat. it sounded like he was hitting a pencil against a shot glass.

“i got a new boo, but i’m tryna slide with misha, too,” quinton continued, dex adlibbing in the back as quinton lowered his voice to his signature melodic whisper. “on the low, nobody gotta know.”

“would you shut the fuck up?” you heard misha say, followed by a barrage of muffled smacking noises and verbal objections from quinton, who you assumed was on the receiving end of what sounded like an assault by pillow.

laughing to yourself, you leaned your head in aly’s direction, not fully facing her. “pass me the flash drive?” you held your hand out weakly. once you felt the plastic in your palm, you leaned back over and put it into the computer, pulling up the proper files. 

“we’re done back here,” daisy smiled at you, she and hector coming out from the booth. 

you clapped your hands together. “wonderful. everybody shut up, please.”

you pulled up the twin’s song and let it play, your eyes fixed on the colorful audio loops on the screen. the green ones were tyler’s vocals, the purple were aly’s. it looked like blue was reserved for instruments and red was any added sound effects or layered sounds. 

“you two sound really great,” jordy walked up behind aly’s seat, leaning against it as he swayed his head to the beat. 

“thanks. i wrote it with our mother in mind,” aly said, the words coming out of her mouth uncomfortably. you placed your hand on hers and gave it a little squeeze, which earned you a look of appreciation.

“it's missing something, though,” tyler scratched the back of his head. “i need the producer squad to give us some assistance.”

“oh, say less,” dex laughed, snapping his fingers to the beat with one hand and holding his glass of hennessy in the other. he danced his way over, taking aly’s seat as she, tyler and jordy moved to give you all some space. 

misha sauntered her way over, sitting against the table and flipping her hair over her shoulder. the smell of her sweet perfume floated in the air around you. “i think it just needs some fluffing up. some snapping might work. more vocal layering in certain spots.”

“i agree,” you nodded, dex letting out a satisfied sigh as he took a sip of his cold drink. 

“is it good?” misha asked him teasingly and he took his final swig, letting out a more dramatic and drawn out sigh. this time, though, it was on beat with the song. you were pretty sure it was unintentional on his part, since he and misha just shared a laugh before returning their attention to the screen.

after a moment of pondering, you swiveled around in your chair, looking at tyler. “okay, hear me out…”

…

two weeks of very diligent working between the nine of you had given you a lot to work with for the album. all that was left was to start putting things together. you still had a ways to go, but you had a good starting off point. as much as you hated to admit it, it was a good call on dana’s part to have you all do a group album. the fans seemed to be greatly anticipating the release and the work ethic the nine of you shared was incredible. even in that cramped little studio, you all made it work.

you all agreed to take the day off, but you were still working at some capacity. you had just traded one small space for another, working in your walk-in closet/home studio for the day. you still needed said walk-in to function as a closet, so there were still garment bags pushed up into a corner and shoe boxes haphazardly stacked, surrounding your desk that you had shoved in there. there was just enough space for you to move your chair and safely get out without twisting an ankle, a fate you often flirted with in that room.

in the spirit of your day off, you hadn't done anything too difficult. you were just trying to decide what order you wanted the completed songs to go in. it may seem like an insignificant detail, but the order was important. the transitions between songs couldn't be jarring for the listener. everything had to flow together with natural progression. at this point, it didn't matter since you weren't done with the album, but it was just giving you an idea of how to fill the gaps with future songs. 

the sound of your growling stomach indicated that it was time to stop for the day. you quickly saved all your work and headed to the kitchen. you popped some leftovers in the microwave and scrolled on twitter while you waited. the microwave beeped at you, so you set your phone back down and grabbed the bowl, mixing up the contents with your fork. the flash of light coming from your phone got your attention. a text notification.

are you home?

oh, so now he wanted to respond? cute.

despite your annoyance with the situation, you quickly responded with a yes and set the phone back down. you leaned against the counter, eating what little food you had in your reheated bowl. you mixed the contents around with your fork, grumbling. stupid jason and his stupid inability to text back. he could have at least had the decency to leave you on read. he probably didn't even have read receipts on. you weren't sure which was worse. tossing your now empty bowl into the sink, you grabbed your phone to read his next message.

i’ll be over soon. 

soon was very vague and you wished that you would've demanded an exact time, but that opportunity had passed by the time you thought about it. you busied yourself with tidying up, trying to make your place look presentable. you even lit your new candle, which you found yourself focusing your attention on while you waited for him to show up. staring at the flame was much more entrancing than you anticipated.

you heard the door buzzer go off. you weren't expecting anyone else, so it had to be him. you leaned against the wall, pressing your finger to the button.

“who goes there?” you presented the question as a joke, but your tone was a little flat.

“it’s the irs,” jason’s voice came through and you buzzed him in. 

not too long after, you heard him knock on the door. you cracked it open and the first thing you noticed was his cologne. it was a strong but pleasant scent. spicy and sweet. it was very intoxicating, actually. so much so that you almost forgot you were angry at him.

“hi.”

“hello.”

you opened the door fully and handed the envelope to him. jason eyed it suspiciously. he opened it up and began to count it out in front of you. he made an effort to do it very slow, the sound of the crisp dollars echoing in the quiet hall. his eyes stayed glued to yours as he counted out loud. you leaned against the doorframe as you watched.

“six… seven… eight,” he said, pulling out his wallet and stuffing it with the cash. “thought you would've skimmed some off the top.”

“i should have with how long you made me wait,” you said matter of factly, letting your annoyance be known now. 

“i know. i’m sorry,” he sounded honest but you couldn't see it in his face or in his eyes, which was worrisome. it was a nice alternative to listening to a sputter of excuses, though. “let me make it up to you?”

“how do you plan on doing that?”

“i’m so glad you asked,” he smiled. “as it turns out, i've recently come into some money. let me spend it on you?”

“so you like throwing money at your problems?” you asked him. well, you weren't really asking. it was more like you were telling him. 

“no,” he said, sounding a little offended. “i just thought-”

“you just thought that throwing money at me would make me forget about the fact that you ignored me for a month.”

“no, no,” he shook his head, sighing in frustration. “listen, i-”

“i really don't wanna hear it,” you said honestly, watching as his frustrated look turned into kicked puppy. you almost felt bad. “i don't like feeling stupid, jason. that's how i feel right now. i want you to make it up to me but you'll have to be a bit more creative than this.”

“you want me to make it up to you?” jason had repeated, confusion on his face. 

you poked him harshly in the chest. “you do that or you leave me alone. those are your options. goodbye.”

you shut the door in his face and let out the breath you were holding in. you weren’t sure how jason was going to react to your little ultimatum, but those were your terms. you liked him but you weren’t going to stress over someone you barely knew, especially with your assumptions about him floating around in your head. 

“i’ll be right back,” you heard him say through the door, catching you off guard. 

“what?”

“don’t go anywhere.”

you didn’t respond but you heard his footsteps getting quieter as he walked down the hall. the elevator ding indicated that he had left. you stood there, confused as to what it was he was trying to do. you were still stewing in your negative emotions, so you went and busied yourself again. you decided the dishes needed washing and got on it right away. in the middle of scrubbing the stubborn sauce stains out of your plate, you heard your door buzzer go off again. 

so he did come back after all. interesting.

you buzzed him in like you did before and waited by the door for him. he knocked and when you opened it, you were met with two gifts: a bouquet of pink tulips and a small box of something from the bakery around the corner. 

“i shouldn’t have ignored you. it was rude and stupid and i’m sorry. it won’t happen again,” he said to you, holding out the items to you. you hesitantly accepted them, taking the opportunity to look through the plastic opening of the box to see chocolate covered strawberries. 

“it better not happen again,” you pouted, looking up at him. you had to appreciate the effort he put in at such short notice. it was a sweet gesture and he actually looked sorry this time. 

“it won’t,” he assured you and you smiled.

“i forgive you. but you’re on thin fucking ice,” you reminded him and he grinned at you with a nod.

“i’m going to make it up to you. just you wait,” he said confidently. “not all of us are naturally creative like you, though. you gotta give me some time to think of something else.”

“seems like you’re getting your feet wet with the flower selection,” you noted, taking a whiff of the delicate and fresh scent. they’d look nice on your coffee table.

“lady at the shop said they would convey my sincerest apologies,” he explained, a hopeful look in his eyes. “did it work?”

“for now,” you shrugged, setting the items down on the table next to the door. 

“i can accept that.”

“you’re gonna have to because that’s all i’m giving you,” you said firmly. his charm wasn’t going to get him out of this one. not completely. “now go away. i want to eat my berries in peace.”

“i’ll text you as soon as i get the chance,” he told you as you were shutting the door. you peered at him, narrowing your eyes before shutting it again. “i’m serious!”

“goodbye, jason!” you said through the door. you heard his faint farewell as you walked away, plopping on the couch with your dessert in hand.

were you still a little mad at him? yes. but you weren’t going to pass up free stuff, even if you had made all that fuss about the money earlier. at least the gifts had some thought behind them. so long as he held up his end of the deal, you had a feeling being friends with jason wouldn’t be that bad.

hopefully, anyway.

#jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #dc x reader #jason todd #red hood

[griffle-musings]

FTMWU: Silent Nights/Warm Lights

Okay, so this is super late. >>

Anyway, here’s a small drabble about Winter Holidays. 

TW/CW: Mentions of abuse, but nothing graphic or explicit. Also, the first half is before Jenna realized she was trans, so while yes, it’s the same person, the pronouns are different. Otherwise, I hope you can enjoy this little drabble. 

Characters: OC (Jenna Janet), mentions of the Wayne Family) Jenna-centric. 

It is part of the many rules; no lights, no food without her when she is gone. No heat for that matter; it is cold in the apartment, and his finger feel funny; he can even see his breath get all foggy, which was fun for a bit but now he kind of wants to be bundled in his sheets again- the Mother had taken away his blanket for "training," but she didn't say he couldn't sneak out and see Father while she was out. 

He pushes open the door, gently, quietly. The room is dark- the windows bringing in light, but it is fading, and the Mother has forbidden them to use lights while she does errands. 

Well. She didn't outright say it, so maybe he won't be bad for doing so. 

Father is sitting on the bed- he's in Punishment now, but a soft one, a lenient one, so he still has on most of his clothes on, and he's on the bed staring at a wall, and not in the corner or in the bathroom. The Mother said she was being lenient because they have a dinner party to get to later today, and also, it's December. 

He's not exactly sure why that's important, but it is. He is four, and carefully realizing how the way works. 

For example, the man that does not move, does not look at him, is his Father, and he is important to him.

He creeps slowly, quietly. Father does not move, does not look, even though he knows that Father knows he is in the room. 

There is something in Father's hands- red beads, with a silver charm that his lessons taught him that it is a cross. The Mother doesn't like crosses, calls them "weak." She had said this as she got herself ready, himself doing his best to keep his breathing slow, and steady from the pain of his own Punishment, not wanting to prolong it. 

He creeps closer, looking at how the red beads twist in his Father's hands, watching as his Father silently mutters something. He cocks his head. "What is that?" 

"Nothing." His Father does not glance down, continues to look forward, fingers touching each and every bead. He still talks without sound. 

"Can I see?" He is curious, because he knows Father is breaking the rules, and he wants to know what would be more important than rules.  

"Absolutely not." And oh, he cannot help but flinch, it sounds too much like the Mother's anger. But unlike the Mother, Father is usually kind, so obviously he did a bad thing by asking Father about the beads. 

"Can I sit by you?" Father usually lets him, if he isn't being Punished by the Mother. It's why Father is so kind- Father lets him sit near him and sometimes he would talk to him, and tell him stories about the Company.

Father doesn't blink. "Not too close- don't touch me." 

He can't help but grin as he scrambles onto the bed, trying his best to get up and not wrinkle the bed spread- the Mother would get so angry if that happened. He scoots as close as he can- not touching, keeping his body away from Father's shirt- enough to feel Father's presence, to feel the tingle of being next to Father. 

Father doesn't say anything back, but that's alright- he's already given kindness by allowing this much. Too much and the Mother would find out and be angry. 

He keeps his breath calm and quiet as he silently watches Father's fingers twist and touch every single bead, over and over again as Father keeps moving his mouth silently, his eyes locked on the wall in front of him. He folds his hands on his lap, and watches the beads, a warmth settling in his chest. 

"It's the 24th," his Father mutters, and then falling silent again. 

He doesn't know what that means, the 24th, why does the 24th of December is important. But Father is letting him sit by him while the Mother is away, so he figures he'll find out eventually. 

He lets himself soak in Father's kindness, as they sit silently, in the room.

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

The fire is warm.

Jenna leans against her Dad, leaning her head against his side as he talks avidly with the rest of the family. Her stomach is warm from the brisket stew, latkes, and the sufganiyot, the rest of her body warm from her new sweater that Auntie Cass had given to both Dad and her- matching ones, his with a silhouette of a duck with a knife in its mouth, and hers with a duckling carrying a fork. Dad had laughed at the image, and Auntie Cass had grinned, warm and real, when they entered the main hall earlier today with their bags.

Nearly everyone was staying at the Manor for Hanukkah- even Kate, and the place was crowded like she had never seen. It was tradition, Dad had explained in the car, talking about new habits and building bridges as they drove through Gotham traffic. He had explained to her what the holiday was about, what it meant, and what it meant for the Drakes and the Waynes. 

"So am I Jewish?" She had asked. 

"Sort of?" He had a pinched off face, like he was trying to think two different things but both were at opposites of each other. He was hesitating on another question as well. But that's alright- she knew the other one, and was glad to be the one to ask it instead of him.

"Can I be Jewish? I want to share that with you." 

Dad had admitted to not really being into religion, a throwback from his teen years, he explained. Not exactly disbelieving in God- he had seen and fought them, he said- but more the bit about the afterlife. 

"Or at least Christianity," he had shrugged his shoulders, a lock of his black hair escaping his half ponytail. 

But with this, this query, he had smiled softly at her and said; "Sure." Then he started explaining what it meant.

She's still a bit fuzzy on the details- but, she thinks she's getting the idea of the holiday. The partaking of celebration and joy, of surviving and enjoying the company of family. 

Because today has been lovely.  The Manor was crowded and noisy, and yet with Gotham blanketed by snow, it hadn't felt stifling- rather she had enjoyed watching the laughter and arguments, the tentative connections being reformed like spiderwebs and the quiet discussions of old cases, won battles. Dad had been whisked off with Babs and Steph about something down in the Cave, and she had been whisked off to say hi to Alfred and "You haven't lived until you had one of Alfred's latkes, Chickadee," Uncle Jason grinned as he scooped her up onto his shoulder. 

And then she was learning how to make all the wonderful food and Alfred had given her the first latkes which was Very Important, and there was soft jazz playing in the background and apparently Bruce was banned from the kitchen because of "Incidents" involving hot oil and the stove. 

She has an idea what happened; there's still scorch marks on the ceiling.

Dinner had been loud, and had devolved into a shameless and complex bartering system for the latkes that she reveled in- she had shared her bounty with Dad, of course, it was only fair- and afterwards, all had crowded around the hanukkiah, watching Kate solemnly lights the shamash, as the voices started to sing the blessings, tenors and altos all blending together, that it felt sacred, untouchable, bright. 

She never thought she would have this.

Dad had placed his hand on her shoulder, and usually she would tense or shrug (a hand is never just a hand, that is a lesson she learned early) but it felt warm and protective and Dad's voice was clear as he sang with the others, their voices almost protecting the flame as it flickers and wavers, but still stays lit, bright against the dark. 

 After, they had gathered to the living room, a crackling fire already in the bank, with everyone going into little groups. 

She leans against her Dad, a hand carding gently through her hair as he continues to loudly discuss his varied and many opinions about the new technology a rival company was bragging about, his other hand waving as Babs listened quietly, a soft smile on her lips. 

She leans against her Dad, soaking in the bright, chaotic, noisy thing that she proudly calls "love." 

#FTMWU #Jenna OC #Tim Drake Parent #Tim Drake #Good Dad Tim Drake #batfam #grifflewrites

[threewaysdivided]

Hey, I know this is like a billion years from where you are in YJ:DW, but I had this thought strike me: what if Danny could see and talk to Jason Todd's ghost? (assuming Red Hood isn't YJ canon) There's so much potential for angst there, especially if Danny is the only one who can see him, and decides to try and get Jason to cross over. Or heck, what if Danny had a hand in Jason's revival?

That’s a neat idea that definitely has some good angst potential.  Have to admit though, I’m not entirely sure how it would work within the ghost-lore headcanons I’m using for YJ:DW specifically.  

I can write a longer post on this if anyone wants but Basically ghosts in the Deathly Weapons-verse break into 2 unrelated categories that get lumped together for looking sort-of-similar on the surface:  Ectoplasmic (the ones we see in DP) and what we’ll call Shades (DC ghosts like Secret, Deadman etc).  Ectoplasmic “ghosts” are their own inter-dimensional entities so they can’t really “revive” in the traditional sense, and “passing on” is pretty much limited to accepting what they are and chilling in the Ghost Zone forever or straight-up discorporealising/ re-dying.  Shade ghosts are the more traditional original-soul-bound-to-the-physical-world; either because external force is trapping them there, or because they were willful/ powerful/ knowledgeable enough to bind themselves.  These ones can potentially be “revived” more easily, and can “pass on” if they’re released from whatever is holding them to this world.

If Jason came back as a Ectoplasmic ghost he’d work the same way DP ghosts do; most likely everyone would be able to see him unless he had some kind of Young Blood-esque visibility condition (in which case anyone who fit the criteria would also see him), and outside of extreme edge-cases revival would be off the table.  (Throw a ‘plasmic ghost into a Lazarus Pit and they’ll just climb back out,  except now wet and mad at you for giving them a skin condition.)

More likely that Jason would come back as a Shade-ghost (especially since he seems intended to revive in some capacity in YJ canon), in which case he might only be visible to certain people.  In such a case though, I’m not sure it would be Danny who sees him. 

I feel like Danny would be the least emotionally and symbolically connected to Robin!Jason of the Wayne-household residents who’ve appeared in YJ:DW.  As mentioned in this post Danny kind of falls in this weird spot of being Dick’s Brother first and foremost where all the other Bat-Kids are Bruce’s Son/Daughter, and he has some personal qualms about Dick handing off the Robin mantle (and how close he feels he can/ “should” be to Jason) to work through because of that.  Outside of the both-technically-death thing, I’m not sure there’d be much reason for Jason’s shade to attach himself to Danny as an anchor compared to Bruce, Dick, Alfred or even possibly Tim or some location of personal significance (unless Danny seeing him is due to the ectoplasm, in which case other ecto-ghosts should see him too).

Although, in this very specific hypothetical, Danny is probably one of the better people Jason’s ghost could attach too.  We’re about a billion years from the end of YJ:DW right now but Grief and Healing is going to be a major theme of the core emotional arc, so by the time Jason comes along Danny’s going to be much better equipped to deal with even his canon death.  Add to that that Danny’s had to work with ecto-ghosts and therefore tangentially-death-related problems since he was 14 and he’d be less thrown by Jason’s “reappearance” and more likely to think “this could be a ghost problem” early on compared to Bruce and Dick whose first thoughts would likely be “this is an illusion caused by losing my mind from guilt/grief”, especially if Danny can’t also see him.  Plus, by that point Dick and Bruce do trust Danny pretty implicitly and let him take point where ghosts are concerned.

If Jason did appear as a Shade ghost, Danny’s process would probably look a little something like this:

Confirm that Jason is, in fact, a ghost and not a product of him going nuts

Work together to find a way to prove this to the others (while also working through any personal feelings and unresolved communication/ conflict issues)

Call in Bruce, Dick and Alfred and let them know

Family drama/ angst ensues

Collectively find Dr Fate/ John Constantine/ any other amenable magic-spiritualist hero who exists on Earth-16 to figure out how best to Deal With This.

As for Danny helping Jason (or other ghosts) to “pass on”, I kind of feel like that’s…. not really his ballpark.  I don’t see Danny as someone who’d compulsively seek out other ghosts and feel obliged to “move them along” unless they were actively in distress or causing damage/ distress/ fear/ pain to others.  Like, Johnny 13 wants to ride his motorcycle at full tilt through the streets of a town, terrifying the citizens?  Get in the thermos or get out.  Johnny 13 wants to ride his motorcycle at full tilt down a long, deserted county road?  Fine, just don’t go into towns or bother other drivers.  He’ll leave them alone so long as they leave other people alone.

In that regard I see Danny as sort of the fixer compared to Jazz’s counsellor - if a ghost is acting up because of some problem (or comes to him for help) then he’ll deal with it so that they can leave, or at least chill out.  And if he can’t fix it (because the solution is harmful, the ghost’s nature/powers are too inherently dangerous or they’re just there being dicks by choice) he’ll capture and send them back to the Ghost Zone (or find someone who can exorcise a Shade) to remove the problem that way.  He might gently float the suggestion, but if Jason wanted to pass on then that would be Jason’s choice to explore unless he specifically asked for help or became distressed/ disruptive enough to force Danny’s hand.

Similarly, I think revivals wouldn’t really be Danny’s ballpark either; it’s not a solution he’d like and he has neither the knowledge, interest, skills or equipment to actually facilitate any of the rare reliable edge-cases methods of resurrection.  Danny prefers to keep to the ‘best left alone’ side of ‘Meddling with dark forces best left alone’ as much as is possible.

Personally I kind of prefer the revival stories where Jason isn’t around until his actual return.  I think there’s more easy gut-punch mileage in most of those versions.  That structure forces the other characters to accept that he’s “not coming back” and try to process all the conflict and pain that it brings, only to then sledgehammer the new status-quo by having him reappear, now changed, at point where his death has significantly altered their dynamics with him, his memory and the other characters.  By comparison, having him come back as a ghost and then revive kind of smooths and flattens that trajectory to one where anyone who can interact with him (even indirectly) gets their emotional healing accelerated, and the status quo eventually slips back closer to how it was (with them mostly just having to adjust to physical limitations of the new form he takes), only to reform fully when he “comes back” for real.

But, anyway, that’s part of larger personal nitpick with the use of “ghosts” in stories.  I find that the meaningful thing about death (and that seems to get weirdly missed by a lot of works) isn’t the moment of impact itself so much as the persisting loss and how the survivors cope.  We are haunted by absence more than by presence.  Most cases of bringing the dead character (or at least their mind/personality) back in some capacity tends to soften the weight of that for me, unless the ghost is meant to function as a some kind of metaphor for the healing/ acceptance/ closure process and “move on” when the other characters do.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this long and somewhat tangential ramble.  It probably won’t be happening in YJ:DW or YJ:DW-EU but in a story which took a more hardline all-ghosts-are-dead-people/ horror approach to world-building, I can definitely see the someone-seeing-Jason’s-ghost set-up having a lot of angst and uncanny potential.  (I know there are a couple of fics like that already out there but I can’t remember their titles right now, sorry!)

#Jason Todd #seeing ghosts #I mean to be fair YJ:DW takes about a billion years to update #The main story will finish 6-9 months post S1 #So most of the Legacy / Invasion characters won't be there #but I did have the loose idea that some of the major S2 and timeskipped events would still be canon in the Deathly-Weapons-verse #I quite dislike many storytelling/ execution choices made by Outsiders so I'm declaring any reboot content non-canon to YJ:DW #But it seems like Jaybird was intended to come back #I find it kind of hard to deal with YJ!Jason because of how cake-and-eat-it they've been about his character #they seem to want to use his death/revival for impact without actually doing the work to make it impactful within their own series #he's ended up as this odd non-entity in canon #which means I have to invent a bunch of conjecture from broader comics with literally no substantiation #IDK maybe YJS4 and beyond will adress that #Young justice: deathly weapons #DPxYJ #ghosts #shade ghosts #ectoplasmic ghosts #kaiobeast #3WD answers

[davidjdobrikstesla-blog]

views | david dobrik x reader

plot: you’re David’s guest on the podcast. you end up almost falling asleep, when the episode ends, David carries you to bed and you cuddle until you fall asleep.

requested?: no, i just came up with the idea during school lmao

a/n: pLEASE GUYS, request something!! my requests are open and you can request anything! i have a surprising amount of free time (sad, i know) so i could most likely get it done really quick. request anything! <3

962 words

The Lovesac devoured you, practically whole. David sat across from you, on the couch and Jason sat on the other side of the couch. Joe had just left for a couple of minutes to go do something, leaving us together.

"What's up, guys, welcome back to Viewsss," David started, leaning the microphone near his mouth, "The podcast were I make seventy percent of the profits."

You muffled a giggle, looking over to Jason, who was probably used to jokes like this.

"Please, David," Jason begged, putting a voice on, "Please, I-I just need a bit more money. I need to send Charlie and Wyatt to school. I can barely afford food for dinner."

"Mhm..." David hummed, "Not my problem!" He finally came to a conclusion. You and David laughed, as Jason sighed.

"Right, now that that joke is over, are you going to introduce this weeks guest?" Jason asked, shifting in his seat. David looked at you, smiling.

"As you probably heard, we are joined today by a special guest, Y/N L/N." He announced, giving you jazz hands.

"Hi, everyone!" You spoke into the microphone, not yet used to the feeling, "I hope you guys now, I am currently doing this against my will."

"Oh, shut up, you begged me to be on the podcast!" he said. You rolled my eyes.

"She just rolled her eyes, guys. Finally, a girl who won't take David's shit," Jason said, rather happily and accomplished, "I never knew this day would come."

"She loves me, guys, I promise," David reassured anyone who was listening, "She's normally a very suck-up kind of girlfriend."

You pretended to threaten to slap him. Sure, you loved him, but that didn't mean he could be annoying sometimes.

"Awh, young love," Jason sighed, "How have you been, Y/N? Being in the vlogs now as David's girlfriend rather then just a victim of David's pranks?"

"I think you mean still being a victim of his pranks," You joked. Jason chuckled, and David smirked, "Well, nothings changed, really. I was in the vlogs just as much as I am now."

"But the fans..?" David asked. You looked at him, he was biting his lip.

"Well, they're pretty accepting of it..." You explained. David interrupted you.

"Except there's these motherfuckers that keep on comparing her to Liza." He snarled, angrily. Jason looked at him, rather confuses, as were you, "And to any of you who are doing that, fuck off because her and Liza are best friends."

You realised he eventually made a joke out of it. Liza was probably the biggest supporter of you two, and you were thankful of it.

"True, true," you smiled, "Liza's adorable. We're getting married soon, you know?"

"Oh my, God!" David squealed, "Ah! I ship it sooo much!"

"You two are so adorable together!" Jason said in the same tone. You three laughed, "But, seriously, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. Contrary to popular belief, he only gets on your nerves sometimes. He's sweet, and the fan-fictions on Tumblr about him are really funny."

"Expect a video of that on her channel soon." He said, winking at you. After talking about a few more things, like how you met, how Trisha and Jason's fight have been going and Joe's protest to get more then twenty seconds on Joe's Teeny Weeny Podcast, you were started to get sleepy, slowly laying on the Lovesac until you were laying down completely. Jason was rambling on about Trisha's sex toys for some reason, but you were zoning out, only giving a few remarks every now and then. David realised shortly after that you looked as if you were about to pass out.

"So, Y/N and I," David said, starting on a different story, immediately getting your attention. You looked at him, "We got a box from Adam and Eve today."

"I saw that." Jason added, sounded quite interested.

"Oh, yeah," You replied, "That was weird. We, uhm, recorded a video of it for Dave's second channel. Expect that soon."

"Those dildos were...really something, Y/N. Can David compete?" Jason asked. David shot him a dirty glare.

"The tentacle one was honestly horrifying." You joked. On went the talk about Adam and Eve until they wrapped up the podcast. They said goodbye, as did you, and finished. Jason talked to Joe while they started to pack up. David came down to you on the other side of the lounge-room, and squatted to get to your level. He ran a few fingers through your loose hair before speaking.

"Tired?" he asked. You nodded, "Alright, stay here while Jason and I pack up. I'll be back soon."

It was only five minutes that you were alone in the living room, while Joe, Jason and David packed everything back up into the podcast room. The trio walked out, and Joe collected all his things into his arms.

"See ya later, David." Jason said, grabbing his coat from the couch. Joe collected all his things, saying goodbye to David too, "Gonna take Y/N to bed now? She looks tired."

"Yeah, I'll probably have to carry her, as usual." Your boyfriend replied. You heard Jason laugh, and one more goodbye before the sound of the front door opening and closing. You heard heavy footsteps walking towards you. You opened your eyes only a bit, to see David standing over you.

"C'mon, babygirl, let's get you to bed." He whispered. You reached out your arms for him, and he took that as an invitation. He dropped to his knees, and wrapped his arms around you, picking you up bridal style. You wrapped your arms around his neck. He carried you to your shared bedroom, and plopped you down on your side of the bed. He stripped off to just his underwear, and hopped in beside you. He pulled you closer, and into an embrace.

"Go to sleep, princess," he whispered into your ear, combing your hair with his fingers, "I've got you."

And you stayed there until you fell asleep, shortly after, with David slowly stroking your hair.

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[rockrevoltmagazine]

An Interview with Royal Beasts

Royal Beasts describes themselves on their Facebook page as, “dynamic, groove-oriented, guitar-driven, synth-friendly, melodic, post-rock featuring live visuals. An instrumental outfit of sound,” and I could not agree more. The Cleveland, OH band’s shows are full of extreme energy, musicality and captivated crowds. With no vocals, you are given the space to appreciate the ride that their music invites you to jump onto. Royal Beasts has several shows coming up, and their next up is at Mahall’s in Lakewood, OH on March 22. If you are in the area, I highly recommend grabbing a drink, snagging a spot on the floor, and watching their set.

NEXT ROYAL BEASTS SHOW: https://www.facebook.com/events/606323463161839/

To get to know the band and how they arrived to their unique sound, I sat down with them and asked a few questions. If you want to hear about their camaraderie, their starts, and their future shows, check out the interview below the images.

INTERVIEW WITH ROYAL BEASTS:

Jason: My name is Jason Dunlap. I play guitar and synthesizers in Royal Beasts. I am a transplant to Cleveland, Ohio…been here for 7 years. I spent a lot of time out on the west cost in Seattle. Originally, though, from Northwest Ohio. Grew up playing piano and guitars since I was a little baby boy. 

Alec: My name is Alec Schumann. I’m a Leo, I’m 27 years old. I’ve lived in Northeast Ohio my whole life. I play drums and synthesizer in Royal Beats; I also make the backing visuals for our live shows. I have received my musical training at the Kent State University, where I studied Percussion. I’m self taught in synthesis, but I took piano lessons for a while—so make of that what you will.

William: My name is William Hooper and I’m also from Cleveland. I lived here my whole life and I play guitar in Royal Beasts. I started playing when I was 11 years old in 1999. It’s when I got my first guitar. I went to Cleveland State University for a couple of years for Music Theory and Jazz performance.

Devon: One question that I always have with musicians, because I know everyone’s story is a bit different, is what got you into what you play? Was there a moment when someone played something and you were like, “that sounds really cool, and I want to do that?” Also, what was your first instrument and how did you get it? 

Jason: My first instrument was a piano from when I was younger, and having to take lessons early on. Then, when I was a teenager probably around 13 or so, I distinctly remember telling my mother I don’t want to play piano anymore because girls don’t want to kiss boys that play the piano; instead, I wanted to play a guitar because it was a guitar. I think my mom in her infinite wisdom was just more concerned with me sticking around playing music. So, I shifted over and started playing the guitar…then really stopped playing piano until I got to college. Then, I went a totally different path in school. I wasn’t a music major by any stretch of imagination, but still self taught. But, I enjoyed taking electives, and I took an audio production sort of elective just for kicks—it was all about synthesis and it blew my fucking mind wide open. Because I was a massive fan of bands like the Talking Heads and The Cure and that kind of shit from being way younger. Then starting to understand how groups like that were actually able to manipulate sound; then able to use that training from so young and long ago in piano just cracked everything open for me and I never really looked back. Then, I got bored with how a guitar sounded and so I started just fucking around with all sorts of different pedals before pedals became the phenomenon that they are now… but just trying to discover different sounds and make my guitar sound like the things I can do on synthesizers. I was always fascinated with artists and bands that didn’t need to rely on vocalists and perform very profoundly. So, I had always wanted to be in a project like this where it is driven and dynamic in so many other ways without the need of someone coaching you upfront on stage or being a front man— that sort of idea. That’s the journey. 

Alec: I got my first snare drum when I was 8. I was in 2nd grade and I really wanted a violin for Christmas, but, I was going back and forth between a violin and snare drum. My older siblings were really musical, so my dad and mom were like oh well, clearly you should play something, what do you want? I was like oh, snare drum or violin. Then I got a snare drum for Christmas right after I decided violin and I was like never mind, I’m going to play snare drum now because this thing is cool and loud— immediately broke it a week later. I broke the bottom head so I assumed the whole thing was ruined. When I was in 4th grade, I started taking private lessons at a local music shop. That continued until I took private lessons with a couple of different people throughout high school. I went to school at KSU [Kent State University]. I vaguely wanted to be “a musician” whatever that meant. Then my sophomore year, I fell through a really deep depression of just being like, “I don’t know what I want to do actually,” because I didn’t enjoy being a member of the classical world. I didn’t enjoy the academic world around music. Then, one night I was just like well, if I’m going to like be broke and try and make myself a “professional musician”, why don’t I just do that with Indie rock? That was a lot of the stuff that I grew up with, a lot of the more mainstream alternative like Radiohead and like the Shins and Beck. When I got into college, I discovered like Animal Collective and I got really into the noise scene for a while. That, really, I would say pushed my love of synthesis. Like I said, I took Percussion lessons but I bought my first synthesizer when I was a freshman in college and from there, I learned like how to make sounds happen and what all that world was. While I was in college, I joined a band called Half an Animal and moved to Cleveland and that’s when I became a member of the Cleveland music scene. I joined a bunch of bands. Then, this one formed because Will was jamming with Jason. They knew each other and Will and I had been trying to be in a band multiple times. 

William: I wanted to do some kind of instrumental project, like a post rock kind of project, and I knew that Jason was interested in that kind of music—and he had a friend who plays trumpet who played with his old band. So, I initially reached out to Jason because I wanted the trumpet player’s number. But, he wasn’t really interested. So, I got together with Jason and I’ve known Alec for a long time too and it just kind of…

Alec: Will and I had a couple of bands together. Will is in another project called Ottawa, and there’s been one or two occasions where they’ve needed drummers and I’ve been the one to fill in because I love all those dudes and that’s the end of my story. 

Devon: How about you? [William]

William: I have a similar experience because a got a bass guitar first because I thought it would be easier to play. I was like 11 years old so I thought 4 strings would be easier. Then I got a guitar soon after BC Rich red mockingbird. I thought it was really cool. I thought it was jam set field literally. Well I loved like metal music like Metallica and like really embarrassing stuff like Dream Theatre…but, mostly Metallica. Then eventually high school came around then I got into like the Beatles and then after that Devo and Frank Zappa and all that stuff. 

Alec: We’re all excited for each other and for ourselves. 

Jason: That’s something that’s really interesting about this… It’s been about a year and some odd months, and we’ve already gone through a little bit of heart break in that an original member of our band isn’t with us anymore. But, we knew that the 3 of us that had this thing from the outset, and the reason it works is for things like that. We genuinely get so fucking excited by each other seeing each other do things sometimes and sounds come out and we’re generally just like, “that was amazing! Do that again!” It’s just so happy with the 3 of us and because we also are these long winded rambling people, it allows for us to also share a constant narrative with one another and play along with each other in that regard too. Because, we get a kick out of telling stories. 

Alec: Kind of going off that, like, there’s not any taking advantage or like losing appreciation I guess. I am always amazed by like both of your guitar abilities. No offense, Will especially because your synth shit, I’m always amazed, no offense [To Jason]. You’re a strong interpolator and a strong synth player like our sound sculpting is amazing and like you’re I don’t know how to play this and it’s going to work and that always blows me away and it’s something like… I’ve been in bands where we all really get impressed by each other and then we all get bored. Like there’s a honeymoon period and then it goes away. 

Devon: It’s like a relationship. 

Jason: We’re still having amazing sex. Like, a year and a half into this relationship, we still actively fuck. 

[Collective Laughter]

William: You’re my favorite drummer I’ve ever played with in my entire life.

Alec: You’re my favorite interpolator, you’re my favorite, like, multi-instrumentalist. You’re crazy,  man. 

William: It’s funny because for like 5 years I’ve known you and I just wanted to start a band with you so bad. 

Alec: We’ve tried a couple… 

Jason: The thing is, I had never met Alec before a year and a half ago.

Alec: Yeah no, one day you showed up. We used to practice in my basement and then one day you showed up. I thought you were a base player, and the first thing I ever said to you was that’s not a base amp. You started going and I was like, oh! But, yeah, no the cool thing about this band is we think of an idea, and it isn’t like that sounds like a lot of work, it’s that’s sounds like a lot of work lets do it. Which is how we got to the point where we have backing visuals and stuff. 

Devon: How did that start? The backing visuals?

Alec: I’ve been wanting to do that in the project forever. One of my hobbies is video editing… I’m very basic at video editing stuff,like it’s just something I kind of learned how to do on my parent’s computer in high school. And every once a while, I jump back in and be like oh yeah I can sort of figure it out. But I mentioned that we had talked about the idea of backing visuals. Then one day I was like I have a projector and I know how to make the stuff. And everyone else in the band was like oh alright I guess let’s try it. Then the set up that we have is I actually trigger the next video to be played like for the next part of the song. I have a little foot switch next to my hi hat. So while I’m playing, I also like really quickly tap over to the next scene essentially… 

William: And he’s also playing synth. 

Alec: But yes it’s one of the things like kind of going back a little bit too like I never made a new video… We’re really overdue for new visuals so I’m trying to change it up but I’ve just been very busy the last couple of weeks. I’ve never not made like a new visual thing to send to the crew and never not gotten back like whoa holy shit. I always feel very appreciated in this project. And it’s never like oh we should make sure Alec feels appreciated. It’s wow my friend is doing a great job and I feel the same about them. I feel the same about my friends in this room. 

Jason: I didn’t know what to expect the first time when he was hey they’re done, I have the visuals all ready to go. I was like alright I’m excited to see and I know you’ve been working on them all by yourself and I went over to his house and we just listened to the record while he played the visuals and my fucking jaw was on the floor. Because he has this aesthetic for these visuals that are just these trippy analog 80s VHS feedback loops, is what it feels like. And it’s such a…

William: It’s a perfect compliment to the music… 

Jason: Yes. Because we really do [05:49 Unintelligible] a lot to like all the shit that we had talked about before like bands we listen to and all that kind of stuff. And we throw back a lot of like… It’s funny because old metal dudes love us. Because we get a little “prog” at times…

Devon: I’m a huge metal fan that’s why I think I got so into you guys. 

Jason: See I hate metal. No I really do. It’s probably my least favorite genre of music next to like top 40 country music. I really don’t get down with it and so there are times in this band where moments have happened that Alec and Will be like, what if we try this and something comes out. And I’m like whoa that’s kind of starting to touch some boxes I’m not sure if I want to check but then I open it up and I trust it. Then that trust is what I’m like oh I get it. So I’m actually maybe coming around to metal. 

Alec: Even in this band, I don’t listen to a lot of post rock. Being in this band, we did a couple of practices and I was like I probably should check out Mogwa and I’ve still only listened to a few songs. My drumming styles has always been really influenced by Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt. All these really fast insane dudes who just kind of break the rules of what you should do. Then it was like okay Alec, be in a post rock band. Which is like oh that’s like a lot of being in the background and holding a gun drumming…

Jason: … I think it’s perfect. I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I just want to chime in and say I think it’s perfect that you don’t listen to a lot of the genre because that’s what allows how far we bend in the genre to exist. It’s because you don’t know how to be a post rock drummer. 

Alec: I think all 3 of us started under the idea of like let’s be post rock and halfway through our first album we were like lets bend that a little bit. 

William: …Yes, literally the last 2 songs we did a little different, a little more progressive. 

Alec: And the 2 most recent songs we’ve written have been very much against… not against post rock, they are very heavy heavy parts. Like this is not in that realm at all. 

William: I think they’ve been more like experimental instrumental music. Just less like post rock.

Alec: Especially the way we’re talking about changing things up to with the recent loss of our base player, there’s a minute where we were like whoa should we get another one and now we can kind of explore this area where it’s like well do we need another one? Do we need somebody to play base? The 3 of us are all multi instrumentalists. We all know how to play synths, we all know how to play guitar, we all know how to play base. I know how to play drums and you two know how to play drums too. I’m on stage so I don’t have to play like a beat the whole time. I have a few samplers and that’s a world I would love to jump in with this band. What if we rotated roles a lot more? 

Jason: Switch instruments up a lot more…

Devon: And that’s very unique. I think it’d be very cool and very fitting. 

Jason: Yes, that’s our next step. We have this show tonight and a couple of shows the next couple of months but then we are hunkering down into figuring out how we’re going to keep progressing with just the 3 of us doing things like that; experimenting more with really shifting around a lot of instrumentation and the overall soundscapes themselves. I think they’re going to change pretty drastically to what we’ve done right now. 

Alec: I would say the term post rock is not going to apply to our second album. Not going to say it’s going to be gone, I’m just going to say it’s going to be much less and it’s hard to say. 

William: I do love post rock though. It’s always been like a… not a guilty pleasure but like a secret pleasure like none of my friends know. None of my friends are into it until really I met.

Alec: That was like me and Chillwave for a while, like I totally get that. 

William: I could not relate with anybody about it. 

Alec: Yes, it was like this is mine. I’m going to go home into my bedroom, close the door and just listen to this for a while. 

Jason: Well it’s also hard to meet a new friend and be like here let me put on this record by a band called ‘Godspeed, you Black Emperor’. And the first 6 minutes they’re just like “umm….has it started?”

Devon: Returning back to you said you have a couple of more shows coming up. What are those shows so the listeners can know when they’re going be and where they’re going to be so they can attend. 

Jason: I can tell you real fast.

Devon: Sorry, I know it puts you on the spot. 

Alec: We’re doing a tour April 4th, 5th and 6th. We’re going to Chicago, Detroit and Columbus. 

Devon: Is that your first tour as a band? 

Alec: It’s our first all weekender. We’re also doing Friday March 22nd. That’s our next show. That one’s going to be with Times Ten and BirdDog Cats. That one’s going to be at Mahall’s in Lakewood Ohio. 

Jason: Then yes the 4th, 5th and 6th we’re on the road, then Monday April 22nd, we’re playing with a band from New York called You Bred Raptors. That is at Mahalls as well, the same spot.

William: 30th of April is with Blessed at the Grog shop. 

Alec: That weekend prior we’re also playing a show. 

Jason: We don’t have a whole lot of information on it yet but April 27th and 28th, the ACLU is having a fundraiser in public square in downtown Cleveland and we’ve been asked to play that. That’s going to be really great. That just confirmed this week. We don’t have a lot of details other than we know that it’s going to be Saturday, April 27th we’re playing but the fundraiser is the 27th and the 28th.

Devon: The one question I do have is your first time on the road as a group and as a project. What are some concerns or excitement that you have for being on the road with each other? 

Alec: I don’t have any concerns honestly. 

William: We’re all pretty easy going as far as personality wise. It’s more about what we’re going to eat.

Alec: That’s a concern, it’s like being well fed and making sure we can be. We’ve all done that kind of thing. The thing I’m personally excited about is going to be a thing like wow we’re really going to know the deep dive stuff. Speaking from experience where you can be in a band for like 4 or 5 years and then go on a tour and then you learn stuff that you never knew about the other people. Because it isn’t just you’re getting together once a week, it’s you’re in a car with somebody for the whole day. Then you go to the venue, you don’t know anybody else and if you’re not feeling it, you just hang out with your band again. I personally am excited. I hope the 3 shows that we play are good and I hope they’re encouraging to keep going on tour. Even if they’re bad, they could be encouraging to go on tour because then we’ll know okay this is what we’ve got to switch up. 

Jason: Yes, I concur with all of that. I’m excited for learning the little weird quirks about spending 24 hours a day with somebody. That kind of excites me. I just want to make sure that we have a good steady supply of comic books and cheap pulp sci-fi novels. Just stuff to like burn through and Alec is not allowed to have the playlist control for longer than 2 hours. [laughs] That’s what I’m most excited for and honestly to spread this a little bit more to see what… Because, we’ve come to a point in Cleveland where we know what we’re doing here and we know people’s reactions to it and it’s been very positive and very encouraging. So now we’re ready to see what other places have to think and say about it.

Devon: Well thank you so much for your time and we hope to hear from you soon. 

An Interview with Royal Beasts was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

#Interview #music #news #Rock Revolt #Rock Revolt Magazine #RockRevolt #RockRevolt Magazine #royal beasts

[briannaslist]

Riverdale, S1E6: Recap

Chapter Six: Faster Pussycats! Kill! Kill!

The best way to start the day is with an awkward breakfast. Betty invited Jughead over for breakfast as part of a crafty plan. He asks where the restroom is and Betty’s mom decides to show him; while they’re out of the room Betty sneaks into her mom’s purse to take a picture of her checkbook. This way she can figure out where Polly is being kept. I’m curious to know what plan B was if her mom didn’t do what they expected; I guess it’s good that her mom is overbearing.

At school, it’s time for the annual Riverdale Variety show auditions. This is apparently a big deal since this is a small town and there’s nothing to do. For whatever reason, these are open auditions. That can make sense since they’re all going to be performing in front of people during the show anyway, but it always seems strange. Anyway, Archie walks out there and immediately gets hindered by stage fright. It doesn’t help that Reggie and some other football players are there heckling him and Josie almost looks delighted by his failure.

Valerie tries to reassure Archie about the fact that every performer gets stage fright. Archie suggests that maybe it’s because he didn’t have his “team” up there and would feel better if she performed with him. But she reminds him that she’s in a band and they’re headlining the events. Headlining band for a high school talent show. What is Riverdale?

At lunch, Betty and Jughead decide to continue having a conversation about Polly; of course, this is a secret so they’re keeping to themselves at the table. They did some further investigating and found out that Polly is being kept in a home for “troubled youth”. Archie asks them what’s up and if he can help and Jughead immediately shuts down his offer because they need to be stealthy. Let’s start with not having private conversations in public. But also, Archie, Jughead is clearly interested in Betty; read the room. Luckily Veronica and Kevin come to the table so Archie can feel included in something. Since Kevin is the host/organizer for the Variety show, Veronica talked him into letting Archie have a spot in the show. And to put Archie at ease, Veronica also offers to sing with him.

Later, when Valerie is rehearsing with Josie and the Pussycats, things go awry. Josie is on edge, which puts Valerie on edge. So much edge they could be called Jughead. Josie is being a diva and Valerie says she doesn’t have this issue when she sings with Archie. Josie says Val either sings with them or Archie. So Valerie decides to quit. Which hurts Josie, clearly. But none of this would have happened if she wasn’t being such a bitch.

Meanwhile, at Andrews Construction, Hermione and Fred discuss the state of the finances at the business. It’s bad. Hermione suggests downsizing with the employees. But Fred says he can’t do it because the guys trust him and the last time he fired someone it didn’t go so well. (FORESHADOWING) So Fred tells her that he was actually hoping to talk to the mayor for some help in getting the contract for developing the land at the old drive-in theater site. Of course, the dramatic irony is that he doesn’t know the buyer is Lodge Industries. He asks Hermione to co-host with him and she agrees, also suggesting that they host dinner at her place. They’re standing all close and one thing leads to another and then they’re kissing in front of an open window. Which Veronica happens to see since she was coming to bring her mom a little plant for her desk.

Meanwhile, Josie is telling her mom about Val quitting (conveniently leaving out that her behavior is the reason why Val left). Her mom says it doesn’t matter because Josie is the most important member anyway, but she has to fix it soon because Josie’s dad is missing two concert shows to come and see her. Her mom tells her to find someone skinny and pretty, but not skinnier and prettier than her. And a woman of color – can’t forget their branding. And in case you were wondering why Josie is the way that she is, that was your explanation.

When Hermione comes home, Veronica confronts her about kissing Fred. So glad Veronica addressed this right away. She asks if Hermione is going to leave her dad when he’s released. Hermione says that it was the first time they kissed and it just kind of happened and that she can’t really say what’s going on because she doesn’t know.

So Veronica joins in on the edge the next day as she walks into the student lounge and sees Archie practicing with Valerie. He’s all excited to tell her that Val quit her band and is going to be performing with her, totally missing that Veronica feels slighted by this. And also how it’s not really great that Valerie had a fight with her friend and left her band. So Veronica yells at him about his lack of loyalty and he’s wondering why she’s so mad, and Veronica says that his dad kissed her mom. Archie tries defending the kiss by saying that it was his understanding from his dad that they were both into it. And Veronica says, “They’re married! To other people!” It’s Archie’s counter that really just drives his obliviousness home – his parents are separated and her dad is…incarcerated. He had a moment to back track and he decided to double down. Veronica reminds him that it’s only been three months since that happened to her dad and Archie finally realizes his mistake and then tries to offer her the part back. Incredibly this makes the entire situation worse because if she accepted then where does that leave Valerie and it leaves Veronica mad because she doesn’t want Archie to do her any favors.

Veronica goes for immediate revenge by responding to the flyers that Josie and Melody are putting up looking for a new band member. She walks down the hallway as a member of Josie and the Pussycats, right by Archie and Valerie, making sure that everyone feels slighted.

And now for a major storyline shift – Betty and Jughead go to see Polly in the home for “Troubled Youth”. Jughead has to wait in the lobby, but Betty can go see Polly. And she learns the real reason why Polly was sent away – she’s pregnant. But that was kind of obvious from the talk in the previous episodes. The real twist is what Polly tells Betty about July 4th:

Jason’s parents made them break up because a Blossom dating a Cooper was abhorrent to them. But then she told him about the baby and he was super happy and they planned to run away together.

Polly packed her bags and was going to meet him on July 4th, but her parents figured it out. They had the people from the facility take her away and board her at the home for troubled youth.

She still remembers where she was supposed to meet Jason. She tells Betty exactly where it’s parked.

She has no idea that Jason is dead.

Which leaves Betty to break the news. Talk about a reunion. Polly is distressed and they make Betty leave her.

But hey, who cares about that when we can see Veronica at band rehearsal. Josie is annoyed by Veronica’s distractions and Veronica says she’s just a little stressed. Josie tries to pull the “poor little rich girl” Pot meet kettle, Josie, daughter of the mayor and a prolific jazz musician. Veronica explodes for a moment about her problems but stops mid-sentence and just decides to let it go. Josie tells her she’s sorry about her dad.

Back to Betty – She’s being held in an office when her mom bursts in to get her. She tells Betty that she’s notified if Polly gets a visitor. She and Betty start leaving with Jughead trailing behind, when they run into Polly. Polly is distraught and angry that she wasn’t told about Jason before. Alice says, “Baby it’s for your own good!” and Polly yells back, “You always say that and it’s not true!” while she’s being dragged away. Can’t possibly be good for the baby. And seriously, what kind of stuff has been going on in the Cooper household?

Meanwhile, Archie and Fred are having dinner with Hermione and Josie’s family. It’s another awkward meal! Two in one episode, what a treat! Josie and her dad are both making snide little comments that are just unnecessary for a polite dinner. Josie’s dad finds out about Val leaving the band and is clearly unhappy because he thinks Val is “the real deal”. Doubt that helps Josie’s esteem. After dinner, when Fred gives his presentation, Josie’s dad decides to be condescending to him. When he doesn’t even have any actual influence or stake in this. He’s literally just there because it’s polite to invite the whole family. Josie’s mom says she likes the presentation and wishes she could help, but the buyer is already in the process of closing the deal and it would take two shareholders’ signatures to give Fred the contract instead. So this whole dinner was a complete waste of Fred’s time. And she and Hermione knew that.

Back at the Coopers, Hal and Alice are questioning why Betty even went to see Polly. It’s super stupid. She hasn’t seen her sister in months and they didn’t even give her a real, concrete reason why she was gone. Of course she would want to go. In fact, if they had been more forthright, this whole incident wouldn’t have happened. As if Betty would not eventually figure out that her sister is expecting a child. Betty wants answers and she says considering what she heard today and putting it with other information makes her think that Hal has a motive. She points out that he was also missing from major stuff happening while Sheriff Keller’s house was broken into and she wonders if he’s the one that stole the information. Which, spot on Betty. She asks him point blank if he killed Jason. Note: This is not an appropriate way to find out if anyone committed a crime. Hal just stares at her in disbelief while Alice laughs and says there’s no way someone as spineless as Hal could actually do that and that Betty is sounding crazy like Polly. They tell her Polly’s story is all fake.

Josie and Veronica hang out at Pop’s. Wait, where was Veronica during the dinner being hosted in her apartment? Everyone else had their kids there. Josie vents about how critical and demanding her dad is about the music. Veronica tells her about Hermione and Fred kissing – that strikes me as a bad idea. They had a brief bonding moment and don’t have any real issues with each other, but that’s kind of a big thing to share with someone you don’t really know. The least number of people should be hearing about that. Josie says that Veronica should be open hearing her mom’s take on some things.

So Veronica decides to talk to her mom. But her mom talks first and tells her that she wants to award Fred the contract and she needs Veronica to sign the document. See, when they took Hiram away, he made Veronica a legal officer of Lodge Industries, so she’s the second signature that they need. Veronica is very uneasy and she asks if her mom will stop seeing Fred if she signs it; her mom says she can’t do that, so Veronica says that she can’t sign it because she wants not part in rationalizing what Hermione and Fred are doing. She storms out and her mom just forges her signature instead. This may have been avoided if her mom just explained that the business is failing and Andrews Construction is an honest business unlike the people Hiram was trying to hire.

Archie tells Val that she should perform with the Pussycats; he says he does still want to sing with her at some point in the future, but she belongs up there with them. Plus, after meeting her dad, Archie can see why Josie is the way she is. Val didn’t know that Josie’s dad was in town, and she quickly sees why Josie has been so rude.

Valerie talks to Josie and asks her why she didn’t say anything about her father coming into town. They have their heart-to-heart and Val tells her she wants back in the band. Josie says, “I guess there’s always room for one more kitten in my litter box.” Terrible phrase, not cute at all. There must be something else with cats that can be used.

They perform “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer. Out of all the Donna Summer songs they do the one that had three lines and is super inappropriate to sing in front of your parents and peers at a high school show while wearing cat leotards. But their voices do sound nice, so I guess that’s something. I haven’t liked any of the covers that Josie and the Pussycats have done so far. As they’re performing, Josie’s dad gets up and leaves. Josie can see this from the stage and has to keep it together until the end. There are only like three decent parents in this town; it’s almost comical.

While all of this was going on, Jughead went to visit Betty. He decides to by-pass the awkwardness of ringing the bell by using a tall ladder to get to Betty’s window and knocking. Where did this boy get this ladder? And the window is to the front of the house, so it’s not like it’s sneaky or subtle. Betty lets Jug in and tells him that her parents are crazy and she has to wonder if Polly is crazy too considering how she was talking the other day. (I don’t think Polly’s crazy; she was excited and animated to share everything with her sister.) Betty then wonders if she’s crazy too. Jughead consoles her and says, “We’re all crazy Betty. We’re not out parents. We’re not our families. Also….” And he kisses her. It’s very cute. But it’s during this kiss that Betty remembers Polly telling her about where Jason’s escape car was parked. They decide to go check out the validity of this.

They find the car right where Polly said it would be. And the car is all packed up. Jason’s jacket is in there along with some bags and drugs. Jughead takes a video off the trunk and Betty says they need to get the sheriff and then they can get her sister. But they’re being watched during this whole thing. They get to the school to get Sheriff Keller while Archie is performing. They can hear him in the hallway over the speakers. The sheriff says he got their text and ask what’s going on. They tell him that Polly and Jason were going to run away together and they know where the car is. Betty chooses to go with them, but she acknowledges that she heard Archie singing.

So, quickly – before Archie went on, he and Veronica apologized to each other. He does a great job and people clearly love it. And while we’re here, following the show, Archie and Valerie kiss, Josie cries and is comforted by her mom, and Veronica finds out that Andrews Construction got the contract. From Fred. While she and her mom exchange super uncomfortable looks.

But while all this was happening, the police go to Jason’s car only to find it on fire. Of course, if they had used that phone that they texted the sheriff on to call him instead and just tell him like that, they may have reached the car in time. Betty and Jughead go to get Polly, only to find the window broken with blood on some of it and Polly gone. Though in hindsight, how was Betty going to get Polly out of there? Everyone is a minor.

Questions: Who was watching Betty and Jughead? And I didn’t mention this in the recap because it’s already too long and it just really didn’t fit, but Archie had two incidents where he was freaked out by a wolf mask and some of the football players in the mask – what is that about? I guess we’ll see.

#riverdale #riverdale1 #riverdale 1x06 #tv recaps #long post

[artificialqueens]

City of Stars Ch. 7 (Pearlet) - Leatwerpenn

A/N - Hi everyone. I have a pretty crazy week next week so i’m posting now just in case I don’t have time! Apologies for some of the errors in formatting the previous chapter. Some stuff was bold that shouldn’t have been. Very confusing!

Anyway, another chapter. It is now summer, and again, slight smut warning.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 7 (2011) 5 Years Before. LA. Summer.

Matt lay lounging on Violet’s bed as she sat, butt naked, applying make-up for that day. They were going out into downtown LA to look at perspective places for Matt’s bar. Jason had awoke feeling like Violet today, so, she painted her face to perfection while Matt watched in fascination.

“One day, will you paint me?” Matt asked timidly as he watched Violet apply false lashes. She turned and flashed her beautiful smile at Matt.

“Of course dork. Oh my god, I’m so excited!” Violet said, as she completed her transformation. She then stood up and placed a messy lipstick coated kiss on Matt’s lips. She then looked back to admire her work. “I don’t think red is your colour.” She laughed, returning back to her mirror to check her lipstick hadn’t smudged.

Matt rolled out of bed and made his way to Violets bathroom. A lot for Matt had changed in the short time they had been together. He had quickly gathered his belongings and had moved in with Jason and Violet. Kurtis was now living with Patrick, so the timing couldn’t have been better.

His piano was now located in Kurtis’ old bedroom, along with his collection of jazz memorabilia. Apart from that, Matt didn’t have many belongs to call his own. He was gutted that Courtney insisted that she keep most of their vintage car collection; but she had let him keep his favourite. He promised to pay her back when he could, which she agreed to. For that, he was thankful.

Matt looked at himself in the mirror while he waited for the water in the shower to heat up. He looked different… Happier and more confident in himself. He found his heart constantly felt warm these days.

He showered and wrapped the towel around him. It hung low on his hips as he swaggered back into the bedroom to get changed. Violet was now sitting ready for the day, on her bed with piles of paperwork spread across it. She had a determined look on her face as she continued to work. Matt thought she was her cutest when she concentrated. She bit her lip. Fucking adorable – He Thought.

Jason didn’t end up getting the part that had been spoken about in ‘Hurts.’ Which he took to heart. Ever since he found out, Jason spent most of his time as Violet. Matt thought he was using Violet as an escape from the rejection. He just hoped they were both okay.

“What you working on today Pumpkin?” Matt asked, as he got changed into his trademark jogging bottoms.

“I’m just trying to figure out this costume change between scenes, I’m considering maybe recording something and having it projected? Or, I could change behind a screen so you could see the shadows? What do you think?” Violet’s eyes looked so golden to Matt in that moment.

Since the rejection, Violet had decided to take things into her own hands. She really wanted to write, produce, direct and star in her own one woman show. She was hoping to combine all of her creative assets and produce a burlesque/cabaret hybrid show. Matt was just happy she was focusing on her own passions after expressing to him how lost Jason left after losing out on the audition.

“I really like the changing idea with the screen actually, especially if you had the lighting right. Could be beautiful.” Matt towel dried his hair as he walked over to Violet.

This was how they got ready most mornings. Talking about their passions, laughing, and making love. They both worked odd hours, but they always seemed to make time for one another. Matt had never felt this way before. Was this what true love felt like?

Matt grabbed his phone from the side and pulled Violet into his lap. He kissed her on the cheek as he held his phone out to take a picture. He didn’t know it yet, but this would be his favourite.

_______________________________________

Violet felt sorry for Matt. They had just been to look at a perspective property and he didn’t get ‘the feeling’.

He had been doing nothing but hunting for properties ever since he and his girlfriend broke up. Matt’s passion had driven Violet to follow her path. She felt like he bought the best out in her.

But lately, Matt had been getting more and more frustrated about the properties not feeling right, or being in the wrong location, or being too expensive. Violet felt Matt’s frustration, as all of the places they had looked at were horrible. LA was overpriced and achievable.

“Vi, I’m seriously considering changing locations. I can’t afford LA. Or, maybe I need another job. God, if I wasn’t so shit at playing piano maybe I could make us more money. Fuck!” Matt rarely got angry, but every now and then Violet saw little sparks of the guy that hollered at her in the traffic that day. This was one of those moments. She giggled at his attempt to be butch.

“Calm down, c’mon. Let’s go to Charlie’s.” She held his hand and stroked the back with her thumb to try and calm him. She placed a kiss on his lips and dragged him towards the car.

Violet loved fussing over Matt. It made her forget her problems. Truth be told, she hadn’t felt like being Jason lately. Jason had really wanted the ‘Hurts’ role he had gone for. He had sat by the phone for days, waiting, praying, that they hadn’t called because they were finally figuring out a script. Turns out, the network the job was for wasn’t interested in having a ‘feminine’ man in the show. Max explained on the phone it wasn’t because he was gay, and that she loved him and wanted to work with him in the future. Jason however, felt like it was another attack from narrow minded people. He felt like he was re-living high school all over again. He and Violet hated it. When Violet had her show figured out. She was going to invite Max, and the network, and she was going to make sure she got a job from it.

She never told Matt the reason why Jason didn’t get the role. But the pain that rejection had caused Jason only made her more determined to succeed.

Violet stared out of the car window as they drove to Matt’s work. She had her hand placed on his, as they drove across the city. She often sat in the bar or danced the night away while Matt worked. He had convinced Charlie to introduce Jazz Night on Tuesday’s; where you could listen to the local talent fight through the form of music till the early hours of the morning. Charlie only allowed you to order from the bar menu on Tuesday’s and Violet loved Charlie’s fried chicken.

She hadn’t felt this happy for a very long time, and as she looked into the night sky out of the car window. All she could see, were stars.

(2001) 10 Years Before. Atlanta. Spring.

“Auntie! Yay!” Jason ran into the golden sunroom and jumped into his Auntie’s arms. He hadn’t seen her for a while. He held tightly onto her as she stroked his back.

“Hey baby boy! Goodness! Look how big you are now! You are not even a baby anymore!” Jason hadn’t seen his auntie in over a year, she was a really amazing performer and had been away from Atlanta for some time.

“I missed you! I’m writing a new song but I just can’t finish it! Will you help me?” Jason’s eyes sparkled whenever he spoke about his music.

“I’m sure you will finish it eventually my little star, or big star now! But first, presents!” She turned around to pull out two items from her bag. His face lit up seeing the two gifts.

“I get two! You shouldn’t have!” Jason took the gifts with delight. He unwrapped them with no haste and she saw his eyes sparkle gold as he looked at the pink key ring of the Eiffel Tower, and the small Chanel bag.

“Auntie… you shouldn’t have! This is so pretty! What is this though? Why would I need a girl’s bag? No boys at school have a bag like this one. They all have Ninja Turtles or Pokemon.” Jason looked at her with curiosity in his eyes. She smiled and laughed.

“Why else silly! To put things in! And look, you can attach the key ring to the side here. You can always remember me as your crazy Aunt, who bought you gifts you might not use just because it was pretty! And these are both from France, isn’t that fancy!” She was laughing as she spoke but Jason, even at a young age, understood what she meant.

“Thank you so much. I’ll keep them forever.” Jason put the purse over his shoulder and proceeded to strut around the living room, composing a song about his new bag.

Auntie Addie glanced across the room to see Jason’s mum smile and mouth a ‘thank you.’

Every time Jason thought about his Auntie, all he could see, were stars.

(2011) LA. Summer.

“Hey Charlie, can I grab a vodka?” Violet took her money out of her Chanel purse and paid for the drink. She sat back and watched Matt play on stage. He was playing in a 5 piece combo tonight. She always thought he looked so happy and free when he played with others. He looked completely different to how he looked when he played alone. When Matt played alone he showed his love for the piano and nothing else, but when he was with others, he showed his passion truly for Jazz.

Violets feet were hurting after all of the walking they had done that day, so she slipped off her shoes and wiggled her toes. That felt good.

She was bouncing her knee up and down to the music when Charlie’s wife, Dela, came and took her hand. Violet had a real soft spot for Dela, as she reminded her of her mother. She was an older lady with a slight 50s style that Violet loved. They had gotten to know each other quite well due to their shared love of everything vintage.

“C’mon doll, let’s dance while the boys work hey?” Violet got up, tripping a little on the way, and proceeded to dance till she thought her feet would fall off.

_______________________________________

Matt loved watching Violets attempt at dancing whenever he played in his combo group. She didn’t quite know how to articulate her long limbs when she danced to a faster beat and it made Matt smile.

He was noticing all of these small things about her that he didn’t notice at first. He loved her laugh. He loved this spot on her collar bone just above her contoured on breasts. He loved smudging off her fake beauty mark with his thumb after they had made love. He knew he was in love with her, he just couldn’t find the right moment to tell her.

Matt had finished for the night and was waiting for Violet to say goodbye to Dela. He thought it was cute that they were bonding. Violet didn’t have many friends and it warmed his heart to see her interacting so well with others . He noticed someone staring at him from across the bar. Where have I seen you before? The man approached and smiled when he got closer. Oh god no.

“Matthew Lent? Oh my god! I knew it was you! I would recognise those skills anywhere.” Standing in front of Matt was Raja. He was someone Matt just considered an acquaintance, they did however, have history. Raja was an amazing Jazz singer, and Matt envied that he was becoming more popular.

“Hey Raja, how have you been?” Matt wasn’t at all interested but he didn’t want to seem rude. He kept an eye on Violet from across the room.

“I’m great! I’m putting a combo group together and our keys just let us down. Spot is open, if you are interested? It’s a paying gig too?” Paying gig? Jesus. I do need the money.

“Really? Wow! I’ll have think about it. I think I have your number, so ill text and let you know?” Matt smiled at Raja. They had never got on, but if it meant getting his foot in the door, he was willing.

“Sure man, see you around. Your girl is smoking by the way.” Raja winked as he left.

Matt’s phone vibrating in his pocket forced him to move his gaze away from staring at where Raja had just left. He didn’t even check caller ID, nor did he realise how late it was for someone to be calling him.

“Sup?” He answered.

“Matthew, long time no speak son. How are you?” Matt’s blood ran cold, as he heard the all too familiar sound of the man he hated most on earth, at the other end of the line.

“Father, hello.” Matt didn’t quite know how to respond. His father always made him feel so nervous. Matt saw that Violet was engrossed in a deep conversation with Dela so he decided to take the call outside. The cold air slapped his face. When did LA become so cold in the summer?

“I just wanted to call to say that I spoke to Mr and Mrs Act recently. So, you dumped one of Hollywood’s most popular actress’. Why?” Well, he didn’t hang around.

“Because I don’t love her dad. I have met someone else. I’m a grown man, I didn’t think I really needed to justify anything to you anymore.” Matt took out a cigarette and lit it. He was starting to shake. He wasn’t sure if it was nerves, terror, or the cold.

“Who is it then? This woman that is better than THE Courtney Act!” Matt’s father sounded irritated on the phone and it was only now that he noticed that he was slurring his words. Nothing had changed.

“Her name is Violet, and she is an up and coming burlesque and cabaret performer, and I love her. To be honest dad, I do not give a fuck what you think. Now, please only call if it is an emergency.” Matt went to hang up the phone when he heard his dad faintly.

“Violet, oh that’s a wonderful name. At least she doesn’t have a name like Alex, James, Jake, you know…” Matt stopped dead.

“Actually, she has a name like Jason but don’t worry about it. Goodbye.” Matt hung up his phone and stared at it for the longest time. A faint smile spread across his face. He heard Violets heels clicking to come and greet him and he felt the warmth return to his heart. He looked up into the sky and all he could see, were stars.

(2001) 10 Years Before. New York. Spring.

“Hey mum, it’s Matty.” Matt sat down at her grave and rested the bouquet of Violets on top of her headstone gently. “You know mum, I still don’t understand why these are your favourite. They smell weird.” He looked down at the ground, sat crossed legged and started picking at the grass.

“So, I’m going to tell you a secret, but I think you already know. I think you knew all along and that’s why you tried to protect me from all of the mean people in the world.” Matt sighed and took a deep breath.

“I think I might be gay. Or at least, I don’t think I’m straight. But I can’t tell dad. Why is this mum? I don’t understand why he’s so against it. He calls Detox a ‘dirty faggot’ all of the time and it really hurts my feelings. I do not think I love Detox. But… I don’t know. Being a teenager is so confusing without you.”

Matt felt tears on his cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his sleeve

“Why am I not like the others kids in my class? Even Detox isn’t in my year at school so I don’t really have any friends. The only time I don’t feel alone is when I play piano, as I feel like you are by my side.” He laid his palm flatly on the dirt. He could feel her beneath him.

“I love you mum, and I hope one day when I’m older that I will be an amazing parent, just like you were. Thank you for loving me.”

Matt stood up, kissed her headstone and put his hands into the front pocket of his hoody. And as he left the graveyard; he looked up into the sky, and all he could see, were stars.

(2011) LA. Summer.

“Hey, look. I made you something.” Matt looked up from his music book, glasses on and blunt in mouth; from where he was sitting on the couch to see Violet, wearing a sexy black lingerie set with one of his white shirts hung loosely over the top.

Fuck.

The blunt hung from his lips as he stared at her.

Am I high enough to be imagining this?

“You are making me horny. That’s what” he replied. In a low voice. Violet giggled and moved to sit near Matt. She then leaned over to peck him on his cheek, moving his song book to the side. She then held up her drawing proudly for inspection.

Matt studied it with care. “Why does it say ‘Matt’s’?” Matt was looking at what looked like a logo. ‘Matt’s’ was written in a carefully selected script style of lettering with a quaver note as the apostrophe.

Clever. Why didn’t I think of that?

“Because, nobody is going to come to a club called ‘Blunts and Burgers’, especially if you sell fried chicken like I want you too.” She pecked him on his cheek and climbed into his lap. He held her close.

“But I like blunts, and I like burgers.” Matt whined. Violet laughed at his bratty nature. She took the blunt from his mouth and took a couple of drags. She was partial to a smoke every now and then, especially if Matt was involved. He kissed her temple and whispered a thank you into her ear. She meowed in delight.

“This illusion is blowing my mind, but I just have to ask, where in the hell is your dick? It’s so confusing.” He tried to move her panties to the side to have a look and Violet swatted his hand away.

“Look but no touch, this is for you baby.” Violet inhaled another drag of the blunt before stubbing it out in the ashtray nearby. She blew the smoke in Matts face and began to trial open mouthed kisses down his neck, nibbling as she went. Some of Violets make-up was coming off on him but she didn’t mind. She bunched his shirt in her hands as she moved back up and kissed him passionately on the mouth. She continued to kiss him while she undid each button on his shirt. One at a time, very slowly. Stopping only to look at Matt’s blissful face.

She heard soft moans from Matt as she moved down his body. Her knee’s touched the carpet a little roughly, but she liked the feeling. His head was thrown back and his lips were parted slightly.

God, you are perfect.

Violet was now kissing around his belly button, playing with his nipples at the same time. She moved her hands down his chest, grazing her nails back over his nipple as she went.

I’m going to make you feel amazing baby.

She kissed each pelvic bone, leaving red lipstick behind, before starting to palm his erection through his jogging bottoms. “God, Yes!” Matt hissed.

Violet took that as a signal and pulled his bottoms down, freeing Matt’s erection from being confined. She took it in his hands and started to rub the tip with her thumb. She massaged his balls with one of her hands while holding herself up with the other. Moving on, she kissed the top and then took it into her mouth at once. Matt inhaled sharply at the sensation. She began to move up and down, slow and steady. Violet stopped and looked back at Matt. She bit her lip as she did. His brows were crossed in concentration. She was aroused herself, and as she was tucked, it was starting to become uncomfortable. Violet however, liked the sensation and it only made her want Matt more.

She took his length into her mouth and started again, to suck on it. She moved her lips all the way down his shaft until her nose was deep in his pubic hair. She then went just as slow as she moved backwards. Up and down, over and over.

While bobbing her head, she massaged Matt’s balls between her palm. Matt groaned and grabbed her by her hair.

Good job I pinned this shit in good.

Violet increased her pace a little and she could feel Matt’s balls getting tighter in her hands. She pulled back all of a sudden and Matt whimpered at the loss of contact.

Very sexily, and looking at Matt dead in his bedroom eyes; She put her index finger fake nail into her mouth and pulled it off, spitting it across the room. She then put her finger into her mouth, sucking her finger as though it was Matt’s cock. Up and down, looking directly into Matt’s eyes; while she pumped his dick with her other hand.

“’Soon.” Matt rasped and Violet lowered her head back to sucking Matt’s cock. At the last moment, she inserted her finger into Matt’s hole, tapping at his prostate to send him over the edge.

Matt came, moaning a loud “Fucking hell Vi!” And all he could see were stars.

#pearlet #pearl liaison #violet chachki #smut #fluff #city of stars #leatwerpenn #rpdr fanfiction #la la land au #m/m au #queen au

[westakoasta]

MEGABUSIVE  - 2018

Can you tell us about your very  beginnings in the Hip-Hop culture and growing up in San Jose?

San Jose had a small scene that began to pick up steam in the early 90’s.  I got involved around 92 or so.  B-Boying and graffiti were pretty popular at the time.  I got my start there, and started rapping later on.  Around 1994.  The first show I ever did was at a legal graffiti spot in San Jose called the Barrio Art Gallery.  I did that show with my friend Dmitri, who is actually a cousin of my wife, but I didn’t meet her until much later, so that was a cool coincidence.  Dmitri was like a mentor to me in graffiti, and got us our first rap gig. The first rap group I was ever in was called Elements with Marc Price, Crescent, Esoin and Opski Chan.  We did some talent shows and stuff.

What led to your first demo as "Pro"?

I had been given an opportunity to do my first show, but I had no recorded songs.  A longtime friend and elder, Aiko Shirakawa gave me an opportunity to perform at an event she was putting together, but she said I needed ‘real’ songs.  I was part of a community group called Sages that Aiko helped facilitate and organize at the Hank Lopez Community Center in San Jose. It was sort of like Zulu Nation, but localized to San Jose and minus a lot of the more disciplined tenants.  We were young people who got together to talk about community issues, history, and trying to keep ourselves out of trouble.  I had attended meetings for a while, and Aiko gave me a shot to enter the more legitimate rap fray.  I was introduced to Tape Mastah Steph who helped with my first beats, along with Esoin. The songs I recorded for that show would later be featured on Four Track Anthems.

When did you switch to the name Megabusive and where does the name come from (it's a pretty cool one btw!)?

Thank you.  I appreciate that. I had been battling for a while.  Before heading off to a B-Boy event one Saturday, as I was getting ready I felt I needed a new name.  I wanted to something bold that was unconventional and got across what I was trying to do.  After fumbling around with variations of the word Mega, I just sort of fell into Megabusive.  At that moment, I knew I had found a name.

Can you tell us about this Epicenter Broadcast, how did you hook up with those guys? 

Epicenter Broadcast was a group formed by a cat named Axeom.  Axe, El Uno (the Unipersonalis), and Koan Abel were building together around ’96-97.  They were definitely pushing a more complex line than most other rappers of the time.  I had been friends with Axe for a while, and he brought me into the fold.  We were young, and everyone had different ideas about where things ought to go.  I myself was pretty wild and started focusing on my solo material. I actually recorded some of my first songs on El Uno’s 4-track.  Shortly after that I got my own 4-track.  It probably mostly had to do with my crazy behavior that we didn’t last long. We just ended up going our separate ways.  We had features together on a few different local projects, but that was pretty much it.

Your first cassette albums kind of stood out to me because it seems they were made with very simple equipment and also it was both sonically and verbally pretty original. There was a real will to offer something personal and fresh, no jazz or funk-related samples and every rap was pretty personal.

What was your state of mind when you recorded those albums? How did you live back then?

I was about 16 or so when I started making my own songs.  By that time I had been exposed to Hiero, Hobo Junction, Goodlife / Afterlife / Project Blowed, and Solesides so I was interested in more experimental music.  I leaned more toward darker tones and heavy bass because it just sounded good to me.  I really liked LL Cool J and Run DMC as a kid and so much of their stuff was mostly drum machines and DJ cuts.  I never really paid it too much mind.  When I first started getting going on solo projects, Killa Klove really hooked me up.  He did some of the first beats for songs I did as Megabusive, and taught me a lot about beat making and recording.  He sold me the drum machine and 4 track I used to record my first albums, and I just took it from there.  I didn’t have money for a sampler back then, so I worked with what I could afford.  I’ve also always felt that there’s something very fulfilling about having constructed your track from top to bottom.  I never much cared for how it compared to what other people were doing.  I was only really concerned for how I was doing what I was doing.

I was in my late teens.  Drinking, learning about drugs, hanging out with girls. Skateboarding. Graffiti.  That was my mindset.  I was going to shows by this time, so a lot of my direction also came from addressing what was happening in the local scene at the time.  Have beef with some crew…go home and do a song dissing them.  Have a fallout with a girl…make a song dissing her.  That was the formula.

Looking back, it's pretty crazy how active and influential the local scene in San Jose has been as far as west coast underground hip hop goes. Do you have some kind of an explanation for this, some key factors, or actors? Were the local scene pretty tight in the late 90’s, was there some kind of an emulation?

This was the mid-90’s so it was all still pretty new.  I’d credit Axeom and a cat named Mark Austria for influencing the tape trade in San Jose.  There were a lot of underground demos and dubs circulating at the time, but it was like some dark web shit.  Fools were mad stingy with dubs.  You had to be in with the in-crowd to even hear certain songs, sometimes.  Fortunately we had college radio and these dubs, which put us up on a lot underground artists.  There were also these cats Chad and Dylan that were deep in the tape trade.  I know they were responsible for helping spread things around. Aiko and Rob Rabang who threw Plan B at the Cactus Club are amongst the most influential.  They knew what was dope and they brought out a lot of folks from the underground to perform at their monthly events.

Another key player in the San Jose underground connection is Jason Dooley.  Jason and his crew TenSeven picked up where Plan B left off at the Cactus Club.  They brought out a lot of the really dope underground cats, and that gave us an opportunity to network and get to know each other  better.  They gave me a pretty open platform, as well.  While I wasn’t a ‘resident’ MC, you could pretty much guarantee I’d be rapping at some point during their events. Big up to BJ, Oscar, Carlos and their whole team for showing me as much love as they did.  Can’t say for certain where’d I’d be if not for them. Jason also loaned me the ASR-10 sampler that I used to produce Farewell to Analog and my record for Mary Joy.

Also integral to all of this were Shane Nesbitt of Below the Surface, and P-Minus at ATAK.  They were the first ones to ever sell our tapes, then later the CD’s.  Both were fully independent and mostly popped up at shows to sell merch.  Shane also had an actual storefront in Burlingame, then eventually in San Mateo, California.  They were essential to getting our music out to a broader audience, and influencing many of us to take a more professional approach to the construction and distribution of our projects.  I am eternally grateful to both of them.

You had a lot of collaborations with lots of different crews back late 90’s era (FTA/Highground, Westcoast Workforce, Shape Shifters, Sacred Hoop, New Moon, later Isolated Wax). How did you end up hooking with those crews/groups?

The FTA connection came from graffiti.  We had a little beef, but eventually became friends.  I went to school with Jaer and Demo so that helped to ease the tensions.  I was told they also appreciated that when confronted with the beef, I met it head-on instead of hiding or whatever, so that got me some respect.  I dug what those guys were doing, so I was down with mending fences.  We all really liked Hip-Hop and a few of us started writing rhymes together.  We got our real start by calling into radio shows and freestyling.  Early on we got a chance to pop by the radio station at Santa Clara University and became regulars for a short time on a show hosted by Sweet Lou.  He really helped us out back then, and I will be eternally grateful for that opportunity. Rase eventually got some equipment and that’s what really brought it all together.  His parents were really cool and let us hang out at their house a lot.  Most of the FTA stuff was done at Rase’s house in his room, or this motorhome he got and kept in the back of the house.  A lot of classic moments took place in that thing.

I’d known Joe Dub from attending Zulu Nation meetings in San Francisco when I was around 16 or 17, if memory serves. We hooked up again years later at the Cactus Club, and it was on after that.  Joey would come down to San Jose with AC75 and the homie Matty C.  They actually brought down the first 4 track we used, which eventually became Rase’s.  I think he might still have that thing somewhere.  We’d get hammered in the motor home and rap all night.  It was a great time.

I don’t want to fudge the history too much.  I was doing a lot of drugs and drinking back then, so some of the timelines are a little hazy.  To my recollection, Unbreakable Comb from FTA and his homie Liquid Gold were super committed to keeping up on all the new stuff.  They were in close contact with Axe and Mark Austria so they knew about stuff way early on.  They were the dudes who would be tuned into every college radio show, and really had their ears to the street. I’m about 98% certain they were the ones who put us all onto Sacred Hoop.  I was falling in and out of the crew during that time, while they all had been developing relationships with the Hoop. Fortunately I was able to be involved in the Moe’s Strange Hobby project.  I was a pretty wild kid at the time, and only wish maybe I would have heeded Luke Sick’s advice to take a few more shots at my verses, but still, I’m thankful to have been there at all.

During this period is also when Stealth Melters came into existence.  It started out as some sort of alias group I did by myself using 3 different voices for a song.  I had met some guys from the Santa Clara area who I thought were really dope, and had these wild styles.  I was introduced by THlostOT (lost in thought), who had actually been the person who inspired me to release my first tape.  He said he knew some people he was in college with who would dig them, so he ordered the first ever run of Megabusive tapes.  He showed me some stuff he and his friends were working on, and I was pumped.  I asked if they were down to do some tracks and it just went from there.  Pompous Kid on Trampoline/Luciferigno, Cire/White Noize, THlostOT, and I made an album together.  That was a really fun time.  Smoking a ton of weed and trying to be as absurd as we could.  It was awesome.  Later, Waste Management was created with the addition of Killichee Kows. My involvement was a little more limited there.  Later Cyvee, Deform, Killeechee Kows, and Kizmic would become Animal Liquids.  I love all those dudes to death.  

New Moon were from San Jose, and affiliated with the Daysmen Empire.  Piseas (of New Moon) is Style Misia’s cousin. I had known those guys for years, as we all came up around the same time.  Esoin and I were in Elements and he helped me with my first couple songs.  I had been really close with A-One through highschool, so we all knew each other.  New Moon had asked me to get on a track, so we did that.  They also appeared on my album Farewell to Analog.

I got to know Circus, Awol One, and Exist mostly through my having been affiliated with Anticon and through our LA connections fostered by Joe Dub.  I’d hang out at the Anticon Chalet in Oakland and they’d come through.  If they were ever elsewhere in the bay, we’d also get together.  The posse cut we did for the 3 Eyed Cows project was actually recorded in a hotel bathroom when the Shifters were visiting San Jose. I love the Shapeshifters.  Radioinactive I got to know more through hanging out with West Coast Workforce.

Workforce came about through Joe Dub.  We had been going to B-Boy Summits in San Diego and LA for a couple years and started building relationships with artists from down there.  Joe Dub was critical in keeping in contact with those guys and was eventually brought into Workforce.  I got added a little later on.  We did a couple joints and had a lot of fun.  I still have a lot of love for all those guys and still try to work with them when we can.  Much love to Subtitle, Life Rexall, Premonition, Anti MC, Joe Dub, Xololonxinxo, and Radioinactive.  Big shout out to Neila, as well.  She’s always been a major factor in the LA2THEBAY connection.

Isolated Wax is Dave Dub’s brainchild.  Dave Dub is a pillar of the San Jose rap community, along with Persevere, Barry Bones, Fanatik, Zes the Smoker, Encore, The Architect and 50 Gran. They had a crew called the Underbombers which was pretty much the toughest shit out of San Jose at the time, in my opinion. They’d all end up having the first releases out on Stones Throw and 75 Ark (run by The Automator). They had all been doing stuff for a while when I got involved in the scene.  I was a fan of Dave’s before I met him. I first met him at the Works shows that preceded Plan B.  We’d hang out a few times, and eventually became pretty close.  He had started Isolated Wax formally in about 2000.  We picked back up in the mid 2000’s because he was given a distribution opportunity and brought me onboard to help flesh things out.  All-in-all it was a pretty ambitious endeavor and I had a good time doing it.  Life has gotten very real for all parties involved, so it’s been a while since there has been an Isolated Wax release.

Your first vinyl appearance was on that dope Tags of The Times 3 compilation. How did that happen?

Man.  To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember exactly how that went down.  I recorded the songs and Deeskee’s house, though.  Deeskee is the brains behind LA2THEBAY.  At this time he was still living in Halfmoon Bay.  We’d met and hung out at different events around the Bay.  He was building up a pretty thorough endeavor at the time, so I was stoked to be recording with him on his ADAT.  I felt like I had hit the big time.

I’m really not sure how the record got initiated.  I do remember this cat Higo from Mary Joy was super cool, and really into what I was doing.  He was my contact at the label, and really helped move that along.  They had agreed to do a 12” single, but it never came out.  There’s 2 more songs and a couple test presses out floating around in the ether somewhere.  It was a huge push for me, though.  Still boggles my mind that I was even involved.  Big shout out to Higo, Shungo, and Hiro for trying to help me out.

Although you did several appearances during that period, there's a gap in your discography between 2006 and 2014 as far as doing a full album. Why such a gap?

Truth told, I just go through phases of discontentment.  I’ve had pretty severe mental health and substance abuse issues.  I’ve always enjoyed the community aspect of Hip-Hop, but feel there’s a lot questionable stuff that goes down in the music scene.  I’ve been pretty outspoken, mostly to my own detriment, and often wonder why I’m even involved.  Every few years I’m inspired by seeing what my friends and the OGs are doing, and it motivates me to put out new stuff.  I’ve been recording straight through all these years, but incentive to release records is minimal.  I’m not into this free model of giving away music and doing free shows, but I love the art and still enjoy aspects of the scene, so I do what I have to do to stay visible.  For the most part, though, being niche like I tend to be, while at odds with the establishment doesn’t generally lead to a favorable outcome.  There’s peaks and valleys.  I stopped trippin’ off people and scenarios I don’t like.  Now I just focus on the positive aspects.  It’s a lot less stressful.

How did the Hell On Hell album happened?

My good friend J the Sarge who I’ve known since highschool had been working closely with Myka 9 and the M9 imprint.  We got to talking, and one thing led to another.  The initial vision J had was more of a polished rap record, with a little more commercial sensibility.  I was recording songs and things were moving along.  While I was working on those songs, Awkward sent me the beats which would all eventually end up on Hell on Hell, and right away I started writing to those and decided I wanted to do sort of an ‘anti’ rap record.  Not against rap, but against the posturing and cool guy approach.  I had just had my first child, and thought I should be doing something more mature than what I had been known for.  There were a lot of social justice issues occurring at the time, and I just wanted to do something that was critical of the time we were living in, on all sides.  Not just the system, but also how we exist inside the system.  Not sure it went over well with the masses, but I’m glad we did it.  Much love to J and Myka for letting us do the record we wanted to do, even if ultimately it didn’t have the sort of appeal that a more hype record might have had.

You also changed your aka to Computer Chip. Was there a particular meaning to this?

I love computers and my name is Chip.  That’s the short answer.  Computer Chip is like the flip side of Megabusive.  As I’ve gotten older, the name Megabusive and the stigma it carries have sometimes felt burdensome.  I no longer battle rap.  I keep the swearing to a minimum.  The beats are more synthy and technical.  I just wanted to have an alternative outlet.  As time has gone on I’ve realized that Megabusive is both a blessing and a curse, but it’s how I’m best known and I should be proud of what I’ve built.  They’re interchangeable now.  Depends on the mood I’m in.

Then you recently started this new project with Gel Roc and Deeskee called Exalt The Anti. Can you tell us a little more about it, what the name stands for, etc.?

Basically, Gel Roc hit me up and asked if I was down to do a record.  We first met back in like ’99 and recorded for the 3 Eyed Cows tape together with the Shapes and EX2. I was down.  He also wanted me to do all the beats, which is a big deal for me because historically I’ve been told time and time again that my beats were wack.  This meant a lot to me, so I was up for the challenge.  I was moving around a bunch, and had my second child during this time.  It took a while to finish, but Gel was super cool about it and just kept encouraging me to do more beats and get songs done.  In all my time making music I’ve never had anyone take that much time and effort to help me along on a single project.  We’ve become really good friends over the course of the past few years.  I owe him a lot for that.  Luckily we were able to get Deeskee involved with the cuts, and then the final mix and master of the record.  It came together beautifully and I love those guys to death.

The name came from a chorus for the song Exalt the Anti.  We went back and forth with who’d go first, or who would do the chorus for each song.  I came up with that one just based on what we were trying to accomplish.  We both have a very similar mindset in regard to how we came up, the types of rap we like, and the way things have been on a steady decline for the past few years.  We’re not down with the bullshit.  Pretty much anti anything that isn’t what we’d deem ‘true school’.

Did you see the documentary Adult Rappers? What's your take on being 40 (or close to) and still doing that thing you love?

I haven’t seen the documentary.  I’m 39 now, and a lot of stuff still feels the same.  There’s the added concern of having a family, being more mindful of my physical and mental health, and trying to build and foster lasting/meaningful personal relationships with the people I work with. Just trying to do stuff that hasn’t really been said or done.  Dealing with cool guy shit, which is now magnified intensely by the internet.  Not having as many local events, and how few people show up to the events we are able to do is kind of a bummer, but it’s not new.  It’s just what I love. I do it for myself and the core group of people that are into it.  Trying to mature the sound some, but always having fun.  I still believe I might have a shot at doing something that reaches a larger audience, but I’m OK with how things are.  I’ve always been lazy and kinda crazy, so I believe I get out what I put in.  My wife is super supportive of what I do, and allows me the freedom to go about things at my own pace.  She even shot my last few videos.  It’s a real family affair.

Do you write the same way than back then? What did change on an personal, artistic point of view?

Having my kids has changed my perspective quite a bit.  I used to be really angry and it was reflected in my music.  I would often come off as aloof, or even bitter, but with some comedy. I was mostly just mocking other people.  Whether it was gangster rap, or other underground heads I didn’t like, I was always poking fun.  As I’ve gotten older, none of that matters as much.  My kids listen to my music and I feel like I owe it to them to be doing things more responsibly.  More personal introspection, and less anger.  With that I’ve also become more conscious of my cadences, delivery, etc.  I used to keep it to as few takes as possible.  If I had to record a song again, it probably wasn’t going to get finished.  Now I am definitely more meticulous.  I want it to be known and acknowledged that I am serious about what I do.  I also used to write more stream of consciousness style with very loose rhymes, whereas now I’m more into stacking rhymes and patterns.  Had to clean things up, and prove I’m not a one trick pony. I’ve just been a drunk with very little guidance.

And on a larger tip, how do you see the shift of that particular underground scene in terms of audience, sales, etc.?

It comes in waves.  Things will be very strong for a while, then it seems to calm down a little bit.  There are also other elements at play now, which have always been foreign to me.  Underground artists have a lot more options these days and are taking advantage of industry tools.  Coming up, I didn’t know anyone with a publicist or booking agent, and now it’s almost mandatory.  I have yet to retain such services, but have definitely considered it for future releases.  Why should everyone else get to have all the fun?  It takes a lot to get people to even check it out, let alone spend any money on it.  My feeling is that if you’ve got a strong product, and get out on the road, you should be able to move a few copies.

Finally, do you have new projects to come?

I’ve always gotten something in the pot.  Right now I’m just stacking tracks.  Dropping random one-offs online.  Just trying different things to get a read on what people like and what they don’t like.  While I make music to satisfy my own urges, it’s naive to totally ignore the audience.  I’ve learned that the hard way, but I wouldn’t trade my path for anyone else’s.  I’ve also been working on producing songs and records, so I’ve got a few collaborative efforts taking shape right now with some amazing artists, that we all know and love.  I’m really looking forward to those releases.

Thank you for taking time out to talk with me.  I apologize for taking so long.  It was a lot to remember, and I wanted to do my best not to leave anything or anyone out.

I may have mixed up a few of these dates and stories.  It’s been more than 20 years in some cases, and I’ve been a mess for a lot of it.  If anyone reading this disagrees with my memories of how things actually happened, I apologize.  If your name was mentioned, it’s all love.  There were so many people involved and it happened so quickly, in retrospect.  I want to send a thank you to everyone who has ever been cool with me, or helped me out along the way.  I’m not the easiest person to get along with, so I really appreciate those who have taken me as I am.  Peace.

https://megabusive.bandcamp.com/

https://music.abolanorecords.com/album/hip-hop-against-the-world

Interview conducted by Pseudzero, august 2018.

#megabusive exaltheanti sanjosehiphop westcoastunderground

[enappartet]

Communities for the golden age

Seniors polishing up a classic antique 1950s Cadillac at Áegis of Bellevue. (Courtesy Áegis Living)

It’s never easy to find a new home.

Just ask Barbara Nelson, a former account manager from Seattle. When her husband passed away, she moved from the century-old house where they had lived for 48 years. She has piercing eyes and a strong voice, but it trembles slightly as she explains: “It was so traumatic. After the estate sale, I took five things out of that house and walked away. I felt like I lost my neighborhood.”

Barbara made the decision, consulting with her family, to move to a senior living community. She visited a number of locations in the Seattle area and two and half years ago decided on Mountlake Terrace Plaza.

On a quiet street in the suburb north of Seattle, across from a lush park and library, the building could pass for any upscale complex. It’s become a new home, with benefits, for Barbara, her friends Mary and Pam, and about 75 other seniors. The three women are joined by Rosita Sandell, the community’s executive director, after some tasty jelly-filled German doughnuts made from scratch in the building’s kitchen.

Big band jazz plays from the speakers as the group describes the busy life at Mountlake Terrace Plaza: art classes, volunteering, yoga, Wii bowling, music, movies, barbecues, trips to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest, river rafting, and eagle watching, coordinated by their energetic activities director.

Welcome reception, no dishes or cooking

For Barbara, the active life and the friendly reception drew her into the community — oh, and, she adds with smile, that she doesn’t have to cook and do dishes.

Welcome to the rapidly evolving future of senior life, a blend of skilled nursing, technology, architecture and business management all wrapped together with resort-style hospitality.

Sandell, who has been with the MBK Senior Living property for a couple of years, said the community, like a growing number of senior living facilities, provides a lot of what the residents need in a home, while allowing them independence.

“You can’t always tell someone who’s 91 years old and made all their own decisions that this is the way it’s going to be,” she said.

Untapped potential triggers course correction

Dressed in a red blazer with black slacks and shirt, Sandell, a 2011 graduate of Washington State University’s hospitality management program with a gracious demeanor, could be a top restaurant or hotel manager. She, in fact, has that background, helping start up concessions and catering at the launch of both Safeco Field and Seahawks stadium exhibition center, then later working at the Washington State Convention Center. Sandell grew tired of training her own managers, so she decided to get further education, first at Highline Community College and then WSU.

She was on track to go into the hotel industry, but a particular class her last year opened her eyes to senior living.

“The ‘a-ha’ moment came when we visited residents and staff at a Seattle facility, and I saw the untapped potential,” she said.

That place and others are a far cry from the past drab image of a “nursing home” with listless seniors just sitting around. The Mountlake Terrace community and thousands more across the state and country help seniors create new homes and enjoy their golden years. But the communities are swelling with the tide of Baby Boomers entering their active later years, and the need is dire for people like Sandell.

The Silver Wave

With around 60,000 people a day in the United States turning 65, and senior living communities filling up and popping up all over, the industry is starting to feel the crunch. An estimated 90 million seniors will live in the country by 2050, and while some will continue living in their homes and “age in place,” many more will seek out apartment-style facilities or more residential active adult communities.

Nancy Swanger, director of the School of Hospitality Management at Carson College of Business.

It was the pressing need that brought senior living executive Jerry Meyer to WSU and to Nancy Swanger, director of the School of Hospitality Management in the Carson College of Business, with a request in 2010. Meyer was then president of Áegis Living, a rapidly-expanding senior living company based in Redmond.

“When I first met with Jerry Meyer, he said to me, ‘We want people with a hospitality background and not just a skilled nursing background,’ ” Swanger said.

At first, she was a skeptic.

“My 88-year-old parents still live in their own home. In my mind, all I could think about was nursing homes. What was the connection to hospitality?” she said.

Meyer explained that similar skills are needed when operating senior living communities as running hotels and resorts. Since more than a million more managers will be needed in the senior living industry in the next decade, he thought WSU was in a prime position to train them.

WSU partners with industry leaders

Swanger, who’s also associate dean at the Carson College and the W. Terry Umbreit distinguished professor in the 85-year-old hospitality program, agreed after visiting a Seattle Áegis Living facility.

“I was blown away. It was like walking into the lobby of a really nice hotel,” she said

Although she recognized that many of the operations — food and beverage, concierge, housekeeping, recreation — were similar to hotels and resorts, her own restaurant background wasn’t sufficient to develop a specific senior living class. So Meyer helped create the course for fall 2011, joined by presidents and executives from other Seattle-area senior living companies: Bill Pettit from Merrill Gardens, Granger Cobb from Emeritus and Jason Childers from Leisure Care.

“Those leaders helped develop curriculum, found speakers, flew them over the mountains on their own dime. The very second class period, all four company presidents were sitting in Pullman, Wash., to teach a class,” Swanger said. “We had competitors around the table multiple times, and you would think it was Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn’t about being competitive. And they weren’t there to market their own companies.”

Unique training focus

That first class of 12, which included Sandell, started a one-of-a-kind program, with field trips to Puget Sound senior facilities and classroom training on finances, marketing, and other aspects of assisted living, independent living and memory care.

“It’s not that we’re the only people doing something in this area; however, we’re unique in that most programs are in gerontology, graduate programs, and real estate,” Swanger said. “In a hospitality school in a college of business, we’re definitely it.”

Scott L. Eckstein, of Washington State University’s Hospitality.(Photo by Matt Hagen) Management program

The class size has now grown to 45 students across WSU campuses statewide. It’s led by Scott Eckstein, clinical assistant professor of hospitality and senior living executive-in-residence at WSU Everett. Eckstein joined WSU in March 2016, taking over for Merrill Gardens president Bill Pettit.

A veteran executive with extensive experience in the senior living industry, Eckstein didn’t start in the field. He began in real estate in his native New York City. When the market turned sour in the late 1980s, his research showed growth potential in building for an aging population. The company he worked for was leery of the prospect, since they didn’t have expertise with senior properties. But Eckstein’s professional insight in 1991 had an unexpected personal connection, as well.

“At that time, my paternal grandfather was in a nursing home and my grandmother lived alone in her Bronx apartment. She would visit him seven days a week, nine to 10 hours a day, and that was her life,” he said.

Eckstein’s voice lowers. “She ended up having an aortic aneurysm, alone on her kitchen floor where she laid for nine hours. I was very close to my grandma and that had a major impact on me. I thought if she was around people, somebody would have said, ‘Why isn’t Mary at breakfast?’ It is very possible she could have survived.”

Resort-like atmosphere

He decided to take a new career path, and began working in senior living development and then senior living operations. His work expanded in the United States, as well as Spain, Mexico and Asia. He has worked for ARV (now Atria), Sunrise and Áegis Living, followed by a stint with Emeritus (now Brookdale).

Now, as he teaches the ins and outs of this hybrid business of hospitality, healthcare, real estate, and finance, Eckstein shows students that modern senior living is not what they expect.

“Senior living is not seen as sexy,” he said. “A lot of the students want to go into hotel business. They want to run the Hilton in Waikiki.” When they visit some senior living communities, though, it opens their eyes to the resort-like atmosphere of many of them.

Eckstein notes that many millennial students don’t want just a job, either. They want to make a social impact while making a good living.

“Imagine making a difference in the lives of grandpa and grandma and their families,” he said. “We talk about doing well by doing good.”

The old and new communities

The idea of “retiring,” especially to warmer climes, certainly isn’t a novel idea. Thomas Edison had one of his houses in New Jersey dismantled in the 1890s and moved to Florida, where he would winter and finally live permanently. He was soon joined by Henry Ford and his wife, and other wealthy families.

Eventually, middle class seniors in the 1920s started heading south with their “tin Lizzies” pulling mobile homes to Florida for the winter. Hotels in Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Miami and other cities also began catering to aging semi-permanent clients, the “Snowbirds.”

The grand social experiment in age-restricted communities really took off around 1960 with Del Webb’s Sun City in Arizona. The entrepreneur founded a large community featuring mostly smaller homes, which then expanded to similar communities in Florida and California. Webb’s Sun City properties drew the middle class, with their pensions and their dreams of an “active retirement” and country club lifestyles. They were often built around golf courses and maintained a strict 55+ policy for residents.

One of Webb’s competitors, Ross Cortese, opened Leisure World communities in Laguna Hills, Seal Beach and other California locations. Cortese changed the language from “retirement” to “active adult,” with a concentration on recreational activities. The small, one-story homes were also more geared toward assisting seniors’ changing health needs, such as bars by the tubs in bathrooms.

Fifty years later, many senior living communities look quite a bit different. Down I-405 from Mountlake Terrace, just blocks from downtown shops, Áegis Living Bellevue also sits on a peaceful street across from a verdant park. Past the flowers and manicured landscaping, the busy lobby hosts an exercise class. A baby grand piano awaits a player under tall ceilings with chandeliers. It has the feel of a fine hotel, and one can see why WSU students like Sandell were impressed when they visited.

The manager, Patrick Mazzuca, greets residents by name as he leads a tour of the building, accompanied by his two vivacious goldendoodle dogs. Beyond a range of amenities, from a movie theater to gyms, beauty salon, a library, and more, Mazzuca said the most important thing is residents’ happiness as they move in.

Continuum of care

“Nobody says, ‘I can’t wait to move into senior living.’ It’s our job as staff to be compassionate and understanding, and to also help the families, who may feel some guilt,” Mazzuca said.

One common feature with many senior living communities, like Áegis Living, is the continuum of care. The residents are able to move from independent apartments to assisted living, memory care if they develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, or other higher care needs.

In the memory care area, residents plant yellow flowers on a rolling cart. They’re surrounded by nostalgic reminders: an alcove with vintage Coca-Cola signs, a back garden with a ’50s-era car and a Sinclair gas pump, photos of their families. Mazzuca said it’s all designed to ease residents, and help them feel safe.

Across the state, a similar experience awaits more than 350 seniors at the Touchmark on Spokane’s South Hill. Ken Alexander, WSU ’94 graduate, manages the skilled nursing and assisted living area there, using his 14 years of industry experience. Beginning at an expansive lobby, he leads the way past apartments and through the dining area to recreation and art rooms. Large boards show the numerous daily activities. Nursing and memory care are in separate wings.

“We do a lot of transitions. As people age in place in the independent cottages and then might need extra help, they can move to nursing or memory care,” Alexander said.

Apartment facilities like Touchmark and Áegis Living aren’t the only model. Panorama, a 140-acre community in Lacey with 850 residences, comes from the same pedigree as Sun City. It was built 54 years ago as a “retirement” community, with 11 neighborhoods that hold single-family homes, duplexes and apartments. It also has an assisted living and care facility on the premises.

Dramatic changes

Howard Burton, Panorama’s director of marketing, drives slowly through the winding streets, past the new pollinator garden (installed with help from WSU Extension) to a recreation complex tucked amid the homes.

“It’s changed. It has become more about lifestyle enrichment,” said Burton, who’s worked at Panorama for 24 years. He walks past exercise rooms and a swimming pool. “We have 108 hobby and interest groups, including a writer’s group that’s been around for 27 years.”

At Panorama’s 206-seat theater, where residents perform plays and hold film festivals, Burton introduces Katherine Billings, the effusive arts director.

“We have an intelligent, engaged group that writes, directs and acts in plays,” she said.

“Some people may have felt invisible as they grew older,” she continues. “No longer. They move to a community like this and they can learn and do things they’ve always wanted to do.”

Burton notes that Panorama, too, has a long waiting list and a need for new staff.

“The challenge is labor, in nursing and a lot of other areas. It’s truly satisfying, though, and people really care what you do,” he said.

Changing challenges

Age-restricted and senior communities have not escaped criticism. Some claim they further fragment society by not engaging seniors but hiding them away, which can reinforce stigma around aging.

Another problem is financing. People are living longer, and wealth inequities can put many senior living communities out of reach. Eckstein pointed out that labor is still 50 to 60 percent of the cost in senior living, no matter what people pay. Help may come from new business models, he said, or technology may help create efficiencies, like robots tending the growing population of seniors in Japan.

“We still need to figure out the middle market,” he said, referring to financing for people with less money saved for their later years. “Maybe someone in one of my WSU classes will work that out.”

Tens of millions of seniors, though, have already made new homes in age-restricted communities, and companies continue to evolve to serve their needs. For example, they’ve opened up affinity communities, such as ones for Chinese language speakers, religious affiliations, military veterans, and lesbian and gay seniors.

Doing well while doing good

As the tens of thousands of senior communities expand and adapt, WSU’s program also continues to grow. A new interdisciplinary senior living degree is in the works, with not only hospitality business operations, but also nursing, technology and psychology, to reflect how many communities like Áegis Living, Touchmark and Panorama serve a broad range of seniors’ needs.

After starting the business class, Swanger began conversations with other faculty around WSU who had interest in the field of aging and senior living: Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe in psychology, Laura Hill and Cory Bolkan in human development, Diane Cook in electrical engineering, and Catherine Van Son and Shelly Fritz at WSU Vancouver’s nursing department, to name a few. Swanger invited them over for lunch and the conversation led to the idea of a holistic degree and a research institute.

The Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living will focus on three dimensions: workforce development, collaborative management and sponsored research, and undergraduate education. It would be named for one of the founding fathers of the WSU senior living program and a pioneer of the industry who died of cancer in 2015 at age 55. Some of that research includes smart home technology, like that being tested by Fritz at Touchmark in Spokane.

Online training

WSU has also started a noncredit online certificate program that will allow people to train in senior living management over the course of a year.

“The industry doesn’t have the supply of people to even meet the demand they have currently to run their communities,” Swanger said, and this certificate can help get people up to speed.

That means not just training, but generating interest.

“We need to let students know this is a career opportunity. It’s a lot like a hotel, except the people check in and stay longer, and they might be, on average, older,” Swanger said. “If you want to be the manager of a hotel property, it can take 15 to 20 years or more to work into that position. Rosita was running her own building in a year.”

The program still brings in industry insiders for classes, such as Patrick Dooley, chief operating officer of Vancouver-based Milestone Retirement Communities, the eighth largest privately managed assisted living company in the country.

Through classroom and online learning, and experiential field trips, the school continues to show students that senior housing is not what it used to be. As one example, for their final project, Eckstein asked hospitality students to write a group research paper discussing what future products and terminology Baby Boomers envision will be part of the senior living environment.

Even that lexicon is changing.

“In all likelihood, we won’t be using the term ‘senior’ as an industry,” Eckstein said. “Boomers do not like the terms ‘senior,’ ‘senior housing,’ or even ‘senior care.’ We are alerting students early on to this upcoming change in the conversation to help them develop a different mindset toward ‘retirement’ communities, though even the term ‘retirement’ will also be changing as we move forward. The definition of retirement is to cease to work, withdraw, or stop. That is not how the Baby Boomers will be doing it.”

A place to call home

Whether it’s called “retirement” or “active adult,” back at Mountlake Terrace Plaza, Barbara, Mary and Pat appreciate their life. They don’t like the term “nursing home” or even assisted living, but they do like the camaraderie.

That still doesn’t make it easy to call it home.

“At times, I feel I could have stayed at my house. Then I take a deep breath and say, ‘No, I couldn’t.’ It was a very old house and needed a lot of attention. It was not a place to live alone,” Barbara said.

The family environment, say the three residents, is what makes it a true community.

“Everyone watches out for each other,” Sandell said, and that makes it feel safer and more comforting.

Sandell greets other residents with a smile and a friendly word as she navigates the remodeling work in the building. She turns pensive as she thinks about how she has benefited, as well.

“Personally. it’s even helped me with my grandparents,” she said. “It’s also helped me rethink how I talk to people. How do I want to be treated when I get older? Do I want to be taken seriously, or will I just be looked at as a person with gray hair who nobody listens to?”

Sandell said the emotional rewards certainly add satisfaction to the work.

“There’s a lot of empathy involved,” she said. “People bring their heart to it.”

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of Washington State Magazine

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