#Despite being very pretty Danny has a hard time making friends

[rboooks]

Child Support Part 2

Tim watched the other young heroes as they tried to look around the watch tower without seeming like they were. He's been here plenty of times, but the rest of the Teen Titans and a few of the Young Justice hasn't.

Much was due to the older heroes leaving the younger ones alone. Some not taking them seriously enough to welcome them at the big HQ as much as that made his blood boil.

They were taking the same risks. They were fighting the same good fights. Why was their age the main reason they weren't treated equally?

Some teenage heroes weren't part of a team per see, but they always answered when a call was sent. For example, Cass and Steph were present, speaking softly to Static Shock. Damian was standing next to Jon and his little friend Colin who was just getting into the swing of the hero business.

Bruce almost bit through his tongue when Damian told him Abuse would be joining Robin on parol, and he could do nothing to stop them. (Tim felt like he was watching Damian tell Bruce a paraphrased version of "But Daddy, I love him!" and it kept him smiling for weeks)

It was wild to see almost every young hero in one place. He doesn't think this happened since the last time Justice Leauge got mind controlled and almost destroyed the whole world.

"Any idea why we're here?" Kon asks to his right, lowering his shade to stare at the Outlaws. Jason's team stood to the side chatting iddly while cleaning over thier weapons.

Kon's always like their punk point of view, and he knows his best friend wants to go over there to talk to them. If it wasn't for the issue of the clone still being mad about what Jason did at the Teen Titans tower. Almost murder was hard to forgive for people outside the Bats.

"None. All I know is that John Constantine sent out a message to every teenage superhero group calling for a meet-up," Tim responds.

Bart whistles with a grimace on his right. "Must be bad if that guy is asking."

"I heard Hawkwoman tell Superman that she was worried and wasn't sure she wanted anyone of us mixed up in Constantine's mistakes." Cassie chimes in from where she leans on the couch. The three turn to her as she lowers her voice, attempting to keep the others from hearing. "Batman told her off for it."

"Batman did?" Tim asks, surprised.

Cassie shrugs, throwing a bit of her blond hair over her shoulder. "As much Batman can emote anyway."

Yeah, that sounded about right. Though it must have been something Bruce found disrespectful. His dad usually never reprimanded strangers unless they were saying something or doing something that sounded far too much like bigotry to him.

But to apply that to Constantine? Someone, Bruce generally disliked communicating with because the man tended to backstab his contacts? Yes, Constantine wasn't evil, but he wasn't pleasant either.

If Bruce had magical issues, he tended to contact Zatanna first.

Just then, the watch tower's zeta beams activate. Everyone who gathered turns to the teleporting pads where Constantine appears looking, for lack of a better word, absolutely exhausted. Even Tim knows that his eye bags aren't that bad, and he's usually going hours without sleep.

"Oh good, you all made it," Constantine says, sipping from a mug and wearing nothing but sweatpants and what looks like a nightgown. His signature trench coat was nowhere in sight. "I'm going to be quick about this. I need a team of young heroes willing to accept my son into their fold."

The room is dead silent. Constantine sighs. "Look, I've tried everything, but it's like Danny is allergic to laying low. He fought with a demon the other day over a child's doll- which you all know happens. People get haunted! But Danny refused to do it the right way, and now I had to beat off the demon's marriage proposal at least ten times. Not to mention his lack of social skills! No matter which one I stick him in, he can't seem to make friends in school. He got shoved into a locker on his first day! I thought that was an American exaggeration of the telly!"

Constantine pauses and takes a large gulp of whatever he's drinking before continuing his rant. A hand runs through his already messy hair, leaving it in bigger disarray as he speaks. "He's behind in terms of trends and technology cause his other father raised him outside of the typical timelines, so sometimes it's like talking to someone from the early two thousand, and other times it's like he's a modern Victorian era lad. His powers are also all over the place because the ectoplasm in our world is thicker, so when he breathes it in, he losses his control. Just the other day he accidentally made himself fly through our ceiling and almost reach the atmosphere before I was able to bring him back down."

A few of the fliers in the room wince. Jon nods and whispers under his breath, though his voice carries in the silence. "Yeah, been there before. Flying can be scary if you don't know how to come down."

Johns glances around at all the young people, eyes showing a tad bit of desperation. "He's sad all the time now, and I don't know how to help. If working with you could help him make friends, I would be grateful. He's a great kid. He just needs to adjust."

Tim had no idea what to do with this information; how do you respond to arguably one of the strongest Justice League Darks' heroes asking for a play date for his son?

"How old is the child?" Damian's voice rings out. Colin's hand is attached to his sleeve, a slightly nervous smile on the boy's face as he attempts to hide from the staring heroes behind his brother. Tim bets that if he wasn't wearing the domino mask, they would be able to see slight tears in Colin's eyes.

Damian's other hand goes across his body to cover Colin's hand, and Tim fights a shit-eating grin. His eyes lock with Jason, and the two send each other knowing grins. Looks like Bruce did have to worry about Damian having a secret boyfriend.

He can't wait to tease Damian later.

"He's fourteen....or well, physically?" Constantine answers eagerly.

"What does that mean?" Kon asks this time.

"Okay, so he's half human, half ecto-being. He sired him with his other father, Clockwork, which was only four years ago in this dimension, but since he was raised in the Infinite Relemas, times move differently there? " The British man says, and Raven goes rigid.

"Clockwork, as in the most powerful Ancient?" She asks, looking horror-struck when Constantine nods.

Before anyone asked what that meant, the zeta tubes activated again without permission. Someone had hacked into their systems which were ten levels bad. Everyone naturally fell into a fighting stance, only to blink when a teenage boy stepped out with a loud excited screech.

"We're in space!" The teenager runs to one of the windows, pressing his hands and face up against the glass. "This is amazing!"

Tim only relaxes his muscles once Constantine clears his throat. "Chum...what are you doing here?"

"Oh. One of your curse rocks things started proposing to me again, so I ran out of the House of Mysteries. Thought I see what you were up to." The teenager says, turning around with a smile and utterly freezing at the sight of the gathered heroes.

He had dark hair, wide blue eyes, and the most adorable face Tim had ever seen. Not as sexy as Bernard, of course, but darn close. Judging by the looks of anyone attractive to males, most heroes thought the same.

"Um...hi?" He says, offering the Godsmack teenagers a helpless little shrug. "I'm Danny Constantine."

"It is a pleasure, Constantine." Damian marches over to him with all his little twelve-year-old authority. He barely reaches Danny's chest. "I shall look forward to working with you. Are you formally trained in combat or strictly magic?"

"Um...oh, I can throw a punch or two? I'm mostly self taught. I rely on my powers a lot?" Danny fumbles to answer throwing a desperate look at his presumed father.

"No matter. I shall have you begin training. My Beloved also needs to work on his form. There is no shame in this" Damian nods, and Constantine lets out a large sigh of relief. He jogs over to place a hand on his son's shoulder, giving him a one-sided hug

"Yes, Danny, you will join Robin, Superboy, and Abuse on missions. They agree to help you settle and get used to your ghost powers." Constantine smiles. "I'll give me time to discourage all those idiots from trying to trick you into marriage."

"Oh...okay. It's nice to meet you all. Please call me Phantom on the field. Um, are you the team leader?" He asks Damian as the three youngest boys lead him further into the watch tower.

Constantine watches them go with the brightest smile he's ever seen on the man's face. He looks back to the group, who were barely starting to pick their jaws off the floor and makes a shooing motion with his hand. "You lot are dismissed."

Then the man vanishes in a green portal.

There is a ringing silence until Barts blurts out. "I'm pretty sure this is where the Phantom Fan Club first formed. A historical moment."

Tim wants to take a nap.

( Part 1 )

#dcxdp crossover #dc x dp crossover #Child Support #Part 2 #John is trying his best #He's fighting off suitors from his son #Despite being very pretty Danny has a hard time making friends #He's the oldest in Damian's new team #I found the ship Damian/Colin the other day and I love it

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #13

(I've been kicking this idea around for a while, so here's this.)

✦

Mistaken Species

Phantom gets mistaken for a greater ice demon by a wannabe wizard going on a "gotta catch'em all" spree, and is subsequently sealed inside said wizard's book of magic as a potential binding summons/familiar. Danny goes missing for months? Years? Regardless of how long, somehow, someway, the book falls into Constantine's hands --He probably stole it in a game of poker. Yes, stole.-- then he pretty much just stashes it in the House of Mystery for safekeeping like all the other magic items that have been confiscated by the JLD.

It isn't until a world ending heat related threat appears, that he excavates the book and proceeds to make a familiar's contract with what he thinks is a powerful ice demon. What he gets instead is a very confused, very scared, and very exhausted Danny. Unfortunately for both of them, the familiar's contract still binds despite Danny being the wrong species of supernatural creature it was intended for. They are now stuck with each other for an indefinite amount of time.

Luckily, on the other hand, Phantom is still suited to handling the task he was summoned for and whoops ass and saves the day with his ice powers in little to no time at all. The Justice League are shocked by how quickly and efficiently the kid handled everything where they struggled in comparison.

Constantine has to explain the mix up to both the Justice League and to Danny--hes still very confused, not so much scared, and very tired--and how this ghost child is now stuck being around Constantine, and subsequently the Justice League Dark/Justice League whenever he's called in to help.

Shenanigans ensue as well as the majority of the JL trying to make his stay as comfortable as possible. Danny keeps dropping info bombs on how screwed up his human/hero life and his relationship with his parents is, and eventually help him contact his friends and sister, who have been worried sick about him over the years he'd been missing.

This is how the Justice League learn about what a dead zone (ha) Amity Park is and then step up to handle situation with the guidance of Phantom himself.

✦

Notes:

The amount of time Danny's been missing, as well as the guidelines of the familiar/summons contract are up to you to decide!

(Do I use Constantine too much for these prompts? He just fits so well in so many different au scenarios, it's kinda hard not to keep throwing him into the story.)

#dp x dc #dc x dp #danny is mistaken for an ice demon by some wanna be wizard #he basically gets kidnapped and hidden for years #at least until constantine decides to throw himself into the narrative #constantine summons danny #danny is now constantine's familiar #danny meets the justice league #ice ghosts give off similar vibes as ice demons apparently if slightly less chaotic in energy? #danny needs help #danny phantom crossover #dp crossover #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #writing prompt #prompt #mistaken species au

[blot-squisher]

It's nice to see Evan getting some love ❤️ Thank you @ninthsheep and @theamazingfire1 ❤️

SFW Alphabet Ask Meme for Surviving the Game the Trapper

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?) It's very hard for Evan to show affection in a non-aggressive way. Generally any kind of soft displays are kept private or are quickly followed by more of the same gruff attitude. Generally, he'll give the person he cares about a nickname that only he's allowed to use. Anyone else tries that and something's getting broken.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?) Evan is an... interesting person to be friends with. There's only one person in the Realm he really considers a friend, and it's not Danny. He'll still snap and snarl, but he's usually not as harsh as he is towards people he doesn't like. Which is generally everyone...

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?) In constant pain from the shrapnel embedded in his bones, it makes cuddling difficult. Not to mention he was raised to believe such displays were a sign of weakness... That being said, if he can find a way to cuddle his partner comfortably, he will. But only in private.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?) Evan has never been the settling down type. He was raised to run a business with an iron hand. That took up all his time, and finding a wife was... out of the question. He can cook pretty well but usually doesn't. He tends to eat on the go and if that means gnawing on a raw deer leg, so be it. Despite his outer appearance, Evan is a clean freak. Obviously mining and hunting is dirty work, but that shit stays outside.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?) Bluntly. The man is not subtle at all.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?) Evan has avoided marriage like the plague. A wife was a burden he knew would out him, and a husband was something he knew he couldn't have (at the time). Now days, he's content to know he does have someone he loves, that loves him back. That's good enough.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?) Gentle was beaten out of him before he could walk. Learning how to be gentle now is a long and oftentimes difficult thing, but he's trying. He's not always good at it, especially with words, but he's doing his best.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?) Evan is not a hugger. Much like cuddling, it's hard for him to touch people due to the constant pain in his body. It doesn't help that physical affection was simply not allowed growing up. On the rare occasions he does hug someone, it's like being grabbed by a grizzly bear. Is he going to rip your head off, or just hold you? Guess you'll find out!

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?) It'll take a while. Affection, physically or verbally, wasn't something he was used to giving or receiving for most of his life. Once he's sure you have is genuine, he'll say it. He won't say it often, but when he does you'll know he means it.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?) Evan isn't generally a jealous person. It's a weak man's emotion, and he was taught to be better than that. If he wants something, he works hard for it. Better to earn what he has then envy another.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss their partner? Where do they like to be kissed?) He prefers to bite. Hard. If he can draw blood, he will. When he does kiss, it's aggressive and demanding. Now that he has you, he plans to keep you.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?) If they're old enough to walk, they're old enough to work. Children are good for getting into small spaces, but that's about it. He's not fond of them, really.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?) Up early. There's work to be done and if you aren't up before the sun, you're a lazy bastard and a boot in the ass is going to be your wake up call.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?) Once the work is done, it's time to get cleaned up and get dinner. Lately things have been a bit more lax, with no mine to run or Trials to keep up with and he's started allowing himself to take some time to unwind and relax.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?) If it becomes relevant, he'll talk about it. Otherwise, he's not one to share about himself. He values his privacy, but he'll still talk about things if you're respectful and don't pester him about it. (looking at you, Danny...)

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?) The man has a hair trigger. You breathe wrong and he's going to snap.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about their partner? Do they remember every little detail they mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?) If he finds something interesting, he'll remember it. If he likes you enough to so much as consider you a friend, he'll remember.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in their relationship?) Realizing there was someone who could actually love him. Who could see past the person he was and help him become a better person.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect their partner? How would they like to be protected?) Like many Slashers, he'd fight god for his partner. He knows he's capable of great violence and acts of brutality have never bothered him, rather, he enjoys it in most cases. Evan doesn't feel the need to be protected, and would probably find it rather amusing if you tried. As long as you didn't get hurt, he'd probably be kind of proud of you for trying in the end.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?) It would take him a while to realize those dates are actually important. He never actually celebrated his birthday and almost forgot when it was... For his partner, he'd probably ask them point blank what they'd like or if they wanted him to do anything, because he genuinely has no idea how to go about that kind of thing.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?) He can be very demanding, expecting people to do as they're told without really considering how his tone or wording comes across.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?) Although he often quietly laments the loss of his hair, he's accepted himself and his looks for what they are. He worked in a mine. Vanity had no place there.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without their partner?) Although he never thought the answer would be yes and it would be incredibly difficult to get him to admit it... Yes. Yes he would.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.) Evan actually has terrible eyesight, which is part of why the Entity heightened his senses of smell and hearing.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?) Disobedience, laziness, uncleanliness, and disrespecting someone in their home/being disrespected in his own home.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?) Evan barely sleeps, especially when he's alone. It's hard to do when he's constantly in pain and can only sleep on his back or one side. He's destroyed too many mattresses to count by sleeping on the wrong side...

#sfw alphabet #surviving the game fic #evan macmillan #dbd the trapper #writing thoughts #ask meme

[channajen]

Chapter 3: “Batman, Meet Amity Park” is up!

Chapter 3 of “Batman, Meet Amity Park” is live. Read it HERE.

This is story 5 in the series “Ghosts in Gotham” Series link HERE

Story 1 HERE   Link to first chapter in this story is HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Summary:  Danny and Jazz are safe in the hands of the Justice League. What about Sam and Tucker? This is what happened that fateful day, from their perspective.

Teaser: They hadn’t really expected that safe place to be Gotham City, despite the fact that Jazz was determined to go there. While they had more than enough cash to see them through a couple of months if they were careful, having a safe, rent-free place to wait things out was very appealing. The only issue was deciding if they could trust their benefactor. The pair had only met with Jason for a short while, and they thought he was pretty cool. Unfortunately being cool didn’t mean he was looking out for their best interests. Something had happened between the man and Jazz that made her believe in him, though. Still, taking his help meant trusting him with their lives–with Danny’s life. That was a big step. They carried the communicator that Danny had given them that morning, anyway, but they hadn’t used it yet. Tucker hadn’t had time to take it apart and look for hidden tracking devices. The single reason they kept it was because it was the only way to contact Jazz. She trusted Jason, and that was enough for Danny. Now it had to be enough for them as well.

Tucker’s thoughts were a scattered whirlwind, and he jumped when the communicator began beeping. Sam was driving, so Tucker cautiously took the call. He pressed the device to his ear and clicked the button. “Hello?”

“Hey kid, this is Jason, Jazz’s friend. Remember me from yesterday? I’m the one who gave these com units to Danny in case he ran into trouble he couldn’t get out of. I didn’t expect him to need it so soon, though.”

Tucker could hear the dude sigh through the coms. “Yeah man, I know what you mean.” He replied. “Things are crazy right now.” He realized that he hadn’t introduced himself. “Um, by the way, this is Tucker, Danny’s friend. I’m with Sam. We’re headed out your way—at least that’s the plan.”

“I know; I talked to Jazz. She was worried because she hadn’t heard from you guys.” Tucker grimaced. His lack of trust had made the hard situation worse for Jazz. They should have used the coms as soon as they were out of Amity Park.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Jason continued. “My dad is sending people to pick her and Danny up and get them taken care of. He has an extra apartment in Gotham that he wants me to take you guys to stay at. No one would ever suspect you being there. You’d be safe.”

Tucker really wished that the communicator had a speaker attachment. “Hold on, let me talk to Sam.” He turned to his friend. “It’s Jazz’s friend, Jason, on the communicator. He says his dad has an apartment in Gotham where we can stay if we want. What do you think?”

Sam looked ragged. Her hands were stained green with Danny’s ectoplasm and her clothes were flecked with ruddy brown spots from when she kicked Jack Fenton in the face. She knew that as soon as those monsters were found that the police would be on their trail. If they were found. They should have just chucked the pair into the Ghost Zone. She realized that they were going to have to alert the authorities at some point so that their crimes didn’t extend to murder.

She turned to Tucker. “Tell him that we’re probably going to be in trouble with the law for what we did rescuing Danny. Make sure he understands what he’s getting into. He may not want to get involved.”

Tucker relayed the information to Jason, who, surprisingly, laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about that. They’re the ones who are going to have to face Justice, not you guys. Besides, my dad has connections. We’re not worried about what you had to do.”

***Read the rest on A03***

#danny phantom #batman #jason todd #dp x dc #jazz fenton #anger management #justice league #dcu #ghost king danny #identity reveal

[spidertalia]

Meet my boy New Jersey !!

His human name is Daniel Burr, but he exclusively goes by Danny and will knock your lights out if you call him Daniel. He's physically 23 and is the 14th oldest state.

Danny has quite the personality. He's proud, hot tempered, confrontational, dramatic, sarcastic, loud, lively, sassy, blunt, good-humored, passionate, impatient, a jokester, hardworking, diligent, sociable, intelligent, quick-witted, sharp, snarky, fiercely loyal, honest, slightly cynical, pragmatic, analytical, industrious, outspoken and opinionated. He actually makes friends surprisingly easily and loves chatting up strangers, but he also loves starting fights and arguments with some of the other states. He lives for drama. He's very proud and has a very short temper as well. He will not hesitate to speak his mind on anything or call people out when they're being idiotic or irresponsible without regard for their feelings.

Some fun facts about him:

He's 5'5 or 165 cm in height. He's the third shortest male state, being taller than Rhode Island and Delaware.

He has roughly 3A hair

He speaks 18 languages fluently outside of his Indigenous languages, and is learning a further ten languages.

He can fluently speak English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Tagalog, Gujarati, Korean, Arabic, Polish, Greek, Haitian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian and French. He is currently learning and speaks some Yoruba, Ukrainian, Japanese, German, Lithuanian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Turkish, Tamil and Telugu.

He's Hispanic. Specifically, mixed white and Indigenous.

He is pretty much constantly fighting with New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. He also on occasion fights with Massachusetts and Connecticut.

He starts drama and fights on purpose, for the sheer fun of it.

He's surprisingly very competitive and loves to prove himself by being good at things. However, his confidence isn't unfounded; he's a genuinely hard worker who throws himself wholeheartedly into learning new skills and things. He may like to brag, but he absolutely earns the right to.

He is the second best cook of all the states, behind Louisiana. He knows 2-8 recipes from over 80 countries, and he has well over 500 recipes under his belt. Similar to how New York loves learning languages, New Jersey loves learning recipes.

He's actually an insanely skilled driver with impeccably fast reflexes, and is quite possibly one of the very best drivers. He just has a personal vendetta against every single traffic law and driver out there. He can make death-defying turns in the blink of an eye, and will absolutely cut people off on the road for simply looking at him wrong. He has negative patience on the road and gets road rage very easily.

He's a very skilled and very hard worker. He's great at getting things done and getting them done on time.

Despite his argumentative and hot tempered nature, he actually makes friends very easily. He genuinely enjoys chatting up random strangers on the street and having hour long conversations over any topic they can think of. He's a great listener and an engaging conversationalist.

He likes spending time outdoors and in nature.

He jaywalks on occasion for fun.

He cares more about his appearance than he lets on

He's naturally very stylish. He especially loves jean jackets and jackets with pins on them.

He will complain if he has to drive more than half an hour to get anywhere.

He's very skilled at machinery, engineering and mechanics. He can fix up cars, repair wiring, repair machinery and make home improvements.

He talks fast and works faster

Despite his pride in his appearance, he's generally unafraid to get his hands dirty or jump headfirst into nature.

He's actually good friends with Romano, despite what one might think. The two bond over hating people and loving pasta and pizza.

He has a New Jersey accent

He's also, strangely enough, friends with Florida. Any of his insults just roll off of Florida's shoulders, and the two eventually became friends thanks to their shared loud, lively personalities. Danny still likes to play bicker with him, though.

His hobbies are cooking, listening to music, tinkering and complaining

He will complain about pretty much anything and everything.

He played a big part in the Industrial Revolution, like Pennsylvania, and remains his skill with machinery and mechanics to this day. He's not nearly as into it anymore as Pennsylvania is, but he does find joy in fixing up old cars.

He collects old cars.

He is very sarcastic, snarky and quick-witted. He has a nickname for pretty much everyone.

He converted to Judaism sometime during-after the Revolution and has stuck to it since. He's very proud of it.

He's the 11th oldest of the 13 colonies, and was physically 14 during the American Revolution.

He stole one house from England during the Revolution.

He will fight England nearly on sight. It's best to not have the two in the same room.

His likes include: Music, bagels, pizza, Italian food, pasta, diners, Dunkin, hoagies, subs, pork rolls, dancing, drive-in theater, tomatoes, saltwater taffy, Wawa, wine, blueberries, cranberries, corn, cooking, latino food, latino music, Springsteen, Bon Jovi, machinery, engineering, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, 70's music, partying, complaining, classic movies and old cars.

His dislikes include: New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, England, slow people, slow drivers and traffic laws.

I will be including more/posting more about him later on !! This is just what I have so far :))

I lowkey took loose inspo for him from one of my favorite fictional characters (who's from New Jersey), Danny Williams from 2010's Hawaii Five 0. If you want some idea of NJ's energy, watch clips of Danny Williams sdfghj. (Them sharing a first name is a total coincidence)

#my art #spider's statetalia #statetalia #hetalia #hetalia oc #statetalia new jersey #aph new jersey #hws new jersey #hetalia art #hetalia state ocs #danny burr

[popculturebuffet]

Transcontinental Hustle: That 70's Show "Pilot" and Days Like These "Batteries Not Included" (Comissioned by WEird Kev 27)

Welcome folks to Trans-Continential Hustle, a new occasional feature on this blog where I take a look at shows and movies and their foreign remake and see how they stack up. It's a great idea my friend, semi-producer and patron Kev cooked up and as for where to start.. that was easy for me as after Jose's deep retrospective on That 70's Show, one of my faviorite sitcoms as a teen that I have a deep love and respect for, I remembered a little show called Days LIke These, an attempt to remake the show for british audiences that failed horribly that i'd always been fascinated by. And since I have peacock for the mother show and youtube has the entirety of Days LIke These, it felt like fate. So come along with me in the vista crusier as I revisit the start of something special and see both how one of my faviorite sitcoms began and how another show attempted to use the same script to start it's own legacy.. and why it instead fell hard off the water tower and like charlie didn't make it.

That 70's Show: That 70's Pilot That 70's show is as I said a faviorite of mine as a teen both in high school as I watched it in reruns in various places and again in college when it reaired on the N quite a bit. It was just a good comfort show and still is from time to time on Netflix and now Peacock. It's a fun coming of age story that also deviates from a lot of what sitcoms did at the time: while it's still multicam, it wasn't afraid to take breaks from that format wither it was for parodies or for the Circle.. which totally flew over my head for an embarrassing amount of time i'd rather not disclose

It was also deeply funny with a few bits living in my head rent free.. the biggest being...

And of course this classic showdown. and keep in mind both of these bits are from less than the series best seasons. Even when operating at half and later a fourth of it's powers... it was still awesome.

I could do clips all day, and proudly, but i'd rather take you through why the show was so good from the very begining, as the pilot is one of the best i've seen, getting the core of the show down despite a few wrinkles that wouln't be seen again, ala gilmore girls, and showing it off. The pilot begins in Eric Forman's Basment, one of the most iconic sitcom sets and one of my favorite. It just feels lived in, a home away from home and a little place for hyjinks away from red and kitty's prying eyes. It's here we meet most of the Gang: Eric himself, a nerdy, self doubting dork with luke skywalker hair (Ironically before he became one with the force later that season), played by Topher Grace, who nicely nails down Eric being awkward but still charasmatic, able to trade barbs with his friends despite mostly being bossed around by them. He also played Venom in his first live action apperance, hence why he left the show. It .. was far from worth it but I still say he did a good job in a messy and pretty bleh movie. His best friend Hyde is preparing him for a special mission: score them some beers as a party the Formans are hosting upstairs has reached critical mass: it's the fun kind of exageration most tenes did and my friends certainly did, so while I was never one to score beer (In fact I rarely drink, anxiety and depression do not go well with it no sir), I can still relate to having a more charsmatic and sure of himself freind tell me to do something stupid. Hyde is played by Danny Masterson.. aka the elephant in the room when talking about this series. Masterson.. is a monster who raped a woman. There's.. no way around it and having no legal obligation to go "allegedlys", he's a rapist. He only hasn't been charged because the Jury somehow deadlocked. He's a blot on this show and while he made conspiracy theorist and ladie sman burn out hyde work, it's imposssible for me to mention the show and not condem this asshole. It is entirely possible for me to enjoy it as while a large part of it, Danny Masterson was not the only person at the center of this show, nor did he write it and I feel the deepest sympathies for his cast mates who found out a close friend of there's is a rapist and my hopes for a conviction go out to his victims Encouraging hyde in his plan are Kelso, played by breakout star Ashton Kutcher, star of many a 2000's film of varying quality and the netflix sitcom the ranch, which was "what if that 70's show but right wing?". Thankfully Kutcher himself dosen't appear to me and is a nice dude and easily one of the most talented of the cast, playing a gloriously loud and dumb idiot with a flavor all his own. He feels like the dumbass friend I had in high school and i'm sure he feels like yours too. Well okay mine was a better human being, but he still had the same "dog in a humans body" energy" Finally there's Donna played by Laura Prepon, who went on to orange is the new black, so she did fine just fine, Erik's other best friend and assertive neighbor. They all encourage him. I also love the punchline of Eric saying his dad will kill him and Hyde gladly syaing I"m willing to take that risk

Eric's mission is filmed mostly from first person, something the series wouldn't really use again, but still a nice way to establish both he layout of the house, and his nervousness. We then meet his mom Kitty , played by underated sitcom legend Debrah Jo Rupp. She was the unsung heroine of this series, with her goofy laugh (which was entirely just an improv that caught on), and her nice blend of being a traditional for the 50's or 60's house wife.. while also having depth, witt and her own agency. She may be , sometimes willingly , oblivous but she's a strong character and I admire her while still being loveablea nd hilarious. Eric then runs into Bob and Midge Pinciotti, donna's parents, played by character actor Don Stark and the late great Tanya Roberts respectively. Both do a great job, Bob being the goofy affiable dad everyone either knew or ended up having, and Midge being the woman all the guys have a crush on. Stark also dosen't get enough credit being comedy gold in most apperances and brillantly playing off Kurtwood Smith's Red.

As for who Red is.. well most of you know that, but in case you don't he's the man, the myth, the legend, the foot up your ass. He is the hardass dad to end all dad's. In his illustorious career he's easily Kurtwood Smith's finest roll, a dad who willl gladly yell at any dumbass in his vicinity, practice tough love on his son, and of course, put his foot up an ass if needed, but whose also deep down a loving father and not nearly as deep down a wonderful supportive husband who at worst is a bit emotinally dense. He and kitty have one of the best relationships in sitcom history, a mutually loving and active marriage. While the teen cast are far from slouches, Red Forman is easily my faviorite character, and Kurtwood just perfectly delivers his lines and his foot up someone's ass. Sadly he dosen't get to use either of his catchphrases here, but rest assured he was surely thinking about putting his foot up some dumbasses ass.

Red catches Eric with the beers, but thankfully dosen't catch on, though we get a nic ebit of eric raising his hands without thinking. Red is thinking of giving Eric the Vista Crusier, one of my faviorite cars in fiction despite purposfully being a clunker. It looks neat, it's in every episode and it's the centerpiece of one of the best openings of all time. So Erik's naturally excited and comes back triumphant with beer for all.. and finds out from Kelso donna has a crush on him. The opening to this show is great: it gets all but two of the main and major supporting cast for season 1 down perfect: We see Eric's awkwardness and how he's easily pushed into doing petty crime by his buds, Hyde being the real force behind the group even if Eric is the focus, Kelso being an idiot whose just sorta around and Donna being a strong confident young woman whose into Eric for his vunerablity but brushes off his awkwardness. We also see red be intmidating but fair and find out his hours got cut back (a major part of season 1), Kitty be sweet, bubbly and midwest as hell, Bob be goofy and permed and Midge be.. midge. It's a great opening.. and it's followed up by an even greater one The opening sequence to that 70's show.. is one of the best opening sequences to a sitcom. It's simple: just having the main cast in the vista crusier, singing along to the theme song "In the Street", a song by the band Big Star that was covered by Todd Griffin, a small time artist i'd honestly forgotten existed whose version is decent, though I will say Cheap Trick who replaced him next season had the better version and being a 70's group, were a better hit. I also like going for a 70's song: while they rerecorded it, the song still feels 70's rock and comes off as something the gang would jam to. Well minus Jackie early on but I can buy her joining in just to feel included. Plus her whining about "this isn't a song I like change it" as she probably would, woudln't make for a great opening. It really fits the core of the show: a bunch of friends hanging out, finding shit to do in a small town, just singing to a song they all love like the goofuses they are. It tells you what the show is without saying a word as any good theme should. We then cut to the basment the next day where Eric and Donna have turned the sound off to riff on the brady bunch. I.. I don't know if this is a thing people did. I mean i've also seen it on wings and bobs burgers, so someone probably has enough it's showed up on three diffrent tv shows, but I don't know if it's like.. a thing a LOT of people did or just three diffrent writers had the same experince. It dosen't help it's three diffrent age groups (teenagers, 30 somethings and an adult and his child). While the jokes aren't the funniest, they do feel like real jokes teens would tell and it fits Eric and Donna to not really like the brady bunch... just as it instantly tells us all we need to know about Kelso's girlfriend Jackie that she whines about bein glost and has to be handed earphones Jackie is played by Mila Kunis, proud ukranian, and a talented comedic actress with a healthy career after this. She got onto the show by faking her age, but it became less of an issue, with them just not showing much of Jackie and Kelso making out on screen, something I hadn't noticed till it was pointed out to me in Jose's retrospective of the series.

Jackie and Kelso have a grossly unhealthy relationship from the get go: Jackie is dismissive and shouty towards Kelso, to the point an annoyed cry of "Micheal!" (Kelso's real name) is essentially her catchphrase. Kelso meanwhile openly eyes other women, and rather than defend her to his friends (who cannot stand her), constantly says he's going to dump her, which no one remotely buys. Neither of them respect each other, they don't really mesh at all intrest wise, and it's only because they find each other purdy that their together at all. As a result of these hormones Jackie is coming along with the Circle to a Todd Rungren Concert. I hadn't really heard of the guy, but repeated viewngs of the violet have made me love his hit song "Hello It's Me" which is vital to this episode. He's a nice choice of smaller artist for this, and again Hello It's Me, just fits the final scenes too perfect. We'll get to that.

Now their alone Eric brings up what Kelso said and Donna brings up "You could've had me when I was four".. and I've always loved Eric's stammering as a result "All that time I wasted on the hippity hop". I will say at least barring a rewatch.. I like Eric and Donna. Their not a perfect couple, but Eric's cluleeness mixed with genuine charm nicely mixes with Donna's blunt nature. He dosen't know how to tackle this while she's upfront about what she wants. Later that day we get a quick bait and switch gag where Eric is talking to the vista cruiser instead of Donna and Bob shows up to both hyptontize Eric and Kelso with his hair and to tell them these are the best days of their lives and it won't get better.... which coming form the man with a failing marriage and a perm may not be the most accurate assement. Next up we go to the hub at.. some point in time. It has a cowboy theme, which is probably the most jarring change i've seen from pilot to series. In the present and the not too distant future of the 90's, it's a fairly simple restraunt with a pinball table, wooden chairs, the kind of place that's locally owned and cheap enough for a bunch of mostly unemployed teens to eat at every day. It fits better as a secondary hangout for the gang with that aesthetic. Granted the hub isn't one of my faviorite local hangouts in fiction, but it's still far better one than I gave it credit for in the past. At any rate here we meet the final member of the gang...

BACK BACK I RENOUNCE YOU DEMON. BACK I SAY!

No it's the final member people actually care about, Fez! Played wonderfully by Wilmer Valderama. Fez is a mixed bag of a character even if he's played well. At this point he's fine, being mostly awkward and most of his horniness being clearly not getting american social cues. But the "GET IT HE'S FOREGIEN" stick is cringetastic nowadays, and a lot of his sex pest antics have what i've just dubbed "Barney Stinson Syndrome" That's when a character is intended to be a loveable horndog, but due to standards drifting or just bad writing, ends up being some form of sex monster. HEre though he's fine at worst talking about tremendous breasts. We also get the foundation of Donna and Jackie's friendship.. Jackie barking at her to join her and Donna reluctantly accepting she's stuck with her. Everyone urges kelso to break up with jackie, he says he will in like 10 seconds, no one belivies him and we move on. You might notice the pilot is a small bit free floaty.. but it works, as each scene has some form of purpose and helps really set up these characters, while also selling the shows real main draw: a bunch of teens hanging out down the street same old thing they did last week and getting up to hyjinks. We then get our first circle aka "How do we show them smoking a bowl without incuring the wrath of censors" The answer.. is a now iconic shot, using them citting in a circle surrounded by smoke and marvel comics (I bought the masterworks edition for brother vodoo because I saw it watching this episode a few months back) and going back and forth> They act a bit more high in this one if realistically, and it honestly helps the jokes really land: Hyde's now iconic "Car that runs on water man" and Eric's response to Kelso just casually saying he'll force his girlfriend to chip in on gas with a chuckinlg "You are such a whore. ". It's why even if the being blazed part got toned down, it's a vital part of the show as the dynamic movement makes it great for gags, exposition and what have you. Unforutnately that means eric is tripping balls upon balls when his parents call him up and we get a fun sequences of Kitty and Red lecturing him while the room moves before he eventually gets his wheels. This is another part I didn't relate to more because the thought of driving terrifeid me and my anxiety made it impossible to learn. I still want some way to travel besides someone driving me mind you at the tender age of 30, but I still get why this is exciting. There is one hitch though that saturday as Eric lets Donna call shotgun: Red says to not take it out of town. And as Red puts it "He's god" A GOD I SAY! Donna is able to talk him into doing what HE wants though so the team heads out of town... which turned out to be Red's plan. I love it as an establishing moment: Red may be a hardass and a traditionalist.. but he's not stupid or uncaring either. He gets Eric is a teen and thus is fine with him taking it out of town if it gets him a moment alone with his wife. And him and kitty running up to the bedroom is hilaroius.. but also genuinely sweet, showing the fires are still there and not feeling like it's just there because GET IT MIDDLE AGED SEX like a lot of sitcoms would use. Problem is our heroes are soon stranded halfway there. Jackie plans to call her dad but the others have to explain they can't as he could tell red, which leads us to our first fantasy.. and one that dosen't quite work. For some reason early ones had the characters dub in lines, with the kids dubbing over for the adults and it not quite working as it feels a bit.. childish. I mean these characters are goofuses, but ther'es a diffrence between a daydream and having your parent outright say their making aribrtrary rules and toruting you on purpose. The show would get way better at this and by the end of the season we got classics like this

It's still neat seeing where something so iconic started. Thankfully our heroes CAN get the battery needed with some barter-y

... I deserved that. Two of the tickets for a fresh battery. Naturally it's an easy choice of who gets to stay behind since the Circle has had to spend the last hour listening to a pre-character development Jackie and Kelso's the reason she's there in the first place, the first of a long line of being punished for his hubris for one Michael "Tater Nuts" Kelso.

So while Kelso and Jackie make out and nearly break up, their relationship in a nutshell, the rest of the gang enjoy the concert, find out the mechanic guy is gay and are cool to be cool with it because it's the 70's and while that's a low bar to clear , way less people actually cleared. The show, having started in the 90's and ended in the early 2000's didn't do hardly any queer representation, so it's nice that it's sequel has at least one gay main character. How Ozzie bears out I can't say as most of this was written before the show streamed and i'll be watching it later today, but I can give them credit for both trying and for in general making the cast more diverse. The ending is what makes the episode, Eric and Donna atop a car as Rundgrens, Hello It's Me plays, pondering things, as Eric ponders what one act of civil disobeneince will get you and Donna ponders what Eric's lips would taste like, leaving him with a "maybe next time" as we pan out on the car with Eric gazing whistfully. A perfect ending to a perfect pilot... which gets followed by an even better coda of the gang singing in the car to Hello It's Me. As should be obvious, That 70's Pilot.. is near perfect. What isn't is mostly standard early show rough edges to be sanded out or simply age marks, but it perfectly introduces the characters, what the show is, who these idiots are, and is still really damn funny. Check it out as soon as you can if you haven't.. or if like me you hadn't in a while. Now we've seen one of the best pilots ever...

Days Like These: Batteries not included So yeah Days Like These was a brief attempt at trying to remake that 70's show, with a new cast but almost identical scripts, simply swapping out the American references for UK ones. As you can tell by the fact this one only comes up as a fun trivia fact or in refrence to being one of the show's only two spinoffs of a sort before That 90's show the result was not great and it says something that That 80's Show gets brought up more. That 80's Show which not only ruined the name so we never got a proper one but itself is mostly known because it stars Dennis Reynolds

Days Like These first episode follows the same plot as That 70's Show, the only additional scene being one with Jackie and Donna talking in the bathroom about her feelings for Eric.. which feels superflous both because they would in future episodes anyway, and it conveys information we already knew from the episode. Everything else is on paper the same.. but in practice entirely wrong. The cast does their best and I do not blame them for this as A) the cast of that 70's show is, like most great sitcoms, a lightning in a bottle moment of the right people in the right place, and it's very hard to replicate and B), they were not given the same care and effort. That 70's show was made by creators who were genuinely invested in this. Days LIke These.. hoped to make a quick buck off that and thus didn't really care as much. As a result the direction feels lifeless and the atttempts to mimick the stylistic bits fall very flat. It's very clear the staff for Days Like These had NO idea what they were working with and had no real excuse. I know stremaing wasn't a thing but giving Carsey Warner was credited, someone HAD to have given them a tape of the original episodes.

As a result it's that 70's show with a cast that dosen't know what to do and thus plays the rolls with far less naunce, the only exception being Donna , who while having a diffrent take from US Donna does do well and Jones our Hyde equilvelant played by of all people

Who plays Jones diffrent than steven but still filling the same roll, being likely what a british version of hyde would be. Again everyone else tries and McGuire not Kelso also does okay, they just don't quite.. fit into the characters. For instace Reg, our Red equilvelant has the same aura of "i'm going to kill you" radiating off him.. but without the nuance. Reg comes off like he's going to throttle Eric at any given moment and like a genuinely abusive father. Red... is just a hardasss. He has an aura of "for the love of god don't piss him off" but has more emotions in him than just foot in your ass. It's his factory setting, sure. And again i'm not blaming Reg for this: it's clear that 70's show was tailored for the actors cast and adjusted as they went to fit them. Days Like These just tries to... do THAT but british without getting the natural, realistic feel of that 70's show, adding in very corny jokes like Kitty having a cheese hedgehog served (which does seem very kitty but pizza rolls was subtler and thus better), and butchering the hipity hop joke: instead of eric just having a little panic attack but keeping it in UK Eric does this

Fez is also white and vaugely..s wedish.. or something? I dunno, he's about as easy to figure out his country as the real fez without that being the joke.. and tha twasn't a good joke to begin with.

Finally we have.. the opening.. which.. I could only find in comparison..

That really sums it up dosen't it. That and the fact the theme is Asia's Days Like These.. from 1990

It's not a shocker this only lasted 10 episodes or was canceled after 6. The actors thankfully would go on to more succesful parts, and Days Like These was thankfully left as an embarassing foot note on their resumes. Check it out if your curious... but do so cautiously. So overall a pretty terrible remake but who knows? Maybe i'll find some good ones. This hustle failed.. but maybe the next at .. some point will be better. At any rate I still got to do the same old thing I did last week at least.. and that's all allright. Hello Wisconson, and thanks for reading.

#that 70's show #that 90's show #eric forman #donna pinciotti #michael kelso #steven hyde #jackie burkhart #fez

[toast-tales]

6 for Nathan, Danny and Christopher. 13 and 19 for Christopher. 8 and 21 for Nathan. 47 and 50 for Danny.

Sorry if it's a lot! ( ;;ㅅ;;)

Don't apologize, thank you for all the questions! :D (using a read more again for obvious reasons because I RAMBLE)

If they were badly injured, and for whatever reason couldn't go to a hospital, who would they go to for help?

Nathan: Nathan is actually more likely to go to a friend than his parents in this case. Honestly, he’d probably go to Christopher. Despite whatever complicated feelings he might have, he sees Christopher as reliable/good with crises. 

Danny: This question really depends on who’s closest at the moment lol. Obviously if they were in the human encampment, they’d go to Maria or Ryan (probably Ryan, for reasons explained later). The thing about Danny is she’s kind of prideful and doesn’t like to admit weakness, so going to anyone is going to be a bit of a struggle for her, unless of course it’s a really bad injury. In that case, if she wasn’t in the human encampment, she’d go to Nathan or Christopher, whichever was closer. She’d feel better about going to Nathan, though, if only because if there’s anyone she hates admitting weakness to, it’s Christopher.

Christopher: This one is especially interesting because, similar to Danny, he doesn’t like admitting weakness or relying on others. However, he also won’t pass up an opportunity when he sees one. He’d go to Nathan. 

Do they enjoy poetry?

Christopher: A little! It’s not his favorite, but there are a few good ones out there he can appreciate. He tends to like poetry more if it’s musical, i.e. song lyrics. He has a hard time just reading it and making it make sense in his head, because he’s not a super abstract thinker so he can get caught up on the meaning. 

How easy is it to become their friend?

Christopher: He has a lot of walls up naturally - he doesn’t like to get attached or close to people (because when he does, he goes all in and the idea of losing people scares him.) But I feel like there’s some sort of saying about “the more protections you have, the more vulnerable you are” because secretly, he’s really desperate for close relationships. If you show him even a hint of interest, he’s going to do two things. 1) He’s probably going to try pushing you away somehow, at first. Or be a bit of a dick, because, you know, self-fulfilling prophecy and all that. But if you’re still around after that, 2) He’s going to latch onto you like no tomorrow, whether he realizes it or not. And like I said before, there’s two ways to get into his heart very easily - compliment him, or compliment his cooking. 

Oh, but if you’re asking how easy it is to deal with his “putting up walls and maybe being a jerk to drive people away” thing, before you get to that point? Hah. Good luck. 

Do they collect anything? If so what and why?

Nathan: Oh! He used to play the guitar in high school, though he hasn’t picked it up much since. It’s sitting in the corner of his room collecting dust now. But, he got really into collecting different guitar picks, and has a pretty sizable collection of them in a box somewhere. Even though he doesn’t play as often, he likes to look for unique ones, or ones that serve as mementos of certain occasions or places. 

What is more important to them, friends or family?

Nathan: This question is really hard for him to answer, because family is important to him. Or he wants it to be, anyways. He tries to find comfort in the security that a family brings. But his relationship with his parents, while not terrible, is very...surface-level, at times. He knows one of them (potentially both) consume humans, and he’s too scared to bring that up, so it kind of just...hangs in the air between them all the time. (There’s more, but I won’t get too far into that just yet I don’t think.) At the end of the day, he would choose his friends over his family. But I think when he gets a family of his own one day, he would prioritize it above all else. Did I mention he was a Cancer? 

Would they lie to get someone else out of trouble, even if they would have to take that someone else's place?

Danny: They would, without a doubt. Danny has kind of an “act first, think later” mentality most of the time, especially in more urgent situations. She also has a really strong moral code. Even if it’s someone she doesn’t like, if she thinks that the punishment they would receive is too much, she’d lie for them, almost instinctually. She would rather take it on herself than see someone suffer unjustly, even for someone like Max (or Christopher). 

What is your favorite thing about them?

Danny: I LOVE writing Danny’s dialogue sometimes. It gives me an excuse to come up with creative insults, although considering IRL I’m like, the meekest person you’d ever meet, it can be a challenge sometimes lol. But character-wise, I love the way she doesn’t take shit from anybody. And that, mixed with her “act first, think later” mentality can make for some fun interactions that most humans and giants don’t share. 

#itwom #toast asks #ask game #these were all really fun to answer actually! #some of this stuff is coming up soon tbh #oc nathan #oc danny #oc christopher

[graveyard-ghoulish]

Okok I said I wouldn’t bother you too much but- Danny my beloved 😩 May I humbly ask for a NSFW Alphabet of my dear Alex (take your time with this one I dont wanna be a bother <3)

-Squid 👉👈

Squid my love ofc I can😩😩 I’ll never turn down a lil dilf love 🥴

Tachanka NSFW alphabet:

A- aftercare (what are they like after sex?)

Absolute god. He’s a big man and tends to get a lil rough, so Alexsandr makes sure he didn’t do too much damage. Will run a shower for you but don’t let him in. He’ll get excited by the close contact and want to bang you into next week again.

B- bodypart (a favorite bodypart on them/you)

Alexsandr likes himself all around, slightly insecure about the fact he isn’t as well defined and hard-cut like his younger comrades but you don’t seem to mind. On you, a s s. He’s an ass and thigh man. Alex is very touchy as is so expect him to get a good grab or slap of your ass or thigh even while in public.

C-cum

Despite having a slight breeding kink, he doesn’t really have a preference. Usually asks you where you want it but if you’re too incoherent to respond he’ll go for either on your thighs or stomach. Don’t worry, Alex will clean it up.

D- dirty secret (a dirty secret of theirs)

Boy isn’t too kinky so not much to go here. Probably has thought of railing you near where his friends could hear just to show off but he’s sure they’ve probably already heard that, so yeah not much.

E- experience (how much experience do they have?)

Is this even a question? The man can get bitches. Definitely experienced. The dilf fucks

F- favorite position

You riding him. Despite Alexsandr’s preference for being on top and dominating, he just can’t get over the sight of you on him and pleasuring yourself.

G- goofy

He’s got terrible humor both in and out of the bedroom. No matter the situation he’ll crack a few jokes here and there just to see you laugh. Also does tease you after the deed for anything he found funny, like a noise or face you made. If you get huffy about it he’ll apologize with a kiss

H-hair (how well groomed are they?)

Alexsandr has a damn mess down there. Like kapkan I don’t think he even considers trimming it, thinks it adds to his masculinity. Thankfully he isn’t super hairy so it isn’t really in the way.

I- intimacy (how intimate can they be?)

Not too often, but sometimes Alex will slow down and want to take his time. Doesn’t happen on any particular occasion either. He isn’t all blunt and rough and he’ll prove it to you.

J- jack off

Not a whole lot but he still did it, and still does when you’re away as a way to blow off steam or clear his head. When you’re around though he doesn’t.

Before he met you, not a whole lot honestly. The risk of getting caught was too high plus beating ya meat in dangerous situations isn’t ideal so it was an uncommon practice.

K- kink (one or more of their kinks?)

Alexsandr isn’t too kinky but he does have things he finds hot if that makes sense? For example, if you wear harnesses or chokers of any kind, brace yourself.

Besides that, I do think he’s got a breeding kink even if the thought of more kids makes him want to ball up and die. And maybe he likes spanking more than he will admit.

L- location (favorite location to do the deed?)

Normally he’d say your guy’s shared apartment or his dorm but if he’s feeling extra bold he’ll take you anywhere. Public restrooms are a go-to in these cases.

M- motivation (what gets them going?)

Pretty much anything lmao. As stated above, harnesses and chokers/jewelry will have Alex never taking his eyes off of you. Gives him way too many ideas for private time, you look way too damn good to not rail you into next week. Being very touchy with him or just admiring his physique not only flatters him but also turns him on.

N- no (things they wouldn’t do?)

Hurt you in any way is a big one, especially since he’s a large dude with a ton of strength. Always is listening to your body language and any verbal communication for signs he should ease up or stop entirely.

O- oral

God of Head™️. Alexsandr does, in fact, have better uses for his mouth other than being a sarcastic little shit. Much better uses. He’ll have you pulling his hair and screaming his name. He prefers giving to receiving but won’t turn down the opportunity for some sloppy if you’re willing.

P- pace (fast n rough or slow n sensual?)

Alexsandr usually goes for something in between but a little rough. If you manage to rile him up real good or he’s been away from you for long periods of time he’ll be drilling you into the mattress (or other surface). But he does enjoy a good slow session if he’s in the mood. Overall, pretty neutral.

Q- quickie (opinions on quickies?)

He’d rather have actual sex but sometimes he’ll be willing to go for a quickie. He doesn’t mind them too much but quickies won’t be a regular thing.

R- risk (are they willing to take risks/experiment?)

Fucking you in a semi-public place is about as risky as he’s willing to get. Alex won’t mind some experimenting with a little convincing. He’s kinda set in his ways and slightly reluctant to try new things.

S- stamina (how long do they last?)

Looong time. Especially if he takes his time with you, brace yourself. You won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Or walking regularly when he’s done with you.

T- toy (their opinion on toys/do they own any?)

Alexsandr doesn’t own any and doesn’t like using them. He’d rather use his own dick/fingers/mouth to get you off. They make his ego a little fragile.

U- unfair (how much do they like to tease?)

A whole damn lot. He’ll be sure to flex whenever you look at him and give you a wink. God forbid you work out together, he’s such a fucking show off. When he does get his hands on you he amps it up.

V- volume (how loud are they?)

Alex ain’t too loud but he isn’t silencing himself either. Good chance someone definitely hears what you two are up to if they somehow get close enough.

W- wildcard (random hc)

You two got caught by Timur in the showers. All he saw was Alexsandr’s back and your legs around his waist, thankfully but he swears he’s scarred for life.

X- x ray (what’s in their pants?)

Big man= big dick and he knows it. It makes him smug as hell if he ever catches you staring while he’s wearing grey sweatpants.

Y- yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Pretty normal actually. Alexsandr is usually down to fuck at any time though so if he reads your moods right/ you come onto him he’s always ready.

Z- zzz (how quickly do they fall asleep after?)

The second he’s done taking care of you, he’ll pull you onto his chest and he’s out like a light. Falls asleep super easily especially if you’re in his arms.

#tachanka x reader #x reader #r6s x reader #rainbow six siege #r6siege #squid my beloved you already saw this but just act surprised #I can post again

[hufflepuffsthunderdome]

Hopelessly Devoted to You | R.L

Pairing: Marauders!Remus Lupin x Female Reader

Warnings: None :)

Words: 3,200

Request: @risingtripletaurus​ hi lovey! may i pretty please request a fic with the reader very much in the halloween spirit, celebrating halloween the marauders.. remus and the reader also lowkey have a crush on eachother rEMUS HOPES HE GETS ALL THE CHOCOLATE WHEN TRICK OR TREATING over all just a very fluffy time!

A/N: sorry this is so late, a lot has been happening in my personal life. I hope you enjoy! I took it in a slightly different direction that I hope you like anyway, it’s still a fluffy spooky time so I hope you enjoy. I really like this one :). I also have an idea for a part two so keep an eye out... also I know that Grease technically came out after the Marauders were at Hogwarts, I just thought it was cute anyway.

Summary: Reader and Remus are crushing hard, and what better way than an accidental couples costume and a Halloween party to get the pair together

Y/N and Sirius came bounding through the doors to the Gryffindor common room with so much force Peter grimaced as the walls shook around them. Their hands were loaded with boxes, overflowing with black and orange decorations, cheap spiders and what seems like an insane match of costumes and clothes. It wasn’t even the start of October, but whenever the season rolled around even slight, Y/N and Sirius went all out! For the pair, it seemed that they were built for the season, putting care and thought into their costumes and the treats they would make everyone; their energy infections, getting everyone else in the school hyped for the spooky season months in advance. 

Even Remus let himself loose around the Halloween season, knowing how happy it made Y/N when he would join in on the corny games that she and Sirius worked so hard to make. And he lived to make Y/N happy; to see that goofy smile that she would give him as she looked up at the lanky boy, melting his heart even more around Halloween when she would be dressed in an adorable hand made costume. 

His friends all knew, about Remus’s crush on Y/N. Honestly, it seemed that everyone in the whole school knew that the boy was smitten except Y/N, they just strolled around the castle, unaware of the boys lingering stares and wistful glances. He had a plan though, to change that. Well, Sirius and James had a plan. A plan that he wasn’t privy to despite being a leading role in it. 

Sirius dumped the box onto the couch next to James, who was prying the lid open before it even landed, to pear inside. He pulled out all sorts of different costumes, Y/N’s box joining next to it, Gryffindor written in scratchy writing on the side, full of decorations and gags to put up around the common room. 

“Sirius,” James laughs, pulling out a tight black off the shoulder top, “you’d look great in this mate but it’s a stretch to think it’ll fit you.”

Y/N rolls their eyes, taking it out of James’s hand and holding it up to their smaller frame, “it’s mine you nit.” 

Sirius comes up behind Y/N and slings an arm over her shoulder, “we’re doing a couple’s costume this year.” The pair struck a cheesy Charlie’s angels style pose as they giggle. Remus knows it’s stupid but he can’t help the hot feeling boiling in his stomach at how close Sirius and Y/N are. He knows it’s stupid, he has no reason to be jealous; Sirius knows that Remus likes Y/N, and he knows they’re just friends, but he can’t help it. He wants to be the one to make Y/N laugh, to be able to sling an arm around her without making a fool of himself, to be able to do cute couple costumes that Y/N is excited to make. 

“What are you going as?” Peter’s voice breaks Remus’s train of thought, the shorter boy hanging over the back of the couch to rummage through the box himself. He pulls out a pirate hat and an eyepatch, laughing slightly as he puts them next to him. 

“We’re going as Sandy and Danny from Grease,” Sirius says, shooting James a look that he just returns with a nod, sending me a glance as he smirks slightly. 

“I’m so excited to do it,” Y/N chimes, reaching a hand up to grab onto Sirius’s arm slightly before turning back to us with a wide smile on her face, “It’s that muggle musical I was telling you about, the one set in the 50s. We’re going as the two main characters!”

James gets up from his seat on the couch behind Y/N, walking over to the pair and placing his arms around them, “I thought you were gonna do a costume with me this year Black? We’ve been working on it for months.”

With an exaggerated hand to the forehead, Sirius lets out an exasperated sigh, “shit that’s right James, fuck I’m sorry mate. We’re gonna have to save our amazing surprise costume for next year, I promised Y/N.”

“You guys were working on a costume?” Y/N asks, looking at the boys on either side of her as they nod. Remus can tell she’s slightly upset at the thought of not doing her costume she had planned but is hiding it with her excitement at her friends getting into the holiday. “That’s so cool guys, please do it! I want to see what you guys have planned.”

“But what about your costume?”

“That’s ok,” she smiles warmly back, “I have plenty of other ideas.”

“I feel super bad now,” Sirius brings Y/N into a hug to which the girl giggles and assures him it’s ok. Over Y/N shoulder he shoots Remus a wink, the boys' eyes going wide at the thought of what his friends are up to, “say, Remus is around my size isn’t he?”

All eyes in the room turn to Remus, and he feels his face heat up at the attention, glancing down at his book, “not happening.”

“Come on mate,” Sirius and James chorus, James throwing an arm around Y/N and sarcastically patting their head, adding “you don’t wanna make little Y/N sad do you?”

“Come on guys,” Y/N chuckles, slinking away under James grasp and looking over to Remus, “he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to.” James and Sirius's glare daggers over Y/N’s shoulder at the boy sitting on the couch, Peter going to say something James shutting him down with a stern look before he can even get a sound out. It seems that the boys are able to have a conversation without saying a single word, ‘dude come on don't be a baby,’ James’s look taunts, Sirius’s glare telling him to not lose his chance. 

“I-I’d love to d-do the costume with you Y/N.” Remus grimaces slightly at his nervous stuttering, grinning at Y/N as they bound over to him excitedly, thanking him as she pulls him into a hug. The boy freezes for a moment, before relaxing in the shorter girls grasp and returning the hug. The pair stood there, enjoying the small moment, for slightly longer than they probably should have; as their friends just looked on smirking and chuckling to themselves as the two teens were so obliviously in love with each other. James coughed obnoxiously, breaking the pair out of their hug as they pulled apart, faces red as they smiled shyly at each other.

“Well I think I need to get going,” Y/N smiled up at the boys, ruffling Peter’s hair slightly as she walked past him, grabbing a box labelled Hufflepuff that she had placed on the floor earlier, “those Hufflepuff’s won't help themselves.” She turns and walks towards the door to the common room, turning back to Remus to smile at him and thank him one last time before she was out the door, and once again on a mission about the castle.

The instant she was gone the common room erupted into cheers, as Sirius and James loudly hollered in excitement for Remus; Peter joining in soon after, confused as to what was happening but feeling left out that he wasn’t involved. Remus however was unamused, arms crossed in front of his chest as he glared at his friends, eyebrow raised as if daring them to speak.

The cheering stopped when Sirius and James noticed Remus’ upset attitude, Peter once again joining in and stopping, mumbling a small what’s happening to Sirius who brushed him off. “Oh come on mate,” James argued, mimicking Remus’ posture but with a smirk plastered on his face, “how are you possibly upset with us?”

Remus was gobsmacked at James’ question, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he looked at his friends trying to find the words to convey how stupid they were, “you lied to her that’s how! You got her hopes up when you knew you weren’t going to go with her. And you dragged me into your bullshit once again.”

“Oh come on mate, it’s not like that,” Sirius chimed in, trying to calm the tension forming. Leading Remus over to the couch he sat both of them down, slinging an arm over his shoulder, “besides, she was way more excited at you saying you’d go with her than she was when she brought it up to me in the first place.”

“That’s not true.”

“It so is,” Sirius argued back, “now stop being a fucking baby and grow some balls. It’ll be a great night.”

“If you’ll excuse me, lads,” James mutters, standing up from the seat he was on and heading towards the door, “but I need to catch Lily before she makes it to the library. Anyone joining?”

Sirius gets up and follows James, the pair out the door in an instant; and Peter, who is lagging behind, gets up to follow them, turning to Remus before he leaves, “don’t worry, it’s gonna be a wicked night.”

Remus can't help but chuckle slightly at Peter’s excitement, his head still swirling and his heart still racing, even after his friends leave.

The month was trekking on, October drawing to a close, much slower than Remus and Y/N would have liked. The closer it got to Halloween the more nervous excitement the two teens felt bubbling away. It was noticeable to their friends, as they would talk during break and pass each other in the hallway; both unbelievably ~excited and hopeful that the night would go how they want, and yet nervous. But that didn’t stop Y/N from getting in the festive spirit. She went all out this year, dragging along anyone and everyone that she could convince to help with her preparation. The whole school seemed to know that she was in a particularly festive mood this year, everyone in her year helping where they could, all the first years unbelievably excited over how amazing the castle looked.

As the talented young witch, she was, it was no surprise that Y/N was able to make some pretty amazing decorations. Pumpkins that would follow students around, glasses that made the teachers look like they were dressed up, the orange streamers and plastic spiders that would come to life when you walked past. Everyone was shocked by how all out Y/N was going this year, they knew she was talented, but not this talented. In the back of her mind though, Y/N knew she had to make this year perfect. 

Remus was confused when he walked down the corridors to potions one day, and the school seemed to be buzzing with excitement more than usual. Students everywhere were glancing around in excitement, peering over each other's shoulders to get a glimpse at the parchment they were all holding. As he walked up to potions class, surprisingly early for once, he heard a commotion behind him, and turned and saw Y/N and Sirius walking towards him, students around them clapping and patting them on the back in excitement. They made their way over to Remus, who was stood there seemingly entranced by Y/N. It was like she was glowing with excitement, and he couldn't help the dopy smile on his face at seeing her so happy. 

When the pair got to him Sirius pulled him into a headlock, rustling his hair slightly as he laughed, “we’re superstars we are,” he gleamed, letting go of the boy and putting an arm around Y/N’s shoulder, “everyone loves us.”

“Y/N I can understand people liking, but you?” Remus says, glancing at Y/N quickly to see her face going slightly pink, as he is doing too, at his bold comment. ‘haha lover boy,’ Sirius shoots back, but Remus isn’t listening as Y/N passes him a piece of parchment, notes from last potions class. They both go to say something when the door swings open and they are being summoned inside for class. 

The boys are back in their dorms, late in the evening now, Sirius and James gasbagging about Severus while Peter listens attentively, chewing on a sweet Y/N brought to the common room earlier. Remus is trying to read his herbology textbook, trying to take notes from class today, but his mind continues to wonder. To Y/N, to Halloween, to Sirius and Y/N's friendship, he’s all over the place. As his mind is racing he feels the heat in his shirt pocket start to warm up, shocking him out of his trance as he pulls out the bit of parchment Y/N handed him earlier. He never got a chance to ask her about it, she was being pulled in every direction that day, but as he looks down at the piece of paper, no longer homework but rather an invitation now. He feels his heart start to beat harder in his chest as he turns the sheet over, Y/N’s handwriting littering the page, 

“I’m so glad you decided to come, Remus, I was hoping you would. I can’t wait to see you, I’m really glad we’re doing a costume together.”

That night Remus goes to bed with a huge grin on his face, the happiest he’s felt in ages.

Halloween day comes and goes, much slower than the school would like. The teachers drone on in their usual lessons, their patience running thin at their student's erratic excitement. No one was more excited than Y/N. The second her last class finished she was off, grabbing her friends as she went and dragging everyone to the Ravenclaw common room, where she had made it clear would be open to anyone in dire need of a last-minute costume. In came students of every house and year and out walked clowns, mimes, zombies, princesses, anything and everything they could think of, hidden from the teachers by some simple spells. 

The boys were down at the room of requirements, decorating for the party to come; the room had transformed itself into a huge dance hall, and the boys were doing everything in their power to make it a spooky extravaganza. And they were succeeding. There were jack o'lantern, punch, sweets of every size and shape, every corner of the room decorated with spooky charmed decorations, and every ceiling adorning some spider or streamers. Peter had even thought of the idea to set up a trick or treating scavenger hunt for the younger students (and some of the older students too), so there were plenty of people already coming in and out collecting clues and sweets before they weren’t allowed to be wandering the halls anymore. 

It was immaculate, seeing the room come together because of his friend's hard work, but nothing could describe the awe he felt when Y/N walked in the room. By now there were people flooding in at a regular pace, but when he heard that soft voice call his name and turned to see her, his world seemed to stop. All he could do was stare, she looked gorgeous. Not that he didn't always think she looked gorgeous, but he couldn't help but think how happy she looked, completely encompassed by the holiday spirit. She looked beautiful in her costume, her hair big and curly, and the tight leather trousers and off the shoulder top complimenting her figure perfectly. She held her self with a confidence he had never seen in the girl before, and he was amazed. 

“This is brilliant Remus,” Y/N smiles up at him, grabbing his hand as she looks around, “you guys did an amazing job.”

Remus barely processes her words as his brain is already trying to put together his next sentence, “you look incredible.”

It caught Y/N off guard his compliment, he had never been so earnest and bold with her before, and the sentiment made her blush furiously, “you look great yourself.” The teens stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, when Sirius and James sauntered over to the pair, already on the verge of drunk, and started chiding them “there’s my favourite greaser couple.”

“Don't tell me this is your incredible costume?” 

Sirius was shirtless, a studded leather jacket and black glove the only attempt at a costume, giving him a Billy Idol vibe that both Y/N and Remus didn’t even know was intentional. James was more obviously dressed up, the mouse ears on his head giving him a very distinct, albeit lazy Micky Mouse appearance. They both just shrugged at the girl, going into a tirade of drunken excuses to which Y/N just rolled her eyes, “if it makes you feel better I only did this to match with Lily,” James slurs, “turns out they were lying to me and she's wearing some bloody antlers.”

“Dear god James you’re so thick sometimes,” Y/N shook her head, turning towards Remus, “wanna go dance?”

The pair made their way into the crowds of other people dancing, ignoring James’ shouts of questions. 

The night went on, and the people kept dancing, chatting and spinning and laughing at how much fun they were having; all through the night people would come up and compliment Y/N on the party, and never once did she take full credit, always saying how much other people helped her. As the pair stood there, laughing with their friends as they danced to the ending of the monster mash, it slowly faded and didn't pick up again. A slow song began to play, and Remus looked over to see Sirius playing with the music, James giving him a thumbs up. 

Before Remus can say anything, Y/N is placing his hand on his arm, “wanna dance?” Despite both of their nerves, the pair danced together slowly, Remus’s arms around her waist, and Y/N’s around his shoulders. Both of them wanted to look at each other, to bask in how lovely they each looked but neither wanted to ruin the moment. 

Remus moved his head from where it was resting against Y/Ns, and she moved her head to look up at him, meeting that soft, goofy smile that sent her stomach tingling with butterflies. “you really do look lovely tonight, I’m so glad you asked me to come with you.”

Y/N barely knew what to say to him, it seemed that her body was moving on its own as their heads were slowly moving towards each other. “I’m glad you came with me,” she mumbled back before their lips finally connected. 

What seemed to be years in the making was finally happening, both teens dream coming true as their lips pressed softly together. All at once, Y/N felt her heart pounding in her chest, her mind racing at yet somehow, all she could focus on was Remus, and his lips pressed against hers. It seems that the world disappeared around them, as they stood there with each other. Nothing mattered right now except them.

They pulled apart sooner than they wanted to, both could've stayed there for eternity if they had the chance. They looked into each other's eyes, hoping their shared glance could give them all the words they failed to be able to say. It was a nice moment until James’s, Sirius’s and Peter’s hollers broke through the soft ambience of the crowd, everyone looking around confused, some even joining in as Remus and Y/N just laughed slightly at their friends' antics. 

“Do you wanna do Hogsmead with me this weekend?” Y/N asked softly, grinning up at the boy. 

He leaned down to connect their lips again softly, grinning when they pulled apart, “I would love to.” 

#Remus Lupin #remus lupin headcanons #grease 2 #the superior grease #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x reader #Harry Potter #harry potter fandom #harry potter fanfiction #Harry Potter Smut #harry potter fluff #hogwarts #Marauders #marauders remus #requested #remus #hp #HP Fandom #hp fanfic #marauders fanfiction #haloween #grease

[superphantom]

Enthralled with the idea of Danny from Danny legit dies and has a physical corpse but can still kinda be human au and the Winchesters from just regular canon bumping into each other while... hiding bodies.

Three teens carrying a fourth by his arms and legs into the woods. Would they even be able to tell that it’s Danny’s corpse? It’s gotta be pretty much cooked through at that point. Hold on, I’m going to write something rq, apologies for any mistakes/bad writing but the concept is just too fun. If you think so too, go ahead and try your hand at it, this has so many excellent interpretations.

Edit but not really cuz I haven’t actually posted anything yet: I’ve only read back through this once but I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out, just wanted to add a quick warning for horrific death and descriptions of a corpse and all that. 

--

Digging graves always sucked, naturally. It’s hard to plow through a good six feet of rocks and dirt and bones and whatever other crap might be waiting below the surface (one time, in some backwoods in Ohio they’d hit a bathtub around three feet down. Never got an explanation for that one). But, of course, the muggy pits of July made things much worse.

Sam had shed his top layer in the car, and was now down to a single shirt. He probably would’ve taken that off too, had it not been glued onto his back from sweat. Dean, who’d made a dig at Sam earlier that night for not being able to “take the heat like a man” still wore his flannel over his shirt, though it was beginning to soak through.

Laborious elements aside, what really made grave digging so tedious was the inability to fill it with anything else. It wasn’t like they could play music or anything, when they were in graveyards they had to keep a low profile, and all the other smart places to go hiding a corpse don’t get radio reception. And talking? With the amount of dust and dirt they kicked up, not to mention the work itself, it was more like trying to reason with a bully as they threw sand in your face. Gritty, painful, and overall, not worth it. So the brothers dug side by side with only light from a half-dead camping lantern and the singing of insects to keep them company.

Sam hit a rock with the tip of his shovel to knock it loose from the wall, the scooped it up and heaved it over the side of the grave. It was still only about knee height, meaning they’d have to put in another two hours minimum if they wanted to get the man hidden.

He’d been working with a witch to dodge death as he cheated his way through some shady business dealings. Actually, he’d been fairly easy to subdue- probably why he needed the witch in the first place- but once Dean had yanked the hexbag from where it hung around his stick-figure neck he’d begun to convulse and when he stopped, well, he wasn’t going to start convulsing again. That, however, was a problem for tomorrow.

Sam knocked a few rocks loose this time, letting them pile around his feet then launching them all over his shoulder at once. With the sound of metal clacking against rock gone, he realized Dean had stopped digging and was leaning against the handle of his shovel cautiously looking out into the woods. Sam moved in next to him and tried to figure out where he was looking.

“What are y-“ he asked. Dean shushed him before he could finish, then signaled for him to listen and pointed just past a thick bramble, to a gap between two trees. It would’ve been impossible to spot without years of hunting experience, out about 100 yards away were little moving. They weren’t even shadows, it was simply just movement in the dark. “Dude-“

Dean shushed him again, and shot him a dirty look before pointing more forcefully in the direction of the movement and focusing back in place. He gestured once again for Sam to listen. For a few moments they stood in silence, barely breathing. It was faint, but Sam began to make out what was unmistakably English. a dull beam of light swung around towards them then went back to facing the other direction, effectively re-blacking out the figures. Sam reached back, not taking his eyes off the movement, and now occasional glimpses of light, and snapped off the lantern.

It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the dark. Once they could see each other again, Dean tilted his head to the left, pointed a few times with two fingers in a two directions then held one finger against his mouth. Sam nodded and they both began creeping in opposite directions with the intention of surrounding who or what was having a chat out in the woods at night.

Sam moved as if he were gliding above the forest floor. He could vaguely make out Dean doing the same, though he was now could see Dean about as well as he’d been able to see the... three? He hovered further. Definitely three people (or, by his guess witches), earlier. Now that he was getting closer, though, he began to take note of a few things.

There were three short witches(?) standing fanned out around something slumped on the forest floor, their dying halogen flashlight held limp in one of their hands, flickering sadly. The witch farthest from flashlight-witch and closest to Sam held a shovel, though didn’t make any moves to use it. None of them moved, they all just stood there and stared at whatever was at their feet.

He signaled to Dean that he was going to go in from the front. He was pretty sure he saw the shadows nod to him, so he took that as an okay. Like a mouse on cotton, he positioned himself just far enough into the forest that they couldn’t quite see, Dean doing the same but behind them.

“I- What do we do?” the one holding the flashlight muttered. His nose was awfully clogged, it sounded like he’d been crying.

“I don’t know, Tuck.” The one holding the shovel answered. She also sounded upset, but more like she was doing everything she could to push back tears, a tone that Sam knew very well. “Danny, are you sure you wanna do this?”

The one in the middle, Danny, shook his head. Each of his arms reached across his middle, like he was trying to hug himself, or maybe more like he was trying to make himself look small, trying to hide. “I-“ his voice cracked and he let out a few sobs. The leaves and sticks made a simultaneous crack as he fell down onto his knees, folding over himself and shaking with pure, cutting sorrow.

Flashlight, or Tuck apparently, and Shovel got down beside him, hugging him from either side. They held one another and sobbed, one of them, Shovel, creaking out some pained “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”’s between wordless wails. From the looks of them, they couldn’t be more than 12 years old. Or maybe they could, Sam wasn’t a pediatrician. They were undoubtedly much too young to be in the middle of nowhere, all alone in a fragile mental state doing who-knows-what.

Sam looked to Dean then gestured with his head to let him know he was going to talk to the kids. Dean shook his head and violently gestured with his gun at the kids. Wait. Not /at/ the kids, beyond them. He’d neglected studying the white-wrapped body in front of them. That explained the tears. He couldn’t help but feel for them, even though for all he knew they’d just murdered someone in cold blood. He looked back to Dean and nodded, then signaled again.

Keeping his gun at the ready, but tucking it behind his back he slowly and deliberately stepped out of the trees, intentionally making noise so they’d see him coming. Tuck looked up with bloodshot eyes and a runny nose. Danny and Shovel tensed but didn’t further acknowledge him.

“Um, hey,” he said, trying his best for nonthreatening and landing at the border of creepy and awkward. “Are you guys good?”

Tuck’s eyes flooded with tears, but he got up on shaky legs, trying to pull Danny and Shovel up with him. They weakly joined him, leaning against one another for support. Despite the warm night, all three were trembling.

“I’m, uh, I’m not here to hurt you,” Sam started, not really sure where he was going with this, “I’m Sam Winchester, what are your names?”

Tuck gave him the same watery stare he’d had the whole time, like Sam was the saddest thing he’d ever seen. Shovel looked up next, she was more angry. Maybe her smeared and ruined makeup should’ve made her look silly, but all it did was add to the aggression she exuded. He could see her squeezing both her friend’s shoulders and tugging them very slightly to the left, wordlessly signaling- or at least trying to- an escape plan. Sam pretended not to notice.

“I just wanna know what happened here,” he inched his way towards the corpse. As he got closer he could smell burnt hair and flesh, another thing he was all too familiar with. He didn’t break eye contact as he squatted down and gently pulled the sheet back from a tuft of what he assumed was hair.

He bit the inside of his cheek upon seeing the boy. Fried was the only word that could describe him. His mouth hung open, as did his eyes- or at least, what was left of them. Ooze had dribbled from every orifice and re-solidified in horrible mauve blobs. His hair was barely more than a charred mess, his skin was peeling and bubbled in places, and so discolored Sam could barely make out the dusting of freckles across his nose. This was a death in agony if he’d ever seen one.

He folded the cloth back over the boy’s head and straightened up, pulling the gun from where it had waited behind his back.

“Alright,” he said firmly, “I’m gonna need some answers.”

Danny looked up, letting Sam properly see his face for the first time. His red-rimmed eyes widened at the sight of the gun, lips tightening into a thin line. It was a look of fear and resignation. He ran the back of his hand across his nose. Sam noticed a dusting of freckles on it. He looked to the sheet and then back to Danny, then checked once more.

“What the hell is going on here.” Sympathy gone, Sam allowed himself to posture intimidatingly. Whatever freaks these- these- these... freaks! were, they weren’t about to get away with cooking some kid alive. “Talk.”

The “or I’ll shoot” was silent, but understood. Danny cleared his throat, one hand rubbed nervously on the back of his neck.

“It- I-“ he stuttered, then in a barely audible trembling voice he said, “I, uh, I think I’m dead.”  

#supernatural #danny phantom #superphantom #superphantom ficlet #i dunno what else to tag this! #I've been thinking about this prompt for ages and finally got it down in a way I'm happy with :D #my writing

[five-rivers]

Hobbies

Phic phight! @idiot-cheesehead-archenemy

A series of vignettes about Danny having various hobbies.

(Master the Orb)

Danny exhaled slowly as the ice built up between his hands.  Each new layer glittered in the ghostlight cast by the overhead ambient ectoplasm, embedding complex patterns in the overall piece as new layers built up over it.

“Very good, Great One,” rumbled Frostbite behind his shoulder.  “Your control has improved immensely.”

Danny inhaled equally slowly, examining his work so far but not adding to it quite yet.  “I don’t know.  It looks a little lopsided.”

“Mmm, it looks fine to me.  Especially for such an early attempt.”

Danny sighed, exhaling the ice he had built up with his breath.  “So, it is lopsided.”

“Consider it practice,” said Frostbite, encouragingly. “It takes time to master art of any kind.”

“Humans do ice sculpture, too,” mumbled Danny. “They get really good, too.  I’ve seen pictures.  And videos.  They don’t even have ice powers.”  He rubbed his thumb over the surface, smoothing over a slightly rougher patch.

“That may be true,” said Frostbite, “but, again, you just started, Great One.  You have only had your powers for a little while.  Give yourself some support.”

Danny shrugged.  “I guess it isn’t something my life depends on, so I can relax about it.” He built up another layer of ice. “This is oddly therapeutic, and I don’t say therapeutic lightly.  You know Jazz.”

“I do indeed,” said Frostbite, somewhat ruefully, head half-bowed.  

Jazz could be a force of nature, even more so than ice powers.

He held the ice orb up to the light.  It caught on the patterns he had placed there. Fractals were the easiest.  He was hoping that if he got better, he’d be able to make real sculptures with patterns in them, instead of just orbs.  

But, first, he had to master the orb.  Just like how when drawing you had to do circles first.  Circle. Orb.

Ooorb.  Yep.  

The controlled application of ice.  The evenness of the internal patterns.  The solidity, density, and durability.  

His orb was… not very orblike, despite what Frostbite said.  Frostbite probably thought he was making so flat on purpose.  

Yeah.  He was terrible at this.  

He was having fun, though.  

.

.

 (Furnace)

“You’re taking up glass blowing?” asked Tucker, surprised.

“Yeah?  Is there a problem?” asked Danny, reaching over to stop his friend from accidentally drawing a line of orange sharpie across his poster on the themes in Macbeth.

“No!” said Tucker, quickly.  “But, like, why?  It just seems… unlike you.”

“Exactly,” said Danny, nodding sharply.  “It has absolutely nothing to do with my powers and nothing to do with my family.  Plus, I had a coupon.”

“For glass blowing?”

“It was a groupon,” said Danny.  “For making Christmas tree ornaments.  I’m going to do it with Jazz.”

“But, Danny,” said Sam, looking over from where she was working on her own poster about Twelfth Night, “glass blowing, uh, involves a lot of heat.”

“Sure?”

“Danny, you have an ice core.”

“Ah,” said Danny.  “Well.   I’ve got to use that groupon.  If it doesn’t work out, it’s only the once, right?”

.

“Oh my gosh,” said Danny, wringing sweat out of his t-shirt.  “That was awesome!”  He giggled to himself and peaked into the annealer again.  “So awesome!”

“Uh huh,” said Jazz.  Her attempts had been… rather less successful than Danny’s, partially because she was trying so hard to make them perfect.  But she had managed a few little baubles, nonetheless.  “I think these’ll all be good for the tree. Assuming we get one.”

“And it isn’t set on fire.”

“Oh, yeah, that was a bad year.”

He squeaked open the annealer again, only closing it when the instructor lightly scolded him.  “They’re so terrible and lopsided,” said Danny.  

“Hey,” said Jazz.  “Mine are fine.”

“I know!  I was talking about mine.”

“Ah, okay then.  I agree.”

“You aren’t supposed to agree.”

“What, you want me to lie?  And after you said it first?”

“No,” said Danny.  “But you could be nicer about it.”

“I’m your sister, what do you expect?”

.

.

 (Lung Capacity)

Danny let the last note trail off to complete silence. He stared apprehensively at the assembled student body.  Curse Mr. Lancer’s extra credit talent show assignment.  Any minute now, they’d start laughing at him.  

What was he thinking?  He’d just watched a few YouTube tutorials on breath control, and he thought he could come up here and sing in front of people?  He was a moron, and—

Sam and Tucker started cheering wildly, followed rapidly by everyone else in the gym.  

Okay.  What?

Sam and Tucker, following impulses known only to overexcited teenagers, swarmed up the stage and attacking Danny.  

“Why didn’t you tell us you could sing like that?” demanded Sam.  

“When did you learn?” asked Tucker, doing his level best to noogie Danny.  “Why did you learn?”

“I wanted to improve my, you know, wail,” muttered Danny, “and all the breath control YouTube videos either had to do with diving or singing, so…”  He did a little head wiggle to illustrate his point and also dislodge Tucker.  

“I just can’t believe you kept this a secret from us,” said Sam.  

Danny snorted and took a sort of half bow before attempting to leave the stage.  “My dudes, I am basically made of secrets.”

“Encore!” screamed someone who clearly hated him.  

“Oh, no,” said Danny, bracing himself against Sam and Tucker who were pushing him back into the middle of the stage.  “No encore.  I don’t do encores.”

But now people were chanting.  Chanting.  

“Come on, Danny,” said Tucker.  “Just once!”

“Yeah, these are your fifteen minutes of fame!”

“I had those already!  Multiple times!”

“That was Poindexter.”

“And now it can be you.”

Danny reluctantly took the microphone back off the stand.

.

.

 (Letterhead)

The ink was thick, almost creamy, and paint-like. It was the ectoplasm mix, which also gave it a rich, rosy glow.  

Danny was practicing ghost calligraphy.  Well, one particular subset of ghost calligraphy, one which put special emphasis on the color of the letters as well as how they fit together.  

It was a totally useless hobby.  But it was… not exactly calming.  No.  He’d gotten way too angry about poorly formed arcs and crooked lines a couple of times.  So. Yeah.  Not calming.  But… meditative.  Meditative. And there was something satisfying about seeing the finished product.  

Plus, if he framed his better finished work, they made for good presents for weirdo ghosts.

“You misspelled this,” drawled Ghost Writer.  

“No, I didn’t.”

“Keuwii only has one kei.”

“This is only one kei.”

“What’s this, then?”

“It’s a flourish.”

“A flourish.”

Danny rolled his eyes.  “Everyone’s a critic.  If you don’t want it—”

“I didn’t say that.”

Danny raised an eyebrow.  

Ghost Writer made a show of rolling his eyes. “Very well.  Do you have one for my half-brother Randy.  Perhaps one that says something along the lines of ‘idiot?’”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

.

.

 (Babies on Fire)

“Danny,” said Jazz.  “What are you doing up at three in the morning with a lighter? And… yarn?  Is that yarn?”

“Dad wanted me to learn how to sew,” said Danny, “but I don’t like needles, not the sharp ones, anyway.”

“You get stitches every other week,” pointed out Jazz.

“Exactly,” said Danny, gesturing with the lighter.  “So, I decided to look into, you know, knitting. And I was on knitting websites, and having, you know, a pretty good time with that, but then I found out about the babies.”

“The babies.”

“The babies,” said Danny, seriously.  “And the blankets that are on fire.  It depends on the yarn, you see.  If the yarn is the wrong kind of yarn, if it catches on fire, the blanket can melt onto the baby.  It’s terrible.  Just terrible.”

“I kind of think that if the blanket is on fire you have bigger problems,” said Jazz.  She took a step closer to her obviously insane younger brother.  “Are you… testing the yarn?”

“I have to, Jazz.  It’s for the babies.”

“Alright,” said Jazz.  “You are going to limit it to just the yarn in our house, right?”

“But we don’t have any babies.”

“Okay, that didn’t answer my question, but, like…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Since we don’t have any babies here, why are you testing the yarn?”

“Because we might have babies here in the future,” said Danny.  “Or I might knit something and give it to someone as a gift and then they give it to their baby.  Oh my gosh, I’d feel so guilty.”

“I’d be more worried about the toxic waste in our basement,” said Jazz, which was exactly the wrong thing to say to a sleep-deprived half-ghost on the edge of an Obsession-fueled breakdown.  Danny vanished in a blur, trailing yarn behind him. Jazz, who had only gotten up for a glass of water, cursed under her breath.

.

.

 (Before the Ball)

“I’m so, so sorry, Dora,” said Danny, holding back something adjacent to laughter.  

Dora laughed, more openly.  “It is fine, Sir Phantom.  Even now, you are better than my brother.”

“Am I really?  Your brother?  Who was raised to do this?”

“Well,” said Dora, letting go and stepping back out of the range of Danny’s feet.  Which were, evidently, both left feet.  “No, I’m afraid, but it is amusing to say, isn’t it?”  She pressed her fingers to her lips, suppressing more laughter.  

“Yeah, it is,” admitted Danny.  

“In any case, you are far more graceful concerning your mistakes than he ever was.  More gallant. A better representative of chivalry altogether.”  She patted the shoulders of his shirt.  

“Thanks,” said Danny.  “Do you think that I’ll be, uh, ready in time for the party?”

“It’s more than a party,” said Dora.  “You’re being officially knighted.  You’ll be a peer of the realm.”

“Aha,” said Danny.  “Yeah.  I don’t… what?  Really? That’s a thing?”

“You thought I was joking?”

“No,” said Danny, drawing out the word.  He had, in fact, thought she was joking and only accepted her offer to teach him how to dance because he thought it sounded like fun and like it might take his mind off his problems.  “Of course not.  So. Dancing.  Important.  For first impressions?”

“Everyone already knows you, Phantom,” said the knight assigned as Dora’s bodyguard.  “But dancing is surprisingly useful for swordplay.  Which you need all the help you can get at.”

“You said I was getting better.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re good.”

“Ouch.”

.

.

 (Time)

“I don’t have time for a hobby,” complained Danny through the Fenton Phones.  “Maybe if the ghosts let up a bit—” He zapped one of said ghosts.  

“Danny, are you fighting ghosts right now?”

“Yeah.  That’s my point.”

“Oh my god, get off the phone.”

“No way!  This is the only time I can call you, what with all of your classes.”

“Danny…” said Jazz, clearly exasperated.  He took advantage of the lull in the conversation to blast a few more ghosts.  

“I’m fine Jazz.”

“You are not fine.  You are, like, ten thousand miles away from fine.  When was the last time you even slept through the night?”

“Eh,” said Danny.  “Recently?”

“You need to take more time for yourself.”

Danny sighed and captured the last ghost.  “Maybe catching ghosts is my hobby.”

“Catching ghosts is your self-imposed penance for doing something that isn’t even your fault.  Not a hobby.”

“Okay, okay.  I’ll talk to you on Wednesday, same time.”

“Danny, don’t—”

He hung up.  

“Ugh,” said Danny.  “I guess I need to find a hobby.  Have to find time to find a hobby.”

“Perhaps I could be of help.”

“Ah!”  Danny jolted forward, dropping his phone.  

Clockwork gestured with one hand, and the phone dropped back into Danny’s hands from above.  

“Ohhh my ghost, why are you here?”

“You were just talking about finding time.  And now I’m here.”

“Good timing, I guess?”

“Only the best,” said Clockwork, evenly.  “But we were speaking of hobbies.  Might I suggest ice sculpture?  Your friends in the Far Frozen would be more than happy to teach you...”

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2021

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Messed Up, part 3

I decided it needed a third part and now it seems like it might need a fourth? Somebody needs to stop me from doing all these multi-part things...

Parts one and two

Pairing: Daniel Garcia x OFC

Word count: 2,501

Content advisory: nothing really, although the story is largely about bullying, so if you find that upsetting, it's best to avoid

“You ready?”

You raise your head quickly, which causes your glasses to slide down your face, and you’re just barely able to catch them before a disaster. You’re still not used to having them because you’re normally a contact lens person but a scratched cornea has forced you to adapt. Awkwardly, you push your glasses back onto your face and look up to see Matt and Jeff, known professionally as “2point0” but known in your head as the blowhard partners of Daniel Garcia, the bully who’s been the bane of your existence since high school.

“Ready for what?”

“To go,” Jeff barks, looking at you like you’re thick. “Danny’s party?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m heading back to the hotel.”

Matt gives an offended look. “We’re all going out to help the kid celebrate winning BOLA. Pretty much everyone else is gone already, so get your butt in gear, and let’s get going. You can ride with us.”

Ah yes, BOLA. The Battle of Los Angeles. The annual tournament that’s become an unofficial indicator of who the up-and-coming stars in the world of wrestling are. This year, Daniel won, meaning he’s now the focus of a lot of attention. His status as a leader of the next generation is cemented.

You, on the other hand, avoided BOLA this year, despite being asked to be a referee for the weekend. It would have been a good payday but you’d turned it down specifically because you’d wanted to avoid Daniel. You’d really wanted to accept but it still feels like he’s angry about you almost getting him in trouble with higher-ups in AEW and, just possibly, for turning him down when he hit on you later on.

“I haven’t heard anything about any party,” you stutter. “You must be mistaken. You don’t need to wait for me because I’m just heading back to the hotel.”

“You don’t want to come say ‘congratulations’ or anything?”

“Daniel and I…” You need to put this next part delicately because you know it’s going to get reported to him and that he’ll use it to figure out if you’re going to be a problem for him going forward. “We don’t even know each other that well.”

“What are you talking about?” Matt snorts. “You went to school together, right? And now you work together. You’ve known him longer than anyone here.”

Longer isn’t a good thing here.

“And besides,” Jeff cuts in, “he must have told you about it because he told us to make sure you got there.”

“Maybe he forgot to tell me. Look, it’s great that he won. I’m just tired and I need to get some sleep.”

“Not very nice.”

“What isn’t?”

“Backing out on someone you’ve known for years at the last second. This is a big deal. You got a problem with him or something?”

You squirm a little in place and you wonder if the two of them know more than they’re letting on. Their words are eerily similar to what Daniel said himself, to the threatening comments he’d made about needing to know that you weren’t harboring some kind of grudge against him. You might be able to pass on BOLA but you absolutely need your job and if he wants to push you out, you suspect it wouldn’t be all that hard.

There is no way you want to spend any time with Daniel or his obnoxious friends celebrating how great his life is right now but you can’t afford to incur his wrath. So maybe an hour of discomfort is worth it if it keeps you safe.

“I’m done here,” you mumble. “We can go.”

*

As soon as you arrive, you realize that this little gathering is even less appealing than you’d thought it would be. It’s populated by people who are close to Daniel or who want to improve their standing by sucking up to him and you get along with neither of those groups. The best thing that you can say is that none of these people really give a shit about your existence, so at least they’re not actively seeking to harm you. It’s only Garcia who wants to see you broken.

You cling to the gin and tonic you ordered when you arrived like it’s a life preserver. And to a certain extent, it is. As long as you have a drink in your hand, no one’s going to push you to participate in the drinking games that seem to be going on around the table where most of the partygoers and well-wishers have gathered, and as long as you nurse one drink, the less likely you are to get tipsy and mouth off to the entirely hostile audience.

Daniel sits on a sofa with a couple of women flocking him, the grown-up version of the girls you used to see around him in high school. He’s the star, you’re the dork who somebody invited by accident. Except that he’s the one who invited you because he loves nothing more than showing off how he is the star of the industry and that you are nothing in comparison. So you just try to smile at everyone and nod like everything is normal, like you’re just so happy to be included.

Eventually, Wheeler Yuta, the other person at this event who seems to be here as some kind of punishment, approaches you, rolling his eyes at the whole spectacle.

“He just has to show off, doesn’t he?” Yuta mutters, clinking his glass with yours.

“Guess he wants to feel important,” you laugh.

“Doesn’t buy him any charisma,” Yuta chuckles. “But I guess it just means that he’ll have another six months of being booked better than he deserves.”

You crack up laughing and raise your glass to his again before you notice the look on Daniel’s face. It’s like he’s been able to make out every word you’ve said even though there’s no way he could have. Quickly, you turn back to your one ally.

“Why are you even here?”

Yuta shrugs. “You know Sandra? She was doing a match for Dark tonight?”

“Sure, I met her earlier. I don’t know much about her.”

He blushes a little. “I don’t either but I was kind of hoping to change that.”

You grin and give him a playful punch in the arm.

“So what are you talking to me for?”

He nods towards the area where Daniel is seated with his sycophants.

“I’m not the big attraction here tonight.”

For the first time, you realize that one of the women hanging off Daniel is Sandra, a very new wrestler fresh off her AEW debut. You can’t blame Yuta for noticing her. She’s beautiful and seems very elegant and poised for someone who kicks people in the head for a living. Her attention is laser-focused on Daniel, who alternates chatting with her and another woman you don’t recognize. You wonder what would happen if you went over and tried to drag Sandra away from the group and force her to pay attention to Yuta. You’d probably be doing her a favor.

“What about you?” Yuta sighs. “How did you get tricked into coming here?”

“I really don’t know. I was ready to go back to the hotel and then Matt and Jeff showed up and made it sound like I had some sort of obligation to be here and I guess I just couldn’t think of a way out of it.”

“You’re too nice. You shouldn’t ever feel any kind of obligation to someone who’s been as much of an asshole to you as he’s been.” He shakes his head. “How are you doing, anyway?”

Yuta has apologized at least forty times in the couple of weeks since he accidentally speared you during a match. He has nothing to apologize for, of course, because it was Daniel who’d pushed you into the path of the move, but it’s Yuta who feels bad for you and who feels the need to check up on you.

“I’m fine. Please stop feeling guilty about that.”

“Was he this much of an ass in high school?”

“Oh yeah.”

Both of you laugh heartily at that. You’ve mostly avoided even mentioning the fact that you and Daniel went to school together but you feel like you can trust Yuta to keep anything you say in confidence. So he knows that the two of you weren’t exactly friends, without knowing the specifics.

“Why don’t you try to talk to her?” You give him a little rub on the shoulder as you watch him looking defeatedly in Sandra’s direction. “You’re on tv as much as he is. And you’re better looking. And he’s really boring. She’d probably think you were rescuing her.”

“Think I need another drink before I feel that confident. Can I get you something?”

“No, I’m good.”

He gives your hand a friendly squeeze before heading to the bar and you are once again alone in a pit of your own insecurities. As if on cue, Daniel looks up and gives you a cold sneer. Maybe you should have taken the offer of a drink.

No, you tell yourself, this is stupid. You’ve shown up to pay your respects, even if you haven’t spoken to the guest of honor. There is no reason you should feel obligated to stay one minute longer. So you turn and head to the coat check. You figure you can tell someone to convey your congratulations to Daniel as you leave, just to be extra friendly.

As you’re waiting for the attendant to retrieve your jacket, however, a pair of arms clamps around you from behind, pinning you in place. You don’t need to turn to see who it is. It isn’t a hug, it’s a restraint.

“Now that’s kind of rude,” he hisses. “I invite you out to a party and here you are taking off without even saying hello. I’m hurt.”

He locks his arms tight enough that you’re flush against him. You try to wriggle out of his grasp but stop when you realize that it amounts to grinding against him.

The attendant arrives with your coat and gives a confused look.

“She decided to stay,” Daniel informs her and you.

“I already took the ticket,” the girl whines.

“It’s ok, she’ll pay to check it again.”

He loosens his grip enough to allow you to retrieve your wallet from your purse and pay to have your coat checked for a second time at a party you didn’t want to attend in the first place. He keeps a hold of your arm as if he suspects you’re going to bolt for freedom which isn’t out of the realm of possibility. When the coat is safely out of sight again, he turns you to face him.

“Anything you want to say to me, Carrie?”

“Just please stop with that,” you beg softly.

“Is that all?”

“Congratulations on winning this weekend,” you offer. “I saw some clips online and it looked really impressive.”

“See, you can be nice when you try.” He gives you an unkind little smile and runs his thumb along your jaw.

“You should really go enjoy your celebration,” you say, hopeful that he’ll take you up on the hint so that you can hide in the shadows a little longer before making your escape.

Instead, he leans close and holds your face tight in his hands.

“Maybe I want to celebrate with you.”

He touches his lips lightly to yours and, embarrassingly, you rise to the bait, returning the gesture, which gets a cruel laugh.

“Changed your mind about me?” he murmurs.

You pull back, furious with yourself, and shove him away from you. Before you can speak, however, you catch a glimpse of Yuta, smiling and chatting away with Sandra. He’s such a nice guy and he looks so happy. You figure that one more minute isn’t going to kill you if it means you’re doing him a solid, so you grab hold of Daniel’s arm and pull him close. You’re unsure what to say so you kiss him, parting your lips slightly, an invitation he seizes on without hesitation.

He throws you back against the wall, thrusting against you and running one hand under your skirt, to the point where you know what’s happening would look indecent if anyone were around to see. But that’s always the thing with him and you- no one is ever around to see because he wouldn’t touch you if they were. He buries his face in your neck, kissing and biting at the skin while you run your fingernails over his scalp. You keep having to grab your glasses to prevent them from falling on the floor but he doesn’t seem to notice.

It continues like this for several minutes, the two of you alternately kissing and nuzzling each other, until you see his eyes darting around like he’s looking for a more private location. You’ve done enough. Yuta will have to fend for himself.

“I can’t do this,” you mutter, taking advantage of Daniel’s obvious surprise to squirm free of his hold. “Not with you.”

“Why the hell not? You want to. I want to. What’s the problem?”

“The ‘problem’ is that you are a vicious little creep who’s gone out of your way to make me miserable for years. I never did anything to you. I never even spoke to you. I gave you no reason to treat me the way you did, the way you still do. You just think it’s fun- your words- to torment me. You’re an asshole and I couldn’t live with myself if I…”

“But you want to,” he repeats drily.

“Not as much as I want to feel some self-respect,” you retort. “You’re not worth it.”

You start to walk away but he’s right there, grasping hold of your arm.

“See that? Looks like you’re out of luck with him.”

He nods toward where Yuta is standing with Sandra, who’s now draped around his neck like a scarf. You let out a satisfied laugh and turn to face the bully.

“You think that’s a problem for me? I wanted him to hook up with her. The only reason I kissed you before was that I saw the two of them talking and I didn’t want you going back there and screwing it up for him.”

“You what?”

His eyes narrow and his expression grows cold. You realize too late that you’ve made a mistake; you’ve given him an excuse to really turn on you.

“I’m going to go now,” you mumble.

He just watches as you go back to the coat check and once again retrieve your belongings. You hope he can’t see how much you’re shaking but you suspect the fear is radiating from you. At least when he wanted to get in your pants, he had a reason to stop short of totally destroying you. Now, all bets are off.

#daniel garcia imagine #aew fanfiction #aew imagine #wayward wrestle writing #wrestling fanfiction

[omegasmileyface]

Not in the Job Description

heres a silly lil Danny Phantom concept based entirely off a half-awake sleep-vision that made me laugh :) my subconscious brain is a genius at coming up with things that make just enough sense to be worth writing

summary: Danny's job at a local restaurant is surprisingly fulfilling, even after being crowned Ghost King. Speaking of that job, however, there are some intricacies to it that are hard to keep in mind during everyday life.

warnings: descriptions of nausea and mild sickness

words: 2180

AO3 link

===

Honestly, life was going pretty well at the moment for Danny Fenton. He wasn't even worried that it was a false security or a calm before a storm, because this kind of semi-serenity had been going on for more than a year. It was a long-term stability brought about by adaptation and putting in effort to get help and accommodation. Jazz would be proud!

Sometime at the beginning of Junior year, the Observants had chased him down and crowned him High Ghost King (much to the chagrin of both involved parties). It certainly added responsibility to Danny's plate, along with some new sensations and a series of crises (what didn't these days?), but a little political discussion with some of the more powerful ghosts ended with Danny deciding that, at least at the moment, the position didn't require him to do much more than he normally did. More ghosts would seek him out for help and he would do his best, and some "paperwork" (though there was very little paper involved and it was a lot of talking and oaths and rituals and such) happened about monthly. Otherwise, though, the Zone didn't need much more help than that, having survived off an absent King for centuries. Well, and the ambient purpose of the King as a sort of core for the Zone, but Danny didn't have to put in time or conscious effort for that.

Eventually that settled into normalcy, and Danny was back to worrying about the balance of schoolwork, self-care, and fighting. He still hadn't given up on the prospect of someday becoming an astronaut, and he was determined to have the grades for it. Don't get him wrong, he'd gotten way better about that! He'd formed a practiced, if not entirely stable, system that kept his grades at a solid B- / C+, while getting a solid 5-ish hours of sleep most nights and not bottling things up too much. It was about halfway through Junior year that he realized, with some help from his friends, that his ghosts fights were honestly pretty civil, at least against the regulars. Civil enough that he knew they had some respect for him, and was willing to risk asking for help. So a few weeks and awkward but not bad conversations later, and he had agreements with almost all his regular "foes" not to cause trouble within Amity from 11pm to 7am, 3pm on weekdays. It was more than half the day off-limits on school days, and plenty of ghosts made up for it to a degree by making themselves more common during the "permitted" hours, but it greatly increased Danny's well-being and school performance anyway. "Rivals" like Skulker and Technus had enough respect for Danny and his Lair to abide, and plenty even cared that he was taking care of himself, even between frequent sparring. Maybe a few were really just in fear of his new crown, but he chose to cautiously pretend that wasn't a possibility.

After graduation — he made Senior year with all As and Bs! — Danny's parents had encouraged him to get a part-time job over the summer. He had been interning at FentonWorks (paid! His parents might not be the most attentive but they certainly weren't unfair) since he had accidentally revealed himself a few years back, and they had been thrilled to hear that he still intended to go into NASA if possible, and had done whatever they could to help. They recommended the job because, as good as a paid scientific internship was on a resume, it would help to have a variety of activity and the opportunity to get recommendations from employers who weren't liable to nepotism. After searching local businesses, Danny found a small sandwich shop founded by a middle-aged couple who had moved in and set up shop just before the ghost attacks began. Being close to the school but not far from the commercial sector and offering small portable food (no one wants to sit down for a meal when a spirit could come crashing through the window at any moment), the place got good enough business to pay the employees a proper living wage. Better yet, they were allowed to take home unsold food! Not to mention the owners were both very kind women who held smiling conversation with employees and customers alike. Danny was more than lucky to land such a nice job, even if it meant he had to get up at 7 five days a week.

All this is to say that it wasn't as surprising as it could have been that he was having a slow and pleasant day at work.

Both the owners were out for the day on some sort of vacation, so today it was just Danny and a short teenager named Casey manning the place. Most of their orders recently had been online due to an explosion causing road work near the restaurant and it was mid-morning, leaving work slow enough that they could afford to just have the two until lunch shift started. Danny was on cashier duty today, but unless the door bell sounded, he was helping Casey in the kitchen.

"Aw, man, we're almost out of tomatoes."

"Really?" Casey looked up to the shelf Danny was inspecting and indeed saw only 3 tomatoes. "Huh, guess they didn't restock yesterday. Well, we probably shouldn't risk needing more before the day's out, do you want me to go get more?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah, I can go. I think I could use the fresh air." He said that a lot, especially as an excuse when his ghost sense went off, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. He never had liked being confined.

Casey checked the monitor to see if they'd gotten any new online orders. Since there was a grocery store just a block away, any time someone needed a quick restock they tended to just walk.

They looked up to see Danny already had his jacket on and was looking them in the eye. "Would you take over my position until I come back?"

"Of course. Ten minutes?"

With a nod and a smile, Danny was out the back door.

===

After a moment of habitually wiping down the counters, Casey went up to the register in case a customer appeared.

It was even quieter than before for a few minutes, so they busied themself with mini restocks and organization. They were in the middle of stacking some paper coffee cups when they started to feel dizzy. There had been this subtle pressure on their chest since Danny left, which they figured was anxiety for working the restaurant alone for the first time, and now it had solidified into a warm nausea that flared whenever they exhaled.

With the disinterested panic that came from having strange things happen for years, they wondered if they had missed their medication this morning. A quick glance at their phone, however, showed the notification for it checked off.

Putting the phone back away, Casey noticed the tips of their fingers were somewhat translucent. Alright then, it was definitely something to do with ghosts. Great! Just excellent. The panic was less disinterested this time.

They weren't familiar with any sort of ghost illness that made humans translucent, so they definitely needed to call someone to make sure nothing bad happened. It would be best to call the Fentons' public number so they could go over and get looked over by then. In the meantime, they should call Danny and ask him to hurry back. He shouldn't be much longer anyway.

Casey didn't even get the chance to act on their plan, however, before a short humanoid ghost appeared in the dining area. They didn't look to be up to anything, but Casey reached for the emergency ectoblaster beneath the register anyway. The nausea was getting worse, along with a new chill, and they couldn't be sure this new ghost wasn't somehow causing whatever they were going through.

The ghost looked at them with an expression that was almost desperate. "Ah! Kind human, thank you for your time." The ghost... bowed? "I am Eurusid, from the Spoken Channels. There has been a dispute which damaged public meeting grounds in the center of the Channels, and both groups refuse to allow the damage to be repaired except by the other group."

Casey's eyes narrowed. It was becoming difficult to stand with the dizziness, and if not the ghost himself, then whatever he was saying was probably a hallucination. They didn't even think about responding beyond a detached "what".

It was then that Danny re-entered the back door with the new tomatoes. Good thing, too. At least with another person there, Casey could confirm whether they were hallucinating.

===

Placing down the grocery bag and shrugging off his jacket in one motion, a skill only gained by years of laziness efficiency, Danny called toward the register. "Back!"

Once he caught sight of the teen, however, all casualness shed itself from his body and he rushed over to hold them. "Man, Casey, you feeling alright? You look really pale." The realization that their form was slightly translucent, despite the firm human heartbeat beneath, was drowned out by him finally noticing the ghost standing a few feet away. The reaction of his ghost sense had been so minor that he had ignored it.

He was surprised to see that he recognized the specter's face, marred as it may have been from worry and confusion aimed directly at Casey. "Eurusid? What's going on?"

As the ghost, still confused but unwilling to act impolitely, gathered his bearings and began to bow toward him, Danny's coworker shuddered under his hands, regaining his full attention. He thought back through the day's events for hints as to the situation, before swearing, cutting off whatever Eurusid was about to say.

Danny backed up and said, voice as clear as he could, "I recall my position."

Casey's reaction was immediate, a gasp of air like they had been kept from breathing and a return of their skin's human opacity. Danny rushed back over and put his hand on their back to steady them as their eyes narrowed and went slightly unfocused.

Figures, doesn't it? One of the many intricacies that had come up at his coronation Junior year that just hadn't come up enough to keep at the front of his mind. One of the defenses of the High Ghost Crown was the ability of the King to temporarily give their duty to someone else. As long as that person accepts, during a specified time they substitute for the King in dealing with political matters, as well as taking over as much as their ability allowed of the King's function to process the energy of the Realms.

Danny had no idea that this ability could be activated with words as vague as "take over my position", let alone that it could be used with a human. That potential had never come up during the ceremony, so for all he knew, a full ghost in his position couldn't substitute with a human. A human certainly shouldn't be able to take over any part of the energy processing, though maybe in Amity Park the average person processed enough environmental ectoplasmic energy to make it possible. Regardless of residence, though, it could not be good for Casey's body, which had no Core to properly process energy and had no human equivalent except perhaps a small emotional center in the brain, to even attempt to filter and manage some of the inherent energy of a dimension.

Their skin was still clammy and their coordination was shot. Ancients, if this is what an accidental substitution did to a human, Danny would have to word things very carefully when asking for help in the future.

"King Phantom?" Danny looked up to see that Eurusid was still floating there awkwardly. Right. He had two people here to help.

"Sorry, Eurusid. One moment, I'll be right with you." He turned back to his coworker, who looked confused and less lucid than ideal, but probably still lucid enough to realize this ghost had just called him "King Phantom". Well, he'd deal with that once it came to it. "Here, Casey, let's get you some water." He helped them walk back into the kitchen and sat them down on a bench by the back door. There was a chair in the register area, but they probably didn't want to feel exposed to the dining area like that, even with nobody but the ghost there.

Once handed the water, Casey sighed and eagerly drank from it, eyes closed. Danny rubbed his hand on their back a bit and promised to be back shortly before walking back out to meet Eurusid. Whatever he was here about was probably worth immediate attention but Danny was sure there'd be at least a solid minute of apologies on both sides before the matter was addressed. Hopefully both the Spoken Channels and Casey would be alright before the next shift came in.

#danny phantom #my writing #danny phantom fanfiction #ghost king danny #gkau crack baby ! #ive been referring to this in my head as 'the wendys story' even though having it be a chain fast food restaurant doesnt quite work #ghost king hcs here very inspired by heavy on the heart light on the head by gothmoth and the a king in chains series by five-rivers #with some Pizzazz thrown in! #throne in . ha #one day ill come up with a complete and proper hc set for it but Not Today #me writing the sentence 'danny made senior year with all as and bs': dont cry dont cry dont say 'god i wish that were me' #oh also bear in mind ive never worked at a restaurant #unedited bc im impatient 😔

[emptymasks]

I’ve seen a lot about your thoughts on Elisabeth and Tanz der Vampire, and they’ve been really helpful getting into those musicals! But you have a huge list of other musicals that people can get into…

So I was wondering if you had any musicals you hadn’t mentioned in a while that you really like or would like to talk about??? (preferably something from your lists that has a blue heart please?)

Oh if only you knew how long the list of European musicals really is... I however have only seen 9 (if I counted right) and I have a lot more that I still need to watch. Oh also, I only put the blue hearts on any musicals that I was providing multiple links for so people could see which version I reccoment the most highly. If a musical only had one link and didn't have a blue heart it doesn't mean I didn't like it.

I've watched: Mozart das Musical, Elisabeth das Musical, Tanz der Vampire, 3 Musketiers, Mozart L'Opéra Rock, Dracula (the Graz production), Rebecca das Musical, Roméo et Juliette and Schikaneder.

If you enjoyed those two you're likely to enjoy Rebecca! It's written by the same composer/lyricist team as Elisabeth and Mozart (and same lyricist as Tanz der Vampire - though if you're listening to any German musical, original or translated, 90% of the time the lyrics will have been done by Michael Kunze that man is everywhere). The Stuttgart production has my favourite set design of any musical! Well... Actually probably. There are so many big set pieces it's insane, way more than I've seen in some Broadway and West End musicals. You can tell so much work went into it and the visual effects that I won't spoil if you don't know the plot but if you know the plot you know what I mean by the effects at the end are so good and I didn't expect them at all and I freaked out so much the first time I watched it. Jan Ammann as Maxim in the Stuttgart production is the best Maxim. No I won't take any argument. Other actors feel a bit one-dimensional to me, but the way Maxim acts at times comes from trauma and some actors and productions seem to forget that, but Jan really goes for it and his Maxim is a lot more sympathetic and I just want to give him a hug. Pia Douwes as Mrs Danvers, if you've seen her in Elisabeth what more do I need to say, she's amazing. A musical goddess. Her Danny is a bit more wild than some, but she kills it. My favourite video, which I put the blue heart next to, has understudy Christina Patten as Ich/I, but I adore her she's my favourite. She adds some spunk to Ich in act 2 and her voice is so pretty and aaaa. I just love these three actors together in these roles.

Roméo et Juliette is another favourite of mine! It's hard to choose which one to recommend, but it has to be the original 2000/2001 production because of the sweetness and chemistry and voices of Damien Sargue and Cecilia Cara as Romeo and Juliet. They're so pretty and work together so well. The only reason I say it's hard to pick is Mercutio. I adore him, but in the original production they cut out a song they had planned for him and he doesn't really do much at all? In the 2010 revival they gave him two more songs and you care about him so much more and John Eyzen plays such a good Mercutio. So I'd recommend the original but if you want to like Mercutio more, which you should he's amazing, I'd recommend watching at least clips of John's. It's an interesting musical because all productions are non-replica and also change around the order of songs, add or take away characters, all sorts. The Hungarian production is also very popular and I'm sure it's great, I just haven't' gotten around to watching it yet.

Mozart das Musical was the first non-English language musicals I watched so I have a fondness for it, but it's not my favourite. However, I do realise I have forgotten most of the songs and the few I've gone back and listened to are better than I remember.

Dracula isn't super popular and I understand why, I don't love the plot of the Dracula/Mina romance in it, however. I do love this musical because despite how I find the plot lacking, the songs are so good! At least, I love them. And the actors are all doing a great job. And it's one of the few Dracula adaptions to keep Quincy Morris so they get bonus points for that.

Mozart L'Opéra Rock and modern French musicals... This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they're often more like pop-rock operas now. So if you're not into musicals with that style of music it might not be for you, but I still enjoyed it even though I didn't think I would because of the style of music. Mozart and Salieri's chemistry is very good, Salieri's bisexual crisis song is iconic, actually all of Salieri's songs are iconic.

Schikaneder... eh. I didn't like it that much and I didn't really like any of the songs. There's no English subtitles, but someone sent me the entire English synopsis and I watched it with a German friend so I had double the help of understanding it. Doesn't mean others might not like it, just none of the songs stood out to me and I had no desire to listen to any of them again. It's by Steven Scharwz of Wicked fame and I love Wicked, but I didn't love this.

3 Musketiers!! God it's so underrated and not spoken about within the European musical fandom that I even forget about it and literally forgot to write about it earlier in this post. It's a Dutch musical (though did also have a German production) and it's really good!? Faces you might know are Pia Douwes as Milady de Winter, Stanley Burlseon as Cardinal Richeliu (Netherlands Der Tod in Elisabeth), Henk Poort as Athos (Netherlands Phantom and Jean Valjean). The dialgoue is funny, the songs are good, some of the set pieces have no right to exist in this tiny musical?? They made this giant boat and pelt the actors with rain just for one 5 minute song and then we never see the boat again? And while I recommend the Dutch one because Dutch musicals deserve more love and it has official English subtitles!! Official ones, not fanmade! I have the DVD and it comes with English subtitles (and Dutch and German subtitles) which is so nice. The German version is also good, good cast, Pia came back and Uwe Kroger as Richeliu and omg they rearranged the songs and the German arrangement of Nicht Aus Stein is insane and amazing and frankly iconic.

That's all of the ones I have watched. Next on my list to watch are Rudolf and Notre Dame de Paris, both of which I have listened to some songs from and already love (I've listened to way too much of Notre Dame de Paris and am so in love).

I want to start organising streams where I'll host the musical either by getting the video from Youtube or my own files and anyone who wants to join can come along and watch with us, chat with us if you want or just watch there's no pressure to chat. I thought about doing weekly streams? This would also make me finally watch some of the ones I've been meaning to for ages. But I keep wondering about time zones. I'm in the UK and would want to stream at about 11pm at the latest (11pm BST/GMT+1 as we’re in daylight savings at the moment, if the streams continue past the end of October which would be wild then I’ll make a note of the time change that would be to 11pm GMT), which I know can work for other UK and Europeans, but for any Americans would be in the afternoon. So, I wondered if doing it on a weekend would be better? Then it doesn't matter if it's in the afternoon? Maybe Saturday evenings then? It would either be Saturday evenings UK time or Friday evenings UK time. What do you guys think? If people are down then I'll make a separate post with a list of what we'll be watching each week and if anything happens to me that means I can't stream one week then everything will just get pushed back a week, but I don't see that as likely to happen. And I'll only be streaming those that have English subtitles, so don't worry about not being able to understand anything.

edit: am also open to 10pm bst if others want that, im just trying to think of what time works best for everyone so sorry if 11pm is a little late for europeans, i know 10pm could be a little early for americans. also in case it sounded like these are the only musicals i will be streaming, thats not so, ive got more than just the ones mentioned on this list!

(Tagging some people who I know are or might be interested in streams to see what you think of that plan: @sirona-art @ringwraith100 @tanz-der-trash @smilingwoland @the-weird-dane @witchgaye @ami-fidele @kisstheghouls @looking-4-happiness @ladysapphire928 @sloanedestler @tinywound @persephonaae @phoenixdewinter @uwucoffee @freshbloodandgothicism )

#european musicals #mozart das musical #3 musketiers #dracula the musical #retj #romeo et juliette #mozart l'opera rock #mozart l'opéra rock #musical theatre #musicals #broadway #musicaledit #rebecca das musical #rebecca the musical #answeredasks #non english language musicals

[bubblegumbeech]

Haunted Towers and Hidden Truths

Phic Phight prompt by @lexiepiper

Write a more traditional ghost story. How would things change if ghost powers weren’t super powers, but closer to old horror movie tropes?

“We shouldn’t do this Danny,” Sam said, ever the voice of reason. “This place isn’t like our usual haunts.“

But Danny shook his head, “No Sam, I have to do this. I have to know what that dream meant, if it was really a dream or something else.”

He moved to take a step forward when his other friend, Tucker, grabbed his arm, “I don’t know man, I think she’s right. There isn’t a possessed item to destroy, or an overactive ghost to try and calm down, heck even Vlad has a weakness we can exploit, we don’t know anything about this place. What if we don’t make it out of this one?”

“Come on Tucker,” Danny argued, his own confidence nothing but a mask, “It can’t be as bad as the haunted video game right? You die in the game you die in real life!”

Tucker didn’t laugh, “this is serious Danny, I know that dream had you messed up, but what if it was just that? A dream?”

“Or,” Sam cut in, “What if it’s a trap? Remember how Desiree tried to get us with that monkey’s paw when she realized we were getting involved with every scary story and urban legend in town and she didn’t want us to find out about her?”

There was also the time a ghost discovered Danny’s secret and decided to haunt him personally and make his life a living hell until he and Tucker were able to exorcise it. It had involved a gorilla, a lot of research into dead safari hunters, and one of his parent’s inventions that they rigged to do what they needed before destroying it so it couldn’t be used against Danny himself. 

“We made it through all of those things together, remember when we first saw Cujo? And we thought he was to blame for Valerie’s mother?” Danny said.

Sam deflated, “and then we did research and discovered that Cu Sith only foretell death, not cause it… But Danny, we tried to research this place, remember? We found nothing. It’s like it doesn’t exist.”

“Yeah man,” Tucker scratched the back of his neck uncertain, “I couldn’t find so much as a blueprint. No building plans, nothing. The only thing we have to go on are stories from reckless kids trying and failing to spend the night.”

“You don’t have to follow me, the last thing I want is to put you both at risk. Especially after last time.” 

Tucker groaned, “Danny you know we aren’t going to let you do this alone right? Especially not after Walker’s prison. Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t come in and save you?”

Danny smiled, “I probably would have starved to death to be fair, but yeah, I’ll try to avoid getting locked in any metal cages, deal?”

“To be fair,” Sam said, returning his smile with one of her own, strained though it was, “you probably would have died of thirst first.”

Chuckling at his friends' attempts to lighten the mood once they realized his mind wouldn’t be changed, Danny finally let himself look up at the place in question. It was a tall, crooked looking clocktower with old, brittle wood and peeling paint. In the low light of the evening it looked almost purple and with the dust and cobwebs covering it, it was clear no one had been inside for quite some time. 

The Clocktower was a recurrent presence in his dreams, the ones he’d started having since the accident that made him the way he was: different from any person, but not quite anything else. It was always there in the background, but he’d never gone inside. 

Once, during a particularly dull recurring dream where he relived the life and consequent death of a warehouse worker, he’d walked away from the endless piles of boxes and tried to go inside the clocktower instead. But no matter how far he traveled, it was always the same distance away. He just couldn’t get to it. 

Danny couldn’t shake the feeling though, that something inside might have the answers he’s been searching for. So he stepped forward, and knocked on the door.

There was no answer, of course, and  Danny almost felt foolish doing it, but also, ghosts and spiritual beings all had their own rules and perceptions of what is or isn’t polite, most of which Danny had stumbled into learning the hard way, and it really didn’t hurt to check.

“No answer,” Sam said and Danny nodded, turning the handle. It was old and brass and when it turned it made a loud grinding noise that vibrated along his arm. But it did open, and without Danny needing to persuade it, so that had to be a good sign right?

Unless it really was a trap. 

“Maybe we should leave someone outside, in case it really is like Walker’s prison.” He offered, but both of his friends shook their heads and stepped past him. It was dark, musty and smelled in a weird way, like a library. If a library had locked its doors and not let anyone enter for a good century or so. 

Sam took the lead, her flashlight catching on unfamiliar shapes and shadows. “Do you know what we’re looking for?” she asked, her voice uncertain. 

Danny shook his head, “Not really, just… answers.”

They looked around the ground floor at first, but if it held anything particularly supernatural or important, it wasn’t going to be found. “This just looks like my grandma's living room.” Tucker complained, taking the sheet off of one of the couches, “we need to go further in if we want to actually find something.”

He wasn’t wrong, Danny looked over to the spiralling staircase in the back of the room, and then to the other doors that surrounded it on the first floor. “It’s probably better to do this systemically right? Go through every room on each floor and move our way up?”

“You mean like in a video game?” Sam asked, “sure, we can do that.”

They started on the left, but that room wasn’t much better when it came to finding any kind of clues. It held a kitchen, a very old kitchen, with a stove and oven that Danny had only ever seen in period movies. But…

“Why does it smell like cookies?” Danny asked, turning to his friends who both looked at him like he was crazy.

“Cookies? Yo, Danny this place smells like straight up death. Not cookies.” Tucker said, backing away from the oven and starting to open up cabinets. 

Sam rolled her eyes and did the same on the other side of the kitchen, “it doesn’t smell like death you dolt, it smells… like a graveyard.”

Danny walked to the middle of the room, towards the oven- he always made sure to be the one seeking out the more dangerous or suspicious things in the haunts they went to- while the two of them bickered. They tended to start these smaller, petty arguments when they were scared, it took the edge off. 

“Duh?” Tucker said, and Danny heard him slam one of the cabinets shut, “graveyards are death? What does it smell like to you? Your Mom’s perfume?”

“No, it smells like someone dying, you know all hospital chemicals and gross stuff.”

There wasn’t anything in the oven, but oddly, Danny had felt a wave of warmth when he opened it. Almost like it had just been used. But, ghosts didn’t need to eat, right? And there couldn’t have been a person living here, they’d notice that. At least, Danny hopes they would notice that. After being in dozens of life or death scenarios hinging on whether they noticed important but minute details, they’d become pretty good at that kind of thing.

“Ugh! Don’t talk about hospitals, I’m still not over North Mercy, that was horrible,” Tucker turned to Danny, leaning on one of the counters and ignoring the cabinet he opened right behind his head. “What do you think death smells like Danny?”

Danny walked over and closed the cabinet, he didn’t want something to suddenly appear inside of it all twisted limbs and empty eyes or for something to crawl out and scare them, or even have it slam shut on Tuckers head, like some ghosts were known to do. He didn’t have to put much thought into his answer, “It smells like burnt flesh, electricity, and polished wood.”

Tucker paled, “oh… right. Sorry.” 

He shrugged, “anything yet?”

“Not unless you count cobwebs, dust, and deteriorating cooking books,” Sam answered, walking over to both him and Tucker. 

Danny looked around at the kitchen, it looked normal, even some dying light shone in from the one window along the outer wall. The only thing weird was the shape and that was because it was at the bottom of a spiralling clocktower. There was nothing particularly scary about the place, and frankly Danny didn’t know what to do with that.

“Let’s move on, this place is giving me the creeps,” Sam said, crossing the room and going to the next door. 

Danny and Tucker followed, unwilling to be left behind, or to let her go on her own. The next room was the same size as the other two, but it had an extra window and was crammed absolutely full of books. Just books. Stacks and stacks of them where they didn’t fit on the shelves, which were completely packed themselves, and Danny had the thought that this was probably what he was smelling when they first walked in. 

It was a library. A personal one, but without any room to sit or anything to sit on despite the genuinely impressive display of books and Danny found himself gently stroking his hand against the cover of a book on the top of the nearest stack, When Ghosts Speak: Understanding Earthbound Spirits.

“Please tell me we aren’t reading all of this,” Tucker whined. Danny frowned, why wouldn’t he want to read these? It was a treasure trove of information, these books could have countless, researched, answers to questions they’ve been asking since the start of everything! 

What if one of these books could tell them why Amity Park seemed to attract the supernatural, why they seemed to gain power within the city’s boundaries, why Danny wasn’t dead. He wanted nothing more than to grab any one of these books, walk into the next room, with the couches and comfortable chairs, sit down and read and read until he found something, anything he could use. 

These books might even be able to help him deal with the supernatural threats that plagued their town. Mostly they’ve been surviving through luck and half baked internet searches with the occasional trip to the town library. And while it had been enough so far, Danny was practically salivating at the thought of being properly, genuinely prepared for something for once. 

“Of course we aren’t,” Sam said, dragging Danny out of his fantasies of maybe knowing what he was doing, “they’re completely deteriorated. If we even tried to open one it would probably fall apart.”

Danny frowned, and then looked down at the book he’d subconsciously grabbed. It didn’t seem as bad as Sam was describing, but he also didn’t want to risk it either. He’d realized early on there was a difference between what he was seeing and what was actually real. He set it down gently and looked around the rest of the room with his friends. 

“Are we so sure this place is haunted?” Danny asked. By then, the sun had set entirely and the only light left was their flashlights. High powered and with fresh batteries they were still little use against the encroaching dark and Danny wanted to move on to the next floor already if he wasn’t going to be able to open a book. 

Tucker stood up from behind a precariously leaning shelf and dusted himself off, “Dude you’re the one that said there was something here and we needed to investigate. Remember, like an hour ago when the two of us were trying to stop you from going inside?”

Danny scoffed, “that’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean then?” Sam asked, stepping closer so she could meet his eyes. There was something in her expression, curiosity or suspicion, Danny couldn’t quite parse. 

“I…” Danny stopped to think, what did he mean? Was it just that the place didn’t feel haunted? There wasn’t anything here trying to scare him away, no ominous winds or loud knocking, but they’ve gone into haunts before that took a long time to start actually reacting to them. “There’s no, I don’t know how to explain it. Usually when we go somewhere haunted, that a ghost has a claim to or whatever… there’s this feeling that I’m trespassing? I don’t feel like I’m trespassing here.”

That probably didn’t make any sense, and despite everything they didn’t usually act on Danny’s gut instincts as a group without evidence. The issue with the circus and it’s terrifying owner was a lesson too well learned after all. 

True to expectations neither Sam nor Tucker looked convinced. They shared a quick ‘what now’ look between each other and Danny resisted taking a step back and sinking into the wall. Not that he could do that, as far as he knew he couldn’t do that. Only actual ghosts could do something like that and despite everything Danny was still human- well, still had a physical form. 

Permanently. 

“Let’s move on upstairs,” Sam reasoned, “if Danny’s right there won’t be any harm in it, and if he’s not we’ll find out once whatever’s here starts actually reacting to us, right?”

Perfectly reasonable and logicked as always. Danny nodded and walked to the next door, if he was right it would lead into the room they had first entered with the staircase that twisted and climbed higher and higher into the heart of the tower. That was the next place to go. He knew that.

Tucker gently patted his shoulder as they walked towards the base of the stairs, “yeah, maybe the ghost doesn’t consider this bottom part his haunt? Maybe he just likes the clock on top?”

Danny smiled, “like the hunchback of Notre Dame?”

Smiling back, Tucker nodded, “exactly! Oh man, we gotta find out if that guy is real one of these days.”

“We have our hands a bit tied with Amity Park without going after disney characters,” Sam said, pushing the two of them from behind so they’d actually go up the stairs. “Now let's get a move on, I want to be back home before breakfast so my parents don’t realize I snuck out again.”

There was something Danny could say but he bit back the comment about how at least her parents would notice and quickly walked up the stairs instead. As soon as his feet touched the first step a bubbly feeling lifted in his chest, and it made him want to go higher as fast as he could there was someone up there waiting for him-

“Danny!” Sam called out, grabbing him by the arm, “calm down!”

Her grip on his arm was tight and Danny looked down to see what had her panicked only to find his feet had left the stairs entirely and he’d started floating upwards instead of walking. Like a human. Like his friends. Like what he was supposed to be. 

He swallowed and let himself sink back down, forcing the feeling in his chest back as much as he could. It was like trying to kill the fizz in a shaken soda by screwing a cap back on it and he struggled with it for a moment. He’d never felt like this before- sure, most ghosts and other supernatural entities tended to broadcast emotions to a higher degree than humans, and with them also being natural empaths and Danny’s unfortunate situation it often led to him being overtaken by emotions that weren’t necessarily his own. 

It’s just, they’ve never been this overwhelmingly positive before.

Even with Vlad, as human as he was, his emotions were always tinted with obsession and desperation. His need to have Danny and his mother for his own colored every interaction he’d had with the man and it often left a bitter, strained feeling in his chest. Right now, Danny felt almost giddy. And he wasn’t even sure it wasn’t just his own emotions, reacting to the environment around him. It was a nice environment after all. 

But Danny was good at ignoring things like that. 

“My bad. I’ll try and keep my feet on the ground from now on.”

Sam looked conflicted, “Danny you know we don’t mind you using your powers,” Danny nodded, they’d told him so many times over and over again, “But we don’t want to lose you to them. You promised to stay with us, remember?”

Danny smiled, “I remember. I won’t end up like that, I promised. That’s why we’re here right? To stop it?”

Sam nodded and let him go. 

The second floor was similar to the first, in that it had three rooms leading into each other with the spiral staircase in the center. Danny started with the door on the right. It was a study. There was a desk, paperwork, and a bottle of ink with a quill and Danny found himself wondering just how old this clocktower really was. And how long it had been since its occupant was truly here, alive, if ever. 

They split up and started looking around, eagerness exposed in their movements. This was the most likely place to have something useful, especially if whoever spent their time here was as studious as the lower floor suggested.  Danny went for the desk. 

There was a note on it, in perfect, looped handwriting and the ink was still glistening, fresh from the bottle if the smell had anything to say about it. Danny ran his hand across the words hoping to smudge it, but it had dried already, if barely. 

It’s nice to meet you, little anomaly.

Danny grit his teeth. 

“Guys,” he called out, holding the paper, “It knows we’re here.”

Sam and Tucker rushed over, and Sam grabbed the paper from his hand to read for herself. “Little anomaly? Isn't that kind of insensitive?”

“Yeah,” Tucker agreed, “you just have weird ghost powers right? Vlad’s the same way it’s not like you’re the only person on the planet like you.”

Hesitant to correct him, Danny bit his tongue. It was true that Vlad was a person who had unfortunately gained the abilities of a ghost, things like floating, making objects move with his mind or using his spirit to control people while he slept safe and sound at home. And he’d gained them in a similar way to Danny as well, trusting the wrong people and delving into things he never fully understood and still didn’t. 

It was just … less true for Danny was all. 

But he wasn’t going to tell them that, he wasn’t going to tell anyone that. So how did whoever, or whatever this was, know? Or was it just saying things to get under his skin, that was pretty par for the course when it came to ghosts. So why wasn’t it doing anything else? Trying to get them to leave? Was Sam right? Was it really a trap this entire time? What would happen if they went back downstairs and tried the door, would it open?

He grabbed the paper and shoved it into one of his jackets pockets, there was plenty of time to freak out over it later after all. “Let’s keep looking around, there has to be something here that it’s trying to distract us from.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything more useful than there had been downstairs. Just what one would expect from a normal office. What papers he did find had detailed extensive notes, yes. But they were in a language Danny couldn’t read and neither Sam nor Tucker even recognized. It was infuriating!

Almost like whoever was haunting this place, was telling them it had all the answers they wanted but wouldn’t give them any. He just wanted to know how - Danny shook his head. There had to be something. He wouldn’t have been led all the way here, had all those dreams, if there was nothing he could do at all. 

He threw one more frustrated look around the office before he threw the stack of papers he’d been digging through on the floor and marched over to the next door. It was unlocked, again, just like all of the others and it only served to increase Danny’s frustration. 

“Wait, Danny,” Sam noticed him leaving and quickly followed, the door slammed shut behind them, locking Tucker inside the office.

“No,” he whispered, this was all his fault, he shouldn’t have let this ghost get in his head like this! He never should have let his emotions take him over, he knew better. It led to bad things. Horrible, terrible, things. 

There was a loud bang on the door, someone was pounding against it and Danny flinched. Was the actual haunting finally starting? Was everything really just a way to lure them deeper into the tower and away from each other? 

“Guys?” he heard Tucker call out from the other side of the door, “did you seriously just leave me behind? Don’t we have like, a rule against that?!” 

Danny sighed in relief, it was just Tucker. “Are you okay Tuck? Did anything happen over there when the door shut? Any oozing walls or flying papers-”

There was another thump, probably Tucker banging his head against the door, “I know what to look for Danny I’ve been doing this the exact same amount of time as you.”

“Yeah yeah,” Danny acquessed. “Just get to the stairs and we’ll meet you there.”

He exchanged a glance with Sam, she was glaring a hole into the side of his head and he felt guilty for being the cause of everything going wrong, again. So he apologized and ignored her exaggerated eye roll when she said he should have known better, because well, he did. But what was he going to do, apologize twice?

The room they were in was a simple one, likely some kind of storage space that he and Sam could dig through for hours on end, but it was more important to get to Tucker than to try and make sure they didn’t miss anything. 

Which, in hindsight, was probably exactly why they’d been separated. 

A cold breeze tickled at Danny’s hair and he felt himself relax despite it all. It felt nice, the cold, and Danny liked when the haunts they went to leaned towards the chillier side like this. Sometimes, especially if Vlad was involved, it felt like he was walking into an overwarm swamp when he entered a haunt and it made him itchy and uncomfortable the entire time. Vlad never seemed to notice, and his friends complain equally about both, so Danny had mostly kept it to himself. 

The entire tower felt nice, cold dry air, the smell of books, ink, and cookies, even the playful, excited feeling that seemed to permeate throughout the tower. Like someone had designed it to appeal in every way to both sides of Danny’s instincts. 

It was unnerving. 

He followed Sam out of the room and back into the middle where the stairs were, but Tucker wasn’t there. 

Sam pulled out her phone, and Danny held his breath as it rang, once, twice, and then a click and Tucker’s familiar, annoyed voice came through the speaker and Danny sighed in relief. “Uh guys? I couldn’t get out the door so I tried to climb out a window, and there was uh, a ladder. So I’m outside right now. Come get me?”

Danny met eyes with Sam and nodded, they headed back down, “we’re coming Tuck,” he said.

“Cool, cool, actually rather than coming to get me, can we just go home? Come back later, like in the day time? How come we never do these things in the daytime?”

“You know that’s not how ghosts work Tucker.” Sam said, bored, as they walked to the front door. Danny felt a tug, something like a hand on his shoulder and turned to see what was behind him. There wasn’t anything there. 

He turned back around to see that Sam had already walked outside, and was holding the door open for him, one of her eyebrows raised. Awkwardly, Danny jogged a little, so as to not hold them up too long. But before he could actually walk outside the door slammed shut.

Sam screamed.

“Danny! Are you okay!” Tucker asked, his voice panicked and muffled from the other side of the door.

“I’m fine,” Danny said, gritting his teeth and turning around. The room didn’t look or feel any different. There was nothing screaming at him to get out or anything else malicious. If anything it seemed even cosier than before, and Danny didn’t really know how to react to that. 

He looked back at the door. There was a way, no. He couldn’t do that. Danny pinched at the bridge of his nose, the only thing to do, really, was to see who had invited him in. That’s what it was right? Some kind of weird ghostly invite?

“I’m going to go check upstairs,” he called out to his friends before walking back towards the staircase. 

They pounded on the door, “Danny don’t you dare go up there without us! Just wait, we’ll find a way in! It’s dangerous alone!” 

Ignoring their protests Danny took the stairs two steps at a time, fighting the rising excitement in his chest and firmly planting his feet against the polished wood. There were answers waiting for him, he knew there were. He just had to find them. 

The third floor had a bedroom, it was nice, cozy and the bed even looked inviting. Danny didn’t bother to stay long. Whoever it was that called him here wasn’t in this room, nor were they in the next or the one after that. Just two bedrooms and a bathroom on that floor and Danny quickly made his way to the next. 

This room was different from the rest. For one there were windows, everywhere, that seemed to play different scenes of different people from all over the world. If Danny strained his ears, he could even hear them speaking different languages. On the other side from the windows was an entire wall of clockwork that chimed and churned as the gears moved, keeping the face of the clock on the outside ticking along in sync with the rest of the world. 

When Danny stepped into the room properly the carpet sunk easily underneath his feet and he felt a nice, cold breeze that came from a purple flamed fire housed properly in a fireplace in the middle of the room. He hadn’t even noticed a chimney from outside. 

There was a man in front of the fire. He was tall and hooded and he carried an equally tall and gnarled staff in one of his gloved hands. Danny felt himself freeze, he had never seen a ghost this solid before. There was always a little bit of transparency, no matter how powerful, they didn’t have physical forms afterall. Not like Danny.

“Who are you?” he asked. His voice was dry and soft and Danny was thankful when it didn’t crack on his question. How embarrassing would that have been? 

The man turned around, his face changing as he did from old and aged to a younger one, closer to his parent’s age, a large jagged scar marking it’s way through one of his eyes and down his cheek. He smiled, “I am Clockwork, Master of time. All that was, All that is, and All that will be. I understand you have many questions for me. I hope to answer them.” 

A thousand questions ran rapidly through his mind, why did you call me here? Did you call me here? Why get rid of my friends? What are you and why haven’t I seen anything like you before?

“How do I prevent myself from becoming that.” Danny asked the most pressing question first, desperate. The man-ghost-Clockwork, sighed and gestured for him to sit. There was a comfortable looking couch with an equally comfortable chair across from it and a plate of cookies set on an elegantly carved coffee table between the two.

“That’s easily answered, sit, have a cookie.” Clockwork floated over, crossing his legs and settling into the chair before grabbing a cookie for himself. 

Danny glanced at them, uncertain, before taking a seat. The couch was even more comfortable than it looked and he found himself sinking back into it, confused. The room was a nice, cold, temperature as well, despite the fire clearly burning in the fireplace. 

He grabbed one of the cookies, “can I eat these?” he asked, looking over at his host.

“Of course,” Clockwork smiled, taking a bite of his own before leaning back, “I made them for you. Though your friends would have to be more careful, I’m not sure what food like this would do to a human.”

“I am human,” Danny argued, placing the cookie back on its plate. He had to, denial was all he had left at this point. 

Clockwork frowned, “yes, well, I suppose we’ll get there next. You wanted to know about your dreams.”

Finally, Danny nodded, “they’re different ever since- uh well… ever since the incident.”

“It’s natural to not want to talk about one’s death,” Clockwork said, he leaned forward and tilted his head, “or one’s birth.”

“My dreams,” Danny asked, avoiding that conversation with all the grace of a blind hippo, “why are they different. You know right?”

Sighing, Clockwork nodded and leaned back, “yes, I know everything. They’re different, frankly, because they’re dreams. It’s unsettling to you because it’s new, you’ve never dreamed before.”

Danny scowled, “that doesn’t make any sense, I had plenty of dreams when-”

Clockwork interrupted him, disappointment plain under his hood, “You can lie to your friends Daniel, but I already know the truth. Just as you do.”

“I was astral projecting. Like what Vlad does… but then why-?” Danny bit his tongue. He couldn’t say it, not outloud. It was too difficult, he’d spent too long hiding it, pushing it away and doing everything he could to keep anyone from noticing. 

“Why can’t you do it anymore?” Clockwork answered for him, Danny nodded. “The simple answer is that you aren’t like Vladimir, despite what he believes and would like you to believe as well. But that’s something else you already know. Ask me a question you don’t have the answers for.”

Danny grabbed another cookie, biting into it fiercely just to have an excuse not to speak. It tasted really good, better than anything he’d had in a while and Danny wondered if maybe there was something in it meant to sate his less human cravings. The thought didn’t help his inner turmoil. 

Clockwork smiled softly at him though and sighed, “Fine, in order to answer your question, first I have one of my own.”

“Didn’t you just say you know everything?” Danny mumbled before shoving more cookie in his mouth. 

“What good is a teacher that only lectures?” Clockwork said in retort, “do you remember how you died?”

He did, of course he did. “Kinda hard to forget that. Lab accident, electrocution, nothing fancy.” he said, curling in on himself. Clockwork had been right before, it was painful to talk about. But he wanted, no, needed the answers to his questions. He’d survive this. 

“Well, that’s where your first mistake lies. Yes, that is what stopped your heart, and likely the most memorable part, but you didn’t die from that Daniel. What killed you came after.”

Danny frowned, “that doesn’t make any sense? What happened after?”

“Your spirit was never particularly bound to your body in the first place, likely due to your parents dabbling where they shouldn’t for as long as they did before you were ever born. There was a summoning, I think you remember, that your parents were holding when your accident happened on the floor below them.”

It was frustrating, that he was right. That he knew it. “I remember them recognizing me, my spirit. I remember them finding my body and shoving me back in. I remember the pain, and waking up and seeing-” Danny choked on the realization. It couldn’t be...

“Seeing the world in your dreams?” Clockwork asked, “the way you saw it when you were a spirit, free from the confines of your body, correct?” He floated over the table, sat next to Danny, and placed a hand on his back. Danny realized he had been shaking. 

He grabbed the fabric of his jeans in a tight grip and tried to stop, “It’s all real, right? It isn’t… I’m not still dreaming? Please, I need to know.”

The hand on his back pulled him close, tucked into Clockwork’s side and Danny felt comforted despite himself, he fought to blink away tears that had been building behind his eyes as he tucked himself into Clockwork’s side. He was so solid, unlike any other ghost Danny had ever met and he seemed to radiate comfort where most just gave off fear and hurt. 

“You’re not dreaming Daniel, you never were. The world is different when you see it  through our eyes, that is all. When you woke up, you weren’t human anymore. Of course you wouldn’t be limited by a human’s sight.”

Danny curled into himself tighter, despair clouding around him and likely leeching unpleasantly into the air. It would be a wonder if Clockwork didn’t feel it. “So I’m a ghost.”

“Hardly,” Clockwork said and Danny stopped breathing, “Do you think the world is so simple it is split between what is ghostly and what is not?”

“I…” Danny had actually assumed that. So far everything they’d dealt with so far, short of Vlad, had either been a ghost or spirit of some kind, or a human that used magic or ghostly artifacts. Even Vlad had simply been a person who had learned how to control his own spirit the way a ghost would. If Danny wasn’t a human, and he wasn’t a ghost, then what was he?

Clockwork ruffled his hair, “I suppose you’re young. It is easier, afterall, to think of it that way. But Daniel, ghosts don’t have physical forms. They can possess one, or control one, and sometimes even mimic one, but they are spirits.”

He sighed, “you are something entirely different. You’re something remarkable.”

Danny leaned back, using the sleeves of his hoodie to quickly dry his tears so he could look Clockwork in the eye, “What am I?”

“You’re new.”

Danny shoved him, “Agghh, I knew that you jerk!” It was probably a bad idea to attack or antagonize someone as clearly powerful and knowledgeable as Clockwork, but really he’d been asking for it. And Danny’s patience was only so strong. 

Clockwork didn’t fight him back though, nor did he get offended. Instead he just smiled that soft smile that Danny was starting to realize was affection, and said, “did you? Weren’t you trying to read my books to find out if there was anyone else like you?”

“Well yeah-” Danny stopped, “Oh. There wouldn’t be anything would there? If I’m the first?”

He groaned, that really was just his luck. He’d never figure out anything at this rate. Clockwork, the bastard, just hummed and grabbed another cookie, offering it to him. “No there wouldn’t. But you’re not the only one who was the first or only of their kind. Who had to figure out on their own, who and what they are.”

“You mean Vlad?” Danny asked, the thought left a sour taste in his mouth, wow he really hoped he didn’t mean Vlad.

Clockwork’s smile turned brittle, “I don’t mean Vlad.”

Danny chuckled, his thoughts turning mischievous, “I don’t know, he seems pretty unique, what with all those different abilities he has and the way he can choose to be human or ghost-”

“Oh please,” Clockwork interrupted, “there’s plenty of humans like Vladimir Masters, you were fully capable of astral projecting like that from birth, no black magic necessary. Just because he found a way to twist-”

He stopped, then looked down at Danny who was trying and failing to hold back a shit eating grin. All at once the air seemed to leave him and he deflated, the irritated look on his face replaced with open and honest affection and Danny felt it sing in the air around them.

“You were messing with me.”

“To be fair I didn’t think it would work, all knowing and everything.” Danny said, unable to fight the bubbling feeling in his chest as it rose to meet the affection around them. Usually it sucked having the empathy of a ghost and being near one or at least, something with the same traits. The negative emotions tended to bounce between him and them and amplify and it always made Danny struggle to parse his own emotions from theirs. But right now, in the top of a clock tower with the most powerful entity Danny had ever met, he felt happiness and joy to a degree he’d long forgotten. It was dizzying. He was almost giddy with it.

Clockwork patted him on the head, purposefully messing his hair, “yes well. I think in time, it will be more obvious just how different you truly are, how crucial every small coincidence was that came together that night to create you. But until then, you had another question? I can answer it now.”

Danny frowned as he realized what Clockwork meant, “You! I asked that question first! How did you only answer the one you wanted to!!”

“It was important,” Clockwork said, relaxing into the couch next to Danny, “to answer that question I had to be sure you knew what you were.”

He sputtered, “But I don’t?! I’m just something new! Something different!”

“Something physical that exists with the laws of the spiritual.”

“Yeah!” Danny said, “Wait, what?”

Clockwork nodded his head, “a physical entity that exists within the realms of spiritual possibility. It must be such a struggle, to deal with both sets of instincts like that.”

Danny’s head hurt, it was too much to try and understand the details of all of this. Maybe Tucker was right and he should just have let it be, learn to live with the new normal his life was now. Wasn’t that kind of what Clockwork was suggesting anyways? Then again, unlike Tucker, he did seem to thrive off of all of Danny’s questions, whether he actually answered them or not. 

“Yeah, I have to fight my more ghostly instincts all the time. It’s exhausting.” he said, leaning into Clockwork. It should have been embarrassing, seeking comfort like that, but he’d already cried into his shoulder and there wasn’t really any way to come back from that so Danny did as he pleased. 

He felt Clockwork’s hand return to his back, a solid comforting presence, “Now why would you do that?”

Danny tilted his head in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“Why would you fight against one half of yourself so thoroughly? But embrace the other side entirely?” Clockwork elaborated. “Did you think there wouldn’t be any consequences in fighting against your nature?”

“But,” Danny struggled to speak, pieces of the puzzle he’d thought hopeless putting themselves together in ways he had never expected and didn’t quite understand, “my nature is bad.”

Clockwork frowned and turned to look at Danny properly, “Daniel, it’s your nature. There is nothing good or bad about it. It is only as it is. Everything is as it’s meant to be.”

This was too much, Danny sat up fully and turned entirely towards Clockwork, “are you saying, the way I become that thing from my nightmare, is by… doing what I’ve been doing to avoid becoming that thing?!”

“Yes,” Clockwork answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

He blinked, the answer really couldn’t be that easy. “But in my dream, I, my instincts-”

Clockwork grabbed a cookie and placed it in his hands, “even humans react poorly, when they starve themselves. As you exist now, you simply need a different kind of sustenance. One you’ve been denying.”

Danny felt dread crawl down the length of his spine, “what kind of sustenance?”

“Spirits exist for reasons, and they exist differently from humans. In order to keep existing they need emotions, experiences, something to keep them held together. A spirit that has no reason to exist will simply disappear, you’ve seen such before it is relatively common after all. But you can’t do that, since you are physical in a way that they are not. You can starve yourself endlessly, into madness even if you’re desperate enough.”

“I do it to myself?” Danny asked, flustered and frustrated. It was true then? He really was his own worst enemy? 

Clockwork shook his head, “it is not inevitable Daniel. As you were, it was the most likely path forward. Yes. You would have noticed the symptoms, seen yourself losing control and then, in reaction, suppressed yourself further. Starved yourself further.”

Danny cringed, yeah, that sounded like him. “How do I stop it then? I just embrace what makes me ghostly? What about my parents? If they think they failed the resurrection, that I’m not human anymore, they’ll kill me for real! Or worse!”

“That is indeed troublesome, and the paths of the future where they know your truth are twisted and sharp, every small decision every tiny change causing a greater effect on their reactions as a whole. But you do not need to reveal yourself to your parents to live your truth.”

Relieved, Danny fell back into the couch. He hadn’t even noticed he’d floated off of it, was that good? Bad? He shook his head, this was all too confusing. “How then?” He asked, maybe this time he’d actually get a straight answer. 

Clockwork ruffled his hair and stood up, er, well, floated up and over towards the fire. “You continue doing what you’re doing with your friends, protecting your town and interacting with the truth of the world around you. And…” He turned around, “you can come visit me. It’s quite lonely in the clock tower they trapped me in, and there is much I can teach you about becoming. I had to learn such things about myself once after all.”

“You’ll let me come back? To visit you?” Danny didn’t know what to say. He could come visit, ask more questions, get more answers. It seemed too good to be true, and Danny found himself eager and excited at the prospect. 

For some reason, the entire conversation, he’d thought this would be a one time thing. That the clocktower would disappear behind him and leave any question he didn’t ask unanswered. To find out that wasn’t the case, that he had somehow, against all odds, made some kind of ghostly ally, was beyond expectations. “You’ll help me?”

The answering smile had Danny floating out of his seat, “Of course Daniel. I’ll even bake cookies.” 

#Danny phantom #Clockwork #clockwork dp #Phic Phight #phic phight 21 #sam manson #tucker foley #op #Bee's writing

[musicallisto]

🍨 for now you see me? I'm an ENFP-T, Gryffindor Pukwudgie, 9w8, and neutral good. I'm a perfectionist with no motivation, I'm pretty selfish but I'm always there to help others. I've got fairly messed up humor and I get angry easily. I have too much to say and I'm very competitive. I'm always tired. The gender for this ship is male please. I play Minecraft a lot and I like to listen to music alone so I don't have to worry about my music being to loud if people talk to me. Congrats on 800! :)

sorry for the shadow & bone spam, I lost all decency when the trailer dropped. anyhow, I’m back on my requests - here’s your vanilla milkshake, but keep a close watch on it, or daniel atlas might just make it disappear...

You met Daniel through your brother Jack when they started working together as the Horsemen

And when you learned that your brother would be working with him, you made it a point to irritate your brother by saying that you were such a fan of the incredible and mesmerizing Daniel Atlas, and that his tricks weren’t mere pickpocket cons

When you actually met Daniel in person, though... Let’s just say things were a little bit different, and that he was... Not exactly like the person you saw on TV

To speak plainly, he somehow managed to push all your buttons and be one of the most irritable people you’d ever met, all while being weirdly charming and endearing

You were driven mad by his smug grins and his cockiness, as though he were the leader of the entire world and not just of his team of magicians

You reminded him often, in pretty heated quarrels, that you didn’t care if he wanted to boss his associates around, but you were not one of his back-up dancers and even less one of his groupies, and he had zero business in dictating what you ought to do

And you two could get seriously intense, so when you argued the other Horsemen exchanged concerned glances and looks that made it clear that they wished they were anywhere but there... but were lowkey kind of enjoying the drama unfold

Cue then Merritt, probably the one who took the greatest pleasure in this literally groundbreaking argument, who would ask for a time out, look at the both of you successively, then smirk - you could practically see him relishing in the interpersonal chaos he was about to cause with his words

“It’s pretty obvious that you two have unresolved tension that neither of you want to admit. Danny bosses you around because he understands you won’t be as easy to charm as the others, and it’s the only way he can pretend you’re his. And Y/N, you could just as easily ignore him, but you always pick up the fight, and for some reason insist on spending time with us despite knowing damn well Danny will be here: seems like no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you hate him, you don’t, you’re actually very attracted to him, and only argue to save face. I suggest you two sort it out like civilized adults so we don’t have to suffer through all of this every other morning.”

A very, very long silence ensues. Absurdly long. You look at Daniel and he looks at you, and then you both look at Merritt, with anger and horror and something else in your eyes.

“That’s bullshit”

You, Daniel, and Jack all spoke at the same time, but Merritt doesn’t lose his grin

He knows he’s right. He’s always right. After all, he can read minds.

Still, despite your reluctance to admit anything he’s said is true, after the altercation your relationship is more and more cordial

He does card tricks for you and you ask him to do them again and again and again until you can finally figure out the trick, his tell, a giveaway, anything

You even find yourself laughing at some of his jokes, even when they’re terribly bad

Until finally he confesses, uncharacteristically bashful

“Hey, remember what Merritt said? About us? Yeah... he kind of, what was right. On certain things.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“So I suppose we should... sort it out.”

“I guess.”

Exchanged followed by the longest (and best) makeout session you’ve ever had

Jack is a little bit wary of your relationship at first. It’s not that he disapproves of it (he understands you’re a grown-up and can make your own decisions perfectly), but he knows who Daniel is and how unstable he can be, whether that be in his whole demeanor or his feelings for someone

Besides, dating in the situation that they’re in... hunt down by the FBI and Interpol, wanted in every corner of the world, having to travel from country to country every now and then for their shows... they may always be a step ahead of the police, but it’s still risky and he doesn’t want you getting hurt

But Daniel assures him that in the event of you not being able to take care of yourself (which is more than unlikely, but a concerned brother is concerned about everything), he’ll be there for you and won’t let any harm befall you, because you’re the real deal to him

Daniel is also often tired, from working all the time on his shows, performing in front of thousands of people, but also running away from the law and plotting his next moves, so sometimes he just wants to crash, and your arms are the best place to do that

You cuddle often on the sofa, with some random movie you’re not even paying attention to playing in the background, talking about anything and everything until you both fall asleep

And you even let him listen to your favorite music, which he understands is the ultimate demonstration of love for you

You definitely teach him how to play Minecraft, and he’s frustrated at first because he can’t figure out how the game works (he gets blown up by a creeper then dies of hunger in his first two tries), so he’ll pretend he hates the game, but later on he’ll sneak onto the computer and open a creative mode save - and have a blast

“Look, babe, I made our house”

“But it has no roof?”

“Who cares about a roof? It’s got a jukebox wall!”

When he’s carefree and unbothered like that, he almost reminds you of your brother

All in all, despite everything, you’re really glad you met Daniel, because he became your closest friend, confidant, and partner in everything

800 follower sleepover

#brokenandheadoverheels #800sleepover #ship request #nysm #now you see me #daniel atlas #daniel atlas x reader #daniel atlas imagine