#all danny has to say is that this is the best bet hes ever lost to tucker

[dcxdpdabbles]

Cave boy Danny just casually mentioning things that correspond with Bruce, like the time he stole an experimental power suit and shot a god corresponding with Bruce shooting Darkseid or the Infi-map being like the time Bruce was lost in the time stream, and the bats wondering how this kid can remain a civilian

Danny tried his best to not blink too quickly, as it may cause the stranger to shoot him. He honestly has no idea how he ended up here, but somehow, he was taken hostage alongside a bus full of people on his way to buy some chips.

He got tired of Alfred's instance to ban all junk food from the manor and had snuck out while the Wyanes had been busy going over plans for some big showdown with a guy named Scarecrow.

Danny doesn't know who that is and doesn't care to find out. The less he knows, the less likely he will have to deal with rouge. He's on vacation, dang it.

Or he was until the bus was taken over by a group of men wearing gas masks. They forced their way onto the bus when they stopped for some passengers, forcing the driver at gunpoint to drive them off course, and now they were heading to a wear house. People were crying, but Danny felt like screaming.

He just wanted spicy chips, and- maybe if he had the time- he would swing by the old junkyard to find a steering wheel for his ship! Fenton luck strikes again, it seemed.

"I wouldn't be so smug, Kane," One of the people in a gas mask shouts at him. He blinks up at the woman pointing her gun at his head but scoffs at her stance. His mother would throw a fit if Danny or Jazz ever placed their feet so off balance like that while wielding a weapon. "Once Dr.Crane is done with you-"

"I'm sorry did you just threaten me with myself?" Danny cuts her off. She pauses seemingly thrown before she sputters.

"No- not Kane, Crane."

He blinks at her. "You just said the same thing"

"C-R-A-N-E." She spells in a huff.

"Ohhhhh. Sorry, the mask makes it hard to understand you. Okay, so where were you? Dr. Crane is going to do what with me-?" Danny asks, leaning back in his seat, and waving his hand at her.

There is a moment of silence before she hits him across the face with her gun. "Don't you mock me!"

"Ow." He deadpans, rubbing at his cheek, and wonders if it was supposed to hurt. His healing had vanished the pain before her gun left his skin. "I thought we were having a conversation, but forgive me, I had no idea you had an inferiority complex and assumed everyone was mocking you. Let me guess, no one has ever told you they are proud of you, and now you are defensive of every action you take because-"

"Shut up!" His voice wobbles and Danny knows he hit the nail on the head.

"Does it keep you up at night? Does it freak you out that everyone can see your issues on your face as bright as day? I bet it does it. Bet it causes you to cry like a sad little confused kid who still can't figure out how to ask for help." He doesn't mock. He states it as fact because that is what it was. Fact. She does break down about it; he can tell by her reaction, and his tone makes it all the harder to swallow.

"I'll kill you!"

"Do it." He smiles. "Saves me from your boss. But will that keep you safe? Let's find out! How long will it be before he breaks you down? Ten, maybe fifteen minutes? And he will break you; you know he will. He's already halfway there."

"I-" She stumbles away from him. He doesn't have to see her face to know it's gone pale. Ha.

One of her crew hits her shoulder, having heard him speaking while the rest of the bus stares. "Stop letting him into your head!"

"Oh, what's your name?" Danny asks, blinking his large blue eyes at the man, watching his body language for clues. His eyes zero in on three belts and how they all match up at the buckle despite the fact that they are stacked on top of each other. Didn't Jazz once say that a belt with that much control hinted about attention to detail?

Hmm.

"Is the plan falling apart- can you not control it? The way life just moves on without you and that freaks you out doesn't it. The lake of control?" He asks, and the man jerks back. Bingo.

"Holy shit," A teenager whispers in the back horrified. "It's Dr. Crane jr."

"No, that's the Rabid Dog," Another answer. "Heard he made three elites cry after talking to him for more than ten minutes."

Danny is about to open his mouth when suddenly Robin crashes through the front window. Rude. There is glass everywhere now.

Hours later, Alfred franticly checks him over for injuries while the rest are freaking out. Apparently, they had feared to find Danny screaming from terrible visions but instead found him mentally breaking the hired goons with Jazz's training. "It's not like they did anything. I had a harder time stealing a super suit than those fruitloops-"

"You stole a what?" Tim cuts him off, eyes narrowed. Danny shrugs.

"I mean, haven't we all stolen a super suit?"

"Literally, no one here has done that," Steph tells him, and Danny tilts his head.

"You guys must have had boring childhoods. Surely you at least tried to organize your school into a battle-ready militia? No one can finish school without doing that at least once."

Dick raises a hand. "Brucie, how common is this in your world? Because that's alarming."

"All the kids at my school do that. My graduating class has done it three different times back in freshmen year." He shrugs. Cass makes a strange noise in the back of her throat.

"Not a lie. Brucie is strange," She tells the group, and everyone stares in bewilderment at the boy sitting on the medical table, even Bruce.

Danny smiles at them sweetly like he would at Vlad when the fruitloop is over, and he gets his parents to throw him out sooner than he wants to leave. It curves with just the right amount of innocence and mischievous nature that no one can tell if it's a positive or deadly expression.

"You are from a war-torn world?" Damian inquires, fingers under his chin with a frown. "How are you so carefree?"

"Oh no, we haven't had a war in about- eh fifty years? Give or take." He answers and once again Cass confirms the truth of his words.

This does nothing to settle their nerves.

"Every day I learn more about teenage Bruce, and every day I am more unsettled," Jason announces, and the rest of the Bats nod. Danny's smile turns broader and softer. It makes him more attractive but unsettling in a way.

Alfred sighs with a fond smile. "Oh, the memories. Master Bruce used to smile at his dates in the same way. I can picture him taking that sweet girl to the movies as if though it was yesterday."

"Bruce, how in the world did you get people to date you? That's creepy as hell. " Dick accuses the man who only shrugs.

"Oliver once told me it was part of the thrill. The idea that I could kill them."

"Why!?"

"I wish I knew chum."

Danny slips the control into his sleeve- he will rip it apart later for the Bluetooth piece. He will wait till the Waynes are too busy with Bruce's old stories about his first few dates to take apart the fear gas bomb he took from the woman earlier today. Could he use it as a fuel?

He'll have to do some tests.

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #Cave Boy #Part 4 #Danny continues to be strange #He tells no lies but not all truths #The weird part is that he's still acting like teenage Bruce #Mentally breaking down Scarecrow's crew is a big accomplisment #Tim is even more weary of him

[sneakerguybln]

It's the day after England crashed out of the World Cup. The 19 year old chav lad Dave made a bet that England will win the World Cup after they won their first group match. 'This time it's coming home' he yelled after the final whistle of Englands first match. He watched the game with his five closest friends and his (dizygotic) twin brother. 'If they are fucking losers I'll do a half year without sex... fuck off: one year. You can lock me in a damn fucking chastity device of one year if they lose' he said. His friends said if England win he can send them buying some clothing stuff he wishes. They even wrote it down and signed it.

Obviously he lost his bet. Now he has to pay the price. He had forgotten the bet. As he woke up in the morning he found himself in a WhatsApp group "Virgin Dave". He tried to convince his friends that it was just a joke. But they had his signature. They threatened to post this contract to other friends and to their gym friends and call him "pussy Dave" because he tried to duck out. Finally he consentend. They said that they'll come to his house at noon and they'll do a ceremony. After they sent a picture of the chastity device Dave drank the rest of the Vodka they had the evening before. His brother took this picture and said: 'Drink more maybe it's easier to accept.'

Exactly at noon the doorbell rang and Dave's brother opened the door. Their five friends came in. They escorted Dave into his room and tied him spread-eagled to his bed. After they pulled down his pants his best friend Lewis said: 'This pig isn't shaved.' He took a latex glove and Dave's trimmer and removed his pubic hair. After that he got a clean shave. Dave had a boner since they tied him to his bed and they mocked him for that. Dave didn't say anything. He let them do what they want to do. He was happy that nobody is filming this shit. As they had dried his crotch with a towel they oiled his balls.

Then his brother - this evil freak of brother - opened the box of the device and placed the device on Dave's mouth. 'Next time England is playing you better be more humble bro' he said. Dave refused to react. Then Lewis said imitating a man who unroll a paper in the air: 'Hereby, we, the six wise men of football knowledge found you guilty of the crime of stupidity. We sentence you to a maximum of 12 months in chastity. You can reduce your sentence to a minimum of 9 months by going every second week to the Corporal Punishment party in the gay fetish club two corners away. I don't remember its name.' All laughed - even Dave in his situation - as they know that Lewis is often there. 'Order!' he yelled while his hand made a sweeping gesture. He continued: 'For each Corporal Punishment party his sentence will be reduced by one week. But if he misses one of the parties his sentence will go back to the full 12 months. This installment of the punishment device will be executed by the convict's brother Danny. The convict is entitled to cleaning every 20th day. If it isn't possible he has to beg for an alternative time at least 5 days ahead. If he ever misses one cleaning day he has to wait 10 more days for another chance. Did you understand the sentence, convict, and do you accept it?' - Dave said: 'Yes, you godless bastards.' - 'For unruly behaviour we increase the minimum sentence to 10 months' Lewis said. 'Danny, please execute the sentence!' Dave's boner was rock hard.

Danny put on latex gloves and fumbled the balls through the ring, than the dick. Then he pressed the cage on his brother's cock and locked the device. He gave the keys to Lewis. 'On cleaning day you'll visit one of us. We tell you beforehand who will clean you. You'll bring a pair of handcuffs and fresh latex gloves with you. When you arrive you'll beg to be cleaned. You follow the one of us to the bathroom. You pull down your pants, hand over the keys to the handcuff and cuff yourself on the back. After the procedure your handcuffs will be unlocked. As we'll wear gloves no human skin will touch your dick in entirety for at least 10 months. If you try to trick us we'll embarrass you everywhere as we recorded this day with a hidden camera' Lewis's brother Tom said.

They untied him and went in the living room Dave's family's house. Walking down the stairs Dave felt the heaviness of the chastity device. He decided to accept it and to talk to his friends after two or three months to get his punishment finished immediately. He didn't know that they planned to let him suffer for the entire time. He even went to the fetish club and got the corporal punishments. But the 7th punishment was so heavy he pulled out and said he couldn't stand two more which would have been neccessary to get the last two months of his sentence cancelled. He didn't know that his friends paid a guy who is doing this often and know how to use the cane to inflict as much pain as possible.

Even next summer they were cold-hearted as the seven guys planned to travel to Ibiza. They told him that they'll have a key with them to unlock before security. After they had checked in their checked baggage Lewis told him that the key was accidentally in the checked luggage after he had pretended to have searched it in the hand luggage. Dave had to chose: going home or through security. He did the latter thing. The metal detector set off and he had to undergo a second control in a private room. He told the security staff that he has got some unremovable jewellery attached to his body. He had to show. One security officer laughed: 'That isn't jewellery, mate. That's a chastity device. Who did this to you?' - 'England, mate. It was England crashing out of the World Cup against France.'

They sent him to his friends who already had finished their first pint at Gatwick's Wetherspoon's. As he had found them his brother said: 'I totally forgot something. I had the key.' Dave ordered a Scotch and a pint. He decided for himself that he won't ask them to unlock him for flying home. He won't let them mock him again. Later he realized that this was the moment he accepted chastity. After their vacation he searched a Domme and found one. She took over the keys and started to train him to be her and her husbands sex toy. Shortly after meeting his Domme she started to pressure him to get a vasectomy. After a few months he agreed and had it done on his 21st birthday. After everything was healed she invited his brother and friends to their house. Dave was again spread-eagled on his bed. She told everyone that Dave had undergone s vasectomy to bring a sacrifice for earning permanent slavery - he made it a secret. Danny and the other guys were stunned. But the next thing stunned them more. 'Mistress' Dave said 'please make my chastity permanent.' - 'As you brought a huge sacrifice for me I'll grant you this wish, slave.' She broke one key in the lock and sealed it with industrial glue. 'It will only come off by destroying it' she said. Dave smiled.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes (2010)

My love for the Harry Potter films has pushed me to find out what makes them special. This means exploring the realm of wannabees. Many pictures would seek to duplicate the magic of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. The very worst has to be The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens: a film so cheap and poorly assembled you'll laugh at the embarrassing special effects when you're not spotting the cameraman's reflection. How could “Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes” be worse? It's a question you'll regret asking. This film crushes your soul under the weight of its agonizing performances, thin characters, dull action, incomprehensible plot, muddled dialogue, unearned sentiments and amateur writing.

While other students are enjoying their summer vacation, Billy Owens (Dalton Mugridge) and his best friends Devin (Christopher Fazio as fake Ronald Weasley) and Mandy (Ciara O’Hanlon as not Hermione Granger) are taught magic by their teacher, Mr. Thurgood (Roddy Piper). When the kids fool around with some runes and accidentally send their teacher into a coma from which he may never wake up, they ally themselves with Mandy’s cousin Danny (Mikayla Ottonello) to save him. Meanwhile, the villainous professor Mould (Paul Germs) and his crony, the bully-turned-troll Kurt (Jordon Goulet) are hot on their track.

To preserve your sanity while watching a film of this caliber, you must latch onto something and look forward to it. Ideally, it would be the romance blossoming, the villain getting their comeuppance, the mystery being solved, etc. In a bad movie, you'll settle for sleazy nudity, unconvincing gore, or memorably bad performances. In Billy Owens 2, what kept me going was Roddy Piper’s lumpy hat. Whenever he showed up, I wondered if he was going to tip it or take it off just to put it back on seconds later. I know it sounds pathetic, but beggars can't be choosers.

Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes is barely a movie and pinpointing its biggest weakness is easy: the sound design. Student filmmakers take note. Remember The Blair Witch Project and El Mariachi? They were to follow because you could hear what the characters were saying despite their minuscule budgets. Not that anything said in this rock-hard turd is worthwhile, but without even the charity of subtitles on the DVD release, Billy Owens 2 is a labor to get through. You literally have to strain yourself to piece together what this shoddy plot is about.

This sequel is significantly worse than its predecessor because it doesn’t have the "lovable" elements that made you laugh previously. There’s a phony-looking dragon, but all you see is its head, and even then, only for a few moments. While the dialogue is just as badly written, you can’t hear it. The performances are so crappy it's practically torture. The plot seems to stretch on endlessly. To watch this film all the way through you have to have lost part of your mind already, which seems obvious because no one would ever look at the DVD cover and say “Wow! I remember liking the first one. I bet this sequel will be just as good!”

I can’t believe I spent time, money and effort tracking down Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes. Maybe I deserve everything I got from it. I should’ve known better. To anyone who watches movies for fun, even bad movies, I beg you to stay away. (On DVD, December 29, 2017)

#Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes #The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Mark McNabb #Barry Cowan #Roddy Piper #Dalton Mugridge #Christopher Fazio #2010 movies #2010 films #Harry Potter

[onceandfutureoshainspector]

- alright, time to head back to Far Harbour and tie off all these sidequests.

- i levelled up in the bowling alley, so decided to take the Intimidation perk. it hasn't felt great rp-ways to be just senselessly murdering everyone who looks at me funny, so maybe this'll help me avoid that.

    - this should come in handy.

- delivered the Mirelurk Carapaces to the Mariner.

- reported back to Small Bertha, she ran off to talk to Avery about moving some settlers into the Lumber Mill.

Bertha: If you give us some of those Acadian Fog Condensers, my friends are ready to homestead that lumber mill. Avery: Surviving is about more than taming Fog. We got to stay together, Bertha. Teddy: Bertha knows this Island better than you, Avery. We give folk some Condensers, materials, and a chance to build defenses, and we'll survive all right. Avery: Well, I won't stop you. But until we deal with the Children of A̷t̷o̵m̸- settling the Island again... It could blow up in your face.

- it sounds like Avery is kind of a play-it-safe middle-grounder just in general. was the late Avery 1.0 like this, adding another reason for DiMA to pick her for replacing, or is this the programming he gave his operative?

- checked in with Cassie Dalton.

Cassie: Wonderful! That's another chapter successfully concluded. You truly are the heroic avenger I hoped you were. That's right, the farm is yours. Your own little piece of the Island. It'll take work to get it up and running again, but you'll have help. Now, I don't have to tell you that the bonds of blood and family are strong, as strong as any a person can know. But if you ask me, the strongest among them is the bond that exists between two married people. That's why the last part of this tale is the hardest one for me to tell. My late husband Daniel was the best fisherman this Island ever saw. He and his crew had a favorite fishing spot out by Brooke's Head Lighthouse. Turns out some Trappers moved into the lighthouse, no doubt because the Island told them to. They're all crazier than a bag of Molerats. Their leader was having a little target practice. Shot Danny right between the eyes. Killed him just like that.

    - (already did this one)

Cassie: Then it's done. It's finally done. All those lives that were lost... all those debts, finally repaid. And it was no son or daughter of Far Harbor who stood up to the Island and avenged the Dalton bloodline... it was you, an outsider. A Mainlander. The final chapter's been written. The story has come to an end. This is a day I never thought I'd live to see. Thank you. Cat: I found a holotape from the last guy you sent to the lighthouse. He thought your whole story was a lie. Is it? Cassie: A lie? No, no. It was true, or at least, there was truth in it. Was there a little harmless exaggeration as well? Perhaps. But some things are more important than the truth.

- WILL THIS GAME PLEASE STOP PREDICTING WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY THANK YOU!!!! ffs.

Cassie: Look at you, for instance. You've seen the Island's dangers and survived. You've learned something valuable. What's more, the Island learned something, too. It knows you're not some green-backed Mainlander who can't tell up from down in the Fog. The Island will respect you now, and that's more than I can say for most who step off the boat. Well, I'm a little old to leap up on a horse, but I have got something close to a treasure. This is an heirloom that's been in my family for... let me think... oh, for at least a generation or two. The Island knows this weapon. Oh yes. You carry this, and it'll take you seriously. Off you go, now. My story's over, but yours? I think yours is only just getting interesting.

- “at least a generation or two” pfft. i bet both the head and handle have been replaced a couple of times too. (didn't max out my inventory again, thankfully).

#me: *flippantly reads a moral lesson into a video game* #game: and here is the lesson! #me: >:O #fallout 4: the resurrection of OSHA #fallout 4

[thesoulspulse]

Regarding the Fright Knight (Part 1)

I know I’ve already written several things about the Fright Knight recently but I rewatched his intro episode and figured I’d share some thoughts on the episode itself and then later we’ll talk about his downfall as a character so to speak.

Now before y’all start yelling at me being all ‘le gasp’ just hear me out!

I absolutely love the Fright Knight, he’s literally one of my top favorite characters in the show up there with Danny himself, Dan, Danielle (aka Dani), and Vlad. I like Nocturne too but only for his voice and design, but moving on! That said, it’s just one of those situations where they set up a cool character but then he kinda dropped off the map and the series ended.

Anyways, lets get started!

1) That eel ghost at the start of the episode has the same energy redirection power that Vlad does that we only ever saw him use once, just an interesting fact. I made a gif of the eel to show that but didn’t make a gif of it shooting the actual rays back at Danny though.

2) Ugh, I was just talking the other day about how I really like Mr. Lancer’s character but I hate it when he is only there as a plot device but not in a good way. I mean, why is he on DANNY’S case when Dash’s clearly the one with the more aggressive body language here...? Sure Danny spilled paint on Dash’s jacket but it was clearly an accident and Dash is the one being hostile.

This is pure cartoon logic of “oh, he’s a jock and therefore important to the school so he doesn’t get punished, only our poor hero” when no, that’s not how things work in any school, or at least they shouldn’t. You pick someone up by the collar like this in front of a teacher you either get detention or suspended, NOT the freaking victim too.

Mr Lancer even says: “True. Still, I must at least *pretend* to be fair, and you two need a more creative outlet for your aggressions.” Seriously, what kind of teacher talks like that? I just get tired of this stupid and frankly annoying high-school trope because not all cartoon teachers are so dismissive...

3) I know its a kids show and Danny is prone to doing stupid things, but at least for me this was a bit much. Dash and Danny turned their assignment to avoid detention into a bet which is all fine and dandy, but what gets me is Dash’s side of the bet if Danny loses which is absolutely disgusting.

Tucker phrases it best: “I don’t know what’s scarier. The underwear, or the fact he carries them around in his coat!” And I agree, why would any sane person carry something like that?! Screw cartoon logic, that’s just sick and wrong on so many levels and frankly I think it’s the “scariest” part of this whole episode. I think they should have tried harder to come up with a better punishment for Danny if he lost the bet than eating someone’s undergarments. Ugh, I want to vomit just writing this...but moving on!

4) Finally we’re over most of the parts I don’t like about this episode so let’s move on to the parts I DO like such as it being canon that Danny is actually surprisingly good at drawing. I even used this later in my fanfic “Turning Point” as a character trait Dani adopted to try and be more her own person since its not really that much of a pass time to Danny...

Still, just look at how fast he drew this! Cartoon logic or not that’s pretty good, that is, if you don’t mind that the skeleton has no feet lolz.

5) This is probably one of my favorite things that happened in this episode - apart from just everything the Fright Knight does- where Sam shares the Chronicles of the Fright Knight written by an unknown author. I’m a sucker for a good ghost story or some folklore so when it turned out the book was totally accurate and there’s proof that someone human from ancient times has SEEN the Fright Knight and managed to escape the Ghost Zone to write this, I was instantly hooked.

6) I gotta give Danny props for at least trying to mimic the Fright Knight’s aesthetic for his haunted house room. And considering the poor kid doesn’t get an allowance to help him make fancier props, it’s not all that bad.

7) Ok, first of all I gotta ask. Why has no one ever talked about Danny possessing the puppet he made of the Fright Knight? We’ve seen him possess other people and overshadow his computer, but this right here really makes me really wish we got an episode where Danny’s soul got trapped in a doll or something. Also, the dramatic voice he started off with wasn’t half-bad. If he had kept talking like that and yes, I agree maybe had a scarier puppet for the centerpiece of his presentation, I think Danny had a pretty solid idea here with some potential.

8) As usual it bugs me sometimes when Danny’s parents are written to be so harsh on Danny. Especially his dad who gets instantly suspicious about Danny doing an “anti-detention” project the moment he hear’s Mr. Lancer mentioned. To be fair he’s not wrong, but it’s still sad that Jack automatically assumed that.

9) I mentioned this in another post: https://thesoulspulse.tumblr.com/post/663141889897365504/halloween-in-amity-park but I’ll get to this later because there’s something the Fright Knight says later in this episode that sparked my interest that relates to these ecto-storms Danny’s parents mention that appear every year around Halloween.

10) When Danny goes to check out Dash’s haunted house room the puppets are definitely much higher quality than Danny’s, but lets be honest, I am like 95% he bullied/paid off someone into making those animatronics for him. Dash is just NOT that smart, sorry. I can see him being pretty creative and making the first part of the room himself that’s true, but there comes a point where I just don’t believe Dash set up all of that. To give Dash some credit though, I do like his zombie jock costume.

Also, come on Mr. Lancer, the guy doesn’t even bother to hide the bullying theme in his room which isn’t even scary so why are you so impressed with it? This my friends is what I like to call “Story-written stupid” where a character acts a certain way that’s unnaturally out of character for them specifically for plot reasons and nothing else since it would make no sense for them to be this dumb or willfully blind to the obvious.

Lastly, Dash’s whole “20 minute presentation about the horrors of athletes foot” is just gross, it’s not scary at all. It’s not even a good kind of gross for Halloween so it just bugs me that Mr. Lancer is oh-so-impressed by it. Even Danny feels outmatched and I keep thinking, why? The theme is only partially good at first and honestly I don’t see how any of this has to do with Halloween.

11) One more thing, Dash has his underwear for the bet DISPLAYED in his haunted house room in a glass case that says “Reserved For Fenton” and I’m just...UGH, Mr. Lancer why didn’t you notice that?!

I’m going to stop here since the post is getting really long now and I ended up ranting more than I meant to so sorry about that, things have been a bit hectic at home. Still, I’m excited for Halloween despite all that and hope I’ll get to enjoy that a bit now that I’m at least mostly recovered from covid. And with that, I’ll see you in the next part of this deep-dive episode analysis!

Part 2: https://thesoulspulse.tumblr.com/post/666367942726959104/regarding-the-fright-knight-part-2

#danny phantom #danny phantom episodes #danny phantom theory #danny phantom headcanon #fright night #fright knight #episode analysis #character analysis #story analysis #danny fenton #dash baxter #mr lancer #analysis #theory #part 1 #deep dive #long post #thesoulspulse #thesoul'spulse #the souls pulse #the soul's pulse

[ghosttrolls]

My Ghost, My Son

After taking literally forever to write this, it’s done!!  A few people have asked me to tag them when I finished it so here @horrendoushag @narwhalsarefalling @amabsis @imdeadtiredtm 

This is posted to AO3 and FFN! I’ll post the first part here under a readmore but please follow the links to read the full thing! Thank you 

One

Maddie thought he looked so familiar. 

She hunted ghosts for a living, her inventions paying for her work - her and her husband Jack’s work - and she made a point of keeping her town safe. Jack was never the best at it, but that was okay. For you to love someone, they don’t have to be good at anything except loving you back. Loving meant working together, to her. And so they worked together. They were the Fentons, after all.

There’d been this ghost that they’d been hunting - Jack called him the “Ghost Kid” - just a young boy, with white hair and a black jumpsuit. When he got angry, his eyes flashed green, and you knew you were in for trouble. He’d caused so much damage and distress over fights he’d pick with other, always larger ghosts. Maddie and Jack had both assessed it as just petty ghost squabbles. The kid was very argumentative. Jack wanted to study the ghost, take it apart. Maddie wasn’t sure exactly why. She meant to ask, but didn’t want to know.

The thing about ghosts is that no matter how much time passes, they don’t age the same way that humans do. Most of the ghosts they’d come across that appeared to be children had crossed over decades ago, sometimes longer. And they were stronger for it. Any ghost was a threat. Too many times, they’d let their guard down around a child ghost, and came away sorry.

But in this moment, Maddie questioned their assessment of the Ghost Boy for the first time. Maddie had responded to a ghost fight - the ecto-signatures were off the charts, the little screens beeping nonstop. A ghost that called himself Plasmius had started a battle with the Ghost Boy, or maybe it was the other way around. They were yelling at each other in front of the Nasty Burger restaurant, throwing punches and mostly just arguing, with more than a little showing off. Maddie got out of the car, watching the battle, waiting for a moment to act. It seemed like a fistfight now, but at any moment it could escalate... And just like that, almost on cue, Plasmius shot an ecto-blast at the Ghost Boy - and missed. The shot continued on, hitting the Fenton family car, and bouncing off, heading right towards Maddie. 

In a split second, Maddie heard the Ghost Boy yell “NO!!” and suddenly, there he was, in front of her. She watched the blast head towards him. She watched him throw his hands into the air, trying to cover as much as possible. His head was twisted towards her to make sure she was alright as he fell, and a realization struck her. His face up close was so familiar... 

The Ghost Boy hit the ground, groaning. “Plasmius, you idiot!” shouted the kid, voice strained by pain and anger. He was curled up - it was safe to bet he was hit somewhere in the stomach. Shocked, Maddie stood there, unsure of what to do. If this were a normal human kid, she’d know how to act - she was properly certified in the appropriate emergency procedures. But she’d never thought to help an injured ghost before. 

She looked up to the sky, to see what the ghost Plasmius was doing. But she couldn’t see him anywhere. “What a jerk,” she mumbled. Shooting and running.

“Coward, more like it,” groaned the Ghost Boy. He coughed. “Hope you’re okay.” She nodded, searching for words. Before she could say anything, he said, “Bye,” and with that, he phased into the ground, disappearing.

Maddie stood there, wondering how to process this. It all happened so fast. She got in the car, ready to head back to the house. Jack was still at home. They’d already started making dinner and it couldn’t go unsupervised, so he’d stayed behind. She wondered if she should even tell him what happened. 

Maddie walked through her front door, opening directly into the living room. Against the far wall was the couch, which her son Danny was lying on, holding his stomach. He was facing the wall, back to Maddie. In the kitchen, she heard Jack and their daughter Jazz laughing about something. 

Maddie went and knelt next to the couch, trying to examine Danny. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Got hit in the stomach,” he said, strained.

“You got into another fight at school? How many times-”

“I wasn’t fighting any kids!” interrupted Danny, rolling over to face Maddie. His face was full of anger, with a sharp glint in his eyes. They reminded Maddie of someone… 

Danny sighed. “It was a stupid move, but I jumped in front of someone else that was going to get hurt.” Maddie was surprised - her son was angry, everyone knew that, and he got into fights often. But she’d never heard of him breaking one up before. “I couldn’t stand to see… someone else get hurt,” he said. He rolled back over. 

“Well… I suppose that’s okay, then.” She leaned forward and kissed the back of his head. “Don’t tell your father.” She got up to get him an ice pack.

After dinner she and Jack were cleaning up, alone in the kitchen. Lost in thought, she scrubbed a plate in the sink, for a little too long. “He reminds me of Danny…” she said, quietly. The anger, the short fuse - but actions that show a good heart, deep inside. She looked up at Jack, who hadn't heard her. 

Maddie thought of the ice pack she’d given her son. She thought about the ghost who'd helped her that night, and how he would most likely be alone in recovering. Why would he risk himself like that for her? After all, she'd spent months already hunting the ghost. Why would he protect her after fighting for so long? She wondered if he was playing some kind of game. 

She realized the risk must have been huge, for him. She'd only ever seen him alone, fighting someone or some ghost. Never with anyone else. 

“Do you think he has parents?” she asked. Jack looked up from packaging leftovers. “The ghost boy, I mean.”

Jack spoke without thinking, screwing a lid onto some Tupperware. “No, he's a ghost, of course not.” But as Maddie continued to scrub, he pondered the question a little longer. Maddie wondered what he was thinking - of course his initial reaction was no, he'd been hunting this ghost alongside her. But after a moment of pause… “I guess I’ve never really thought about a question like that before,” he said. “Maybe… but he's a ghost that wrecks havoc, Maddie! Why would that even matter?” 

“I don't know,” she said. “I guess… sometimes, there's moments when he reminds me of Danny. The way his eyes get so angry. But there's kindness, too…” she trailed off. “Does he have parents to go home to when he's hurt? Is there anyone caring for him, at all?” She kept imagining that ghost, alone, floating around the Ghost Zone… healing from his fights on his own. 

Jack put down the Tupperware. “What happened at the ghost fight tonight? You said it was routine,” he said, and then sighed. “But, I guess… no ghost is ‘routine,’ is it?” He sat back down at the table, looking at his wife expectantly. “Tell me.” 

Maddie didn't turn away from her dishes. “It's just -- he saved me, Jack. Plasmius shot at me with a blast, and the Ghost Boy just jumped in front of me without thinking. He took the hit. I worry that he's alone out there… but why did he do it, Jack? What could he possibly gain from all this?” Maddie dropped her sponge and plate into the sink with a splash. “Why am I here scrubbing dishes instead of investigating?”

“And why didn't you tell me sooner?” asked Jack with a pointed eyebrow. “Listen, honey, maybe it doesn't mean anything…”

“That just doesn't feel like the right answer, though,” sighed Maddie, sitting at the table across from her husband. She rested her face in her palms. “Maybe there isn't a right answer. But I want to learn the truth. We've never bothered to learn about the Ghost Boy as a person, really. Who is he? Why does he fight all these ghosts anyway? Where does he go to rest at night?”

“That's a lot of questions,” said Jack. “We can't answer all of them right away.” He paused, thinking. Maddie knew he'd be resistant to research like this. “But we can take some time to study… see what he's really about.” It was a middle ground argument, on unsure footing. But she decided she’d take it. 

“Great,” said Maddie. “Let's start tomorrow night.”

#ghostly posts #my writing #danny phantom #fanfic #phanfic #danny fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #jazz fenton #vlad masters #vlad plasmius

[thevoidscreams]

ok, so can i request quentin,yui, and felix with a survivor s/o! that’s a killers ex? like they’ll be in a chase together then the s/o and killer will stop and talk shit for 30 minutes while everyone else works on gens. or even worse if they are friends with ex (friends is pushing it, they’re on good terms because they’re scared for their frickin life), and will get along with killer during the trial and try to sacerfice them last. it can be any format, whatever works for you! have a great day/night! ❤️

(Sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors. Also the wait.)

Quentin: 

It would be an understatement to say that you were the world to Quentin Smith. You were his go to pillar for support and he was yours. Life outside the realm had been hard but existence in the Entity’s realm was a whole over nightmare and it was one he couldn’t wake up from.

Despite all that, there was one good thing about this new nightmare, and that was that he got to spend it with you. 

New people arrived periodically, as did new killers, but none of that seemed to bother you. Quentin had heard about the new monsters all the time from other survivors. Knowing that soon enough it would be something that he’d have to face. So he did his best to prepare. Staying with you when the Entity allowed, being calmed by your presence.

He despaired of being put in trials with you, the thought of hearing your screams as you were hooked, or watching you get downed by a killer’s weapon, it was simply something he could not become accustomed to. He loved you after all and seeing you hurt, especially by freddy, was unbearable. So his heart grew heavy as the fog that rolled over the camp swallowed you as well, depositing you alongside himself, Ash and Claudette in the AutoHaven. Grasping your hand he pulled you closer. “Come on, let's stick together.” You didn’t argue, squeezing his hand and giving him a soft smile. 

That plan quickly went to absolute hell. The Entity’s unfortunate choice of killer this round made you want to pull your hair out.

Rin Yamaoka. 

You'd dated briefly during your time as an exchange student in Japan. She was so beautiful and You'd fallen for her so fast. But it became too difficult to hide the nature of your relationship from her family and her father just about lost his mind when he discovered the two of you alone in her room holding each other. The jerk didn't even have the decency to knock, just burst in right as you kissed her cheek.

His yelling was still ingrained in your mind. His harsh biting words and the way he roughly grabbed you and quite literally threw you out of his house. Rin begging and crying the whole time for him not to hurt you.

You weren't allowed back over to their place after that.

The relationship petered out despite your best efforts to keep it alive with secret meetings in the park at night.

You cried when Rin officially broke things off. It was at one of your secret  rendezvous, she kissed you one last time and told you that despite how her heart was so full of love for you that her parents disapproved and the students were starting to catch on. She didn't want that kind of ridicule to fall on you.

You remained close for the whole of your time studying in Japan. When you left she saw you off and you gave her one last hug. Then she was gone and you got on the plane and flew away, but you left your heart in Japan.

Seeing her now you were frozen, stuck in place as your mind flashed through all your memories together and the tragic news of her death. Tears streamed down your cheeks and fell heavy to the ground below.

Likewise she stood frozen in place just staring at your face. "Rin…" the sound of her name was heavy on your tongue but even heavier on your heart.

Slowly your hand lifted to reach for her so close you could almost feel the chill of her ghostly form.

Your body jolted as you were pulled away and forced into a run. The heat of the hand holding yours was so very unlike the chill of Rin's body. 

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" Quentin gasped, panic dripping from every syllable.

"a long time ago." You whispered as you ran with your boyfriend, through the exit gate and far away from the phantom from your past.

Yui:

Yui was a tough nut to crack but when she finally opened up you found a sweet and very loving interior. She was everything you could want in a girlfriend. The others remarked on the relative ease with which you had gotten her to fall.

All of the other survivors took up a bet whether or not you could romance her before you had managed to get all the killers in a trial.

Turns out those betting on before were right on the money. At first you had thought it was fine to not have had to face all the creepy monsters this place had to offer. Turns out not knowing made things all that much harder, or rather, more awkward. 

Staring down Philip Ojomo was surreal to say the least.

Even as transformed as he was there was no doubt about it. The tall tree looking monster was your old boyfriend. To be honest he seemed just as lost for what to do about the situation as you.

"Uh… hi Philip." You waved a little, shyly almost and took a step forward. He shifted his feet as if to take a step back but stopped himself. "It sure has been a while huh?"

Your break up had been amiable, he was leaving to start a new job and your work was calling for you to leave as well, far away from the town with the junkyard and bloody car crusher that he had been called to. 

"May we talk?" The question was completely unorthodox, and probably not a good idea.

Sitting down to speak with a man meant to kill and sacrifice you to the Entity. But you asked him nonetheless.

To your surprise he did. He sat with you on the damp earth and you both spoke for a long time, until the exit gates opened and you had to leave.

He offered you his hand cordially, and you accepted it happily.

At long last you had managed to catch up and had learned about what happened to each other. His story saddened you but it was good to finally know. 

When you told Yui about it she was more worried than you'd ever seen her outside the trials. She drilled you for all the details about what happened. Only stopping when you managed to asure her that you weren't hurt.

But then her face took on a look you had never seen before. She look uncertain and almost insecure.

"You aren't still love in love with him are you?"

The question left you floored.

"What?" You couldn't help but laugh. "No Yui I love you. My feelings for him have long since passed. I promise."

You kissed her hard and the tension melted from her shoulders as she kissed back.

"Good," she said when she pulled away, "because I don't plan on sharing you." 

Felix:

"For fuck's sake! Chase someone else for once!" You shouted over your shoulder. 

Ghostface apparently didn't care about doing anything for the sake of fuck because he didn't ,infact, stop chasing you.

You heard your name being shouted from the other side of the map. Felix was helping Meg off a hook. He was calling out to you. "Just a bit longer, we're almost done."

You nodded and pumped your legs harder. Hopping a pallet you laughed as Ghostface swore behind you. "Sorry Danny guess you just can't keep up…. Like always."

"Just you wait sweetheart. Once I get my hands on you..." He growled as he crushed the pallet with a few heavy stomps.

"I don't think I have much to be worried about." You laughed.

"Oh yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah. I mean if you're as bad at killing as you were in bed then I'm gonna get out of here scot free." You cackled.

"EXCUSE YOU!?" His mask may not have been able to change but the rest of his body said it all. He was both offended and pissed.

"You take that back this instant you know damn well that that isn't true I was always…" he was absolutely raving behind you. Going on and on about how he had been attentive and how he always made you cum and on and on.

The last generator popped and you wooped happily. 

"Oh you little fucker." Danny shouted as you made for the gate. "That is what I was!" You called back.

"I will hook your ass don't think I won't!" 

He never got the chance as you dashed past the escape gate and out into the field beyond to join your loving boyfriend. "You okay?" Felix asked, taking your hand as you both slowed, nearing the survivors' camp.

"Yes I'm okay. Are you okay? I know he got a few hits in during the match."

His smile was warm and reassuring. "Yes I'm okay. Cluadette had a good med kit."

You leaned up to peck his cheek. "Good." You walked with him hand in hand into the camp and forgot about anything that wasn't being in his arms.

#my writing #dead by daylight x reader #dbd x reader #quentin smith #quentin smith x reader #rin yamaoka #rin yamaoka x reader #yui kimura #yui kimura x reader #philip ojomo #philip ojomo x reader #felix richter #felix richter x reader #danny johnson #danny johnson x reader #the spirit #the spirit x reader #the wraith #the wraith x reader #ghostface #ghostface x reader

[kinglazrus]

Not Your Danny – Ch 1. Moving Day

Phic Phight | Next | FFN | AO3

Submitted by @ecto-american: After Danny’s untimely death, his family and friends turn to Dani for comfort. She was so much like him in every single way. And she never felt more like a clone. A replacement for the “real” thing.

Summary: Maddie and Jack learn a lot of things about their son after his death: his powers, his secret life as the local hero, the truth behind his accident three years ago. And his clone who is so much like their boy. When Dani gets the offer to join their home, she thinks it's too good to be true. And she just might be right.

Word count: 2761

Two weeks after Danny dies, Danielle moves into his bedroom. It's a lacklustre affair. Dani has no belongings to bring with her, except the few trinkets stuffed in the pockets of her shorts. She only owns one pair of clothes, two of you want to be technically and count her ghost form. But that's tenuous at best when you consider the circumstances of her creation, and that her clothes were created withher, not given to her. She doesn't like to think about that too much, though.

Neither of Danny's parents are home for the occasion. Dani doesn't blame them. Her face time with Maddie and Jack Fenton over the past three years equals an hour at most—hour and a half if she really pushes it. And most of that time was with an ectogun between them. If she counts the times where she hasn't been staring down a glowing green barrel, then it's probably only five minutes, maybe less. And that only happened a few days ago.

Suffice to say, Dani and the Fentons don't have a good relationship, or a relationship of any kind. So she doesn't blame them for being out of the house when their dead son's clone, who they only recently found out about, takes over his bedroom. Although take over might be too strong of a phrase.

Dani floats next to Jazz, hovering in front of Danny's open bedroom door.

"Is it... okay?" Jazz asks.

Dani drifts inside, turning her head from side to side as she looks around. She likes the blue walls, and the open brick on the outer wall is kind of cool. The bed, covered in a purple bead spread, topped with a fluffy pillow, looks softer than anything she's ever slept on. The room is nice, if a bit messy with Danny's stuff still inside. Posters decorate the wall, some about space, others from some band called Dumpty Humpy. The shelves are stuffed full of books and model spaceships. His dirty clothes lie next to an open hamper in the corner of the room.

The sight surprises Dani more than anything.

"What are you gonna do with his stuff?" she asks. "Do people usually just," she gestures toward the room, "leave it like this?"

"What? No." Jazz shakes her head and quickly wipe her hand across her eyes. "When someone dies, their family or friends eventually pack their stuff away. Not always right away, though."

"Two weeks isn't long enough?"

Jazz's breath hitches. "Don't– don't say that. It's inconsiderate."

Dani's cheeks go hot at Jazz's admonishing tone. "Oh. Sorry." She floats further into the room, if only to escape the awkward air settling between them.

If Dani didn't know any better, she would guess that Danny had just stepped outside for a second and would be back any moment. Lowering herself to the floor, Dani settles on the carpet and walks toward the desk. A controller of some kind sits on the desk chair, its cord tangled with a headset. Dani picks the controller up and turns it over in her hand. She only vaguely recognizes the X logo in the middle of it; her travels over the past couple of years haven't exactly involved a lot of gaming. Or any.

There was a small handheld system she picked up at a garage sale once. She carried it for a few months but lost it somewhere along the way.

Dani tosses the controller onto the chair and turns back to Jazz. "So, now what?"

"Well, if you're not comfortable with Danny's things still being in here, we can get some boxes and start packing. I think we have some in the basement. If you want." Jazz tacks on the last three words with a soft voice.

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, course." It's just stuff, after all. Dani doesn't quite get it, which also means she doesn't care. If the Fentons don't want to move Danny's stuff yet, then it can stay. He was their son before he was Dani's cousin/DNA source.

"Okay. I guess I'll just... let you get settled, then. I have to work on some plans for the memorial, but Mom and Dad should be home in a couple hours. They said they wouldn't be gone long," Jazz says.

Dani nods. A few seconds of silence pass, and once it's obvious that neither of them is going to say anything more, Jazz turns and walks down the hall. Finally alone, Dani lets her ghost form fall away. The transformation rings prickle as their bright light ghosts over her skin, and when it fades, she's left in her typical shorts and hoodie. Dani rubs her arms until the prickling fades, then flops onto the bed.

Damn. It really is the softest thing she's ever lain on. And the blankets are warm. They smell like Danny, too. That's something Dani never thought she would think. She didn't even realize Danny had a smell, but it's hard to ignore now. It's not the most tangible smell. The best word Dani can find to describe it is crisp, like a cold day. She would bet her beanie that it was because of his ice powers, an ability they had never shared.

Dani shakes her head. Everything is weird enough right now. The last thing she needs to be contemplating is how Danny used to smell. It's also, like, a super creepy line of thought, yeah? Yeah.

As she stares up at the ceiling, a blur of movement catches her eye. Her gaze jumps toward it, in the corner of the bedroom closest to the door. A small brown lump clings to the ceiling. A bug, no doubt. Dani can't tell what kind, and she doesn’t care enough to find out. It's not too surprising, considering how messy Danny's room is. There's probably some old pizza hiding under his bed or something.

Dani rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. A little bug doesn't bother her, not after the places she's slept. And if the Fentons won't be home for a while, and Jazz is busy, she might as well take advantage of her new bed and the next few hours to get some shuteye. God knows she needs it.

—

Maddie feels sorry for Vlad's receptionist. She bears a striking resemblance to Maddie herself, with short auburn hair just a touch redder than Maddie's own, a curvy frame, and a sharp, pointed chin. She's even wearing blue, bless her heart. The girl is pretty, and young, and kind. Can't be too far out of high school, and hoping a job at the mayor's office will look good on her resume. Maddie hopes it pays off. The girl deserves it for putting up with Vlad daily. Working for him seems to be taking a toll on her, judging by the distressed look in her eyes when she looks up from Vlad's appointment book.

"I'm sorry, there's no appointment for you. I don't know if I can let you in," she says.

Maddie sighs. "Mr. Masters left me a message"—or several—"asking me to come in."

"I'm really sorry, but he didn't mention expecting you... oh no." The receptionist's eyes widen and she starts digging through papers on her desk. "Did I forget to write it down again? He got so upset last time."

Maddie reaches out and touches her shoulder, stopping the frantic search. "It's all right, dear. It's not your fault."

She suspected, when Vlad left numerous messages on her cellphone rather than calling the house, that something more was up. How Vlad even got her cellphone number she doesn't want to know. She will also be changing it very soon thanks to this incident.

"He's particular about his meetings," the receptionist says. "I really can't let you in."

"Just let him know I'm here, and I'll take care of the rest."

The receptionist nods. While she goes for the phone, Maddie steps away from the desk and turns back to the waiting area. It's empty besides her and the receptionist—not surprising this early on a Monday, and all the better for Maddie. She pulls her cellphone from her purse and checks the time; It's just after eight. Dani is due at Fenton Works soon, but Maddie and Jack won't be back until noon, at least. The reminder makes her wince.

Missing half of Dani's first day at home isn't ideal, but Maddie wants to get this meeting over with as fast as possible. They had other plans in the city, anyway, made before they invited Dani into their home. Better to get everything done at once.

Maddie eyes plush waiting room armchairs, wondering if there's any point in sitting down, when the receptionist calls out, "Mrs. Fenton?"

Maddie opens her mouth to answer, but her phone—still in her hand—buzzes at that moment. Jack's name stretches across the screen. "Excuse me." She steps toward the elevators on the far side of the room and turns her back to the receptionist, the closest semblance of privacy she can get, before answering her phone. "Hey, Jack. Is your meeting done already?"

"Not even close! How goes the shopping?"

"Fine so far. I forgot we didn't ask...." She tenses, feeling the receptionist's stare at her back. "We didn't ask what she might need, so I'm just grabbing the basics. Do you want me to pick something up for you? Are you waiting on the park board?"

"About that... I'm with them now, and—what day did we settle on for the memorial, again?"

Maddie shakes her head, but not out of annoyance. Jack forgetting the day hardly surprises her. He tends to forget the little details. If anything, it makes her feel grounded. The past two weeks have been a lot, to put it lightly. A lot of changes. A lot of revelations. But she can always rely on Jack to be his usual self.

"A month from today," she says.

"Thanks, baby! You're the best! See you later." The phone beeps as Jack hangs up. Maddie sighs while the corner of her lip twitches upwards. It's the closest she's come to smiling since Danny died. She holds like that for a moment, caught between the ache choking her heart and the desire for things to get better. They won't, not for a long time. She won't fool herself into thinking otherwise. But it's nice, for a moment, to pretend things might be okay.

"Leaving Jack alone with the DPR? I feel sorry for them." Vlad's slimy voice ruins the moment after the first syllable.

Maddie tenses, clutching her phone tighter, and turns to face him. "Vlad. It's bad business to ask for a meeting, then make your guest wait."

When Vlad smiles, his whitened teeth cut a bright slash across his cheeks. It's too wide, too sharp. Never reaches his eyes. Maddie remembers, long ago, when Vlad had a soft smile. He used it sparingly, doling it out to only the most deserved. She can't imagine him smiling like that now.

"Well, I don't mean to be presumptive, but when I phone a friend hoping for a visit, I expect them to stop by my house, not my work."

"Your mistake, then."

The receptionist's typing falters. Her have yet to stray from her screen, but Maddie already knows she's listening in. Vlad probably does, too.

"Natalie!" he snaps.

The receptionist jerks upright. "Yes, sir?"

Vlad rests a hand on Maddie's back and pushes her forward. She moves, if only to step out of his reach, and heads toward his office. Vlad reaches into his suit jacket as he walks. He pulls out his wallet and pinches a few random bills, tugging them out without looking. "Take a break. I'm sure you could use a coffee to perk you up."

He leans in front of Maddie to drop the bills on Natalie's desk. The contact makes Maddie grimace, and she hurries ahead into his office. When she turns, Vlad is already closing the door. The last thing Maddie sees of the waiting room is Natalie's frown as she glances at a paper cup sitting in plain view on her desk.

"Now, Maddie." Vlad turns. Rather than heading to his desk, he steps toward Maddie and touches her arm. "How are you doing?"

"You left me seven messages just so you could ask that?" Maddie brushes Vlad's hand off. In three long strides, she cuts across his office and takes one of the visitor's chairs. While the waiting room had plush armchairs, these are made of dark wood, armless, with firm leather cushions and straight backs. A deliberate choice, no doubt.

Vlad comes up beside her, his hand on the second chair. Before he can sit, Maddie swings her purse off her shoulder and drops it on the empty cushion. Vlad pauses, glances between her and the bag, but relents and takes his seat at the desk instead.

His chair sits considerably higher than Maddie's.

"I can imagine the pain you're going through right now," he says.

Maddie's fists clench. "Can you really?"

"Believe it or not, yes, I can." He pauses, giving her a chance to respond. But whatever question he wants her to ask, whatever game he wants to play, Maddie refuses to give in. She might have put up with him once, but after what he's done, he will be lucky if she willingly suffers his presence ever again after today.

She waits for Vlad to elaborate.

"I'm sure you've wondered, all this time, where Danny went whenever he disappeared for hours. Being our city's young hero explains a lot of it, yes, but to be honest, that wasn't everything." Vlad stops to take a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment. It's quite the performance. "To tell you the truth, he was often with me."

Bullshit! Maddie wants to shout, but she bites it back. Her jaw aches from how hard she clenches her teeth.

"I discovered his secret a long time ago and gave him a safe place away from home. You know, when conversation at the dinner table got to be too much." Vlad pauses again, letting his words sink in.

Maddie hates that she knows exactly what he means. All those times she and Jack discussed their inventions, their plans for when they finally captured the ghost boy. Most of what Vlad is saying might be a lie, but the truth within it cuts her deeply. "Really?"

Vlad might think himself a great actor, but he's apparently ignorant to Maddie's own deception. He nods at her questioning tone, eyes low and mouth pressed into a grim line. "I understand this is hard to hear. I did my best to make him feel safe, and we actually became close. Over the years, I came to think of him as something of a son. And his death has affected me deeply."

He stands, trailing his hand along his desk as he walks around toward Maddie. His shoulders droop, as if Danny's absence weighs on him. It really is a good performance. Peering closer, Maddie sees that he even looks pallid, and purple bags rest under his eyes. A look easily accomplished with some pale foundation and smudged eyeshadow.

"It's like a piece of me is missing without him. I'm sure you feel the same. We need each other, Maddie. To make us whole again."

Vlad reaches toward her, but she ducks away from him, slipping out of her chair. His hand falls through the empty air and he stumbles, nearly falling into the chair.

Now he's being ridiculous, Maddie thinks. She could have fallen for the makeup and the sob story if she didn't know better, but the off balance act? The distressed look in his eye when she pulls away? She's insulted that he thinks she would fall for it.

"You're right Vlad. I'm in pain. Danny is gone and it feels like he took a piece of me with him when he died. But I have my family to help me through it." She grabs her purse off the other chair and heads for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"Madeline, please—"

"Vladimir!" Her shout tears at her throat. She turns on him, blinking to fight back the burn in her eyes. He stands frozen where she left him, crumpled pathetically against her empty chair, one hand still outstretched. Maddie swallows the lump in her throat. "Enough."

She leaves without another word.

Next

#phic phight #phic phight 2021 #notyourdanny #nyd chapter one #phanfic #phicc #dp fanfiction #danny phantom #dani phantom #danielle phantom #hurt/comfort #family #danny phantom fanfiction #trans danny #trans danny fenton

[ad1thi]

2020 fic recs!! [Part 2]

part 2 of my 2020 fic recs!! as before, ive limited this to five fics per month; and fics are ordered by the month they were published. This spans fandoms and ships, and hopefully you find something you like!! credit for the idea goes to @iam93percentstardust

***

July

this is the start: @capnwinghead

Clark and Bruce continue raising the Wayne children and encounter a number of challenges along the way.

great minds (love alike): @starklysteve

Steve’s eyes flicks down to Tony’s knees on the floor.

“Are you – are you proposing to me with my ring for you?” Steve asks incredulously, eyes wide and confused.

---

Or, Steve finds Tony’s ring for him, Tony finds Steve’s ring for him. Panic happens.

Marvels Unsolved: @iam93percentstardust

Marvels Unsolved was never supposed to be this popular. It started off as a novelty web-series about Tony trying to convince Bucky about the existence of the supernatural—he firmly believed that if science could turn Uncle Steve from an actual shrimp to the god of muscles, then magic had to be out there—and then they’d started talking about an unsolved crime from the early 20th century after filming an episode one day, forgetting that the camera was still rolling, and had ended up with enough footage to make a second episode about real crimes. They had stayed pretty unknown throughout that first season but then true crime podcasts had exploded in popularity and Unsolved along with them.

it’s a small world after all: @maguna-stxrk

“Great speech.”

Smiling at the compliment, Tony turns around. “Thank y—”

And nearly drops his champagne flute.

His world comes to a stop.

They had only spent a night together, but Tony would recognize those baby blues anywhere.

It’s Steve.

Steve from Tony’s London business trip. Or, as Rhodey has become accustomed to calling him—The Soulmate That Got Away.

you’re in my blood, you’re in my veins: @nethandrake

Tony always figured that if they ever were to break up, it would be like a blaze. Scorching and hot and all-too blinding. Intense like the two of them have always been.

Instead, they break up on a Tuesday, with the rain pelting the windowpane and the midnight silence stifling.

August

Five Times Danny said he’d marry Steve (plus one): @five-wow

Danny humphs. “Look, all I’m saying is, I think I’d probably have married you by now.”

“I’d marry you, too,” Steve says.

Or: An experiment in how many times you can say something before you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Family (You’ve Always Had It): @/SunnyQueen

A black Camaro and a scowling blond was not what Junior had been expecting.

“Hi, sir. You didn’t have to pick me up.”

The blond looked up from the screen on his phone and groaned, completely ignoring Junior's statement. “You are right, I didn't have to."

Ode To Yoga Pants: @riotfalling

OR the continued terrible mating dance of Bucky and Tony, AKA when betting on your friends stops being fun

Through The Years: @hawkbucks

Tony brings home Natasha one day, proclaiming her to be his new sister.

Natasha takes this all in stride.

The broken road that led me home to you: @just-fandomthings

A documented list of conversations between Steve and Danny via text and phone call following the events of 10x22 "Aloha." (Where, even thousands of miles apart, Steve and Danny can't go without talking to each other.)

September

someday, we’ll pass it on to you: @starklysteve

Steve smiles.

Reaching up, he flattens his hand against his son’s far smaller one, curling gently around it. “You wanna be like him?”

“Da!” Peter agrees again.

One year old, and you already know who’s the best of us, Steve pauses to reflect, all his fears chased away by a fierce pride. “Your Dad’s coming home real soon,” he promises, “you should tell him that.”

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

Or, five times Peter did the repulsor pose as a toddler

+ one time he used the repulsors as an adult

Classic Sci Fi: @notdoingsohot

Bucky wakes up to Steve telling him he's lost his memory, but not to panic, it'll only last a few days. Easier said than done when the last thing Bucky remembers is fighting Hydra with the Howlies in WWII.

He tries to make the most of it however, and there's this guy... Tony Stark. It's pretty clear the guy hates Bucky's guts, which is unfortunate because god damn is he a sight.

He tries to figure out what he did to wrong Stark, but everyone just tells him he doesn't want to know.

They were right.

Blooms in Frost: @/Diomedes

Tony coughs up his first petal on the sixth of July. He has been married to the love of his life for two years.

Bury a Hanahaki corpse in earth and it will beget the most beautiful garden. All that love, it is said, must go somewhere.

Hanahaki AU: Established relationship

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

A Single Thread of Gold: @lovelyirony

Rhodey doesn't believe in love at first sight or any of that cheesy shit. He just wants someone who is nice, dependable, and safe.

Tony Stark is Housing Service's little problem for the school year, and now he's stuck in Rhodey's room because he's exploded the last two dorm rooms he's been in and won't live off-campus.

high roller, place your bet: @machi-kun

“Would you kiss Stark for a hundred bucks?”

“I would pay a hundred bucks to kiss him.”

October

press my luck: @omg-just-peachy

But... Steve is almost ten years his junior, and he could be with just about anyone, looking and acting like he does. And then there’s the not so small fact of Tony’s name and net worth and the fact that, okay, Tony had paid for Steve’s grad school tuition, and now he’s worried Steve feels obligated to stay. Or something.

Or, Tony is a billionaire, Steve is a grad student, and they learn to let themselves be taken care of.

see it with the lights out: @starklysteve

Tony goes on a business trip, and he does not - not at all - get jealous of Dodger hogging his husband's chest, a territory otherwise known as Tony's pillow.

(or, Steve goes on an Instagram spree and Tony misses home)

adulthood is looking both ways before you cross the street and getting hit by an airplane: @starkslovemail

It was a perfect plan, if Peter did say so himself.

The Buy In: @dracusfyre

For the ImagineTonyandBucky prompt: Mafia AU with Tony as the Boss (except he's a really good one, making the streets safe, keeping drugs away from kids etc) and Bucky as the detective sent to go undercover to catch him out but ends up realizing he's actually doing more good than harm and they end up falling in love

trinkets of your affection: @starklysteve

Kissed him once for every year I loved him, Steve had written.

By that count, Steve owes him five more kisses now.

Tony traces the words, hands trembling, and tips back a shot of Howard's ancient whiskey. None of it burns anymore.

One day, he'll have lived more days without Steve than there are words in the diary.

For the first time since he'd woken with shrapnel in his chest, Tony fears the future.

----------

Or, five things Tony keeps to remember Steve by, and one thing Steve gives him to remember.

November

“Hey Tony”: @riotfalling

Steve points out that Bucky never calls Tony by his actual name. Bucky doesn’t believe him, until he does.

Remembering You is Hard to Do: @lovelyirony

“The future’s crazy, honey-bear.”

Jim looks up.

“Why do you call me that?”

“Call you what?”

“Honey-bear. It’s weird.”

“Inside joke we have,” Tony says, chest tightening. “We thought those couples that have the lovey-dovey nicknames were ridiculous.”

overheard your heartbeat (calling me yours): @starklysteve

"Tony - "

"I wish I could promise to come home this time," he feels the armor crawl back down his arm, continuing unnoticed over Steve's red gloves, then up the blue uniform as Tony fights to keep Steve's gaze firmly fixed on him.

The last eyes Tony might get to see, and he wants to be lost in them.

In the end, his entire life boils down a few simple things: "JARVIS, take care of him for me."

----------

Or, Tony overhears a phonecall where Steve proposes, a battle happens, and a paper ring settles some misunderstandings.

i (really, really, really, really, really, really) like you.: @nethandrake

For as long as Steve can remember, he's been crushing on Tony Stark. The thing is, he's pretty sure Tony doesn't know Steve exists. And how could he? Steve's scrawny and little. He's a nobody compared to Tony who's Mr Popular and the son of a billionaire.

Or at least he thought so until Tony swings by the bakery Steve's mother happens to own to enlist Steve's help in finding the perfect Valentine's Day card.

The perfect Valentine's Day card for someone who isn't Steve.

One Song (My Heart Keeps Singing): @iam93percentstardust

When Thor is old enough to understand what a Heartsong is, he goes to his mother to ask her why he can’t understand the language his is in. He listens as she tells him about the first soulmates who couldn't understand their Heartsong until the day they meet, excited by the thought of a grand adventure, one that will take him across the cosmos in search of his One.

He’ll search all the Nine Realms if he has to.

December

Swiping Right: @s-horne

“Ouch. Definitely a hard pass for that one?”

Steve startled at the sudden comment from the row of chairs behind him and turned around. He’d been passing the time in the airport lounge by swiping through Tinder and had gotten lost in his own world. It was almost jarring to be pulled away from the screen of hot men and back into reality where the PA was screeching and there was noise everywhere.

Adjusting to the difference, Steve frowned. Wait, he knew that face. Oh, shit… he knew that face.

“No, no, it’s fine,” the man said before Steve could get out anything other than an embarrassed sort of yelp. Waving his hand through the air, the stranger smiled ruefully. “I get it. It’s the beard, isn’t it? True be told, it was a weird winter choice that year and I knew it would come back to hurt me.”

Steve didn’t know what to say. He knew it must have shown on his face and could feel himself flushing, panicked and embarrassed all at once. What were the odds of swiping left on someone literally sat behind him?

set your flight path home (to me): @starklysteve 

Tony puts down his welding torch. “I’m building you a plane.”

Stepping carefully over the gears and tools scattered about, Rhodey slowly makes his way to him.

“And when did you become an expert on how to build a plane?”

“Last night,” Tony grins.

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

Tony builds a plane, and Rhodey teaches Tony how to fly it. Or he would be teaching Tony, if Tony didn't distract him so much.

I Want A Man With A Slow Hand: @thefourofswords

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked on their way to a crime scene, because no time like the present, and Danny believed in ripping off band-aids.

“Why not?” Steve replied, eyes on the road. “You’re gonna even if I say no.”

“What do you like in bed?”

*

Danny undertakes a very important mission to get Steve laid. For his health. Ahem.

same time next year: @omg-just-peachy

“I forgot to ask. When’s your flight home?” Steve asks, draping his arm over Tony’s shoulder and settling in against him.

Tony ignores the knot that forms in his chest at the idea of it, leaving Steve again for his own impersonal apartment, his piles of books and projects and the nights without sleep.

“Day after tomorrow.”

Steve huffs a little sigh, then brings his lips to Tony’s neck. “Well, we’ll have to make the most of it, won’t we?”

Or, four (4) Christmases with two (2) idiots who can't admit they're in love.

rearrange my heart (to fit your smile): @starklysteve

"You dare," Howard's chair makes an ugly noise as it scrapes against the stone floors, the chatter of the room shifting into hushed whispers and stolen glances. "I am your father and your King!"

"My King is my husband," Tony tips his chin up, defiant. "And I refuse to hear you suggest that my husband has been anything other than good to me."

Next to him, he feels Steve's shoulders stiffen in surprise.

Howard's fist slams loud on the table. "Your husband does not even love you!"

Tony jerks back, burned. He knows that. Knows that Steve did not marry him for love – does not need any reminder of the cold truth, of what he desperately yearns for and can't even hope to have – but the harshness of Howard's words was scalding, and Tony can't afford for this to go any further.

----------

Or, King Steven marries Prince Tony, Tony is pretty sure he shouldn't panic when he falls in love with his own husband, and Steve tries his very best not to cause diplomatic crises.

Keyword: try

#adi's rec list #superbat #superhusbands #winterironfalcon #mcdanno #buckytony #peppernat #superfamily #rhodeytony #ironfamily #and that's a wrap!!!

[15-dogs]

chapter 2 - burning pile

pairing: fred weasley x reader

series masterlist

summary: your son asks you a tough question about his father, causing you to reflect on the exact moment you decided what you were going to tell him

warnings: children, the war, mentions of death, getting disowned, description of broken limbs, very light swearing, pregnancy mention

guide: (Y/N) = your name, (Y/L/N) = your last name

word count: 2.4K 

a/n: if your url is crossed out that means i couldn’t tag you! if you want to be added to my taglist for this, either comment or send an ask :) hope you like it!!

●chapter 2●

“Everyone at school has one,” your son stated, “how come I don’t have a dad?”

You clenched your eyes shut. You knew this was coming at some point, but 8 years old seemed far too soon. You smiled softly at your son, Daniel, as you patted your lap. He clambered onto you and you ran your hand through his fiery red hair, wondering how you could explain something so broken to someone so young.

●●●

You ran into the war alone. You were part of no affiliation, no friends by your side, you only knew who you were fighting for. 

Your son, nearly 2 years old at the time, was at your muggle neighbor’s flat. You couldn’t bring him to your muggle parents, not when they disowned you for finding out about your accidental pregnancy.

That’s why you were fighting. For him. For Danny. He needed to grow up in a world where blood status didn’t matter, where he didn’t need to be concerned about having a future or not. For Danny. You had to repeat it to yourself over and over again. For Danny. For Danny.

The war, like wars often were, was ugly. Rubble coating the grounds and bodies peeking out from under it. Being at such a broken place that was once filled with hope and joy was like seeing a photo go black and white.

You did your best to assist where you could, seeing people you went to school with falling lifeless onto the ground. They had families, they had parents that loved them. That was somebody’s child who was chasing death, and you were not about to let them get caught. You would jump in just in time to save them, feeling that was your best bet at contributing to the cause.

So you wandered the halls of the castle, seeking trouble. But, as it always does, trouble seems to find you. A Death Eater appeared from behind one of the many staircases, firing a spell at you. You barely dodged it, slipping behind a pillar, your heart pounding in your ears. You imagined what it would be like to have someone beside you but you couldn’t dwell, you were facing life and death.

You readied your wand before popping out from your hiding spot, firing a stunning spell at the man. He blocked it, but it sent him skyrocketing backwards into another hallway.

You had just found your target, there was no way you’d let him escape. You charged after where you had left him, only to find him missing. Your eyes locked onto a trail of blood that dotted from where you stood to a hallway, which just so happened to have sparks flying from it.

You rounded the corner to see two redheads battling two Death Eaters, your feet bolting to the ground.

It was Fred.

He was laughing at something Percy had said as they battled the men. He looked so...grown up. It had only been 2 years since you last saw him, but he looked different. He seemed genuinely happy. 

But it wasn’t the time to focus on such trivial things, not when the Death Eater you were battling was sneaking up on Fred. Both men were unaware of the cloaked person sneaking up on them, so you decided you needed to take action.

Fred was Molly’s son. If she lost him, she’d be devastated, broken beyond repair. You knew what it was like to have a child, and if you lost him, you didn’t know what you’d do. Danny was all you had and Merlin forbid anyone were to take him away from you.

As those thoughts coursed through your mind, adrenaline coursed through your veins. You watched as the Death Eater you were tracking snuck up on Fred and Percy, your wand readied as you waited with bated breath for the two to move out of the way. However, as the man approached, the brothers didn’t move. Your whole body was itching with anxieties, your eyes flickering towards the shadows. But as the man raised his wand, you couldn’t wait any longer; there were human lives at stake, one of which just happened to be your ex boyfriend.

“Fred, Percy! Get down!” you shouted as you revealed yourself from your hiding space. 

The Death Eater was distracted by your declaration, pausing in his mission to cast the spell. Fred, too, was distracted by your presence, leading to Percy dragging him onto the ground alongside himself. As soon as they were clear, you shot a spell at a pillar beside the man, the cracked tiles crashing down on his legs, trapping him underneath. He let out a shrill cry of pain, his face contorting into something awful that made you almost sorry for him. However, you didn’t want to take the risk that he was the devil in disguise, putting on an act just to garner sympathy from you.

“Stupefy!” you cried, freezing the man in his place.

As soon as the area was clear, you pocketed your wand and ran to the Weasley brothers. You slid onto the ground beside Percy, helping him up.

“Lovely to see you again, (Y/N),” he commented. 

You cringed but put on your best smile. “Been a long time, Percy.”

You recalled the last time you’d seen the stern boy, the one time that Fred took you home for the holidays. His family had welcomed you in open arms and made you quite jealous; your family wasn’t so affectionate.

When you got kicked out of your own house at 18, you weren’t really shocked. Your mother had never truly approved of you and Fred so she had been expecting something of that “sinful nature” for years now. 

When she had kicked you out, you couldn’t even gather most of your things as you found her burning them in the backyard in an old fire pit. You were only slightly shocked that time. Your mother had a saying: put all your troubles on a burning pile because when it’s all lit up, you’ll start to smile. That saying, of course, wasn’t true, nor did you think she took the meaning literally. When you walked outside to speak with her one last time— a regretful decision, you knew— her tears were illuminated on her cheeks from the flames that kissed her.

“You look good, seeing as how you helped Fred and I narrowly escape death, so thanks again for that.” Percy glanced down at Fred, kicking him with his foot. “Suppose you want to hear it from him, too.”

You half expected Fred to say something smart or, at the very least, notice that it was you who saved his life but he didn’t say anything. Come to think of it, he didn’t even move. 

Your heart stopped beating in your chest. You fell to your knees, hovering over Fred’s lifeless body. No, no! You were supposed to be saving him! What did you do?

“Oh, Merlin,” whispered Percy, his pale skin turning even paler. He, too, sank to his knees, shaking Fred’s body. “Oh, shit. Fred! This isn’t funny! Wake up, please!”

As a parent, you had to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Danny was rarely out of your sight, and if he ever got hurt you knew the play by play of what happened. That little skill came in great use as you stared at Fred’s body in the patch of rubble.

“He wasn’t hit,” you assured Percy, “this is shock.” You held your middle and pointer fingers close together, pressing them under his jaw in search of his pulse. As soon as you felt the soft beating against the pads of your fingers, you let out a happy gasp.

“What is it? What are you doing?” Percy scrambled to replicate your actions, pushing your hand aside and replacing it with his.

“That’s his heartbeat. It’s faint but it’s there. We need to take him to the Great Hall so he can get patched up.”

Percy let out a relieved sigh, tears falling down his cheeks carelessly. With the sparks that were being shot from outside the castle, it illuminated his face just right so that it reminded you of your mother. In his hands was Fred— your problem— and the glaring reality became apparent that you desperately wanted to run away from it.

With the wards down at Hogwarts, you could apparate inside the castle. Unable to pick Fred up, you and Percy pushed him up against a wall, his head drooping onto his chest and back slouched. 

“I’ll meet you in the Great Hall, if that’s okay?” Percy asked. You frowned. “I want to check on George, he’s been missing for a bit.”

“Yeah, go check on your brother, I can take care of Fred.” The words left a sour taste in your mouth but you couldn’t help but feel a familiar sense of warmth blossom in your chest as his name rolled off your tongue.

You reluctantly slid up next to him and slung his arm around your shoulder before apparating away. When you arrived in the Great Hall, nobody even realized you were there. You let Fred rest against a wall while you tracked down Pomfrey, who was hurriedly mixing some salve together, an unpleasant earthy aroma drifting your way.

“Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey!” You waved your hand wildly in the air, the color draining from her face at the sight of Fred behind you.

“Oh, Godric.” The words escaped her lips like a dying man’s last breath as she ran up to you two.

You took her wrist and ducked to meet her eyes, shaking your head. “He’s not dead, he’s just unconscious.”

Pomfrey gripped at her apron as she let out a shaky sigh. She lifted her head up to the sky, hoping that Merlin himself would dry her eyes. Once she had regained composure, she chuckled slightly at the insanity of the situation.

“Unconscious,” she repeated, pointing at you, “that’s something I can fix. Help me get him to that cot right there, dear.”

You nodded and helped Pomfrey drag him to the sheet on the ground right beside you. She rifled through her apron, the many pockets holding vials of wonders. 

“I haven’t seen you in quite some time, Miss (Y/L/N),” Pomfrey noted. She paused, her eyes flickering up at you for just a moment. “Or is it missus, now?”

You flexed your hand in silent rage— you hated those questions. “No, I’m not married, but I appreciate your concern.”

Pomfrey frowned slightly, her eyes moving down towards your stomach before drifting back towards her pockets. She whispered a quiet “aha!” and pulled a long tube full of amber liquid out, uncorking and pouring it into Fred’s limp mouth.

You sank onto the floor beside Fred, resting your back against the wall. Pomfrey looked at you like a mother staring at a lost child. You finally met her gaze, brows knit together.

“How’s your kid?” she asked.

Your eyes flitted to Fred; he was still asleep. “He’s good. He’s safe. Staying with a muggle neighbor at her flat for the time being.”

“He?”

“Yeah, Daniel— Danny. He hates when I call him Daniel.”

A reluctant grin tugged at the corners of your lips. You reached into your pocket, pulling out a wallet-sized, moving photo of you and your son. He was a small boy with fiery ginger hair and loads of freckles covering his face. You spun him around before shrugging him onto your back, him hiding his laughter into your hair.

Pomfrey snorted. She glanced between the photo in her delicate hands, the sleeping boy beside you, and your sunken eyes. “He takes after his father.”

You pocketed the photo, scoffing. “He doesn’t need to know that.”

“Mr. Weasley or Danny?”

“Both.”

Pomfrey shook her head but not truly disapproving of you. You avoided her stare and your eyes happened to get caught on a person waving, causing Pomfrey to turn around as well. She nodded, understanding that they were beckoning her. “Would you stay here with him? I need to care for some others.”

“Won’t be a problem.”

She nodded a quick thanks before scurrying off to the other side of the Great Hall. 

And then you were alone with Fred.

Your eyes roved over his body, mentally taking pictures of how he changed. No matter how hard you tried, the images of Fred the night before he left were seared in your mind. He looked different, like he’d seen things he never intended to. His eyes had a slight depth to them and his skin coarse with dirt.

You didn’t really mean to, but your heart has a funny way of dictating things. You reached your hand out, linking your pinky with his. As soon as you touched, you felt a spark in your chest. No sooner did you touch him than you jumped away.

Your mother might have been right. Problems need to be thrown away because there was no other way that you’d escape them. You needed not to feel such a thing— you were supposed to hate Fred— but a simple touch disproved that.

You spotted every member of the Weasley family at the other end of the hall, their eyes scanning the room for Fred. You looked down at your ex, a sense of sympathy tugging at your heart as you slipped out of the Great Hall unnoticed, leaving Fred to be in the care of people who actually loved him, or at least could admit it.

You needed to burn every memory, every thought, every feeling that was Fred Weasley. Because if you didn’t burn them, he’d be the death of you.

●●●

“It’s rare, Danny,” you began, dotting every freckle that lined his arms, “but some people just don’t have dads. They weren’t born with them.”

“But Ethan has a dad and he also only lives with his mum!” 

He yanked his arm away from you, an oncoming tantrum arriving. You sighed, tugging him closer to you and brushing his unruly hair with your fingers.

“But we’re special,” you whispered, “some people don’t have dads because they don’t need them.”

His displaced anger mellowed, his wide, amber eyes staring up at you, full of hope. “So we don’t need a dad?”

“No, we don’t need a dad, so we don’t have one.”

You never thought that you could do it, but you had; you had erased Fred Weasley from your life. It was then you knew that your mother was right: seeing everything you had with him burn into ashes really did make you smile.

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

taglist:  @whiz-bangs78 @the-romanian-is-bae @witch-and-a-half @pineapplesandpinas @bellaiscool​ @gsvshsjsbs

#o my heart fic #fred weasley #fred weasley headcanons #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x y/n #tw children #tw war #tw disownment #percy weasley #madam pomfrey #angst #fred weasley angst #tw accidental pregnancy #tw pregnancy mention #george weasley #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #fanfiction #fred weasley series #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley fanfiction

[spacesuitsforemergency]

Libraries

Word Count: 2.6k

Pairing: Strange! Fem! Reader x Danny Rand

A/N: based on the headcanons I posted awhile ago. also it has a shifty ending but you know how it be

Warnings: gets a little heated but nothing over pg-13, I swear. On god. Also Doctor Strange tries to give them “The Talk”

“Careful with that!” Danny yelped as you nearly hit him with the books. You had been working on perfecting a new list of spells Mordo had given you, and you were having a particular hard time with this telekinesis spell.

“Sorry.” You giggled as he walked farther back behind you. Some other sorcerers were working in the library, and would glance at the two of you every time you made any noise. So it was pretty often since both of you would laugh every time you messed up a spell.

“Y/N, focus.” Danny reminded over your shoulder.

“You know, telling me to focus just distracts me from focusing.” You mumbled as you tried to regain control over the heavy books you were levitating.

“Steady your hands.” He added.

“Danny!” You turned to snap at him for distracting you, instead making you completely loose focus.

You loose control of the books, and they fly across the room. You wince as the heavy books knock a whole shelf over, and it starts a domino effect. Danny watched with his jaw dropped as the shelves all tumble over, books scattering across the floor as they fell out. It stops with one last crash against the far wall.

Every single sorcerer and sorceress turned to glare at you, annoyance evident. You feel their stares but don’t look them in the eye, since they can all be really scary and intimidating when they needed to be.

“Sorry.” You smile nervously. That only seemed to make them glare harder, if that was even possible, at you.

“I think we should leave.” Danny whispered to you.

“I think so too.” You nod, and followed him out of the room. You two rushed outside, nearly knocking Wong clean over. Seriously, what was wrong with you today?

“What are you two up to now?” Wong asked, smoothing his robes out.

“Sorry, Wong.” You grin, grabbing Danny’s hand and sprinting away.

“You are in so much trouble!” Danny laughed as you both ran, scared to be caught by Wong once he figured out you had ruined half of his library.

“Don’t remind me!” You say as you two reach a temple, where your father was talking to Wiccan, a magic user your age who would visit once in awhile.

“Ms. Strange, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Wiccan greeted you. “Hello, Iron Fist.”

“Hey Wiccan.” You greet quickly.

“Y/N, what did you do?” Your father raised a suspicious eyebrow at you.

“What? Nothing.” You say, though it was obvious you had done something from your tone of voice.

“STRANGE!” You hear Wong scream from the library, which was only a few buildings down.

“Gotta go!” You shout, taking off down the street.

“Wait for me!” Danny scrambled after you.

You looked behind you and saw Wong racing after you, which was funny enough on its own, but you also saw your father shaking his head in disappointment, which was even funnier.

You and Danny ducked behind a building once you momentarily lost sight of Wong. You both stifled your laughs as he ran by, and he turned to say something.

He stopped when he realized how close he was to you, your bodies pressed against each other in the small alleyway. You stared into his emerald green eyes, admiring the sparkle of mischief that was so rare to see in the honorable warrior.

You both realize you’ve been staring at each other and look away, clearing your throat awkwardly. You poke your head out of the alleyway, not seeing Wong anywhere.

“Uh, coast is clear.” You tell Danny.

“Can’t you just use a sling ring and take us somewhere...where Wong isn’t after our heads?” He asks.

“Oh shit you’re right.” You dug into your pocket, sliding the ring onto your finger. You point and think of his room in K’un Lun. The portal opens, just as you hear a yell behind you.

“Run!” Danny yells, jumping through the portal as Wong charges at the both of you.

“Sorry Wong!” You shout again before following, and closing the portal just before Wong can get to you.

You pant, out of breath. You make eye contact with Danny, and you both burst into laughter. You fall onto his bed as he sits down like a normal person.

“You are in so much trouble when you get back.” He chuckles as you continue to die laughing.

“It’s not like I meant to knock over half of the library.” You giggle as you sit up. “Did you see my dads face? And Wong running? It was totally worth it.”

“Okay...I guess it was pretty hysterical.” He nods after awhile. “Still, he’s going to kill you.”

“Eh. He’ll probably just make me clean it up. I could just steal the Time Stone and fix it.” You shrug.

“Doesn’t your dad never let it out of his sight?”

“Please, he takes it off when he sleeps.” You scoff. “Besides, even then it’s not that hard of work.”

“If you say so.” He smiles.

You both catch yourself in a silence again, staring into each other’s eyes.

You’ve been best friends forever, ever since you and your father first visited K’un Lun back when some inter dimensional demon was threatening your existence again. He had been kind, polite, charming, and practically making you swoon over his stunning smile. The first time you hung out was at the K’un Lun library, and he taught you some meditation techniques to strengthen your focus while you were casting spells. Eventually one of you was hardly seen without the other. Whether it was studying, eating, drinking tea, working, or training, you would always do it together.

He’s been your best friend for almost 3 years now, was it a crime to develop feelings for him? You didn’t think so. And how could you not, he was an amazing person, and it didn’t help that he was really hot. Especially now, as you both couldn’t take your eyes off the other.

“Um...Y/N?” He says, just above a whisper. “May I, uh...may I kiss you?”

Your eyes widened, stunned that he asked you that. Sure, you’ve been flirting back and forth for the past couple weeks, but you didn’t think it was because he actually liked you.

“Sorry, sorry. Forget I said anything.” He looked away. “Sorry, I didn’t-“

You grab his face and crash your lips onto his. He’s stiff at first, but quickly melts into the kiss. You tangle your fingers in his sandy blonde hair as his arms wrap around your waist, your chests pressed against the others. You’re holding onto each other as if the other would disappear if you let go. Your kisses become more heated and passionate with each one, pent up feelings for each other over the years pouring out.

When you do finally pull apart to catch your breaths, you’re still holding each other and press your foreheads together. You breathe in the familiar scent of incense and green tea, trying to savor and soak in the moment.

“You know I’ve liked you ever since we met?” He whispers after a few seconds.

“You know I have too?” You smile as you pull away slightly, just enough to fully see his face, most likely chiseled by the gods themselves.

“I apologize if it is too soon to say this but...I love you, Y/N Strange.” He smiles sheepishly, a light blush spreading across his face.

“And I love you too, Daniel Rand.” You beam, overjoyed that he did indeed feel the same way you did. You just felt stupid that it took you two dorks 3 years to finally realize it.

He leans in and kisses you again, holding you close as he lays you down so he’s on top of you. You grab his hands and intertwine your fingers as you feel his tongue swipe across your bottom lip, and you part your lips to deepen the kiss.

“Ha! I knew you-! Oh.” Someone shouts as the door slams open.

You recognize the voice and shove Danny off of you, both of you whipping around to see a very stunned Wong in the doorway.

“Hey there, Wong.” You scratch the back of your neck as Danny quickly climbs off of you and catapults himself to the other side of the room. Both of your faces and necks turn bright crimson red the longer Wong stares.

“Well, um...I guess I owe Mordo and Scarlet Witch $25.” He finally states. 


“What?” You raise an eyebrow.

“We have a bet going.” He shrugs, before crossing his arms and his usual poker face returns. “So sorry to interrupt your little make out session, but I have 30 bookshelves knocked over and the books are all over the place.”

“Wong, I swear it was an accident.” You spit out. “I promise I’ll help clean it up.”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t ask you to help with something that time consuming.” He says, dripping with sarcasm. “You’re cleaning it up by yourself.”

“Yes sir.” You sigh.

“Now, I expect it to be properly organized by tomorrow afternoon. Let’s go.” He motions for you to follow him.

You groan as you get up, dreading the hours of arranging the shelves you’d have to do. You slip the sling ring into Danny’s hand as you pass and whisper, “My room tonight.”

•

“Wong, have you seen Y/N anywhere?” Doctor Strange walked into the now neat and tidy Kamar Taj library that you had spent hours working on about a week ago. He had been looking for you, wanting to help you practice perfecting the telekinesis spell, which obviously didn’t go well the first time.

“I believe her and Daniel are tending to the Garden of P’an-T’ao.” Wong waved off the question, deeply concentrated on trying to win a Twitter roast against this talking raccoon. And this talking raccoon was quite brutal, to Wong’s surprise.

“Is it just me or have they been hanging out way more often lately?” He asks his friend.

“They always hang out.” Wong mumbled.

“Well yes, but they’re basically joint at the hip now.” Doctor Strange paced. “There’s something going on between them, I can feel it.”

Wong stayed silent, trying to think of ways to divert the doctors attention elsewhere. He had another bet going with Mordo and Scarlet Witch, Wiccan and Magik had joined in on this one, so he wanted the grand prize of $80. Now they were betting on how long it would take the Sorcerer Supreme, one of the smartest men on earth, to figure out that his daughter was now dating the Iron Fist, and Wong had bet the longest amount of time.

“They’re just gardening.” He shrugs once more.

“I suppose. But every day?”

“They’re probably just enjoying the last few weeks of summer left.” Wong quickly adds. Thank god you had complained about having to do homework again soon, or he wouldn’t have thought of that.

“...you’re probably right.” Strange nods finally.

“Oh, curse you, rodent!” Wong throws his phone down after reading the latest, and particularly nasty Tweet the raccoon had just posted.

“What on earth are you doing?” Strange picked up the phone and his eyes widen. “Oh wow. That’s clever.”

“Load of help you are.” Wong scoffed, still offended by the insults.

“Ha! This ones even funnier!”

•

You were definitely not gardening. First, because gardening was one of the worst things ever. Second, because you would much rather be spending time with your boyfriend. You cringed at yourself when you felt giddy just saying that, but you were in fact now dating Danny Rand.

You weren’t necessarily hiding it, but it was quite amusing that your father hadn’t yet cracked the case. He was a smart guy, but was apparently clueless about your personal life. Human interactions weren’t always his strong suit, to be fair.

You and Danny were just peacefully reading in your room, since you still needed to do more research for Mordo’s “tutoring” (which was really just him watching you make mistakes over and over until you learned how to fix them yourself), and Danny was always reading. You two were just nerds that way. So when your father burst into the room, neither of you were thoroughly impressed. I mean, it’s only taken 2 weeks for him to figure it out.

“You two are dating?!” He screeches at the both of you.

“Really?” You say sarcastically as you turn to your boyfriend. “Danny, why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve put my book down.”

“Now is not the time for your clever little jokes, young lady.” Your father snaps, offended when Danny snickers. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Gee, maybe it was because you’d react irrationally. My mistake, I should’ve known you’d be totally cool with it.” You say dryly.

“Plus, we weren’t exactly hiding it.” Danny added.

“Shut it, blondie.”

“Dad, don’t be rude.” You cross your arms.

“Well, now that I know you’re dating, I think we need to have a little discussion.” He clears his throat awkwardly.

“Oh God...” You groan, already knowing what’s coming.

“You’re too young to have sex, but if you’re going to do it-“

“Do it safely, responsibly and consensually.” You and Danny recite, already hearing this a million times from Wong and Mordo when they found out you were dating.

“...right.” Your dad narrowed his eyes at you. “So don’t forget to-“

“Use protection.” You both say,

“...um, yes. And make sure-“

“We both consent with an enthusiastic yes.”

Your dad stares at the both of you, apparently you had already heard this speech. He was your dad, he hadn’t given it to you before. He would have to have a little chat with the other sorcerers. But he sensed that you two weren’t taking him seriously, despite how maturely you were taking it.

“I’m just saying, you know how many girls your age I’ve seen giving birth at the hospital?”

“Dad, you were a surgeon, not an obstetrician.” You blink at him. “Besides, I don’t want children, I’ve mentioned this. That’s more than enough reason for me to uh...not do it.”

“Well then. This was a lovely chat. Carry on with your...reading.” He slowly exits your room, leaving the door open. Not that it really mattered, he stepped through a portal to the Kamar Taj library, leaving you two alone in the Sanctum.

Doctor Strange turned to Wong, hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised. Wong stared at him, freezing mid-bite of his food.

“So when were you going to alert me that my daughter was dating Daniel?” He taps his foot in annoyance.

“What? You weren’t supposed to find out till November!” Wong threw down his food. “Curse Wanda.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Anyways.” Strange shook his head as he joined his friend at the table. “I gave them a little chat. I think I really got through to them. We’re on a new found level of respect.”

•

“Now is not the time for your clever little jokes young lady.” Danny mocks your dad, and you double over in laughter.

“Can you believe him?” You wheeze. “Oh man, that made my year.”

“So are we ever going to tell him that we’re waiting till marriage?” He asks as he follows you through the Sanctum, on your guys’ way to the library.

“Nah.” You giggle as you intertwine your fingers. “I’ll let him stress.”

“You’re an evil daughter.” He chuckled.

“Hey, that’s what he gets for sitting and watching me put every single book away when I knocked them over.” You shrug, placing a kiss on his jaw.

“You’re the one who knocked them over with your clumsy ass.” He laughs as you open the door to the library.

“I am not clumsy!” You shout, slamming the door open. Turns out you slammed the door so hard, and your father rearranged the shelf placement, because the door knocked over a case of books. Then another, and another, and another...

“No you’re right, you’re graceful and elegant.”

“Run?” You wince as the last shelf makes a loud BOOM as it collides with the marble flooring.

“Run.” He simply nods.

#marvel #usm #ultimate spiderman #danny rand #danny rand x strange! reader #danny rand x reader #iron fist #iron fist x reader #doctor strange #strange! reader #libraries

[cywscross]

From @lightveils on Twitter (free to use wherever!). I’ve been meaning to do this for a while. I definitely have enough fics to fill it lol~

-0-

A Fic You Love Without Knowing The Source Material:

I was born for this by esama (Assassin’s Creed | Altair x Desmond | M)

Juno did her best to lead him to her preferred fate, but the end is coming and Desmond has doubts.

A Fic With A Premise That Shouldn’t Work But Does:

Proposing To Strangers by moonstalker24 (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | G)

At the end of a strained relationship, crime novelist Stiles chooses to hide from the world inside a bar with far too many motorcycles outside it for comfort. Here he'll meet the man of his dreams, eat food and propose marriage, all within the first five minutes.

Peter doesn't know who this kid is, but he's cute and looks like he could use a break. So he feeds him. He's not expecting a marriage proposal, but with what comes after, he doesn't really mind.

A Fic You’ve Reread Several Times:

Hooverville by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | E)

Town to town, train to train, tent to tent.

By 1932, the dust had begun to blow and the jobs were gone.

Anonymity was a byproduct of looking for work, which made it both necessary and convenient.

Stiles had enough secrets of his own to know to look the other way when he saw something that shouldn’t be possible.

The ghost of a tail giving enough balance to disembark a moving train.

Near silent Latin whispered on the edge of a tent encampment.

A flash of burning eyes.

He had more than enough to worry about without adding the oddities of others, and besides- having unusually sharp teeth certainly didn’t make a man worse than the ones running from the wife and kids they couldn’t feed.

So Stiles kept his observations to himself. He kept his everything to himself.

Until he met a man. One with eyes so blue they seemed to glow- and then they did.

Stiles tried to look away, but for the first time he was stopped.

“Don’t be like that sweetheart. Aren’t you curious?”

A Fic You Still Remember Many Years Later:

All True-Hearted Souls by mardia (Temeraire | Laurence x Granby | G)

“For God's sake, if someone doesn't talk Laurence out of these constant heroics, I wouldn't bet a farthing on his chances; no, and not ours either.” Four times that John Granby helped save William Laurence's life. Laurence/Granby. Spoilers up to Empire of Ivory.

A Comfort Fic:

Nothing Improper by Bunnywest (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | G)

“How long since someone touched you, sweet boy?” Peter asks, his voice barely a breath in Stiles’ ear. “Days? Weeks? Months?” Stiles nods imperceptibly at that last one.

“After…after everything, after Allison,” is all Stiles manages to get out.

A Cathartic Fic:

Swing by ShippersList (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

Stiles wants to fly.

A Fic You’d Print And Put On Your Bookshelf:

Nose to the Wind by Batsutousai (HP | Tom x Harry | M)

While Harry had been content with his second chance, that didn't keep him from thinking what he could have done different, how many people could have survived if he hadn't been set on the very specific path he'd walked. Third time is the charm, though, right?

A Fic You Associate With A Song (x2):

Strange Duet by BelleAmante, thiliart (thilia) (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | M)

The past three years have been a series of shocking, or not so shocking, successes for 2018 Tony award winner and two time Grammy nominee, Stiles Stilinski. You don’t typically find classically trained opera singers singing alternative folk rock to crowds at Coachella. Nor do you find indie singer/songwriters winning best actor awards at the Tony’s for their Broadway debuts. Stilinski has made it his lifetime habit to defy and exceed all expectations.

-or-

A Steter fic loosely based on Phantom of the Opera

~

Full Circle by Nike Femme (FMA | Roy x Ed | T)

Edward Elric returns with amnesia. He has lived the past four years as Auric, a Gatekeeper. But there are some battles that only he can fight. Will his friends be able to awaken Ed, and what happens to Auric if they do?

A Fic That Inspires You:

Off the Line by esama (FFVII | Cloud x Vincent | T)

In which Cloud gets a Virtual Reality Dream Console – ShinRa's latest in virtual reality technology. Aaand everything pretty much goes downhill from there.

A Fic That Brought You On Board A New Ship:

Me and Mine by linndechir (Fast and the Furious | Deckard x Owen | E)

The last time they'd spoken, Deckard had told Owen that he was tired of cleaning up his messes. But the first thing he did after breaking out of prison was to take Owen to the other end of the world so they could lick their wounds and start planning their revenge.

A Fic You Wish Could Be A Movie:

Moving In (To Every Single Aspect of Danny’s Life, Including the Boring Bits like Dry-Cleaning) by westgirl (Hawaii Five-0 | Steve x Danny | T)

It felt wrong for Steve to sound unsure of his place in Danny’s life. His place in Danny’s life was at Danny’s side, driving him slowly insane. Steve should feel secure about that.

A Fic That Led To You Making Friends With The Author:

Begin and End by Rikkamaru (Log Horizon x HP | G)

This is how it begins: a boy rejected by his family, a boy reunited with his brother by his sister-in-law's intervention. A boy who found a family in an online game. But how will it end?

FREE SPACE:

Reverti Ad Praeteritum by Batsutousai (Fullmetal Alchemist | Roy x Edward | M)

Unwillingly forced to serve as a human trial for a crazy alchemist experimenting with time travel, Edward Elric finds himself standing across from Truth in the moment it takes his leg from him. Armed with the knowledge of what's to come and burdened with guilt for the choices he'd made as an adult, Ed sets out to fix every mistake he ever made and save every life they ever lost, no matter what it takes.

A Fic You’ve Gushed About IRL:

Designation: Miracle by umisabaku (Kuroko no Basket | M)

It's been three years since seven human experiments, called "Miracles," escaped Teiko Industries, alerting the world to the presence of super-powered children. Now they're finally integrating into society-- going to normal high schools, playing basketball, falling in love-- and trying to find out if it's possible to truly escape their past.

A Fic You Associate With A Place (have to self-rec for this one):

Safe Harbour by cywscross (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles x Chris | T)

Peter didn't think he'd find a home here. He certainly didn't think he'd find a home with two other men.

Chris and Stiles prove him wrong.

A Fic That Made You Gasp Out Loud (kind of? it was suspenseful):

Sanctuary by DiscontentedWinter (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | E)

The Hale Wolf Sanctuary isn’t just for wolves.

It turns out it’s for Stilinskis as well.

A Fic You Found At The Right Time:

slow increments by Areiton (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles)

Peter is enigmatic, egotistical, sometimes barely sane. He's sharp and cutting and takes more time to care for the pack than anyone.And sometimes, John catches him watching Stiles.

A Fic That You Would Read Fic Of:

if you try to break me, you will bleed by Dialux (Game of Thrones | Jon x Sansa | T)

It had been a slash across her chest from a White Walker’s sword that finally ended her life. Sansa’d landed in a puddle of her own blood, and she’d died quickly, quietly.

And then she’d awoken with a gasp, trembling, in a bed that had burned under Theon’s betrayal.

A Fic That Made You Laugh Out Loud:

The Path towards Unwilling Godhood by Sky_King (Bleach | Kisuke x Ichigo | G)

Ichigo has never had the most normal life, and this latest chapter of it is no different.

"I'm not a god!"

A Fic With A Line (Or Two) That You’ve Memorized By Heart:

Atlas by distractedKat (Star Trek | Spock x Jim | T)

Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning.

A Fic That Gave You Butterflies:

The Rest of Our Lives by mia6363 (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

“I don’t know, as a kid I watched a lot of movies, you know? And at first I figured like… I’d be on some great adventure that would take me away from it all, you know? Like Indiana Jones comes around and is all, ‘Hey Stiles, buddy, come with me we’ve got to go save the world.’ Then… you and… everything happened… then I just… I figured I’d die before I was eighteen.”

A Fic That Embodies Something You Value In Life:

The Boy Sleuth by Shey (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

Stiles is eight when he discovers a box of his mom’s old Nancy Drew Mysteries in the back of the guest bedroom closet.

A Favourite AU:

Love What is Behind You by KouriArashi (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | M)

Basically what it says on the label. Hunger Games type fusion. Stiles doing way better than anyone anticipates. Peter finds him intriguing. Ruthless, devious assholes working together to ruin bad guys, as the Steter ship is meant to be.

A Fic You Stayed Up Too Late To Finish Reading:

Of Dwobbits, Dragons and Dwarves by ISeeFire (The Hobbit | Fem!Bilbo x Fili | T)

Bilba has been a slave her entire life. All she knows of the outside world is what she sees from time to time outside the gates of Moria and the stories her mother used to tell her. Stories of a place called the Shire where her mother once lived and a placed called Erebor where, as far as she knows, her father still lives. Stories of dragons a thousand times larger, and more intelligent, than the beasts the orcs rode and of a strange concept called freedom where one was allowed to live as they wished with no one to tell them what they could, or could not do.

The stories meant little to Bilba. The only future she had was to live, and die, as a slave as countless number had before her.

And then the orcs dragged an injured female firedrake through the gates, her rider screaming obscenities behind her as he fought to reach her side...and everything changed.

A Fic That Made You Feel Seen (another self-rec lol):

i am addicted to death (so remind me what it’s like to live) by cywscross (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

Stiles is sixteen years old. He has already died seventy-eight times.

#Fic Rec Bingo #Bingo #Misc Fanfic Rec

[fakeyellow]

A betting pool starts amongst the Edenbrook staff on who Dr. Lila Valentine is dating.

It was yet another day in the locker room as the interns stripped off their clothes and put on their scrubs. There was the usual mindless sound of chatter as they asked each other how their weekends had went when Mitch paused, his muscled chest on full display as he stared imperiously at his fellow interns.

“So what’s the deal with Dr. Valentine? Is she seeing anyone?” he asked.

“I’m out,” Esme slipped on her top and walked out of the room.

Mitch didn’t spare her another glance as he leaned against the lockers, his arms crossed, “I bet she’s with Dr. Ramsay.”

Sothy looked uneasy, his usual grin gone from his face, “Dude, that’s not cool. Dr. Valentine’s a good doctor.”

“I don’t mean she slept her way into the diagnostic team,” Mitch said, rolling his eyes, “She was the best competitor and she won the position. I’m just saying, I think they also have a thing.”

“I don’t know,” Gary interjected, his face turning thoughtful, “Dr. Varma seems to really like her too. She keeps complaining about how good Dr. Valentine is.”

“Nah, you guys are both wrong,” Sothy said at ease now, his grin reappearing, “She’s definitely with Bryce. Have you seen that dude?”

While Mitch had indeed seen Bryce in the changing room, he was not as impressed with him as Sothy seemed to be, “Fifty bucks she’s with Ramsay.”

The other two looked at each other curiously before shrugging.

“You’re on.”

—

Gary Garrison was having a good day.

Sure, Dr. Varma had shut him down immediately when he’d asked about her relationship with Dr. Valentine, but he was confident that his intuition was correct.

As snarky as she usually was with Dr. Valentine, he hadn’t heard her talking about anyone else quite so often. Not to mention when he’d first been introduced to her, Dr. Varma had had called her one of the best damn doctors in the hospital.

Gary had no doubt that there was some sort of passion beneath their friendly rivalry. He was going to win a cool $100 from the others.

“So, do you know if Dr. Varma and Dr. Valentine are in a relationship?” Gary asked pleasantly.

The nurse he’d been talking to frowned at him, startled by the sudden change in subject, “I don’t know. Why do you want to know?”

Gary suddenly realised that the bet he’d made with Mitch and Sothy was probably something he should keep to himself.

“Oh, no reason!” He said loudly, feeling himself starting to sweat, “I just wanted to know if she was… free?”

The nurse looked wholly unconvinced and she continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.

“I-well-“ Gary stammered before hanging his head in defeat, “I may have made a bet that Dr. Valentine is with Dr. Varma.”

He looked to the ground, sheepishly scratching his head as he waited to be reprimanded.

But when he looked up to meet the nurse’s eyes, she seemed positively thrilled.

“A bet?” She asked, her eyes burning with excitement, “Count me in.”

—

There were few people at Edenbrook who did not know Dr. Lila Valentine after her tumultuous first year.

Even if they didn’t know her personally, they knew of her: the doctor who had taken the hospital by storm, the doctor who had nearly lost her license by stealing from a pharmaceutical company to help a much loved patient, the doctor who had saved the life of the new Chief of Medicine when even he hadn’t been able to figure out what was wrong with him, the doctor who had become the youngest fellow on the diagnostic team.

There were numerous stories told about her and while they were filled with varying levels of truth, there was still one underlying consensus:

Dr. Lila Valentine was a damn good doctor and a damn good person.

It was hard not to like a person like Dr. Valentine, ever diligent and willing to help out others. Despite efforts to sabotage her reputation, there was hardly anyone who actually had something bad to say about her- most people only had good anecdotes to share, when she’d helped them out one way or another.

As it turned out, there were quite a lot of people interested in Dr. Valentine’s love life and Mitch soon found that he needed to keep a notebook in order to track the overwhelming number of bets being made.

—

“Dr. Zaid once caught her and Dr. Lahela making out in the supply closet,” An IM resident told Mitch conspiratorially as she handed him a twenty, “He was in a bad mood the rest of the day. Well, worse than usual.”

~

A NICU nurse went out of his way to find Mitch, “$50 on Ramsay. They stayed overnight once, watching over a premature baby. There’s something between them for sure!”

~

“I walked into the on call room once and I had to walk out immediately. I don’t think Drs. Valentine and Varma noticed but… I definitely noticed them,” A surgical resident whispered, blushing furiously even as she pushed a fifty dollar bill to Mitch.

~

The nurse sighed heavily, “I was personally rooting for Rafael.”

Seeing Mitch’s blank face, she quickly clarified, “He’s a paramedic. But then he showed up at the hospital one day with his girlfriend.”

“It’s a shame. I saw them sleeping together in his hospital bed once and it was just the cutest thing I’d ever seen…” she clucked her tongue in disappointment before turning serious, “I want $40 on Dr. Lahela.”

—

Mitch had just handed a ticket to Dr. Taylor when he found himself facing a certain surgical resident.

“Dr. Lahela,” he greeted professionally, giving away no signs of apprehension.

Bryce glanced down to the notebook in Mitch’s hand with a smirk, and Mitch felt his grip on it tighten.

“I want $50 on Bryce,” Bryce finally said, handing him a crisp bill.

“Nice,” Mitch couldn’t help but nod in respect as he handed him his ticket.

“Always bet Bryce, baby!” Dr. Lahela declared as he walked off jauntily with his new betting receipt.

“Alright, Dr. Lahela has moved down to even money,” Mitch announced to a muttering crowd.

—

One day, during his break, Mitch was surrounded by a verifiable militia of hospital personnel, from security guards to lab techs to physicians. The chatter suddenly died down and Mitch had only the time to wonder why when the sea of people parted and the Chief of Medicine appeared in front of him.

“Dr. Banerji,” Mitch greeted with one of his most winning smiles, even as he began to panic internally. Was he going to lose his career all because of a single bet?

No. The panic quickly dissipated, and Mitch felt a calm take over him. He’d been in worse situations than this and he’d found that there was little the charm of a good looking and self assured man could not mitigate. There was only one way he’d get out of this.

“Would you like to place a bet sir?” Mitch asked confidently with one of his most winning smiles.

Dr. Banerji remained silent but Mitch did not let his composure break, staring intently at the man who held his career in his hands.

And then Dr. Banerji laughed and Mitch could not help but breathe in relief.

“No, no. I don’t think I’d be setting a good example if I were to bet on the personal lives of my employees,” he said and while he was chuckling, there was still an underlying current of warning that kept Mitch on edge.

“Of course,” Mitch said.

“But I do have to admit. I was a bit curious as to who was in the lead.”

“Sir?”

Dr Banerji looked at him expectantly and Mitch quickly responded.

“Well Dr. Lahela is the current favourite, although Dr. Ramsay is a close second.”

“Hmm,” Dr. Banerji murmured, a mysterious smile on his face, and Mitch suddenly remembered that Dr. Banerji was the personal mentor of Dr. Ramsay. Not to mention, Dr. Valentine had saved his life.

There was no way he didn’t know who she was actually dating.

“Good day,” Dr. Banerji took his leave, chortling, and Mitch felt a sharp pang of regret that he had missed out a chance to ask for inside information.

—

A month had passed since the start of the betting pool, and while it had expanded to include a good quarter of the entire hospital, they were still no closer to reaching an official verdict.

If Dr. Valentine had felt scrutinised after the announcement of her disciplinary hearing, there were twice the number of eyes on her now.

But she didn’t seem to notice, passing each day oblivious to the attention on her.

Lila walked out of a patient’s room now, her brow furrowed in concentration as she made a few marks on the patient chart.

It was at this moment that Jackie made her way down the hallway. Upon seeing her, Lila bumped her hips playfully against Jackie’s, and the eyes of all of the staff in the vicinity seemed to focus in on that single action.

There was a playful exchange of “Doctor” between the two but Lila continued to keep walking to the disappointment of many.

Bryce appeared now, turning around the corner as he wheeled one of his patients out. Seeing Lila, he winked at her, and while this was standard behaviour for the flirty resident, Lila suddenly stopped him, placing a light hand on his shoulder.

Unknowingly, people began to lean forwards as Lila and Bryce engaged in a quiet conversation. When they stopped talking, there was a sudden buzz of activity as everyone pretended to be busily absorbed in their work.

The ding of the elevator announcing its arrival caused a current of excitement in the air as people waited with bated breath to see the newcomer, hoping desperately that it might be a certain diagnostician who would put an end to this bet.

Dr. Harper Emery, Chief of Neurosurgery, entered the ICU and there was a collective sigh of disappointment as Lila greeted the woman, handing her a patient file on the diagnostic team’s newest case that was in dire need of a neurosurgeon’s expertise.

The mood seemed to dampen until a sharp look from the surgeon caused everyone to begin working with renewed focus.

—

“You want to come over?” Sienna asked Danny brightly, “My roommates won’t mind. I mean, Lila barely comes home these days anyway.”

At the mention of Lila’s name, Mitch suddenly sidled up to her at the nurse’s station.

“Dr. Valentine hasn’t been home lately?” Mitch repeated and he slowly looked over Sienna, as if reassessing her worth to him.

Looking thoroughly unimpressed by his blunt intrusion into their conversation, Sienna responded, “If you have any questions, you should ask Dr. Valentine herself. Bye Danny.”

Sienna left but Mitch was beyond caring as he also left to round up his fellow interns.

“Dr. Trinh mentioned that Dr. Valentine hasn’t been home lately. That means she can’t be seeing Dr. Varma, she has to be seeing Ramsay!” Mitch declared triumphantly.  While the bet had started out harmlessly, it had gotten so big, and now, it was a matter of principle to him. He needed to know for his own pride that he was right, that Dr. Valentine was dating Dr. Ramsay.

“Well, Bryce doesn’t live with them either so he’s still an option too,“ Sothy pointed out.

Mitch grimaced at the truth of his statement.

—

After yet another tiring day of work, Mitch made his way to the locker room when he suddenly did a double take and took a few steps back.

There, in the diagnostic team’s room, visible through the glass walls, were Dr. Ramsay and Dr. Valentine alone.

The walls were unfortunately soundproof and Dr. Valentine’s face was obscured from his perspective, but Mitch could still see how close the two were to each other.

A tender smile appeared on Dr. Ramsay’s face, the likes of which Mitch had never seen before on the usually strict and tough physician. Dr. Ramsay then placed a hand on Dr. Valentine’s shoulder and Mitch surreptitiously sneaked over to a different vantage point.

And there it was.

Dr. Valentine’s face was flushed pink, her eyes filled with an adoring light as she listened to what Dr. Ramsay was telling her.

There needed to be more evidence before the bet could be finalized but this was as good a confirmation as Mitch needed and he whistled cheerily all the way home.

—

Lila practically purred in contentment, curled into her lover’s embrace on the couch and relishing the feeling of their hands stroking her side.

Reflecting on her day, Lila still felt herself flush with pride at the memory of Ethan’s words to her. Even after the better part of a year, it was hard not to feel out of place in the diagnostic team meetings, not to let herself become overwhelmed by the sheer knowledge and skill of her more experienced colleagues.

But today, Lila had been the one to guide the team to the correct diagnosis after days of struggle and countless consults; she’d been the one to see past the distracting myriad of abnormal test results. She had been the one to see the patient and notice the hepatomegaly that indicated liver failure even as the lab results said otherwise. She had been the one to figure out that the patient had Wilson’s Disease and place her on the list for a desperately needed liver transplant.

Ethan had pulled her back after the meeting to express his admiration for how far she’d come (“Good work, Doctor.”) and she felt like she was still on a high from that. Lila had never imagined she’d hear those words from a doctor she’d idolised since her days in medical school.

But then there were a lot of things Lila had never imagined would happen.

Their relationship had faced a lot of obstacles, including the woman herself because of her reservations, but it had all been worth it the day Harper Emery had told Lila that she loved her too.

There wasn’t an exact moment that Lila could pinpoint the start of her feelings for Harper; it had been a gradual realisation. Outside of the hearing, she hadn’t had much chance for interaction with the Chief of Medicine, but she’d stumbled upon the woman one day, alone in an empty surgical suite, running her hands wistfully over the surfaces.

One conversation had led to another and Lila had seen more and more of the woman behind the mantle with each meeting.

And then one day, she’d looked at Harper and realised that she loved her, had loved her for a while.

It had taken a long time for Harper to admit her own feelings but now they were together and Lila would not trade the world for it.

Of course, they both knew it was too early to report their relationship to HR. It was too soon after her disciplinary hearing and Lila had no intention of staining Harper’s professionalism, nor did Harper want to cast a shadow over Lila’s burgeoning career. It’d still be a year or so before things settled down and they could safely report their relationship without fear of excessive backlash.

But for now, Lila contented herself by snuggling into the warmth of Harper’s arms.

“You’re getting bold,” Harper said with a smirk in her voice as she pulled out the post it note that had been attached to the file she’d received from Lila.

“They all think I’m dating Bryce or Ethan or Jackie anyway,” Lila dismissed carelessly, “I don’t know how any of them believe I don’t know about the bet. They’re so obvious.”

“And wrong,” Harper murmured before leaning down and drawing Lila into a kiss that stole her breath away.

Lila hummed happily as they continued to kiss, feeling as if her heart might burst from all the happiness and joy she was feeling in this moment.

“Bed?” Harper asked sultrily, gently tugging Lila’s lower lip with her teeth as she withdrew from their kiss.

“Please,” Lila breathed out and all thoughts escaped her mind as she lost herself in the embrace of the woman she loved.

—

A/N: lol did anyone guess the pairing?

several points of explanation:

We don’t know much about the new interns so I just based their personalities off of what we’ve seen so far. It made sense to me that Mitch would be experienced with large betting pools as like a frat guy or whatever, and that Gary wouldn’t be able to lie about the bet.

I wrote Lila to be a very affectionate person. She enjoys having fun and she’s had a couple of light trysts with some of her friends her first year; they’re all young and good looking and under inordinate amounts of stress that only each other understand, what’s to stop them? I don’t know if Ethan would have been up for a one night stand so you can think whatever you like, it’s open. But ultimately, she falls for Harper and they’re in a committed relationship.

Dr. Banerji knows about the relationship and thinks they’re good for each other although he regrets that they have to hide it for now. Sienna knows and I couldn’t decide if Bryce/Jackie/Elijah also know or if they only know that she’s in a relationship.

The Wilson’s disease case I summarised briefly is a true story that Dr. Lisa Sanders wrote about in her book, “Every Patient Tells a Story.” Fun fact: she actually inspired the show, House MD

Bryce has moved down to even money - this means that if he turned out to be dating Dr. Valentine, everyone who bet on him would get their money back. 1:1 odds, as opposed to getting like double their money.

to reiterate: Lila’s flushed bc she’s proud to be praised by her idol turned friend. Mitch is just misunderstanding everything.

#ethan x mc #bryce x mc #jackie x mc #harper emery x mc #open heart #rafael x mc #guess the pairing #ethan ramsey #bryce lahela #jackie varma #rafael aveiro #harper emery #playchoices #playchoices fanfic #gary garrison #mitch keller #sothy yoeun #sienna trinh #my writing

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter eight: nightshade in cultivation

“So in nearly three months, you still haven't found a place yet?” Sam asked Marla, who shook her head at that.

“Nope—a lot of it has to do with my history with Charlie. There’s this royally fucked up belief going around right now that heavy metal, whether you’re inside of it or associated with it in any way, converts one to Satanism, but whatever.”

“Wow, what the hell.” Sam had to stifle a laugh with that.

“I know, right? but Genie seems to like living with Bel, though. She likes to sleep on her bed.”

The sun hung low over Providence and the first wispy sheets of a marine layer settled in from the ocean, and because of it, the two of them had made their way backstage before the Cherry Suicides took to the stage. Marla had to hustle to Sam's hotel room given the size and shape of their dresses, but the latter insisted things were fine as they walked down the block to the theater in question. Belinda had run back to New York City, and Aurora was on her honeymoon with Emile, and thus that left the two of them behind in Providence. Both girls were to get in through the fan club: Marla volunteered to put both of their cards into her purse so Sam herself needn’t risk taking hers along into the crowded theater. For the time being, they huddled backstage, on a bench on the wall within range of the main stage: to Sam’s right was Anthrax’s dressing room, and around the corner was the Cherry Suicides’ room.

Somewhere along the way, Testament had finished and released their album, but everything had happened so fast for Sam that the date passed her up: she had been focusing so much on school that she wound up wondering why Aurora never mentioned it to her on the occasional day she worked alongside her.

The otherwise slightly snug corset left Sam's body feeling a bit sore: every so often, she would raise her arms over her head to better ease the feeling within her.

“If and when I do find a place, would you like to be my roommate?” Marla offered her.

“I'd love to! It would get me out of the Bronx and I wouldn't have to find a new place for myself.” She raised her arms over her head and her shirt raised up over her waist a little bit. Minerva from the Cherry Suicides strode past them and she reached towards her exposed, slightly full waist for a little poke, but Sam was quick to bring her arms down again.

“I'll get you,” Minerva teased her with a wag of her finger: those long black and red acrylic nails glimmered bright under the pale yellow overhead lights.

“You and what army?” Sam retorted, and the three of them laughed. Minerva kept on walking and then Marla turned to Sam's body.

“You do look good with a little weight, though,” Marla remarked. “I remember when we first met, I thought you were looking a little on the thin side. So I like you with a few because it’s more so around your hips and your chest rather than right onto your belly.”

“Did you gain weight when you first started school?” Sam asked her.

“I actually lost weight—lost like ten pounds and then I met Charlie. He says he loved it but—” She shrugged her shoulders. “—swings and roundabouts, I guess. Hey, there's Alex!”

She nodded across the floor to the sight of Alex himself with his head bowed over a little amp on a chair. He played around with some of the dials on there but neither of them could make out any part of his face besides his nose. From a distance, Sam could tell that his nose had healed from the strong blow from Joey, but she paid attention to the way in which his jet black hair covered the side of his face, and she knew he was still rather ruffled by it.

“Alex!” Marla called out. “Hey, Alex!”

He gave his hair a little toss back, and then he glanced over at the two girls there. Marla gave him a pretty little wave, and while he raised an eyebrow at her a bit, his expression turned cold upon sight of Sam. He returned to his amp and then he reached for something behind the chair: he took out a little red guitar out of hiding and he slung it over his shoulder. He lifted his hair out from under the strap but he never looked over at them.

“What's up with him?” Marla asked her.

“I called him annoying earlier,” Sam explained with an exasperated sigh.

“Annoying? What was he doing?”

“Yeah, 'cause of the whole thing between him and Joey earlier and he was all like, 'I didn't do that!' and he was real insistent on it, too.”

“That's it?” Marla frowned at that.

“Yeah.” Sam sighed through her nose. “I dunno, Mar—I kinda feel bad for doing that, because he wasn't that annoying. I just wanted him to tell the truth and apologize to Joey.”

“Maybe he was telling you the truth,” she pointed out. “You didn't see what he was doing—he may have been telling the truth.” She stopped in her tracks. “What was he even doing?”

“He says he was talking to Greg about something and he was moving his hands around a lot and Joey thought he flipped him off.”

“Oh, I see. And then Joey socked him right square in the nose.”

“He told me three times he didn't flip him off,” Sam recalled.

“So? Maybe he was being sincere about it.”

Sam sighed through her nose again.

“I dunno, Marla. I kinda wanna—“ She stopped and pursed her lips together.

“What?” Marla tilted her head a bit but it was enough to make her iridescent hair shine a different shade of gold under the yellow lights.

“I want to help Joey,” she confessed in a low voice.

“Help him with what?”

“Get him to stop drinking for one thing,” she replied. “I can tell he doesn’t want to do it. Bel feels the same way about him.”

“Well, have you tried to actually do something about it?” Marla offered.

“Yeah, I’ve brought it up to him and I’ve moved him away from things that can bring it on. It’s just… hard to understand and predict, too.”

“When Charlie and I were together, he would drink a bit, and I distinctly remember telling him the day after his first big hangover that I didn’t want him to do that to himself. And he was like, ‘okay, what do you think I should do?’ And I said, ‘I want to help you out of those habits because I worry about you.’”

“So what did you do?” Sam asked her.

“Well, for about a week, I went with him whenever we went grocery shopping. I told him he could have a drink once in a while, but not a lot, though, like a beer every now and again. I asked Frankie to take it easy on it, too, and he promised to keep it in check himself. I guess Scott and Danny are the real big drinkers—that’s my guess anyway. But I’m not sure how to approach it with Joey. I think your best bet is to just keep an eye on him and walk him through it.”

“Which means spending more time with him, I would think.”

“Oh, yeah, but you don’t have to be beyond that, though. At least with me and Charlie, I had a bit of an advantage of being his girlfriend. But I wonder about Joey in particular—especially with how he looks at you.”

Sam rolled her eyes at that: stray notes from Rosita’s bass floated into the area right then. There was a slight sound barrier between the two of them and Alex so they couldn’t hear his playing around on his guitar.

“I have never seen him in action like that,” she flatly said, but she thought about his little advances in his apartment. The look in his eyes. The way he was so open to it, especially with Belinda there with her. She came close to him there on the couch.

“I sure have. I’ve seen him and the way he looks at your legs and your hips in particular. You may want to do something about it.” She then tilted her head a little bit once again, and the roots upon her head shimmered as if made of metal. “How did you and Cliff go about?”

“He got close to me once but we were fighting, though. We never went any further than his touching my hip and feeling me.”

“Did he at least kiss you?”

“Of course he kissed me. But, like I said, we never went any further than that.” She paused for a second. “Kinda wish we did.”

“Have you ever thought of experimenting with someone?”

“Not really.”

“When you get a chance, you should experiment with Joey. That is, if you’re comfortable with it. It’s all about going beyond what you already know and what you’re comfortable with already.”

“You want me to be comfortable but also not?” Sam raised an eyebrow at that.

“Yeah. In fact, I can readily say that art is just like that. Miss Estes told me and Bel both that when we first started taking her class. You have to expand your horizons so you come out stronger and healthier and more astute than before. It’s gonna be hard at first, but it’ll be more than worth it in the end. And another person, a new heart, is no different.”

She turned her attention back to Alex, who had moved his amp down to the floor and took his seat in the chair and cradled the guitar in his lap. His bangs shielded his eyes from their view, but Sam could tell he was focused on his guitar and only that.

“And by another person, I don’t mean Joey,” Marla continued in a low voice. Sam glanced over at her and the thoughtful look on her face.

“What are you saying?”

“Look at that little boy over there,” Marla nodded. “I know I just said he’s a little boy, but—just look at him.”

Indeed, Sam took another glimpse over at him there. He raised his head a little bit so she could see right into his face. His deep eyes seemed even deeper from the side there, and his black eyebrows were even blacker. His fingers held to the guitar neck as if he held onto it for dear life, while his other hand glided across the bridge at a quick pace. The sound barrier between them had only gotten stronger with the Cherry Suicides better putting up their set, but she could tell he was performing a solo to himself.

“When did their album come out?” she asked Marla.

“Who, Testament?”

“Yeah. It’s been a few months, and up to this point, I’ve just been up to my eyeballs in school and Aurora’s wedding—she even fell short with it all herself. I haven’t really been paying much attention lately.”

“I think last month? I haven’t been in the know, either. You know, with Charlie being out of the picture and whatnot. I’m pretty sure it was last month, like I overheard someone talking about it some time ago, but that’s about it.”

Sam sighed through her nose. Yet another album she needed to listen to before they put out their next one. But first things first: she stood to her feet and she ambled towards Alex and his soloing to himself. She could hear some voices on the other side of the curtain: the show was about to start up for the night.

He lifted his gaze a bit but then he returned to his guitar: when she cleared the sound barrier, the heavy dark tone of the guitar strings greeted her. His tone was rich but cold, and his fingers sailed about the guitar’s neck. He reached down and fiddled with one of the dials on his amp, and turned it down a little bit, much to her surprise.

“Hey,” she said to him in a low voice, but he never raised his head to her. She put her arms behind her back and she cleared her throat so he could better hear her. “Listen—about the annoying comment—I'm sorry if that upset you at all. I was just—freaking out about Joey is all.”

Under his bangs, she could make sight of his eyes as they pointed in her direction. The black hair dye held onto that gray stripe for dear life, even though she could see its faint glimmer under the light. The gray stripe that aged him, and the black hair dye that brought him back to the end of his teenage years.

But he never raised his head towards her, and he never stopped.

She leaned in closer to his face. A red mark had appeared right on the bridge of his nose, and he had a slight bruise under his right eye, but he still looked fine.

“I don’t ever mean to upset you,” she said right into his ear. “I just wanted to protect Joey.”

He kept on playing and thus, she lifted herself into an upright position and she strode on back to Marla. She nodded her head at her.

“So?” she began once Sam was back in earshot.

“Eh, I gave it a shot,” she confessed with a shrug.

“Hey, at least it’s something,” Marla pointed out, and Zelda walked past right then in bare feet and with her drum sticks tucked into her shorts pocket: her long slender legs shone with a nice glow courtesy of a fresh shave.

“Have either of you girls seen Chuck?” she asked them, out of breath.

“Can’t say I have,” Marla confessed with yet another shrug of her shoulders.

“You can probably ask Alex over there,” Sam suggested, “but he’s not really talking to anyone right now.”

“Why’s that?”

“Sam called him annoying earlier because he flipped off Joey and Joey punched him in the nose for it,” Marla explained in a single breath. “As far as we know, anyway.”

“So I tried to make it up to him,” Sam filled in, “but he never said anything back about it, so I don’t really know.”

“Jesus, if I had a nickel for every time someone talked about someone flipping someone off and then that person punching them in the nose—I'd have two nickels,” Zelda proclaimed also in a single breath.

“Anyways, what do you need Chuck for?” Sam asked her.

“I borrowed his old shoes so I can drum faster. These big heavy boots that were just falling apart and one of the last things Louie told me was that if I weigh down my feet and ankles with big heavy boots, they’ll get stronger. Guess what happened.”

“They fell apart?” Marla quipped.

“They fell apart! Right at the seam near the toes. So now, I gotta tell him and then go find some duct tape for them.”

“Hope you don’t get sore feet, though,” Sam advised her.

“Nah, they fit well otherwise. Just have to stick them back together. I once duct taped a pair of slippers back together when I was in school and they’re still holding up perfectly.”

“Wow!” Marla gaped at her.

“I gotta find him quick, too—we’re gonna go on in like twenty minutes.” She then turned her head. “Oh, there’s Greg with a roll of tape—hey, Greg!”

Zelda hurried over to Greg, who stood on the other side of the backstage area with a roll of silvery gray duct tape in hand and his bass slung onto his back.

“Wanna go out to the audience?” Marla offered Sam, who frowned at the sight of them over there. She looked across the floor to Alex, who had gotten to his feet and stooped over behind the chair. For a few seconds, she fixed on the slight curve of his hips and thighs, but then she remembered how he behaved towards her a few moments before.

“Yeah, might as well,” she said with another exasperated sigh.

Marla put her purse over her shoulder, and then she and Sam began towards the hallway which led them back outside, at least for the time being. They would double back around the other side of the theater and show off their fan club status to will call. Indeed, Marla took Sam’s card out of her purse, but then she hesitated.

“What’s up?” Sam held the card in between her fingers as if it was a business card.

“Hang out here for a moment, I need to use the ladies’ room—“ Marla closed her purse and she ducked past her to the corridor behind her. Sam stood there with one hand pressed to her hip; she gave her dark hair a little toss back and she gazed up to the rafters overhead.

She was honored to be a part of the fan club of a brand new band out of the Bay Area, but on the other hand, she had new doubts about Alex. None of it with him made any sense. Maybe it was part of the way he grieved Cliff: she was Cliff’s girl, but the whole thing with Joey felt so strange to her. There was so much her parents never exposed her to upon growing up, and thus she saw the whole thing with him as total science fiction. She wished it was easier to understand, that she could go back in time and actually see what happened outside of that cafe that evening. If Alex had told the truth and if Joey just had a bad reaction to it.

She then felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to find Alex right behind her, still with that stern look on his face and that little guitar slung around onto his back. Her heart skipped a few beats.

“Oh—”

“Hold out your hand,” he said. She did, and he reached into his pocket and he took out a little blue guitar pick.

“That was Cliff's pick,” he told her in a low voice. “I guess he didn’t use it much, that’s why it’s so pristine. And I guess they found it plus Cliff’s skull ring at the scene of the accident and Jason took it. But then he gave it to Frank and then Frank gave it to me.”

Indeed, when she turned it over, Cliff’s name had been inscribed on the back in silver cursive lettering. She recalled that one song from their last album, “Orion”, and the heavy bass riff of that filled her ears by the mere thought. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over her. All the tears and all the grief, and she still missed him. Marla’s words rang through her mind as well, and she wondered if she could go places with Joey that she never could with Cliff.

“By the way—I recommend you stay away from Joey,” he continued, and then she shook herself out of her daydream.

“Why?” she demanded, taken aback.

“He's lazy.”

“No, he's not,” she insisted and she stifled a chuckle at that. She held the pick close to her chest. The only piece of Cliff left behind that wasn’t just his parents or his sister.

“Yes, he is,” Alex persisted with a straight face. “Let me ask you this, have you ever seen him actually do something for Anthrax besides sing for them? Like write a song or anything like that?”

She shook her head.

“I know I sound like a total dick for this but—I feel like he should do more for them than just provide his voice. Don't you agree?”

“Well...” Sam shrugged her shoulders, and she had no idea as to how to answer that. He raised his eyebrows at her, the first time she ever saw his face soften up.

“Tellin' you, Samantha. The man's lazy.”

“Have you seen him play hockey, though?” she pointed out.

“That's totally different. Skating on a stretch of ice and adding something more to a band you're part of are not comparable.”

“He's a drummer,” she continued.

“Have you seen him drum? Has he added his skills to something from them, like has Charlie asked him to do parts on anything?”

She shuddered at it all. She didn't like hearing Joey in a bad light like that because he needed more love and care than anything else. There was also a lot to the music world and the making of it that she still didn't know yet: there was so much for her to recall in the art world in and of itself. Some things had not crossed her mind in the same way in which it had with all of her musician friends. Alex shifted his weight and then he squinted his eyes at her.

“Be careful around him,” he warned, and Sam scoffed at that. “Come on, you know I'm right.”

“Well, you could be completely wrong about him, too,” she curtly pointed out.

“So what if I am?” he asked her, and she rolled her eyes at him. She clutched the pick in hand and flounced away from him.

“If I am wrong, at least I'll admit to it,” he called after her, and she turned back to him with a look of disgust on her face.

“Belinda's right—you are precocious,” she snapped.

“At least I admit to it,” he repeated, and she rolled her eyes at him yet again.

“Whatever,” she said as she pocketed the pick without thanking him. Sam strode out of there at brisk pace and let the door shut behind her.

“Whatever, Alex,” she muttered. “Whatever. I don't need you and I don't need your opinions about anything.”

She stood outside under the cool marine layer as it covered the slight sliver of a moon. She thought of the gray stripe on Alex’s head, and how it appeared to fight back against the black hair dye. It became a faint memory at that point, but she recalled what Aurora and Marla had said about it at their first show at L’Amour. Something about that stripe that not only aged him, but put him in a strange spot.

But she shook her head, and the door behind her swung open. Marla strode out from behind her with a refreshed look on her face.

“I was just talking to Alex,” she started as they walked side by side to the street, “he said Anthrax might not do well tonight.”

“Why’s that?”

“I dunno, he didn’t say. It was kind of out of the blue, too—like he said that to me rather suddenly.”

Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. She held the pick in her hand all the way to the street, and even though it belonged to Cliff, she thought of throwing it across the street. She fumed at the thought of Alex. He was not only precocious but he was pretentious as well. That gray stripe aged him, but he obviously couldn’t handle it. She kept on shaking her head as they reached will call and made their way towards the front part of the floor. Marla handed her the ear plugs and she slipped them inside.

Zelda’s drum kit had been set up right smack in the middle of the brightly lit pale wooden stage, and she took her seat there behind the kit. She turned away from the audience: Sam spotted Greg, who knelt down before her with those boots in question in hand. He had stuck a great deal of silver duct tape over the toes and part of the soles so they better fit her feet. She smiled at him once Zelda teased him about something and it made him laugh. 

If nothing, she could still turn to Greg, Louie, Chuck, and Eric.

Indeed, those boots made Zelda push harder and harder on the drums, but Sam and Marla both could tell it proved to be a challenge for her, even though the crowd behind them loved them. The Cherry Suicides played “Day of the Dead” and Zelda was out of breath by the first chorus. The first time Sam had seen her truly exhausted from a night of drumming: she always did it as though it was second nature to her.

When she left the stage and waved at everyone, her chest heaved and her face was pale from dehydration. Sweat had drenched through her white t-shirt and little shorts, and she seemed to trudge her way off of the stage.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen her that beat before,” Marla confessed to Sam over the noise of the crowd and the muffled quality in her ears, and she shook her head at that.

Within a few minutes, Anthrax took to the stage. Charlie had tied his black hair up at the back of his head in a taut ponytail while Frank and Dan wore big baggy bright Bermuda shorts: the former’s were a bright fiery red while the latter had on little blue ones with the Jetsons imprinted all over them. Scott soon followed as his dark hair billowed behind his head and his thick dark eyebrows stood out even from across the room. And then—

“Oh my god, look at him,” Marla declared. Sam gazed on at the sickly look on Joey’s face and his shaking hands. He let out a low whistle and then Scott picked up his white Flying V guitar and slung it over his shoulder. He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned towards the microphone before him.

“Hello, Rhode Island, this song is called ‘Medusa’,” he said and his voice broke a bit.

“They look sick,” Sam confessed to Marla, who nodded at her. Scott led the way into those grinding riffs: Sam had a vague memory of this song from Joey’s apartment, and all she remembered was Charlie’s thumping drums and the dissonance in the chorus. Joey’s voice meanwhile, seemed a lot more restrained than usual. His vibrato wasn’t as strong and he held back on his high notes in the chorus.

“He's either having a bad night or he's hammered,” someone behind them shouted over the wall of music. Indeed, Sam frowned at the sight of Joey's closed eyes and the pallid look of his otherwise healthy sun kissed skin. He rubbed his eyes every so often. He looked as though he had just woken up from a nap, but he kept a hold on the microphone head and the stand. She thought about what Alex had told her back there, but she knew she could help Joey out of it.

The words bled out from his mouth and even though she could hear the words, he lacked that big operatic power she heard from the studio and the record.

Every time he finished a line, he bowed his head and closed his eyes.

All five of them appeared to be out to lunch, and thus they only played four songs, and Sam wondered what was going on there. Joey retreated back into the backstage area, but Sam couldn’t visit him just yet given she and Marla were a part of Testament’s fan club.

On the other hand, the five of them were as tight and strong as the duct tape on Zelda’s boots. Alex, Greg, and Eric let their long black hair wave about with Louie’s rhythms: he put his head down and powered away on his drum kit. Marla looked over at her with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Man, these boys got tight!” she exclaimed.

“Off of their first album!” Sam shouted back; she flashed back on the Stormtroopers of Death tour, and how the four of them were so tight and loud during that string of dates in the hot summer sun. Chuck held onto the microphone stand and bellowed into the head. Where Joey missed his marks, Chuck brought home the bacon with his smooth dark hair over his face and his shriek having developed a bit of depth. In those few months alone, he went from a screech akin to Zetro’s voice to a powerful singing voice much like that of James.

There was that shout courtesy of him, Eric, and Greg, “OVER THE WALL!” and it filled the whole otherwise vast room. Even though she was questioning Alex, there was no way she could miss them for a hot minute.

They, too, only played four songs, but it came from the fact they were rather new in comparison to Anthrax. Louie chucked his drum sticks out to the audience and someone behind Sam and Marla caught them; Alex bowed out without a trace. Greg and Eric flashed the two of them the sign of the horns, and they returned the favor.

“Thank you, Providence!” Chuck exclaimed through his microphone over the roar of the audience. “We love ya! We’ll be back soon enough! Remember, we are TESTAMENT!” He then left the stage, and Sam took the plugs out of her ears. The sharp noise of the crowd was enough to make her go deaf.

“Wanna go check on Joey?” Marla offered to Sam right into her ear so she could hear her.

“You know I do!” she declared; she led Marla towards the edge of the room, and the doorway into the backstage area. She stared ahead to the wide open doorway of Anthrax’s dressing room, and she spotted Joey’s slender legs spread out in horizontal fashion from something.

Dan poked his head out from the doorway: the look of concern was all she needed to know.

“Thank god—you girls better get in here,” he told them once they were within earshot: his voice sounded so far away given the slight whirring in her ears, but she could hear him. She stepped past him and there Joey lay flat on his back on a little fold out bed. He had put his hands over his forehead and he groaned from the feeling inside.

“Oh my god, you’re wasted!” she exclaimed, and the tears filled her eyes.

“Was,” he corrected her in a broken voice. “I knew it was too much and so I puked it all out, though. So I ask kindly to keep your voice on the down low.”

Sam nibbled on her bottom lip. If he had knowingly puked it out, then that meant he needed something right there.

“Wanna help me get him something, Marla?” Dan suggested.

“Yeah, sure,” she said.

“Thank you, Danny,” Sam called after him. She stood over him, slightly disgusted but she realized the truth about that drunk guy from the wedding. He probably gave Joey something he shouldn’t have had. She wiped away tears and dove down to the bed next to him.

“Come here—“ she cooed to him: Marla’s words rang throughout her mind. If she wanted to have him get better, she needed to act for him. She put her arms around his slender waist and he let out a soft groan. He smelled of alcohol and vomit.

“I don’t want you to drink anymore,” she begged as the tears streamed down the bridge of her nose. “Never again. Please, Joey. I’ll make sure you don’t ever again. I don’t want you to do that to yourself!”

“And I don’t want this,” he groaned with a pained grimace on his face. She kissed the side of his face and kept her arm around him. She stayed there, cuddled next to him, until Dan and Marla came back.

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