#<- kala's their mom

[blue-jester]

Hello I am the Kalacto Supremacist.

May I please know more about her?

Of course! Entire backstory time...

Kala was born to a lower class family merchant family and had one brother, they didn't have much but they did have eachother and it was a very tight nit and close family.

And Kala at a young age, was always a fighting prodigy, even before she could summon her soul weapon [her bow] she'd practice with a wooden one all the time, her accuracy was scary even at that young age and she mastered many complicated tricks- she was also very good at playing the flute, which she seemed to enjoy more than practicing with her bow at times..

But the first big event in her life was when her family was visiting a more wild planet that the fectos there haven't completely domesticated yet, she and her brother were playing away from where their family were setting up shop and got attacked by a MASSIVE beast, that would rampage into the town, her brother lost a wing to it and many were injured, but young Kala managed to defeat that beast all on her own! Which impressed the Divai'kto Laufohkto who had just arrived to the scene, he congratulated the child and said that if she kept this up, one day she'll be welcomed into the concil of the divai'kto- the highest rank a fecto can achieve and basically the guys in charge.

Her family was ecstatic about this possibility, and so was everyone who's heard of the young girl's accomplishment- so much so that her future narrowed to one possible option that everyone wanted and expected of her.. Her family was poor, becoming a divai'kto.. She could raise them to nobility.. And never have to worry about food or money again.

So she'd train and train, eventually participating in an olympic style event against other warrior fectos when she turned into an adult and won, her prize? A place on the divai'kto council. What everyone she always wanted.

However when she joined and moved into the crystal palace.. It. Wasn't. All that great- everyone was so.. Fake. And despite all divai'kto being of the same level of importance politically she soon learned that everyone only followed what the eldest divai'kto [Laufohkto] said with no question. She was to protect the people of the prism galaxy.. But she couldn't- actually do anything, not that mattered.

So yes, her depression starts before getting indoctrinated into a cult, after all, she didn't want to be here in the first place.. But none the less, she upheld her responsibilities, did her work, everything she needed to. She was tired but- she still held out hope that she could change something eventually..

However news of a cult would eventually break out, one ran by a white endcoat that slaughtered without discrimination and sang hymns foretelling the end of all days by the wings of their darkest lord and god. This was an issue- because well. The cult was either killing people or growing, the leader wanting the location of the heart Void was sealed within, the thing the divai'kto were heavily tasked with defending by the ancient heroes.

Kalakto was chosen to seek out the leader, and return with his head.

However when she finally managed to track him down he.. Wasn't what she expected. A chillingly calm and deep voice spoke to her, spoke things she thought she never ever shared- he pray on her insecurities "aren't you tired of the stagnation? You don't want this I can tell.." however he was very adamant on the "fix" to everything was ending all life. Because there can be no suffering, no heartache or bad people without living.

He offered her a deal. They'd battle, is she won she could kill him, take his head back and get her praise and have NOTHING be changed, if he won... She had to join the EFIL cult.

She accepted the deal, sure she could beat him...

uh. Dark shit and gore below the cut

She did not. His psychic powers were simply too strong, too tricky.. He created another world within her viewing, disorienting and confusing her, it was a headache.. So after rifting around, she landed, clutching her head... That's when he stabbed her five times, once in the gut, in the legs and on the wings so she couldn't escape. He then picked her up, and dragged her to the cult, healing her when they'd return.

Her time in the cult was.. Blurry. She found her memory to be getting worse and worse.. She started forgetting her family, friends- anything she did remember was anything bad, or wrong with her life, any minor argument between her and her blurry family was blown out of purportion- and she would never be able to remember it otherwise. It was real. That was what really happened.. Right?

She was tired. She was so, so, tired. Every second of every day started feeling like a million years, anytime she would sleep she'd awake just as tired..

All of this, was Abbadon's doing. His psychic abilities are unmatched, scary. But Kalakto would never be able to tell it was him, him speaking to her within her mind, influencing her thoughts...

He was ACTUALLY the best thing that's ever happened to her, he was so kind to her! He may seem.. Scary, or cruel but he's good under all that, promise! Right? He loved her so much.. Right? She didn't want to ever do anything to displease him, not after everything GOOD he's done for her! :D [strangling him strangling him strangling him]

She became Abbadon's puppet. She'd do anything and everything he said and she was his most powerful cult member, he made her fight his battles for him, always close by his side.. Her eyes, they no longer shone that love for life. She wanted to die. She was tired and fully believed in the message of the cult now. Abbadon's perfect little puppet.

Eventually, when the end was finally near and they'd found the heart of Void, Abbadon allowed for a few more years of living, deciding that he'd most likely die when they summoned forth the dark lord, so he and Kalakto would have an heir.

They had two but.. One of the twins didn't make it. Only Elfilis did [name meaning "life ender" in fectan].

Kalakto had postpartum depression and struggled even looking at her child, which was a good thing for Abbadon because he would never let anyone- not even their mother, hold or speak to his child- HIS heir- HIS puppet.

Anyways, when the heir had turned five Abbadon would finally free Void Termina, and bring about the end of this dimension, rifting Elfilis out of there and into another part of space near Halcandra.

Kalakto closed her eyes, finally happy she'd never have to open them again.

[torukmaktoskxawng]

Just wanted to say that I cannot wait to see what is next in store for Kayla and spider

I found a picture of them from a different universe while you're waiting 🥰

[pumpkinpie59]

oh hey i’m here to remind y’all that 87 actually wrote its female characters pretty well compared to the other shows uwu

april might be known as the damsel in distress, but she has a life outside of the turtles. she is constantly busy with her own goals, deals with two sexist coworkers, supports her girl best friend despite not always agreeing with her choices, and willingly puts herself in danger to get a story when no one else will. even in the red sky seasons when she gets fired, she works her butt off to find evidence to clear the turtles’ name and to get a new job. she’s a powerhouse.

irma is one of the only characters with a noticeable character development, going from an insecure boy-crazy young lady who worries about diets and struggles with clumsiness, and slowly becomes a more independent young woman, following april’s example in taking risks to get results. and even before then, she always snarked back at vernon, her sexist coworker, with no hesitation. her last episode she literally handles a blaster so,,,, queen.

april’s aunt, agatha, is canonically one of the most op characters in the show. she doesn’t usually fight but she has several skills to get the job done without it. but she can still fight; she’s a skilled fencer. she’s a master inspector and always solves the mysteries she comes across. the turtles look up to her and she always steals the show in every episode she’s in.

shredder’s mom is more competent than him and kicks someone’s butt in her first scene. she’s a senior.

tempestra and shreeka are both really fun villainesses who stay memorable despite being in limited episodes.

kala is equal with her two guy friends, zak and dask, and despite being anti war, is brave enough to stand up to krang.

buffy, despite being a brat, was able to escape being kidnapped by the shredder almost entirely by herself and managed to outsmart him several times. she also takes care of her grandfather’s company herself.

mona lisa only has one episode, but it’s entirely her story. she is the one who kicks off the plot, the one who solves the problem, and the one with a backstory and goal. raphael’s just along for the ride.

lotus blossom remains undefeated in combat, able to defeat shredder, bebop, and rocksteady. all at once. she’s treated as leonardo’s equal in combat and earns his respect immediately, despite her cheating to win. in her second episode, we learn her insecurities and some of her background. she has depth and emotions and we see her learn about herself and move forward in her life, all while having good chemistry with leonardo.

obviously there are still flaws in the treatment of women in 87, but considering how women are treated in a majority of tmnt content, 87 did pretty well in general.

[coolauntlilith]

So I finally watched Sense8. I regret not watching it sooner for a couple reasons. But I'm so glad I finally watched it.

[phantomsiita]

man i hate how cultural appropriationey my irl name is but i just cant seem to settle on anything else i could handle being called irl

[artist-issues]

Yes but now you get to shift your attention to the side characters who are still older than you, or better, the same age. And guess what? They tend to be wiser and happier than the protagonists, and the protagonists can’t make it without them

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[duladobepeeping]

The story lines at the beginning of Sense8 for each character are honestly insane…

Nomi - trapped in the hospital against her will with a potential brain condition and her transphobic family

Riley - witnessed a drug robbery and then watches people get shot as she’s being tortured by previously robbed drug dealer

Capheus - trying to fight the local mafia so that he can afford AIDS drugs for his mom

Sun - being forced by her family to take the fall for her brothers illegal actions and sent to prison

Lito - hiding his gayness from the public because if they found out he would lose everything in his life

Kala - culturally pushed into a relationship she does not want to be in with an in-law family that does not respect her or her religion

Wolfgang - fighting against the criminals he was raised with and trying to show them he is better than them and the father that beat him

Will - is a cop

[fear-tear]

Rewatching the 1987 series. I forgot how sweet and compassionate this version of Michelangelo Is.

He's the most prone to tears

-when he has to say goodbye to Kala in "Hot rod teenagers from Dimension X"

-when he remembers his mom as he watched an endangered turtle successfully lay her eggs in "Turtles turtles everywhere"

-when he hears the laments of Splinter not being able to live alongside humans in "Splinter no more"

-when all the turtles are forced to take separate ways in "Splinter vanishes"

-when he's scared his brothers will never turn back to normal in "Michelangelo's birthday"

-when he worries for Zack in "Bebop and Rocksteady conquer the universe" (he actually bawls into Raphael's arms!)

Also

He befriends and helps a lonely rich kid in "Michelangelo toys around"

He stops at nothing to convert Mondo to the side of good in "Michelangelo meets Mondo Gecko"

He vows for Donatello's innocence in "Donatello's Badd time"

He shows a severe case of camera fright in "Turtles on trial"

He has a soft spot for pets (pets who never stick for more than an episode, but whatever)

He's all this and more in the episode "What's Michelangelo good for?"

Seriously, '87 Michelangelo is a living treasure :)

[blue-jester]

I find it ironic that Elfilis turns out to be a very loving husband/partner and father/parent, while Abbaddon was anything but!

Imagine his face if he saw elfilis in the happy AU.

They really devoted everything into being as far from how his father was as they could...

Also about Abbadon and happy end au

uhh.

Bad.

Bad news there.

[gettothestabbing]

Tarzan

what's the first movie you remember seeing in theaters? don't try and be all edgy and cool and say like tetsuo: the iron man. be honest.

Go!!

[tufaansthings]

sania ki ammi ki mazhabi chudai ki kahani

Sabhi readers ko mera salam me yeh ek real story batane jaa raha hu jo hamare  saath beeti hai baat tab ki hai jab me 10 class me tha us waqt meri age 15 to 16 thi mom ki age 33 hogi 38 ke boobs e paak gol matol  kamar 34 ki bilkul patli or gaand/ chutad ka kehna hi kya ubhri hui gol tight bilkul 40  kisi bhi mard ko dekh kar bas chodne ka man karega to jab mere 10th ke exams shuru hue mere abu ek job karte the kam hi ghar aate dubai me the unki age 46 thi ptle the to baat tab ki hai jab me school gayi thi us waqt trend facebool social media tha mene apni sabhi saheliyo se milkar ids banayi or ese hi baat cheet hone lagi tabhi mene meri ammi se sab bataya facebook or social media ke baare me ammi asal bht udas hoti thi abu se baat na hone par or ammi bht zyada mazhabi hai 5 waqt namaz hadis yeh sab me hi hoti thi kuch din baad ammi kuch badli badli si lagne lagi pata nhi kya hua tha par me khush thi achanak mene esa kuch dekha jise dekh kar meri halaq sukh gaya mene dekha ki ammi ki id me sab boys hai jo saare hindu hai tab mene ammi ke phone lekar dekha to usme bht si gandi baate likhi thi  or ammi nangi quran pakad kar pic le kar bhej rahi hai yallah use dekh kar mera sar chakra gaya mene khud se sawal kiya kya hogaya hai ammi to ek deen daar khatoon hai or mene dekha kai hindu maŕd ammi se dosti kar chuke the or ammi badh chad kar reply deti thi ek din mene dekha ki ammi kuch ajeeb se orange colour ke dupatte me thi jab me school se ghar aayi mujhe shak hone laga to me samaj gayi dal me kuch to kala hai mai ab ammi ka phone lene nhi de rahi thi or vo hamesha phone me hi dekh kar muskurati or chat me hi magan rehti beet ja samne aayi jab jummah ke din me jaldi ghar aagayi ghar hamesha khula hota tha aaj band qu hai or aaj to jummah hai mujhe laga ammi namaz padh rahi hai par me bahar wait karne lagi lakin bht der hogaya kuch samaj nhi aaya mene faisla kiya ki  me khud andar jaungi me khidki dèkhne lagi ek kismat se khidki khuli thi me ahista andar chaligayi jese mene ammi ko dekha us haal me mere to chakkar aagaye ammi ek kaale hatte katte aadmi ķe saath janimaaz par bethi thi unke pao ke pass quran thi or vo aadmi ammi ke safed boobs ko masal raha tha or me dang reh gayi lakin khud ko sambhal te hue apne bag rakh kar wapas jaakar dekha vo aadmi chala gaya tha ammi janimaaz par nangi leti thi ammi ki gaand e gumbazi mere muh ke tarf thi me saaf dekh rahi thi ki ammi ki doodh jeso gaand aaj ek laal bandar jesi ban gayi thi or us gaand se ajeeb sa chip chipa paani nikal kar janìmaaz par gir raha tha me samajh nhi paayi  mene ammi ki is harkat ka jayza mukammal lene ke liye socha ki qu na me agle jummah school na jau or yeh kya kar rahi he dekhu lakin 1 hafta mujbe chain nhi mila meri bhi chut us manzar ka maza lene lagi or me kai dafa us manzar ko yaad kar chut me ungli ki hu

Or aakhir jummah ka din aagaya mene plan ke mutabiq school se chutti leli or ghar se bag lekar nikal gayi or mene khidki khuli chordi or me ghoomne firne lagi ese hi kuch der baad me ghar gayi to dekha ghar ka kaam sab ho chuka hai ammi gate me kisi ke intezaar me thi mene yeh bhi dekha ammi burqa phni thi jo bahar jane ke liye hi phñti hai kuch der baad vahi aadmi ghar aaya bag lekar ab ammi use andar bhejdi or kuch der or khadi rahi ese hi bahar or bahar se door lock kaŕ diya ammi ne or bahar chali gayi mene socha yeh kya hai tabhi ammi piche ke door ke raste ghar me dakhil gogayi or me samaj gayi kya mamla hai yeh or me bhi plan mitabiq ghar me khidki se chali gayi mene dekha vo kafir tha ek dum se hatta katta kala or voh ammi ke namaz ki jgha par khada tha or bilkul nanga yallah kya batau uski baazu e napaak ekdum se mote body builder or uska to yallah kalala uncut tha jo ese latak raha tha jese koi kaala sota hua naag ho or uspar se uski kaali chamdi aahh yallah mujhe to dar hi lagne laga

Ammi jese andar aayi azan hone lagi or ab voh kafir ke samne ammi burqe me khadi thi ammi jhat se us kafir ke gale mil gayi jses hi us kafir ne ammi ki gale lagaya ammi ese sehem uthi jese unki yaad me kab se tadpi ho

Ab voh habshi ammi ko kiss karne laga yallah kesa manzar hai ek namazi deendaar ammi jo ek kafir ke saath azan ke waqt lipti hai or uski emaani momina beti apni ammi ko dekh lazzat e paak le rahi hai yallah

Fir us kafir ne ammi ko 20 mint kiss kiya or uske baad jo hua me to dang reh gayi

Ammi jese burqa hatayi ammi ke jism par allah likha hua tha khaas unke emaani boobs e anwar e muqadas par or unki chut ke paak rasta e noorani or chutad e azmati e azadari ke darmiyaan aaahh meri ammi aahh allah

Us kafir ne kaha chal randi wazu karva apne aqa ko keh kar vo kafir janimaz ke samne chote se stool par tange fayla kar beth gaya ammi jhat se uske trishool e napaak par jhapat padi or bulnadi se bislullah allah bullah alshuru keh kar muh me lund e trishool uncut pevast karliya or ese chaatne lagi jese koi bacchi lolipop choosti hai

Apni ammi ko esa karte dekh meri to inteha na rahi mujhe apni ammi ki noorani gaand saaf nazar aane lagi jisse kafir ki haatho me khul masal rahi thi me apni ammi ki islami namazi gaand ko masalta hua dekh azan sun rahi thi aaahhh

Kuch der baad ammi khadi hogayi or musalle par karir let gaya or ammi us kafir ke muh par beth gayi or kaha bislullah or kafir ke muh par apni namazi islami 5 waqt namazi chut e ala islami ko rakh kar apne emaani boobs e paak ko masalne lagi yallah ammi jaan ki islami chut kis kafir ki napaak zubaar se choosrahi yallah ammi jaan ki chut ul al ameen aahh ammi jaan

Esa kuch derbaad ammi kafir ke lund par jhat se gir padhi or uskafir ke muh par chip chipa sa paani laga hua tha jise usne chaat poora peeliya ab

Us kafir ne kaha chal mulli wazu to karli ab namaz ada karle ammi jhat khadi hokar kafir e trishool ko maslne lagi or choosne lagi kuch der baad ammi sajde me chali gayi or kaha kàfir malik ap yaha aajay apki sajdedaar islami ap ki lund e uncut ki bhook se tadap rahi hai malik

Or voh kafir quran par paun laga kar ammi ki fayli hui islami mubarak chutad e sajdedaar ke beech gaya or jaha allah likhata vaha 3 baar thuk kar usne apna napaak lund geela kiya or kaha aaj me ise poora islam sikhaunga

Or ammi ke latakte hue islami emaani nipples bilkul tane hue the or mene dekha ammi ki muh par muskaan thi

Ab ammi ne kaha malik tadpaiye mat mujhe apke trishool se mujhe ibadat karne ka moqa ata karye malik ab raha nhi jata

Yeh sunkar kafir ne ammi ki emaani chut ki darar e chutad par ragadne laga or jhat se ek baar me poora ka poora lund pevast kardiya meri emaani sajdedaar ammi ki islami chut me aaahh allah ammi ke muh se nikala aaahhh allah me margayi aaahhhu malkiyomideeni aaahhhh

Ab kafir be inteha tezi se chodne laga vaha namaz chalu hi yaha ammi ke dhakke chalu hue aahh me apni ammi ko dekhte hue chut sehlane lagi musal sal 20 mint ki chudai tàba tod hui me 5 dafa jhad gayi or ammi janimaaz e muslamme par giri thi mene dekha ki voh kala topa ke gulhabi trishool ab choot gaya ammi ki emaani chut me yallah

Or voh aadmi bahar chalagay

[jeonride]

would you dance with me?

SUMMARY; in the middle of a party, you are the one hansol is looking for.

FEATURING; chwe hansol x fem!reader

GENRE; fluff, comfort, a lil' bit angst, non-idol au, meet cute, strangers to lovers, and this fic also feels like hmm, modern royalty (?) basically just like how high-class people throw a party and yeah includes waltz dancing ! <3

WORD COUNT; 3.3 K

WARNINGS; mentions of insecurities, flaws, anxiety, and the reader isn't confident with herself, suggestive

NOTES FROM KALA; just imagine this fine man asks you to dance with him..

jeonride's masterlist / join the taglist here !

Your eyes stare straight into the brilliant mirror, clean of any stains and dust. Your body stands rigid, feeling every strap of the dress you're wearing being pulled by your maids- meant to tighten, to make your waist look slim. Your chest is tight because your mother told you to wear a special corset for the dress- she said it would make your breasts look better. Yet you don't feel any difference.

Tonight is your grandmother's 70th birthday. You even wonder at the prospect of living such a long life with endless wealth. It's not that you wish for her to die soon, no. But it's tiring to come to your grandmother's birthday party that is celebrated every year. It's not that your grandmother is bad or that she likes to talk bad about you with her friends, it's not.

It's because you know that whether or not you're at the party doesn't affect your grandmother's happiness.

You realize you're not beautiful.

You're not as pretty as your cousins and that's what makes you insecure. Even though your mom says you're beautiful as long as you take care of yourself, it's hard to accept that kind of opinion- or even praise, as it turns out. You're the one who feels that you're not pretty enough, even though other people say you are, you don't believe it. Back to you again, deep down inside you feel less beautiful and not worthy to come to a lively party filled with prestigious people, conglomerates, with their gorgeous faces. As a result, you are always alone in the corner of the ballroom. There is never, ever a gentleman to ask you to dance with him.

You don't feel that you're pathetic, though. You enjoy watching people dance with their respective partners. Embracing each other, stepping together, dancing the waltz gracefully with their eyes fixed on each other. Though you have to admit, sometimes you get lonely watching it all. How exciting it would be if there was a guy who would waste his precious time just to dance with you.

Your grandmother also prefers to talk about tea parties, new dresses by famous designers, and the most expensive wine to sip on the night of her birthday party with your other cousins. Your grandmother always said that she loved all her grandchildren equally. But it's you who feels it. And well, what you feel is different from her perspective. She laughs with your other cousins, stroking their chins and complimenting them on how pretty they are, while with you, she laughs at your stupid antics, calling you her most different grandchild. Her odd grandchild.

Like the dimmest star in the night sky.

"Please do not move too much, Miss." said one of your maids when you're squirming too much because the way she fastens the straps of your dress around your waist is too tight as if you are forbidden to run away from the party and you are sure if you insist on running away from the party, your breath would be taken away because your dress seems to be strangling the wearer's body.

Your mother, on the other hand, folds her arms across her chest, smiling with satisfaction as she sees her daughter looking beautiful with her makeup done. "You look beautiful, darling." she praises.

You exhale roughly, blowing the air upwards so that the stray hair covering your face is blown away, moving gently. "It's because of the make-up, mother."

"Well you're still beautiful, y/n. As long as you're confident."

"The problem is I don't feel confident."

Your mother waves her hand as if to say, 'enough, cut the crap I don't want to argue tonight.'

"Mother, can I not come-"

"Talk one more time and I'll make sure you don't get your evening snack again, y/n."

"Oh come on," you complain. Rolling your eyes in aversion. Your mom isn't too concerned about you being alone again tonight, just like at the previous parties.

One of the maids who has been adjusting the lace of your dress starts to put the 5cm heels on your feet. Her movements are gentle, that maid is indeed a trusted one, having served you since childhood. "Does it hurt, miss?" she asks. "Because I know your shoe size differs by one centimeter depending on the shoe brand. Does this one feel tight?"

You smile, returning the gaze of your maid who now looks up to gaze at you. "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't feel uncomfortably tight. Thank you for always looking out for my comfort."

The 40-year-old maid chuckles. "It's my job, miss. I'll be sad if you feel your feet hurting at the party. Because today your grandmother's birthday party is more festive than ever, she is entering her seventh decade! Can you imagine that?! She is blessed with a long life." Your maid sets the shoe on your bare left foot, slowly. "Therefore, I want you to be able to comfortably dance with a gentleman at this party, miss."

You are stunned. Swallowing your saliva, you are not sure if there is a gentleman who wants to dance with you even though your loved ones say you look as beautiful and perfect as a royal princess wearing a baby blue ball gown with white lace at the bottom and glittering white high heels.

Your maid strokes your shoulder gently, smiling in a way that you don't know how to define. But it's a warm smile.

"Trust me, miss. Tonight, there will be a man that will ask you to dance."

Arriving at the hotel where your grandmother's birthday is being celebrated, you are amazed by all the decorations. That's right, this time the party is more festive. Even at the parking lot, you can see many limousines lined up, neat and shiny like they have just been delivered from the car showroom.

Your mother gets out of the car first, handing the guard an invitation printed in gold as a sign of vvip member which means, part of your grandmother's family. You follow your mother behind, awkward enough as you are in the middle of the crowd now.

"Head up, darling. Don't keep your head down. Look around, try to greet whoever it is. And oh, don't forget to keep smiling!"

"Yes, mother. You said it so many times that I memorized it."

"Already memorized but not doing as I told you."

You remain silent, replying to your mother's words with a heavy sigh. Then you slowly walk the red velvet carpeted stairs that lead to the ballroom. Once inside, you are amazed again. There are glittering chandeliers, and cakes as tall as five meters, or even more. Gilded tables full of people eating cake and drinking wine, chocolate fondue, sweets, and of course, your grandmother's 70th birthday photo shoot displayed near the golden chair she's sitting on now. Your grandmother looks like she's on a throne. Her bleached hair is pulled up into a high bun, with a crown of pearls holding her long hair back. She wore a bright red dress, successfully capturing the attention of the man who seemed to be the same age as her, older to be more precise.

Your mother approaches your grandmother, carrying a large silver gift box with a black ribbon on it. They talked for a while, then when your grandmother finally turned to you, her face lit up.

"Hello, darling!" she greets you. "You look stunning tonight. I almost didn't even recognize you."

"Grandma, you're overreacting. It's all just because I'm wearing makeup."

"What's wrong with wearing makeup? As long as it makes you more beautiful then there's nothing wrong with it, right?"

You just shrugged your shoulders. Then your hand picks up a glass of wine brought by the waiter who is going back and forth while carrying a tray with many glasses on it.

"Grandma, happy 70th birthday. I hope you become more beautiful and always be healthy. Now, can I go home?"

Your mother glares, pinching your arm unseen by your grandmother which successfully makes you scowl.

"So you think I'm going to let you go home after that insincere birthday wish?" your grandmother shakes her head in disagreement. "Unfortunately, you can't go home as soon as usual. My friend's grandson wants to meet you tonight."

Huh?

You blink, your brows furrowed. Astonished by your grandmother's words. "Who?"

And your grandmother just flashed a smirk. "Ah, you'll find out later."

Then your grandmother claps her hands, drawing everyone's attention to her figure. She opens her birthday party with a short speech, ending with a toast. Everyone raises their glasses high, so you just do what they do even though it's awkward because there are more adult people at this party, mostly 35 years old and above. Well, they're all your grandmother's colleagues who come just because they don't want their relationship with her to suffer just because they didn't come to wish her a happy birthday and insincere wishes like your grandmother said just now. Their faces flash smiles with fake friendliness and somehow, you're sick of this kind of atmosphere. It's boring, full of two-faced people with tricks up their sleeves.

You quietly walk to the corner of the ballroom. Can't stand the pain of wearing heels. You aren't used to wearing them. You aren't used to wearing dresses, using makeup, or acting like a civilized princess, you just can't do it. You also feel dizzy because of how tight your bun is.

So when you reach the corner of the ballroom even though can't hide your 'had enough' expression because the entire ballroom is lit by chandeliers light, you take off your heels. Lifting your dress unconcernedly, you gently massage your calves that are starting to ache while your left-hand carries your pair of white heels. You've only been standing for a few minutes, but the soreness in your feet when wearing heels is more powerful than usual.

"Excuse me, miss. You shouldn't have lifted your dress like that," a man from nowhere, with gelled black hair, comes up to you and kneels in front of you to take down your dress that has been lifted to your knees.

You are surprised, of course. Especially because he kneeling in front of you like that. He could have managed to get a view of your panties- damn, this must be just one of those jerks pretending to be a gentleman.

"Stay away from me!" you say harshly, your foot moving to kick his wrist. "Don't pretend to be nice. I know you have devious intentions of peeking inside-"

"Wait, wait, pardon? Peek at what? I can't even see what's in there because your dress is covered in layers of lace skirts, miss." the man finally looked up, staring at you. Smiling, not looking angry even though you just kicked his wrist. You can stupidly feel your cheeks heating up just from looking at his handsome face and captivating brown eyes. "Does your leg hurt that bad, miss? Your face is flushed. Want me to help?"

Dumbass. You should control your heart beat now, that is unfortunately becoming faster and more noisy. You are worried he will be able to hear your heart racing.

Calm yourself down.

Do not fall for the beauty of a someone's face.

"I don't need your help, sir. Just mind your own business."

"Sir?" he laughs. "Just call me Hansol, y/n."

How does he know your name?

"I'm sorry but have we met before?"

He shakes his head. "This is the first time I have approached you just because, a young lady like you lifted her dress up to her knees without thinking further about her action."

You wave your hand, a habit that you got from your mother whenever you feel like you do not want to hear more about the topic you don't like to be involved with, "Okay? I said, just mind your own business, Hansol." maybe he knows your name from your grandmother or perhaps, this man is the grandson of your grandmother's friend?

His smile grows even wider as if he likes the way your tongue pronounces his name. "But you are the business itself. Came here because of you, miss."

Your head tilts to the side a little, "What do you mean?"

"You don't have a partner to dance?"

You shrugged. "Is that even important?"

"So it's a no?" he guessed it right. You never had a partner to dance. Not even just for one night.

"Yes, I don't have a partner to dance and why is that?"

"Then would you dance with me?"

Your eyebrows immediately furrowed. But your stomach certainly feels tingly, like a butterfly's wings are fluttering. Your heart beats faster. This is the first time you've heard such a request. The first time a man has asked you to dance with him.

"Wait. But why?"

This time, it is Hansol who looks confused. "Does there have to be a reason to dance with you? If so, then I would say, because I don't have a dance partner."

Oh.

So he's just an ordinary guy who doesn't have a dance partner, so he asked you to dance? Okay, you don't have to feel special then. But, is it possible? How come there's no one asks a good-looking and educated man like Hansol to dance?

"There are other women you can dance with, Hansol. You don't deserve a dance partner like me."

"Why are you talking like that? Why are you judging yourself when others can see the potential in you?"

You chuckle. "What potential? Hansol, I don't even look attractive. Like you said earlier, I don't think much before I do something. I even go barefoot now because I'm uncomfortable wearing heels."

"Then? I fail to see any problems with your appearance now." Hansol then smiles again. It is such a beautiful smile that you can see the wrinkles at the end of his eyes. Wow, he is the definition of a gorgeous man, looks to have a lot of money, an influential position, and is well-educated. Dangerous. At this moment, you think you will fall in love at first meeting.

"You look like a dream come true in my eyes."

Your face turns red. It's hot. You can feel your cheeks heating up to your ears. Who exactly is this guy? Hey, he caught you off-guard!

"What are you talking about, Hansol?"

"The waltz is about to start, you'd better agree to my offer."

"If I don't?"

Hansol chuckled. "Well, I've asked you anyway. I think I'm just going to pull you into the center of the ballroom."

"What? Wait-!"

Before you realize that Hansol's hand is gently tugging on your wrist, he has already led you to the middle of the ballroom. To the dance floor, to be more precise. "Hansol, but I'm not good at dancing!" you protest to him.

"That's okay, you can follow my footsteps, then."

"Hansol, I-" your gaze meets your grandmother's. And she just smiles at the sight of her odd and most different granddaughter finally being seen with a man to dance at her birthday party.

Then, the waltz music started. Your other cousins are already around you with their respective partners. They smile at you, happy that you are finally participating in the dance after all the parties your grandmother has organized.

"Hansol-"

"It's already started, y/n." he says. "Hold my hand, and put your other hand on my arm."

You finally obey Hansol's words as the waltz has started. Your body is a little stiff because you are nervous about the attention of the people around you. But Hansol succeeded in calming you down with his smile. His other hand is on your back while your right hand intertwines with his. You can feel how smooth and warm his hand is.

"Watch my steps carefully," he whispers. You start with a basic waltz box step, and you slowly follow his footsteps, unconsciously keeping your face down.

"Keep your head up, y/n. Follow my footsteps without actually looking at my feet."

You look up at him. Feeling a strange feeling as your gazes met. Your heart is beating fast now as if your chest could rip apart because of it. Your eyes glance around so you don't meet his eyes because you feel nervous.

"Eyes on me, young lady." Hansol reprimands.

You nervously return his gaze. But Hansol's gaze slowly lowers from staring at your eyes to your lips, certainly making you think of something else that manages to make your cheeks feel even hotter.

"You're doing great. Follow my count, okay? One, two, three... one, two, three. That's right," he compliments. You follow the count and Hansol's footsteps, matching the music.

"You're flushed." Hansol chuckles softly, lowering his voice as much as possible to not be heard by others because the ballroom situation is now really solemn. Everyone is dancing gracefully with their partners and if there are people who aren't dancing, they're watching with genuine smiles on their faces.

"Oh, shut up, Hansol."

The man notices the look on your face change. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

"I- I just feel... I don't deserve to dance with you, Hansol. There are many more beautiful women-"

"But I just want to dance with you," Hansol answers back with a definite intonation. His gaze implies sincerity in his words. "Stop talking like that, y/n. You are beautiful. You're beautiful inside and out and I like that."

"How can you say that? You sound like you've known me for a long time, Hansol." You laugh, finally revealing your genuine smile to him. And that makes Hansol stunned because god, to him your smile is so lovely and charming.

"Because I... have liked you for a long time but didn't have the courage to say it. I've only been watching you from afar, y/n."

You remain silent. Feeling surprised. Your eyes widen, looking at Hansol to see if he meant what he just said. But seeing Hansol's attitude who immediately looks away with reddened ears, it seems like he meant what he said to you.

"I... I like you, y/n. So stop judging yourself because really, you are enough. I'm sad if you feel less beautiful than other women. You have no idea how beautiful you are in my eyes."

With his gentle attitude and words that sound so sincere,

Oh, y/n.

You fall in love with him.

Falling for the man you just met because of his sincerity towards you. Falling for the first man who asked you to dance.

It makes you remember what your grandmother told you when you were little, "Keep dancing even if you're alone, darling. Keep dancing until you find your partner to dance with,"

And you found him.

© jeonride 2023. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, translate, plagiarize, or repost any of my writing anywhere!

[rip-quizilla]

I'm Not Crying, You're Crying (Eddie Cries While Watching Tarzan)

@corrodedcoffinfest Day 27: You'll Be In My Heart

WC: 653

A/N: Okay... so I may have gone a bit rogue on this one. I know the prompt list explained this one as 'navigating love on the road', but when I hear the words You'll Be In My Heart I can't think of anything BUT Tarzan. So here's the weird little bit of fluff I came up with.

Tags: College!Corroded Coffin, crying, Eddie thinking about motherhood and the role it's played in his life, surprise at the end. It's an AU... but not the way you might think.

Divider created by @strangergraphics

In one of the smallest dorm rooms on the USI campus, four twenty-somethings had gathered around a glowing screen on a rainy Tuesday night.

“Wait, she’s taking the baby into a fucking tree?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Yes, Grant, she’s a gorilla. Gorillas climb trees sometimes.”

“But what if she drops it?”

Gareth scoffed, chiming in. “This is a Disney movie, idiot, that isn’t gonna happen.”

“I just watched a baby gorilla get mauled by a cheetah!” Grant yelled, incredulity plain on his face as he pointed to the TV. “You think they’d show that but draw the line at babies falling from trees?”

“A leopard mauled the baby gorilla.” Jeff corrected. “Cheetahs live in the savannah, dumbass.” 

“Would you all kindly shut the fuck up?” Eddie silenced them all, eyes trained on the TV with rapt attention as he watched Kala climb up the gnarled branches of a jungle tree, Phil Collins’ You’ll Be In My Heart crooning through the speakers. “You’re missing it.”

The other three looked at each other, confused but too scared to ask why he cared so much about some kids' movie, and continued to watch until-

“Dude, are you crying?”

“No!” Eddie sniffed, wiping furiously at his eyes. “You’re crying!”

Gareth’s nose scrunched up. “Bro, nothing sad is even happening, the mom got a new baby and the baby got a new mom-”

“They’re happy tears, jerkwad!” Eddie bit back, punctuating his reply with another sniffle. “This whole scene is about motherhood and loving your kid no matter what and it’s fucking beautiful, if you had a heart you’d be crying too!”

Jeff and Grant were laughing- to their credit, it was quietly and mostly to themselves. Gareth put on a mask of mock-sympathy as he grabbed a tissue and handed it to Eddie. “Those are some big feelings you’re having there, huh buddy?”

Eddie scowled at Gareth, swiping the tissue from him aggressively. He blew his nose into it, but not without giving Gare the finger first. 

Gareth patted Eddie’s back. “That’s okay, let it out big guy.” 

Eventually, the chuckling subsided until everyone’s focus returned to the movie. However, that scene still lingered in Eddie’s mind- the message about motherhood that this movie drove home for him every time he watched it. How Tarzan wouldn’t have grown into the man he was without Kala; a man so sure of his decisions, who trusted himself because his mother trusted him first. How no matter what happened, she stood by him and allowed him to chart his own course in life. 

Discreetly, Eddie pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping on his screen until he’d opened up a text thread. Quickly, he typed out a message. 

Love you, mom ❤️

The reply was instant, as it always was. 

I love you too bud! Everything okay?

Eddie smiled to himself as he typed out his response.

Yeah, all good! Just feeling extra thankful for my mom today :)

He turned his eyes back to the movie after hitting send, keeping his attention on the screen until he felt his phone buzz once, then again a few seconds later.

Aw, buddy! 🥹 That made my day!

I’m so proud of the man you’ve grown up to be. I raised a good one 😌

Eddie smiled, pride blooming in his chest. He and his mom had been through a lot, but they’d made it through because they’d had each other. Eddie couldn’t imagine what life might have been like for him if he hadn’t had her by his side. Who would he be? What kind of man would Eddie Munson have become? 

Now, here he was at college with his friends- his band- with a world of possibilities ripe for his picking. Could he have even gotten here without her support every step of the way? 

Maybe, he thought, but I would have been a hell of a lot more lonely.

[hannahmanderr]

Before we get into the chapter, a HUGE platonic smooch for @duchi-nesten who took the time to draw the Ancients from this story with bribery from me and @scarletsaphire I'm absolutely screaming over them still, they are just UGGHHH SO GOOD

From left to right is Zunje, Babel, Pele, and Kala!

Anyway, onto the chapter! It's an important one! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everything begins. Everything ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jazz flinched as another wayward blast of ectoplasm exploded into the wall of the office building across the street, reducing it to little more than rubble. The battle was becoming more and more destructive as time bled on, and her nerves were really starting to get to her. She needed to get back out there and put a stop to it.

Unfortunately, there was the slight complication of her parents.

She’d tried to play dumb when Frostbite slipped up, but it had been pointless. Frostbite had been all too happy to explain that the Great One was, in fact, the ghost hero known as Danny Phantom.

Perhaps if it had just been her dad there, she would’ve been able to distract him, or figure out how to explain it away, but as luck would have it, her mom had pulled up shortly after the ghost king’s arrival.

It didn’t take them long to put two and two together. At least, that’s what she assumed.

Even more unfortunate was that her concussion had spontaneously decided to rear its ugly head, causing her to lean over and throw up in the middle of the road. Mom and Dad were far less than keen on letting her continue fighting after that. She’d protested of course, pointing out that the all-powerful ghost king was about to raze Amity Park to the ground, but they wouldn’t have any of it.

She had been forced to take shelter behind a large pile of rubble, along with her parents and Frostbite, as the battle intensified. Pariah Dark’s question about Danny had been met with a brutal attack from one of the four-armed Ancients, and the battle had progressed from there. At some point, the little lava-haired Ancient had taken over the direct combat with the ghost king, aided by the gnome and the four-armed ghost with a cloak of clouds. The last Ancient - Pandora, if Jazz remembered correctly - had engaged the black-armored knight. Sam and Tucker were still out there, somewhere, working to keep the thrall army at bay.

And that was just the fighting. Overhead, in the sky, the rip that had heralded Pariah Dark’s appearance still gaped over Amity Park. The air seemed to vibrate with its intensity; Jazz could feel it prickling at her skin, making her feel foreign in her own body. Like reality itself was beginning to fail.

In short, things were Bad-with-a-capital-B.

Jazz leaned over to peer around the rubble protecting them. “We should really be out there,” she muttered, even as her head throbbed worse.

“You’re not going anywhere, young lady,” Mom said. “Not while you’re injured.”

“I told you, I’m fine! I got it out of my system, I’m good to go.”

“I may not know many details about human biology,” Frostbite said, arching an eyebrow at Jazz, “but I have enough experience with the Great One to know that head injuries are serious in humans.”

Jazz didn’t miss how her parents winced hearing about “the Great One” and his injuries. 

They hadn’t said a word about Danny - Fenton or Phantom - since Frostbite’s slip-up. It only put her that much more on edge. Sooner or later, Danny would return, and if Mom and Dad were going to flip out and shoot him on sight, she wanted to at least have the chance to warn him.

As it was, she couldn’t tell what they were thinking. Her mother’s poker face was nothing short of perfect, and her father, though he often wore his heart on his sleeve, was strangely stoic about it all. If there was one thing Jazz hated, it was not knowing things, and not knowing their thoughts on Danny was killing her. 

She could only hope and pray. The fact that they weren't actively trying to gun down Frostbite was a good sign at least. 

But for the time being, she pushed those thoughts away. “Believe me, I know plenty about head injuries. I wouldn’t be wanting to go back out there if I thought it was serious enough.”

“I don't think the person with the concussion should be making that judgment ,” Mom said. “You won't be going anywhere until we know you're safe.” 

Jazz frowned. Was that a hint of hysteria in her voice?

Yeah, that couldn't be a good sign. 

Still, her words gave Jazz an opening. “Alright, fine! Whatever! It's not like the world is ending or anything, in case you haven't noticed. Why aren't you guys out there, at least?” Maybe if she could convince them to go back to the fight, she’d have a chance to catch Danny before they saw him. Maybe she’d have a chance to warn him.

Her parents didn't answer. They exchanged a glance that Jazz couldn't read, and Dad’s shoulders sagged. He opened his mouth. “We -” 

“What's going on here?” 

Jazz’s eyes snapped up to see Valerie hovering just behind her parents and Frostbite; Wes clung to Valerie with his eyes screwed tightly shut. Her parents turned at the sound of Valerie’s voice, and though Jazz couldn’t see her mom’s eyes behind the red-tinted goggles, she could only imagine the look on her face.

Her dad, however, beamed widely. “The Huntress!” he exclaimed, grabbing at Mom’s arm like an overexcited child.

To her credit, Valerie avoided wincing too strongly. “Yeah, that’s… me.”

“Did you find him?” Jazz asked. She didn’t bother to hide the anxiety in her voice.

Valerie frowned, but nodded. “Yeah, but he’s… well…”

“Can we maybe have this conversation on the ground?” Wes asked shakily. Valerie responded with a roll of her eyes, practically shoving him off her. He stumbled the short distance to the ground and collapsed spread-eagle on the street. “Thanks,” he muttered.

Dad’s nose crinkled in confusion. “Uh… is this the backup you were talking about, Jazzy-pants?”

Jazz ignored him. “What do you mean? Where is he?” she asked Valerie.

“It’s okay, I’m here!” a voice called out. A moment later, Danny - as Phantom - pulled up beside Valerie. “I’m here.” Jazz’s breath caught in her throat. She had known, of course, that Danny had gone to get the Crown of Fire, but for some reason, it hadn’t crossed her mind that he would have to wear it. Granted, the crown on his head now was most definitely not on fire, but she thought the frosted look complemented him much better than fire. The way it sat on his head, and the way the cloak he wore rippled in the breeze and caught the light…

He looked regal. Like he really was a king. 

It made her heart swell with pride. Her baby brother… he had come so far. She’d never doubted his leadership abilities, not really. His common sense could be… debatable at times, but her brother had a good heart. He was still young, of course, and the thought of him being a monarch had never occurred to her, but in that moment, Jazz couldn’t help but think that the role suited him.

She must have shown it on her face, because Danny caught her eye, and his hand flew up to the back of his neck. “It’s a long story…” he muttered sheepishly, his cheeks growing green. 

Jazz opened her mouth to respond, but Dad stood up abruptly, cutting her off. Mentally, she kicked herself. She’d gotten so distracted by his arrival, she’d forgotten about their parents.

Danny instantly paled. Whatever he saw in Dad’s face, it couldn’t have been good. Jazz tried to stand, to intercept him, but Frostbite gently held her down. “Easy,” he rumbled quietly. “Do not act prematurely.”

Of course, she wanted to protest that, but she quickly became distracted by her father’s slow approach towards Danny. Her mother wasn’t too far behind. 

Danny’s hand twisted into the cloak, and he averted his gaze. “Look,” he began shakily, “I… I get it if you hate me, and - and I… I’ll let you hunt me down or tear me apart or whatever you want, but please, you have to let me stop all this first, or there isn’t gonna be a world for you to tear me apart in. I just need to - mmph!”

Jazz squeaked and clapped her hands to her mouth as Dad lunged forward. She pushed Frostbite’s paw away to stumble to her feet. She had to get there first, had to stop him from hurting Danny - 

 - but her heart stuttered to a stop as Dad wrapped Danny in a tight embrace.

“Danny,” he said, his voice cracking. “We were so worried… You have no idea…”

A stunned Danny returned the hug as Mom pulled down her hood and glommed on to his other side. “You don’t… hate me?” he asked, his voice muffled by their dad’s burly form.

“Listen to me, Danny,” Mom said, peeling him out of Dad’s arms and holding him by the shoulders. She looked him firm in the eye. “No matter what you do, no matter what you are, we could never, ever hate you. Never, do you hear me?”

Jazz could see the tears glistening in the corners of Danny’s eyes even from where she sat. His lower lip quivered the slightest bit before he threw his arms around Mom’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I should’ve told you forever ago, but I just…”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” their mom said, rubbing circles into his back. “It’s okay. We’ll have time to… to figure it all out.”

“Yeah, assuming the world doesn’t end first,” Wes snarked from his position on the ground. Jazz shot him a heated glare. 

Valerie simply looked away and folded her arms across her chest. Jazz frowned. Something clearly wasn’t sitting right with her, but…

“Wait,” Dad said, furrowing his brow, “what’s this about the world ending?”

“It’s okay,” Jazz said. “The world isn’t going to end. Danny’s going to make sure of it.” Maybe she’d have felt more sure of her words if there hadn’t been a gaping hole in the sky threatening to rip reality apart, but someone had to look on the bright side.

Their parents glanced between the two of them. “What do you mean?” Mom asked slowly.

Before either of them could answer, another wayward ectoblast flew overhead, crashing into the roof of the building right above them. Huge chunks of rubble broke off of the building and began to plummet straight towards them.

Valerie reacted quickly, pulling Wes up by his shirt collar and grabbing Jazz to drag them to safety. Danny and Frostbite reacted just as quickly by throwing up ectoplasmic shields. The rubble slammed into them, then slid off the shields and away from the rest of the group.

Valerie whipped her head towards the battle. “I think I’m… gonna go help them,” she said. She flew off before Jazz could say anything, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in her wake.

“I need to go help too,” Danny said thickly. He stared after Valerie. “It’s… that’s what I’m supposed to do. If I can beat him, everything will go back to normal… Mostly, anyway.” His hand twitched up towards his head.

Mom whipped her head in the direction of the battle. “Him?” she asked, nodding to where Pariah Dark and the lava-haired Ancient were still fiercely fighting each other. To Jazz’s horror, the Ancient seemed to be losing ground. 

“Precisely,” Frostbite said jovially. How he could manage such a tone in these circumstances was beyond Jazz. “Once the Great One is able to defeat Pariah Dark, he can assume the throne and put the Heart of the Infinite Realms at ease! It’s quite simple, really.”

“Assume the - wait!” Wes shot upright. “You’re telling me that dumb crown isn’t just some weird costume?”

Danny flushed green, and his hand flew up to the back of his neck. “I, ah… like I said, it’s a long story.” He glanced at Mom and Dad. “I’m really sorry, believe me, I wish I could’ve told you differently, and I definitely wish it wasn’t the case, but…”

Jazz watched as Mom’s gaze drifted up to the crown on Danny’s head, as if she were just now noticing it. “What throne?” she asked weakly.

“Um… it kind of maybe sort of might be… the throne of the entire Ghost Zone?” Danny replied with a sheepish grin.

Dad scratched his head. “When did this happen?”

Danny’s face grew sober again. “I don’t know. I only just found out a few hours ago myself.” His eyes flicked away from their parents, down at his feet.

A pang of sympathy struck Jazz’s heart. Sure, Danny looked the part of a king, and somehow, she had no trouble believing he was the king, despite her earlier confusion, but somehow it had escaped her that he had barely had enough time to process everything. That everything was happening so quickly. 

And their parents… it had to be equally difficult for them to process. They had only just learned their son’s true identity less than an hour ago, and now they were finding out he was essentially the heir to the throne of a world full of the same beings they had once sworn to annihilate. It would be a lot for anyone.

And so it nearly brought Jazz to tears when she saw Dad fight to plaster a smile onto his face. He placed a gentle hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said in a tone entirely too quiet for Jack Fenton, “it’s okay. Like your mother said, we’ll have time to figure it all out.”

Danny still didn’t look up. “Yeah,” he said, barely audible. “We’ll have time.”

His tone told Jazz he didn’t believe that in the slightest.

An ear-splitting roar shattered the moment. Everyone slapped their hands over their ears. Jazz only just managed to catch a glimpse of Danny gasping and hunching in on himself, clutching at his sternum.

A wave of hot air washed over Jazz. Trembling, she peered around the rubble, only to gasp in horror at the sight of the little girl Ancient bleeding lava all over the four-armed Ancient. She was still alive - as alive as a ghost could be anyway, but it was evident even from a hundred yards away that she was fully incapacitated. Pandora still fought with the knight, but everyone else - Sam, Tucker, Valerie, the other Ancients, even the thrall army - had practically frozen in place. 

The most terrifying sight of all was the evil ghost king, looming over the street, staring straight at her.

No, staring straight at Danny.

“Come and meet your fate, little Prince!” he called mockingly. His voice reverberated over the street, causing buildings to rumble ominously. “Or will you take the coward’s way out?”

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the humming of the rip in the sky. Jazz held her breath as Danny glanced at their parents, then gently pushed Dad’s hand off his shoulder and took to the air.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” he called back. “Just… give me the Ring before things get worse.”

Pariah laughed, a menacing sound that sent chills down Jazz’s spine. “Why should I surrender what is rightfully mine?”

Danny's eyes flared. “That power’s not yours. It’s mine.”

Jazz blinked at the sudden shift in Danny’s tone. It was still his voice, yes, but there was something about it…

Pariah roared wordlessly again. “Never!” he snarled. “Kilaris is MINE!”

With a guttural yell, he launched himself at Danny. Jazz could’ve sworn she saw a bright white light flare from the crown on Danny’s head, just momentarily, but when she blinked, it was gone, and Danny too had charged forward. The two collided in a blinding explosion of red and green.

Mom and Dad moved to follow Danny, but Frostbite held a paw up. “No,” he said, his voice somber and heavy. “This is not a fight you can help him with. He must win this by his power alone.”

“Listen here,” Mom snapped. “I don’t care how you do it in your world, but I will not stand by and watch my son fight some impossible battle on his own! I - we are going to help him, whether you like it or not!”

“I understand.” Frostbite flinched and threw up a shield just in time to stop another huge chunk of building from crushing them all. “But though you may not be able to help him in combat, there are other ways you can help him.” He glanced at Jazz. “Keeping your daughter and his friend safe, for one.”

“Pfft. Me? Friends with Fenton? Fat chance,” Wes scoffed. 

“He will be able to fight with a sound mind if you help him protect yourselves and the other humans,” Frostbite continued, ignoring Wes. “And I must go and help my colleague.”

Mom turned, watching the battle with helpless eyes. “But… Danny -”

“ - will be just fine. But we must give him a fighting chance by helping elsewhere.”

“He’s right,” Dad said quietly, taking Mom’s hand. “We have to help get Jazz out of here. It’s getting too dangerous.”

“I told you, I’m fine! I can help too!”

Another explosion rang overhead. Jazz yelped and ducked as an enormous bolt of green energy flew over her head. It came close enough that she could feel its cold aura graze the top of her scalp. 

“Y-you know, on second thought, I think I’m with Yeti Man over here,” Wes muttered, cowering behind a fallen wall. Jazz had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

Her attention, however, quickly turned back to Mom. Again, she found herself wishing she could read minds. She could see the gears turning in her mother’s head after all, but Mom’s stoic face didn’t give her true thoughts away. 

Jazz hated not knowing things.

Then Mom’s jaw tightened, and Jazz’s heart fell. She knew that look. “We’re getting you two to safety,” Mom said. Then, giving Frostbite a pointed look, she added, “And then we’re coming back to help Danny.”

Frostbite closed his eyes. “You will only distract him from what he needs to do. It is not wise.”

“That might be what you think,” Mom said as she bent down to help Wes stand, “but he's my son. I've let him struggle alone for too long.” Her voice cracked. “I have to start… making it up to him…”

“I assure you, the Great One does not bear any ill will towards you,” Frostbite said, frowning in sympathy. “This is not the time to begin ‘making amends’, though.”

Mom opened her mouth to retort again, but Dad laid a hand on her shoulder. “C'mon, Mads. We can figure it out later. Right now, we've gotta help these two.”

It was strange seeing her father being the rational, calm one, but Jazz chalked it up to the weirdness of the day. It was the only way she could keep it all straight in her head. 

Mom shot Frostbite one last hard glare before leading Wes towards the RV sitting down the road. Dad scooped Jazz up into his arms and began carrying her to the RV, much to her embarrassment. 

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. “Don’t you worry, Jazzy-pants!” he said. His tone was bright as always, but Jazz could tell it was at least somewhat forced. “Soon as you’re safe, we’ll get right back out there and help Danny kick some evil ghost king butt!”

Jazz bit her lip. “What about what Frostbite said? About… interfering?”

Her dad hesitated before answering. “I’m sure he’s wrong. You can’t trust a ghost, after all!” His face froze as soon as the words left his mouth. “I mean, uh, not Danny of course! He’s different.”

She didn’t quite know how to respond to that. That… was a misconception they’d have to clear up sooner or later.

As she peered over Dad’s shoulder, back towards where Danny was fighting tooth and nail against Pariah, she hoped there would actually be a sooner or later.

“Be careful, little brother,” she whispered to herself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The thread flickered.

Clockwork frowned as he allowed it to flow across his hands and in between his fingers. This certainly was the correct timeline, he knew that without a doubt, but its flickering concerned him greatly. It had been so strong when Vlad Plamius made the decision to allow Danny the Crown, but now…

He closed his eyes as he sifted through time. Before, the future had been as clear to him as any other. Now though, he could only see up to a certain point before it was obscured behind what felt like a thick wall of mist. There was still a future there, yes, but not one he could see.

It was, in a word, unusual.

“My dear Kilaris, what are you up to?” he murmured as he let the thread of the timeline slip from his fingers and back into the broader tangle of Time. Its flicker became swallowed up by the combined glow of the cluster of timelines, but Clockwork knew it was still present.

His eyes drifted to one of his time windows. The same image of Danny exiting the portal that he had watched just an hour or so ago played out again, this time in real time. A thin trail of frost followed in his wake as he flew to meet his family. The frost shimmered briefly in the ethereal light of the rip in the sky above, leaving a silky, glowing strand, almost like - 

- ah. Of course.

“Must you always be so overdramatic?” Clockwork said aloud, the semblance of a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. 

He rested his hands on top of his staff. He knew what needed to happen now. 

It was only a matter of time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fighting Pariah was nothing like it had been the first time around.

Before, Danny had been fighting in a clunky mech-suit. True, it had helped enhance his powers (until it tried to kill him), but it had made his movements equally clunky and stiff. He’d needed to adapt to the added weight and size quickly, but it still cost him when he took a few crucial hits.

This time he was not bound by any suit. He was free to move as he pleased, using the advantage of his smaller form to move with agility and speed that Pariah did not possess. He could dive in close for a punch or a kick, then turn on a dime and dart away. He wouldn’t have been able to do that in the Ecto-Skeleton. 

There was also the fact that he had the help of the Ancients. True, it looked like Pele had taken some nasty hits from Pariah and would be down for the count, but the others were still going strong especially with Zunje now, keeping the Fright Knight and the thrall army at bay. He didn’t like seeing Sam and Tucker down there in the fray, so close to his own battle with Pariah, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

And then there was the Crown. It remained secure on his head, feeding him a power that buzzed through his veins and his core, making him feel like he’d just taken six shots of espresso mixed with pure ectoplasm. It was an exhilarating feeling, one that made him wish he’d actually used the Crown when he’d had the chance, during his first fight with Pariah.

(A wish he immediately scolded himself for.)

Danny gritted his teeth as he threw up another ectoplasmic shield, this one with a thick coating of ice thanks to the power of the Crown. It helped protect him from Pariah’s elemental attacks, which ran much hotter than his own.

Ectoplasmic fire exploded across the shield, and Danny could feel its heat as it curled around the edges towards him. He had to dig his heels into the air to brace himself against the sheer force of the hit. 

Pariah didn’t give him a chance to fire back. No sooner had Danny lowered his shield did he see Pariah lunging for him, fangs bared and a fiery, maniacal look in his lone eye. Danny yelped and darted to the side, just barely missing Pariah’s fist. 

Danny tried to respond with his own blast of ectoplasm, the Crown’s power coursing through him, but Pariah deflected it easily with his mace. The blast ricocheted off of it and into the street. Danny gasped as it flew right over Jazz’s head, just barely missing her by a foot.

That turned out to be a mistake. He should’ve known better than to let himself get distracted. It gave Pariah the opportunity to take another swing with his mace, catching Danny in the gut and sending him crashing into the ground. 

Danny gripped his stomach and swallowed down a cry. The mace’s sharp spikes were not just for decoration, it seemed; they’d dug mercilessly into his torso, leaving him with deep, ragged gashes. The fall into the street hadn’t been too kind on his ribs, either. He could already feel the Crown diverting some of its power to the injuries, trying to heal him as quickly as possible.

Pariah roared as he dove for Danny, fire exploding to life around his fist. Danny managed to roll out of the way, and Pariah’s fist slammed into the street, cracking it even more. In any other fight, Danny probably would’ve tried to make some snarky comment about how the potholes in Amity Park were already bad enough and they didn’t need more, but he was still struggling to get air back in his lungs. Not to mention he found it much harder to crack jokes in the middle of his more serious fights, mostly because he had to concentrate on not getting beaten to a pulp.

As Danny rolled, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father scoop Jazz into his arms. Mom helped Wes up, and they ran towards the RV, which was still parked haphazardly down the road. Miraculously, it was still standing. 

He could almost breathe a sigh of relief. He still didn’t know if Sam and Tucker were safe or if they were still out there fighting the skeleton army, but knowing his family (and Wes) were safe offered him a little bit of reassurance.

Focus. Do not lose sight of the goal.

Right. The Ring. He still had to get that. Somehow.

It was going to be much easier said than done. Getting it off of Pariah’s hand seemed impossible, especially with the relentless drive of the king’s attacks. Danny barely had the chance to recover and launch his own attacks, let alone come up with a plan to swipe the Ring. 

He forced himself up and into the air. His cloak flared with cold energy as he allowed ice to gather in his hands. That was another advantage he had this time around - the help from his elemental core. His ice attacks were some of his strongest, and he silently thanked whatever unseen force had granted him an ice core as he loosed the energy all at once, freezing Pariah’s entire arm to the street.

You’re welcome, little Prince.

Danny almost stopped in midair. That remark definitely sent a flurry of questions flying through his head, but he had to keep his attention on Pariah. We’re not done with this, he still thought back.

Of course not. You still have much to learn.

He didn’t think the Heart meant it as a dig, but he still mentally stuck his tongue out. Even if he didn’t have time to ask questions, he could still be sassy. No one could take his sass away.

It was strange how much clearer the voice in his head seemed now that he had the Crown on. It had been clear before, but there was a new clarity to it, like when his eye doctor gave him a new prescription for his contacts. He supposed it made sense; now, he had that direct contact.

It still didn’t explain why the voice sounded like his own train of thought sometimes.

Even stranger was the feeling of the power offered to him by Kilaris. It was stronger than the power he’d had while wearing the Ecto-Skeleton, and that had probably been the time when he was the most powerful throughout the past two years. It helped that unlike the Ecto-Skeleton, the Crown did not drain him of his energy as he used it; instead, it continuously fueled him, pouring more and more power into his body, like it could never run out. It was thrilling, this feeling of endless energy. His core practically vibrated from it all.

At the same time though, fear nagged at him. This was how it felt with just the Crown on. How much worse would it be once he got the Ring too? The thought sent a chill down his spine, and he found himself subconsciously beginning to suppress his core. Suppress the ceaseless power flooding into him.

Why stop the power you are meant to have? 

Danny swallowed. 

That’s exactly what he was afraid of.

It all passed through his mind in the few seconds it took for Pariah to begin trying to melt the ice securing him to the ground. “Why you little -!” 

More ice pooled in Danny’s hands. “Sorry,” he said as he re-froze Pariah’s hand to the street. “You just looked like you needed to chill out.”

Pariah bellowed, and the ice cracked and shattered. “Impertinent child!” he sneered. “When I am in control once more -”

“Save it!” Danny fired off a round of concentrated bolts of ice in quick succession, forcing Pariah to retreat a little. “I already told you, the Heart’s not yours anymore! It hasn’t been for a long time!”

“And you dare presume it is yours?” Pariah said. He quickly gained back the ground he had lost by leaping at Danny again.

Of course, Danny easily flew out of the way. “I don’t ‘presume’ anything!” he shouted. “I already know!”

It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say, and he really didn’t like the taste the words left in his mouth, but if he’d learned anything throughout his career as Danny Phantom, it was that his opponents got sloppy when he riled them up. Snarking at them just happened to be the easiest way to do so.

Is it truly “snark” if you speak the truth?

In spite of himself, Danny almost laughed. If you’re gonna be stuck with me, you better get used to the snark, whether it’s true or not. We come as a package deal.

He ducked out of the way of another punch. He didn’t recover quick enough; by the time he managed to turn around to face the king, an entire wall of red energy was surging at him. There wasn’t time to fly around it. It struck him with a force so strong, he was thrown back more than a hundred yards.

His ribs groaned in pain as he slammed into the concrete and skidded back a few more yards for good measure. Nausea churned in his stomach from the blow, and he had to resist the urge to lean over and throw up. All too soon, Pariah was on top of him again, swinging his mace.

Knowing there was no way he could move in time, Danny turned intangible and allowed himself to sink into the ground. He counted to three, just enough time to get his nausea under control, then called ectoplasm to his hands. With the Crown’s power, the energy’s green glow was so bright, it almost seemed white.

It wasn’t difficult to track Pariah’s hot ecto-signature underground. Danny lined himself up underneath him, then sprang from the ground. His blazing fists collided straight with Pariah’s jaw. It didn’t push Pariah back like he had hoped, but it distracted him long enough for Danny to fire his ectoplasm in one long, continuous blast. 

Pariah growled under Danny’s onslaught before finally bringing up a red shield. “You truly think this will be enough to stop me?”

Danny didn’t let up. “I’ll do whatever it takes to stop a monster like you from hurting the Realms again.”

“Really now?” Pariah twisted his shield into a blast of his own. It pushed against Danny’s, and he once again had to dig his heels into the air behind him to keep from being thrown back again. “Then why don’t you?”

Danny’s heart skipped a beat, and his attack faltered for the briefest of moments. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do,” Pariah said, laughing. “I have seen you. I have seen your fears, your doubts…”

“You don’t know me at all!” Danny yelled. Frustration distracted him, and he unwillingly drew on the Crown’s power to fuel his blast. “Just ‘cause you got in my head once doesn’t mean anything!”

“Poor little Prince,” Pariah cooed mockingly, as if Danny hadn’t even spoken. “This is why you are weak. This is why you will fail to protect everything you stand for. You are nothing more than a scared child.”

Danny couldn’t stop the anger-fueled energy pouring into him and, subsequently, pouring out of his hands. The Crown was all too happy to supply it. It just responded to him too easily. It responded to his resentment of Pariah, his frustration at the tyrant king’s insinuation that he was a coward, his rage at the fact that Pariah refused to hand over what was rightfully Danny’s -

Danny screwed his eyes shut tightly. That last one, he knew it was the Crown’s influence, but he couldn’t stop it. It was all coming too hard, too fast, too strong, and it was thrilling. The power flooding through the Crown just felt so right, like maybe he really was meant to have it all along.

He wanted to throw up.

The power demanded a release. It thrummed against Danny’s skin, coursing through his core, making his green ectoblast grow brighter and brighter until it was nearly a blinding white. It would not remain bound for much longer.

And so with a guttural yell, he unleashed it.

He wasn’t entirely sure what happened - the rush of energy leaving him all at once had left him overwhelmed and disoriented - but when he opened his eyes, the whole block had a thin layer of ice covering it, sparkling in the ethereal light of the rip above. Large branches of the trees in front of the buildings had frozen and cracked off the trunks, shattering on the ground below. He could see at least one downed power line. 

Pariah had fallen to the ground, into a huge crater Danny swore hadn’t been there before. Crystals of frost coated his hair and his cape. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head, clearly just as disoriented as Danny.

Danny stared at his hands in horror. Did I really do that?

The Heart didn’t answer him. He couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. 

Probably bad. For him, anyway.

And in that moment, he swore to himself he’d never allow the Crown to give him that much power ever again. Never.

(No matter how right it had felt to control it.)

Pariah’s cough caught his attention. “You…” he muttered before stopping abruptly.

Danny’s breath caught in his throat as Pariah’s lone eye fell on the Crown sitting on his head. For just a brief moment, the world seemed to screech to a halt around them, and a silence filled the air, so thick it left a dusty taste in Danny’s mouth. Even the rip in the sky above seemed to pause in its yawning.

Then a fire sparked to life behind that one eye and a wave of heat crashed over Danny, nearly knocking him over. The roar Pariah let loose chilled Danny to the bone and left a whiny ringing in his ears. He didn’t even bother to try and stand his ground against a rage so strong; he simply turned and rocketed off in the other direction.

Just in the nick of time too, it seemed, as Pariah lunged after him. In an instant, a flurry - no, a storm of scarlet ectoblasts surrounded Danny. He twisted and ducked and dived and put all his flying skills to the test trying to dodge them all. It was difficult, since the blasts were all coming from behind him, but strangely enough, he felt as though he could sense them in the air as they flew at him, like he could just tell where they were without looking. 

“Is that you?” he asked as he narrowly avoided yet another attack.

On the contrary. It is you, little Prince.

“That makes zero se- agghh!” A blast clipped Danny’s side, sending a flare of white hot pain up his ribcage. The blast was strong enough to send him careening off course, and he couldn’t stop himself from colliding with a building and plummeting to the street below. His head hit hard enough to cause his vision to go black.

He groaned pitifully as he laid on the road. The pain shooting through his side felt as though it was trying to burn straight through him, even in spite of the cloak and Crown’s efforts to heal him. Something sticky and wet pooled underneath the hand gripping his side.

For a minute, he just laid there, fruitlessly trying to will the pain away. Unbidden memories of being in a very similar pain in a very similar fight began to well up. He forced them back down. Not right now.

A blood-curdling scream had his eyes flying back open.

Vision half-blurry from the fall to the ground, Danny pried his head up off the street and looked. In front of him was the elementary school, surrounded by a shimmering green ghost shield. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared, since it was after school hours and the building would normally be empty, but his eyes landed on a small crowd of civilians, hovering near the inner edge of the shield and watching the battle with fear in their eyes. The scream had come from a little girl no older than six, covering her mouth in horror and pointing at him.

No, pointing behind him.

With a grunt of pain and a tremendous effort, Danny took to the sky again, wobbling in midair. Pariah’s boots slammed into the street not a second later, right where he had been laying. 

This was bad. This was really getting bad. He was injured, and though the Crown and the cloak kept his energy levels high enough for the most part, he was devoting too much energy to the fight to focus any towards healing himself. Energy didn’t exactly help when it was his physical body that was damaged. 

And now there was the fact that he had a slew of people behind him, huddling underneath a ghost shield. True, it would protect them from Pariah, and it would protect them from stray blasts, but rubble could easily go flying in, or someone could step out of the protected radius. It was too dangerous to keep the battle this close to them.

(Not to mention he saw more than one cell phone out and recording, and that definitely set him on edge.)

He tried to dart away from the shield, but Pariah managed to snag his collar as he whizzed by. He gagged and his hands flew up to his throat. 

“A coward!” Pariah cackled. “That is who you are! Fleeing from the battle? Fleeing from those under your protection?” He threw Danny into yet another building. “And Kilaris dares deem you worthy?”

“So you admit it,” Danny coughed. His hand gripped his side again. “That the Heart wants me over you.” Not that he was crazy keen on that fact.

Pariah’s face morphed into a dark frown. “The Heart’s opinion is worthless!” he snapped. “It is I who controls Kilaris! Its will bends to me!”

In spite of the pain and every instinct telling him not to, Danny shot Pariah a cocky, albeit weak, grin. “Bet.”

He had to keep from laughing at the stunned look on Pariah’s face. It was clearly not the response he had been expecting to his declaration, and the fact that Danny had been able to catch him off guard that badly was priceless.

The humor didn’t last long, though. In the blink of an eye, Pariah was charging at him again. This time, Danny anticipated it enough to be able to phase back through the building. He emerged at the ground level, underneath Pariah, who was still looking for him. 

Danny moved to leap up once more, but his ribs screamed in protest. He hissed as he tried to keep from doubling over.

The cloak’s interior had to be sub-zero at this point, it was working overtime. Another layer of frost was beginning to glaze over it. The Crown too grew colder on his head, feeding pulse after pulse of energy into him.

You have been holding back, little Prince. The power has the capability to heal you and aid you in battle simultaneously, but you must let go of your fears if you are to use its true potential.

Danny didn’t answer. He was too distracted barely dodging Pariah’s mace and firing up a barrage of ice at him to do so. 

There was also the little fact that he didn’t want to answer. He didn’t want to… couldn’t acknowledge…

Yet he couldn’t deny just how badly his core wanted it. The memory of how that power had felt just those few minutes ago burned through his head, and his core jumped in earnest. 

He gritted his teeth and forced his core to quiet. It would be fine.

It had to be.

As soon as the ice left his hands, though, he collapsed in on himself once more, clutching his bleeding side. It was long enough of a distraction for Pariah to slam his feet into the street, causing enough of a quake to knock Danny off his feet and to the ground. 

Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be so fine. 

Pariah swung his mace down again, and Danny responded with a green shield. It was too hasty, not properly formed, and it shattered underneath the force. Danny yelped and tried to roll away, but the mace still clipped his back, tearing open the skin there. 

Yeah, definitely not so fine. 

The temptation to give in and let the Crown flood him once more was growing by the minute. Danny didn't know how long he could sustain himself with all these injuries, let alone how he could win the fight and take the Ring. His core ached to be filled by the Heart's power. He knew that if he let it happen, it would almost guarantee his victory.

But his eye caught the ghost shield behind him, where the crowd of civilians stood watching him with horror painted on their faces. He remembered just how badly he had destroyed the block over when he'd let the Crown's power overwhelm him, and his stomach flipped. No way could he put his people in that sort of danger. 

You can control it, little Prince. You are more than capable. 

Again, Danny didn't respond. The battle consumed too much of his focus. Gasping against the flare of hot pain, he took to the air once more to avoid yet another swing of Pariah’s mace. It missed him by a hair. He raised his hands once more to answer with an attack of his own, and - 

“Danny!”

It was instinct. He turned his head at the sound of his mother calling his name. 

It was the worst mistake he could’ve made.

He met his mom’s eyes for just a moment, but it was a moment enough for Pariah to make his move. Danny didn’t register the heat moving behind him until it was too late. He turned around just in time to see Pariah’s hand flying towards him.

Reflexively, he turned intangible in the nick of time. Pariah’s hand sailed harmlessly through his head and out the other side. His tangibility returned, and he reached out to return the attack.

It wasn’t until an emptiness unlike any other hit him like a brick wall that he realized it hadn’t been him Pariah had been gunning for. 

Danny immediately dropped to his knees and doubled over in pain as his core cried out. Just like at Vlad’s, his core felt like it had been ripped straight from his chest and drained of all its energy. Cold air surrounded him as his cloak flared to life, trying desperately to compensate for the lost energy. The only sound was his frantically pulsing heart in his ears, and he couldn’t catch his breath enough to shout.

It hurt. Ancients, it hurt.

And unlike at Vlad’s, the emptiness pressed on. 

Danny managed to look up as panic bubbled to the surface. His stomach only churned worse when he saw Pariah standing in front of him with a wild grin, holding the Crown that had been sitting on Danny’s head.

“You should’ve surrendered when you had the chance, little Prince,” he said.

Danny tried to respond, but couldn’t. It was too much. The void inside him felt like it was about to swallow him whole, just like the void above was threatening to swallow Amity Park. 

Please, he begged in a fit of desperation, help me!

The Heart didn’t respond.

“It cannot help you now, child,” Pariah Dark laughed, as if he had read Danny’s mind. “Not when it is finally back in the hands of its true master.”

And as Pariah laughed once more and raised the Crown to put it on his head, Danny lifted a feeble hand towards him, trying to call up his ice, his ectoplasm, his anything, anything that could stop him. He couldn’t feel his power, he couldn’t feel his core, he couldn’t feel his Heart - 

Pariah roared in pain. Danny’s head snapped up to see him drop a steaming Crown. It landed on the street with a loud clatter as Pariah held his also-steaming hand close to his chest.

“You!” he bellowed, glaring daggers at the Crown. “You will yield! That power is MINE!”

Danny ignored him. He had zeroed in on the Crown and begun to drag himself toward it. Somewhere in the back of his head, he realized he probably looked absolutely ridiculous right now, and it pained him to think about how badly he wanted - needed to get the Crown back, but he didn’t care.

He couldn’t tell if he was simply imagining it, but he could almost feel a little tendril of power, reaching out to him, trying to hook into his core, trying to pull him closer.

Pariah roared again, and Danny had to retreat back into the cooling comfort of his cloak as a wall of heat crashed into him. “No!” he snarled. “If you will not bow to me, then you will have no one!” With a shout that shook Danny to his bones, Pariah snatched the Ring from his finger and threw it down next to the Crown with such force that it formed a little crater.

Danny’s heart began to pound even faster. This was it. This was his chance. He just had to move - 

But he never made it. Pariah unleashed a terrible scream, and then hot, red energy poured from his hands.

Straight onto the Crown and the Ring.

If losing the Crown had hurt, Pariah’s attack on it was excruciating. Danny gripped his head and his core, unsure if he was the one screaming or if it was someone else or if he was just imagining it. 

“Stop!” he managed to gasp. “You - hurting…”

But Pariah paid him no mind. Instead, he yelled louder, and another barrage of energy slammed into the Crown and Ring. Danny reacted as though he had been the one to get hit, falling to his stomach and crying out soundlessly.

He could barely see the Crown and Ring through Pariah’s onslaught, but when he finally gathered the strength to lift his head and look, his entire being froze.

A crack appeared in the Crown.

And now he was sure he wasn’t imagining the scream of pain because it definitely had to be him with how his core cracked too, and there was definitely another voice screaming in harmony with his and Ancients, of course it would be screaming, with the way Pariah - 

“I am the power of the Realms!” Pariah roared, and another crack appeared in the Crown. 

Danny reached out one last time, but he knew it was fruitless. There was no way…

Danny cried out.

The Crown and Ring cried out.

Kilaris cried out.

And then

Kilaris

s h a

t t

e r e

d

[mamawasatesttube]

So I've had this hc bouncing around my head since I read one of your fics (which are all amazing btw, seriously, so so good) about Kryptonian naming conventions. I really like your Kryptonians and their funky fish genders, because you are right. They are aliens, let's get creative with it. 

So the traditional naming conventions, at least in the comics, are First name Last name for men and First name Fathers Name Last name for women. With womens names usually ending in -a. Such as Kal El and Kara Zor-El. 

However, Cir El exists.

And she doesn't follow this trend. Now, she doesn't appear very much or for very long. (Which is a shame because there is so much potential. Also full disclosure I have not yet read the issues she is in yet. They are on the list because the whole idea of her intrigues me. However the list is long. Very long. So if this is absolute garbage please disregard this entire thing and I am very sorry.) Now her name could just be a mistake on DCs part. She wasn't born on Krypton or raised by Kryptonians, so the naming could mean nothing. But it got me thinking.

So this is kinda a mix between traditional Scottish naming (your dad's name with Mac in front to mean child) and Icelandic naming, with your dad's name and either son or dottir added on. However in Iceland you could have your mum's name instead. 

So since Kryptonian views of gender and sex wouldn't line up 100% with human ideas (not that human ideas of this are uniform across the globe but I digress) and are implied to be far more gender neutral there could be a whole naming system. So you could have:

Kal El

Kal Jor-El

Kal Lara-El

Kala Jor-El

Kala Lara-El

Each one of those options is basically a different gender identity. Basically once you're an adult you would pick your name. And there are more choices and it would be pretty fluid. And your name would tell people how to address you. 

Does this mean Cir El has a traditional 'masculine' name? Yup. Am I reading way too much into a decision DC probably didn't think through this much? Also yup. 

I don't know, this is probably absolute garbage but it's been banging around my head for literal months. Want some weird alien naming conventions???

OH YES i love it!!!! ive thought about ways to fiddle with the canon gendered kryptonian naming scheme too but never settled on anything concrete - this is a great take on it!!! very fun. kryptonian naming has always reminded me of tamil naming traditions (the husband's first name becomes the wife's and their children's surname, so almost like kara having her father's name as her surname), and i like keeping that with the parents names as an option but not the only option for women.

(spoilers for her arc, but cir-el is not actually a real kryptonian and is instead a girl who was experimented on and made to think she was, so in-universe it's incredibly possible that the futuresmiths fucked up, but i mean they're linked to brainiac who probably wouldn't fuck something like that up, so... i think we deserve to take this and run with it!!! out-of-universe im sure its just "dc didn't think about it that hard" but. the world is our oyster.)

but now it has me thinking about a moment of kon, pondering gender, wondering if he'd like to go by another form of the name at any point but then getting stuck on like. um... would it be kon kal-el?? kon jor-el??? kon lara-el???? am i even allowed to use kal's parents names??? but i don't have a mom and it's not like kal's my dad so??? what do i do??? and kara goes fuck it. radical family acceptance time. you can just be a zor-el like me <3

[acecampbellsaunders]

IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE SENSE8 AIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOUR TOP FAVORITE DYNAMICS ON THE SHOW, WHO ARE YOUR TOP FAVORITE CHARACTERS? DID U PREFER SEASON 1 OR 2? DID U PREFER THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL OR THE SERIES FINALE?

GOD ITS SO HARD TO CHOOSE ANYTHING BC I LOVE IT ALL AAAAAAA HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEE

An incomplete set of dynamics I love: Sun and Capheus, Lito and Sun, Lito/Hernando/Daniela, Wolfgang/Kala/Rajan, Nomi/Amanita and Bug, WHEN EVERYONE COMES TOGETHER TO PROTECT ONE OF THEIR OWN, Lito and Wolfgang, Nomi and Will as team Mom and Dad I LITERALLY AM GOING TO GET TO EVERY SINGLE ONE, I JUST LOVE THEM ALL

An incomplete set of characters I love: DANIELA, Kala, Riley Blue my ANGEL, Will, Capheus, really i can keep going i love all of them i lvoe all of them

I think I prefer season 2 because I think it's more fun when everyone is like. Cooperating and talking to each other? But season 1 is a cozy fucking time and I adore it. I've seen it more because I rewatched it a bunch before season 2 was out.

oh my god I CANNOT TRULY CHOOSE BETWEEN HOLIDAY SPECIAL OR FINALE the holiday special is like. a new years tradition for me by now, it is SO fucking cozy and fun and I love it. HOWEVER. however. if i really did have to choose, I say finale. I saw that at my art house theater in Chicago like...a month or two before the premiere on Netflix, because it was the preview that Lana did. I got to see her and some of the cast, and it was the most incredible experience.

And like. Just the majesty of the finale. Nearly EVERY PERSON gets an awesome moment, and I mean EVERY person in the whole cast. It's the finale but it hurts me to choose, because the holiday special is a cozy cozy place for me.

I love Sense8. Once a Power Rangers actor asked me what my favorite TV show was, and I answered Sense8. Fucking LOVE Sense8. Need to do a rewatch.