#“The Kid Who Would Be King”

[starry-bi-sky]

im dedicating this to @detectivedarling. i felt inspired after seeing their little ficlet yesterday sadhjfl 🫶

-

Danny's grip on his cane tightens.

"What—"

His voice cracks. He stops, clears it, then tries again in spite of the nausea twisting in his gut. "What are — you, uh, watching, Bruce?" He sounds horribly far away.

Bruce doesn't look at him, his attention laser-focused on the screen. Which is— fine. It's usually not a problem, Bruce gets like that when he hyper-focuses on a case, and unless it's urgent — or he's been at it for hours — Danny sees no need to pull him away from it. He likes the quiet camaraderie they have, it's companionable and unique to the two of them.

He wishes he was right now though. Looking at him, that is.

That way he wasn't watching what was clearly one of Danny's ghost fights. One of the nastier ones, if the collateral damage and rubble on the street is of any indication.

Danny tries to remember which one that is. He shuffles a little closer to the desk, ignoring the rock in his stomach or the ugly weightlessness in his arms. It's not the blood blossoms, that much he knows. He just recently had an injection so it shouldn't be bothering him this soon—

So it's just nerves. Perfect.

Most footage of his fights are— messy, at best. Unusable at worst. Amity Park was obsessed with appearing 'normal' when they first started happening, and typical news stations censor the worst of the fights anyways for publishing, since they can get pretty gory at times. And ghosts move too fast to be caught on regular standard cameras, not including distance and light and—

That is to say— finding usable ghost fight videos is hard.

Danny wonders how Bruce got his hands on this one, and then stops wondering.

The audio is muted, which is - good. Good, because the fight is ugly and chaotic and clearly this was taken on someone's phone. Fuck, he can't remember if he ever saw that before — clearly not. They're hiding behind an overturned car, and Danny grits his teeth so he doesn't tell that idiot to run.

The camera turns up, and focuses on two figures in the air. It takes a few seconds, but when it does, Danny gets hit with a wave of vertigo. His grip tightens and he leans heavily on his cane, he waits for the black dots to disappear.

He- uh, he remembers this fight now. Uh, sort of.

He remembers being twelve at the time, and he remembers some of the injuries he got out of it. His eyelid spasms abruptly. This ghost wasn't one of his regulars, so he doesn't remember whatever name they had, barely remembered what they looked like up until- uh. Now.

Was he always that small? Well— Phantom's never been particularly big, perks of being a dead kid, but— it's - different. Seeing it from an outsider perspective. Was he that small? Or is it just because he's wearing a jumpsuit clearly too big for him that casts the illusion of being small?

Doesn't really - matter. Now. He can't access his ghost form, and he already knows the answers to his appearance.

Phantom is clearly bleeding, viscous and violently green like the bubbles of a lava lamp, clutching onto a limp shoulder that's missing an arm from the elbow down. Half his face is drenched in similar blood, the eye on the drenched side is closed — not because he can't see through the ectoplasm.

Danny's memories of that fight slowly come in a bit clearer. Right. He took a pole to the eye in that one. That had - hurt. A lot. Getting an eye gouged out usually does. It and the missing arm took hours to grow back.

He rubs his eye with his palm for no other reason than it itches.

The other ghost isn't untouched of any injury either, but he's not in a state of dismemberment like Phantom is.

Danny drops his gaze down at Bruce, whose sitting in his chair with his hands threaded together, looking so tense that Danny half expects to meet solid steel if he were to touch his back. His face is - blank. Terribly blank, with an intensity in his eyes that Danny doesn't see often.

He looks terribly distressed.

He opens his mouth, and finds that nothing comes out. His throat is thick with an ugly, tar-like feeling that makes his eyes sting. Kinda reminds him of when someone wraps their hands around your throat and presses. He closes his mouth, then tries again.

"B—" hhhhhh, "Buzz."

Finally Bruce looks at him, one hand slaps the space button on the keyboard, and the video pauses. His expression doesn't shift, but there's a weight in the lines of his face that reminds Danny of a set of weights sagging.

He looks quite like he's grieving something.

Bruce opens his mouth, his voice comes out terribly soft and heartbroken: "He looks like you."

Which is— a terrifying sentence in and of itself. One that makes Danny's legs shake and ignite his ragged, poison-chewed nerves alight with the need to run. An instinctive urge to deny, deny, deny.

How could he? He could say, that's a ghost, Bruce. I'm not a ghost. He could crack a joke, and ask, 'do I look dead to you?' or say something about how he knows that his parents studied ghosts, but that didn't make him one.

He could say that, and he could say it knowing full well that Bruce would see right through it. He'd probably let Danny too.

Danny closes his eyes. They sting, you see? So does his nose, right in the back like someone popped him in the face. And his throat is thick and gross and like someone stuck a spider, the big fat tarantula kind, right down into his esophagus.

He breathes in — through his mouth, because his nose stings and so it'd be best not to irritate it further with air — and it's terribly shaky and uneven. But it clears a pathway to his lungs big enough for him to say — whisper, really:

"You know, I think you're the first person to notice that."

[rosefires20]

My brainrot today is thinking about just how incredible for a character Eowyn is.

Genuinely. The series might not have many female characters but the ones we do get go so fucking hard.

To me, Eowyn is literally the definition of defining being a woman for oneself. She rejects the roles she is given despite acknlowdging the importance and its mostly because she knows part of the reason is that she is a woman.

The reason why she is obsessed with Aragorn isn't because she loves him but because she wants what he has. She wants the freedom and courage and bravery that Aragorn has at every turn. She literally has multiple conversations during the Two Towers about how what she fears most is a cage. All this girl wants is the freedom to be and not be forced into a role. The best thing is that she literally gets that.

The segment of Return of the King about Eowyn and Faramir is literally about her piecing together what she truly wants. She doesn't want Aragorn. She wants freedom and the ability to choose. Faramir does nothing but encourage that in her. Their love story is literally one of the healthiest love stories I've seen in a long time because at the heart of it, their love is a place to return home to for both parties. Both go off to lead and help their people for a considerable amount of time before returning to each other but that does not diminish their bond. Even Faramir, I believe, falls in love with her bravery and dedication to her loved ones. The reason she went to Pelenor Fields and Gondor with the troops of Rohan was because she had things she wanted to fight for. She wanted to fight for herself, her people, and her loved ones. She is the one who protects Theoden after he is killed so that his body gets the treatment it deserves. She encourages Merry and helps him go to the battle because she sees her struggle in Merry. They feel helpless standing around when there are things to be doing.

Let's also not forget the fact that she was around Grima Wormtounge just as much as the King was. She was exposed to the same poison and awful words that eroded the king. It's even implied that her care for him is part of the reason why Theoden was savable when Gandalf showed up. She had the same power and bravery as everyone else even if she didn't see it in herself.

Then at the end of the day, SHE decides where she wants to go and what path she wants to walk. She walked the path of a warrior. The path of a princess/ruler. The path of a caretaker. But in the end she decides which elements truly mean something to her outside of gender definitions. That is what makes her character so incredible to me. In this she literally kills one of the biggest enemies in that battle with such a badass line.

[ainnur]

Princess Iron Fan giving her brother in-law some advice when her brother tell her about Macaque ✨ (I'll draw this later heh)

Yeah I dont like the hc that Macaque and Princess Iron Fan being sworn sibling, sue me for that idc :P (Im not stopping anyone)

[sesamenom]

Gil-galad Variations, featuring all the gil galad theories i've encountered.

[imagine-to-be-a-pike]

,,Fu Yao and Nan Feng as Fengqing's twins" yea sure But what if they don't know about it either. Like Mu Qing and Feng Xin had idk like 10 years of peace, spawned two kids (don't ask me, ask them) but ended up separating them

Nan Feng ended up as Nan Yang's deputy and Fu Yao as Xuan Zhen's. Both very unaware of their parents. They just think they are favored for some reason

[nattikay]

rewatched my old childhood favorite Lion King 2 on the treadmill yesterday, listen Jake is sweating bullets over the Kovu/Simba conflict

[levemetal]

I got Procreate and gave it a test run with some silly AU sketches of course

So have Calamity SJ adopting Hong‘er! Ft. my silly calamity MNQ AU and it’s inevitable conclusion of atticwife Jun Wu in the second pic because I am no longer in control here.

SY tried to be the cool uncle, unfortunately YQY is the cooler uncle so he got the Feng Xin treatment. Binghe about to start beef with a child lmfao.

Ling Wen is new heavenly emperor and I ensure you she is as overworked as ever, but she does not care about heavenly officials marrying calamities anymore. First was YQY, and then Jun Wu. Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan are really not trendstarters here.

[cocogum]

Yugo: “So yeah, in the end I no longer have my child body, I defeated and accepted my alter egos who have been ruining and messing around with the world, I saved Nora with some friends, I told our mother to leave if she wasn’t going to do anything, I became king of the eliatropes once again, and I got married to my childhood friend/crush which is why we got a last name now-”

Yugo’s old incarnations: “WE GOT LAID?!?!??”

[cosmocove]

time to make your choice only you can be the one

[purplepicklejuices]

Love thinking about Dean Winchester from generic demons or angels’ perspective

Not only did he and his brother completely dismantle the apocalypse, but Dean had the King of Hell wrapped around his finger so bad that he could regularly sock Crowley in the face and receive zero consequences

And for the Angels, Dean is the sole reason why one of their most loyal warriors committed Angel genocide, and to top it off, Dean then has no qualms telling off God

The rumors have got to be off the charts

[rebeccafergusonfan]

Rebecca Ferguson | ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’ Photocall | 2019

[shycorvid]

Imagine having a dream and you're studying for it, working for it, maybe both, and circumstances beyond your control forced you into a position where you had to stand up for yourself and everything around you. You succeed, and you get a prize for it- 'power'. But is it really power when you have to keep using it for the greater good? When you can't ever be selfish anymore, or be considered just as bad as the one before you, the one you stood up against.

When you can't work for your dream anymore, because this thing you never asked for is more important now.

And in the end, your friends and family are able to wander off and pursue their own lives and you're stuck with this hell of your own making, but it's expected, and you're doing such a good job! Accept your destiny, grin and bear it! Isn't it grand to have all this power, that all these people depend on you to keep doing good?

And you can't complain, because you're basically living in the lap of luxury, right?

A bird trapped in a golden cage.

Yeah, anyway, Ghost King Danny should be considered the tragic ending.

[fauvester]

shang qinghua finds a demon-magic-plot device way to provide MBJ an heir to the throne. a dedicated advisor!!

[thisisntreaver]

Hello I have once again upset myself thinking about Logan an the effect Aurora had on him and his relationships.

Walter is a father figure to him and HOBW and their relationship is in TATTERS, and as far as canon shows, it's never mended.

Does Logan believe the man who raised his sibling and took care of him after Sparrows death died hating him? Does he believe Walter only saws the bad in him? Does it have any impact on his decision to go into his self-imposed exile? Does he regret not telling Walter about what happened to him in Aurora soonee??

Did he and Walter ever have a chance to reconcile, to speak of what happened to them on their respective trips to Aurora? Did he ever express regret for Logan feeling as if he couldn't speak of what happened to him?

Did Walter ever embrace Logan as one of his own again, or did they stay away because of their history?

[bet-on-me-13]

Johnny 13 is the Black Racer

I like the idea that Danny would promote many of old rouges to higher positions once he became King, and this one seemed obvious to me

(I looked it up and apparently the Black Racer uses Ski's, not a motorcycle like I had thought he did. Either way, it works)

Johnny is promoted to be a representation of the Concept of Death. He uses a Motorcycle, and has Shadow make him look more intimidating when he is on the Job.

When Johnny complains to Danny that he isn't fast enough to catch any Speedsters, he has Ellie (the Speedforce) give him some of her Power so he can catch them.

So now Johnny 13 is the Black Flash.

Idk what to do with this, but I liked the idea too much to let it just go unsaid.

Thoughts?

[huitandahalf]

I know that we got plenty of options as to how everything with the Ender King is going to go down, but a thought that has not left my mind was the idea of the Ender King downing qPhil in some way and taking him away. Which means there would be a chat message for all to see :)

For example :)