#And now they have to try and convince Danny to let this boy rest

[batpham-kills]

A cult summoning goes (kinda) wrong for Danny.

Cult summonings are more common than you'd think, honestly. Some idiot or group of idiots will think they will be granted countless boons by releasing the Ghost King from the shackles of eternal slumber. When they find out that Danny is not Pariah Dark and doesn't give a fuck about killing all mortal life, they usually destroy the runes, returning him.

These runes, however, are pretty crappy. They meant to separate Pariah Dark from his Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, but instead just split Danny into his human form and ghost form.

Danny can't really live as two people. His soul would eventually destabilize, leading to the death of both bodies. So he does the only thing he can, which is repossess his human form to merge himself again.

Unfortunately, the Justice League burst in at just the wrong time, only to see the being of legends, the one they had been warned about, the one they had specifically tried to stop from being summoned, possessing the body of what is obviously some poor sacrifice. Now it's their job to contain this being and stop him from continuing to use this boy as a meat puppet. What do you MEAN you won't leave?!

[nightingale-prompts]

The Eldritch Coffeehouse-DCxDP prompt-part 2(I guess)

Part 1

Elle had a way of convincing people. Like how she convinced Damian Wayne that they were now best friends and to come over to her family's business after-school.

Damian was only going along with this because of the prodding of his family to make friends. This wasn't something that came easy to him as no one would understand him. But Nightingale had been more understanding than most in his life. She was very...nice. She had these big ideas that always went ahead of her and plans that were larger than life. She always had too much energy and found it hard in school to get it out. Naturally, she was head of the track team but she'd always complain about wanting to join the music club.

Jon had met her once while trying to sneak up on them at the end of the day. She pinned him in a triangle chokehold until Damian called her off. Damian didn't call her off immediately though.

She was still more apologetic than he liked.

"I can make it up to you guys. Let's go to my family's café! We can eat ourselves sick on pastries and cake! My brother should still be making hot chocolate right now!" She told them.

Damian was nice enough to tell Dick where he was going and to not wait up. Alfred was already in the car in front of the school and drove the three to the...graveyard?

"Thank you Mister Pennyworth! Do you want to join us?" Elle asked loudly but politely.

Alfred accepted graciously and agreed to stay for a cup of tea before heading back. He would come pick up Damian later.

The walk through the graveyard was daunting for Jon and only for Jon. It wasn't as scary as he thought since it was only the afternoon and the weather was warm. A few cats rested on tombstones soaking in the heat. A few birds gathered here and there hunting for worms and seeds. There were food and water dishes here and there for the felines and fresh seeds sprinkled on the grass for the birds.

"I usually clean and change the food dishes in the morning. But Dan likes to feed the birds."

Elle walked the row of mausoleums until she stopped at one and pushed the stone door open and a skipped down a stairs and opened the smooth mahogany door in the café.

Behind the counter a young man stood pouring drinks.

"Elle you're back. Take this cup to table 3." He said putting a cup and saucer on a serving tray.

"I just got here! At least let me change or tell you we have guests." She whined but picked up the trey and marched over to the table.

"Guests? I'm sorry. Welcome to the Catacomb Club. How can we make your afterlife?" He said smoothly.

"Elle said we could eat sweets," Jon spoke up first and Damian elbowed him.

"Oh? Well, we have a batch of leftovers from this morning. Since you're her school friends you can get some from the kitchen." The barista said.

"Yay! Thanks Danny!" Elle had returned and opened the door to the backroom to grab some fresh plates and loading them up with sweets.

"Anything I can get for you, sir?" Danny asked Alfred.

"Just an Earl Gray. Or an Early Grave as you call it on the menu." Alfred said.

***

Elle presents a variable buffet of sweets to the boys. She really meant it when she said eat themselves sick.

The menu had no shortage of available snacks:

Tombstone Tarts – Mini fruit tarts with gravestone-shaped pastry toppers. (Jazz's pick)

Phantom Opera Cake – Layers of dark chocolate and coffee mousse with a smoky glaze.(Save a slice for Danny's SPECIAL guest (Jazz STOP)

Ethereal Cheesecake – A white chocolate cheesecake with a "foggy" vanilla glaze (You can just slap the word ethereal on things when you can't come up with something witty.) (Watch me)

Shadow Éclairs – Black cocoa éclairs filled with blood orange cream. (DANNY STOP EATING THE ORANGES) (no)

Soulful Scones – Charcoal scones served with berry jam and clotted cream.

Midnight Mocha Cupcakes – Chocolate cupcakes with espresso buttercream and a ghostly fondant topper. (Ew fondant)

Cemetery Soil – Chocolate pudding "dirt" with gummy worms and cookie gravestones. (Dani ate all the gummy worms again)

Wraith Cupcakes – Vanilla cupcakes with smoky gray frosting and sugar ghost toppers. (Dani's favorite)

Blackberry Bat Muffins – Dark muffins with blackberry compote and bat-shaped toppers. (Save some for that Cass girl)

Candied Skull Pops – Lollipops shaped like skulls in eerie colors.

Necropolis Nougat – Black and white nougat with bits of candied nuts and dried fruit. (Dan's favorite) (Weirdo)

Spirit’s Whisper Bark – White and dark chocolate bark with ghostly swirls and edible glitter.(please don't let Dani eat the glitter)

Moonlight Marshmallows – Homemade marshmallows in ghost or crescent moon shapes. (Danny's favorite)

Blood Velvet Rolls – Red velvet Swiss rolls filled with red cream cheese frosting. (Dan's favorite) (you can't have more than one favorite) (watch me)

Just like the rest of the menu there were comments going back and forth.

"The workers seem to argue constantly." Damian said bitting into a tart

Jon was making his way through the cake pops first.

"Well, we are family. We argue all the time but we don't mean it. Although I'm still mad they didn't like my dessert list." Elle sighed.

"Like what?" Damian asked.

"I had so many ideas like Eyeball pops filled with jelly, Bloody Bones white chocolate covered in raspberry syrup, or Maggot Macaroons with gummy worms in them," Elle said wiggling her fingers to mimic worms. "But Jazz said they were too gross sounding to sell. Humans have such weak stomachs."

Damian wanted to point out that Jon wasn't human and even he turned green. Damian on the other hand was intrigued. Elle was always entertaining to listen to.

The three enjoyed their snacks after Alfred finished his tea and took off.

Jon's Kryptonian appetite helped get through the bulk of it because Damian stopped short to not spoil his appetite.

This was wise since the Cafe preparing to switch to its bar setting with a more lively Jazz band and dinner menu.

Jon groaned at the thought of more food as he rested his face on the cool polished wood that smelled faintly of rose incense. He should have noticed by now that something as off but his stomach has been a major distraction. Had it been his father then who was trained to sense the issue the jig would have been up.

You see, they were the only mortals in the room.

Not one heartbeat could be heard. Jon should have known so much earlier when Elle managed to surprise him without her heart rate going up.

"Dani- I mean Elle?" A voice from the kitchen called.

A young woman with long red locks came into view. Her dress, a 50s style black tea-length poodle skirt. Instead of the usual poodle pattern on the hem, there was a white skeletal cat. She had on a pair of balck frilled short gloves. Other than her dress she wore an apron with a black ribcage design that matched the uniforms of the other workers/family members here. Her teal eyes softened when she saw Elle sitting with her friends

"Yeah, Jazz?" Elle asked.

"Do you still want to go on stage tonight or do you want to stay with your friends? And do you still want dinner?" Jazz asked in succession.

"I'm still going to do my set. And can I get carbonara and a glass of...um..." Elle struggled to find the word for the liquid that every undead in the area came here for. "My medicine."

Damian's ear picked up the hesitation in her voice.

"You take a perception?" Damian said perhaps a bit thoughtless since not everyone wants to talk about their medical issues. But he had never seen her take medicine at school and didn't know a medication that would be taken later in the day that wasn't also taken early.

"Kinda, it's something I have to take to keep living. But it like it, the juice I mean. You'd like it too but you don't need it. Dan is kinda stingy with who gets some. You types aren't allowed. Only members." Elle knew that this place was an open secret. It's not like they kept their ghostly nature secret. Everyone just thinks they are keeping up the theme while they were all completely serious. Besides lying isn't their nature.

Still, Elle wasn't being completely honest which isn't something that comes naturally to her. Bending the truth will have to do.

Damian let it go for now. He didn't need to know her medical history...yet.

Jon was taking a nap now anyways. Damian stole his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to the Kent family in case they wanted to know where Jonathan was.

Ellehad to change clothes into her uniform and grab her violin. It wasn't a surprise to Damian who knew she like music but he had never heard her play. Now she was on stage playing with the folk band as the guest clapped and danced.

Jazz brought out some food for them to eat while Danny traded places with a tall burly man who was definitely the eldest brother.

As Damian ate he listened to Elle play...well the band play but it was mostly Elle who he was listening for. He heard a familiar voice from behind his booth and when he looked over it was none other than Jason fucking Todd talking to the bartender. Talking? I meant failing miserably to flirt and having the tables turned on him easily.

[flamingpudding]

That's our baby hero

Protective Amity Park Au but maybe not like you would think?

Danny's identity wasn't as hidden as Sam, Tucker, Jazz and him thought. His identity was an open secret, in fact his whole town knew that Danny was their hero Phantom, well everyone but his oblivious parents but they were a case of their own. The thing was his entire town knew about his oh so big secret identity and that he was the one trying to save them from ghosts 90% of the time as well as from his own parents crazy inventions at times.

Dash shoving him into lockers like a bully? Danny didn't look good and Dash tried in crude ways to give him reasons to skip classes to rest. It also later was a good move to hide him from snoopy government agents also known as the Guys in White or GIW for short. Really his bullying played perfectly into him finding creative ways to get Danny to skip classes for rest.

Valerie hunting him and other ghosts? Well she was hunting him in the very beginning, but then it became an attempt to make him stop fighting the ghosts on their behalf but in the end it turned into her trying her best to be the support to him that Sam and Tucker couldn't be in a fight. Let alone taking 'night shifts' from him so Danny could get at least a good nights rest every now and then.

Sam's parents the Mansons? Sure they didn't like him that much from the start anyway but most of their anger later stemmed from the danger their daughter was willingly get into to help their reckless teenhero that shouldn't be a hero at his age anyway. Let alone shoulder the responsible for their entire town at the age of 14.

Tuckers parents? They were glad any time Danny stayed over with their son, even attempting to subtitle convince the boys to have more sleepovers at their home. Surely being a hero with ghost powers and living in a house of ghost hunting parents wasn't easy on Danny. They were glad that they could give him some peace at their home. They willingly ignored it when Danny showed up late night in Tuckers room, getting patched up by their son.

The entire town apparently hating him with all these negative newspapers and comments? All fake in a desperate attempt to get the 14 years old teenager with a bad sleeping schedule and powers to stop risking his damned life, half-life. Surely if they appeared not thankful the kid would get the hint and stop playing hero. Like seriously he was a kid! Who's bright idea was it to let a kid fight these dangerous appearing ghosts?! Oh right the poor kids parents were incompetent when it came to ghost hunting and it wasn't like they could just up and do it without destroying the kids confidence. Plus the GIW were no help either.

Vlad becoming Mayor was not exactly their plan but they thought maybe they could use that as some help to convince Danny more that he didn't need to play hero for them just because he got powers now. That didn't turn out like they hoped and THAT plan was dismissed quickly. Especially when the GIW showed up. They learned their lesson sort of quickly after that, at least when it came to people from out of Amity did not mean well.

Lancer, at first when Danny first showed up as Phantom, had attempted to get into contact with the Justice League several times, so that Danny would actually get the professional help he needed and get some sleep at night as well as the time he needed for his schooling so that heroing wouldn't be the only career path he would be forced into. The additional point of getting the kid training too for his powers was also very tempting, there are only so many chemical breakers they could allow the him to break before they HAD to sort of ban him from touching them again.

But when the GIW appeared in their town they stopped trying to reach the Justice League. Suspecting that that was the answer they sent in regards to their SOS calls. Amity Parks protectiveness over their teenheroes that sacrificed to much skyrocketed. They started to sabotage the Agents subtitle. Always working within the limits of the orders and finding the loop holes.

"Oh but we did comply, not our fault that you guys tripped and let Phantom escape."

"Wupp, sorry I got that from the Fentons for self defence, but it looks like I need to work on my aim."

"I am so sorry, my car is stuck! See my tire is popped I can't get out of your vans way."

The fact that Amity Parks weather report was more a report on the ghosts, the Fenton parents and the GIW was all a tactic for them all to keep each other informed so they could execute any step to ensure their -by now- towns sweethearts safety. Even if they still tried to turn the poor kid away from being a hero with all the unnecessary mean comments and articles.

So when one day a hero from the Justice League showed up it was predictable that they all were suspicious of it. Even more so when that hero came with a bunch of teenage heroes. Apparently they were here to investigate a bunch of ignored calls one of the teenheroes found in their call logs. Some of the adults eyed Lancer who in turn was glaring at the heroes fessed up, he hadn't attempted to call them ever since they decided to sent the GIW into their town. Which apparently was more of a cover as these heroes showed an interest in the Fentons research of Ectoplasm pretty quickly.

Well now Batman and his flock of bats and birds were confronted with a very unhappy town that was apparently very protective of their hero and 'accidentally' continued to manage to block them from making contact with said teenhero. And who where these Guys in white suits that tried to suck it up to Batman? Better question why was the entire town suddenly hostile towards them when they started to look into the Fenton Family that had a connection to Lazarus Water?

Meanwhile Danny is confused by his towns newfound favouritism towards Batman and his entourage and how whenever he went to find out what was that about everyone seems to deflect. Even Sam, Tucker and Jazz were confused by what was going on!

[clockwayswrites]

Not So Imaginary

Parts 1-3 Parts 4-6Parts 7-8 WC: 1177

“I brought you some more books to read,” Jason said as he entered the room.

After Danny had shown that they were clearly a person (a kid at that) and answered a few questions, they had been moved to an actual room on the Watchtower. Jason was pretty sure part of it was how he refused to leave the cell until Danny was moved, but he didn’t really care as long as it got his friend safe.

Danny looked up with a grin. They were pretty solid today, sitting cross-leg on the bed with feet and everything.

“You’re back,” the artificial voice spoke out from the tablet like device in Danny’s hands. It was a version of something called a SGD, Bruce had said, and was used by people who had trouble with verbal sounds. They didn’t know if Danny would always need it or if they’re vocal cords would come back as they continued to solidify.

“I am. B said I could stay a whole three hours today too as long as I ate a snack while I was here,” Jason said, holding up one of the bags he had.

Three hours still wasn’t a lot, but it was better than the one it had been the rest of the week. It took a lot of begging, but B finally agreed that Jason was well enough for a test to see how it went. Danny was still draining life force from Jason, and only Jason, which made certain Leaguers nervous about letting the two of them close. Jason had done everything he could to let it happen: he’d begged and argued, he’d eating everything Alfie wanted him to, he rested whenever Bruce wanted him too which was all the time, and he even agreed to stay benched for as long as it took.

That last one had really helped convince Bruce and Dick that Jason wouldn’t back down from helping his friend.

“Good. I am happy. What do you have?”

“You liked the Hardy Boys, right? I have a few more of those and I found you some science mags you might like,” Jason said as he flopped onto the bed next to Danny. He could feel the odd tingle travel up his arm as he leaned into Danny.

“Thank you,” Danny said with a wide smile. The tone of the electronic voice didn’t match the brightness of that smile, but it was alright. Jason could also feel how happy Danny was.

“You’re doing okay?”

“Yes.” There was a long pause as Danny found the right words. They were pretty quick already with preset phrases, but odder things still took longer than regular talking would. “WW took me to observation deck. We watched stars. She told me stories of stars from her home.”

“Yeah?” Jason asked, trying to keep his voice from hitching around the word. He couldn’t bug Danny with that yet. “You like her? Wonder Woman?”

“Yes.” The reply was quick, but Danny was watching Jason with furrowed brows. They pushed a sense of question through their bond.

“I’m fine. Just thinking through some shit,” Jason said with a wave of his hand. “But Wonder Woman is really cool. She’s my favorite too.”

Danny set the tablet aside so that they could run their fingers through Jason’s hair. It felt odd, what with not all of the fingers always being all of the way solid, but a good sort of odd. It seems Jason couldn’t just Danny’s concern aside.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”

Danny let out what for anyone else would have been a sigh and gave a little nod. They shorted through the bag of books Jason had brought and found a Hardy Boy’s to hand over to Jason.

“What me to read to you?” Jason waited for the nod. Apparently it was really important to let Danny choose things right then, or so the adults said. “Okay, move over a bit, yeah? You’re hogging all the bed.”

Danny placed their hand to their chest, face screwing up in an affronted expression. It didn’t work though when Jason could feel the amusement through their bond.

“Yeah yeah, I’m a brute, now shove over,” Jason said with a laugh. He worked his way up until he was lounging against the head of the bed.

Danny didn’t move.

“You’re a brat,” Jason accused.

Danny gave a silent laugh, humor bumbling up in their bond, before they flopped over right onto Jason’s chest. Jason let a huff of a sigh, but ran his fingers through Danny’s hair like he knew they liked before he opened the book to start read about another adventure of the Hardy Boys.

It was easier to feel the drain like this, when they were so close to each other and touching. Jason had tried to avoid spelling that out too much to Bruce. He got that his dad was just worried, but he was afraid if B knew he’d tried to keep Danny away.

As it was Bruce was trying to send Danny away.

Jason brushed the thought aside, focusing on doing his best to give the characters good voices for Danny. At least it was a distraction from all the rest of Jason’s thoughts. Two chapters later the stopped to ask, “Want a break or do you want another chapter?”

Danny rolled over and off Jason’s chest to flop onto the pillow next to him and Jason froze. His shock must have been clear because Danny scrambled up off the bed until they were floating above Jason.

“No! It’s a good thing. Just… you’re getting some of your color back,” Jason explained. He should really stop staring. He should take Danny to a mirror to see or something, but it was just that… Danny was beautiful right then. He found himself reaching up to brush his finger tips of the bright freckles that were scattered across Danny’s cheeks and nose like a galaxy of stars.

Bright teal eyes blinked back at him.

Jason cleared his throat. “Right, sorry, let’s go let you look.”

Danny floated to the side, landing on their feet as Jason stood, and followed behind behind to the small attached bathroom. Jason guided Danny in front of the mirror. White was spreading into their hair now.

For a moment Jason was worried that Danny was frozen in shock, then the other leaned in close to the mirror, touching the surface before bringing their hand up to their own face. Suddenly Danny was moving, spinning weightlessly around Jason as they gave a soundless whoop.

“I know,” Jason said with a grin of his own. “Look at you! You’re really coming together now! I knew you could do it. I knew that you could come back.”

Slowly, Danny drifted back down so that the tips of their toes brushed against the floor. They rested their forehead against Jason’s.

He didn’t need words to understand what Danny was trying to say.

“Don’t have to thank me, stardust. I’ll always come for you just like you’ll always come for me.”

--- AN: Oh ho, is Jason starting to realize he has a crush? And what isn't he telling Danny? Hopefully this part is good, the weather is giving me such a migraine/making me super dizzy so my eyes are crossing some! (Yes, I'm resting, on the couch with a cat!)

I really should have made an update post for this... this supposed ficlet just keeps going! 7K now! Aaaah well. Anywho, stay delightful, darlings!

[grounded-gryphon]

I'd Die (Again) For Y'all (episode 14)

The next day was quiet. Peaceful in a way Jason wasn't used to. Business went on as normal, though Hood only went out on a short patrol. He spent close to an hour on the phone with Tim, which was surprisingly… nice. With the pits quiet thanks to Danny, Jason's guilt for what he'd done to Tim in Titan's Tower nearly swamped him every time the phone rang, but he had a lot of practice shoving emotions aside which meant he could enjoy talking with Tim in a way he never could before.

(If he encouraged Tim to talk so he could keep enjoying the guy's voice no one needed to know. Tim would never spend so much time with Jason if it wasn't work.)

Danny was quiet, and spent most of the day resting, but Jason was pretty sure he was thinking too.

Early the next morning, when even vigilante's were in bed, Danny rolled over and looked at Jason, his eyes shadowed.

"You're sure this Lane reporter is trustworthy?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jason said, "Yeah, she's good people, Danny."

"Alright," Danny sighed. "I'll try.

"What now?"

---

From Loise Lane To Sam Manson Subject: Ghost Boy says I'm not a fruitloop.

I've been told you'll know what that means. If you change your mind about talking, you can reach me at this number.

---

As much as Jason was enjoying spending time with Danny, he knew they couldn't just sit back and let the Justice League handle the GIW. Not while Danny was actively being hunted. They needed to be ready to fight back and they needed a plan to take the fight to the GIW. From what Tim told him, Wonder Woman was keeping at least some of the agents distracted, giving them a runaround on the Watchtower. Which meant this was the perfect time to go after them on the ground.

Jason didn't sell himself short, he was a good planner. Even fucked up by the pit he'd put together and executed a plan to take over a whole city neighborhood. But he wasn't the only, or even necessarily the best, planner among the bats.

(And if it gave him a chance to work closely with Tim with/out/ the pits fucking with him for once? Only he needed to know that.)

Convincing Danny to include Tim took a bit. Danny was serious about keeping as many people out of the line of fire as possible.

(He even let slip that he had an 'old team' he refused to contact for fear of putting them in danger. Jason figured that was who Lane had gotten in touch with, and if Danny's team was anything like YJ or the Outlaws, they'd be showing up pretty soon whether Danny wanted to involve them or not.)

But when Jason made it clear that Tim was already involved in his own way, Danny agreed to at least include him in the planning. Jason figured from there Tim could take care of things himself.

So Jason sent Tim a message asking him to meet them at one of Jason's secondary safehouses.

Jason and Danny went in civvies, aiming to be unnoticed. Red Robin arrived at the safehouse a few minutes later and did a double take at Danny. "Phantom?"

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I'm… uh… actually only half ghost? This is my human half."

Tim looked him up and down and Jason swore that Danny's flush turned even brighter.

Well. he couldn't argue with Danny's- nope, not going there.

"So," he said, carefully not looking at either of them, "Let's get started."

---

With Cyborg's report confirming that she was safe from GIW targetting, Diana was stuck, officially and permanently, as their liason. It wasn't the worst job she had takeno n, but her headache was reaching truly epic proportions.

"And here," she said, continuing their tour of the 'public' areas of the station, "is our cafeteria. As you can see, we have emegency airlocks at the entrance — the cafeteria serves as a shelter in the event of an attack."

The agents, mostly looking bored, nodded courteously. Diana had managed to stretch the tour nearly three hours, while not giving away any classified information. Even so, they now had a dangerous amount of knowledge about the Watchtower and it's workings if they couldn't be trusted.

Which of course, they couldn't.

Or, they would have if Diana had actually been honest with most of the information she'd given them. Of course the cafeteria wasn't an emergency shelter. It was too large and exposed to be effective as such.

But it had kept them busy and distracted. For the first hour they had been suspicious and critical of everything they came across, no matter how mundane. Not to mention the fanatic light in there eyes when they examined every new person they passed.

Of course, while Diana had kept them distracted since they woke up that morning, J'onn had been monitoring their thoughts. He only dared to follow the surface level for fear they might notice something, but it would still give them a great deal of information.

"From what you have said, the airlocks will not prevent an 'ecto-entity' from getting into the cafeteria, is that correct?"

"Yes," D said, still the main spokesperson for the three agents. "There are no physical barriers that can stop ecto-entities from going whereever they want. That is part of what makes them so dangerous."

"How would you propose we protect aganst them, then?"

"Well, your best option would be to emplace some anti-ghost guns in the hallway here. They shoot… well…" D glanced at the leader, "We don't have approval to disclose confidential information."

"Of course," Diana said. "I would not expect you to. But these anti-ghost guns are capable of harming ghosts? How could we go about getting some?"

--- The real problem, Tim mused sometime later, was that any plan they could come up with the go after the GIW would automatically expose both Danny and Jason. Well, that and, they didn't really know where to find the GIW. Danny was pretty sure their main base was still in Illinois, near his old hometown, but that didn't really give them much to work with.

Of course, it was hard to do his best work when he had somehow ended up /between/ Danny and Jason at the table, both of them leaning over and sometimes /on/ him to highlight this or that thought or visual on the laptop Tim had set up as soon as he arrived. Jason had gotten so focused on the planning (and arguing about the planning) that he had even fogotten to avoid Tim, instead crowding into his space just as much as Danny was.

But enough was enough.

"Stop," Tim said, cutting them both off. "Just… stop. We're going in circles. You," he turned to Danny, "need to trust us. We know what we are capable of and we will not engage if we can't do so safely, but bending over backwards trying to keep Hood safe just puts you in more danger.

"And you," he whirled on Jason who actually stumbled back a couple of steps, "Need to put the brakes on. You know the importance of good intel, and we do. Not. Have it. Pushing to attack before we are ready is a fools game and you fucking know better."

"Replacement-" Jason started, but Tim was done, just completely done.

"Don't you /dare/ call me that again. I will walk out that door and not come back. You came to me for help and I do not care how much you hate me-" he shoved at Jason, who didn't even try to keep his footing.

"How much I what?!" he squawked from the floor.

"Hate. Me. What, you think I didn't notice that I—"

"Tim!" Jason yelled, cutting him off. "Tim. I don't— I don't hate you."

Masterlist

[pollsonmorenichetopics]

Disproportionate Retribution Poll Finals:

Foxy Loxy's (Chicken Little) Disproportionate is:

"She was basically just the school bully and star baseball player and a KID and. Not only did all of her efforts to get the team to the final game get completely forgotten when Chicken Little's FLUKE won the game, but when aliens invaded and she tried to fight back she got ZAPPED AWAY and then LOBOTOMIZED when being zapped back at the end. And the aliens could have fixed that but then Runt goes "no, she's perfect" AND SO SHE STAYS LOBOTOMIZED. FOR BEING MEAN TO THE PROTAGONIST. THAT WAS SO FUCKED UP"

"She was mean to Chicken Little (just like the rest of the town) and just generally self-absorbed. At the end of the movie one of the aliens says that there has been “an error in reconstitution” which caused her brain waves to be scrambled, completely changing her personality. The aliens do offer to turn her back, but Runt likes her better this way and she just stays like that forever I guess.

She was a bully, but I think being completely brainwashed is a slightly over the top punishment (especially since the rest of the town, including the adults, were also pretty horrible to Chicken Little and they got of scot-free)"

"The crime: bullying Chicken Little along with the rest of the town. The punishment: being physically rearranged into having a more "feminine" personality and one of the main characters refusing to let the aliens fix her because he wants a girlfriend. Why it's over the top: aside from the obvious, the rest of the town gets off scot-free for some reason, it's ONLY the tomboy bully who gets rearranged like this."

"She bullied the main character. But her getting lobotomised permanently in the end was way too far, especially since it could've been fixed. The only reason it wasn't was because a boy wanted her to stay that way because he liked it. Also she was a kid and literally the whole town was made up of bullies. She was just the only one to be punished so harshly, and in such a creepy way."

"Okay, in the original story there's a chance she could've deserved bad due to being a much bigger antagonist, but in the Chicken Little movie, she's just a bully and a kid who is mean but also committing zero crimes beyond being mad that Chicken Little won the baseball game or being too mean in her bullying. Naturally, this means that, later in the movie, she's zapped but revealed later to be doing fine, but as a completely different person, her entire identity replaced into someone more girly than her tomboy self and cheery to a fault. An offer is made to bring her back to who she was, but good ol Runt decides that she's perfect like this and lets her entire identity not be restored in favor of having a perfectly palatable girl for himself. They are portrayed romantically after and this is not treated as something awful for her because at least she's not mean now"

"I know she’s a bully to Chicken Little and his friends, so she’s an a-hole for that, but despite this, I honestly don’t think that she deserves her brain staying permanently SCRAMBLED by aliens. It’s so bad to the point that people say that Foxy Loxy experienced a literal lobotomy from the aliens. And Runt of the Litter, one of Chicken Little’s friends, told the alien that they should keep her the way she is and that “she’s perfect”, probably so she can be his girlfriend. Foxy Loxy’s entire personality was warped, turning her feisty competitive sport-loving tomboy self to a partly-crazed feminine girlfriend for Runt."

Danny Fenton's (Danny Phantom) Disproportionate Retribution:

"He cheated on a test and as a result his entire family, all his friends, and the one teacher who genuinely cared about him died in a fast food explosion. He was adopted by his greatest enemy, who he convinced to separate the ghost and human halves of himself to try and lessen the pain, which in retrospect feels a lot like a form of assisted suicide for people who are already dead.

His ghost half killed the human half, fused with his enemy's ghost half, and used their combined power to destroy the entire world. His current fate is indefinite imprisonment in a container the size of a soup thermos. Because he cheated on a test."

"Crime: Cheated on an ungraded test

Punishment: LITERALLY ALL OF HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE KILLED (during a parent teacher meeting at a fast food restaurant?), he's forcibly adopted by his "rival" (aka the adult man who has repeatedly tortured this 14 year old because he wants to kill Danny's dad and marry his mom) only to have his literal humanity ripped out of him- his ghost fuses with his enemy's ghost half, turns evil, and then VIOLENTLY KILLS HUMAN DANNY (and then destroys the entire world)

Sounds excessive? Yeah! Sure, it could just be tragic coincidences so far, but stick with me. We're going to reset the timeline, we can make this better, right???:

TIMELINE 2:

Crime: THOUGHT ABOUT cheating on an UNGRADED test

Punishment: The Master of Time sends ghosts from the future to ASSASSINATE HIM, then is sent to EXECUTE DANNY HIMSELF (BECAUSE CHEATING ON THE TEST IS THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THE END OF THE WORLD APPARENTLY), but then he THROWS DANNY TEN YEARS INTO THE FUTURE OF THE PREVIOUS TIMELINE TO BE FACED WITH HIS ABSOLUTE WORST FEARS MADE REAL: the entire world was ended by HIM, everyone he's ever loved is DEAD, he was told of everything that happened in this timeline including the forcible adoption and his own death at his own ghost's hands, evil future ghost him TORTURES HIM AND TAKES AWAY HIS ONLY MEANS OF GOING HOME, THEN REPLACES HIM AND TRIES TO MURDER HIS FAMILY to ensure the bad future! Meanwhile Danny is being pummeled by the future versions of his rogues gallery because they think he's the evil version that destroyed their afterlives. Anyway he makes it back eventually (after his rival RIPS THE THING TRAPPING HIM OUT OF HIS CHEST WITH A DEVICE THAT COULD KILL HIM) and his family been captured by this impostor wearing his face, and after fighting for his life he finds out he was too late and HAS TO WATCH EVERYONE HE'S EVER LOVED EXPLODE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Of course then the Master of Time shows up, says it was all a lesson, then resets the timeline to before the test again, leaving Danny with all the memories of what happened to traumatize him into confessing he willingly "stole" the test answers (which he didn't even do, they ended up in his possession due to an accident that only happened BECAUSE HE WAS DEFENDING HIMSELF FROM ONE OF THE FUTURE GHOSTS SENT TO KILL HIM) because he was fully intending to cheat on the test (again, false- his friends accuse and berate him for planning to cheat before he even considered it, which he later only thought about seemingly because he was already being treated as a criminal and he had no time to study since he was busy DEFENDING HIMSELF FROM GHOSTS SENT TO KILL HIM SUPPOSEDLY TO PREVENT THIS SITUATION), because of course that's a proportionate response

Why it's over the top: In what world is physical and psychological torture, kidnapping, repeated attempted murder, permanently traumatizing a child, making them absolutely terrified of themself and setting them up to be their own worst fear, and MORE a reasonable response to ANYTHING, much less a 14 year old kid (who just wants to keep people safe) accidentally acquiring the answer key to an ungraded test?!"

[disillusioneddanny]

Love Me Like You

Absolutely wrote this instead of going to sleep. This is based off of the song Love Like You by Rebecca Sugar for steven universe.

Damian’s heart was racing violently in his chest. He was angry, no he was beyond angry. No one was listening to him! He was twenty years old now, he wasn’t some little Robin sidekick anymore either, he was Red Bird, he had taken a different name and become his own person as a vigilante yet it didn’t seem to matter to anyone in this blasted family. All they saw him as was the demon brat, the boy who had been raised to become an assassin who had been brainwashed his entire life. 

But he wasn’t that boy any longer! He had been out of the League of Assassins for the same amount of time he had been in it. If not a little longer if one could count the fact that the ten years he was with his family he was fully cognizant and could make his own decisions, unlike the toddler he had been with the League. 

Sure, he had been moulded to be the perfect weapon, the perfect heir to the Demon’s Head but he was more than that now, he was so, so, so much more than that. 

He was a hero, he was someone that others could look upon and be inspired. He wasn’t some ruffian assassin any longer and his past shouldn’t matter in the slightest anymore. At least, it shouldn’t be thrown in his face by his own family every chance he got. 

He stormed up the steps of the Brownstone he owned with his boyfriend and let out a huff, trying to calm his racing heart before he stepped into the home.  It would be different once he was past these bricks, he would be in the company of someone who saw him completely and loved him anyways. 

He stepped through the threshold and smiled as he found his beloved passed out on the couch, curled up with a blanket wrapped around him. 

If I could begin to be, half of what you think of me. I could do about anything. 

Damian smiled at his boyfriend before he stooped down, slipping one arm underneath Danny’s legs and the other under his neck as he lifted him in the air carefully, cradling him bridal style in his arms. 

“Tried to stay up and wait for you,” the halfa mumbled, pressing his face against Damian’s chest. “Got too tired.”

“It is alright, Beloved,” Damian murmured before he pressed a kiss to Danny’s forehead. “Rest, I assume you had a busy day, my dear?”

“Justice League Dark are full of idiots who don’t know their ass from their head,” Danny mumbled as Damian opened the bedroom door. 

He let out a soft chuckle at that. He would not be surprised if his beloved lost his mind even a little bit when having to work with both that dreadful Constantine and Doctor Fate at the same time. 

“Who all were there?” Damian asked as he set Danny on the bed. The halfa whined at the loss of Damian’s warmth, making the vigilante’s heart flutter. 

When I see the way you act, wondering when I’m coming back. I could do about anything.

“Give me just a moment to change into some sleepwear and I’ll join you,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at Danny who now laid with a pillow wrapped in his arms and a pout on his face. “Now, tell me about the meeting.”

“I originally went to the Watchtower to work on one of the main engines, Supes had been saying it sounded wrong,” he said, launching into his tale but Damian was taken back to a different time, three years before when he had first met his love. 

 I could even learn how to love like you. 

Three years ago. 

Damian trailed behind his father into the main room of the Watchtower when he had noticed something out of the ordinary. There seemed to be someone floating on the outside of the ship without a space suit of any kind. 

“Batman,” he gasped out, stepping towards the man only for his steps to falter as the man-being waved at him with a wide smile. Bruce looked over curiously and smiled. 

“Oh, that’s Phantom,” he said simply. “He’s the head engineer of the Watchtower maintenance crew. Although, I have been trying to convince him to join us as an actual member for well over a month now. He refuses.”

“He looks no older than I do, how could he be the head engineer?” Damian asked, looking mystified as the being, Phantom phased through the window and gave him a dopey smile. 

“Would you believe me if I said I was just cool like that?” He asked, looking Damian up and down. “And who might you be?”

“Right, you’ve not seen him in his newest persona,” Batman said before, Damian’s eyes had to be deceiving him, his father was smiling at Phantom! “This is Red Bird.”

Damian held out a hand for Phantom. “It’s a pleasure,” he said, locking in on those eyes that reminded him of the Lazarus Pits he had grown up around. 

“Oh, I think the pleasure is all mine,” Phantom had purred, his eyes a green fire that had sucked Damian in immediately. He had never been bested so easily by someone else in all his life. 

I always thought I might be bad, now I’m sure that it’s true. 

He never did learn how Danny had managed to become the head engineer, even after three years of dating the halfa.

“And then Detective Chimp had to but in! Which why the hell do we have a fucking monkey on the team anyway! His name is fucking Bobo, Dami, Bobo!” Danny said, now fully awake as he laid starfished in their bed, the pillow now resting on his chest as he glared up at the ceiling. 

Damian chuckled and pulled his shirt over his head before he glanced at his boyfriend once more. “He is a detective, darling, quite a good one at that. I think he’s almost as good as,” Damian stopped and scowled. No, he was not going to go in that direction, he was not going to bring up his father, not when his mood was finally starting to lift and he had been distracted by his lover. 

“Oh, I know that look,” Danny said before he floated off of the bed and gave Damian a look as he cupped his face in his calloused hands. Danny’s right thumb ran along the small scar just below Damian’s left eye. Almost miniscule, no one had ever noticed it before except for Danny. It had been from his first time knife fighting as a child, his oppent had managed to get a single nick in and Damian had been punished within an inch of his life for letting someone get past his defenses. 

He had been five at the time. 

Danny had been ready to destroy all of Nanda Parbat when he had first learned how Damian had gotten the scar. No one had ever been so angry on his behalf before. Sure, his family were angry about his upbringing but not once had they ever truly considered the emotional and mental damage it had done to Damian. How he had to work so hard to be good in their eyes even after all these years.

Cause I think you’re so good, and I’m nothing like you.

“What did he say to you this time?” Danny asked, his big blue eyes curious and so very full of love. 

Damian sighed. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, stepping away to change into his pajama pants. Danny grabbed his wrist and frowned. 

“What did we talk about, Polaris?” He asked, brows now furrowed in concern. 

“My feelings matter,” Damian recited like a toddler back to his boyfriend. 

Look at you go, I just adore you. 

“Now, do you want to talk about it? Or do you want me to drop it?” Danny asked him, letting go of his wrist to instead wind their fingers together, interlocking them so that Damian could not escape his boyfriend’s grasp even if he wanted to.

Damian just smiled at him. “I do not wish to expand into the entire argument. But he told me that I will always be an assassin at heart and that I will never be more than that,” he said softly, his eyes sad as he tried his very best to not replay the argument in his head. 

I wish that I knew, what makes you think I’m so special. 

Danny’s face crumpled before he pulled Damian in for a tight hug, the shorter man pressed Damian’s face to his neck, forcing the vigilante to crouch slightly. “He’s wrong, you’re an amazing vigilante, Damian. You’ve done so much for people, for Gotham, ancients you’ve done so much for the world,” he said, combing his fingers through Damian’s hair. “You could have easily decided that this wasn’t the life for you when you left Talia, you could have decided to live as a normal kid and never get involved in any of this. But you became a vigilante anyway, and you’ve stayed a vigilante, a hero for the last ten years. Only a special kind of person could do that, Polaris,” Danny said softly, pressing a soft kiss to Damian’s damp cheek.

 He absolutely rubbed at his face, not even realizing that he had been crying.

If I could, begging to do, something that does right by you. I would do about anything. 

“Let’s get to bed,” Danny said, watching as Damian pulled away to slip his pajama bottoms on. Danny took his hand once more and led him to their large bed. He pulled the blankets back and slipped Damian in them.

Once Damian was secure underneath the blankets, Danny wrapped his arm around him and held him close. “You know, the first time I laid my eyes on you, Damian, I knew you were the one for me,” Danny whispered in his ear, his chin rested on Damian’s shoulder as the ghost spooned him, holding the vigilante close. “My core, it sung for you. It saw the good in you even then,” he whispered. 

Damian smiled. It had taken him so long to work up the nerve to ask Danny on a date. 

Three Years Earlier. 

Damian stared at the head engineer as he declined Batman’s offer once again to join the Justice League Dark, stating once again that his passion was for engineering and nothing more. Damian had walked towards him just moments later, finally working up the nerve to talk to the ghost once again. 

“Why do you need turning him down?” He asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “Would you not like to use your powers to be a hero?”

Phantom had just smiled and shook his head. “Nope,” he said simply as he fasted the work belt to his waist. “Why would I do something that doesn’t make me happy?”

“For the safety of others? It is a duty, an obligation-”

“No, it isn’t,” Phantom told him. “It may be that for you, but it isn’t for me. I spent three long years trying to keep my hometown safe and I was very good at it until one day I realized it didn’t make me happy. There were others in the area who genuinely enjoyed being a hero so I let them take over. Then with all that extra time I graduated early, got my bachelor’s in engineering and now I’m working on the Watchtower as the head engineer while I get my masters. This is it for me, Redbird, it’s what makes me happy.”

Damian frowned. “But don’t you feel as though that is a waste?” He asked, trying to understand the man’s logic. 

Phantom shook his head. “Not at all. I’ve got a lot on my plate, you know? I’m the Ghost King for one, which thankfully isn’t a whole lot of work now that I’ve got a council that pretty much runs everything. I’m mostly just a figure head nowadays. And I’m just plain old Danny Phantom, the head engineer of the Justice League’s homebase. If they need me to consult with their Dark team or need my help, I’ll offer it. But I won’t go out of my way for it,” he explained. “It doesn’t bring me joy, I don’t feel a sense of pride saving the world or helping others. I just feel tired. And that’s okay.”

“I do not think I understand,” Damian said slowly. This was not something he had ever thought of. His entire life had been planned for him. First he was the heir to the Demon’s Head and then he was the heir to Batman, the only blood son. Expected to take on the mantle of Robin and fight side by side with Batman to keep the forces of evil at bay. 

And now Danny was telling him that he didn’t have to do that if it did not make him happy?

When I see the way you look, shaken by how long it took. I could do about anything. 

“Danny,” Damian said softly, turning over to face his beloved. He searched those beautiful blue eyes and let out a breath. “I do not think being RedBird brings me joy anymore.”

Danny just gave him a small smile. “That’s okay,” he whispered. “You’ve been kicking ass for ten years, that’s a long time to devote yourself to others.”

“Will you help me?” Damian asked, twining their fingers together. “Will you help me find what sparks joy for me?”

The smile Danny gave him was dazzling. “Of course, Polaris. I would be honored to help you,” he whispered. 

I could even learn how to love like you. 

Love like you. 

Love me like you. 

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[fairytales-and-folklore]

Sugar and Tea and Rum

Teen Wolf » Sterek

Title: Sugar and Tea and Rum

Author: fairytalesandfolklore

Fandom: Teen Wolf (Masterlist)

Relationship: Derek Hale x Stiles Stilinski

AO3 Rating: Teen & Up (a complete collection of author's notes, inspiration credits, content warnings and tags can be found on AO3)

Summary: Stiles discovers that Derek harbors a secret love of sea shanties and keeps turning every lyric into a sexual innuendo. But soon enough, he's just as into them, the two of them spending a scenic road trip down the coast with the stereo on full blast, singing along with the song Wellerman at the top of their lungs (and making out in the back of Derek's car at every rest stop.)

"Sorry, it's just—" Stiles snickers, catching his breath. "These lyrics, man. They're a veritable goldmine of sexual innuendo. I mean, 'one day when the tonguing is done'? What kind of tonguing are we talking about here? Cause if that's how it is, maybe I should think about becoming a sailor. I've certainly got the mouth for it." Derek's brain short-circuits, sweeping right past the obvious swears like a sailor joke and diving headfirst into a fantasy detailing all the ways Stiles could put that mischievous mouth of his to good use.

Read On AO3 | Read On Tumblr:

In an effort to get the whole pack together for one last end-of-summer hurrah before they all head back to college, Lydia invites everyone to come stay at her beach house for a weekend getaway. And because everyone else is all coupled up — Scott and Allison with Lydia and Jackson in one car, Erica and Boyd with Isaac and Danny in another — Stiles and Derek get stuck together in the carpool. And since Derek absolutely refuses to subject himself to Stiles's Jeep, convinced the "absolute deathtrap" won't survive the trip, they have no choice but to take the Camaro.

Which is how the two of them end up squished into the cozy confines of the cab, Derek so distracted by the thought of Stiles shirtless, sunkissed, and soaked in saltwater that he nearly crashes every time Stiles so much as looks in his direction, while Stiles runs on a 50/50 blend of too many espresso shots and nervous energy as he fidgets in the passenger seat and drums out a steady beat against the dashboard, lamenting the fact that he'd left all of his mixed CDs in the Jeep, because what he desperately wants right now is some classic 90's summer pop to set the mood.

"Why don't you just play something from your phone?" Derek suggests with an air of mild impatience. "This car's got bluetooth. I'm sure I can stomach your terrible taste in music for—" he glances down at his phone to check the map, and huffs out a groan. "Ugh, we've still got another two and a half hours until we get there."

"Oh, ha-ha," Stiles retorts, rolling his eyes. "Can't believe I'm stuck in a car with a guy who thinks *NSYNC was just okay."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Derek sighs. "I told you, I just think Backstreet Boys was better, that's all."

"Heathen."

"I mean, come on, you can't top Everybody."

"Oh, but I can try," Stiles smirks, arching his eyebrows suggestively. 

"Stiles," Derek says his name like it's a curse. 

And really, Derek should have known that Stiles would find a way to make that sound dirty.

"No, you're right. I'm probably more of a bottom," he adds with a mock-thoughtful tap against his chin, delighting in the delicate blush that curls its way across Derek's cheekbones. 

He grips the steering wheel until his knuckles turn white and grumbles, "Oh my god, will you just connect your phone and pick a damn song already?"

"I would, but my piece of shit phone deleted all of my playlists, and I have like, no service out here."

Stiles sighs, turning his attention to the rolling landscape framed in the passenger's side window — mountains towering toward cloudy skies whipping past them in a blur of green and blue, summer breeze perfumed with the scent of orange and jasmine blossoms as they wind their way through a sea of citrus groves — and contents himself with the fact that at least the view, both inside and outside of the Camaro, is breathtaking.

A solid weight lands in his lap, and Stiles glances down in time to see Derek offering him his phone. Stiles blinks up at him, confused.

"You can use mine," he says.

"You have playlists?"

"I have youtube."

Stiles nods and gives him an appreciative smile, a warm glow settling in the center of his chest as he cradles Derek's phone in his hands like it's a precious thing. They've known each other for years now, but every subtle gesture of trust still takes him by surprise sometimes.

Stiles opens the app, scrolling through his mental rolodex to figure out which upbeat boy band classic he should start with first (read: which one he thinks he could badger Derek into duetting with him) when he accidentally clicks on something in Derek's browser history, and—

"What is this?" Stiles asks as a deep, rumbling voice with a thick accent hums through the speakers.

"It's a sea shanty," Derek says with a casual shrug.

Stiles gapes at him. 

"You. Derek Hale. Listen to sea shanties," he says.

Derek shrugs again. "I like it when they harmonize."

Stiles practically vibrates with glee.

"This is awesome. You just keep getting more and more interesting the more layers I unravel."

Derek pretends to scoff and roll his eyes, but Stiles can tell by the subtle twitch of his lips that he's secretly pleased.

As for Stiles, he's smiling so hard his face hurts. He can't help it. He doesn't even know why this is so amusing to him. Before he knows it, he's concocting a whole Derek The Sailor fantasy in his head, crisp white form-fitting uniform drenched in a crash of ocean waves, the chiseled muscles of his arms flexing as he weighs anchor and hoists the sails, sun glistening off the beads of sweat clinging to his bare chest, and— oh, this slipped into dangerous territory real fast. Oh god, oh fuck, he can't let Derek know he's having secret seafaring fantasies about him while he's literally sitting right next to him, close enough for Derek to hear the sudden spike in his heartbeat. Shit, he's in trouble. Quick, think of something non-sexual—

"I'm sorry, did he just say 'blow me'?" Stiles blurts out around a pearl-clutching gasp.

Derek heaves a long-suffering sigh.

"He says 'blow, comma, me bully boys, blow'," Derek corrects him. "It's a seafaring term."

Stiles stifles a laugh, because he's still a sarcastic asshole with the mentality of a twelve year old. Curiosity piqued, he pulls up google and looks up the rest of the lyrics. 

A sharp burst of laughter nearly makes Derek swerve into the minivan in the lane next to them, and there he goes again, barking Stiles's name like it's the king of swear words, his entire face just one big frown.

"Sorry, it's just—" Stiles snickers, catching his breath. "These lyrics, man. They're a veritable goldmine of sexual innuendo. I mean, 'one day when the tonguing is done'? What kind of tonguing are we talking about here? Cause if that's how it is, maybe I should think about becoming a sailor. I've certainly got the mouth for it."

Derek's brain short-circuits, sweeping right past the obvious swears like a sailor joke and diving headfirst into a fantasy detailing all the ways Stiles could put that mischievous mouth of his to good use.

"Stiles," Derek says warningly, gripping the steering wheel in an effort to not run them off the road.

"I'm not trying to offend, I swear," Stiles insists, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just think it's funny."

Derek levels him with a pointed glare.

"You do know the song's about battling a whale and that 'tonguing' means butchering, right?" Derek asks, arching an eyebrow.

Stiles pales.

"Oh god. Okay, then I definitely do not want to experience that kind of tonguing," Stiles amends with a grimace and a sharp shake of his head.

"Granted," he adds with a melodramatic sigh. "After all the shit we've been through over the years, that's probably the only kind of 'tonguing' I'm ever going to get, so…"

There's silence for a moment, and then Derek hums thoughtfully and says, "I'll see what I can do to remedy that," a roguish smile curling across his lips as he arches his eyebrows suggestively, and Stiles chokes on air.

They make a quick pit stop at the next exit to stock up on snacks, and absolutely do not spend a full twenty minutes making out in the back seat.

(Okay, fine. An hour.)

• • •

Sunset finds the two of them beating a steady rhythm against the dashboard and the steering wheel, twin beatific grins plastered across their ruddy faces, singing at the top of their lungs with the stereo cranked to the max, Stiles taking the melody, Derek the harmony.

"SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME

TO BRING US SUGAR AND TEA AND RUM

ONE DAY WHEN THE TONGUIN' IS DONE

WE'LL TAKE OUR LEAVE AND GO"

Over the course of the next couple of days, Lydia comes to regret keeping her liquor cabinets well-stocked with a variety of rum, and asking if anyone wants sugar in their tea gets taboo'd faster than you-know-who in Deathly Hallows, because any time any one of them even so much as hums a single bar, the whole thing starts right back up again with an obnoxiously giddy Stiles and Derek chanting at the top of their lungs with no regard for the time of night, before collapsing against each other in a fit of giggles and stolen kisses, until the rest of the pack is so fed up with their shit, they're threatening to chuck them both into the sea and make it look like a whaling accident.

[seenoversundown]

Sultry

Josh Kiszka x Quinn (Enby OC)

Warnings: Fluff, Thoughts/Discussion of having children, Jake’s ratty boots, sandcastles, improper (or proper, depending 🤭) use of “daddy”

Word Count: 2.5k

Summary: The crew has a beach day and Quinn has to grapple with how hot Josh is when he takes care of others.

Author's Note: This one is a little bit short, but I don’t want to give too much away before you all actually meet Josh and Quinn 🤭 Please enjoy!

Ramblin'

Where to begin?

I taste the summer on your peppery skin

“Summersong” The Decemberists.

When Danny and Melody floated the idea of a family beach day at Rangeley Lake a few weeks ago, I had been convinced it would never come to fruition. Jake runs a tight ship at the bar, so I was sure he’d take issue with all four boys being away for the day. But Jake either decided to live a little, or he knew we’d never let him live it down if we missed out on a beach day because of him. Regardless of his reason, he left the bar in the hands of one of his steady bartenders for the day.

And so, I find myself surrounded by bags and spinning in a circle in the bedroom, trying to remember what I'm doing.

Double-checking the supplies, that's right.

“Bug!! Are you ready? We need to head out in about 15 minutes!” Josh yells from across our apartment.

I shift items around the bags I’ve been packing all morning, taking stock to ensure we have everything.

Sunblock, extra clothes, extra shoes, kindle, towels, a blanket…

“Yeah, Starlight! I think we’re good to go!” I shout back.

I jump, feeling his arms wrap around my middle as he rests his head in the crook of my shoulder.

“No need to yell; I'm right here,” he whispers against the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. He presses a kiss directly below my ear before slowly pulling away and spinning me around to face him.

“You scared me,” I giggle, staring into his eyes.

“I’m sorry, dear. I was just coming to see if you needed help getting our bags to the car.”

He moves toward the bed and slips them over his arms, rushing out of the room before I can even respond.

He loves caring for me; he’ll be such a good dad one day.

The thought slips into my head before I can even hope to stop it. It’s a conversation we’ve kicked around a few times, usually after a few glasses of wine, but not anything we’ve discussed seriously.

I shake my head to stop further thoughts from creeping in.

We’ll table that for now.

I hear the front door click closed, signaling that Josh is headed down to load the car, and I walk out to the living room to put on my sandals. I sit on the couch, pulling out my phone to check The Girl's group chat.

Wilson: Sam and I are about to get in the car

Charmander: I’m fighting with Jacob about appropriate shoes for the lake.

Charmander: Again.

Melli Vanelli: Loafers?

Charmander: …His boots this time 😫

Wilson: If he shows up in those boots, he’ll never hear the end of it.

Charmander: I have told him that. He insists he doesn't care.

Melli Vanelli: Last time he insisted he didn’t care about being made fun of…

Wilson: HE ENDED UP WITH A GIRLFRIEND AFTER YEARS OF INSISTING HE DIDN’T WANT ONE.

Wilson: No offense, Char

Charmander: None taken.

I laughed, remembering the group effort of gentle bullying that led Jake to find the love of his life semi-reluctantly.

Me: I vote we let him wear the boots.

Me: Maybe we can bully him into finally throwing them away.

Charmander: You may have a point, Quinn.

Wilson: Only time will tell

The door clicks, and Josh sweeps back in.

“Ready, darling?”

I let out one final chuckle and stood up from the couch. I slipped my phone into the front pocket of my overall shorts before walking over to Josh.

“I am, my love,” I say, leaning forward and kissing the tip of his nose.

The way his cheeks heat up at the small gesture makes my stomach swoop.

He laces his fingers through mine and gestures toward the door.

“Your chariot awaits!”

I follow him out the door and down to the car, hopping into the passenger's seat.

__________________________________

We pull up to the main parking lot about 2 hours later, and my limbs scream at me.

“Thank God,” I practically shout in Josh’s face as he opens my door.

I hop out of the car and shake my legs out.

“I’m too old to remain in one position for so long.”

“Oh, is that so?” Josh gives me a wink.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know exactly what,” I roll my eyes but can’t help the giggle that bubbles out of me.

“Mmm, I don't think I do,” he grabs the straps of my overalls and pulls me in for a kiss.

I look around the parking lot, noting that we are somehow the first couple here.

Interesting considering Sam and Willa were the first to leave. I’ll file that away for later. Oh well, better make the most of it.

“Alright, let’s go claim a spot before the other tourists descend.”

We grab our cooler and bags and wander to the beach, claiming a spot closer to the treeline at the lake's edge.

I watch as Josh lays out our towels and sets up an umbrella.

“My baby won’t get a sunburn today,” he says, pulling a tube of sunscreen out of one of our bags, “now lay down and take your clothes off.”

I roll my eyes at his phrasing but unbuckle the straps of my overalls and slide them down, leaving me in my olive-green sports bra and swim shorts.

I set my clothes aside, lay on the towel in front of me, and close my eyes, feeling the sun soak into my skin.

Josh crawls overtop of me, straddling my hips and places a featherlight kiss between my shoulder blades.

“You’d think after all this time I'd be used to it, but your beauty is staggering.”

What did I do to deserve him?

He opens the sunscreen and squeezes a bit into his hands, rubbing them together to warm it up before massaging it into my shoulders.

A small moan escapes my lips as he hits a particularly tense spot.

“Jesus Christ”

I jump, hearing Sam’s voice to my left.

“They’re at it again, Bird!”

“Leave them alone, Sam,” Willa snarks, “they're in love.”

“Can’t they be in love like that in private?”

I feel Josh shift on top of me, and I lift my head, opening my eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of Sam being smacked in the chest by the bottle of sunscreen.

I huff a small laugh through my nose and pat Josh’s leg, signaling him to let me up.

“Sorry, Sam. We take sun safety very seriously,” I start, “but that’s beside the point. Would you care to tell us why you allegedly were the first to leave, but we somehow got here before you?”

I fix him with a wicked grin, and he quickly shuts up.

“That’s what I thought.”

“That’s enough of that,” Willa chimes in, grabbing my hand and pulling me away, “I'm stealing Quincy. You boys can finish setting up while we wait for the others to arrive.”

__________________________________

A few hours later, after the rest of the group arrived, I find myself on the beach, surrounded by the three best women in my life.

Willa leans up from her towel to look at me.

“So, Quindolynn,” a cheeky grin overtakes her face, and I sigh, already knowing where this is going.

“Wanna share with the class how Josh has managed to bring out the side of you that doesn't care about PDA?”

“Yeah, if you wanna tell us how Sam has managed to break your obsession with punctuality.”

A chorus of “Oohs” sounds off from Charlotte and Melody, and I whip my head in their direction.

“Careful, there—” Willa and I say simultaneously, and we both dissolve into a fit of giggles as she motions for me to take the lead.

“I’m sure we could ask y'all something similar.”

“We absolutely could, Q,” Willa laughs, “for example, Charlotte… isn't it interesting how you took a day off work.”

“I take off work all the time,” Charlotte scoffs.

“Sure you do, Charmander,” I cut in, “but you left your phone in the car this time. No work emails.”

I can feel her eyes roll from behind her sunglasses, but she doesn't say a peep.

“And Melli,” I continue, “I’ve noticed you've not been fretting over anyone today.”

“OR trying to fight,” Willa adds.

Melody snorts a laugh.

“Well,” Melody starts, “I think we all have the same answer. Good dick!”

“Cheers to that,” Charlotte quietly responds.

“Is that how you convinced Jake to wear normal shoes, Hottie Lottie?” Willa asks through a laugh.

“Maybe, maybe not…” she responds, steepling her fingers under her chin.

The conversation lulls into a contented silence, and I turn my attention to Josh. He’s down near the water with Melody and Danny’s daughter, Iris.

I watch as she grabs his hand to get his attention.

She always has his attention when she's around. He loves that little girl. And I love how much he loves her.

Once she’s sure she has his attention, she signs something to him.

I can't quite make it out from up here, but I see Josh flash her a toothy grin before he scoops her up and runs into the lake with her.

My stomach swoops, watching as he picks her up and gently throws her into the water.

Iris’s wild giggles carry through the air as she swims the few feet back over and clings to Josh, asking him to do it again.

“QUINN!” Melody practically yells, grabbing my attention from Josh and Iris.

“Huh?”

“You were in your own little world over there,” she laughs, “been trying to get your attention for a minute.”

An embarrassed blush creeps up my neck and over my cheeks.

“Sorry, I was distracted.”

“No need to apologize. You just got your heart eyes on.”

“I suppose I do,” I laugh. “It's hard not to when I’m staring at the love of my life.”

“Mhmmmmmm, especially when they're playing with babies,” she winks at me.

She's honestly too good at reading me. I should work on that.

“HA, I hadn't even noticed.”

Melody cocks a skeptical brow at me.

“If we’re telling lies today, I still believe in the Easter Bunny. Look, babe, it's easy to get lost in your man when he’s acting like a daddy. Nothing wrong with it at all.”

I roll my eyes and scrub one hand down my face.

It’s useless to deny it.

“It’s unnecessarily hot, seeing him play with babies.”

“Amen,” Charlotte pipes up, lowering the book she’s been reading, “I've had to distract myself every time Jake picks her up.”

Willa hums in agreement.

I abruptly stand up from my towel and wipe my hands on my shorts.

“I’m gonna go hang out with them.”

“Just make sure you hand Iris off to Daniel before you start your weird PDA,” Melody laughs, “she's innocent!”

I turn and flip her off before walking down the beach.

__________________________________

Josh is standing about waist-deep in the water, holding Iris and pretending to drop her as she squirms in his arms.

Iris sees me approaching before Josh does, her face breaking out in a massive grin. She unclasps her little arms from behind Josh’s neck and flings them around wildly in a double wave.

I have to stifle a laugh as Josh fights to keep hold of the slippery child.

‘Play?’ Iris signs to me.

‘Of course!’

A wild giggle peels from her mouth before Josh finally turns around.

He visibly relaxes when our eyes meet.

I begin to walk into the lake, making grabby hands at Iris.

Josh meets me halfway and hands her over.

“I missed you, Bug,” he tucks an errant curl behind my ear before moving his hand down to pat Iris’ back.

“We’ve hardly been apart.”

“Doesn't matter, I still missed you.”

And that's fair; I miss him whether we’re apart for minutes or days.

“I missed you too, my love,” I admit, softly kissing his cheek.

He drops a hand on my lower back and gently ushers me in the direction of the towels that he had set aside for himself and Iris.

I gently drop Iris to the sand and watch her toddle to Josh.

‘Dry me?’

‘Of course, princess.’

He bends over and opens a towel for Iris, wrapping her in it and kissing her forehead.

Those pesky thoughts from this morning return, and I imagine Josh doing the same to our kid one day.

Ow. My heart.

Still wrapped in her little towel, Iris picks up a small plastic bucket and waves it at me.

‘Sandcastles?’ I ask, putting two and two together.

Iris furiously nods and runs over to a free spot of sand.

I grab Josh’s hand, following behind her.

It’s not long before Iris has us in a little sandcastle assembly line.

She fills the buckets, Josh packs the sand and carefully places it where Iris tells him, and I use my fingers to add designs to the sand buildings.

She decided we were building a little compound for our ragtag family.

She points at each building, telling me who it belongs to so I can make personalized designs.

An elaborate bird for Willa and Sam, a skull and crossbones for Jake and Charlotte, Beautiful flowers for Danny and Melody, and stars for Me and Josh.

Iris requested a more elaborate Castle in the middle of the compound to live in.

‘You want to live alone?’

‘No, but sometimes adults need alone time.’

Josh guffawed at her response.

“She’s so little and so wise.”

I nod at him before I go back to adding designs to her castle.

__________________________________

“Food’s ready!” Jake yells from across the way.

I notice Melody and Danny walking in our direction to collect the child.

My eyes shift over to Josh, and I decide to mess with him a little bit.

“Come on, Daddy,” I say lowly, watching him swallow at the word, “let's get Iris to her real parents.”

I hand Iris over to Danny, waiting for him to walk off. I glance over to Josh, taking in the bewildered look on his face.

I love making his brain short-circuit.

“Um—” he starts, “D-daddy? You hardly ever call me that.”

“Well, I've never wanted to make you one as badly as I do now.”

“M-ake me one?”

“Yes, Josh.”

He turns around, eyes darting around the group.

“Right now?” He grabs my hand.

“Why don't we start when we get home?” I laugh.

“But we could practice now; make sure we know what we’re doing!” he begins dragging me toward the parking lot.

“Are we really about to go fuck in your car like teenagers? You can't wait till we leave?” I jokingly chided him.

“Yes and no,” he drags me a little bit quicker, “I have needed you all day. And I refuse to wait any longer.”

“But—”

He turns around and catches me off guard with a kiss that leaves me wanting more, and I know that I’m going to let him get his way.

I always do…

The Caravel Tavern Series | Masterlist

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[leclerced]

But for now I thought about sth else. As a friend of people that have absolutely the worst taste in men (and women but that’s my brother so imma just keep him out of it cause he’s on a whole other level lol) I thought about boys being green or red flag in their girl’s friends eyes.

Lando is a red flag. I love him and he’s my baby but I can’t lie to myself…he’s a fucking red flag. If any of my friends met him they’d be like “bitch you’re giving us lectures about who’s right or not for us but you end up with him?!!! Hypocrite.”

Oscar is a green flag through and through. At least one of my besties would ask if we’re ever trying poly cause if so she’s all there for it. But they’d be worried about my sex life that’s for sure. Not that I think Oscar is bad I just think you can think that when meeting him for the first time

Charles is kind of green but they put like…red dots over it. Because yes he’s nice, he’s a gentleman and looks like can give me the orgasms I deserve but something’s off they just don’t know what yet

Max wouldn’t get a verdict they’re still deciding for like days after meeting him and hesitantly give him a green flag. They think he’s a sweetheart but just a bit too hard to figure out

Carlos would be green for the first few minutes and red for the rest of his life. That’s just how it works lmao

lando is a red flag because he jokes around but hurts her feelings by accident then is like “oscar wouldn’t cry if i said that to him?? i dont get why you’re upset?” for him he just bullies his friends and he considers her his best friend so he thinks he can pick on her but it genuinely upsets her

oscar def looks very soft and gentle. girlies would be like “are you sure you want him?? like have you had sex yet?” and suddenly she’s gushing about how good he is in bed like thank god you asked!! let me tell you allll about it. and then he gets a full green flag

they def think smth is off w charles, they think he’s not gonna stay around. he’s got a fast paced life and a string of short term relationships and she’s the first one to last a substantial amount of time. they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, him to fall out of love and leave her, cheat on her, stop being a perfect prince charming. they’d definitely find things wrong with him, mostly how often he’s away and how they don’t get much time together, or say he’s trying to isolate her from them when he invites her out to a string of races and she’s gone for weeks at a time traveling with him.

they would be sooo confused about max because he would zone out while meeting her friends, they start talking about shopping and he starts staring at the wall behind one of her friends and looks so grumpy then his girl grabs his hand under the table and his face softens instantly and he grins as he looks over to her, lifts their intertwined hands and presses a kiss to each of her fingers then the back of her hand. he’d keep doing cute little things like that then staring off and looking grouchy. she has to explain that’s just his thinking face in the groupchat when everyone asks why he looked so annoyed for the entire lunch. they’d have definitely snuck pics and send them in the group chat like babe hes soo angry why are you with him?? and she sends back the cutest candids of him. sends videos of him carrying his cats around like babies and speaking to them in a baby voice. that convinces them and they’re still a little wary and waiting for her to call crying about him being an asshole, but the call never comes.

carlos is a green flag when they see his pics and then they meet him and they’re all begging him to leave him but she won’t bc she loves him

i’d like to add that danny is an instant green flag and they’re all asking if he has brothers or australian friends he can introduce them to. they all love him from the first meeting and are like, okay when is the wedding??

[goodnightmoonvale]

Was listening to the song Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) by the Pet Shop Boys and also thinking about how the Corinthian looks an awful lot like Brad Pitt's character in Ocean's Eleven in a nice tan suit, and thinking about how an Ocean's Eleven Dreamling (or perhaps Hob/Dream/Corinthian) AU would go

The problem, of course, is that while Danny Ocean being in prison is a perfect analogue for Dream being Captured, casting Hob as the love interest doesn't work because she doesn't wait, the whole point of the movie is that they're doing the heist to screw over her new lover, and she didn't wait while Danny was in prison.

And Hob's whole thing is that he waits. That he's waited. The Penelope to Dream's Odysseus, constant and faithful and hopeful.

So how would this change an Ocean's Eleven AU? Who is the heist on, and what emotions is it for? The thing that makes everyone wince a little, and understand at once the real reason Dream is trying to pull this crazy heist off?

Option 1: Hob may have waited, but the way in which he waits is not obvious or apparent to Dream, the Corinthian, or the rest of the crew. Perhaps Hob and Dream really did have a big blowout fight about Dream going to prison, about the circumstances of that job. Maybe Hob cut ties from the rest of the crew and "went legit" and started his own casino or something. Reinvented himself with all his cash from the last job. And Dream is just so, so mad, because to him that feels like abandonment, even if it wasn't meant that way, and the heist is on Hob's casino as revenge for not waiting

Option 2: the heist is on Roderick Burgess's casino as revenge for the circumstances that lead to Dream's arrest

Option 3: Maybe Hob isn't the love interest? Like if we're doing OT3 shit. Maybe Calliope or the Corinthian is the love interest that "didn't wait", and Hob is the one that picks Dream up from prison.

Actually honestly I think that works out better, character-wise. In that the Corinthian has left and is now hooking up with Roderick Burgess and Hob and Dream are Rusty Ryan and Danny Ocean, respectively.

Doesn't quite feel exactly right to me, emotionally, though. I think maybe. Hmmm. If I was going to make it work, especially from an OT3 perspective, that Corinthian either made a mistake that went way farther than he thought, or ended up having to go along with it because whatever Desire and Roderick Burgess had planned would have been worse, and it ended up looking a lot like betrayal, and he knows why Hob won't talk to him anymore, and he's been trying to work his way in and double cross Richard Burgess ever since and hasn't quite managed it yet.

That fits almost perfectly, and I think the only reason I can't quite get it settled is that in the movie, Danny Ocean wants Tess back, he's doing the heist to convince her that he's the more savvy man. Whereas in the face of a betrayal like that, Dream would be furious. He wouldn't want the Corinthian back, he'd want him destroyed.

So I guess you have a third option:

Dream as Tess, Hob as Danny Ocean, and the Corinthian as Rusty Ryan. That fits a lot more of the relationship emotional beats, I think, in that I feel Dream would be more likely to take on another lover or "move on" without Hob, and Hob would absolutely be the one to try and convince Dream to come back to him. It doesn't quite fit the Corinthian, but I think you could make it work in that he's feeling betrayed and abandoned by Dream, especially if there's a fight about how "You went Too Far this time, Hob's in Jail now and that was Too Dangerous and I am Through with all of you" and the Corinthian is hurt that Dream's mad he fulfilled his function. So that could work pretty well.

Idk. I guess all these configurations could be interesting.

[kayetra-spade-queen]

What I see

What better way to start the story of this silly team?

A ship story, obviously.

What ship? Benrex, duh-

Rex had been working a lot for the past week.

The amount of times he'd been called into duty for missions is honestly astounding, it's a bit concerning.

One particular person was especially worried about the human EVO man.

"You've been working a lot lately." That was the first thing the designer of Omnique Rosula as he sat in front of him in the living space.

"H-huh? Oh, yeah. Techno-based missions are increasing lately, mixed with the need to bash some heads. But it's nothing that I can't handle." The EVO replied, seemingly noticed the worried tone of his partner.

Even with the reply, it didn't sit right with the anodite hybrid. They've been together for so long now, it didn't take even a second for him to notice that Rex was really worn out.

"You should take a break. If there's any similar missions like this, I'll take over the Overview department for a while. Kim and Danny sometimes forgot that we had other variety of attendants in the departments, and assigned members didn't have to be in the fixed amount on 3 people at the first round."

"It's fine, really! I'm sorry if I worry you, but I'm really okay. I'll be fine for the next couple of missions, I swear."

The wielder of the Omnitrix let out an annoyed yet had the tad bit of worry huff at his EVO fiance. His mother instincts would've said to force him to stay put for a while until he was sure he'll be fine for the next missions he'll be assigned to, but he held back.

The EVO could only slightly sweatdrop at his fiance. He is well aware that the wielder of the Omnitrix and the well known fashion designer in France didn't seem pleased with his reply, yet still decided to just let it be for now, at least until he could convinced him.

But oh boy how he failed. Quickly, and miserably.

It was after a mission that involves spiritualism, technology, and boat load of fighting some rogue spirits. Danny did his best to shield the team, while Rex fought the spirits like some wolf who hadn't eaten in years, and June was trying to keep everyone healed up as everything they do drains them fairly quickly.

When they got back though (with bandages and some parts of their bodies glows in pink), Jake had this particularly grim look with a mix of pity on his face when he looked at Rex.

"Your fiance want to talk to you after you get proper treatment and rest. He and Randy are on their way, I'm just here to give you a warning before I go back to the Magical World for a quick emergency call." Those are the only things the dragon hybrid said before he went off to his pearl keeping duty at the Magical World.

He is screwed, he thought. And he wasn't wrong, not by the slightest.

The entire time everyone got treated, it was dead silent. The silence is so intimidating, no one else could even say a word.

Ben, however, kept with his stoic and unreadable expression on his face, which didn't really help the EVO in the slightest.

After a while, everyone who was involved in the mission was now subjected into the 'Off Site' status until their more serious wounds healed up. They were put into their own bedrooms in the base.

For Rex, he shared a room with Ben, even sleep on the same bed together on many occasions when they couldn't make it back home. So Ben frequently went in and out of the room for either take something, or by extent of this situation, taking care of Rex.

There's nothing going on really, just the occasional questions of how he's feeling or does he needed anything. But Rex just feels not so good altogether, and not for the normal reasons. Ben's expression couldn't be even more unreadable than ever, and Rex is getting even more nervous by the second.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I am not."

"... But you really looked like you're angry..."

"I'm not angry, I'm just... Upset."

"Upset I couldn't keep myself away from too many bruises better?"

"Upset that things have to take this turn. You really could've died if it weren't for Fenton's shield and Lee's constant healing."

A moment of silence.

"Sorry..."

"There's nothing for you to apologize about. You did the best you could, although I would've preferred something else. As long as you're here, safe and sound, that's more than enough for me."

"I'll be careful next time, promise."

"You better be. You really know how to make me worry so much, you know that?"

"I would've said the same thing to you back then, too, way back, in fact."

"Hush, let's not talk about that. Just get some rest, alright?"

"Sí, mi amor." The EVO said to his fiance with a playful yet sweet grin.

He could hear the soft tone of relief as his alien-hybrid fiance sighed, the tone where he's just glad he's with him. He did expect scolding, and it did came down to it (or at least something close), but in the end, it was only that the sounds of worry and fear, and the aftertaste of relief that everything didn't went progressively bad.

"Yeah, it turns out just some heart-to-heart conversation between a couple. Nothing to worry about." Said the ghost king who was on call with the American dragon who was still away.

["Well, I guess that's good to hear. I did feel worried when Tennyson said that he wanted to talk to Salazar after you guys returned."]

"Hmm... I think I should do some rearranging for the next couple of missions and commissions. I'm more than sure Tennyson is gonna terrorize me if I assigned his dear husband-to-be in the next technology-combat-based mission again."

["That would do everyone good if you ask me."]

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure no one wanted to go through that. The silence is so suffocating, it could probably cut an entire building."

["I could imagine. Anyways, I should hang up now, gotta go back to work."]

"Oh yeah, sure. Take care."

["See ya, Danny."]

Beep

"I really screwed up, haven't I?" The ghost king sighed as he put his phone to the bedside table before going back to his bed to get rest before either of his medical-attendant friends are gonna burst through his room and terrorized him into resting.

[flamingpudding]

I'm back with a part 4 if you want to do it it's kind of more of a crack write I just need Klarion trying to explain the family tree

But not explaining how he was made at all So Young Justice and the Justice League are now convinced that a the Ghost King was a teenage parent who is now 27 years old and just passed college with a degree in astronomy and machinery

Klarion's other parent is a a crazy fruit loop 64 year old millionaire who went to college with Klarion's Mom parents who had an emotionally unhealthy obsession with his mom's mother and then it passed on to his mom.

And he has an older sister who is technicality a clone of his mom but also has the bastards DNA so fundamentally making Ellie Vlad Master and Mom's first born kid but there's six other siblings that Klarion had that died back a while back but Mom got granddad who's apparently the time lord AKA Cronos which is a whole another long story to go back in time and save those kids get them fixed up and now Klarion technicality has seven older siblings which all do their own things

And then he starts mentioning his uncle who is a 9 ft yeti his technicality auntie who is a medieval ghost princess who can turn into a dragon his auntie Pandora and his his grandfather cronos

My names for the six other clone children are Donald (he/him), Cecelia (they/she), Bartholomew(Them/They), Kyle AKA Bite(He/It), Brutus(He/They), and then there's Danna (She/Her) who actually really like the name Dan and asked Klarion if could have it when Klarion changed his name

Sorry if this is a little bit too much I've just really been thinking about au for this after the last part you made I hope this helps you with your writing or at least makes you laugh but I really love the idea of Danny's AKA somewhat clone children and finding their own personalities and and fighting themselves out of just being failed clone of their mom also I love the idea of Danny going back in time to save the rest of the clone kids cuz now he's a mature adult who wants to save their lives and wants them to grow into their own people.

(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

I probably did way to much research into all the fandoms I am in to see what I could tie into this... And yet this feels shorter than it should but I also currently lack the time to add more. But for now I hope this will be satisfactorily.

Also this family tree idea especially the part of saving the melted clones. LOVE IT!

So even though it took me a while! here is Part 4 you inspired! Thanks so much for the ask!

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

"Dude, you are making us only curious!" Impulse spoke up as he sat down next to Klarion who had his head in his hands. "Like you and your mom can't just drop your family lore like that!"

The witch boy on the other hand looked up with narrowed eyes at the speedster. "What lore?"

"Let's see, the part that apparently a Vlad tried to kill your Grandpa to make friends several time. That your mom is 'ghost' adopted by the lord of time Cronos and Pandora, which makes us family too by the way, and that you have a sister that apparently is even crazier than what we got to know of your family so far." Wonder Girl counted off her fingers next to him grinning as she mentioned the part of probably being a part of his 'crazy' family too. Which hell yea, that sounded like a lot of fun to be explored she would have to talk with Wonder Woman about that as soon as possible.

"Also..." Red Robin added as he flipped through the photo album that apparently no one remembered he had. He was turning it around and pointed at a particular photo with a wild bunch of people in it that varied between more human and well... less humanoid people. One of them definitely was a Yeti and there was also what looked like living armor as well as Teekly (they knew that demon cat at least), a giant green dog and for some reasons there was a green aggressive looking Octopus in the background too. "...how are you related to a Yeti?"

"Hey that man there and those other teens in the picture actually have some resembles with you! Do you have older brothers too?" Superboy additionally asked as he moved around Red Robin to see the photo better pointing at a man that appeared to be in this late twenties, blue eyed, black haired and a little on the buffer side. If he didn't know any better and the fact that he should keep his mouth shut about their actual identities he would have jokingly asked Red Robin if his family would like to add more kids considering Klarions family apparently had a bunch of black haired blue eyed members too, judging by the photo at least.

"What are you talking about. That man is my mom and yes the others are actually my older brothers and that Yeti is uncle Frostbite who also happens to be the best medic in the Infinite Realms" The four teen heroes looked stunned at the picture and then back at the Ghost King that was smiling at them, still seated by the dinner table with their mentors. Who by the way were now perking up at the change of topic and the information they could gain with it, well Wonder Woman was more interested in the apparently extended family she had.

"Oh I remember we took this photo last year, it was such a hassle to get everyone into one place with them all being busy doing their own things." Danny mused for a moment, remembering fondly how he had to literally drag some of the kids home through a portal.

"It was more annoying than anything too since I was declared to be the youngest...." Klarion muttered also remembering that day not as fondly as his mother.

"Wait, wait, wait! That is a picture of your family? I need an explanation buddy!" Impulse cut in without shame, quickly removing the picture from the photo album to get a better look at it before holding it out to Klarion so he could explain all the individuals. "Plus why does your mom look soooo.... human?"

The witch boy on the other hand stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking over towards his mother as if waiting for something. After a moment the teen heroes as well as their mentors saw Danny nod with a little smile. "This dimension doesn't have the GIW so its fine, the Justice League Dark won't be a problem either, right?." Constantine flinched at the smile the Ghost King was giving him, muttering something under his breath as he had hoped his presence had been forgotten.

"Since mom is giving his okay...." Klarion mutter sitting crosslegged on the ground as he snatched the photo album from Red Robin and flipped through it. "Lets start with the easiest stuff to explain."

Danny chuckled noticing that not only the teen heroes but their mentors as well showed an interest. He choose to stay quiet letting the adults listen in on the kids, and if things went bad he would just ask Clockwork if they could revert time back to this moment and he would change his nod of permission to a shake of denial.

"Okay first of, this is my mom and his sister Jasmine, this is Danielle my older sister and that hulk with flaming white hair and blueish skin is me. That was before I got deaged because of destabilising." Klarion explained flipping to a photo of him, Danny, Jazz and Danielle. "Mom was around fifteen, Aunt Jazz about seventeen and Ellie should have been about a year old but she was aged up to twelve. They look human in this one because well they are. Mom was originally human and became what you call in this dimension a Meta through an accident."

"Wait... that would mean your mom... How could he have two kids at that age of fourteen? You look like an adult and your sister was aged up?" Wonder Girl couldn't help but ask as she looked from the photo and back to Danny at the dinner table again.

"That's cause Vlad was a fu-"

"Language Klarion!"

"Vlad was a fruitloop. That photo was taken shortly after Vlad and I sort of redeemed our selfs. Plus, mom didn't really have my sister and me willingly.... we were kind of forced upon him in a way." Klarion explained shrugging. "Old Man Vlad had an obsession with his mom that then turned on mom, which resulted in my oldest sister Danielle first. Actually, a lot of my elder siblings resulted from that, but they didn't survive it the first time, Mom got Old Man Clocks help to save them once he got used to being the Ghost King. I got added to the mix shortly after my sister, but... i wasn't in the best state of mind at first, kind of went through a redemption phase in which mom had to fix the timeline of our original home dimension, too."

Danny chuckled again at the disturbed looks the teens were giving his son as well as the looks their mentors sent him. He probably should correct Klarion's wording... but being one of the gremlins of his family he just smiled on, not commenting. He really understands now why Pops Clockwork liked watching the chaos he used to cause as teen, and still sometimes causes as adult.

"Klarion... how old is this Old Man Vlad?" Red Robin asked grimacing as his eyes under the mask flicked up to the Ghost King and then back to the witch boy both seemingly unbothered by the disturbing information they were sharing.

"In human years... probably around 67? You stop counting age at some point if your a halfa." Klarion shrugged, not noticing the grimaces of the teens around him. "Anyway, Ellie is sort of the first born. I came in after that, with my core being a mix of Mom and Vlad. Not DNA wise though since I came to be because of their ghost cores. That's why I look like that in this photo. Though human DNA wise I am probably now mostly Moms, we never bothered to ask the old man."

Danny muffled another chuckle, coughing as Superman sent him an incredulous look of shook while he felt Batmans burning gaze on him.

"You... mentioned more siblings?" Red Robin asked carefully sharing a look with his team, feeling like there was a whole lot of trauma in Klarions family he wasn't sure they should address or not. So asking after his siblings was probably, hopefully the safest option. They didn't know that while there was trauma in the witch boy's family it was not the kind they were imagining.

"Yea I got a bunch more brothers, Vlad was a evil crazy fuitloop, before he redeemed himself. They all kind of melted in one timeline but mom and Grandpa Clock found a way to save them." Klarion nodded flipping to another photo containing him, as he looked now, and all his siblings.

"So, Ellie you know about already. The one with the sunglasses and died hair is Bartholomew, second oldest. They made themselves a home in other dimension, barely at home cause he has to much fun messing with something called a 'Starstream' by being a 'Constellation' and throwing gold coins at 'Incarnations'. Don't ask me what that means, I barely pay attention when he gushes about his favorit 'Incarnation'. They spent like all their money and pocket money there. Aunt Jazz thinks he might develop a gambling addiction if we don't stop his spendings." The teen heroes eyed the teen that looked like a young adult grinning in the photo as the witch boy pointed at the one next to them. "The one with the vile is my elder brother Bite, most responsible one of this bunch. Mom even allowed him to take care of a couple of dimensions by taking the role of being their God of Death. I think he messed them up more than helped but he is doing a somewhat good job, even if he is sort of obsessed with making some red head his saint or something..."

"One of your sibs is a God?" Impulse gabbed and Klarion just blinked at him with a shrug. "My Grandfather is the ruler of Time, your point is? Wonder Girl is also related to a God of your dimension."

"Never mind him, moving on." A yelp resounded as Superboy pushed Impulse head down leaning in more to see the photo better. "You got one emo looking brother there!"

"Oh that's Yamikumo, he is like a year or two older than me right now, in human years. He barely got any of mom's powers so he choose to try to life a somewhat normal life but weirdly enough he choose a dimension that is ruled by people who have powers and abilities, you know like the Meta Humans of this dimension. Now that I think about it, he is also the only one who actually is studying on how to be a Hero."

"Do you end up fighting with him if he studies to be a hero?" Wonder Girl whisper asked him with a quick glance towards their mentors, to which Klarion shook his head. "As long as we leave the dimensions one of us choose to live in alone we usually don't fight about stuff like that, aside from the usual sibling fights that is. Then again I do have some siblings that like to make bets like who is better at ruling as demon lord, or who can safe a dying timeline quicker."

Danny chuckled again as he watched the kids, Klarion had definitely caused some misunderstandings with his wording. Then again it wasn't like Klarion said anything that wasn't true, but then again his son loved chaos. So there was a suspicion that Klarion intentionally choose the way he worded the explanation about how he and Ellie came to be as well as the rest of siblings.

"So....." Superman slowly started wondering how he should bring up the topic. "...you became a mom at 14?"

"Say Danny is there a way for me to meet this Vlad? You know since we are family." Wonder Woman also asked smiling in a certain way that reminded Danny of Valerie when she was mad but didn't want to show right away how mad she was, to which the Ghost King on reflex could do nothing but gulp for a moment. Not noticing that a green post it note appeared on the table before him.

[percontaion-points]

The Chemist chapter 15

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 15

“Who else did you have to cut ties with when you disappeared?” 

She could imagine the long array of faces parading through his mind right now. “That part wasn’t so hard for me. It sounds pretty pathetic, but Barnaby was my only real friend.”

[...]

“On the planet I come from, that kind of thing signifies romantic interest.” He leaned toward her again, his eyes narrowed. “Please tell me, what does it mean on yours?”

Exactly what part of “I literally only had close contact with exactly one person, whom I viewed as a father figure” in the past decade is difficult for him to understand? Julie isn’t thinking about making kissy face with anybody; she’s thinking about how she’s going to not be MURDERED. 

“Daniel, I roofied you. You were high on a chemical compound with manifestations similar to Ecstasy.” 

“Not then, I wasn’t. I remember. I felt the difference before and after you ‘shocked’ me. That was when things got confusing. And before the drug, I was already in neck-deep. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get off at your stop without looking like a stalker.”

LITERALLY NONE OF THIS IS IN ANY WAY ROMANTIC. 

I thought it was bad when Edward confessed that he kept breaking into Bella’s room to watch her sleep. He ain’t got nothing on Danny-boy here. 

“Well, if my idiot bully of a brother hadn’t beaten you up, you would have disappeared, and I would have had no way to ever find you again. Because of your injuries, you needed our help. You stayed with me.”

This is fucking demented. 

The entire idea of “She’s so helpless, so I’ll push myself onto her! Convince her to love me!” is simply terrifying beyond comparison. 

“Tomorrow,” he said when they came up for air. 

“Tomorrow,” she agreed.

Chapter 15 summary: Over dessert, he tells her some about how he’d studied cooking, and had even been in a chef position at a restaurant. But his ex-wife hated the hours. And this idiot would clearly do literally anything for her… Including letting her clean him out to the point where he’s currently living hand-to-mouth while she’s living it up with her new husband and baby. 

He asks about her romantic interest in Dr. B, but she corrects him and tells him that her relationship with Dr. B was more like father/daughter than romantic. She goes on to say that she had literally nobody else in her life. Hence why she was able to hide for 3 years. 

Daniel shows her an old DVD he found, which is in reference to his promise on the train that they’d go see an old movie. He then tries to kiss her, but Julie completely misreads the situation. As I mentioned, the girl hasn’t exactly had any romance in her life, so of course she’d freak out.

Julie then goes on this long rant about how, after torture, subjects seek out physical comfort. She also throws around terms like “Stockholm Syndrome”. She says that this is all that Daniel is experiencing. And since Julie is the only female around, obviously Daniel would have latched onto her. He insists that she shouldn’t speak for what he’s feeling, and that he felt like this when he started talking to her on the train. However, literally none of what he says is in any way romantic, and he goes so far to admit to thinking about STALKING HER FROM THE TRAIN. JFC. 

They then start making out, and both agree to leave the movie for tomorrow. 

[ageofnations]

Marigold // jmk // pt. 11

Summary: After staying behind while Danny goes on tour, you do everything you can to salvage your relationship. Will you be successful? Or will you find refugee elsewhere?

Word Count: ~6.6k

Warnings: none really! a bit of anxiety and crying, but nothing severe

A/N: i can’t apologize enough for the hiatus. thank you for everyone still waiting on this series, i appreciate you all for sticking with me. i’m sad to say that this will be the last chapter of marigold. we may see bip in the future, but for now, i hope you enjoy the conclusion of this series.

playlist // Chamomile Masterpost // Marigold Masterpost

Part 11

Can we talk?

You stared at the three words, thoughts racing faster than you could control. 

You searched for any hidden meanings that were possibly veiled in what could’ve been considered a harmless sentence.

You imagined this as another ploy to start a fight. A chance for him to finally let you have all the pent-up anger from seeing you. A chance for him to trap you and accuse you of breaking his heart. 

Maybe you should’ve felt silly for overanalyzing such a short message, but you just couldn’t understand why. Why he’d even reach out. Why he’d text instead of just calling. What he possibly had to talk about. Why now?

Aside from it all, you felt almost guilty upon receiving the message. Sure, it wasn’t your fault that he was texting you - up until this point, he still had your number blocked - but there was something about it that made you uneasy. Something about getting a text from your ex-boyfriend, innocent or not, made your stomach rumble and your skin crawl. 

You looked at the sleeping boy wrapped around you, hoping that he hadn’t begun to stir from the bright light of your phone illuminating the space. You scanned his features, his chest rising and falling at a steady pace, his face pressed against the pillow beside you. It seemed as if Josh was still sleeping soundly against you, completely oblivious to the situation at hand.

You wish you were that lucky.

Things hadn’t progressed since you got back from their tour. Sure, you had been able to exist in the same room as each other for a day, and sure, you had even smiled at one another. But after that, things went back to how they had been. You stepped off the plane and went your separate ways. No contact. Nothing. 

Was this a step in the right direction?

Josh leaves in an hour. Call me then. 

After you saw your message deliver, you locked your phone and placed it back under your pillow. There was no use in trying to go back to sleep, especially with Josh getting up soon for some family excursion that his mom had set up, but you at least wanted to try and rest while you could. You convinced yourself that it would only be a simple phone call. Something that just happened and would help your relationship with the group return to normalcy. It may even bring you closer to Josh. Closing one door, allowing yourself to fully enter the other.

Eventually, you were able to push it out of your mind enough to act as normal as possible.

But once the hour passed, Josh still scurrying around your apartment to gather any forgotten items, you became antsy, fearing that Danny would call at any moment. You shifted nervously at the edge of the bed as you watched your boyfriend flit about the room and stuff miscellaneous belongings in his bag. You felt hyper aware of your phone, as if it were burning a hole into the pillow it was tucked under. 

And of course, Josh noticed.

“I know I’m leaving for a bit,” he said, looking at you warily. “-but you look like you’re gonna throw up.”

You huffed a laugh, glancing towards your hands to avoid his gaze. “Just gonna miss you.”

It wasn’t a lie, but you hated how well he was at reading you. 

“I’m gonna be away for less than 48 hours, mama.” He was smiling, but his brows were knitted with concern. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Josh. Really. I probably just-”

When you finally looked back up at him, you could no longer give your made-up excuses. His frown made you swallow any malice or frustration that you had, and you instantly regretted your tone with him. You sighed, digressing from your bluff. It should’ve been simple, but you couldn’t find the words to explain the situation to him. It was an easy ‘Danny texted me,’ but your lips couldn’t form the sentence. 

Your hand was reaching under the pillow before you realized what you were doing. You unlocked your phone to show the messages to Josh, but before you could hand him the device, you froze. You had missed a message, and soon you understood why he hadn’t called you as soon as the hour passed. 

I’d rather talk in person. Come over?

“Y/N, seriously, you’re scaring me.” Josh had begun to cross the room, and he was standing over you within what felt like seconds.

The idea of seeing Danny - by yourself - made your mouth run dry. You had only been able to be around him because of Josh. He had been your saving grace, the force that kept you grounded and seemingly unphased by your ex-boyfriend’s initial reaction to you. But now, you wouldn’t have that. In minutes, Josh would be leaving you alone to fight your own battle, and you were quickly realizing that you were unsure of your abilities to do so.

Without responding to the message in front of you, you handed your phone to Josh. And you waited. You waited for him to burst at the seams with anger. To be mad at you for even entertaining the idea of talking to Danny. To seem betrayed that you didn’t come clean first thing this morning. But he didn’t.

In fact, he seemed relieved as his eyes came across the conversation. A smile even flashed across his features as he sighed and handed your phone back to you.

“I was wondering when he would reach out,” he said, rubbing a hand on your cheek before turning his back to you. He returned to the task of packing his things, his demeanor seeming much too cool for the circumstances.

“You knew?” You were suddenly able to find your voice again, confusion evident in your response. 

Yet again, he shrugged as if it were no big deal. “He talked to me first. Asked if it was okay that he wanted to talk to you.”

You let the statement sit in the air for a moment, processing just what was said. What it meant. 

Danny had already talked to Josh about whatever it was that he wanted. Josh knew, and he was okay with it. Danny had gone out of his way to make sure he wasn’t crossing any boundaries, but for some reason, you still felt uneasy about it.

“What does he want?” You asked hesitantly, looking back at the messages in front of you. 

“I don’t think I’m the one who needs to answer that, Bip. I know it’s scary, but I think you should go. If it all goes wrong, you can blame me.” With his bag set up by the door of your bedroom, he shot you a smile and returned to you, sitting beside you after kissing the top of your head. “I’d go with you if I could.”

You sighed. “I don’t know…”

“It’ll be fine,” he promised softly, nudging your shoulder with his own. “I’m not gonna try to convince you to stay or go. But… do what you need to do, okay? Whatever that may be.”

If you had ever forgotten why you had fallen in love with him in the first place, this was sure to remind you. He was always gentle with you, understanding in every way, rationalizing everything you overthought. His reassurance provided the comfort you needed to calm down, to face the task at hand with a level head. His love, his compassion, was enough to make you feel capable to conquer whatever feat you were faced with. You pitied people who didn’t get to see him in the ways you did.

“I love you, Josh,” you responded finally. 

He smiled at you, placing a tender hand on your cheek to draw you nearer and close the distance between you.

God, you’d never get enough of him. 

“I love you, too,” he mumbled against your lips, kissing you once more before reluctantly pulling away. “Walk me to the car?”

You nodded with a smile. “Of course.”

–

It was hard to believe that you were able to come to a decision and stick to it. You imagined you would’ve turned around and walked away from the door almost as soon as you knocked on it. But here you stood, outside the front doors of the boys’ shared home, waiting on someone you used to be enthusiastic about seeing. Your heart would’ve been beating erratically with excitement of being alone with Danny. You would’ve imagined all of the possibilities that may arise, and once you had started dating, you would’ve thanked every higher being for allowing you time to have him to yourself for a moment. 

But now, you weren’t full of excitement. You weren’t eager to see the man you once loved. You were just afraid. You were fearing what would happen once you entered their home, and that fear almost caused you to get back in your car and leave. You fancied that option, relishing in how relieving it would feel to just forget about this whole ordeal. But when the door finally opened with Danny standing on the other side, you knew there was no turning back. 

He looked good. Tired, but good. You had adjusted to his new appearance enough to see that - although it was different from the Danny you once knew - it fit him. He had grown into the look.

He wore an expression of astonishment, yet he donned an almost pained smile. 

“You came,” he breathed, almost as if he believed you wouldn’t have shown up. Not that you blamed him. You hadn’t responded to his message, not wanting to agree to something you weren’t sure you’d stay true to. 

There was a twinkle in his eyes, and there was something in the way he looked at you that made your cheeks run hot. You quickly looked at your feet to break eye contact. “I did.”

He took a deep breath before moving out of the doorway and motioning for you to come inside, which you obliged. “Can I get you anything?”

You shook your head as you moved past him. “No, I'm fine. Thank you.”

Your answer sat in silence for a moment while you stood in the familiar space of the living room. You started to feel the awkwardness of the situation creep on you, and you began to overthink everything. Had you sounded rude by turning down his offer? Were you supposed to say something else? Should you have even come here?

“You look good.” The tentative compliment tumbled out of his lips and interrupted your thinking. 

That was different. It was a simple nicety, something you should have been used to, but you certainly weren’t expecting. You were in simple jeans and a band tee, nothing too flashy to applaud. 

“T-thank you, Danny,” you answered softly, unsure if you should return the phrase to him. Would he get the wrong idea if you did?

He worked his lips to form another smile before gesturing to the sofa. “We should, uh, sit?”

You made note of his distance as he sat. He shared the couch, but he was far enough away from you that he wouldn’t make you uncomfortable. He picked up on your uneasiness, just as he always had in years past.

“I asked you to come here so we could talk,” he started, quickly clarifying himself. “So I could apologize.”

Oh, you thought. So we’re jumping right into this.

Your fingers wrung together as you tried to desperately keep yourself occupied. “Okay.”

“And you don’t have to stay, not if you don’t want to. You can leave at any point, and…” He trailed off, as if he knew his next words would hurt. “...and we won’t have to talk again. If that’s what you want.”

It wasn’t. It was far from what you wanted. But you couldn’t manage to tell him that. You could only sigh and remain focused on your sweating, shaking hands.

“So…I’m sorry,” Danny continued, knowing that he needed to be the one to start the conversation, as difficult as it was. “I don’t have an excuse for what I did, and I don’t want to make any excuses for myself. I just… want you to know that I realize I'm in the wrong here. And as much as I want your forgiveness, I know I don’t deserve it in the least bit.”

And for the second time today, you waited. You sat and waited for yourself to wake up. To come out of this spell where everything you had been hoping to hear was finally materializing. But you didn’t. You didn’t wake up because this wasn’t a dream. This was real, this was Danny apologizing. 

You didn’t forgive him, but you knew that saying so would only escalate things. You didn’t forgive him, but you appreciated his apology. You didn’t forgive him, but every beat of your heart was telling you to. 

You sighed, trying to formulate your thoughts so this could go as smoothly as possible. “You fell out of love, that’s not your fault.”

His head cocked to the side, and he studied you carefully before speaking. He seemed to be replaying your response over and over in his mind, trying to see if he had heard you right. His voice was all but a whisper when he finally spoke again. “Do you really think that’s what happened?”

The question sounded rhetorical almost, so you stayed silent. 

Danny was shaking his head at your rigid form. “I was stupid, I was an ass, but I never once stopped loving you.”

You scoffed at his dismissal. “You can't call that “love,” Danny. There’s no way.”

“It was love. Every fucking night… It was always love.” There was a stern tone hiding behind a mask of desperation. It resembled the nights you’d argue about god knows what, knowing the conversion was fruitless in the end. You had always given in to him then. You’d always let him win, even if you knew he was at fault, just so you could move on. But not now.

Now, his persistence infuriated you. It lit a fire under you, one that was quickly spreading faster than you could control. 

“Always love? Radio silence, occasional booty calls, sometimes just downright ignoring me? That’s love to you?” The pure disbelief made it impossible to manage the volume of your voice, the intensity making him cower back in an instant.

“Bip…”

“No, Danny,” you interrupted, snapping your head to look at him. “You called me here, and I truly want to forgive you, but I’m not sure you even know what you’re apologizing for.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but knowing better than to make things worse, he digressed. Suddenly, he became the one trying to avoid your gaze. His eyes fell to the floor, fixated yet not looking at anything in particular. 

“I waited on you. I waited on you to snap out of whatever fucking daze you were in and realize that I was still here. That I was still your Bip, even from miles away, through the arguments, through the weeks of not hearing from you. I waited. And once you finally told me what you wanted, you still barely said anything at all. All of a sudden, you wanted nothing to do with me, and you didn’t give a shit about how that made me feel. And you have the nerve to call that love?”

His silence indicated that he knew you were right. That although he never stopped loving you, he stopped showing you that he loved you. And that’s exactly where he went wrong. 

Of course he cared about your feelings about everything he did. He felt like shit for hurting you, but in that moment, ending the relationship seemed as if it was easiest. It was much easier to rid himself of one responsibility while he had so much going on. He had gotten rid of the burden that he carried from having you around while he couldn’t give you the consistency that you needed. That you deserved.

You were a priority of his, you always have been. But you weren’t his first priority. 

You sighed, choosing to look away from him as tears clouded your vision. The deep breath helped ground you. Although you were still exasperated with emotion, you could slow down, allow yourself to be vulnerable, and speak your mind. 

“I've been afraid that Josh is going to leave me one day.”

That’s when Danny looked back up at you, his expression just as incredulous as his tone. “Why do you think that?”

You couldn’t help the eye roll that occurred before you answered, but you still spoke softly, carefully. “I never thought you’d leave me. We made promises. We were basically kids when we met and yet we still planned a future together. We were the sweethearts that everyone knew would end up in love. We were that couple. If we couldn’t last then how could I expect Josh and I to-” 

The words were cut off by a choked sob that you weren’t aware you were holding in. Finally letting out the tears that suffocated you felt almost cathartic, but what Danny saw- what he heard - broke his heart. 

You were right. He didn’t know what he was apologizing for. He knew he messed up, he knew he hurt you, and he knew you deserved an apology. But until now - until he saw your body shake as the tears streamed down your face, until he saw you physically unable to look at him - he didn’t realize just how badly this had affected you.

When he saw you and Josh together, he would have no idea that you were concerned about the stability of the relationship. In his eyes, you essentially seemed to be one step away from marriage, stuck in a honeymoon phase that would never cease to exist, even if it had been only a few months. But now he finally saw that, while everything seemed to be perfectly fine with you and Josh, you were constantly plagued with worries. And it was all Danny’s fault. 

He waited a moment, searching for the right words to say, debating if he should say anything at all.

“He’d be stupid to leave you,” he whispered.

Although you still couldn’t manage to look at him, the sentiment reduced your crying, and Danny saw that as a win. 

“It was my fault that we didn't work out,” he continued. “The fame, on top of finally having you after years of being crazy about you… I just couldn’t handle it all at once. You helped me find the confidence I needed, but that confidence quickly turned into cockiness and I was immature and-” 

He took a shaky breath to quell his rambling. “-and I have no way of knowing just how bad I hurt you, but please believe me when I say… I'm so sorry, Bip. So fucking sorry.”

Danny watched as you looked to the ceiling, seeming to wish away the tears as you tried to compose yourself. He noticed you nibbling at your quivering lip, and he could imagine the various things running through your mind. It reminded him of all the times you had come to him for things like this, venting and ranting about whatever was going on. Reminded him of the times you’d lean on him when you were hurt, trusting that his embrace would comfort you. But now he couldn’t even do that. 

He’d never forgive himself for this. 

“I didn’t want to make you cry again,” he spoke softly, trying to fill the silence with something while he shifted uncomfortably in his place beside you.

You shook your head and looked back down at your hands. “It’s just…a lot, Danny.”

“I know,” he agreed. “I should’ve done this sooner.”

You felt him scoot closer to you, the space on the couch that had once been empty, now occupied by him. There were still a couple of inches that separated your bodies, but he was close enough that you could feel the heat that radiated from him. You could smell his cologne. You could sense the same comfort that he exuded in years past.

“You don’t deserve to feel insecure in your relationship because of someone else. Josh is fucking in love with you, almost to the point where it’s embarrassing, really.” He paired the quip with a husky chuckle before he continued. “But he really cares about you, and he gives you the consistency that I struggled to give. He’d do anything for you.”

For some reason, you did find comfort in his words. They were reassuring in a way that was foreign to you. You no longer felt the lingering urge to keep crying, you found it easier to breathe, and you felt the tension melt from your muscles.

“I saw he took you out for your birthday,” Danny noted, only slightly changing the subject. He saw that talking about Josh’s love for you seemed to help, and as much as it pained him, he knew it was what you needed.

And when he saw your lips turn into a smile, he knew that he was right. 

“He did,” you responded.

“You looked…wonderful. That dress was absolutely perfect for you.” He marveled with a smile. The expression wavered, however, as he started his next sentence. “Is that when…?”

He trailed off, unable to finish his question. You could only imagine how he was trying to tiptoe around the subject, avoid the self-anguish and intrusion on the privacy of your relationship. There were so many things he could’ve asked. So many things he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know how. Is that when you realized you loved him? Is that when you guys made things official? Is that when he finally managed to make you forget all about your past relationship?

“Kinda,” you answered, assuming that all of his potential questions would have essentially the same answer. “It’s complicated.”

He managed a soft smile. “I want to hear about it, if you’ll tell me.”

“Danny-”

“I mean it,” he interrupted. “Really.”

And he did. It hurt to know that he would no longer be the one to make you happy. It hurt to know that you had already moved on. It hurt to know that you were happy while he was not. But he needed to. He needed to hear you say that you were satisfied with what you had now. He needed to know how your new relationship came about, that Josh hadn’t taken advantage of you while you were at your lowest. He wanted to hear you rave about the man you were in love with, because to Danny, he knew that might be the only way he’d see you smile again. He wanted to know what your side of it was, how you reacted and how you felt at the end of it all, and how Josh had come to pick you up when you were at your lowest.

So you told him. You explained every detail, every bit of the story from your point of view. You picked up from moments before Danny had texted you to break things off. You carried on through the next week or so, describing each little event and emotional rollercoaster. Danny listened with a pained, yet genuine, smile as you babbled about the things Josh did to make you feel better. You talked to him as you would about any other crush or significant other in your past. And now as you ended your retelling with happy tears and a beaming smile, he could see his best friend again. He saw you no longer as his ex, the girl whose heart he broke; he saw you as Bip. His Bip. 

“I like the way he treats you,” Danny acknowledged once you had concluded.

“Josh?” It was obvious who he was talking about, but his genuine remark took you by surprise. You hadn’t expected him to say such a thing.

He nodded. “Yeah. Just seeing you guys together, it makes sense.”

“Oh.” You knew you didn’t need his approval, but finally having it made something inside you almost feel content. Almost. “You’re not… mad?”

“No,” he huffed a laugh, shaking his head at your question. “I mean, I was at first. God, I was livid. Especially seeing those first few pictures of you two, I just… couldn’t grasp the fact that I had really lost you. But, I'm glad he took care of you. I’m glad that he is taking care of you.”

“I’m glad, too,” was all you could muster in response. Your smile slowly began to fade, but you weren’t too sure why.

“Then that’s all that matters. Don’t worry about what I think.”

Danny noticed your reservation. No matter how much he was trying to assuage your worries and reassure you that he was okay with this - at least as okay as he could be - he couldn’t help but catch on to your distant nature. He nudged your side a bit, hoping that his playfulness would ease whatever was troubling you. 

“I mean it,” he continued. “Really, I’ll be okay. I just want you to be happy. You’re happy with him, right?”

You nodded, however your tone was still low, face still sullen, body language still closed off. “Very. He’s good to me.”

The sudden lack of emotion in your response caused Danny to raise an eyebrow at you. “And you’re sure?” 

“Positive.” You huffed a laugh at the protective connotations behind his questioning. But you wanted to be sincere with him. You were plagued with a feeling you needed to sort through with him. As easy as it would be to continue with your indifference, you knew that this might be your only chance to put it all out in the open. Everything you were feeling, everything you had felt throughout this situation, deserved to be said. “I just- never mind.” 

“No, don’t do that,” Danny chided, turning slightly to face you. He even placed a hand on your knee to bring your attention back to him, the action sending electricity through your body. “Talk about how you’re feeling, nothing is going to get resolved if you don’t.”

You sighed and searched for the words that would convey the millions of emotions and thoughts you were experiencing. “All of this… sitting here and talking to you… it’s surreal.”

He took a minute to respond, and you had to glance from his hand to his face to make sure he was still paying attention to the conversation. Finally, he questioned you with a tilted head. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. We’ve always had each other. We’ve always been ‘it’ for each other, and I thought I’d have you forever. And when you left, I convinced myself I’d never be able to see or talk to you again.” You were repeating yourself, you knew that, but it was the only way you could instill a decent explanation. “But here we are.”

He nodded and looked away from you, ridden with guilt again and not entirely sure what to say next. “Here we are…”

The words hung in the air, and the tension seemed to thicken. There was a sticky residue left from you starting this conversation, now it was your turn to clean up your messes. 

“Can I tell you something?” You blurted. 

Mixed in with the sigh that escaped him, you heard the word “Anything.”

“Don’t get me wrong when I say this… I hate what you did. I can’t tell you how fucking bad it hurt, but somehow…well-” You paused, already embarrassed by what you were about to say. You wondered if you should even say it to begin with. “Would it be insane to say that I miss you? Us? I mean, it all ended so fast I-”

You scoffed at yourself, annoyed with how flustered you were becoming with this conversation. This was Danny, your best friend. You should feel comfortable enough to tell him how you felt. 

“You were my first real love,” you continued. “And we had so many firsts together. I just didn’t really get to savor all of our ‘lasts’, you know?”

“Lasts?”

You breathed a hurried sigh. “Do you remember our last kiss? Our last ‘I love you’? Fuck, even our last phone call?”

Danny seemed to think about it for a moment, recounting the memories of your relationship, but finding that it was no use. Of all the things he remembered, those were certainly not easily accessible. “...No.”

“Exactly,” you proceeded. “Neither do I.”

His thumb rubbed against the seam of your pants, making you hyper-aware of his hand placement and how long it had been there. But did you really mind?

You continued with your weak attempt at an explanation. “We focus so much on those firsts that… when the lasts come, we don’t even fucking realize it. We don’t get the closure we need. And I don’t really know what I'm saying, but I-“

In a motion completely unexpected by you, you felt your face colliding with another. Danny’s. 

He kissed you. 

He is kissing you. 

It felt just like it had back then. Back before all of this. Careful, unhurried, and completely focused on the present. You could feel the love he had for you, the feelings that still reside. And yet, you could also sense the hints of loneliness behind the kiss, something that hadn’t been there in the past. 

It felt right. But oh, so wrong.

You shouldn’t enjoy this. You shouldn’t be appreciating how his lips fit perfectly with yours, like a key to a lock. You shouldn’t be thinking about the leftover taste of toothpaste in his mouth, the same kind that he’d always used and kept a tube of at your place. Or the taste of the same Chapstick flavor he would always argue with you about being the best kind. You shouldn’t acknowledge that, as horrible as the pairing of the two was, the taste was familiar, comforting. 

His hand had shifted from your knee to your thigh, and you could tell by the way he was squeezing it that there was a piece of him that desperately wanted to deepen the kiss, but the hesitance was too strong. His other hand had moved to your cheek, holding you to him for as long as you’d let him. 

It wasn’t until you felt that sweet burn in your lungs from lack of oxygen that made you detach your lips from his. He didn’t protest the movement, but you heard him sigh with disappointment.

Your fingers wrapped around his as you pulled his hand from your face, holding it gently in your lap and watching as his thumb caressed the soft skin on your knuckles. You couldn’t meet his eyes, but you knew he was looking at you with an intensity that you couldn’t quite place. 

You sighed to yourself, knowing how difficult it would be to move on from what had just happened. “Dan…”

“You said you wanted closure…” His interruption was a warm welcome, especially considering you had no idea where to start. You noted how gravely his voice had become, something that had always happened after he kissed you. “Is that enough closure for you?”

No, you wanted to scream. You didn’t want closure. Closure would mean that there was no turning back, no return to what had become so normal for you both. You didn’t want closure. Closure would mean that the end was no longer near. It was now right in front of you.

“Look, I’ll never stop telling you I love you, even if I can only say it platonically. I’m still gonna bother you with phone calls just like I used to. You don’t have to worry about those ‘lasts’... but this-” he paused, squeezing your hand to further drive his point. “This is different... I know I won’t get to kiss you again, and I probably shouldn’t have then, but I- I miss you, too. I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing you.”

The admission sat in silence while you both ruminated on his words. Of course, you had always wanted to hear him say things like this. You wanted to hear that you meant as much to him as he meant to you. You wanted to hear that you weren’t the only one adjusting to the feeling of loss, of grief. You wanted to hear that you got your best friend back, but his words still wrenched your heart. 

It hit you. Although you knew exactly who you’d choose when given the chance, no matter what, someone would be hurt by your decision. You could imagine the smile that would creep up on his face, beaming from being told that he was still the one for you, elated that you had not moved on from him. You could imagine the feeling of being reunited with the man you had spent countless weeks, months, years pining over.

But you could also imagine the feeling of crushing the heart that belonged to the man you loved now. You could imagine the perplexed look he’d don when deep in thought, desperately trying to push past his own feelings if it meant you were happy. You could imagine him going silent anytime he saw you and Danny together, the pain-ridden expression evident despite his attempts to hide it.

You could imagine it, but you certainly didn’t want it. 

You sighed, still not able to make eye contact with the man in front of you. “I want you to move on someday. I need you to.”

Danny shook his head, immediately not accepting your plea. “No one is you, Bip.”

“Someday, Danny,” you insisted, tears threatening to slip once more. As sweet as he was, his response did little to appease you. The thought of him shying away from all affection from others, just for the chance to love you again, made you feel much more guilty. “It’s gonna be hard, I know. But you deserve to love again. Someone out there deserves the love that you showed me before all of this. It’s not fair to anyone if you torture yourself with being alone.”

A beat of silence. 

Then another.

Then finally, a nod.

You hoped flashing a smile would help rid the tension in the air, but once you were finally able to look up at him, your expression faltered. His face was slightly contorted into a mix of confusion, pain, and acceptance. He wanted to understand, but he couldn’t face the idea of loving anyone other than you. It would take time. 

“Thank you, Danny. For everything.”

You saw his head barely bob in response, his nodding almost unnoticeable because his thoughts distracting him. “I’m sorry I kissed you,” he whispered.

It was genuine, that much was obvious, but the apology made you laugh out loud. “Don’t be sorry. I’d be willing to argue and say it was the best one I’d ever gotten from you.”

The joke made him laugh as well, and you saw the nerves release from his body. “That’s a strong statement.”

“Arguably,” you quipped back. 

-

You didn’t stay much longer after that. After catching up about little things, promising to hang out again soon, and hugging your goodbyes, you made your departure. Although you longed to come back to spend the day with Josh, you were slightly relieved that he wouldn’t be waiting for your return. It wasn’t often that you wished for the solace of a quiet home, but now, after rekindling the feelings and emotions that had been repressed after all this time, you knew you’d enjoy lying in bed. Alone. 

You had just gotten settled under your comforter, cozy pajamas on (even if it was the middle of the day), before you sent Josh a quick text announcing your homecoming. You anticipated he’d respond later when he wasn’t as busy, but instead, your phone immediately began buzzing in your hands. You smiled as his cheery face lit up your screen before accepting the call.

“Hey, baby wh-”

“Hey, I can’t stay on here long but… you know I love you, right?”

His interruption caught you off-guard, and you picked up on the sense of urgency in his tone. The frantic nature was successful at inducing anxiety you were not prepared for. “Of course I know that.”

“And I’d do anything to keep you in my life?”

Now, you were worried. “Josh… what’s going on?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just… we’re okay, right?”

You smiled to yourself before answering. In some twisted way, his need for reassurance made you feel that much more loved. He treasured you as if you were his career, all of the wealth and precious valuables combined. He couldn’t lose you. “We’re perfect, Joshua. Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” He answered quickly. You noticed the volume of his voice fluctuating a bit, some of his words sounding more muffled than the others as he continued. “Yeah, no I’m fine. Danny just…” 

He paused, and you picked up on movement on the other end of the call. He sighed to himself, this time sounding a little more sure of himself than before. “I got a text from him just a minute ago, and it scared me a little I guess. But if we’re okay, then I’m okay.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, mind racing as to what he might’ve said to Josh that would worry him this much. Things had gone smoothly. Nothing really happened. You had reconciled with your best friend, received the apology you had been hoping for all this time, what could possibly-

The kiss. 

Of course, it was something you’d talk to Josh about. You felt like he should know about it, even if there was nothing behind it. It was a seal. It served as the end to an era that you had loved in the past. You needed to tell him, though. You feared how he’d react otherwise. If Danny had already disclosed what happened, you were in for a completely different conversation.

You hesitated before you asked, your voice coming out weak and feeble. “What did the text say?”

There was noise in the background, and he paused to listen, a quiet response following. You imagined he was being rushed to get off the phone, and once you heard his voice again, you knew you had been correct. “Look, I gotta go, but I’ll send it to you and text you as soon as I can, alright? I love you so so much.”

You could almost hear the smile on his face once he heard you return the phrase. The sweet sound of a pleased hum, and the image of his rosy cheeks made you smile to yourself as the call ended. But the anxiety of what Danny could’ve possibly said to make him this worried… it was consuming you. 

It wasn’t long before you felt your phone buzz again, showing that Josh had sent an image. And when you opened it, you scanned the contact name of who had sent the message in the screenshot, the name reading “Daniel.” And as you looked at the message in question, the one that had scared Josh so quickly, your eyes immediately began to water. Not out of sadness or anger, but of relief and reassurance. 

The words weren't meant for you, which made them that much more meaningful. He didn't say it because he felt he had to, or because he felt as if Josh would turn around and tell you. He said it because he meant it.

Please tell her that you love her. She’s worth keeping around.

series taglist: @joshkiszkas @teenagesublimefan @streamsofstardust @fireandsaltydogs @gretavanflipflop @kdarling1 @greta-van-chaos @stardustingold @the-chaotic-cow @tripthelight-fanfic @gretavancreep @gretavanfleas  @myownparadise96 @loofypoofy @hippievanfleet @doodle417 @gmolszewski @m1rkw00dpr1ncess @gretavanflowerpower @hearts-hunger @s0livagant @ageofeddie @jakeyboiiiiiii @jakeydoesit @fan-girl-97 @welightthefire @maedesculpaeusoubi @josiee-gvf @brokenbellz @sammysvanfeet @haleylovesgvf  @streamingcolors-gvf @groggyvanfleet @prophetofthedune @aconfusedhippie @star-lightsundrop @sammyslappers  @agirlwithmanytastes @teddiie @gretavansteph @sammiejane22 @safarithong @tearsofbri @ashabeannn @gvfvanfleet @Kerryxoliver @daniellefersblog @gretavanbitches @jordierama @alexxavicry  @spark-my-nature @GardensGateDaisy @jmksbuttsupremacy

[wishingicouldfly]

Larry Never Broke Up - 2016 & 2017

I've had a lot of people ask me to elaborate on my stance as a 'no breakup' Larrie, so this is that effort.

To start with, I’m a no-stunt, adult Larrie. I arrived in the fandom in early fall 2020, and have watched countless interviews, concert footage, Larry proof videos, FIMQ crack videos, read archival Tumblr blogs and timelines, watched Cosmic Leeds timelines (go do that right now if you haven’t, I’ll wait), read primary source tweets. And of course, listened to song lyrics.

I say all that to show you that I’m coming at this with a lot of visual and auditory information.

There are many Larries who, though they believe Larry is together today, think that at some point the boys broke up. I’m not trying to convince anyone otherwise—believe what makes sense to you. I’m just putting out my own opinion. You are free to make yours.

TW: I will be mentioning stunts here, and also parental death, so beware if those are triggers for you.

I can’t stress enough that a long-term, monogamous relationship takes effort. I’m not saying they’ve never fought or had miscommunications. It had to have been hard. Not only as they grew up together, but fighting against industry abuse and homophobia, societal homophobia, contractual closets, and just real-life struggles of couple hood.

What I’m suggesting is that they worked through those things and never broke up.

I also want to stress that they are still closeted today, and they lie. Louis, in particular, is not above lying to protect the people he loves—we’ve seen it in interviews where he’s forced to deny Larry. I don’t think either of them WANT to lie, but they will if they have to in order to protect the closet (either by choice or by contract).

Lastly, I want to point out that we don’t know anything definitively. I could be 100% wrong here. All we have is some pretty strong circumstantial evidence. What I’m including here is also only a fraction of what’s out there. I won’t be going through all of twitter, clothing cues at the time, but rest assured they are out there.

This is going to get long...more under the cut.

Most people who think Larry broke up at some point believe it was after 2015, between 2016 & 2017, so I’ll focus on that time. After all, before that you could see them together and affirm their affection by their body language. I get it, I totally do. Without being able to put eyes on them and see them interact, it’s really hard. Here’s the thing, though. If you piece things together, there’s not a timeline that makes sense for them to have been broken up. Ever. They did as much coding and messaging then as they are doing now in 2022. You just have to search to find it.

Before I really dive in, I have to give a nod to the tattoos. You simply do not get tattoos that matchy matchy all over your body, if you’re not in this for the absolute long haul. For more on tattoos, see this great video by Cosmic Leeds on YouTube.

Without further ado—here are the reasons I don’t think Larry broke up in 2016.

1.       BBG. (If you don’t know about BabyGate, let me know and I’ll provide resources—basically, a stunt was pushed on Louis to make the public believe he’d fathered a child with a one-night stand). Here’s an introductory twitter thread about BBG from @endbbgnow: https://twitter.com/endbbgnow/status/1522287565621149696?s=20&t=pvera1l1_gCzzML7pPOFtQ

The baby was born in January 2016. Just after the band went on hiatus officially. You can no longer see H&L sitting on a couch thigh to knee pushing against each other. You have to imagine. Two days after the baby was born (on 1/23/16), Harry tweeted “Flowers all round”—lyrics from a country song called Watching His Son Go Down, written by Danny Shirley and sung by Jeff Bates.

(retrieved from Harry Styles twitter feed on 5/29/22)

It's a VERY sad song about a man losing his son to addiction. Weird way to congratulate your friend, if he really was having a kid. Keep in mind through ALL of 2016, Louis was bearding with Danielle Campbell, and he was papped a lot pushing a baby carriage to underscore the baby narrative.

On July 29, 2015, Harry had posted on Instagram a black and white picture of Jack Nicholson, who found out in his 30s that the woman he thought was his sister his while life was actually his mother.

2.       Kiwi – there is photographic evidence of Harry (with long hair) writing Kiwi and other songs for HS1 in the spring of 2016. Kiwi of “I’m having your baby” fame is definitely about BBG. Harry at his most pissed off and angry song writing phase, singing about BBG, and wearing the peace ring (iconic engagement ring). I would assert that he’s not wearing his engagement ring and singing “having your baby” if they broke up in the early months of 2016.

- LHH singing Kiwi

3.       Dunkirk. According to IMDB, the filming dates for Dunkirk were 23 May 2016 - 2 September 2016. So that puts Harry cutting his hair before 5/23/16. Which means a long hair Harry wrote Kiwi before then. This video of Harry having his hair cut was before 5/23/16

a.     There is photographic evidence of Louis on the set of Dunkirk in the summer of 2016. Pictures of Louis on the set of Dunkirk from @genuinemusic on Tumblr.

4.       Jamaica—Harry recorded HS1 in Jamaica in 2016. I can’t find exact dates, but between Dunkirk and HS1, he was a busy person that summer.  And they must have received the terminal diagnosis of his mother-in-law at some point. According to people who were keeping track of those things back then, there were DAYS when H&L were MIA at the same time. I agree with @sslarrysettingsail that it’s likely they were in Jamaica. There is no disguise which can hide love. - September 2016-Jamaica - September 2016-Jamaica (tumblr.com)

5. In August 2016, the rainbow bears made an appearance at a Little Mix concert. Again, not proof, but strong circumstantial evidence. The bears had been a constant presence at 1D shows with little known nods to LGBT history.

Little Mix - 1D Rainbow Bondage Bear & Sugar Baby Bear (beccasafan.github.io)

6.       As young adults, L&H both lost a parent. Louis lost his mother in December 2016, and Harry lost his step-dad in July 2017. (see my post here on grief and long-term relationships). It’s not mentioned a lot due to people not wanting to be disrespectful, but loss of a parent takes a toll on a person, and a couple. They lost two people inside of six months. There are pictures of H bringing a shaving kit to the hospital.

7.       Two days after his mother died in December 2016, Louis performed on the X-Factor with Steve Aoki. All the 1D boys (minus Zayn) were in attendance. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/nope2101/170398322311?source=share

8.     Just Hold On getting to #1 on iTunes and Harry’s voice in the back of the recording—mid-December, 2016. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/skepticalarrie/649690593813987328?source=share

9.     The Just Hold On video is all Larry cues. It dropped in March 2017. Green blue, two characters who have similarities to H&L: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/mychampagne-mybubbles/684532011296292864?source=share

10.     Song lyrics—a lot of people use song lyrics as proofs of break ups. I mean, song lyrics CAN be autobiographical. Of course they can. But all I can say is that you have to look at context. Almost all their songs have co-writers which by default adds a second or third perspective. Songs are not inherently proofs—a writer can use different words to convey an emotion they want to express, in other words two weeks become two years. I strongly believe break up songs allude to having to be separated by their closet or contracts. They have to be apart for work. This makes them sad. The sad is expressed in a song as being apart…and that can sound like a break up to people. Sometimes a breakup song matches perfectly with a stunt. As a closeted queer man who has public relationships with women, some of the songs are going to feel like het break ups. I cannot use song lyrics as proof of a break up when I have so much else pointing to them staying together.

11. I would also submit as far as song lyrics go, along with the so-called break up songs, we have the most adoring love songs. For example, Sweet Creature on the same album as Two Ghosts, and Adore You and Golden on the same album as Falling. 

12.  Xander Ritz – some people point to Xander as a reason why the boys might have broken up. ::cries:: NO! Xander was a friend of Harry’s he met through Jeff Azoff. There is some evidence that they seeded him as a male stunt for Harry. See this link: https://twitter.com/kiwi28cake/status/1516037079075115011?s=20&t=pvera1l1_gCzzML7pPOFtQ

Stepping into 2017

1. we have these two pictures still live on Louis Instagram. On January 1, 2017, he posted a selfie in the boyfriend jacket (famed shared Larry jacket), and January 18 he posted a picture of a possible “going to the club” fit, and you can see H’s reflection in the glass behind him.

a.       January 1, 2017 – Louis in boyfriend jacket

b.       January 18, 2017 – picture of Louis w/ reflection of H taking photo:

2. Pixie Geldof’s Wedding—June 17, 2017. (Literally days before Robin died). The Daily Mail reported H&L together at the wedding, though there are no pictures of them together.

Pixie Geldof arrives at her Mallorca wedding in a BUS | Daily Mail Online

3. Dunkirk came out July 21, 2017, just a few weeks after Robin Twist (Harry’s step-dad died). Through all of Dunkirk promo, H wore the peace ring. The promo interviews for Dunkirk hit a bit harder knowing what was happening behind the scenes. The peace ring is a big deal to me--H started wearing it in 2013, and it's strongly connected to Louis.

4. Adding on 2/20/25 - Both Harry and Louis performed at the iHeart Radio Festival in Las Vegas in September 2017 - Louis was asked on stage to perform BTY w/ Bebe even though he wasn't on the roster because "he was in the building." There are suspicions that Harry even dressed up as a Panda to dance during L's sound check for this set, but that can't be confirmed. Link here: https://youtube.com/shorts/l-0GIPY5TMs?si=8tiGxp1lCUkMIgMi

5. Jump forward a bit to this interview when Harry talks about Fine Line being about having sex and feeling sad, I would submit that he was writing those songs just after the loss of people close to him (including in March 2019, Felicite Tomlinson, Louis’ sister). And that the sadness isn’t about a breakup, but about grief of losing people.   

In conclusion, yes there are songs that can be analyzed as breakup songs. To me, though, in context of everything else going on in their lives, there is no time in 2016 or 2017 that fits a breakup narrative.

I'd love to hear from you--please ask respectful questions in my asks or on Twitter (@flywishing), and let me know if I've left out something or if you want me to elaborate.

I will add to this thread as necessary.