#Danny made a plan and it didn’t backfire!

[leafyeyes417]

Danny is glad he actually made a plan for once. Jazz had been on his back about telling their parents he was Phantom, and he had managed to convince her he had a plan. The only thing that would extend how long it took was the frequency of ghost attacks.

He generally didn’t have much free time, so luckily Clockwork was willing to put him in a time bubble so he could get stuff done, like get enough sleep. But mostly he was training. Sometimes with Wulf to make portals, but other ghosts had come by too.

The power that was giving him the most trouble, and that he needed most for his plan was duplication. It took forever and he still couldn’t have more than 3 versions of himself at one time. How Vlad managed so many he had no idea.

Anyway back to his plan. He got all his stuff that he couldn’t afford to lose hidden away, got copies of all his parents blueprints and files, replaced items that he didn’t feel comfortable letting them keep if worse case scenario came, and a few more miscellaneous things.

He decided not to tell Sam and Tucker what he was doing. Though he did give them a mysterious file that they weren’t able to open yet. It would lead them to him later. But he needed their reactions to be legitimate, even if he hated having to potentially distress them for a bit.

He then sent his duplicate in his place back home while he went to the Ghost Zone to keep learning and keep an eye on things. Hopefully things went well, but he planned to spend a full living realm month here just in case his parents faked taking it well.

————————————————————————

It did not go well. About two weeks after his duplicate told his parents they knocked him out and buried him in a ghost proof coffin. Was he glad he wouldn’t have to experience his worse fears as a lab experiment? Yes. Was he still going to have nightmares of being trapped underground unable to escape? Also yes.

He was glad it was his duplicate though. It was easy for him to undo from a distance and since they had been connected he still had all the memories. He typed in the code for the file he gave his friends before he left. Time to go to Gotham, the one place he was able to wheedle out of Clockwork would be best for him.

[rabbitblackx]

Can i request some headcanons with Oni, Mastermind, Ghostface, Trickster reacting to their sweet and innocent reader getting accused by a random survivor for throwing a rock at them, even though the person was the one that did it, and not the reader. The person also tried to get them to chase the reader instead of him or her order to get away. But it immediately backfired due to them knowing better that their survivor reader would never do something like that to them?

I hope that you had a good Halloween rabbit! 💖

Yeah cool no problem! Hope u like it :) and I hope u had an awesome Halloween too!!💖

DBD Killers when an Innocent!Reader is framed for throwing a rock at them🤭🪨

Includes: Ghost Face, Oni, Trickster and Mastermind

Ghost Face

Feng Min pegged a rock at the Ghost Face, successfully decking him in the back of the head. The man sighed, turning around to see you and her by a generator. Feng immediately pointed at you, framing you for her assault. She then darted away and left you in her dust. You gaped at the betrayal of your fellow survivor. The Ghost Face met your eyes through black mesh

“Wha? It wasn’t me. I swear! She—she lied!”

The Ghost Face’s shoulders shook as he gave a raspy chuckle. Of course it wasn’t you. You were far too sweet, and he knew that. He knew that well

“C’mere, gorgeous.”

Your eyes grew wide as he waltzed over, hooking an arm around your waist. The Ghost Face yanked you into his chest, causing you to blindly grip onto leather with a yelp. He would go get your ‘friend’ later. But as of right now, he just wanted you in his arms. It had been awhile since the Ghost Face and you had crossed paths. Because of this, he made sure to treat each time like it was your last

“You know she was lying, right? I’d never throw a rock at you.” You pouted

The Ghost Face chuckled again, bringing a gloved hand up to remove his mask

“I know, baby.” He grinned

His lips pressed against yours firmly. His eyes were blissfully shut as he pulled you impossibly close

“Mmm, Danny.” You squeaked against him

The Ghost Face pulled away to stare at your innocent features. His dead heart felt an unfamiliar warmth as you smiled sweetly at him

He would then leave to you be, in search of Feng instead. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she found the Ghost Face chasing after her instead of you. Had her ‘genius’ plan not worked?

Oni

*THWACK*

You looked on in horror after Yui threw a rock at your poor Oni’s masked face. He had quite the thick covering in that area but you could tell it still hurt him. He wasn’t looking at you two when it happened. He was distracted with Adam, slicing into the man’s back with his katana. That was when Yui struck. While she did it to help Adam, that didn’t apply to you. When the Oni whipped around to glare at her, he sneered behind his mask when she pointed at you

“They did it.” Yui deadpanned

Yui took off, with Adam limping after her. You couldn’t believe the betrayal. You thought that the Oni would get mad, and maybe even harm you. But he honestly seemed more mad at Yui than yourself

“It wasn’t me! She was lying. I would never!”

The Oni trudged over to your cowering form. You flinched when a massive hand came up over your head. Your tense muscles relaxed as it set on top of your hair with an overwhelming amount of gentleness

“I know.” He cooed in Japanese

The Oni pet your hair. You were very surprised he hadn’t gone crazy with fury yet

“Sorry she was a meanie, Kazan.” You frowned

He hummed in reply, a deep rumbling noise that brewed within his broad chest.

Kazan absolutely adored you. Which was why he had to love and leave you, furiously going after Yui. How dared she blame you for something she did? And to think she’d get away with it?

The Oni gave your cheek one last caress before hunting down that girl. Like you, this was going to be sweet. The sounds of Yui’s screams were going to sound all the more satisfying because they were just for you

Trickster

The Trickster cursed in Korean when a small rock bounced off the back of his head. He whirled around to spot you and Claudette in the tall grass. Claudette immediately pointed at you, silently telling him you did it. But alas, she was only framing you for her own crime

The Trickster laughed at her meanly, knowing better. As if his perfect songbird would hurt him like that. He yoinked a colourful blade from his yellow coat, skilfully throwing it Claudette’s way. It struck her shoulder, and you leapt back in surprise. You and the girl stared at the Trickster in disbelief

“I said they did it!” Claudette gasped in pain

The Trickster still didn’t listen, only pinning her down with more and more of his blades. He only stopped when you said so.

That made him sigh, begrudgingly letting Claudette limp away, only to catch up with her later. His glowing gaze set on you now, taking in your cute face

“I promise it wasn’t me.” You blurted out

The Trickster smirked, playfully rolling his eyes. “I know, babe. It’s okay.” He moved towards you

You threw your arms around his neck and nuzzled into it with a giggle. He hugged you tight, his nose buried in your hair. You glanced up and gently traced your fingers over his temple

“Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you too bad, did she?” You asked

The Trickster pressed a tender kiss to your flushed cheek

“Don’t worry about me, babe.”

He soon trotted off, in searches of Claudette again. He left you all smitten and flustered, making sure you wouldn’t try to intervene. You were just so kind like that. Though she threw you under the bus, the Trickster knew that you would still and try save her

He couldn’t help but admire that

Mastermind

“Are you trying to make me angry?”

Albert Wesker chased after Dwight after he had pegged a rock at him when he wasn’t looking. Though in a fit of panic, Dwight shoved you in the way

“It wasn’t me. It was them!”

The Mastermind nearly bouldered you over as you were thrown in his road. He halted to a stop, just skidded in front of you. Your face was covered by your hands as you cowered before him. Albert sighed, and placed a gloved hand on your shoulder. Your head whipped up to meet his catlike eyes

“It’s alright, darling.”

Tears pricked your eyes, saddened that Dwight and abandoned you. But at the same time, you knew he was just scared

“Albee, it wasn’t me. I promise it wasn’t.” You whimpered

The Mastermind immediately snaked his arms around you. You sniffled into his chest and held on tight

“I know, sweetheart. I didn’t think it was you for a second. It doesn’t matter, my dear. I’m fine.”

He petted your head that was nestled against him. You hadn’t seem Wesker in awhile, and missed his touch. Though he didn’t want to admit it, he felt the same way

This was fine. Once the Mastermind was done with you, then he would hunt down Dwight. Uh-huh, sure… just a little longer holding you then he’d get straight to work…

Albert couldn’t let you go. Your warmth and sweet words of praise made his stomach flutter. He had never met someone quite like you

[coldbronzemoon]

Danny Fenton, Totally Mortal Hero Consultant (DPxDC)

Snippet for an AU I'll probably never fully write where Danny takes a job as a consultant for the Justice League to help with ghost and demon bullshit. It's a pretty good cash flow to help him with college, after all, and very flexible hours.

He just claims all his knowledge comes from his parents. Unfortunately, the JL has caught word of the elusive yet active hero Phantom, and want Danny to help them meet and assess him. Whoops.

Over the phone, Tucker sighed. “Good Christ, Danny, why do you keep doing this?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Danny said immediately. He winced at the vague sound of screaming below. Demons sucked. “I didn’t know the JL thing was gonna have me finding Phantom. How would I? They were talking about tracking down powerful ghosts, I was assuming Ancients!”

Tucker sighed again, which was really quite unfair of him. “Mhm. Well, Fenton Catcher?”

“Probably not. They know me pretty well at this point, and unlike what Sam says I can be professional. I’d confuse them with the… uh…”

“Stoner shtick?”

There was more screaming happening, but judging from the pitch it was a demon screaming this time. Danny checked the situation. Yep, demon getting their ass kicked. He didn’t need to get involved with a blaster. Yet.

Instead, he scowled at his phone. “Stop calling it that.”

“You’re gonna tell me flanny Danny wasn’t a pitch-perfect stoner, huh? With the chill vibing and the dopey look?”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, bud.” 

The sound of a clacking keyboard that had underlined their conversation stopped. “But seriously, Danny, what the hell are you gonna do with this?”

“Uh, lie, probably,” Danny said, because it was very likely.

“Alright, smartass, what are you going to do when that lie backfires on you like literally every other one does?”

“That’s when I start gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing, babe.”

He had a hard time hearing Tucker’s distant groan of “Why am I still your friend?” on account of the sudden explosion. Danny checked again. Hm. Demon dude had a nasty fire thing going on.

Danny switched on his Fenton water gun—holy water included!-- and shot the demon in the face. They let out a cracking hiss of rage, but dropped the fire spell thing. He waited for them to stop looking around wildly for the culprit for a moment. 

He went back to the call. “‘Cause you loooove me, Tuck. From the bottom of your twice-dead heart.”

“Unfortunately,” Tucker deadpanned.

Danny just cackled. It was lost amongst the sound of supernatural bullshit below.

“Anyway, I’m still figuring out my plan A, honestly. Might bring in gray-man?”

“Amorpho’s an asshole, though. He’ll ruin the whole thing by taking the opportunity to shift into a JL member for a bit.”

Hm. True.

“Yeah, but he’s the main guy I know with that power set.”

“Ask after Desiree?” He could hear the immediate distaste in Tucker’s voice. “Ugh, pretend I didn’t say that. That’s worse than Amorpho.”

“It’s awful,” Danny agreed easily. 

Desiree was actually pretty alright nowadays, mostly on account of Danny remembering the last couple minutes of Aladdin and wishing she could refuse wishes she didn’t want to grant. That had made her happy enough to stop actively picking fights. 

Unfortunately, spending the entirety of one’s afterlife twisting the wording of wishes to their worst form made it hard to stop being an asshole. Who knew! So getting Desiree to split him in two for like a week had a 50/50 chance of fucking up his work relationship with the literal league of superheroes irrevocably. And this was his main cash flow right now.

So, no Desiree, no siree.

“Come up with something better then, asshole.”

Danny hummed and, since the heroes below were focused on the demon, lifted up a little and did a thoughtful back flip. What to do, what to do…?

Oh!

“My cousin!” he exclaimed.

“What cous—? Oh, Ellie.”

“Yeah, Ellie, Tuck. Which other cousins do I have?”

Tucker scoffed. “You literally have that whole Nightingale thing going on through your dad?”

Danny couldn’t help the face he made. The remaining Nightingales were worse than his parents somehow. “The Nightingales don’t count.”

“You can’t just say they don’t count.”

“I can say that, actually, and I will. They’re, like, cousins through my great-great-great-grandpa anyway.”

“Isn’t there a fight going on over there? Should you be shooting someone?”

 “Yeah, probably.”

He peaked down through the window once more. The heroes must have gotten the first demon to leave while he was talking, because the horned demon fighting them now was a truly unfortunate shade of yellow-green instead of purple. Or maybe it had transformed for some reason? They had it about as in-hand as the other one, though, so Danny definitely didn’t need to go down there. He shot the maybe-new demon in the face real quick.

“Anyway, Ellie can totally help out, she’s been practicing with changing up her looks. She’s also more, uh, malleable than me, what with her situation and all. Looking fully like Phantom shouldn’t be hard.”

Tucker hummed. “She’d try to embarrass you though.”

“Yeah, that’s a problem.” Danny spun in place. “I could bribe her?”

“With what? Her life doesn’t involve needing much cash.”

“She doesn’t get out to the Zone very much. Not many of the inhabited places, anyway. I can promise her the weird apple things Dora’s been growing with Sam’s help, she loved those.”

“If you think that’ll work…” Tucker trailed off dubiously.

Danny laughed. “She’s annoying sometimes, but she’s not gonna fuck over my job if I ask her not to. I’ll just bribe her extra hard for resisting the temptation to mock me.”

“Fair enough.” The clacking of keys resumed. “I’ve really gotta pay attention now, someone’s trying to stop me from getting into this database. Someone half-decent, actually, did they upgrade? Hm. Make sure no one died, yeah?”

“They’re alive. Bye, Tuck,” Danny said, and ended the call.

He shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket and made his way down the stairs. The fight outside he had been stationed for was basically over—Captain Marvel and Green Lantern (Danny was pretty sure he had accidentally learned the dude’s actual name at some point, but hell if he could remember)—had pulled out the magic restraints one of the other consultants had handed out.

That had probably been Constantine. Ugh. Constantine. Dude could stand to lighten up a little; skulking and smoking all the time wasn’t the base state of someone enjoyable to be around. Then again, Danny knew he annoyed the shit out of some of the league with his own attitude, so he maybe shouldn’t talk. But at least he was annoying with a smile!

Case in point: Danny grinned at the heroes. “Got it handled?”

��Suppose so,” said the Green Lantern, “though a little more help would have been nice.”

Captain Marvel was too busy getting in a minor tussle with the demon to say anything either way.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m like, pretty mortal,” Danny said. “I’m not fucking with demons right where they can hit me. And I did shoot him!”

Green Lantern rolled his eyes, but admitted the point. Danny cheerfully flipped him off anyway.

“I’ll be heading out, then, the hellmouth this guy crawled out of is like three miles away.” Captain Marvel said, hauling the handcuffed demon over his shoulders like a very angry backpack.

“Oh, one more for the road!” 

Danny hit the demon with a final water gun shot. Hissing and scrunching their face like a cat, the demon tried to lunge at him. It wasn’t very successful. Weirdly non-verbal for a demon, who usually had to talk to make deals and steal mortal souls, but Danny wouldn’t judge. Might be a minor demon. A really basic imp? Who knew.

“Stop being a little bitch and you won’t get spray-bottled, asshole,” Danny chided.

With a loud laugh, Captain Marvel sped away.

[seungisms]

( skz reaction ) when you shut him up with a kiss .ᐟ

🖇️📂 skz when you interrupt him with a kiss

genre: fluff, note: danni writing something that isn’t straight smut for once dun dun dun :o inspired by a oneus reaction i once read and thought i should do it for these shorties <3

방찬. BANG CHAN

Chan stilled the moment your plush lips pressed themselves against his own, words dying on his tongue and eyes widening before slowly slipping them shut, relaxing in your hold and responding softly to your unexpected kiss. He whined lightly once you teasingly pulled away, chasing after your lips, flustered and eager to keep your mouth on his. Definition of brain rot, whatever he was ranting about before he got a taste of your lips suddenly didn’t matter. He’ll stare after you in disbelief, ears red as you shot him a cheeky smile, dodging his attempts to cuddle you against his chest, knowing full well you’d spend the rest of the day being smothered in his doting.

“C’mon! You can’t just leave me hanging like that.”

리노. LEE MINHO

Minho was quick and eager to respond to your kiss, a soft hum emitting into your mouth as he titled his head to keep you flush against him, not minding one bit that you just interrupted him mid sentence. He didn’t allow you to pull away, your plan to leave him flustered and stuttering backfiring as he kissed you sweetly, his pillowy lips melding perfectly against your own in a loving embrace. Expect to be relentlessly teased once he finally lets you go, fingers pinching your cheeks and mocking the pout that rested on your lips, grinning at the sight of your complaining figure shying away.

“You know, if you wanted to kiss me so badly you could’ve just said so.”

창빈. SEO CHANGBIN

Changbin immediately swallowed his words the moment your lips pressed against his own in a chaste kiss, swiftly pulling away just as he began to respond, the boy following your movement before huffing loudly once you continued to deliberately avoid his lips. The small pout that sat on his soft lips was just too damn cute, almost making you just want to give in and finally smother him in your pecks but you couldn’t help but tease his him even further; leaning in to press another teasing kiss to the side of his mouth. Changbin whined when you ducked out of his grasp once more, the conversation from before long forgotten as you darted away from him, leaving your flushed boyfriend to curse after you.

“Ah, you brat!”

현진. HWANG HYUNJIN

If he was in any way surprised or taken-back by your sudden affection he didn’t show it - hands gently craving your face to prevent you from pulling back, kissing you sweetly. Hyunjin thought it was extremely cute, albeit rude, your method of shutting him up, any concerns or worries he was ranting about before immediately being coaxed by the plushiness of your lips, each of you enjoying the others closeness. This man will not allow you to pull away from the kiss until he’s felt you’ve paid the price for your boldness; plump lips keeping you fixated in your spot, before proceeding to tease for the rest of the day, gushing over how adorable he thought it was that you couldn’t seem to keep your lips off him.

“You’re too damn cute.”

한. HAN JISUNG

Jisung stilled up and gaped at you once you began leaning towards him, sentence trailing off with no real end when you pressed a teasing peck against his mouth, cutting off his words and effectively shutting him up for once. He becomes uncharacteristically timid during your kiss, used to being the initiator of skinship in your relationship so to say he was surprised by your unexpected kiss was an understatement - ears tinting red and mouth moving gently against your own. Avoids your eyes once you pull away, trying to play off how timid you’ve made him by opting to tease you instead, a slight waver in his voice while doing so.

“You really couldn’t resist me huh?”

필릭스. LEE FELIX

Practically turns into a pile of mush the moment you kiss him - he wouldn’t even bother questioning your actions or returning to the previous conversation when you pull away from the swift peck, instead pressing another long kiss against your plush lips, savouring the small sighs and whimpers you let out. His absolute favourite pastime is kissing you, so he’ll use your plan to shut him up to his advantage; lips melding perfectly against your own and cradling you close to his chest drawing out the embrace until he was satisfied. Amusement shone in his dark eyes after you broke apart, chuckling softly at your flushed cheeks before leaving one last peck against your mouth; happy that he was finally able to fluster you instead.

“Can I finish what I was saying now?”

승민. KIM SEUNGMIN

Seungmin was a tad annoyed that you had interrupted him but his irritation immediately ceased once he registered the soft pair of lips pressed against his own. He’ll softly reciprocate to begin with, becoming more passionate and heated the longer he kissed you. Pulls you flush against his chest and nips at your lower lip - your initial plan of leaving him hanging suddenly becoming irrelevant with every small swipe of his tongue and gentle caress. He’ll gently cradle your face while pulling away, leaving small pecks against your mouth while doing so, seemingly unable to get enough of your lips pressed to his own. Seungmin wouldn’t be able to remember what he was speaking of before, only wanting to feel the softness of your lips against his again and again.

“If I keep talking does that mean I’ll get more kisses?”

아이엔. YANG JEONGIN

Someone please help this man cause he’ll go straight into windows.exe shutdown mode the moment you lean up towards him. Freezes up against you and doesn’t know where to place his hands, mind completely empty of whatever he was saying before; focusing on the softness of your lips moving against his own. Your hands tangled themselves in his hair, gently playing with the short strands at the back of his neck - coaxing low groans from him - ensuring whatever remnants of the conversation beforehand no longer existed, the boy focusing solely on your pouty lips. A small whine sounded from his chest as soon as you pulled away, eyes still closed and chasing after your lips. He’ll for sure talk your ear off in future to gain more kisses.

“So being annoying is the best way to get you to pay attention to me? Noted.”

© seungisms - all rights reserved. reposting/modification of any kind is not tolerated.

[goldenchan-fx2thepeacock]

Quick AU where Danny stays in town during Girls Night Out

Yeah, random thoughts spring into brain. Danny is trans. I think that's enough background info. Also, Tumblr got a new post editor, so I'm betaing it right now.

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

Danny was supposed to go fishing with his dad. But something came up. AKA, Vlad wanted him to go visit him without Danny. So Danny was in Amity Park when he was supposed to be having dad bonding time. What could he say? His dad got that dumb book and everything. It was gonna be epic. Except stupid Vlad had to go and ruin everything. Whatever. Dad said they would go next weekend.

The first big issue was when Tucker disappeared. And he didn't. Might've been a dumb ghost thing. So he and Sam went to find stuff out. Except all the men in town were gone. It was glaring. "I-I'm sure it's nothing Danny!" Sam said nervously. "Yeah. It's gotta have been a stupid mistake. Maybe I'm immune cause I'm half ghost," Except there weren't any male ghosts either. "Yeah, that's gotta be it!" That when they heard Ember. "OH YEAH! NO MORE PESKY GUYS! IT'S A GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!" "Yes. You know, I'm surprised that worked. I was afraid it might've been a ghost only thing," Spectra drawled. "Of course it worked. The superior gender always prevails," Kitty replied. "And that's obviously female," Every vein in his body was pounding. "I think you might've confused sex for gender ladies," Sam said patiently. "We're not having sex!" Ember laughed. "You do realize how invalidating this can feel for trans people?!" Sam shrieked back. "If they're still here, that means it's a she," Spectra grinned. That was the last straw. He ran. As fast as he could. And for a half ghost that was fast. Once he got home, he slammed the door.

Sam saw Danny run off and knew how this was looking for him. "Isn't this rich? The ghost boy is really a girl," Kitty grinned. "I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner," Spectra laughed. Ember stayed oddly quiet for someone who was normally boisterously loud.

Danny curled in on himself. Herself. NO! Don't second guess yourself. It change the fact that it hurt. "All the men in town are gone!" He heard Jazz yell. "I realize that Jazz. Thank goodness your father is out of town," Mom sighed. "Wait, but Danny isn't! I really hope..." She was standing in his doorway. "FUCKING GHOSTS!" Jazz didn't swear. She never swore. "What is it Jazz? Oh. Danny, I'm so sorry," Mom pulled him into a hug. "I'll be fine," He grumbled. "Do you know which ghosts?" Jazz decided to change the conversation. "Spectra, Kitty and Ember," "Great. Spectra is going to use this horribly," Jazz grumbled quiet enough that only Danny could hear. "Listen, we have to get the guys back first," "Wait, if you're, that means any trans women in Amity are stuck there," Mom said. "Can we not talk about that? I'm seriously not in the mood," "At least pesky Phantom won't be here to get in the way," Jazz and Danny exchanged a look. Sam came bursting in. "Danny! Okay, I am going to make them even deader than before," Sam cracked her knuckles. "I'm fine Sam. Let's just find a way to fix this," "I have an idea!" Jazz said. "No," Danny, Sam and Mom said in unison. "Oh come on. Don't be like that. Not all my plans are bad," Jazz protested. "Speaking from experience (of being trapped in a thermos way too much for one night), that is completely untrue," "What was that about thermoses Danny?" Mom said. "Jazz put soup in my Fenton Thermos!" "I couldn't tell them apart! We really need to label things," "Like with a massive sticker that say Fenton?" "All our stuff has those!" "Fair enough," Danny conceded. It was the plan if anyone caught them talking about getting trapped in thermoses. It made sense because it actually happened. "Well, since Jazz's plan is out, I opt that we figure out how this whole thing happened," Mom said. "It's a combo between Kitty and Ember. Kitty has this thing that makes men disappear into another dimension. And Ember must've used her guitar to make it cover all of Amity. If we don't get them out in twelve hours, they'll be stuck there forever," "And I will have to resign to a life of raging dysphoria," "You were gonna have that anyways," "Times ten. This won't help anyways, but it won't be all bad," "Let's stop talking about you being trans. Danny, you're staying here," Jazz winked. He knew what that meant. They would get all the men back and Danny would keep the ghosts at bay. "Okay. So, from what they were blabbing, all we have to do is get them to do it again," Sam said. Once they had a plan in place, all they had to do was implement it. They left and Danny quickly transformed. Praying that Spectra wouldn't find a way to use this against him, he sped off. "Hey! Poo faces! I'm not gone, and it semi pisses me off!" He screamed. "Oh now sweety. Why would you want to leave behind the superior gender?" Spectra said. "Because it makes me feel horrible and like I was born wrong," "You were, weren't you," Don't let Spectra sink her claws in Fenturd! "Yeah, maybe I was, but if I work hard enough I can fix it," "How is Danny Phantom still here?" He heard Paulina say. Nope, not listening. "They're all going to know. You can't do anything about that," Spectra laughed evilly. "Now girls, follow the recipe! You too now," "I'm. NOT A GIRL!" The wail was probably ill planned, but Danny wasn't thinking straight. Shit, humans. He cut himself off. "Oh come on now. No matter how many times you tell yourself that, you still have to cover parts of yourself. Don't tell me you don't wake up every morning and wish you were a real boy?" "I am. I am a real boy. I just have to take a few extra steps to get there," "Oh come on now. Stop lying to yourself. Maddie, how can you possibly call these eggs? They're green," Okay, maybe dealing with Spectra first was a bad idea. But she was also taunting his mom. Deal with Ember. She must be better than this.

So he flew to a stage. Ember was rocking out with a bunch of girls. Sam was in the background. This was probably one of the less dangerous problems. "Listen, if you're going to taunt me for the fact that I'm still here, do it already," "Hey, listen kid. I'm not actually going to taunt you. Kitty and Spectra are being complete jerks, but I'm not going to judge you for being trans," "Y-you're not?" "Heck no! I'm doing this because I wanted to have a fun night without guys. You included. I'll just have to take a few extra steps to get rid of you!" Danny dodged the guitar strum easily. "Are you planning on bringing them back at the end of the night?" "That's really up to Kitty," "I guess," Sam could deal with Ember.

Next up was Kitty. Oh great, makeup. (I honestly forget what Kitty was doing, so makeup works) "Now girls. All you gotta do is apply the bronzer like so!" "Kitty! How would Johnny feel if he knew you were doing this?" "Oh come on now Ghost girl, you can't be serious. Johnny is having a guys night in all due time," "HEY! Don't you dare. Transphobia doesn't help anyone," Jazz yelled. "Oh stop complaining. She knows she doesn't belong with the guys. From the looks of it, Spectra's already gotten to you. This'll make this so much easier,"

The plan backfired immensely. Danny and Mom were a mess, Sam didn't manage to get the guitar, and Jazz just got in a debate with Kitty. Danny, having to keep up a facade, came downstairs. "How'd it go?" "Terribly. Though, I did learn the Ghost Boy is trans," Mom said. "Fascinating," "It's, well it's oddly human. Why would a ghost even bother?" "Turns out gender dysphoria comes to the grave," "Danny, this is no time for one of your morbid jokes," Yeah, maybe it was morbid, but it wasn't a joke. "Whatever. I guess we get to use Jazz's plan," "All we gotta do is convince them that a cis guy is still in town. Like wandered in after the disappearing act," "Great plan. Sam can't pretend to be me though," "How did you know I was going to do that?" "Lucky guess,"

So that's how Jazz ended up wearing a baseball cap and a pair of men's jeans into Ember's concert. "Did we really have to use a pair of dad's jeans? These barely fit," "You know, the fact that they fit at all should be surprising. Dad was skinny at one point in his life. Which means that one of us could be on his end of the gene pool," "It's probably you," "Don't make me think about that. Hiding what little chest I have is hard enough. If I got dad's genes, I'd honestly be terrified," "We haven't seen the women on his side of the family. And besides, you got the blue eyes black hair thing," "You are honestly scaring me. Now, I gotta scram before someone sees me talking to you. Mom or the ghosts," "Fair,"

And thus, the plan worked. Kitty, adamant that no men be left in Amity, blew another kiss. Ember amplified it. The men came back. The three got thermosed. Jazz laughed at their faces when they honestly though she was from out of town. Danny once again didn't get taken, even in ghost form.

Tucker and Sam found him curled up in his bed. "Hey man. I know this has gotta be tough for you," Tucker said. "Spectra had no right!" Sam continued. "Thanks guys. But I think I'm gonna take a few days off school," The trio heard Dash's voice outside. "Hey mom. I know what happened was scary. And I know it must've felt really bad, but I still see you as my mom," "Thanks Dash. I can always count on you to make me feel better," A woman's voice rang out. Danny looked over the window sill. "See Danny. It's not horribly weird. Just a few transphobic ghosts," Tucker laughed. "A couple," "What?" Sam and Tucker said in unison. "Ember isn't," "How do you know that?" "I talked to her," "Hey Fenturd! Don't you dare tell anyone about my mom! And don't be mean to her! I'm sure you wouldn't get it," "You'd be surprised Dash!" He grabbed his trans flag and hung it out the window. "I get it more than you seem to think!" Dash's mom smiled at him. "Y-you're trans? I thought you were just a loser!" "Yeah, and I had to talk to the transphobic ghosts. So I won't invalidate your mom!" Dash stared up at him. "Holy shit,"

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

Praying that this uploads, cause I've got shoddy internet rn. And I'm working on my Gravity Falls crossover fic. I just had this pop into my mind. Prolly just gonna be a oneshot. I might make another fic about Jack's side of the family later, that's connected to this one.

[fclkloren]

they assume you know nothing | pack

it said a lot about the argents that they hadn’t upped their security. the key that daryl gave them still fit in the lock and the security codes that allison had shared still disarmed the security system. derek focused his ears on the alarm, searching for any high-pitched frequency that would go unheard by human ears or any whir that would denote a warning to the local police department, but nothing happened.

hidden by magic, half of the beacon hills pack walked into a house that was still waiting for allison and daryl to come back.

as they all made their way into the house, kira stopped at the door. “i’ll stay here,” she offered quietly, locking the door behind herself. “if anything comes this way, i’ll sense it. i’m better at defending than searching anyway.”

jude’s lips tucked down into a frown and she reached for the gumiho’s hand. “are you sure? i don’t like you being down here by yourself.”

kira smiled at her. “i’m not defenseless, jude. besides, i’m not going to be the only one down here. don’t worry about me, okay? just find what we need and i’ll be okay.”

dean dropped a hand to the top of jude’s head, ruffling her hair lightly. “head up, whittemore. i’ll stay with kira.”

derek nodded in agreement. “at least two people need to head out to the garage, and two more people can stay down here, but most of us need to check upstairs. that’s the most territory to cover.”

michonne lifted a hand. “i’ll head to the garage. daryl says that’s where all of the weapons are. i’ll make sure nothing’s coated in wolfsbane.”

“be careful!” maggie called out quietly as michonne went; the emissary waved over her shoulder, and maggie looked back to the others. “i’m going to head upstairs. judie, you want a piggyback ride?”

jude perked up. “oh, yes! i love piggyback rides!” careful not to put too much weight on her bad leg, she hurried over to maggie and hopped onto her back. maggie adjusted the human on her back and carried her upstairs, careful not to make too much noise. even though they’d gone over all the risks and taken as many magical precautions as they could, they still made it a point to keep their volume low.

derek gave a glance around the dwindling crowd left in the foyer. cora had already slipped away unnoticed; for once, he considered it a good thing that he couldn’t detect her presence. danny had already hacked into the home’s security footage to ensure that they weren’t caught on camera, and meghan had cast a protective spell over them that would make any backup cameras short-circuit at the sight of them. they were as undetected as they would ever be.

still, derek didn’t want to take any chances. he doubted any of them did.

“i’m going upstairs, too,” he said. dean and kira both nodded at him. he gave his pack one more look, praying that this plan didn’t backfire, and headed upstairs to search for anything that would tell them the full truth about the argents and their affiliates.

[adrenameg]

Stockholm Syndrome - Danny Johnson | The Ghostface

so I've wrote a cute short story about Danny, its been sitting in my drafts for ages and i finally finished it!! something to pass some time during this crisis, but I hope everyone is staying safe and more importantly at home!!

hope you enjoy!! 

SLIGHT mention of NSFW below the cut

“God, I missed you” Danny mumbled into your neck, making you giggle at the tingling sensation.

A while ago, Danny had planned to brutally murder you after meeting you in a nightclub uptown. Obviously back then, he was none other than the famous Jed Olsen to you. The reporter who glorified The Ghostface and his murders, placing the most gruesome photos in his articles. You always wondered how he got such good images, then you found out.

He’d mapped everything out, how to scare you, the method of killing and finally, what he would write about you in his article. Except, when he tried calling you in the middle of the night, you didn’t wake up. He cursed, phoning you multiple times before he eventually gave up. Of course you were a deep sleeper, that was just his luck. Danny was already angry at this point, he stormed through your house, knowing he didn’t need to be quiet. He waltzed into your room, to see you laying stark naked in bed, the moonlight piercing through the small gap in the curtains illuminating your perfect body. In that moment, he knew he didn’t want to kill you just yet.

So here you were today, actually enjoying being held captive. At first, you fought for your life, you struggled in his intense grasp and you even managed to injure him once. But that just backfired on yourself. You found yourself giving in to his advances, convincing yourself it was because you knew you were never going to escape, but really, you wanted it just as bad as Danny did.

“I missed you too” You threw your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Danny had just come back from a long day at work, and it was now late in the evening.

“I thought about you all day” He whispered into your ear. You squeezed your thighs together, knowing exactly what he meant. “I want to bring you to my office so I can bend you over the desk and fuck you hard”

“But people might recognise me” You mumbled, a feeling of sadness washing over you as you thought about your family and friends.

“Isn’t that exciting?” He rasped, dragging his wet tongue along the length of your neck, up to your ear. Gulping down the lump in your throat, you tried not to let your tears overcome you and fall from your eyes. “Baby?” His eyes met yours, a concerned look immediately coming onto his face. A sigh escapes his lips as a stray tear falls from your eye.

“I...” You start but you struggle to put any thoughts together and form a sentence.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way. I’m sorry I took your life away from you” Danny gives you a weak smile and holds you at arms length. “But you have me”

“Can’t I have just one day where I go and see my family? I just want them to know I’m okay and that I love them, then I’d come straight back to you” You’d lost count of how many times you had asked this of Danny, knowing what his answer would be every time. “Even an hour would do..”

“You know I can’t let that happen, doll” His features started to harden. Your guess was that he was beginning to get fed up of answering the same question every so often.

“I know” You huffed, pulling away from his hold.

“If I could, you know I’d let you see them” He grabbed your wrist as you went to walk away from him.

“Really?” You scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t act like I don’t care about you” Danny’s tone was harsh and you knew he was getting irritated.

“If you cared you wouldn’t be so selfish” As soon as the words left your mouth, you slapped a hand over your lips as if you were trying to push the words back in. He narrowed his eyes at you but said nothing, the silence eventually becoming unbearable.

“What?” He snapped, his eyes cold as ice.

“Nothing. I didn’t mean it” You quickly replied.

“I try my absolute hardest to make you happy, you know? And you call me selfish? Selfish!” He was pacing up and down the hallway, his anger literally radiating off of him. When he turned to face you, his nostrils were flared and his eyes wild.

“I love you” The three words slipped out easily, no hesitation at all. It was the only thing you knew you could say to calm him down, and make him believe that you didn’t mean what you said.

“Huh?” His expression completely changed. “I.. you’re not just saying that, are you?”

“I’m being serious” The corners of Danny’s lips started to point upwards, and you visibly relaxed, he believed you.

“Say it again” pleaded Danny as he looked deep into your eyes.

“I love you” With more confidence in your voice, he was even more inclined to believe you. Sure, Danny had told you plenty of times that he loved you and you’d never given him the answer he wanted, until now.

“I’ve been waiting so, so long to hear you say those words to me” He was practically glowing with glee. Only a smile was given in reply to him, but it was sweet nonetheless. “Now let’s go make love”

And you did truly love him. Even though your story was kind of sick, and twisted, with it all starting in him kidnapping you. But you’d gotten to know the real him, you’d seen the soft side of him. Yeah, you had also seen his bad, killer hungry, psychotic side but this all made you love him even more.

You definitely had a case of stockholm syndrome.

[helaintoloki]

Sweet Dreams

pairing: Dan Torrance x reader

warnings: language, angst, scenes of violence, death, somewhat of a happy ending (?), over 2k words in length

notes: this is dedicated to @obitwo who not only encouraged me to write this but also helped me brainstorm and was supper supportive in the process♡

summary: when death flies mark their territory on your face, Dan knows he must do whatever he can to keep you safe. But will he be able to protect you from a vengeful Rose the Hat?

The drive to Colorado is a long one, the empty roads along the way only adding to the apprehensions surrounding the trip. The Overlook was your only hope of defeating Rose, the only place that could finally bring that bitch to her end, but that didn’t mean she would go down easily. Dan knew this, and yet the three of you were diving straight off the cliff and into the belly of the beast. You just hoped it wasn’t too starved.

He stops halfway through the trip for gas, allowing Abra and yourself a chance to stretch your legs and pick up some snacks as well- your idea, because you can’t fight the devil on an empty stomach.

“Want anything?” You ask Dan, giving his hand a gentle squeeze in hopes of providing him with a sense of comfort and solace. You know how heavily this trip weighs on his mind and heart, what it means to him, and you’ll do anything you can to make sure he knows he’s not alone.

“Coffee,” Dan murmurs as he brings your hand up to his lips and presses a careful kiss to your knuckles.

“You got it,” you smile gently, releasing him from your grasp before escorting Abra into the convenience store.

A long sigh escapes Dan as he leans back against the car and waits for the tank to fill. A million thoughts swirl through his mind, a million outcomes and a million possibilities of how this will all play out. His main priority is protecting you and Abra, but what if he can’t? What if the plan backfires and he succumbs to the will of the Hotel just like his father had all those years ago? What could he do then? Rose would finish you both off while Dan was off fighting the ghosts of his childhood. He wanted to vomit, wanted to lie down and close his eyes and dream it all away. And, as guilty as it made him feel, he really wanted a drink.

“Almost done?” Your voice asks, your presence immediately lifting some of the weight off of Dan’s shoulders. He takes the coffee from your hands and stares down at the lid thoughtfully, mind drifting back to the old memories of midnight liquor store trips during his drinking days. Would you have loved him then as much as you do now? No, that didn’t matter. Dan was different now, a new man, a good man. A good man with a good woman to call his own.

“Almost done,” he nods, looking up to meet your gaze. “Did Abra-“

The coffee slips from his hands and onto the ground, the hot contents draining from the cup in the same manner that the color begins to drain from his face. His heart is pounding in his chest and bile begins to rise painfully up his throat. He can’t move, he can’t speak, and no matter how much he wants to he can’t tear his eyes away from the sight before him.

A litter of flies coat your face, buzzing animatedly as they crawl along your skin unnoticed by everyone except Dan. Those same flies had once swarmed his dying mother’s face, and now they had found a home in you. Death was approaching quickly, a new fly appearing with every passing minute, and Dan wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed before. Your life was in danger and he had no idea how to stop it.

“Dan?” Your voice calls, sounding far away and muffled in his ears. “Danny, is everything alright?”

Strong arms immediately pull you flush against him, bodies chest to chest as he cradles the back of your head in his hand and buries his face into your shoulder. He doesn’t want to scare you, he doesn’t want to make a scene, but the tears are steadily flowing now and he can’t seem to stop them.

“Dan, what’s wrong?” You exclaim fretfully, reciprocating his actions by throwing your own arms around him and giving his body a tight hug. “What is it?”

“I won’t let them get you,” he vows through tears. “I won’t let them take you away. You can’t go. Not yet. Not now. Not ever.”

His outburst makes you uneasy, but you can only reach up to card your fingers through his hair and attempt to soothe him.

“I’m not going anywhere Dan,” you console. “No one’s going to take me. It’s alright.”

But it isn’t alright, you don’t know how close you are to death, and it makes Dan feel all the more terrified. You shouldn’t be here, you should find somewhere else to stay until it’s all over, you shouldn’t be here, you shouldn’t-

Abra returns to find her Uncle Dan inconsolable as he sobs into your neck, exchanging an uneasy glance with you as you do your best to soothe him. Tensions have risen now as his cries echo throughout the empty gas station parking lot.

You send Abra for another coffee and sit Dan in the passenger’s seat because there’s no way he’ll be able to make the rest of the drive. The cup trembles in his hands the same way his bottom lip trembles in fear. The urge to suck his thumb is stronger than ever, but he refrains.

Your gaze is fixated on the road ahead as you drive, brows furrowed ever so slightly as you mull over your own thoughts. Flies continue to crawl over your face, and Dan wills himself to look away.

He holds your unoccupied hand bone crushingly tight the rest of the way and refuses to let go because there’s no way in hell he’ll ever lose you. Not now, not ever.

The flies continue to buzz, and Dan’s heart continues to break.

~~~

In some twisted form of irony, despite the fact that you’re getting closer and closer to danger the flies begin to dwindle in amount as you approach the Overlook. It’s a hopeful sight for Dan, one that let’s him know there’s still a chance for all of you to get out of this alive. As long as he keeps an eye on you, as long as he keeps you close, as long as he does everything in his power to protect you things will be okay. They have to be. They will be.

It’s freezing when you step out of the car, fresh snowflakes cascading from the clouds and landing in your hair and on your clothes. In normal circumstances the snowfall would have been a beautiful sight, but right now it only seemed to fuel the eerie aesthetic of the rotting building before you. Dan drapes his jacket over your shoulders to keep you warm, but it isn’t the cold that has you shivering.

“I’m gonna go inside. I want you to keep the car running and turn the heater on. Abra, you keep an eye out for Rose. You’ll be able to see her coming through the tree lines, and as soon as you do I want you to call me. Stay together, and no matter what you do don’t split up.”

“Aren’t we going inside with you?” Abra ponders apprehensively.

“I have to go inside and wake it up first, and I don’t want either of you spending a single minute in there if you don’t have to,” he explains, casting his gaze towards you.

The snowflakes have begun to collect in your hair, crowning you ethereally in ice and tugging at Dan’s heartstrings in the process. The flies are still there, but only in a single handful, and it’s enough to spur him on and ignite the courage within him to finally face his past. You’re going to be okay, that much he’s sure of.

“Dan,” you call out softly, halting his movements so that you have the chance to take his face in your hands and meet his tender gaze. Your touch is still warm despite the cold and his eyes flutter shut at the contact. If he could, he’d melt into your hands like putty and savor the sensation forever. “I love you Danny. So much.”

“I know you do,” Dan murmurs gently, turning his face in order to press a kiss to your palm. “I love you too.”

You release him reluctantly and wrap his jacket tighter around yourself as he steps foot into the hotel, disappearing into the hallways and out of your sight. From beside you, Abra takes your hand in her own and holds it tight.

(I’ve got her, Uncle Dan)

(Good. Now don’t let go)

~~~

“She’s here,” Abra announces suddenly before quickly dragging you inside with her. Your body trembles at the thought of finally facing the horrible child killing monster, stomach churning anxiously and panic bubbling in your chest. With no special shine to you and no weapons, you would be completely and utterly defenseless by the time Rose came, and you’d be no help whatsoever to Dan and Abra. She stumbles as you stop suddenly and gives you a look of uncertainty, still clinging to your hand.

“Y/n, come on,” she urges, tugging at your arm only for you to release yourself from her grip.

“It’s a hotel, so there must be a kitchen here somewhere. And if they have a kitchen then they must have knives.”

“What are you talking about?! Come on, we have to go!”

“You go on, I’ll meet you there.”

“Y/n you can’t, Dan said we have to stay together,” Abra pleads, “no splitting up!”

Her eyes begin to water as you pull her into a quick embrace, making sure to press a kiss to the very top of her head.

“It’s going to be okay, Abra. I promise you, it’s going to be okay. I’ll be right behind you, okay? Now go find Dan,” you instruct with a reassuring smile. You give her one last kiss to the forehead and smoothen out her hair before jogging off down the hall in search of the kitchen.

You don’t know it then, but swarms of flies coat your face completely as you disappear from Abra’s sight.

~~~

The kitchen is grimey and rotten with mold growing in various corners of the room and a putrid stench wafting through the air that’s so fowl it forces you to cover your nose and mouth with the sleeve of Dan’s jacket. Dust coats the abandoned pots and pans, and the remnants of bad memories are all that seem to remain alive in the room.

You feel as if you’re being watched while you tiptoe through the kitchen, stumbling over a disarray of pots on the ground and cringing at the rattling that follows. You hope to god you’re alone right now.

The knives hang neatly from their rack, glinting underneath the artificial lights from above. Despite the dust that has collected on them they’re still clean enough for you to see your own reflection. Against the steel you can see the sweat that has started to collect along your brows and the red from the cold that has slowly started to fade from your cheeks. A shadow joins your reflection, and before you have time to react a hand reaches out and grabs a fistful of your hair before harshly yanking your head backward.

“Well hi there,” the shadow greets cheerfully. You try to cry out for help only to have them tug harder. “Oh come on now, let’s play nice. Don’t you want to play nice?”

A shiver courses through your body as the figure leans forward, chin resting on your shoulder and tongue darting out to lick a slow, long stripe up your cheek while simultaneously pulling the knife off the rack. When they pull away to give you a mischievous smile you’re able to see that it’s a woman. She’s beautiful, but the hat resting at an unnaturally crooked angle on her head is what reveals her true identity to you- she’s Rose the Hat.

“Let’s go,” she says, holding the knife to your throat while gracefully dragging you out of the kitchen with her. Light laughter escapes her at what’s to come. “Lover boy is just going to eat this up.”

~~~

“Hey handsome,” Rose smiles nonchalantly, waltzing casually into the room as if she didn’t have a kitchen knife held dangerously close to your throat. The sight of you in her grasp almost brings Dan to his knees, and from beside him Abra begins to weep with guilt. Your face is almost unrecognizable with the flies that bury your features underneath them.

“Let her go,” Dan utters breathlessly. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“You’re the one who killed Crow,” Rose says carefully, and Dan swallows harshly in response. “I loved that man more than anything. I’m sure you know what that’s like. Loving someone so much it hurts.”

The tip of the knife begins to dig uncomfortably into your skin, slowly drawing little droplets of blood as a result. You gasp faintly and try not to move as tears begin to pool in your eyes.

“Let her go,” Dan repeats again, desperation clear in his voice. “Please.”

“You know, the others I could handle. But Crow Daddy? That was a mistake.”

“Please,” Dan whispers. Tears are steadily streaming down his face now, and the axe trembles in his hands.

“I love you,” you manage to mouth to him, and Dan’s heart is ripped in half.

Everything seems to move in slow motion as Rose slashes the knife against your throat. Your hands immediately fly up to your neck in a feeble attempt to stop the blood that gushes out from the open wound, a choked gasp echoing from your lips as Rose harshly shoves you forward so that you land at Dan’s feet.

“Y/N!” He cries, knees buckling underneath him as he falls to floor beside you and sobs. Dan lifts your upper half as delicately as he can so that your head may rest in his lap. Trembling hands gently brush away the stray strands of hair that stick to your face, the warmth of your blood flowing down your neck and onto the fabric of his jeans below you.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Dan weeps. You look up at him with wide eyes, afraid and unable to speak over your gasping breaths. Your hand feebly reaches up to caress his face but drops down before you can touch him. You’re dying, eyelids struggling to stay open despite Dan desperately begging for you to hold on. “No, stay with me sweetheart. Look at me, look at me y/n. Look at me!”

But you can’t. You’re cold and you’re tired and you want nothing more than to close your eyes and sleep, and so you do. And even Doctor Sleep himself can’t ease your pain, can’t make your transition into the next life less terrifying. You die afraid and alone and in Dan Torrance’s lap.

“Doesn’t feel so good, does it?” Rose taunts, inching closer and closer until Dan is forced to stumble back and away from your body. He watches horrified as she presses her boot against your still chest, pushing just enough so that a cloud of steam blows past your lips. Abra begins to sob as Rose sucks up what’s left of you, her eyes rolling back with an unsatisfied groan.

“Such a pretty face, but her steam is shit,” Rose scoffs in disbelief. A wry smile paints itself across her lips, and with a shake of her head she laughs. “What a waste.”

“Y-You’re going to pay for that,” Dan warns through clenched teeth. “You’re going to die for that.”

“Oh honey, it was nothing personal,” Rose smiles. “An eye for an eye, you know the drill.”

“She was a good person,” Dan chokes out.

“Good people die all the time, don’t they?” Rose mocks, and Dan sees red.

“You’re going to die.”

~~~

The boiler room engulfs itself in flames and blocks off the doorway so that nothing can get in or out. Danny sits back on his knees breathless but relaxed, patiently counting down the minutes he has left on this earth. Rose is dead, Abra is safe, and in a few moments he’ll be with you again. All he has to do is wait.

The old building begins to creak and groan as the fire spreads throughout the hotel, the boiler room growing increasingly stifling by the minute. Death is approaching, and Dan is not scared in the slightest.

“Danny,” a voice calls sweetly, prompting him to open his eyes so that he may be greeted by the two most important women in his life. In front of him kneels his mother, a gentle smile on her face as her hand comes to tenderly rest upon his cheek. You sit beside Wendy, her arm around your waist keeping you close and safe under her wing. You look beautiful, skin glowing under the embers, and there isn’t a single fly in sight.

“Hi Danny,” you smile gently. “Welcome home.”

Home. He smiles faintly at the thought as he leans into his mother’s touch and reaches out to take hold of your hand in his own. Together the three of you sit, patiently waiting for the night to reach its end. The ceiling above begins to cave in, and Dan gives your hand a tight squeeze.

“It’s going to be alright,” you soothe. “You just close your eyes and go to sleep for a little while. We’ll be here when you open them again.”

“I’ll go to sleep” he murmurs in agreement. His eyes begin to close, and the image of your smiling faces is the last thing Danny sees before everything goes dark.

“Sweet dreams, Doc,” Wendy’s voice echoes distantly.

Danny Torrance falls asleep in the boiler room of the hotel, and the Overlook burns to the ground.

[jamiedc-they-them]

Ye who held too much faith (Platonic)

welp hi again, can i request daenerys x brother!reader (or sibling if ur not comfortable writing for male reader) where r gets injured and dany takes care of him. whether he wakes up i leave it up to you

AN/ Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy my writing :D Hope you enjoy!

There had been attempts on your life before. In fact, there had been multiple attempts on both of your lives during your journey together to cross the sea to take what was rightfully your own. The Iron Throne.

For Danny, her main goal was to seize the throne, but the other was to have you survive this war and be an adviser to her. As much as she knew that some families had incestuous tendencies (She was informed about them via Jorah) she broke that cycle when you were born. You were the youngest out of the siblings, thus making her more protective of you.

That’s what made this worse, that you had been hurt because of her mission to grab something to make you both feel more secure.

She had always been the protector, ever since your elder brother struck you, she did all she could to help you through those traumas. To help you feel a little bit safe, even if it meant that he turned his sights on her. It would’ve been worth it, as you would’ve been safe.

Now, here you laid, on the bed with a ghostly white colour to your skin. You looked dead, and maybe you were –

No, she couldn’t think like that, she couldn’t afford to.

You needed to be ok, you had to be. There was no other option; no other way this thing could go, really.

She wouldn’t let it.

“Have you slept yet, my queen?” Tyrion asked as he approached both of you, keeping his eyes on your sister as he spoke. He was clearly worried for her mental health; he knew that she wouldn’t be able to take much more of this. She seemed to just be losing people left and right.

Now it had really gotten personal with you.

You had to be ok, she didn’t care how it happened, you just had to be.

But, first, you had to wake up. You had to open your eyes and prove to the world that you were in fact alive.

 “I’m fine.” She said, though neither in the room believe it. Both could hear the quiver in her voice as she said those false words.

“Y/N might not –”

“Y/N will be fine.” She said, firmly, as if the other option didn’t exist. As said above, she wouldn’t let that version come into existence.

“He might not be.” He warned her, but it fell on death ears.

“He has to be…. He’ll make it, I’m sure of it.” She said, determined to make those words come true.

“As much as I believe in you and your cause, faith can sometimes go misplaced in anything or anyone.” He told her.

That did not get the reaction that he wanted to garner from those words, “Is that a threat?” She asked; as much as she had started to se him as friend, she was still weary of him and whether or not she should let him in.

Still, he was here; no one else had shown up, yet. No one had even asked her that question, yet. But he had. So, that meant something.

“For once, it won’t be.” She said.

The next moment, your hand that she had been holding tighten it’s held a little. It got her attention and stopped the conversation from continuing between the Queen and the Hand of said Queen.

“Are you alright?” Was the first thing your sister asked you as you opened your eyes; you took a moment to survey the room and realise that you were indeed safe and not in any immediate danger.

You then met the slightly worried eyes of your sister; since the day your brother had hit you, she had never fully ceased with that worry in her gaze. She was always mothering you. Hell, she was more of that than a sister at times.

She was mainly that as she wanted you to feel like you could be you. That you could be happy, even if a little. She just wanted you safe.

You were awake sure, but you still weren’t out of the woods, yet.

“What happened?” You asked her with a croaky voice, she passed you a mug of water; one you drank from in a rush, desperate to get yourself back up and ready to go as quickly as you could do.

“I- I, uhm…” She wasn’t sure if you even should know how you ended up like this. She had it all prepared beforehand; her lines rehearsed to a T; but that had all gone out the window the second you had opened your eyes. All she was going on now was instinct, both sisterly and motherly, to make sure that you were ok and see if she could help you in any way.

This was not one of those ways in her book.

“Danny,” She looked into your eyes again, “Please, I just want to know what happened. That’s all.” You told her softly, in an honest tone.

She sighed, knowing that she would only be making things worse if she didn’t tell you.

“Do you need me to fetch the –” Tyrion was about to finish his offer, when Daenerys answered.

“No, I’ll be fine on my own.” Her own voice was soft, she didn’t break eye contact with you. When you heard the door close, Daenerys sat on your bed and grabbed the bandage that the maester had left beforehand.

“Ok.” She said, as she begun to painfully recount what had happened to you.

 “Danny –” You said as you tried to beg your sister to let you go out to try and quell the seemingly endless amount of anarchy reigning outside. She, however, would not budge.

“No, Y/N! For the last time, I’m not letting you go out there, you’re safer here!” You sighed, knowing she was right. But that didn’t mean anything if there were still people dying.

Daenerys secretly hated that part of you, the part that was this selfless; granted, she had it too, just to a much lesser degree. Still, she knew that the fire of a dragon was deadly and rarely could be stopped. She knew that giving you the answer she gave wasn’t helping you; if anything, it was making you more and more impatient and more and more cause to want to go out and fight.

Still, that part of her soon died when the protective part of her overruled that thought.

“You are to stay, Y/N. I need you by my side…. What if you get hurt – what if you – I can’t…I can’t do this alone.” She said, letting her emotions take control now; let her worry be fully known to you. She couldn’t lose the advice you gave her; the way you could read her like a book and vice versa; but, most of all, she couldn’t lose her best friend and only surviving family member she could actually talk and communicate with.

She couldn’t go across the sea and have you not been there, it would feel hollow in doing so. She was waging this war for the both of you, after all. If you died, it would feel like this victory wouldn’t fully be earned.

“Danny,” You said softly as you grabbed her hands in your own, she squeezed them softly, “I…. I’ll stay, if that’s what you want. I’ll stay.” You promised you, even gave her a smile to try and sell it more.

She hugged you tightly, you returned the gesture, “Thank you, little brother.” She said as she then pulled away, planting a kiss on your head, before leaving to try and take back control of her currently burning city.

You let out an attempt of a calming breath as your sister turned the corner before exiting to your chambers. You had indeed done what she had asked, you just weren’t going to stay.

You also hoped that this wouldn’t backfire horribly.

 “How do you know I did that?” You asked Danny as she gently took off your old bandage and replaced it with a new one. Despite not being a maester, she was doing a decent job so far. She hadn’t caused you anymore pain and was quite calm. Externally that was, internally she was worried at making even the slightest mistake and hurting you.

“It was Grey Worm’s best summary of how you got out. No one else saw you; you aren’t as sneaky as you might think you are, sometimes.” She said in a teasing voice that then saddened when she remembered where those actions that got you.

“Oh…”

 The buildings were burning, and the streets were either filled with screaming people or the attackers in the city. You were in the midst of all that, of course; really, you hadn’t fully had a plan set out, mainly it was just go down and fight in any way you could.

You were capable of fighting, just not as well as these people were. You weren’t trained since birth, you weren’t forced to train every day, almost all day.

You were trained for a few hours to around a full day a week before you’d go back to supporting your sister.

So, in short, you were fucked.

You saw one civilian being attacked, and instantly ran over; the attacker swung at you, you ducked and tried to hit him; he, however, dodged and sliced you in the arm.

You sneered as you pulled a dagger and tried once again to attack the person, however, he blocked and punched you.

That was when the blade came down again.

“Why did you do it?” She asked as she wrapped the final new bandage; she did feel a bit stupid having now asked it, as she knew the answer, but she wanted to know your reasoning for it.

“You saved the city your way, I wanted to save it –” You stopped talking as you let out a gasp; Daenerys was set on edge, scared she had done something wrong; however, when your eyes started to show more blood in the corners, she knew it wasn’t her fault.

It was a poison instead.

“Y/N…? Y/N!” She cried out as she held your figure as it started to convulse erratically.

“Maester!” She yelled, hating to leave you, but having to find some help for you.

To make sure that you’d survive.

 The assassin must’ve thought you dead, as they had walked away the next moment. You weren’t, however, gone. But you had failed in your job to protect the woman, her dead and cold eyes stared back at you.

You were bleeding badly; you could almost feel the blood leaving your body. You managed to turn yourself over, only to see smoke still rising from one of the houses. There were still screams, but they were less in mass and fainter; whether that be further away, or you were losing consciousness or that one side was winning.

Only thing was, you didn’t know which one it was.

You turned to your side, placing a hand on the floor, your hand had patches of blood on it dotted around; you placed your second hand, seeing the same thing, only your left one held a lot more blood. That was most likely the hand that was on your now worse wound. You were sure it was probably infected by now.

 “How is he?” Daenerys asked nervously as she paced in the room, the Maester put a rag to your head to try and help with the sweating that had occurred moments after she left, it only made you shiver more however.

“It’s not just poison, my queen,” He told her gravely, “The wound was infected as well from dirt and other objects. Look here,” He pointed to your wound, “Someone had tried to cauterize it; however, they didn’t have much time or a clean instrument to use.” Danny gulped; the odds weren’t exactly in your favour for survival.

She was now allowing herself to panic, this could be your deathbed. This could be it, the moment it all fell apart.

 You fell into a crawl as your wound bled more and more. You groaned as you put your hand that had been scrapping through dirt to it, ignoring what that would do to you and your already agitated wound.

You slowly got back up, stumbling forward towards your palace in an attempt to get back to your room and find a way to patch yourself up without your sister finding you and worrying about you.

That was the last thing you wanted.

Your convulsions had stopped, but your sweating and groaning in pain had not ceased. Daenerys wished there was something she could do. However, in reality, the only thing she could do was hope and pray that the Maester would heal you and this would all be over. She could admonish you and then you both would move on.

Part of her knew, however, that neither of you would be the same after this. No matter what the outcome was. Even thought she hoped for the positive one (as any sister would), she knew that it would hold a lot of questions and doubt in the coming days/months/years until you both would reach your goal.

You reached the door, bloody hand pressing against it, it didn’t take much pressure to open it. Once it did, you pretty much fell inside, letting out another groan as you hit the floor in pain.

Someone reached you, your eyes opened to see Missandei hovering above you worriedly. She was speaking, but those words were lost on you as you felt yourself fading.

When you opened your eyes again to a blurry world, you saw the recognisable clothes of Dany kneeling next to you; you felt the faint touch of her hand as her own words were inaudible to you. But you were sure they were begging you to stay awake and not to leave her.

You closed your eyes one more time. This time not reopening for a while.

 She was outside of the room now, standing outside the door and nervously playing with her fingers. She didn’t have anything to say or do other than to stay silent and wait anxiously for the Maester to walk out of the room.

Finally, they did, but the grim look on their face told Danny all she needed to know.

You were gone.

 Daenerys had cried before over loss; she had cried before over pain. She had never done it over both at the same time, however. This felt like knives stabbing her heart over and over again without pause or an end in sight.

You were gone; her brother and her best friend in the whole world was gone. She was alone now, truly alone; the last of the Targaryen’s and left to carry the burden of being one alone.

She, however, looked out at the view of the city. Of the city you had died for, of the city you had helped her take just like the rest of them.

She let out a breath as she rose from her bed and went out onto the balcony, already missing how you would sometimes rest next to her and talk about your day or your plans for the future.

That would never happen again.

 “Fetch the Maester!” She yelled at anyone who would listen, Missandei was the one who followed through with it and left to get one. She, however, carried your body in her arms and burst into your room, placing your body on the bed.

“Please, Y/N; please, please, please, please. Don’t leave me, not yet. There’s so much we need to do. There’s so much I have to show you.”

 It was an empty promise now. There was, however, one more she could follow through.

That being to take back the kingdoms in your name.

 That fateful day led to a snowball affect: when she left to Winterfell, she was immediately outcasted, having you there would’ve helped calm that, helped her feel less alone; the next was the loss of two of her children, that loss made her fall further away from friends; then, finally, was the death of Missandei, her other best friend and a sister to you both.

It was what made her burn Kings Landing almost entirely to the ground, it was what led to her walking to the throne in a vision she had forgotten about long ago. She did it all in your name; all to make your death mean something.

It ended, however, with a dagger in the heart. As she slipped from this world to whatever came next. Her last thought, however, was of you; when she was an innocent but scared girl, and you were a damaged but happy child.

Those were simpler times, times when you could just be two siblings.

Now, you were both gone; if there was a world after this one, you’d meet there.

She’d make sure of it.

[bitch-i-migth-be]

Crash Course | Chapter 02: A sister's musings

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman,  

Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton,

Words: 1′778

Tags: BAMF Danny, BAMF Jazz, Sibling bonding, Shenanigans, Swearing

Summary: He swore his sister was trying to make him go into cardiac arrest - considering his halfa status that was quite the accomplishment-

But there was no other explanation to his sister’s stubbornness, and if he knew her at all there was just no talking her down from interning at goddam Arkham.

A/N: Author liberties were taken by someone who doesn’t own shit at the moment.And they will continue to be taken. Enjoy.

CHAPTERS: 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

Jazzmine Coraline Fenton had not planned any of this for her future.

In fact, no matter how many people thought otherwise, she didn’t have anything planned for her future.

Not anything concrete anyway.

Even since she was little she had been good at a great many things and excelled in a few more, much to her parent’s delight and the chagrin of the parents of the other children in her class. But there had never been something she particularly loved, nothing that could convince her of which way to focus herself, so she decided to just- spread and conquer, in those years.

Looking back on it now, she supposed the main reason she held herself to such high standards was so she could get some proper attention from her parents, who, unless there was a need for basic interaction or an academic event, tended to focus on their career.

Not to say that they didn’t care for her, they did, but they couldn’t be called role model parents by any means. They could get so encased on their research that sometimes it was safer for everyone involved to just let them to it and enjoy the little ghost-free interactions that could be encountered every now and then.

When Danny had grown up enough to be an acceptable company (which was still pretty little considering the standards of human interactions the senior Fentons could provide to other people, let alone a child. At that point Jazz was more than ready to take anything she could get) there was not as much reason to keep striving for their parent’s attention, but the habit had been already ingrained, and good notes were not a bad thing to have, so there was not a motive to stop.

Danny was as cute as a button (still was, but he got all flustered and retreated to safer pastures whenever she brought it up, so she refrained. No way she was reprieving herself from her brother), and she was ecstatic to have someone to play with that wouldn’t, couldn’t really, run away screaming from the crazy-psycho-wannabe ghost hunters.

What with them sharing parents and all.

It would be a good empathy exercise if anything else.  

So Jazz made sure to teach Danny her ways. They took care of each other and then promptly proceeded to have their very own improvised survival training in their own home. Sadly, even with all of this, she worried it might not be enough.

In other words, the main reason she had to get into psychology? Her family. Specifically her brother.

It was clear to her, and to anyone else if they had bothered to look into it, that their parent’s main concern was not their family dynamic, and as long as the food was not openly engaging in hostilities against the younger ones, they refrained to paying more than the basic of attention to their doings. Which was a good thing for when the kids wanted to play around, but not so much for when they really needed parent supervision.

Jazz had taken it upon herself to learn more about what made people tick. Taken it upon herself to learn how to take her family from barely functional to something a little less distressing to witness. And she would succeed even if she had to glue their parents and them together to make it work.

For a while, it looked like it was going to stick.

And then the Ghost Portal had backfired on all of them.

Their parents had been over the moon that their apparent failure had been a ruse, a ghost trying to mess with their work, they said. In either case, it had only caused them to become even more invested in the ghost research, and now that they had legitimate proof of the existence of ghosts and their realm it would be even harder to talk them down once they got going.

Unlike her progenitors, she was more concerned with the impact the frequent ghost attacks that followed the accident would have, and the obvious repercussions there would be against her family if anyone put two and two together and realized her parent’s shenanigans were at fault of all the public destruction via ghost.  

And Danny-

For the first time since she could remember Danny was pushing her away.

It was telling, than even neck deep in ghost attacks the thing that could hurt her the most was his reticence to talk to her. Nonetheless, her brother needed her and she would always rise to the occasion no matter how stubborn he could get about it.

It had taken a while for her to understand, but eventually, she did.

He had died.

Her parents had, however unknowingly, put the final nail in the coffin.

Literally.

Jazz had been devastated. But then, she was not the one who died, was she? Or did he?

She stuck by her brother. She listened. She observed. And by whatever miracle, she confirmed that her brother, while wary, was still her brother. He was not a vague impression, not a faded memory, not unfeeling, not uncaring.

Au contraire, her little brother was, if the ghost fights were anything to go by, caring way too much to be healthy.

It was, to some point, comprehensible. Danny thought the activation of the portal was on him. He felt compelled to help however he could.

Which was unfair because honestly, their parents were the ones that fucked up. But alas, the responsibility they held for the attacks didn’t mean they were capacitated to deal with the consequences.

So she continued to stick by her brother. Talked him down when it was obvious he would keep going his merry stubborn way even if it half killed him again. And then brainstormed together how to make the best out of this god-awful situation.

Jazz was not a fighter, so she had to resign herself to back up, running interference, and dealing with collateral damage. It was not as much as her brother, but in needed to get done.

And then, in one of the many attacks to Amity Park she had been able to talk down a small group of ghosts.

She prevented them from attacking, all thanks to her knowledge of psychology. It was not her fighting prowess that ‘defeated’ them, it was her words.

She had been useful.

So, maybe, she didn’t need to be an excellent fighter to help her brother out. Maybe- maybe she just needed to understand better.

Because, really, weren’t most the ghost just people? Dead people, yes. But still people. Persons whose feelings had amplified at the moment of crossing over. And that just translated to tons of unfinished business. And what was the point of a psychologist if not help people? She could help others in her own way.

She wanted to.

That was a thing that apparently she shared with her little brother

Danny took it upon himself to protect the humans.

But who was helping the ghost?

Not all the ghosts were evil. If her brother’s tales about the Ghost Zone and its size where anything to go by, with the Ghost Portal they could have completely razed over the town if they wanted to. It didn’t add up. Some of the ghosts would even just come to the living world to mess around, not hurt, just play.

She had seen her brother herding the tiniest-non-humanoid ones that would sometimes flock in their neighborhood around as if they were little sheep. It was kinda cute, actually.

So maybe, if they learn what made them tick in an emotional sense, they could talk it out with the ghost. Maybe not all of them, but most. And wouldn’t that be a great help to relieve Danny’s load?

When she brought it up to the others- well. Sam and Tucker had just stared at her.

“What are you talking about?” They asked.

She had tried to explain, and they just looked at her like she had a screw loose. She was flabbergasted. They had spent way more time than her in the presence of ghosts. How had they not noticed?

The two teens had exchanged glances, gotten up, said their goodbyes, and made their way home. And that was it, an easy dismiss. She could only gape after them, and turn to her brother.

He was already looking at her.

He stared at her too, but he gave her a melancholic smile

“They don’t want to understand.” Was all he said.

That was enough to comprehend.

And that was the thing everything reduced to, wasn’t it

You could not see what you did not want to acknowledge. Not even if it was slapping you right in the face. Their parents were proof of that.  

Because the truth was that no matter how many people bitched about it her little brother was a hero.

Phantom was a hero.

And at the end of the day, Sam and Tucker were just civilians.

They didn’t know how bad it could get.

They didn’t know the grimmer parts. They didn’t think about them, they didn’t have to, because her brother was shielding them too.

That all the ghostly abilities her brother had acquired were not just “cool ghost powers”, that no matter how many times Sam talked about the responsibility she was not the one losing sleep over it, that no matter how Tucker sometimes wished he was ‘special’ too, there was always a price to pay. And Danny’s had come with interest.  

They didn’t want to acknowledge that Danny had died.

Jazz was the one waking up to her brother screams, the one constantly smuggling medical equipment into the house, the one fretting about whether her brother occasional lack of pulse in his sleep was a bad thing this time, the one to share sleepless nights along with her brother just talking trivialities so they could pretend for a moment.

Danny had always been hers like Jazz had always been his.  

If their constant quarrels and natural stubbornness could not tear them apart in the middle of their parent’s madhouse but made them stronger, then a triviality as whether one of them was dead or not was not going to tear them apart.

And maybe someday she would have to join him on the other side. But that was cannon fodder for the future.

For now, she would only concentrate on ways to help. The faster she learned the better.

And if She and Danny had flourished and learned to cope in the madhouse their parents had built.

What better option to have an intensive course than another madhouse, right?

-.-.-.-

NOTES:   :D

I like to believe that clothes were not the highest priorities in the Fenton household because Jack and Maddie can survive off jumpsuits alone and probably tried to convert their children too.

So Jazz and Danny would get their hands in any scrap of normal clothing they could, and by this point, Danny doesn’t even care if he has to use Jazz’s hello kitty sweater because that is better than his dad’s face.

He was already bullied anyway, might as well bite the fucking bullets.

[doof-doofblog]

"I'm Asking You To Think About It!"

Thursday 24th September 2020

Hi there folks! I'll be posting two posts today, I want to make sure that I'm caught up just as much as you guys are. So the first post, I will be focusing on Thursday's episode and then Friday's episode will follow! Thank you for being patient with me and I hope you're all enjoying my posts!

What a brilliant start to the episode on Thursday, Phil is seen in the Minute Mart debating whether to buy a face mask, I mean - I agree £8 for a face mask is a ridiculous price, especially when I know places that charge less. But of course, this is a soap. Also can I just say how lovely it is to see Honey! We've not seen her for such a long time, I think the last time we saw her, properly - didn't she leave to get help or get control of her eating disorder? If anyone can remember otherwise, please feel free to message me and inform me?! Phil and Honey are marking small talk regarding the masks as Isaac walks in, he also picks up a mask and makes the joke of it being used in a bank robbery. Of course, Phil stares at him - AS IF he's just used those words to describe a face mask!! Of all bloody things! I mean, obviously Isaac is has no idea about Phil's past so he clearly think he's made a harmless joke, if only he'd knew! As Isaac leaves, Jack then appears, on the phone to clearly someone who works with the police, Jack just happens to mention the Mitchell name to the person on the phone and Phil's ears are burning as he listens in on Jack's conversation. Does Jack also know why Ben has been released? Does he know that the police are going to be after Phil?!

In the laundrette, Sharon is once again leaning on Linda's shoulder. She informs her that Linda's advice backfired and Ian actually called her bluff. Linda is shocked but also feels for her friend as she reveals that she doesn't know what to do. She states that if she stays in the Vic, things will only get worse, and yet if she leaves, she has no where else to go. Sharon is really stuck at the minute, will Linda be able to find a way to help her friend in need? Will she possibly suggest Sharon moving in with her and Mick, just until she can find somewhere of her own? Who knows?

At the school, Isaac is doing his job as a teacher and observing the children, Amy waves goodbye to her brother as he rushes in, then saying "Good Morning" to Isaac. She asks him politely to look after her younger brother, as she walks away, Denise approaches him and checks with him once again to keep his distance from Amy, just in case her crush on him seems to escalate. Isaac really seems unfazed by Amy's crush, but I think Denise is right to warn him. He informs her that he's going to take a step back from tutoring her but that'll be the start, if anything else happens I'm sure he'll act fast.

Meanwhile, at the Mitchell household - Ben, Callum and Phil are all sat around together in the living room. Ben is feeling happy and ready to celebrate his being released. Although, Phil cannot seem to keep himself together, he can't understand why Ben is wanting to celebrate. Phil knows something isn't right, and he can't sit and do nothing while the police could possibly be watching his every move. He starts taking the blame out on Ben, for grassing up Danny in the first place - potentially if he hadn't of done that in the first place, Phil wouldn't be worrying for his life right now. Phil mentions how long it's taken for them to build up the Mitchell name, he worries now that word will get out about Ben being a grass, and their name will taking a falling dip. Ben then confronts his Dad, telling him how many times they've had to rebuild their reputation after every time Phil has made a mistake. Callum suddenly comes in between the argument, telling Phil that he's wrong! Both Phil and Ben want to know what Callum means by that, what does he know? He tells them that Danny wanted to drop the case and the police weren't willing to him go for the sake of Ben. He informs Phil that Danny is a bigger catch, he is the one the police want, he suggests to him that they lay low for a while, because if they can't get their hands on Danny, then they will come looking for Phil.

After their encounter earlier in the week, Mitch and Kheerat have met up once again. Kheerat informs Mitch that he doted on Chantelle, he had fallen for her and he thought the world of her. Mitch is silent as Kheerat tells him everything, he explains how close they had gotten over lockdown. He suggests it's such a coincidence that she suddenly passes away the night she's planning on running away with Kheerat. He knows something isn't right, he knows that somehow, someway, Gray is involved in her death. He brings up the possibility - what if Gray found out about them running away together? They possibly had a row and things went badly wrong? Mitch looks as if he can't take in what Kheerat is saying. But he also states that why also would he have her memory box? If Gray hadn't have done anything, perhaps he would've had the box, perhaps he wouldn't be chatting with Mitch and perhaps Chantelle wouldn't be dead. He explains that Chantelle cancelled their plans at the last minute, why would she do that?! She was ready to go and she sounded happy when she told him she wanted to be with him, why would she then change her mind? Also the voice message she left him, she sounded different - like something wasn't right. He tells Mitch that if there isn't any doubt in his mind that something isn't right, then he will drop the suspicion and leave it alone, for Chantelle's sake. But you can see Mitch's brain working, I think he completely agrees with Kheerat, something isn't adding up!

Meanwhile, in the Square, Callum is meeting with DI Thompson again. He is visibly guilt-stricken after giving up Phil to the police. His boss tries his best to persuade him that he's done the right thing. So why does he feel so bad about it all? His boss tells them that they're the good guys and they have won! But Callum makes the valid point that in this current situation, there are no winners! No one is going to be happy about the outcome. Callum has betrayed his boyfriend and he is going to have to suffer the consequences of his actions. While Callum is having this conversation with his boss, Phil has once again gotten his advice from is lawyer, Ritchie. She informs him that just by Callum's role in the police, there is no way he could've got hold of the information he gave Phil, she reveals that he's been lied to, and it's plain to see that he already knows.

In the bar, Max and Linda have decided to go for a drink, after Max's encounter with Ian, it looks like he could do with a stiff one! Max is still waiting for Ian to give him his money back, Ian is just making excuse after excuse and Max is slowly losing his patience. Linda is making small talk before she asks him if the restaurant is doing okay, she puts two and two together and explains to Max that Ian has been making Sharon doing all sorts of crazy jobs in the Vic so she can push for cash. She asks whether Ian isn't in any trouble. It's then that Max reveals to her that he ended up selling his half of the restaurant over to Ian, just so Rainie couldn't get hold of his money from the outcome of their divorce. Linda has clicked - did Ian pay for the Vic with Max's share of the restaurant money? She knows! She's figured it out! Ooooo I hope she'll have some plan up her sleeve, I do hope she'll confide in Max and inform him of what she's thinking.

In another family home we've not seen for a while, the Branning household, Jack is trying to persuade Isaac to carry on tutoring his daughter. He claims she has really progressed since he's been helping her. (Of course us viewers know why!) ... Amy is listening to the conversation, Isaac apologises for not being able to teach her anymore. When he reveals his excuse for no longer being able to tutor her is because he's seeing someone, you can see Amy look deeply hurt, she's sat at the table looking very miserable. Jack tells her not to worry but she doesn't respond and continues to look upset.

At the Vic, Stacey is still trying make amends to her Mum. She is begging for forgiveness, asking whether she can buy her Mum a drink. Jean declines her offer and says she'll get her own. Stacey really doesn't know what else to do, she's convinced her Mum hates her and is never going to forgive her. Kat then informs Stacey that while she's been absent - Jean has lost so much! She's had to battle cancer on her own, she's had to burry Daniel, the man she ended up falling in love with, and now also Kat has also given Cherry back to Hayley. Jean must've felt so alone this year, I think it's then that Stacey realises how much her Mum must have needed her while she was away. How is she going to be able to make it up to her? Suddenly Suki walks in, acknowledging Jean, she rolls her eyes and looks away. Stacey hasn't met the Panesar family yet, so she turns to Kat and asks what that eye roll was all about. Kat also explains that that is something else she's missed. Is Kat going to reveal everything?

Back at the Mitchell's, Callum comes in to find Phil sat in the living room, waiting for him. Callum asks where Ben is but Phil isn't wanting any chit-chat. He instantly tells Callum to tell him the truth, he knows something isn't right. He gives him one last chance to tell him the truth and not to blow it. Callum is backed into a corner, does he tell him the truth .... No! He makes up ANOTHER lie, he tells Phil instead that he caught his boss dipping into cash nearly every time they did a job, and Callum wasn't going to let it go. He fibs and says that he would grass his boss up on every single thing that he's done unless he'd get rid of the CCTV of Ben and let him go. Phil is listening to this story, taking everything in. I'm unsure whether he's convinced Callum is telling the truth, or whether he thinks he is still lying to him. Suddenly Ben walks in, none the wiser, happy to see his Dad and boyfriend together. Callum leaves the room, leaving Phil with his thoughts. Callum looks devastated as he's had to lie for a second time to his boyfriend's Dad. I think he's digging himself a deeper and deeper hole that's going to be hard for him to get out of.

Back at the Vic, Kat fills in all the details of Suki lying about having cancer to Stacey. Jean is sat across the Vic, staring at Suki. Stacey is ready to stand up for her Mum and put Suki in her place. Suki makes a snide comment, insulting both Jean and Stacey. Stacey laughs in her face and threatens her, if she ever bothers her Mum again, she will come for her. Jean sees the commotion and begs Stacey to leave things alone, Stacey snatches Suki's drink out of hand, ready to lash it over her, but Jean stops her in the path, she begs Stacey to stop and says in a soft voice "You're too late to fight my battles for me, Stace!" I think Stacey realises it takes more than just fighting the bad guys to help make amends to her Mum. Upstairs in the Vic, Sharon is seen on the phone, has Linda informed her of Ian's involvement with Max?! Ian can be seen playing on his laptop, as Sharon enters the room he stills speaks to her like a piece of dirt on his shoe. She informs him that she is staying, she tells him that he had better start trying her with the respect she deservers, otherwise she'll tell Max about the money he owes him, and then Max will deal with him. Ian's face is in pure shock! Finally he is the one who is backed into a corner, he now has no choice but to give Max his money back, whether he finds it or not!

At the Taylor household, Mitch is looking through Chantelle's memory box, from what looks like, also downing a bottle of vodka. Karen walks in and realises what he's looking at. Mitch reveals to her what Kheerat had told him, Karen can believe a word that is coming out of his mouth. For a moment, you feel like Mitch has got it, and he's right! Understandably, they're both grieving and coming to terms with her death, but Karen refuses to hear a bad word said about Gray. She claims that Chantelle loved him, she turns the whole thing round to a different scenario, what if Kheerat couldn't accept that Chantelle didn't love him back? What if he killed her?! Mitch's eyes grow big! Is THAT why he had her memory box?! Is Mitch now going to confront Kheerat and blame him for Chantelle's death?! Is Gray going to end up getting away with murder?! As Mitch leaves the room, Karen is left sobbing.

The final scene of this episode, Callum once again walks in on Phil in the kitchen, back at Mitchell's. This scene really left me feeling "Wow!" - Phil more or less opens up to Callum, admitting that he was wrong about him. He describes the fact that they appear to be working on the same side of the fence. Phil makes Callum a proposition, if he'll give him information about the police, so that they'll be one step ahead, maybe they'll be able to find a way of stopping Ben from getting into trouble. I think this is a huge step for Callum, after what he's just done - dobbing Phil into the police, this could be a chance to make things right. Phil could perhaps escape arrest and Ben wouldn't have to lose his Dad or his boyfriend? Surely this could be a win-win situation?! I hope, for Ben's sake, Callum agrees and begins to work with Phil! He even called him "Family!" That is MASSIVE compliment coming from Phil! Callum surely can't say "No"? I hope he'll do the right thing!

Hope you enjoyed this blog post everyone! I'll be back very shortly with Friday's episode! Love you all xXx

[today-only-happens-once]

With Great Power - Chapter 5

Title: With Great Power – Chapter 5

Catch up (or read on AO3) here!

Fic summary: Thomas Sanders is just a regular social media personality. But when he gets bit by a spider during filming one of his YouTube videos, his whole life is about to turn upside down—whether he (or the aspects of his personality) want it to or not. Platonic LAMP/CALM + Character!Thomas. Spider-Man AU.

Chapter word count: 3,515

Chapter warnings: cursing, nightmare mention, anxiety mention, minor spoilers for Danny Phantom.

A/N: Almost a month later, here’s chapter 5! So sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy it! <3 Shoutout to @creativenostalgiastuff for her help as always. Edited by yours truly so all mistakes are mine.

Tags: @captain-loki-xavier, @human-dictionary, @the-peculiar-bi-tch, @mining-pup, @band-be-boss-blog, @asexual-trashbag, @samathekittycat, @why-should-i-tell-youu2, @theobsessor1, @always3charcoaltea, @changeling-ash, @logical-princey, @crimsonshadow323, @flickering-raven, @smokeyrutilequartz, @dontbugmeimantisocial, @liz-a-bell, @black-king-white-knight, @soijusthavetoask, @analogical-mess, @marvelfangeek09, @vigilantvirgil, @princelogical

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Thomas types out for Twitter, a couple days later. Wasn’t feeling great but we’re back at it! New CT coming to you soon!

He pauses, then looks up at Joan across from him, sitting on a chair in Picani’s office. “Hey, what if we did a livestream tomorrow?”

He still feels bad for having gone MIA for a week. Or, as MIA as Thomas ever really went. He’d texted Joan, Camden, and Talyn basically every day to tell them he still wasn’t feeling his best. It wasn’t… a total lie, he’d told himself despite the guilt that sat uncomfortably in his stomach. It definitely hadn’t helped that he’d consequentially been postponing finishing up the filming of Cartoon Therapy due to his absence. It had been a couple of weeks now without any video to post on either channel.

Joan looks up from laptop poised across their lap. “Uh, I can do that. As long as it ends before 6, ‘cause my piano lesson starts at 6:30.”

Thomas smiles. “Perfect. I just feel bad for making them wait, y’know?” To make up for it, he adds to the tweet, we’ll be having a Livestream tomorrow at 4! Open to everyone, not just members. Hope to see you all there!

“You can’t help that you got sick,” Joan replies as Thomas sends the tweet out. “They understand.”

“Yeah, but… y’know.” Thomas lifts a shoulder. “I just wanna do something for them.”

“It’s cool, man,” Joan replies. “I think it’s a good idea. And it’ll give us a nice break from the editing and shit.”

“Speaking of—” Thomas grabs the pen and journal prompts from the bookcase behind him—"how’s Camden handling his part of things? I haven’t talked to him about the vid in a while.”

“I think he’s almost done,” Joan replies. “We just gotta finish the last of Picani and we should have the rest of the footage he needs to finish his section.”

Thomas nods and adjusts the knot in the pastel green tie around his neck. It had seemed like every time they’d tried to film the rest of Picani, something got in the way. Thomas loved acting and he loved the filming stage of videos, but a small part of him just wanted to be done with it. The sooner he could be done filming, the sooner he could focus on… more pressing issues.

“Then let’s finish Picani,” Thomas says lightly. “We’ve just got the last scene with Valerie’s character, right?”

Joan nods. “Yep. Shouldn’t take long at all.”

“Awesome.” Thomas glances in the viewfinder and pushes the bangs that were falling into his eyes out of the way. “Ready when you are.”

Joan hits record on the camera, then looks down at their script. “I have to be the adult, y’know?”

Thomas taps his pen against his mouth, looking carefully at Valerie’s sightline. “You know, Elena… Danny’s older sister feels that way for much of the show, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Jazz is only a couple of years older than Danny. But she often feels like she has to be the adult in the family because she sees her parents as a bit… immature.” Thomas leans forward slightly. “So she acts way older than she really is. But that mentality ends up backfiring on her when she takes it a little too far.”

“Too far?”

Thomas places his pen on top of his journal in his lap. “In Season 2 Epsiode 7, Danny has to fight a ghost that can only be seen by kids while he’s on vacation with his family. Since Jazz acts and thinks of herself as an adult even though she’s only 16, she can’t see the ghost and starts to think—along with her parents—that Danny is going crazy.” Thomas pauses, remembering that they’d wanted to cut in with a video clip there. Then he continues. “Though her concern is well-intentioned, it leads her to trapping Danny and the ghost goes after their parents. It’s not until Danny is able to get Jazz to act like a kid again that she’s able to see the ghost, and ultimately help to save her family.”

Joan rolls their eyes to keep in character as they read Valerie’s lines. “Fine, but my family’s not under attack by ghosts.”

Thomas sighs. “You’re right. But the point is that Jazz thought acting like an adult was helping the people around her, when it really wasn’t. When she actually started acting her age was when she was able to be the most help—especially to her little brother, who was the whole reason she’d been acting so much older in the first place.”

“Huh…”

“From that point on,” Thomas continues, “Jazz tries to find a balance. She’s a mature person, and nobody was asking her to change that. But she also comes to understand the importance of still being a kid. She learns how to balance the two in a way that doesn’t ask her to sacrifice any part of who she is.”

Joan pauses. “I… guess I could try that. Maria isn’t a little kid anymore, even though I still think of her as my baby sister.”

Thomas gives a small, encouraging smile. “It’ll take some time. Learning balance is not as easy as flipping a switch. But it’s something we can continue to work on. It might even help your relationship with your sister in ways you don’t expect.”

Joan gives a single nod. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” Thomas grins. “So I’ll see you next week?”

“Definitely. And… thanks, Dr. Picani.”

“Any time, Elena.”

…

“We can tell them. Should we tell them? We can tell them. I think. Wait…”

Thomas laughs as Joan stumbles through their thoughts about half an hour in to the livestream. He laughs even harder when he sees the chat blowing up with people asking Joan to just say it already. They’d decided to go back to Thomas’s apartment for the livestream, if only for sake of tradition. Not every livestream had been from this location, but Thomas wanted some of the normalcy back. And Joan, though they’d seemed puzzled, didn’t appear to mind.

“I’m good to tell them who it is,” Thomas says.

“Wait, who as in the…” Joan arches an eyebrow. “Or…” They tilt their head. Perhaps strangely enough, Thomas knows exactly what they’re asking.

He laughs again. “Real name, not the character name.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s what I was thinking.” Thomas and Joan both look back at the camera.

“It’s Valerie,” Thomas says. “The new character we’re introducing is played by my friend, Valerie. Some of you probably know her, since she’s been in… a good number of our videos. We got really lucky that the schedules worked out, since she’s auditioning in Orlando at the moment.”

“Yeah, she’s actually been in a lot,” Joan says. They start counting on their fingers. “Reasons to Smile.”

“On the Spot in the Spotlight,” Thomas supplies. “Which we’re still planning on bringing back.”

“The first Tongue Twisted.” Joan snaps their fingers and points at him. “She’s been in a few of your shorts videos, too.”

“I feel like we’re missing something.” Thomas glances at the chat and smiles at the people shouting SANDERS SIDES in all caps. “That’s right! Goodness gracious, she was in two of the Sanders Sides videos.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, guys. Guess I’m still a little out of it.”

He manages a small, apologetic smile. But a moment later, there’s a flood of messages in the chat telling him not to worry, asking if he’s feeling better, reminding him to rest and drink water… he feels a sharp twist of guilt. He tries not to linger on it.

“Let’s see… other questions….” He watches the chat closely, the knot in his stomach loosening slightly as the messages filter from well wishes to questions again. One of them makes him frown. “Someone’s asking if I’ve seen the Ekko videos?” He glances over his shoulder towards Joan. “I haven’t. Is that a new thing? I don’t know if I’ve heard of them.”

Joan looks suddenly uncomfortable. They shrug, but its awkward and forced. “Yeah. It was all anyone was talking about a couple days ago.”

Thomas hadn’t been checking social media over the past week. A part of him felt relieved that they’d at least moved on from trying to identify who “Spider-Man” was. “What are they?”

Joan gives him a quick look. “I’ll… tell you after the livestream.” Thomas couldn’t quite read their expression, but there was a warning look in their eyes that made him nod his agreement. Whatever it was, Joan didn’t want to talk about it with an audience. They wanted to change the subject.

At Thomas’s nod, Joan leans forward to read the scrolling chat feed until they find a different question. Thomas glances at the screen as well, and sees a few questions with “Spider-Man” in them—they go too fast for him to identify what exactly they’re asking—and feels himself tense. Joan doesn’t seem to even notice the questions.

“Here’s one,” they say after a brief pause. “Thomas, if you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be?”

As the livestream continues, Thomas finds himself falling into old, comforting habits. He’d always had fun doing livestreams, especially ones with Joan. He appreciated their ability to be thoughtful and intellectual one moment and crack a joke that would make Thomas’s stomach hurt from laughing the next. A part of him feels like he appreciates it now more than ever. Joan is his best friend, and he can tell them anything.

Well… almost.

The idea of telling them about the recent… abilities Thomas had come to acquire made his stomach squirm and his heartbeat quicken. He couldn’t quite explain why. Joan would probably be skeptical—even Thomas hadn’t believed it at first—but the powers were something he could prove, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Logan reminded him. He’d been proving his abilities to himself all week, after all. Maybe he knew there was a chance that Joan would freak out and never talk to him again. They wouldn’t do that. The thought sounds like Patton.

Even so, something whispers safer to not tell them in the back of his mind, and Thomas can’t help but believe it.

“I gotta go soon,” Joan says. They look at Thomas. “Should we end with Mind Meld or something?”

Thomas pushes his bangs out of his eyes. He smiles. “Yeah, let’s do it.” Thomas pauses, thinking of his first word. “Okay. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“3. 2. 1. Giant,” Thomas chimes at the same time that Joan says, “Apple.”

Thomas laughs. “Giant and apple?” He makes a face. “I don’t even know where to go with that.”

Joan grins in amusement, then thinks. “Okay. I think I have one. Super and apple.”

Thomas stares at them in uncertainty before he gets an idea. “Okay. I do too. It’s kinda weird, though.”

“3. 2. 1. Honeycrisp,” Joan says at the same time Thomas spits out, “New York.”

“I was thinking like, a giant apple. New York?” Joan laughs. It makes Thomas laugh too.

“I was thinking like, ‘giant as in ‘big’ and then—”

“And then you went to Big Apple,” Joan finishes. “Okay. I kind of get that. Honeycrisp and New York. Uh.”

Thomas’s eyes widen as he frantically tries to think of some sort of connection before one occurs to him. “Okay! I think I got one. It’s… broad-ish?”

“Broadish?” Joan starts laughing again. “That’s very helpful.”

“Okay, like,” Thomas waves a hand. “Kinda broad.”

Joan furrows their brow before shrugging. “What the heck. 3. 2. 1.”

Thomas says ‘vendor’ and Joan says ‘food’. It takes another round before they both eventually end up saying ‘restaurant’. Thomas grins when they finally get there. He looks back at the camera.

“Took us a minute but we got there! Thanks for sticking around, guys. This was a lot of fun. Super glad we had the chance to do this.” He glances at the chat, laughing at all the reactions of people playing along. In the midst of the messages—some of them now transitioning to sweet goodbyes—he sees one that catches his eye.

oof after that ekko vid I could use a new reasons to smile

Something uncomfortable sits in Thomas’s chest, but he flashes a quick smile at the camera. “Love you all! Bye!”

He stops the livestream and closes his laptop. Joan sits back in their chair, the spark of amusement from the game of mind meld fades out of their eyes. He’s reminded suddenly of the solemn, uncomfortable look Joan had given him when he’d asked during the livestream about whatever the ‘Ekko video’ was about.

“I saw that message. I know what you’re thinking,” Joan chimes in quietly after a moment. “It’s… not something you really wanna watch, dude. Trust me.”

“Why?”

Joan sighs and reaches for their water bottle. “It’s just… this thing that freaked everyone out. I don’t know how to explain it, but Talyn had nightmares after they watched it.” They take a drink. “I think it’s just someone trying to get some attention. The best thing to do is probably not to give it to them, y’know?”

Thomas nods absently as Joan pushes back from the table and heads towards the kitchen. Talyn didn’t really spook easily. They played horror games for fun in the dark alone. Thomas had never really been that kind of person. But he can’t deny that he’s curious. A part of him does want to know, if only out of a morbid kind of curiosity of what could have that kind of impact on his friends. Even though Joan had talked about Talyn’s reaction, it was clear to Thomas that it had bothered them too.

Dishes clatter in the sink as Joan sets the water bottle they’d borrowed from Thomas amongst the plates and bowls that Thomas hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet. Neither of them said anything, letting the whir of the AC unit fill the uncomfortable silence between them. Something about it had gotten under Joan’s skin. Something they weren’t telling Thomas.

Thomas opens his mouth to ask them about it when Joan interrupts him suddenly. “I don’t know, man. It was weird and it felt like a warning of some sort. Maybe that’s why Talyn and I both felt a little paranoid after we watched it.” Their dark eyes flicker up to Thomas as they turn from the sink to look at him through the cut out opening above the counter into the living room. “I just don’t really want to dwell on it.”

Thomas caves and nods. “Okay.”

“But if you want to do another Reasons to Smile, that might be fun. A few people in the chat were suggesting it. Maybe that’d be a good idea.” They cross back into the living room and grabs their jacket from the back of the chair.

“Sure,” Thomas says, still a little lost in his thoughts. What could be so bad about that video? “Yeah, I’ll reach out to Camden and the team and whoever is in town to see if they might wanna join in. Maybe I can get Lee or Mary Lee to join this time.”

“Cool.” Joan stops after they’ve pulled their jacket on. Thomas can feel their gaze on him. “You okay?”

Thomas blinks and shakes his head to clear it. “Yeah. Just worried,” he says honestly. He offers a faint smile. “You and Talyn don’t usually get freaked out easily.”

Joan gives him a look. “We have anxiety,” they deadpan teasingly. Thomas huffs a laugh, even though it does little to expel the tightness in his chest. Joan sighs softly. “Really, Thomas. We’re okay.”

Thomas nods again. “Okay.”

“I gotta run,” Joan says, sounding faintly apologetic. “I’m gonna be late for my lesson.”

Thomas gives them a smile that he hopes is reassuring. “Go. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Joan closes the door behind them.

…

Thomas slips his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and cranes his neck up towards the night sky. It’s  little late to be posting the Sunday Shout-Out video, but he liked the nighttime. The parking lot is empty except for his car, and even though he knows he ought to just go home given the hour, a part of him wants to stay out just a little longer.

Thomas sighs and jumps up on the trunk of his car and sits. He fold his hands behind his head and leans back against the windshield, looking up at the stars. Most of them are drowned out by the streetlights that illuminate the lot, but Thomas doesn’t mind. A cool breeze plays with the ends of his hair. It’s calming.

Thomas sighs and closes his eyes.

“I really ought to insist that you go home before too much longer, Thomas.”

The internet personality smiles faintly at the sound of his Logical Side’s voice. He cracks an eye open to find Logan standing beside the car, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow cocked. Thomas’s lips curl up in a faint smile.

“I know, Logan.”

“If you know, then why do you appear to be falling asleep in the middle of an abandoned parking lot?”

Thomas sits up. “I wasn’t falling asleep.”

Logan hums, seemingly unconvinced. “All the same. Optimal rest is necessary for you to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

“I know.” Thomas shakes his head a little, still smiling, and leans back again. “But this is nice.”

“This?” Thomas can hear the skepticism and confusion in Logan’s voice and tries not to laugh.

“Yes,” Thomas replies. He shifts over. “Take a seat. Try it out for yourself.”

There’s a brief pause, and Thomas isn’t sure whether or not Logan is going to take him up on the offer. Then Logan climbs up on the car, mirroring Thomas’s position beside him except for the folding his hands across his stomach rather than behind his head. Thomas smiles again. He’s a little surprised, although he supposes he shouldn’t be. Logan was the part of him that sought to learn, after all. And if Logan didn’t understand the appeal of something, he could usually be convinced to try it at least once.

“See?” Thomas says after a moment. “It’s nice.”

Logan doesn’t reply right away. “Perhaps.”

“The whole day was kind of nice, actually,” Thomas continues. He lets his eyes drift closed again. “It felt… normal.”

“Normal is a widely subjective term, Thomas.”

“Normal for me, I mean.” He takes in a deep breath of the night air. “Filming, livestreaming, hanging out with Joan. I think maybe I needed that. I needed a day to just be… normal again. Maybe not everything has to change, y’know?”

Logan doesn’t say anything. Thomas feels him shift beside him and he cracks an eye open. Logan is looking up at the sky. The streetlights reflect off the lens of his glasses. A short gust of wind tugs at the end of his stiped tie. There’s something in his expression that Thomas can’t quite read.

He doesn’t dwell on it. Thomas follows Logan’s gaze back up to the sky. “Do you remember,” Thomas asks, “when I was like, seven and wanted to be an astronaut?”

“Yes,” Logan replies. “I do remember that. It was an aspiration that lasted for nearly a full year.”

Thomas glances over at him. “Do you wish I still wanted that?”

Logan adjusts the frame of his glasses before folding his hands across his stomach again. “I don’t believe it’s that simple. I was more than content at your chosen field, Thomas, short-lived as your use of it may have been.”

“You’re talking about chemical engineering.”

“Indeed.” Logan is still looking up at the sky above them. “Although, such fields of study have many unexpected benefits. Perhaps it will prove useful yet.”

The corner of Thomas’s lips curls up in a faint smile. “Perhaps,” he says, echoing Logan from a moment ago. A comfortable silence settles between them. For all the times that Logan and Thomas had been at odds with each other, he’d never doubted that Logan was doing his best to look out for him, just like all of them always did. Most of the time, Thomas found Logan’s company a quiet kind of grounding. Calming. Tonight was no exception to that.

Thomas listens to the crickets and sound of distant car tires rolling on pavement for a long moment. His eyes drift shut again.

“You are getting tired,” Logan says softly, moments before Thomas was about to fall asleep. “I really must insist that you go home to ensure your safety.”

Thomas blinks his eyes open and sits up. He scrubs a hand across his eyes, bangs falling across his face in the process, and smiles tiredly at Logan as the Logical Side sits up beside him.

“You got it, Logan.” He pauses, the smile a little. “And… thanks.”

…

[allthingskiszka]

My Favorite Asshole Pt.3

This is a Jake Kiszka x reader story but will involve the others.

This will be a multiple part story and pretty lengthy, I also may be slow to upload because my work schedule is pretty crazy. with that being said here we go!!! (p.s sorry about any errors I will proof-read but may miss something)

Word Count: +1,700

Part One  |  Part Two

The next day at school you felt a little strange, as you were walking into the school you noticed Jake and his girlfriend fighting by her car and you run smack into a  wall and fall backward right on your ass in front of a group of people they all start to laugh at you. You got up and walked quickly into the school and into the bathroom you could feel stinging coming from your hands you looked down and saw that they were scraped pretty badly you heard the bathroom door swing open and saw Ronnie rounding the corner.

“Oh my god, you okay I saw you bite it out front?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I just scraped the shit out of my hands”

“Holy shit, that looks pretty bad”

“It will be fine, just stings a little. I’m so clumsy”

“Note to self y/n can’t walk great” Ronnie said with a giggle

“Haha very funny, I should probably get to 1st period”

“Yeah see you in third, try not to trip anymore” 

~Time Skip To Lunch~

you were waiting in line to get your food when you felt a tap on your shoulder, you looked up and saw Danny & Sam

“Hey Guys, Hows the day going”

“Fantastic Songbird, just another day in paradise” Sam says sarcastically

“How’s your day y/n” Danny said

“Terrible actually, I fell on my ass this morning everyone saw, I have been feeling off all day I’m not sure why”

“Well, that really sucks songbird but guess what”

“What Sam”

“You now get to eat lunch with two of the best people in the world and 3 other sub-par people” you let out a laugh and Danny joined in

“Sam you think super high of yourself don’t you”

“He dose”

as you guys made your way to sit down you noticed a very pissed maybe sad Jake you couldn’t place it. You just shook it off and sat next to Ronnie.

“Hey sunshine, you're day turning around?” Ronnie said in a sing-songy voice

“Negative, but hey like Sam just told me things are looking up”

“They sure are songbird, in hours you will be cast as Sandy. Months away for finding out you're secretly in love with me. There is one downside tho.”

“Sam, I can promise you that the second part will never happen. What’s the downside tho?” 

“Keep lying to yourself, that's fine. The downside tho is you’ll have to kiss Jake in the play so sorry about that” he said with a laugh

“Fuck off Sam, why do you act like your five years oid” Jake snapped

“Oh what’s wrong Jakey, Sarah break your heart again” 

“Fuck you Sam” Jake got up and stormed out of the lunchroom.

“Wow Sam way to be an asshole” Ronnie said while shaking her head

“Does anyone know what it was this time?” Danny asked concerned

“Nah, I asked him this morning and he just told me to leave him alone.” Josh said

“She makes me so mad, I hope he learns his lesson or he is just gonna keep getting hurt” Danny spoke with a sad tone

a quite grew over the group and we ate in silence. 

~Flash Foward to 7th period~

You took your seat next to Becky and you guys were making small talk before class started you felt Jake sit next to you. You turned to look in his direction he looked at you and gave you a small nod, you just smiled softly. Mrs.Jones walked in and started to play the vocal warmup. Everyone started to sing, we ran through the first song quickly next was summer nights Mrs.Jones had you guys come to the front and sing. Jake didn’t really give it his all and Mrs.Jones was upset.

“Jake & y/n, Will you guys go run through the song in the other room, Jake you’ll have to give it your all or someone else is gonna do the solo”

“Yeah okay, sorry Mrs.Jones. I’m a little off today” Jake said quietly. You and Jake went to the other room to run through the song.

“Hey Jake, you good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” 

“You sure?”

“Yeah, Drop it, I don’t want to talk about anything with you” he sternly said

“Oh okay, you want to run through the song then”

“no, not really”

“we probably should, at least once”

“yeah, whatever”

~Sings song~ 

“you were super flat y/l/n, didn’t sound good at all” Jake said in a mean tone

“Wow thanks for the helpful feedback Jake” you shot back

“Just letting you know you sucked, maybe you shouldn’t try-out. probably best if you didn’t” he snapped

“oh yeah, thanks for the advice asshole”

“Don’t say I never helped you”

“I think I’m done here, go fuck yourself Jake” you got up and walked out of the room and took your seat. you started to get in your head what if what Jake was saying was true. Maybe you shouldn’t try-out your thought were interrupted by Mrs.Jones  

“You guys feel like your ready to run through it again?” Mrs.Jones asked as Jake came out right after you

“Yes Mrs.Jones” Jake spoke softly as she started to play you gave it your all just to show Jake how wrong he was when we finished Mrs.Jones had a smile on her face

“That was great you two, now you’ll just need to work on your chemistry”

“Okay, will do” Jake said as you silently nodded.

You went back to your seat, you were pissed at Jake, he really got to you, your face remained hard as a rock when the bell rang you were walking out as fast as you could when Mrs.Jones asked you to stick around saying she already talked to your study hall monitor and told her you would be late. You noticed the boys were still in there, you could tell they were listening.

"I just want to let you know that you have a really great voice, and I really hope to see you at tryouts"

"I planned on, but I'm just super nervous about it"

"Let me tell you, you have nothing to worry about. I know people who would kill to have a voice like yours, acting is a skill you can learn and master, but singing that's something you're borning with"

"Wow thanks, I feel like I really needed to hear that"

Your conversation was interrupted by Sam

"Songbird you shouldn't doubt yourself, you have an amazing voice, Mrs. Jones couldn't be any more correct. Besides you ran lines last night with Jake and he said you were really good, you have nothing to worry about" you looked in Jake’s direction and he looked annoyed that Sam brought him up.

"Thanks, Sam"

“I’m so happy your friends with the Kiszka boys, That's so great. You boys should start a second band and have y/n be the singer”

“Funny I said she could just replace Josh when he gets annoying” Sam said with a laugh

“That’s an idea Sam” Mrs. Jones said while joining in with Sam

“Hey nobody is replacing me, Sam you better stop saying that”

“Don’t worry Josh I couldn’t replace you, you guys slap too hard, it would be useless”

Jake walked up and asked Mrs.Jones for a hall pass she nodded and wrote you all one as you headed to the door you realized Jake and you were heading the same way dreading the next five minutes you walked out the door. As you rounded the corner in the hall you couldn’t believe your eyes there right in front of the both of you was Jake’s now ex-girlfriend sticking her tongue down some guys throat. You could feel Jake tense up next to you she immediately turned her head and laughed in your direction you didn’t look at her, and Jake was looking at the floor. Without thinking you grabbed Jakes hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze he looked at you with a sad look and you smiled and nodded, two can play at this game. As you walked past you pretend Jake just said the funniest thing you had ever heard, he also gave it a convincing chuckle just keeping eye contact with you not daring to look in her direction. You could feel the eyes burning into you both. He then let go of your hand and put his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to his body as you got to the door he hugged you and whispered

“Thanks, you didn’t have to do that”

“as much as you’re an asshole, you don’t deserve that. Fuck her” you could sense his smile, jake then did the unexpected and kissed your forehead you felt your face heat up you just turned before he noticed and walked to class. As you took your seat next to Ronnie

“What’s up buttercup, why are you blushing”

“I’m not, just a little hot. You will not believe what I just saw when walking to class with Jake”

“What?”

“Sarah making-out with some dude in the hallway”

“No way, poor Jake, What did he do”

“Well without thinking we pretend to flirt and hold hands, I figured two could play at that game. she was legit standing there because she knew he would be rounding the corner”

“Fucking bitch, quick thinking tho her plan backfired.”

“Yeah, she just stared at us, if looks could kill. You should have seen how sad he looked honestly heartbreaking”

“Sad thing is he will probably just go back to her, for some reason he thinks that's all he can get”

“He can do so much better nobody deserves to get cheated on and hurt so much”

“I know , I tell him all the time. Are you excited for tryouts?”

“I’m a little nervous, but Mrs.Jones basically gave me the part already”

“The boys said you are really good and Jake said you ran lines really good with him yesterday”

“yeah I think I’m just in my head”

“you got this y/n”

You couldn’t help but let your mind drift to jake he seemed to be all you wanted to think about. Still a little nervous you got out you lines and read them over.

~To Be Continued~ 

The plan is to upload part four by Friday, I also want to open request so let me know if you have any!! Thanks

Tags @captainxmoony @lunautica13 @cheeseedreams47 @in-fucking-deed

[whenimgoodandready]

🎶Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon, You come and go, you come and go, Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams, Red

, gold, and green, red , gold , and green🎶 You know I just had to do it! Welcome to my new review posts for Season 3 of “Miraculous Ladybug”! That’s right! I’m adding in pictures for this season (FYI, I’m using the akumatized villains looks for ‘em, but in this case, you’ll know why I chose the end shot for this one). You like the new frames? I think they’re cuter. We continue with the dynamic duo as they try to thwart Hawk Moths plans in their formulaic plots with some new additions and twists and turns thrown here, there and everywhere! Let’s begin!

*Chameleon-We first open with Marinette running to school with a pastry in her mouth (a common anime thing) and it’s the new school year where everyone has new seating arrangements. It looks like Marinettes gonna sit next to Adrien from the looks of it, buuuuuuuuuuut that’s not the case as it was all done for “her”...................................Lila Rossi (“Psycho” theme music plays) She’s baaaaaack!.............in school that is after “coming back from Achu” :P. Well, Well, Well, look who’s finally coming back AFTER A WHOLE SEASON OF NEARLY BEING PUT IN THE SHADOWS!

Lila still has everyone (minus Marinette and Adrien) wrapped around her pretty little finger by faking disabilities just to have things her way and have others do things for her gaining their love. Marinette tried to call out Lila for all this only to be called out herself by everyone! “Superliar” over here had everyone turn against their school Darling Marinette to the scum of the Earth! Ouch.

Here, in this episode, we finally see Lila and Marinette interact face-to-face and we get Chloe 2.0! She becomes another rival and plans on stealing all of Marinettes friends and Adrien all to herself. (TBH, I really wanted Lila to act as a foil to Chloe with Chloe hating Marinette and loving Ladybug and Lila hating Ladybug and loving Marinette (like how Paulina and Valerie are with Danny Fenton/Phantom in “Danny Phantom”) IF Marinette tried to befriend Lila with her accepting and Marinette politely convincing her (and failing) to stop lying. Unfortunately, my wish didn’t come true again for this show :P). This angers Marinette to get an akuma sent on her, but she’s smart enough to resist by being positive. Strike 2 on Hawk Moth for failing to akumatize “the young lady with ponytails”, but then it goes to Lila when her attempts on Adrien fail as he knows her lies..............she grabs the thing!

This time, she becomes Chameleon and unlike the other akumatized villains, she doesn’t get a costume or anything and only shapeshiftes by kissing the thing she’ll transform into putting the original to sleep. I always imagined when I read the title of the episode she’d look like a lizard girl or something, but I guess Hawk Moth wanted another tricky villain. This was the first time ever someone saw an akuma coming and willingly took it! Don! Don! Don! Aurore, Ms. Bustier and Marinette saw it and freaked out trying to avoid it (with only Marinette spared), but Lila was all “My body is ready!” (Badum-tish!🥁). If what we’re seeing is correct, Lila will be frequently akumatized this season like how I theorized last season that didn’t happen. When Ladybug tries to make another truce with Lila she “accepts” only to continue her dark deeds. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but just in case, let me say this again, Chloe easily forgave Ladybug in “Antibug” since she knows Ladybug is a good person and wouldn’t do anything wrong, but Lila doesn’t forgive Ladybug easily in “Volpina” as she doesn’t know her and her first impression of her calling her out on her lies made her think she’s nothing but a clingy aggressive jealous b****.

In the end, Lila’s bulls**t is still in effect and there’s nothing Marinette can do about it. Adrien is the only one on Marinettes side knowing the truth, but he doesn’t speak out on it like she does which I hated, but then I put it in pros and cons for the two of them:

•Marinette

Pro:Speaking out on injustice

Con:Backfiring on her

•Adrien

Pro:Preventing another akuma

Con:Being too aloof

Marinette is more of the activist that tries to do good, only to fail at times when it’s too big for her to accomplish, especially due to her impulsiveness when she doesn’t have anything straightened out to back her up whereas Adrien is fully aware of all the injustice and can’t speak out much on it due to his lack of social understanding, upbringing, fear of disappointing others and caustiousness of keeping things in check. He’s only looking out for his loved ones as he doesn’t want to lose another. The only thing they can do is stay positive and let Lila’s lies backfire on itself when the time comes. That reminds me of what a certain Blue Fairy

said, “A lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face”. Hopefully, everyone will know the truth and it’ll be satisfying to see :). The musical chairs act I found funny cuz Marinette was so close to sitting next to Adrien (she was right about the distraction), but at least there was some sort of karma that Lila deserved.

Hallelujah! We’re finally gonna get some more appearances by the compulsive liar we know is Lila! And a little something about her I should say. (Ahem) There’s been some debate over who’s worse, Chloe or Lila. A friend of mine mentioned this and how similar they are. However, we’re quick to judge that Lila is worse cuz of this episode, but let’s not be too hasty. Both Chloe and Lila lie and cheat to get their way and know what they’re doing is wrong, but don’t care. Here’s where it differs, Chloe is open with her meanness and doesn’t care about others in a friendship sense as she mistreats her only friend Sabrina and comes on too strong on Adrien wanting more than just friendship much to his discomfort. Lila, on the other hand, hides her meanness and wants friendship and does underhanded things to get the love and attention. You may also be thinking that just cuz Chloe’s slowly going through a redemption and becoming a superhero means she’ll eventually turn good, but it doesn’t excuse her past actions. If she really is gonna redeem herself, she needs to do it herself more often and not be embarrassed by it. Lila may have secretly gone to the dark side, but she never realizes she did wrong like how Chloe did in “Zombizou” and “Queen’s Battle”. We know why Chloe acts the way she does from her hinted backstory, but we know zip about Lila and why she does what she does. We still don’t know anything about her as she’s still new and alls we got is that she lies and hates Ladybug. We need to see how this season goes before we can judge her and Chloe more.

[i-just-like-commenting]

Themes in Luke Cage s2: The Quest for Control

What separates the good Netflix MCU seasons from the weaker ones are how well integrated their themes are into the setup of the story. Daredevil‘s first season did it well with its exploration of the thin lines between heroes and villains, the difficulty of choosing what is good. The first season of Luke Cage focused heavily on the idea of not being able to go backwards, only forwards. The first season Jessica Jones and even the deeply-flawed Punisher tried to tackle issues like sexually assault, survivor’s guilt, and PTSD. But none of them ever quite reached up to the level of that first season of Daredevil.

Then along came this season and I’ve got more themes than I can wrap my head around. I’ve only watched it through once, so take this as a preliminary digestion of what I saw and feel free to add your thoughts and nuances to my arguments.

I’m going to start with the theme that is central to Luke’s character arc for this season: the quest for control, and particularly the idea that this quest is futile. This idea that one can achieve omnipotence is the hubris of classic tragedy, and make no mistake that this season is a tragedy.

Luke’s journey is probably going to be the most controversial element of this season. I get this, to a certain degree. Sometimes you want your heroes to be paragons or to triumph over adversity. Sometimes you want them to skirt the dark side. It’s certainly best if you can have a mix of both, but there aren’t many black superheroes out there. It’s easy for me, as a white woman, to appreciate Luke’s struggle with the dark side this season because I have, at this point, plenty of representation of white women both noble and messed up available for me in media. If that is not what you want right now, I respect that. That same issue is why, as a person with a mental illness, I dropped the second season of Legion once I started seeing where it was going (though rest assured, Luke doesn’t do anything nearly as awful as what David does by the end of that show).

Luke throughout the first season was a very reactive character, partly because his story didn’t actually begin that season. It began in the first season of Jessica Jones, where Luke is a very active character, actively hunting down his wife’s killers. And what does he get for it? Well, he finds out that a woman he cared for was involved in Reva’s death and had been lying to him the whole time, and then he gets his mind controlled by a telepathic supervillain who tries to force him to kill Jessica just like she was forced to kill his wife, and he is only stopped by a shotgun blast straight to his head that nearly does him in.

It is thus perhaps understandable that Luke Cage didn’t want to be a hero anymore and was trying to live a quiet life. His arc for the first season was realizing he loved Harlem too much to do that. In the meantime, though, he was a highly reactive character. This is not always a bad thing for superheroes; go too far in the other direction of actively hunting down bad guys and you get Frank Castle. It did mean that the villains drove most of the plot rather than Luke himself. (spoilers follow...)

In the second season, motivated I believe by being so out of his depth with the Hand in The Defenders and seeing Misty lose an arm, Luke tries to take back control of his life. The problem with that no one is ever really in complete control of their lives, and in trying to get total control, Luke winds up becoming more controlled than ever.

We open with Luke attempting to hunt down every stash house selling heroin with his name on it – not because this drug is particularly more lethal than any other, but because it is using his name without his permission. This focus on controlling his image is one that hounds Luke throughout the season. He’s reluctant to sign promotional deals not so much because he doesn’t want to make money, but rather because he doesn’t want to be “bought.” He doesn’t want Nike or whoever to have any control over him. He wants to be his own man.

Yet thanks to not copyrighting an app early on, he is easily found by almost anyone, most of them armed with cameras. While Luke is sometimes able to promote himself – his “Yo, I’m Luke Cage” speech with all its chest-thumping and dabbing being the most prominent – it also means that when Bushmaster wipes him out, the video goes viral, and is sold without his permission to ESPN, leaving the narrative entirely out of Luke’s hands.

Unable to have control of his public life as a hero of Harlem, Luke shifts his focus to control of his personal life. He refuses his father’s efforts to reach out to him, and when Claire pushes for them to reconcile he dismisses her. When Claire questions his excessive force with Cockroach, he accuses her of “castrating” him. Given that Luke doesn’t much demonstrate many other signs of toxic masculinity, I think this hyperbole has less to do with her “unmanning” him and more to do with taming him, making him docile, under someone else’s control. While I firmly believe Luke was never in any risk of hurting Claire, he does get angry enough to break her wall, losing control of himself and losing her. Once again the quest for control backfires on him.

Even the fan-service-y cameo episode with Danny Rand serves toward this theme of need for control, as Luke works on self-control of his anger through Danny’s advice. To a certain degree this works; Luke is in much more control of his emotions towards the end of the series than towards the beginning, but that doesn’t solve his biggest issue, his frustration with trying to control the criminal world that swirls around him.

Much of his vigilante work involves him chafing at the restrictions and controls presented by legal options. He’s not alone in this. Misty Knight has a similar path of trying to determine how comfortable she is with following the law versus going her own way. She was this close to going full Scarfe and planting evidence when the lawful means of going after a domestic abuser weren’t working, and turned in her badge because she felt that she’d crossed a line and could no longer be police. She scorned at Ridenhour’s compromises, and started assuming a vigilante role.

Misty, however, has power thrust upon her unexpectedly when she is made the temporary commander of her precinct, and in being in actual control makes her realize how much she misjudged the people who had been in control of her before. Heavy lies the crown as they say, and instead of becoming more rogue in her new role, she becomes more conformed to the establishment, more willing to strike deals and work in the system. The downside of this is her having to accept that her “wins” might be fewer and far between. The upside is that she probably the only character in this season to come out in a more positive position than she was in the beginning. To gain control, she has to give up some control, albeit on her own terms.

Contrast this to the walking disaster that is Mariah Dillard Stokes this season. Mariah’s miserable childhood has left her unable to develop trust with anyone, and so she takes on all decisions by herself and keeps control of her assets in her hands, despite repeated efforts by Shades to convince her that he wants to help her share her burdens. Probably due to the stress of taking all of this on herself, Mariah spends about half this season drunk and thus very not in control of herself, making more and more bad decisions as the series progresses. Trusting someone else means giving up control, and when she’s done that she’s been hurt, horrifically. So she trusts no one, betrays everyone, and winds up alone and dead.

These two parallel paths offer two possible models for where Luke goes after the end of this season. This season ends with Luke deciding to take absolute control of Harlem, taking Mariah’s place as the power-broker keeping a wall around the neighborhood and making deals with the bad guys to keep them out.

Yet the utter irony is that Luke only winds up taking this position of “dictator” (more on that term later) as an option of last resort. He is forced by Mariah’s machinations to take her position, with Mariah specifically having chosen him as her “heir” over her own daughter. He loves Harlem as much as she does, and Mariah finds he is the only person to be reliable around her - reliably against her, that is. And of course she also chooses him out of spite, to see how long he can remain incorruptible if he follows her path.

It is a trap. Donovan tells him so, bluntly. But Luke walks into it because he believes he’ll finally get his control in the end, and because it is the only option he sees left.

And try as I might, I have a hard time imagining what alternative he really had. He stops a gang war by becoming the boss of crime, he ends bloodshed, and the scale of what was unleashed on Harlem was beyond anything anyone was prepared to handle by other means. So perhaps this is the best choice among bad choices – for now.

Less forgivable is his decision to turn away Claire in the final scene (and if I can criticize the show for a moment, I really wish we could have seen her to know how she reacts to that rejection). That is a decidedly Mariah move, pushing away the one who loves you because to love is to let someone else have some control over you, if only your heart. (There are direct scene-for-scene parallels between some of Luke’s moments with Claire and Mariah’s with Shades for precisely this reason).

This arc for Luke seems to borrow heavily from Bendis’ run on Daredevil where Matt Murdock declared himself the new Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen, and established a peace by force much as what Luke is planning. It did not end well for Matt; he wound up losing all his friends, his girlfriend, and going to prison. I hope it doesn’t go that far for Luke. At the very least, he seems open to continuing to work with Misty Knight, though that door-closing shot (a direct reference to the end of The Godfather) doesn’t bode well for that relationship continuing. But we also got a glimpse of connection between him and Danny Rand that promises maybe, maybe he can be convinced to be a true dictator.

Because, as anyone who has seen The Dark Knight knows, ancient Roman dictators were an emergency position created to deal with crises, at the end of which they were supposed to give up their power. Can Luke make the hard choice, the truly strong choice, and know when it’s time to relinquish his quest for total control, to be vulnerable, to allow himself to not be omnipotent?

I guess we will have to wait and see. Though I have other reasons to hope, but that will require another post on another theme of this season: families, both good and bad, found and hereditary.

[daresplaining]

Some Thoughts on Daredevil #600

    Here’s to 600 issues of Daredevil (not counting mini-series, annuals, etc.)! As usually happens at these landmark moments, Marvel and the DD creative team celebrated with a longer-than-normal issue, which sparked far-reaching changes to Matt Murdock’s world. 

    The situation set up by this story arc is a grim one. Wilson Fisk has been elected mayor of NYC. Matt has been keeping an eye on him (and vice versa) as Fisk’s deputy, but has struggled in his every attempt to sabotage him. However, he has recently discovered a crack in Fisk’s law-abiding facade: a meeting that he has planned with the city’s prominent street-level villains. Matt, as Daredevil, gathers together a gang of heroes to crash the party. 

Matt: “We protect this city, we fight in its streets, we are New York. And now we’ll take it back from Wilson Fisk. Mayor or not, he has to go down. We agree on that.”

    Colorist Matt Milla still hasn’t quite gotten the hair color memo, because poor Jessica has lost her brown hair. It also would have been nice to see Colleen in this team-up, since Misty is there. But these are minor complaints. In a series that restored Matt’s secret identity and thus symbolically isolated him from many of his friends, it’s a powerful gesture, in this climactic issue, to see him engaged in this kind of a team-up... even if most of the people involved still don’t know who he is. It’s especially nice to see Maya (Echo) here, back in action alongside her former friends. Since her resurrection early in the run she has had a few really touching moments of reconnecting with Matt, and we hope to see more of her as the series continues. 

    Matt has pulled off similar plans in the past, and he has taken down Wilson Fisk in some thoroughly delicious ways, but in this instance, it ends up not being that easy. And we like that-- Fisk has been one step ahead of Matt for this whole arc, and it would have felt anticlimactic for such a simple, faulty plan to bring that to an end. Rather than catching Fisk red-handed, the Kingpin doesn’t show. The collected villains turn on each other, the heroes swoop in to prevent any unnecessary deaths... and then the cops arrive. 

Matt: “Damn. Damn. So much for the plan. Need to get down there, before someone gets-- Wait. NYPD. But that’s... Oh, no.”

    This scene, as exciting as it is, features a reappearance of the less-than-stellar Garney/Milla radar sense, which we’ve complained about before. 

    There has always been inconsistency, but generally, modern depictions of the radar sense don’t allow it to pierce solid objects. Here, we see Matt tracking the activity in the restaurant from outside, a blatant break with tradition that we’re not huge fans of. What makes even less sense is the arbitrary use of multiple colors. Since the radar depiction is a visual stand-in for non-visual perception, the different colors must represent something... but what? Texture? And in the panel where Matt notices the cops, his radar seems to be picking up on flat images and uniform details that he should have no way of perceiving. It’s a nonsensical, misleading approach to the radar sense, and a tragic departure from Paolo Rivera’s crosshatching design, which was used to great effect in volumes 3 and 4. We understand each creative team wanting to put their unique stamp on the comic, but come on... if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    The police swoop in and grab the heroes and villains alike. We learn-- in a neat twist that, again, fits with Fisk’s behavior in the issues leading up to this climax-- that the proposed meeting was a trap, designed to round up the city’s crime bosses and get them arrested. As Matt has done again and again in this arc, he assumed nefariousness on Fisk’s part, and ended up shooting himself in the foot. While we know that Fisk is still a bad guy, and probably has all sorts of things up his sleeve, it’s always fun to see him play the good guy, just to see how cleverly he constructs the facade. And even more compellingly, Matt’s failure to accurately read his nemesis backfires on his friends. 

Wesley: “There were heroes there, too. Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Maya Lopez, Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Marc Spector. Even Spider-Man.”

Fisk: “Spider-Man... and what is his name? Who is he?”

Wesley: “We don’t know. Just before the cops grabbed him, he sprayed that webbing of his around his neck. Sealed it up tight, like glue. They can’t get his mask off.”

    (Oh, Peter. He’s so... experienced at this secret identity thing.)

    It will be interesting to see how long they actually end up in jail, given the events of the rest of the issue. Hopefully, someone is babysitting Dani...

    One of our favorite moments in this issue is a little reversal. While Matt has failed again and again to properly read his opponent, Fisk knows exactly how Daredevil works, and where to find him. It’s a level of familiarity between hero and arch-nemesis that is highly compelling to us. It’s these kinds of details that make for the best hero/villain relationships. It also gives Matt a chance to do a badass pose on Fisk’s roof, which is always a plus. 

Fisk: “It’d be just like him. Come along, Wesley. Let’s go up and say hello.”

Matt: “Fisk.”

    There have been so many iconic fights between these two over the years that it’s increasingly difficult to do anything new with them. This fight is certainly a good one... but then, they all are, and this tussle probably won’t go down in DD history as one of their memorable battles. But it’s still highly enjoyable, and is enhanced by Soule’s excellent dialogue, which highlights the core of their conflict, and emphasizes just how long they’ve been having these fights. 

Fisk: “If my name weren’t Wilson Fisk, you wouldn’t have batted an eye. You’d be cheering that the mayor had found a way to get Owlsley and the others off the streets.”

Matt: “But you are Wilson Fisk. You are the Kingpin. And you’re the enemy of everything that matters about this city.”

Fisk: “No. I’m not. But I’m sick of trying to explain that to you.”

    But as was foreshadowed throughout this arc, Matt isn’t allowed a clean win. Fisk hits him with a sledgehammer so hard that it’s amazing he’s able to stand afterward, and then goes off to tell a crowd of adoring supporters how great he is. Again, we are given a look at Fisk’s faked (probably?) duality, as Soule is exploring it-- the idea of him playing the hero while still being a villain. This isn’t a new Kingpin concept, of course, but it remains a good one, and an engaging way of playing with the character’s complexity.

    Partway through the speech, the Hand arrive and shoot Fisk full of arrows, thus kickstarting the next story arc. The Hand are really neat when used well, so we’re excited to see where Soule takes them, particularly given their new connection to Blindspot. However, they are not this issue’s big surprise. We learn, as Matt is carted away by the cops, that with Fisk now out of the picture, the mayorship falls to his deputy...

Steve: “Matt Murdock is the mayor of New York City.”

    (Heck yeah!)

    This is really exciting, not only because of its implications for Matt’s life, but also because it has been a long time coming. Kesel wanted to do it back in the 90s, but the idea was shot down by editorial. Bendis teased the possibility, but it never actually happened, thanks to the events of the rest of his run. 

Guy: “They’re going to ask you to be the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City.”

Matt: “Huh.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #56 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

    And Waid’s speculative story in the 50th anniversary issue suggested that Matt had been/will become the mayor of San Francisco at some point, but we don’t get to actually see him in action. 

Foggy: “They remembered him from his original tour of duty here, when he and the Black Widow made the scene. [...] So when he came back, they had your pop running for office in no time. Busy boy, he was. Made lots of enemies.”

Daredevil vol. 4 #1.5, “The King in Red” by Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez

    But we are finally getting Mayor Matt Murdock, and we cannot wait to see how that works out for him. 

    The issue’s secondary plot thread is possibly even more interesting than the Matt/Fisk shenanigans, because it’s all new. This thread follows Sam’s final battle with Muse... who is essentially a Blindspot rogue now, rather than a DD one. Their relationship is fascinating, with Sam’s quest to understand the nature of his own heroism/lack thereof paired with Muse’s frenetic lack of morality. They are both raw, emotional characters, and their interactions in this issue are stunning. We’re gonna miss Muse.     

Sam: “I need to understand, Muse. I need this to make sense. Why do you do what you do? Why do you hurt people? Why do you kill? Why?”

Muse: “You know why, Blindspot. It’s the same reason you want to kill me right now. It makes you better it makes you strong it shows them your power it says something it means something it solves your problems it gives you control you’re big they’re small it’s art it’s art IT’S ART!”

    This fight also hints that Sam’s connection with the Hand is far from over... and provides a glimpse at how his time training with them may have changed him.

Beast: “You know my power. The power of the Beast. I will give it to you once again. Just reach out... and take it.”

    While Sam refuses to kill for the Beast, this relationship will likely continue into the next arc-- which appears to be Hand-centric. Sam’s continuing evolution has been full of surprises, and we’re eager to see where this story takes him. All-in-all, this issue didn’t stand out as one of the most earth-shattering Daredevil stories ever told, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable, and did a great job of setting up some very exciting things in the future. 

    As an extra treat, the issue also includes a short, Foggy-centric story called “They Also Serve” by Christos Gage, Mike Perkins, and Andy Troy. This is merely the latest in a long line of Foggy-centric stories that celebrate his relationship with Matt. And there’s not a dang thing wrong with that, because they never get old. Matt and Foggy’s friendship exists at the very core of the comic, and its power and poignancy only increases as the years go by. Give us all of the Foggy-centric retrospectives. We will get misty-eyed every time. 

    We have only one complaint about this story, which is that Foggy... doesn’t really sound like Foggy for parts of it. 

Foggy: “This is gonna be so great! You have no idea how lucky you are, Murdock, ‘cause Foggy Nelson just happens to be the finest wingman in the history of wingmen. You just stand there looking handsome, strong, stoic... with a hint of tragedy, while I draw ‘em in with my oratorical virtuosity. Between my silver tongue, your looks, and the whole blind thing, you’re gonna need that cane to ward off the babes.”

    (Who... who are you, and what did you do with the real Foggy?!) 

    In fact, he sounds just like MCU Foggy. Which maybe shouldn’t have surprised us, because Christos Gage was also a writer for the first season of the Netflix show.  

    Despite this bit of weirdness, the issue is a nice look back at moments in Matt and Foggy’s friendship. It’s a trip down continuity lane, emphasizing just how long they’ve known each other and how much they’ve been through together.  

    All told, it’s a pleasant way to close out the issue, particularly given the rocky state of Matt and Foggy’s friendship throughout this run.