#They just helping Danny with his wings restaurant

[bwabbitv3s]

How many really good lunch places that were actually fronts and or money laundering do you think Clark has accidentally found? I wanna say less than you would think. As many of them find a very timely offer of investment from Wayne Industry for small businesses soon after. Allowing them to go legit and stay while the under the table side gets pulled into the light or dies off.

You gotta invest in small local businesses to keep the culture and heart of a neighborhood going. Does that mean sometimes a reporter leaves a business card to a funding and investment broker with their tip? A very famous member of the Wayne family drops by and mentions you to their tik toc followers as a have to try location and business booms? Yes, yes it does now you don’t have to get that support you only used as there was no other way.

DCxDP fanfic idea: Hot Wings

A new restaurant opens in Metropolis, boosting the best chiken wings this side of the country. It's a family business run by four siblings, but the owner is the second youngest, a nice young man named Danny Fenton.

He has twenty-two flavors to choose from that vary in spice. The spiciest is called "Ghost King," and the least spicy one is "Box Ghost." It's supposed to be very hard to handle the Ghost King wings, and Danny even claims Metas have a hard time handling them.

Clark tries it out with Jimmy and Lois on their shared lunch break. While both of his co-workers can't handle more than one bite, Clack can stomach three before tapping out. Danny adds his face to the wall dubbed "Ghost Court" despite the fact he couldn't do all eight.

Clark is surprised that he's the only one on there and gets placed at "Court Jester" for the number of wings he could handle. Despite the spice, the regular buffalo (or Johnny's 13) he ends up getting afterward is the best he's ever had.

The trio returned the following week for lunch, all trying a new flavor slightly higher on the spice meter. It makes his taste buds sing in the same way only Ma could accomplish.

King's Ghostly Wings rapidly becomes Clark's favorite place. He takes Conner with him the next time his brother visits and has a laugh when Conner attempts the Ghost King challenge. Conner could handle two, so he sadly didn't end up on the wall.

Conner doesn't seem to mind as he attempts to flirt with the waitress, Jasmine, who only laughs off his flirtations as Pa had beaten how to properly treat women into Conner's head. Clack watches with amusement as his clone's attention is quickly overcome by the Ember Wings he ordered (He thinks there are nine different hot peppers in there), acting like he never had real food until then.

A month later, Clark walks into King's Ghostly, smiling at Elle (Her full name is Danielle because her parents decided on a theme after Jasmine. It's Dan, Danny and Danielle.)

She sits next to the challenger wall, and he is mildly surprised to see more faces now. He no longer holds the Jester position. Instead, there is the smiling face of Stephine Brown, face red, eyes watery, and sweaty but gleeful. The words "Three and a half" indicate why she pushed him out.

Next to her is the Knight, held by a smirking Duke Thomas, proudly stating he managed four but he looks just as worn down as Stephine.

This is followed by the Grandmaster, who shows Jason Todd giving two thumbs-ups and tears streaming down his face; he managed five. Then there is Steward, who shows Tim Drake's half-dead face, looking like he was about to hurl, but his fingers are held up in the count of six.

The Queen position is a tie between one haughty Damian Wayne, looking to be glaring at the wings before him, and a mid-laugh Dick Grayson, who looks like he is having the time of his life with tears also streaming down his face. Seven each.

The King belong to Bruce Wayne who looks just as handsome and sauve as he would any photoshot. There is a half eaten wing in his mouth, while the man winks at the camera. Ariund him are plates with chicken wing bones. The count under his name shows fifteen.

Clark stares, then reaches for his cell phone. The call rings only three times before Bruce's strong voice goes through, dragging out the last word in a a cheerful shout

"What's up, ya slut!?" Great. Brucie voice. This means Bruce is in fornt of people who still think he's a airhead playboy.

"Bruce? Did you and your kids take the Ghost King wings challenge in Metropolis?" He asks anyway, because there is no way the bats were able to stomach this. How are they human?

"Clark," Bruce drags out the ar in his name, sounding like he's spinning in an office chair. Distantly, he can hear some voices mutter under their breath in annoyance. Bruce was in a board meeting he was trying to get out of. "Of course, the kids and I tried that place. Tim's friend, Conner, took him once, and he just had to have us try out the wings. Some of the best I ever had, but that challenge wasn't that hard. Not that I wouldn't mind going for the second round. I'll try it again if you're asking me out, big guy."

Clark feels a shiver run down his spine. Sometimes, he wonders if Batman and his lot had lied to them. There was no way they were human. "Ugh, no, I just wanted to check because it's a really hard-"

"This Saturday? Of course, I'm free. I'll have Alfred watch the kids. Oh and Clark, wear that suit I got you. You know the one.'' Bruce purs in his ear making the alien sit up straighter. He fights the urge to look around, upon hearing the code that Bruce had beaten into his head since day one of Batman and Superman team ups.

Bruce wanted to investigate the establishment and needed Superman's help. But what could the Fentons have done to catch the caped crusader's attention cities away?

Blushing, because couldn't Bruce think of a better cover, Clark responds. "The one with the gold or the one with rose gold?"

"Oh suger, rose gold was made for you" Bruce sighs dramaticly, implying so much in only one sentence. The Fentons weren't human then.

Clark confirms with Bruce staying long enough on the phone to hear him brag to the uncomfortable board members about his farmer boy who will be a fun roll through the hay and winces. If their "date" gets exposed, he'll have a lot of explaining to do when Lois eventually catches wind.

She took the whole "I'm Superman" thing well, so maybe the "Bruce often implies I'm his gay plaything on the side to protect our identities" thing well, too? He should wait for when she doesn't have access to kryptonite, just in case.

"Here you are," Danny says, walking over with a tray. With a kind, relaxed smile, he places Clark's order in front of him. It's the same one he's grown used to since first coming here but for the first time Clark notices the sense of other hidden in his eyes.

Behind him Dan is working on some wings at the open bar where various kids are watching with wide eyes. If Clark stares hard enough he swears he can see the tip of his pony tail lift as if flouting. Elle is carying more then she should be able to lift, and he realized she was pretending to struggle with the overloaded dishes as she busted.

Jasmin is the only one that seems human, calmly cashing out a family at the register.

Of course Clark missed all the signs but the Bats clocked them, likely the very first time Tim walked in here with Conner.

"Thanks, Danny," He says, still mindful of his manners. Who knows, maybe they aren't up to anything. It's not a crime to not be human. He should know.

As Clark bites into his wings, he prays there are no crimes going on. He would be really sad to see his favorite lunch place gone.

[demonic0angel]

(Prompt: Clockwork gave Danny, Jazz and Jason a mission: Capture the Four Perils and bring them back to Ghost Zone)

"Hundun, Qiongqi, Taowu, and Taotie," Jazz said as she, Danny and Jason were looking at the cave. "the Four Perils. These creatures were said to be the ghosts of the four ancient criminals namely Huandou, Gun, Gonggong, and Sanmiao. You may knows Sanmiao is identified with Chiyou, a bull warrior that rebels against the Jade Emperor."

"There was a guy named Gun?" Danny asked.

"Yes, but his name is just means big fish in Chinese..." Jazz explained.

"So what're these creatures actually looked like?" Jason asked.

"Hundun is a yellow winged creature of chaos with six legs and no face, Qiongqi is monstrous tiger with wings that eats people, Taowu a reckless and stubborn tiger-like creature with boar teeth and human-like face, and Taotie is gluttonous... sheep and boar hybrid?" Jazz replied. "That's all the informations Clockwork gave to me."

"Ok, so now we've to those catch these guys, right?"

(An odd choice of capture targets but aight lmao)

“Yep,” Danny said. “Easy peezy.”

“You’re going to jinx us,” Jazz scolded, and Danny obliged her worries by knocking on the cave wall in place of wood.

But it was too late.

They hadn’t even needed to look for the Qiongqi. The moment the three of them had stepped out of the cave with intentions to go into the city to continue their search, the tiger-like monster immediately swooped in and tried to eat their faces off.

“Oh! I forgot that it bites off the noses of noble and righteous people!” Jazz recalled, and Jason immediately grabbed her and pulled her down as the beast lunged at them.

“Thanks for the info, Princess, but we’re in the middle of something?! Stop getting distracted and catch the damn thing!”

So while Jazz and Jason were fighting off the Qiongqi, Danny ran off to capture the Taowu, which was trying in vain to fight the cars in the middle of a street, blocking an intersection with its body as people screamed and ran away from it. Seeming to think that the screams were cheers, the Taowu preened and was even more enthusiastic in trying to kill the cars as Danny dodged its chaotic moves to try and catch it.

The Taotie was slightly more difficult to find after the three of them struggled to capture the first two. It had been found inside of a restaurant, hiding within the freezer and eating everything in sight, even the metal walls. It took a few days before anyone found it and reported it.

Finally, the three of them only needed to find the Hundun. It took a long, long time, almost a week before they found the faceless creature helping the Joker in a new plan to torment everyone in Gotham. It was quickly solved with some ghostly technology, but by the end, Jason’s eye was twitching and Danny looked like he was about to wring the necks of anyone who was about to approach him.

Clockwork watched them with a small smile on his face as they all trudged up the steps to his lair.

“You found them?” He asked, his form shifting.

“If you weren’t Jazz and Danny’s grandpa, I’d tell you to fuck yourself,” Jason hissed as he tossed the special container that held all Four Perils to Clockwork. Clockwork caught it and chuckled.

“But you got to spend time with Jazz, right? It’s not all bad.”

Danny growled, crossing his arms, “It was bad for me. You’re on thin ice, old man.”

“Maybe next time, I’ll send you on a mission with—”

“SHUT!!”

[stealingyourbones]

Submitted Prompts #106

So everyone knows about Bruce Wayne's spontaneous adoption tendencies, right? So when the media catches sight of a white haired kid hanging out with the Wayne's at a restaurant (Bat Burger perhaps?) everyone assumes that this must be the latest Wayne adoptee. Sure, no one could get a clear picture of him, and some reporters claimed he was a bit glowy, but Bruce Wayne's children have always been a bit strange.

However, things get interesting when a white haired meta is spotted out and about at night, even more so when Batman of all people takes the meta under his wing.

Basically, this random child is spotted with the two biggest chronic adopters in Gotham and everyone automatically assumes that a custody battle is going on.

In this Danny is either stuck in Phantom form or his white hair starts to show up in his human form (side effects of vivisection?) or honestly any reason it just has to be obvious that its the same kid.

Danny's in Gotham for reasons (dimension travel, reveal gone wrong, whatever) and he's been living on the streets and laying low (with some light vigilantes to satiate his obsession) until he saves the Wayne kids from something and they offer to buy him food for helping them (but really its bc they see a kid fighting crime and clearly isn't getting enough food and are like we need to keep him)

I think it'd be funny if Danny ran away from them when he found out that they were Wayne kids (Billionaires with adoptive instincts? MAJOR RED FLAG) and then somehow ends up working with Batman. Meanwhile, the media is badgering Bruce about how he feels about Batman stealing away a potential son.

[gutsygay]

Stuffing Story: “Daniel Gets His Fill”

Hieee 👋presenting my first kink fiction story, just a couple college guys getting stuffed.

Features stuffing, overeating, tummy rumbles, burps, and tummy rubs.

SOOOO um hope y’all like it 👉👈🥺

“

“And that about wraps it up for today! Don’t forget chapter four homework due Monday.” the professor said, dismissing the class.

Daniel grinned, hopped from his seat and headed toward the lecture hall door. He was an active type, and hated to sit still for long periods. As he waited for the crowd of his classmates to shuffle through the door ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the nearby glass bookcase. He was average height, with tan skin, broad shoulders and large thighs. He was muscular and lean, save for a bit of a belly protruding from the very bottom of his abdomen, which he could never quite seem to work off, or even to tuck away completely when he wanted to hide his pudge.

Daniel didn’t care though. His main passions were eating, and working it off with strenuous exercise. His energy seemed boundless, but none more than his appetite was bottomless. At the time he wanted nothing more than a full rack of ribs and some buffalo wings. But at the same time he already had energy to expend as well. He wavered about how he’d spend the afternoon when his friend Nick called to him from across the hall, settling his silent debate.

“Yo Danny! We hitting the gym or what?” Nick said with a toothy grin.

“Sure, bro.” Daniel replied. “Leg day today, right?”

“Think so.”

“Sweet. I’ll meet you downstairs in five.” Daniel said, and headed to his car.

He grabbed his athletic clothes. He smiled to himself in anticipation of the coming activity. Soon they’d squat, lunge, press and strain their legs until they were nearly too sore to walk. He turned his thigh to the mirror he’d mounted on the inside of his locker door. His quads were already looking huge - they were getting that chiseled teardrop shape as well. As he lifted his shirt for a better view, he felt a sudden rumbling from down below. It had been nearly four hours since lunch - which was never enough for Daniel in the first place - and he was filled with nearly child-like excitement for what was to come. He thought of his favorite part of lifting - gorging himself afterward. Such a strenuous, calorie-intensive session as leg day meant he could pack it in with no shame.

He arrived at the basement gym, which was open to all resident students, but was surprisingly empty at the time. Nick was already at the squat rack - he had already set them up with a soul-crushing 315 pound squat rack.

“Alright then.” Daniel said, pumped. “Let’s hit it.”

And so they did. They grunted their way through 5 sets of squats, followed by lunges and leg presses. Then Daniel did some calf raises in the squat rack, his belly jiggling every time he descended. Some of it slipped out from under his shirt occasionally, and glistened with sweat. Daniel just rolled his eyes and tucked it back in.

When they finished, Nick lifted his shirt to wipe his sweat, exposing his ab muscles. Nick looked at Daniel’s partially exposed abdominal region and smirked. “You can never seem to lose that chubby little gut, can you?” he said, poking Daniel’s flab, which was still beaded with sweat. “Nah, don’t have the willpower I guess. But I don’t care. Let’s go eat.” Daniel said.

“Sure, maybe just a salad, Danny? If you - “

Nick was cut off by a deep audible growl from Daniel’s belly. Daniel squeezed it with both hands and looked up at Nick.

“Uh, okay bro, how does Wendy’s sound?” Nick said, silenced by Daniel’s rumblings.

“I’m not feeling it. Let’s hit that new buffet instead.” Daniel said, already headed for the door. Nick followed, knowing his friend was now less of a freshman undergrad and more of a beast in search of prey.

They showered down, got back into school clothes and jumped into Daniel’s car. Daniel usually offered Nick a ride back to his apartment whenever he needed it after their afternoon lifting sessions. They headed a few blocks away from the main campus building, towards a new all-you-can-eat buffet. Daniel’s hungry stomach continued to growl louder, but he simply turned up the car stereo to drown it out.

After what seemed like an eternity, Daniel and Nick pulled into the buffet. They walked in and the greeter happily showed them a booth, but the restaurant owner behind her pursed his lips upon seeing Daniel and Nick, visibly ravenous. They had already twice visited the fairly-new establishment. This kid’s gonna drive me out of business, he thought to himself. That orifice must eat his weight in food once a week.

They claimed their booth seats, and beelined to the buffet area. Daniel grabbed a plate and loaded it with buffalo wings (honey barbecue AND blue cheese), meat loaf, a bacon cheeseburger, quesadillas and a pepperoni calzone. The plate must’ve weighed nearly a pound, and Daniel was practically drooling on the way back to the table.

“Jeez, got enough there, bro?” Nick asked as they sat down, but Daniel was already stuffing his face.

“Nnnf, mm!” Daniel forced a reply.

“Never, huh?” Nick asked. 

He watched as Daniel tore into the bacon cheeseburger, engulfing nearly a third of it in one bite. In well under a minute he’d downed the whole thing. Daniel grinned wordlessly at Nick while chewing the last bite, and quickly swallowed before promptly moving on to the meat loaf, followed by the chicken wings.

Jeez, does he ever slow down to breathe? Nick thought to himself. And I feel like he’s just getting started. Nick ate a few bites of his ham slices, and mac and cheese on the side. When he looked back up, Daniel’s buffalo wings had been reduced to six picked-clean bones piled up on the plate, being drenched with grease dripping from Daniel’s calzone. Nick watched as Daniel’s eyes rolled back slightly and closed with pleasure every time he swallowed. He’s enjoying it. It’s like sex on a plate to him! he thought.

Daniel finished the 3 quesadilla slices, and pressed a napkin to his mouth. And then he burped. He tried to quiet it, but his hand and the napkin did little to muffle the rumbling gas that burbled up and out of him. It lasted nearly 5 seconds in all, and Nick could even feel the vibration through the table.

“You good, dude?” Nick asked.

“Uh, ‘scuse me, heh heh.” Daniel wiped his mouth and rolled his eyes, trying and failing to play off his prior eruption.

“Damn dude, you really put that shit away.” Nick gestured to the now empty plate before him.

“What can I say? I’m hungry as fuck.”

“You mean you were hungry as fuck.”

“I dunno man, that belch freed up some room.” Daniel said, patting his stomach. His belly had always been a little large, or at least proportionally big compared to the rest of his body, but now it was visibly distended. More? How could he possibly still be hungry? Nick wondered, and watched as he purposefully strolled back to the buffet line. He had just packed away more than 3000 calories as if it were nothing. Nick couldn’t help but feel intimidated, yet drawn to Daniel’s ability to consume like some kind of alpha male. 

By the end of it, Daniel had downed a second plate. And a third. And a shish-kabob. And not one, but two bowls of ice cream for dessert.

Daniel polished off the second bowl, and released another burp, not even trying to muzzle it this time. Nick sat in awe. He himself had managed two plates and a scoop of ice cream, but his dishes were nowhere near as heavily packed as Daniel’s.

“Oof, I think I’m about ready to put a cork in it, bro.” Daniel said, fiddling with his pants belt.

He stood up, revealing his overstuffed abdomen. In the past hour it had taken them to eat, it had grown from a miniscule, doughy bump to a basketball-sized food baby. They headed out to the parking lot, and Daniel lifted his shirt to give his belly a little massage. Nick couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“So that’s where you put it all.” Nick said, blank-faced, and finding himself weirdly intrigued by this bodily transformation.

Daniel turned to face Nick. He burped again, managing to muffle it into a low hiss this time, and replied, “I’m not a bottomless pit after all, haha. It’s gotta go somewhere, y’know.” He looked down at Nick, grinning, and gently patted the underside of his bloat to make it jiggle.

“Uh, yeah, heh heh.” Nick replied, watching his friend’s flab bounce.

“Hey, you want to come over and hang for a while? That anime you like came out on Netflix.” Daniel offered.

“Yeah, sure! I’d love to let it hang out with you. Er, hang out with you.” Nick said. An unexplainable chill ran through him.

They hopped back in Daniel’s car and headed off to his apartment. Nick kept glancing over toward Daniel, still in disbelief at the size of his stomach. In the intermittent illumination from passing streetlamps, he saw it bulging and spilling out in between the seat belt straps. He also saw the physique of the rest of Daniel’s body - his arms and chest were defined, and his quads were still bulging from the prior workout. His left arm was fully extended, lazily gripping the top of the steering wheel, his other resting sandwiched between his thigh and his belly flab.

When they arrived at Daniel’s apartment, they went to his couch, turned on the TV, and waited for the streaming service to connect.

“Whoof!” Daniel exhaled, as he collapsed onto the couch. He reclined in the corner with the armrest and the back cushion, and extended one hand behind his head, the other poking his abdomen again. “Heh heh, maybe I overdid it.”

“Nahhh,” Nick said absentmindedly, staring at Daniel’s gut.

“Uh, don’t you think so?” Daniel grinned, raising an eyebrow.

Nick realized what he’d responded with, and simply blushed. 

“Yo, I’m about to burst, jeez.” Daniel lifted his shirt further and fumbled with his belt. “I gotta undo this, I’m dying. You’re cool with that, right?” Daniel said, popping his belt buckle open.

Nick paused, still staring, and said, “D-Do what you gotta do, man.”

Daniel’s exposed belly shone in the soft light of the television. He gripped the button of his jeans, pulled with a grunt, “Unnnh!” and popped open the waist of his pants, sinking backward into the cushions as he did so, as if overcome with relief. He pulled down his zipper, and the lower part of his abdomen spilled out, and rested upon his thighs ever so slightly. Then he lifted his belly to grab the waistband of his underwear, and tuck it downward, so that his gut now hung out completely, unrestricted. His stomach gurgled audibly. Daniel put a hand on his chest and belched loudly. Good lord, he has no shame about this at all, he’s just sprawled out, digesting and not giving a fuck. Nick thought. He’d never experienced anything quite like this before.

“Damn, ‘scuse me, heh heh. Sorry about that.” Daniel said, his abdomen continuing to rumble periodically.

“Don’t be.” Nick said quickly, unsure of why he had received such a feeling of satisfaction from someone else’s burp.

Just then, the streaming service loaded, and Daniel leaned forward to pick up the TV remote, and let out a slight groan, the sides of his belly folding into rolls as he did so. Daniel gripped the remote with both hands and said, “This dumb thing doesn’t work right, I need to get it fixed. The show won’t play unless you hold the On-Demand and Play buttons at the same time, for the first few minutes.”

Daniel reclined again and held the two buttons, extending both hands toward the TV, further exposing his belly in his lap. The theme song of the aging anime started on the screen. The catchy, angelic tune emanated from the TV, but wasn’t enough to muffle further rumbling from Daniel’s stomach.

Daniel looked down at it between his arms. “Ugh, it’s sitting in me like a rock. I really gotta burp again.”

Nick was fixated on Daniel, not paying a moment of attention to the anime on the TV. “H-heh, bet you could use a belly rub right now.”

“Ugh, you know it, bro.” Daniel replied.

Nick paused for a long while, staring at Daniel’s plump gut, resting in his lap. “You know… I guess, maybe, if you wanted to, I could rub your belly for you.”

Daniel looked over at Nick, and let out a soft chuckle.

Nick stuttered, nervous he’d made things weird. “I-I mean, uh, since your hands are full, and like-”

“Sure, bro. Come on over.” Daniel said smiling.

“Uh, seriously? I mean, okay.” Nick said warily.

“Yeah man, what else are bros for? Also I’m dying over here, I’ve never been this bloated.” Daniel reassured him, as Nick slid toward his end of the couch. “If I could get a quick massage down there that would be great.” Daniel reclined, and turned his body toward Nick slightly.

Nick rubbed his hands together to warm them, and gazed upon Daniel’s rumbling, distended tummy. In the low light from the television, he could see that it had bulged from under his ribcage, giving the top an almost triangular shape, but became sublimely rounded closer to his navel, and at the underbelly, which spilled between the zipper of his jeans and onto his thighs. There was almost no hair on his tummy, save for a light sprinkling of peach fuzz surrounding his navel, and trailing downward towards his manhood. His belly button, which Nick had earlier seen to protrude slightly outward, had all but disappeared into the newly chubbier, squishy mass of belly.

Nick hesitated to take in the sight up close. “Y-you ready?” he looked up at Daniel.

“Go ahead, bro.” Daniel replied with a smile.

Gingerly, Nick placed a hand - starting with the fingertips - atop Daniel’s belly, and he could feel the warmth and softness of his exposed skin. He placed his other hand on it as well - the fingers wrapped around the side of his belly, while the thumb lightly gripped in Daniel’s sunken navel. He slowly pressed into the soft skin until it reached a point and became firmer, the bloat caused by all the food. Nick blushed and remembered that he was giving a massage, not just feeling his friend for pleasure.

Nick began to press more firmly and move his hands in a slow, rhythmic motion surrounding Daniel’s navel. 

“Like this?”

“Almost.” Daniel replied, his eyes closing in bliss.

Nick continued, pressing firmer still, and re-orienting himself on the couch to press and knead from different angles. Nick could still feel Daniel’s stomach rumbling about, working away at the mass of food. Periodically Daniel would let out a small burp, and Nick could feel the vibrations starting deep within his friend’s body, and burbling up and out. Nick wondered what kind of relief he was bringing his friend, if Daniel’s tummy was faring any better due to the massages and release of gas.

“Move your right hand down a little.” Daniel instructed. Nick slid his hand down below the navel, closer to Daniel’s left leg.

“Unh, down more. And press.” Daniel said, sounding almost desperate.

Nick obeyed, his hand now brushing against the front of Daniel’s jeans, and the waist of his underwear. He pressed harder in this lower area, under the stomach, and felt something shift, as if he’d freed up some mass deep within Daniel’s swollen gut.

“Right there, that’s it -” Daniel started, before he was cut off by a sudden, intense rumble, followed by the loudest burp Nick had ever heard. Nick’s head was positioned right near the top of Daniel’s abdominal area, and he could hear the massive expulsion of gas, and feel the tummy deflating. The burp lasted nearly a full ten seconds, and Nick looked up at Daniel, chuckling.

“Man, you feel any better after that?” he asked.

Daniel hesitated to catch his breath, “Yes, oh my God, I needed that.” he said, groaning. Daniel set down the remote, as the show was playing properly now.

At this point Nick was in acceptance that he was aroused by all this, and continued softly massaging Daniel’s gut, which was finally settled, more or less. Nick prodded experimentally around Daniel’s belly button, curious if he could help his friend release additional pressure. Daniel rewarded his friend’s work with several more burps, each bringing him blissful relief as the pressure in his gut gradually decreased. Finally, Daniel’s stomach was settled, and Nick felt the mass beginning to move downward into the lower intestines.

“Thank you, bro. That felt amazing.” Daniel said, grinning as he looked down at Nick, whose hands were still feeling his belly.

“My pleasure!” Nick replied with a toothy grin. He realized that seeing his friend stuffed, and helping him through tummy trouble, made him feel a delight he’d never experienced before. He stayed still, save for his hands, waiting for Daniel to say he’d done enough. But it seemed to Nick that his friend was just letting him stay there, his hands on his tummy, for as long as he wanted.

Eventually Nick fell asleep, his head on Daniel’s lap, and he listened to the last remaining soft gurgles from deep within his friend’s tummy as he drifted off. Daniel soon found himself nodding off as well, in an irresistible food coma, his hand resting on Nick’s back. He fell asleep, happily dreaming of tomorrow’s breakfast.

“

And that’s that, hope y’all enjoyed 😅

[newagesispage]

                                                                JULY                                   2021

 THE RIB PAGE

 *****

They are still uncovering statues on Easter Island.

*****

Everyone is talking about ‘Exterminate all the Brutes” from Raoul Peck.

*****

Vampire bats, prevalent in Latin America may be on the way to the U.S.

*****

What they call faith, I call strength.

*****

Criss angel will open CABLP, a restaurant in Overton, Nevada. The letters stand for breakfast, lunch and pizza and will include a free meal outreach program to help under privileged and pediatric cancer families.

*****

A fifth ocean in Antartica??** There have also found 4 new ocean species: Apolemia, Tegula Kusairo, Leptarma Biju and Duobrachium Sparksae.

*****

In China they have found a possible new species in a skull that is 140,000 years old.

*****

Why would Jeffrey Toobin be back at CNN?? Surely there are more young deserving talking heads around.

*****

The Keystone pipeline is dead.

*****

5,000 pounds of explosives were discovered in a home in South LA. LAPD seems to have detonated the fireworks in a truck right there in the neighborhood. They were too dangerous to transport but not enough to blow them up??? How stupid are these people??

*****

Days alert : So glad to see Clyde again even if it is only for a moment!! **BTW, I do not understand the Daytime Emmy noms this year as they relate to Days. I really was pulling for Victoria Koneful (Ciara) and she won but George DelHoya (Orpheus), Tamara Braun (Ava) and Cady McClain (Jennifer)??? I was shocked when Cady McClain won. I mean, she was so whiny. I question my own ability to judge a performance. In most categories, the winner was usually the one I thought was the worst option. I was happy for Max Gail and CBS Sunday Morning.  Some performances were sure overlooked. What about James Read (Clyde), Paul Telfer (Xander), Bryan Dattilo (Lucas), Robert Scott Wilson (Ben), Daniel Kerr (Eli) and Lindsay Arnold (Allie) ?? As annoying as the Kristen character is and as long as it took me to get used to Stacy Haiduk in the role, she kicked ass this year. Did they even submit clips?? And,  they are not often on but Tony and Anna forever!!!!!!** And how wonderful is it to see the Dimera boys all together and recounting the whole fam for the votes? **And one more thing, Days was not even nominated for writing while Bold and the Beautiful spends every other show with the Liam character standing in front of the fireplace making excuses for the same shit! Just push repeat, C,mon!!**Philip had a great line for Brady about following Kristen like a zombie.** Dis Eli really say, “Peacock and chill??’ Are these the things they will have to do to do to stay on the air? It took me right out of the show. It was the same day the ads for Days on Peacock started. OMG

*****

Texas Gov. Abbott vetoed a bill that would make it illegal to chain up dogs without water.**ATexas churches have lost their 501(c) (3) status because it actively ‘educates’ its members on electing specific Republican politicians. –Pete West* This should have been happening long ago. Many churches I know of do this and should not be allowed to have it both ways. #tax the church

*****

Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, Christopher Lloyd, James Caan, French Stewart and Ann-Margaret in Queen Bees and directed by Michael Lembeck?? Yes please!!

*****

NY has suspended Giuliani’s law license.

*****

Miracle Workers: The Oregon Trail is coming to TBS, this will be season 3 in the series.

*****

What is this about Bowen Yang?? A podcast about a sperm bank heist?? Yeow!!

*****

David Geffen has given $150,000,000 to Yale drama school: Every student will be tuition- free in perpetuity.

*****

Allison Mack was sentenced to 3 years.

*****

The latest in sexual assault news: James Franco has agreed to 2.2 mil settlement in sexual misconduct case.** Kyle Massey was charged with immoral communication with a minor.**Bill Cosby is out and here are some reactions: A terrible wrong is being righted.: a miscarriage of justice is corrected. I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward.- Phylicia Rashad*I really don’t ever want to hear again as to why many survivors don’t report their rape or assault.- Charlotte Clymer* Women are showing great restraint in not burning everything to the ground right now and I don’t know how they do it.-Jeff Tiedrich

*****

Amazon is making a series of A League of Their Own with Nick Offerman as the coach.

*****

Does anyone else have family members that are rich, transient, know it all snobs??

*****

It looks like New York’s ranked choice voting is leaning toward Eric Adams for Mayor.

*****

Michigan republicans investigating voter fraud found 2 incidents. One is for a lady who voted by mail and then died, the other was confusion over a man who had the same name as his Father. That was it!

*****

Jamie Lee Curtis will get the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 78th Venice International Film Fest in September.

*****

Jerry Seinfeld will star in and direct ‘Unfrosted’ about Pop-Tarts.

*****

Why is Airbnb still listing properties in illegal settlements and outposts in Palestinian occupied territories? –James J. Zogby

*****

Merrick Garland has announced that the Justice department sued Georgia over the voting rights.

*****

The NFL says that it will halt the use of “race norming” which assumed black players started out with lower cognitive functioning in a $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims. The practice had made it harder for black players to qualify. –The Associated Press.

*****

Scary Clown 45 ended his ‘From the desk of Donald J. Trump’ blog after 29 days. Word is that he felt he was being mocked in the media.

*****

Religious leadership keeps engaging in partisan politics on behalf of politicians that are particularly unpopular with younger people and they wonder why younger people are disenchanted with the church. – Schooley ** Give young people credit as well for seeing through the hype and lies of these religious hypocrites who use God only as a weapon and a threat. –Larry Charles

*****

Amazon will stop drug testing for employment. Can every other company jump on this bandwagon? Let’s judge employees on the work they give.

*****

The Backstreet Boys and NSync are going to work together??!!

*****

Showtime is bringing back American Gigolo with Jon Bernthal.

*****

If Biden can carry out air strikes without proper authorization, the Senate can raise the minimum wage without the Parliamentarian.  –Alexandra M. Hunt

Reality Winner is out!!

*****

Judy Woodruff has been given the Peabody award for journalistic integrity.

*****

Donald Glover is bringing us Hive. Malia Obama will be a writer.

*****

Nicholas Cage has married Riko Shibata.

*****

Catch and Kill: The podcast tapes, is here on HBO.

*****

Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening will star in Jerry and Marge go large.

*****

Amblin Partners and Netflix are partners.

*****

Fall 2022 will bring the Roybal School of film and television production for underserved communities. They are looking to help 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students. Among others, the program was cofounded by George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling and Eva Longoria.

*****

Will there be a Wedding Crashers2??

*****

The Mysterious Benedict Society stars Tony Hale.** I would love to see he and Danny Pudi in something together.

*****

Actor Stephen Amell from Arrow was removed from a plane after getting into it with his wife.  A source said he was drunk and screaming. An official source said that they removed “an unruly customer.”** Andy Dick was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, allegedly assaulting his partner, Lucas with a metal chair.

*****

So.. Fox news was digitally altering the faces of people they did not care for??? Is there no end to their bullshit????

*****

Mark Ronson is set to marry Grace Gummer.

*****

Crime shows seem to be in the cycle of prisoners and the women who get a thrill from helping them escape.

*****

Wolfgang Van Halen has released a debut album: Mammoth

*****

Everyone seems to love Danny Trejo’s memoir and its honesty.

*****

David Spade will take over as host of Bachelor in Paradise.

*****

I am sickened when I see the first question that pops up on an online search is the net worth of a person. Oh this twisted world.

*****

Life is a short pause between 2 great mysteries. –Jung

*****

Prince Harry and Meghan had a daughter that they named Lilibet ‘Lili” Diana.

*****

Michael Flynn’s brother Charles (who withheld help from the capitol on Jan. 6), leads the U.S. Army Pacific and commands 90,000 troops.

*****

I am so excited to read ‘The Boys’ from Clint and Ron Howard, due out in October.

*****

Dave Chappelle closed out the Tribeca film fest with a surprise concert. This was the first in person film fest since Covid. Look for This time, this place which premiered there.

*****

Ron Wood will release the album Mr. Luck: A tribute to Jimmy Reed on Sept. 3

*****

Howard Stern signed a new $500 mil contract with Sirius XM. He is taking the whole summer off and many fans say they will cancel their subscription because they don’t want to pay for a summer of reruns.

*****

Acorn will bring Jane Seymour back to a series. Seymour will be co -executive produce on Harry Wild. Her character will be a retired University professor who loves her whiskey and solves crimes.

*****

Annie Murphy  stasr in ‘Kevin can f*** himself about a sitcom wife which airs on AMC.

*****

I still do not understand why Rep. Mike Nearman hasn’t been arrested for letting insurrectionists into the Capitol.

*****

There is a wing shortage??

*****

The Pulitzer prizes have been announced. The list includes Ben Faub, Barry Blitt, Katori Hall, Emilio Morenatti, AP photographers Marcio Jose Sanchez, Alex Brandon, David Goldman, Julio Cortez, John Minchillo, Frank Franklin II, Ringo H.W. Chiu, Evan Vucci, Mike Stewart and Noah Berger. There was a special citation for Darnella Frazier who filmed the death of George Floyd.

*****

Conan’s last TBS guests were Martin Short, Jack Black, Bill Hader, Mila Kunis, Dana Carvey, Patton Oswalt and JB Smoove. There were some surprises.  The big musical number never happened when Jack Black hurt himself. It was all funny and sweet but Conan never mentioned the band in the last show WTF????????????????????????????????????????? Music is so important to him and he does not thank the band? ** Colbert and Brian Stack gave Conan a cute send after4, 368 shows on CBS calling him a ‘Slenderman Ron Weasly’.  Kimmel wished Conn well also.** Hope his HBO MAX variety show goes well.** BTW, the Duvall interview with Colbert was great to see but why does nobody ever mention ‘Get Low?’ What a performance!!

*****

Tattoos are on the rise.

*****

Fast food drive thru’s sometime close with fake excuses like the equipment is down or something because they don’t feel like working. Good people can’t find work and so many waste the opportunities they have. AAAAGHH!!

*****

Valerie Bertinelli and Demi Lovato will star in ‘Hungry’ on NBC.

*****

Hulu will bring us David E. Kelley’s Nine Perfect Strangers with Nicole Kidman, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall, Bobby Cannavale and Melissa McCarthy.

*****

R.I.P. Gavin Macleod, Frank Bonner, Joy Vogelsang, Benigno Aquino, Champ Biden, victims of the Miami building collapse, Robert Sacchi, Stuart Damon, Johnny Solinger  and Clarence Williams III.

[troop-scoop]

Mistakes & Regrets IX

Summary: When a trip to your Dad’s hometown of Hawkins goes wrong, you end up in the year 1983, and have to learn how to cope with being stuck in the past.

Pairing: Steve Harrington / Future!Reader (like, a really slow burn)

Warnings: Swearing, (Italics are memories when they’re in bulk, but if it’s one line it’s a thought!)

A/n: Yes I know, a bit of a confusing chapter, I will clear it up as the story goes on. 

•••

“Okay, so, in this example,” Mike pointed to the paper he’d drawn on in red pen, of a line, like a tightrope, with a stick figure and a crapily drawn bug. “We’re the acrobat, Will, Barbara, that monster and you are this flea.” the dark haired child told you, pointing to the paper. “And this is the Upside Down, where you hid, and where Will is hiding. Mr Clark said the only way to get there is through a rip through time and space, that’s how you got there, even though you’re from the future.”

You nodded without much though, brows furrowed. You didn’t expect such a detailed lecture from a twelve year old, yet, here you were.

“Caused by a gate.” Dustin added. 

“That we tracked to Hawkins lab.”

“With our compasses.”

You nodded again. “That would make sense. . . It would probably have a stronger electromagnetic field than the north pole, so the needle would point you to the gate.” You weren’t good in science class, but you did still know things. 

“Exactly!” Dustin explained. “See, guys!” He told his friends, gesturing to you. “Even the time traveling weirdo knew!” 

“This gate underground?” Hopper asked. 

The girl, who’s name you learned was Eleven, looked to Hopper with a blank expression. “Yes.” 

“Near a large water tank?” He asked again.

Her answer was the same. “How did you know all that?” Dustin questioned.

“He’s seen it.”

You looked to your grandmother who’s grip on your hands tightened as she began to speak to Eleven. “Is there any way that you could. . . that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-”

“The Upside Down.” Eleven corrected. 

You knew that Joyce was holding onto you so tightly because you were her granddaughter, and just a kid, but you also resembled her son in many ways. 

“Down. Yeah.” Joyce whispered. 

“She did it with me. . . When I was there. I saw her.” You told them. “She saw me too.”

“I didn’t do that.”

•••

What were you supposed to be thinking about while emptying a bag full of salt into the large kiddie pool with Hopper and Jonathan? That this was normal? That any of it had you feeling like you were perfectly sane. You felt like you were losing your mind. 

Maybe you were. Maybe you were really in 1983, but you’d imagined what that boy had said to you. That you imagined that entire scenario of buying a kid water balloons. Maybe you never did see Eleven in the Upside Down, as the middle schoolers liked to call it. But she remembered you too. 

Maybe you weren’t crazy. Maybe you were just. . . having a fever dream. That had to be it, right?

No, this was real, you were just trying to deny it, find any semblance of hope that you weren’t really there, filling up a kiddie pool with salt that Hawkins used for the roads. 

There was no explanation for how you could have possibly seen that boy in August, even though you didn’t show up in 1983 until September 5th. There was no explanation as to how you could have seen Eleven in that place, when she wasn’t the one who made it happen. 

But now you could clearly remember quite a few moments where things didn’t seem to add up in Hawkins. Like how you’d been walking with your dads and your brother, and stopped at the crosswalk with two girls who didn’t seem to know what personal space was, talking about Madonna as if she was new. Their clothing way out of date, with a pair of Levi’s, and , but you were never one to judge. 

But maybe they were talking about Madonna as if she was new, because she was to them. There were so many ‘maybes’ that you could dwell on, theorize over, analyze like you were good at, but that was exhausting. You’d barely eaten that day, just two donuts and a coffee and that was earlier in the day, it was late now, you were tired, and wanted to sit in the shower. 

The realizations just kept coming to you, though. Memories of being in Hawkins and seeing people who were out of place, or like the time you’d gone to a cafe with your family in what your dad used to be the arcade he always went to as a kid, and you’d blinked once after getting your smoothie, and the entire cafe was replaced with arcade games and children happily playing them before you blinked again and you were back in the cafe. 

The same happened when you’d been walking around Hawkins the afternoon before the incident in the restaurant that made you run off, and end up in that place. You’d been minding your own business when it happened, once again, you blinked, and everything was slightly different, hazy, yet clear. It looked like 1980’s Hawkins instead of the one you’d been in. 

Pulling the empty bag away from the kiddie pool, you tossed it onto the floor and looked at Joyce who nodded a bit, holding the goggles you’d found in a science lab that Joyce covered in duct tape to make it dark for Eleven. 

You then looked to Dustin who lowered an egg into the kiddie pool, and to your relief, it floated. “Okay, Kid, let’s get you in.” Eleven nodded a bit, taking the watch off of her wrist and handing it to Mike who put it on his wrist. Joyce handed her the goggles. Grabbing onto Eleven’s hand, you helped her into the pool while everyone surrounded the pool, watching as she lowered herself down to float in the salt water. 

Joyce took your hand, holding it in her own. Her spare steadying Eleven in the water while your spare reached out for the girl’s hand, which she grabbed onto and held tightly in her’s. 

“Barbara?” Eleven questioned. Your eyes looked to Nancy whose gaze was focused on the twelve year old female. 

“Is Barb okay? Is she okay?” 

You gave Eleven’s hand a gentle squeeze, the kind your Pa taught you how to do. She squeezed your hand back but didn’t relinquish her grasp, which told you something was wrong. 

“Gone. Gone! Gone!” Joyce released your hand and grabbed onto her shoulders while Hopper grabbed the girl’s other hand.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.” Joyce kept repeating while Eleven calmed down. But Nancy wasn’t calm, instead holding back tears of her own while Jonathan held her. 

“Castle Byers. Will?”

Your ears perked up, and so did Joyce’s. “Tell him. Tell him I’m coming, Mom is coming.”

From the walkie that you’d brought and placed on the medal cart holding the bags of salt you could hear his voice “Hurry”

•••

“Hey, Pa, Look at this!” Daniel said excitedly, holding out his phone for Pa to see the new high score on Tetris. 

“Kid, I can't, I’m driving.” Pa reminded, gesturing to the empty road. You were close to Dad’s hometown now. Hawkins, Indiana a small town in northern Indiana, but not anywhere close to Lake Michigan. 

“Yeah, Danny, Pa’s driving.” You told him matteraffactly with a smile. You were the older sibling, it was your job to antagonize your little brother. 

“Shut up!”

“Daniel!” Dad scolded, turning to face the two of you from the passenger seat of the Chevy. His usually soft and kind eyes, clearly annoyed with how the two of you had been treating each other the entire trip. “Stop telling your sister to shut up all the time. It’s rude, and annoying.”

You chuckled a bit and the tip of Dad’s pointer finger was facing you, causing you to just smile brightly at him, thoroughly amused. 

“Will, c’mon, you know her ‘fear sensor’ is broken. Remember when Danny threatened her with a fork?” 

You chuckled again and Dad just sighed at the memory, turning back to face the windshield. You’d all gotten back getting fast food, Daniel ordered boneless wings, and it came with a plastic fork. You’d said something to annoy him, and flat out, in front of your fathers, Danny threatened to stab you with it. To which you responded ‘Do it, Punk.’ You weren’t scared of your brother. 

The car grew quiet except for the music playing on the radio, which quickly turned to mostly static, which drew everyone’s attention. “Can I connect my phone?” You asked, holding up the device. 

“Uh. . . yeah, yeah sure.” Dad told you.

“What? Why can’t I ever connect mine?” Daniel demanded. Offended that on the way to Indiana only you and your parents had played things from your phones. 

“Because we actually have good music!” You shot back. 

“What? Mine’s way better!” 

“Dubstep isn’t music, asshole!” 

“Hey!” Pa and Dad both shouted at the same time, Dad holding the cord out to you to connect your phone, and the moment you reached for it, the static shifted a bit. 

“August fifth 1985-”

Your dad reached to the volume knob, turning it to the right to turn it up, amplifying the static female voice over the airwaves. 

“September- Castle by-”

“Dad?”

“Sh!” Dad told Daniel. Your brother’s hand found your own on the center seat while the two of you watched your Dad staring at the radio intently while Pa stole frequent glances to his husband while still trying to keep an eye on the road. 

“I’m sorry- Mist-”

“Will? Babe, what’s wrong?” Pa asked. He was freaking all of you out a bit with how intently he was listening to the familiar voice. 

“Sh!” He repeated, stunning you all into permanent silence. 

“No word for- Explainat- Ste-”

The radio went back to normal, and you saw the unreadable expression on your dad’s face and he leaned back into his seat, eyes still on the radio as Ed Sheeran’s name came across the screen, as well as the name of the song. 

“Dad? What was that?”

He stayed silent.

“You know, Sweetheart, sometimes when we’re in a lower area than before, the signal doesn’t reach us as well. . . It kinda changes between two stations.” Pa tried to reason, his hand holding Dad’s as he continued driving. 

“Yeah. . . Right.” You agreed, though you weren’t convinced, something about it wasn’t right. 

•••

“Name please? Your full name.” 

Looking up from the iron tabletop you met eyes with the man who had a few papers sprawled around on his side of the table, a fountain pen at the ready to write. 

You hesitate for a moment. “Y/n Byers L/n.” 

Everything was too much, trying to process how Joyce and Hopper left you, Nancy and Jonathan with the kids, and then Nancy and Jonathan left which resulted in all of this. The trauma of holding Mike in your arms as tight as your could on the ground as if he was your own brother while Eleven and that. . . thing both died. 

You remembered his tears and how he clutched onto your shirt in that seventh grade science class classroom, his heat against your chest while you tried to soothe him. You remembered how Dustin and Lucas came to you for comfort as well. 

“Year of birth?”

“2004.” You relayed blankly. The sounds of Mike’s muffled sobbing echoing around in her head while you sat in front of the government official. 

“Home residence?”

“425 Culpepper Lane, Weehawken, New Jersey.” The voice that you’d heard while running with Eleven in your arms also still echoing. 

‘Today is just another day of trying to get by without her.’

It was your brother’s voice. But not as high pitched, or squeaky. 

He asked your age. “Fifteen.” Was your response, looking down at your hands, where Eleven’s dried blood was smeared over your palm when you wiped it away from her nose. It was caked into your skin. 

“Alright Miss Byers, correct me on anything I might have wrong. Y/n Byers L/n born 2004 aged fifteen, raised at the address of 425 Culpepper Lane in Weehawken, New Jersey?” You nodded a bit and looked back up at him, 

“Biological daughter of William Byers?” He asked. once again, you nodded.

“Alright, Miss Byers, we need to go over a few more things.” He told you, taking out a large file and placing it on the table in front of you. 

“LIke?”

“How your new life will look. Unfortunately, we can’t get you back home to your time, we’ll help you build a new life here. We’ll give you a birth certificate, emancipation papers, and we’ll give you a monthly stipend for however much minimum wage is where you’re from.” He told you, taking out a calculator from the folder, ready to calculate how much you’d be getting from them. “How much is it per hour?”

“Like, ten dollars.” You shrugged a bit. Now not only trying to process the sobbing and tears that had stained your shirt and the girl who had disappeared before your eyes, probably dead, but now you had to process that the government was going to try and buy your silence. 

“Ten dollars?” He questioned, looking up at you from the calculator. “That’s outrageous!”

You tilted your head a bit, brows furrowed and jaw clenched. “Yeah, out of everything about my life so far, the most outrageous thing is the minimum wage in New Jersey as of late 2019. Inflation’s a bit of a bitch, isn’t it?” 

The man’s pale skin went flush, as if he just remembered who he was talking to. That you weren’t just an adult he was negotiating with, but that you were a fifteen year old girl who wouldn’t see the world like you knew it for another 36 years, where, biological, you’d be a fifty-one year old woman who lived her entire life in the past, instead of the fifteen year old girl who had her entire future in front of her. 

“I apologize. . .” He spoke, typing into the device and then taking out a check book and uncapping his fountain pen, writing down on the small rectangular paper. Ripping it off, he handed it to you. 

You just stared at the check for a moment before reluctantly taking it from him. Holding

it between your thumb and index finger, staring down at the beige paper without much thought, your vision not focused on anything in particular on the sheet. 

“We’ll have you moved into an apartment by the end of next week, and pay for rent for the first few months. We’ll give you a budget for furniture,-”

You began to zone him out, going back to a few hours prior. How when Eleven threw Mike back he landed against the cabinets. You were by his side in an instant, holding him while everyone watched in shock as Eleven sacrificed herself. 

Even twenty minutes after it was all over, you still held him on the linoleum floor listening to his crying while he held onto you for dear life. To him, you were a stranger, yet he trusted you enough to cry in your arms. A twelve year old version of your Uncle Mike, who you knew well. But you barely knew this boy. He was just a kid. He wasn’t the man guy you knew as your Uncle Mike yet. He was just a scared and sad kid. 

“Miss. Byers.”

You looked up snapped out of your train of thought, meeting the ice blue eyes that the men held. “You’ll be going by Y/n L/n, only. Byers is no longer your name. And you have to stay quiet about all this. We’ll talking to Mr. Sinclair, Henderson, and Wheeler, as well as Mrs. Byers and her son. We’ll speak with the chief as well as Miss Wheeler. No one can know you’re from the future. Or anything that’s happened due to Hawkins lab. We need you to sign this NDA. You can never speak about this again. Is that understood?” His question was assertive as he put the fountain pen in your hand. 

“Okay.” It was a whisper, but he understood it while you signed the papers, handing them back to him. 

“You and the Byers boy will come to the lab periodically to get checked up, mentally and physically-”

“Excuse me?” You questioned, tilting your head a bit. 

He cleared his throat, “You and William were in that place for extended periods of time. And we’re concerned about your health. The atmosphere there was toxic. We’re afraid that it could affect your long term health. Especially yours. How long were you there exactly.”

“A while.” You started recounting the amount of times the hands on your watch went by. “A month? Maybe?” 

His face shifted as he stared at you, before writing something down on his paper. You could remember how many times you’d counted after the Demogorgon busted its way out of the wall in the middle school. You could remember plenty about it now. How you’d take a few sips of water from your water bottle to make sure you were at least a bit hydrated, but you were conserving it. 

You’d always retained a bit of your baby fat from being an infant, but you’d crawled out of that place without any of it, and your baby face was practically gone. Cheeks a bit sunken in, barely noticeable, but you’d noticed it. You’d also noticed how you could see the bump where your ribcage ended without having to stretch up. You didn’t look like you. You didn’t look like the little girl who ran around the house while either your pa or dad chased after you. You didn’t look like the kid who you’d seen in the mirror the morning you called yourself an expensive disappointment. Now you supposed you were an expensive missing disappointment. 

“Alright Miss L/n. Send in Henderson when you leave.” He gestured to the door. It didn’t seem right, everything about it was slightly off as you stood from the chair, grabbing your bag and leaving the room into the brightly lit hospital hallway. 

“Dustin.” You called to the waiting room, seeing the curly haired boy look up at you in curiosity before seeing you gesture to the door with your head. He got up and went in.

•••

You were sitting on the floor, your back against the wall and your walkman playing Queen at full volume. You needed it. It was the only thing keeping you sane while the boys were with Jonathan, Joyce and Will. 

You’d sat with the boys before they were able to go back. Being the emotional support that the three needed. Even if their parents were there, they’d never understand what the boys went through. You did, and you’d be there for them as best as you could. 

But the moment they left, and Nancy and her mother had gone to get something to eat, you’d gotten up and went over to the vending machine, which refused to work. So you’d opted for the ridiculous look of having your walkman clipped to the collar of your hoodie, hair a mess and dark bags under your eyes, a scowl on your face. 

Eyes closed you just listened to Freddie Mercury’s voice, your foot tapping to the guitar rift. And even though you were completely absorbed into your music, you weren’t oblivious the feeling of someone standing next to you before sitting down. 

Opening your eyes you turned your head to see Steve sitting next to you. His face bruised and a few cuts from how harshly Jonathan had punched him. But you were pretty sure the small one by the crease of his nostril was from you. 

You pulled the headset off of you ears and stared at him while he said nothing, the music now being heard by both of you. 

“I’m a giant prick, huh?” It made you smile a bit, tilting your head in confusion as he turned his head to look at you, eyes soft. “I mean- I fucked up. I over reacted over Jonathan and Nancy, I’m. . . I’m sorry that I was mean to you.” 

You shrugged a bit, keeping quiet which left him confused. You always had something to say to him, always was quick to playfully insult him, or give a come back, you usually said something witty to keep up the banter and conversations. 

“Y/n, you gotta give me something to work with, I don’t know how to talk to you right now. You look like you want to equally cry and punch me again.” 

“I don’t wanna punch you.” You finally said, turning your head back to where the wall and ceiling met in front of you. “Just a bad day overall. I mean, i go to very early this morning, like two am, and then Jonathan had the fucking audacity to wake me up at seven. And then you and your shit-stirrer friends pissed me off, I bruised my hand.” He said, lifting up the fist you’d used to punch him, maybe a bit too hard. “Got arrested, only ate two donuts in the morning, then I. . . deal with a lot of mind-fucking bullshit, then I filled a kiddie pool with salt. Fucking salt. It wasn’t even really a kiddie, it was giant. And then! Oh and then, I ate a fucking can of choclate pudding! I hate pudding! I was just hungry! And then I held a twelve year old in my arms in a empty science class while he cried.” 

Steve stared at you, seeing the stress that had been put on your shoulders throughout the entire day. He didn’t know what to say. What was there to be said? You were trying to cope with something, and he couldn’t see what it was. 

“Yeah, that. . . sucks.” Was all he could say but it got a frustrated and annoyed groan out of you. 

“Yikes! Just say yikes! Or if it’s really bad ‘big yikes!’” You’d said it so many times back to back that it didn’t sound like a real word to you.

But Steve found it interesting while he stared at you, examining the way the hoodie fell around your silhouette, and the ridiculous way you had your walkman clipped right under your neck. The pink medal being a very stark contrast to what you were wearing

“Yikes.” He repeated with a smile. 

A brief grin came across your face as he said it. 

“So, we’re still friends?” He asked, sitting up straight and turning his whole body to face you, his legs crossed like a kindergartener on the class carpet, in his own colored square. 

“We were friends before?” You asked teasingly, doing the same to face him, and like you were as a kindergartener, sticking a leg out. Which always got you into trouble. 

“Shut up.” 

“Y/n!” 

Turning your head you saw Jonathan coming down the hall, A piece of stained paper in hand as he came over. You didn’t miss the way that both Steve and Jonathan glanced at each other, though. 

“Jona-”

“Here. I think you’ll want to see this.” He told you, holding out the folded piece of paper out to you, which you hesitantly took as Steve picked up on the cue to leave 

“I’ll uh, I’ll talk to you later?” You nodded as a response, watching as Steve stood up and went back to the opened waiting area while Jonathan squatted down next to you as you unfolded the paper only to be met with a photo of your own face. The word ‘missing’ right above it in all capital letters, your name, age, and facial description on it, as well as what you’d been wearing when you’d ran off that night. The date of your birth, and the date of that night. 

“Mom said she found it in there.” Jonathan informed you while you kept examining the photo of yourself. Your hair pushed behind your ears, a smile on your face in a pale blue sweater around Christmas time. 

“No. . .”

•••

Add yourself to the taglist!

@disneyprincessbuffyannesummers​ @jxnehxpper​ @yllwtaxi​ @songofcosplay​ @potatopooper05​​ @cheesecakeisapie​​ @robinsdolan​​ @yall-wildin-like-siriusly​

[amerrierworld]

Curtain. (ii)

Carol (2015) fanfiction

Pt 1: x

Word Count: 1,874

Warnings: Swearing, but that’s it.

June - three days earlier

"We need to have any photos before the start of the run, so you have until next week to finish them. Can you do that?"

"Of course, Miss Gerhard."

"Oh, please, call me Abby. Dannie did say you were too polite for your own good. I don't bite, you know."

Therese blushed and glanced down, fiddling with the buttons on her camera as Abby led her backstage. The stage manager gave her a quick tour, and Therese scanned the premises, looking for the best angles to see the stage from the wings. The seats were empty and the lights were dim, focusing on the minimalistic set of a living room as the backdrop of the show.

"Anyways, it's an early preview so there'll probably be loads of kinks to work through as the show progresses tonight, and knowing our director, she'll probably pause the show a lot. You have free range of backstage and the seats to do as you please. The last photographer we worked with during rehearsal only showed up with blurry photos, which sent the PR team into a fit."

Therese was testing out her camera on stage, moving from the wings to the front seats as Abby gestured around. There were few workers around, cleaning and preparing for the preview of the theatre's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

"So! All we're asking for is some good photos of our lovely actors, the stage, and whatever tickles your fancy. It's a small show and we need all the promotion we can get," Abby continued. Therese nodded, chewing the inside of her cheek as she glanced around the theatre, taking note of the lights and seats.

After agreeing on her deadline and payment, Abby was typing in her theatre contact in Therese's phone in case anything came up, and the young photographer was quick to hurry out of the theatre, bustling with excitement for her job later that day.

-

August

"Cheers to finally being done!" Dannie exclaimed dramatically, popping open the bottle of champagne.

"Oh, stop it Dannie! I've been crying since the curtain call," Gen scolded him, whacking his arm with her purse. The actress was dressed impeccably, a silk silver dress draped around her voluptuous frame like she came straight from the silver screen. Therese felt inadequate with her simple green turtleneck and black dress pants.

"Seriously though folks. Congratulations on an incredible run," Dannie said. "I almost cried this time around. Almost."

"You sound just like old bat Gerhard, y'know," Richard stepped in, who was sitting across from Therese with a wide, arrogant posture and his arm slung over Gen's shoulders possessively. "I swear that lady has a stick the size of a tree trunk up her fuckin ass."

"Maybe she wouldn't be so uptight if someone just hit his marks," Gen said coldly. Richard's gaze darkened considerably, but all Gen did was sip her champagne, flicking auburn hair over her shoulder in that celebrity-style manner that Therese couldn't help but admire.

From what Dannie had told her, Gen and Richard had been on and off during the show, creating tension left and right. A classic backstage romance filled with just as much drama as the show they were in. Apparently it helped the actual tension needed during the performance, though that was really the only thing it was good for.

Closing night had been a huge success either way. Critics had raved about their electric performances, tiny hiccups going unnoticed by the audience. Therese was overjoyed to see her images in papers, on posters and on the theatre's website, her name printed in the corners of the photos. Gen had asked Dannie to bring Therese to their small celebration at the restaurant they were sitting in. She desperately wanted more female companionship after being surrounded by the likes of Dannie and Richard.

"Speaking of the fucking devil," Dannie commented, nodding his head to the front door of the small restaurant. Therese turned and caught the sight of Ms. Gerhard -no, Abby, she corrected herself- wearing a stunning jumpsuit. On her arm was a tall, familiar blonde beauty and Therese sucked in a breath as time slowed down for her while watching the two walk in.

Director Ross was dressed in a timeless black suit, bowtie and high heels, hair swept up in a sleek hairdo. The way they walked together was like watching power and confidence personified in the two women.

Therese took a sip of her water to help the blush that she felt creeping up her neck.

"Ah, shit, no way, why they gotta go out for dinner the same place we are?" Richard grumbled. "I really don't want to talk to them."

"Nonsense! They deserve just as much praise as we do," Gen snapped. She stood up from her seat and waved at Abby, who caught sight of the actress easily. Gen always had a way of commanding the room whenever she felt like it.

Therese felt her excitement plummet as she noted that only Abby was approaching their table. The blonde stayed back in their booth, shrugging off her blazer, revealing a crisp white button down that made Therese squirm.

"Fancy seeing you lot here," Abby said, leaning on their table. "Celebrating, I assume?"

Dannie held up the champagne and grinned. "You got that right, boss."

Therese kept her eyes fixed on her glass, afraid that by looking at Abby her gaze would give her away. Were the two a couple? No, of course not. They  were coworkers. Nothing more, right?

"Well I saw Gen and just wanted to come over and congratulate you guys. It was a terrific run, despite everything," with a pointed look at Richard, "so you deserve a well-earned night out."

The other three all responded to Abby with some sort of thanks and Therese forced herself to look up at her and smile. Her eyes were met steadily by the brunette, and though the gaze was firm, Abby smiled nonetheless.

"Good to see you again, Therese. A wonderful job on those photos, by the way."

Therese smiled, beaming proudly. "It was an honour, Abby."

What the fuck? An honour? Am I even saying coherent things? Therese tried to keep herself nonchalant and cool, though a prickling sensation on the back of her neck made her flustered. She looked around and found a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at her from the booth across the restaurant. Ross was looking at her intently, fingers grasping a martini glass. Therese felt her mouth go dry.

"I best get back, enjoy your night," Abby said and with that walked away. Therese lost contact with the blonde's eyes as Abby got back to their booth, their sudden and immediate chemistry forgotten.

Reminding herself to breathe, she tried tuning into Dannie arguing with Richard over some theatre related technicality, and she was filled with the sudden and desperate urge to abandon the three and run over to Abby and the director to hide away, just to get to know this Ross lady better.

"But hey, Terry, you're gonna come back to the theatre soon right? With your pictures and all that?" Richard's annoying voice brought her back to reality.

"Oh, I don't know," she shifted uncomfortably. "I've got a different job starting next week, so photography might be on hold for me for a while."

She chewed her lip, not wanting to say anything else. She had nothing against Dannie or Gen, but after her and Richard had broken up she tried to avoid talking to him as much as possible. In group settings, she was fine, and with their intimate circle of friends it was hard to avoid him so she didn't mind putting up with him.

But no, this job was hers. Not Richard's, Dannie's, Gen's. It was a step into a different direction for herself. And even though she told herself it was more for the pay, she couldn't help but be excited about the kids she was going to meet.

Dannie shifted the conversation to some lewd story from a theatre when he had been just starting out and Therese felt she could breathe again.

-

"Who is that girl sitting next to Dannie?"

"Therese? Oh, she was the photographer we had in just before the run, don't you remember?"

"Hmm right. I thought she seemed familiar," Carol sipped her martini slowly, eyes darting over to the petite brunette again.

"Stop it," Abby scolded.

"Stop what? I'm just getting a good look. It's been a long time since I've seen her."

"Whatever you're thinking of, Ross, you better cap it. I'll have you know she's a terrific photographer and I want to hire her again, though I won't be able to do that if my artistic director decides to... involve herself."

Carol smirked but backed down, leaning back against the seat and glancing out at the dark street, illuminated by hazy lights dancing in the fog that had spread over the city.

"You all set for September?" Abby asked. Carol's smile disappeared, her fantasies of the brunette forgotten as she looked at the year ahead.

"I have no idea, Abby. I haven't had Rindy for a full month since, well, since this whole mess started. Plus it's the beginning of the school year for her, you know how anxious that can make her."

"And you. You're always a mess when those things start up."

"Hush. At least the first week is cleared up for me, I can relax and take Rindy to school, pick her up, make her meals..."

Carol drifted off again in her non-working, stay at home mom dream that was finally happening in just over a week. Her and her daughter together without a show, without court, without fights... Bliss, she thought.

"You haven't forgotten our meeting with Jeanette though, right?" Abby asked cautiously, brows furrowing. Carol's head snapped up.

"What?"

"The meeting to finalize that you're stepping away from the theatre? C'mon, Carol."

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry Abs. I genuinely forgot." Carol whipped out her phone and hastily looked up the email Jeanette sent them. Wednesday. 3pm. At the exact time she was meant to pick up Rindy, she'd be on the other side of the city.

"Fuck," Carol groaned. "I guess I gotta get a sitter for Rindy then." God, she couldn't wait to be done work.

"Do they not have an after school program at Rindy's school? Just let her hang out there and we'll pick her up once we're done. It won't be more than an hour, Carol, I don't know if it's worth getting a sitter."

"No, you're right. I'll call them tomorrow and see what they can do," Carol sighed, putting her phone away.

Suddenly feeling the urge to check, she glanced over at the party from across the room, trying to catch a glimpse of the photographer again. She was disappointed to see that only Gen and Richard were left, who were at it with their usual banter at their table while eating. Dannie and Therese had disappeared.

"Carol," Abby warned.

"I know, I know. Sorry." Carol forced herself back to the conversation. "I'm hopeless, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are, you nitwit."

A/N: Life is insane, y’all. This story stumped me for a bit, but here I am. Hope you’re all good, let me know your thoughts <3 

[daresplaining]

So, in one of your posts you mentioned that you could write a lot about the different contexts in which Danny introduces himself as Danny vs. the Iron Fist. Is there any chance we could ever read those thoughts. Thank you so much for running such an amazing blog; I love it.

    I want to preface this with a general statement and apology:

    This blog has slowed down a bit in the last… year? Ish? Possibly longer? And this is because life has gotten much more hectic for a variety of reasons. My wonderful co-blogger has been busy enough that she doesn’t really have time to blog anymore, and my life has been fairly chaotic as well. There are messages in the inbox that have been there for a really long time (this one included), and I want to assure you that they will be answered, and that this blog does, in fact, still welcome questions! Thank you all so much for your patience, hello to any new followers, keep on Daredevilling, wash your hands… and now, let’s talk about our boy Danny!

    (Context: The post being referenced is this one.)

    MCU Danny’s overall story arc orbited around concepts of identity. The entire first season of Iron Fist is an identity quest– Danny returns to Earth, has his identity as Danny Rand stripped away and fights to reclaim it, has his identity as the Iron Fist challenged and fights to defend that, and then is faced with the question of how to balance both of those identities– his adherence to the honor and duties of being the Iron Fist, but informed by his sensibilities and past life as Danny Rand. At the end of the season, he makes the wise choice to return to K’un-Lun to continue his training, to focus more on his role as an Immortal Weapon, only to discover that… something horrible has happened to his home. The truth of what actually happened to K’un-Lun was a mystery that was never answered, and remains for me one of these shows’ most frustrating cliffhangers. But regardless, this discovery is a bomb dropped in the middle of his identity quest. He believes his home was invaded, and it’s notable that his traumatic nightmares of his parents’ deaths are replaced by nightmares of K’un-Lun’s destruction. He feels he cannot fully claim the title of Iron Fist anymore because he has failed in his duties. He has failed his family, his home, the people he was supposed to protect. But he also clings to that identity more tightly than ever as he commits every moment of his life to righting that wrong, to fixing this unforgivable mistake. He is angry and grieving when we see him in The Defenders, his identity a painful, mixed-up thing, and this fact has to be taken into account as we look at the ways Danny introduces himself in that show.

    Overall, my feeling is that I’m thinking a lot more about this than the writers were, but hey, it’s still fun to examine. Let’s take a look…   

[ID: A screenshot of Danny Rand and Colleen Wing in a dark, green-tinged tunnel, kneeling next to an injured man (Shaft, a member of the Chaste).]

Danny (subtitle): “My name is Danny. I’m hunting members of the Hand.”

    This, his first introduction in the show, is a telling one. He is here in a professional capacity as the Iron Fist, doing strictly Iron Fist business (hunting the Hand), fully embodying that identity, yet he doesn’t introduce himself as such. Instead, he’s just “Danny”. (Note: not “Danny Rand”. Danny’s association with the name Rand is another complicated topic that I’ll get back to later.) This is in spite of the fact that he has reason to assume, given that Shaft knows about the Hand, that he would know about the Iron Fist legacy as well.  

    This can be taken a few different ways. It’s possible that he’s using Danny as just as shorthand; it’s more personal, and he may want to put Shaft at ease by using his civilian name. Or, at this early stage, having now suffered yet another failure of being unable to protect Shaft, it could be reflective of the fact that he doesn’t feel worthy of the title. He is shocked when Shaft recognizes him as the Iron Fist– maybe because he didn’t think Shaft would be so informed, maybe because he is embarrassed and ashamed to be addressed as such.   

[ID: Screenshot of Danny standing in Colleen’s dojo, arms folded, looking intensely sincere. He is speaking to Luke Cage (off-screen).]

Danny: “I’m the Immortal Iron Fist.”

    And here we have the exact opposite. The above scene with Shaft is very intimate, personal, emotional. Danny is avoiding his Iron Fist identity, downplaying himself. Everything is very quiet and desperate and genuine. 

    Here, though… Danny is wearing a mask. He is introducing himself in a succinct, summarizing way; projecting an image, providing information. His personal feelings about his identity are completely absent from this scene, because no way in hell is he going to reveal that vulnerable side of himself to someone he barely knows and doesn’t trust (yet). He is also reacting to Luke’s behavior, which up until this point has been dismissive at best, violent at worst. Luke is a sore spot here: a person who Danny initially thought was working with the Hand, and who he struggled to beat in a fight. If Danny was ashamed before, he is extra humiliated now, standing in front of Luke and being scoffed at (“Oh, this is a joke. Come on”). 

    And so he presents himself as the powerful, in-control Iron Fist he doesn’t actually believe himself to be (“I can answer myself” etc.), throws down a Clif-Notes version of his backstory so Luke can understand who he is, what he was doing when they first met, and why he is a trustworthy ally/asset, and introduces himself with the most formal, intimidating version of his title. Danny is recovering from a bruised ego, and wants the unpleasantness out of the way so that he can continue with his mission– and if Luke is capable of helping, then he wants to make that connection with as little angst and fuss as possible. He needs Luke to know that he is the Iron Fist, even if he doesn’t feel like he actually is. 

[ID: Screenshot of Danny strolling into the lobby of Midland Circle, wearing a business suit.]

Receptionist: “Name, please.”

Danny: “Daniel Rand, of Rand Enterprises.”

    Having seen one mask, we now get to see the other– this one much more fabricated, though he pulls it off with STYLE. (That swagger! I love this scene.) This is Business Danny at his Business Danny-est: Daniel Rand of Rand Enterprises, wearing a tie and everything. Danny is not a businessperson, as he himself says. He has never been a businessperson. He has never wanted to be a businessperson. And, as he also readily admits, he is not a very good businessperson. But it’s a mask he tried on in IF Season One for identity quest purposes– to tether himself to the Rand name, his civilian identity, which was his sole remaining connection to Earth and which the Meachums were trying to rip away from him– and it’s a mask he now dons again, this time as a weapon against the Hand. His introduction here is just as much of a necessary facade as his introduction to Luke was in the previous example, but this one lacks the emotional baggage. 

[ID: The same scene as previous; Danny is smirking coldly at the Midland Circle receptionist.]

Receptionist: “Are they expecting you?”

Danny: “[Chuckles softly] Not like this.”

Okay, sorry, I always say this when discussing this scene, but… DANG. Get ‘em. 

[ID: Screenshot of Danny standing in a white-walled Midland Circle conference room, hands folded in front of him, his back to an open door. A whole bunch of people in suits are sitting at a long conference table in front of him, watching him speak.”

Danny: “My name is Danny Rand.”

    The charade continues (though note the switch from “Daniel” to “Danny”. He is being just as formal and fake here, but he’s never really been a “Daniel” and it’s possible he says it without thinking). I talked about this moment in detail in the original post, regarding Danny’s strategy and the challenges he faces as his plan starts to go awry, so I won’t repeat myself here, but I will point out that Danny keeps this mask on for as long as he can, even after revealing that he knows they are the Hand, even after Alexandra shows up and starts behaving condescendingly toward him. He embodies the Danny Rand of Rand Enterprises identity for as long as possible, so that they don’t see him as a physical threat until he wants them to, and so that when the moment arrives, it can be as impactful as it needs to be. He wants them off their guard, unsettled, frightened.

[ID: A close-up of Danny from the shoulders up, same scene as above. He is resolute.]

Danny: “I am the Immortal Iron Fist, weapon of K’un-Lun.”

    I think this is genuine. Yes, it’s a shock-and-awe tactic to tell the Hand who they’re really dealing with, but I also think that in this moment, Danny rediscovers some of his confidence. He believes that, after all of his shame and failures, he has found a plan that will work. He has finally tracked down the Hand, he has breached their defenses in a way they were not expecting, and he believes that he can now destroy them. And then he gets emotional. This is about honor and vengeance, and they need to know who it’s coming from and what they are paying for. “I am the Immortal Iron Fist, weapon of K’un-Lun”– he is retaking his ownership as defender of his city, because he needs to, because he believes he finally can. He has conviction in his identity as the Iron Fist for the first time since the last few episodes of his solo show. And man, it hurts so much to find out that he is wrong. 

[ID: Screenshot of Danny, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Matt Murdock (in civvies with a grey scarf tied over his face), standing in a tight circle in a dimly-lit room (a restaurant). Danny is talking to Jessica.]

Danny: “Hey, I’m, uh… I’m Danny.”

Jessica: “Jessica.”

    Here is our final scene of Danny introductions: the team dinner, in which he introduces himself to Jessica, and tries to do the same to Matt (who is being grumpy and incognito and therefore is unreceptive to introductions). This one doesn’t have the emotional complexity of the previous examples– Danny is super cheerful and endearing here, delighted to meet these other superheroes and to have found more allies, and he introduces himself with a healthy, informal “Danny”. The beginning of the team-up is the start of the breakdown of his character arc, but it’s a very cute scene regardless– a glimpse of the happy, well-adjusted (or at least adequately repressed) Danny that we had not seen in the MCU at this point since the beginning of IF Season One.  

[ID: The same scene. The four of them are standing around a plate-laden table. Matt is leaning intently toward Danny with his hands on his hips, listening to him speak.]

Danny: “Sworn protector of K’un-Lun.”

    Part of Danny’s relaxed-ness comes from his belief, again, that with these new allies, his revenge quest is achievable. He is also clearly relieved to have help. He introduces himself as just “Danny” initially– using the most informal and least baggage-laden version of his identity, forming a personal connection with them– and then introduces himself as the Immortal Iron Fist, “sworn protector of K’un-Lun” later, when he starts explaining his role in the fight against the Hand. He is very relaxed about referring to himself in this way here, partly because– again– his sense of self and security has been bolstered, he is feeling good and hopeful, and also, it’s just necessary context that he knows he needs to provide. Specifically, he refers to himself as such to Matt, because he has gathered at this point that Matt has Chaste connections, and therefore assumes that he knows about the Iron Fist legacy. Little does he suspect that overly-emotional Matt failed out of Chaste School before learning any of the important backstory, and is therefore clueless. 

[ID: Screenshot of Misty Knight looking over Luke’s shoulder at something that clearly upsets her.]

Danny (off-screen): “You got a chair?”

    Please indulge me for just a second: Am I bitter that we didn’t see Danny properly introduce himself to Misty? Am I bitter that their relationship was almost entirely neglected in these shows? Yes, just a little. 

    Anyway…

    Overall, Danny’s emotional arc in this show suffered for the sake of the team-up, and I feel like there is not as much significance in these introductions– these shorthands for Danny’s identity struggles– as there should have been/would have been if this were his show. That said, I do think they are important, and I loved digging into this. Danny’s journey is one of my favorites out of all of the Netflix Marvel protagonists, and I love taking it apart and examining it. 

    Again, I’m sorry this post was so long delayed, and thank you for the question!

[etherealwaifgoddess]

More Time - Chpt.12

Summary: It’s first date time at last!   Master list can be found HERE.

Warnings/ Content: Sweet romantic date feels

Word Count: 2.5k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! We made it to Friday. And after this crazy week, that feels like an accomplishment. I encourage everyone to take some chill time / self care/ relaxation time / whatever you want to call it time, at some point this weekend. Now, please enjoy the most perfect, sweet, romantic first date two super soldiers could ever take a girl on! XOXO - Ash

Chapter Twelve

Emma hadn’t been anywhere as fancy as DaVinci’s in about ten years when her parents had taken her out to celebrate her college graduation. Luckily she had a simple black dress that would work if she added her nicest set of jewelry and pulled her hair half up with a clasp. It was a swing style dress with elbow length sleeves and hidden pockets on the sides. Emma prided herself on her amazing thrift shop find and very begrudgingly pulled on a pair of Spanx to smooth out her silhouette. She was comfortable with her curves but appreciated a little extra support smoothing them out. The set of pearls that her mother had given her when she turned eighteen looked perfect against the plain black dress, a classic look she mused the guys would probably appreciate. Emma didn’t do make up often other than a quick wave of mascara, but she took the time and effort to draw neat lines with tiny wing flicks on her eyes and smoothed on a bold red lipstick. 

She was fixing her hair one last time when the buzzer sounded in her apartment. Emma buzzed them up and smoothed her dress nervously in the mirror one last time. A series of quick knocks rapped on her door and she opened it to welcome the guys inside her apartment. Steve looked like he had swallowed his tongue. “Oh wow.” he said quietly, not budging. 

Bucky chuckled, throwing an arm around Steve’s shoulders to herd him into the apartment. “What Stevie means is: hi Emma you look amazing.” 

Emma was struggling to find words herself. They were both in suits, Bucky in navy blue and Steve in pale grey, and Bucky had pulled his hair back in stylish half up bun. They were both breathtakingly handsome in very different ways and complemented each other perfectly. 

“You both look incredible.” Emma said as she gathered her purse and coat from the living room closet.

“Thanks, doll.” Bucky looked down at Steve who was blushing brightly at her compliment. “You gonna be okay pal?” he asked quietly

Steve nodded and gave Bucky a hesitant smile of assurance. 

Bucky led them down to his waiting car, he wouldn’t be affected by the wine at dinner so it made the most sense for him to drive. But also he just really loved driving his car. He had bought it when the Army back pay came in and it was his one truly extravagant purchase. The government had been less than thrilled to give him the same honor as Steve but after it was publicly proven he had spent the last seventy years as a prisoner of war they had little choice. 

“This is your car.” Emma looked at the sleek black Audi with wide eyes.

“This is her.” Bucky said with pride, opening the passenger side door and letting Steve slide into the back seat. Emma moved to follow but Bucky held onto her arm for a moment, “You can sit up front, doll.” he offered. 

Emma shook her head, “It’s okay, I want to sit with Steve. Not that I don’t want to sit with you too but...” 

Bucky nodded, “You’re not gonna hurt my feelings. Go ahead and squeeze in with Stevie.” 

Bucky helped Emma into the back seat before hurrying around to the driver's seat. “When it gets warmer we can take her down the coast with the top down. There’s nothing like it.” he said after sliding into his side.

“Sounds great.” Emma agreed easily, still surprised by the luxurious car she was sitting in.

Steve gave the back of Bucky’s seat an affectionate shove, “Someone likes showing off his fancy car.” 

“Says the guy who brags about his motorcycle like it’s his first born.” Bucky shot back.

“Hey, it took me years to find a restored Harley Liberator. I loved that bike back in the war and they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” 

“It’s great, but we can’t take our girl out to dinner on your bike.” 

“Well, I could. You’d just have to stay at home.” 

Bucky shook his head when he saw Steve sticking his tongue out at him in the rear-view mirror. 

Emma bit her lip trying not to laugh, glad Steve seemed to be loosening up a little. She reached out and took his hand in hers. He looked over at her, seeming to remember she was there again, and he swallowed hard. “Hey.” she said quietly, trying to relax him a little.

“Hey.” he replied, his tone equally hushed. 

Slowly Emma got Steve to come out of his shell as they chatted quietly in the backseat. Bucky was thankful Emma had picked up on his nervousness and was willing to take the time to calm him down a little. She seemed to really get Steve and it was a blessing. Not every girl was willing to take the time and patience but Emma did it as easy as breathing. He hadn’t seen Steve so smitten right off the bat since Peggy and he hoped his instincts were right about Emma. 

Steve enjoyed watching Emma look around, drinking in all the little details of the restaurant as they were led through the dining room to a secluded booth near the back. It was a beautiful restaurant, the dim lighting shimmering off the chandeliers and playing off the deep wood tones. The tables were set far enough apart to keep the ambient noise subdued and the scent of fresh bread and herbs lingered in the air. The booths were wide, heavily padded semicircles and Steve and Bucky took advantage of their design to sit on opposite sides of Emma. 

Emma tried not to look as overwhelmed as she felt but it was a little surreal sitting between two of the most stunning men she’d ever seen, in a restaurant she could only ever dream of seeing the inside of. “How is this my life?” she murmured quietly to herself. 

Steve was sitting with Emma on the side of his good ear and he just barely caught the quiet comment to herself. Bucky’s enhanced hearing caught it easily and they shared a pleased look across her. They had wanted to give her an unforgettable night and it appeared they were succeeding. 

The waiter welcomed them back to DaVinci’s and took their drink orders, Steve ordering a bottle of wine for them to share. Emma folded her hands in her lap, still feeling a little off kilter when the sommelier stopped by to uncork their bottle. Steve sipped and nodded, prompting the man to pour their glasses. After stowing the bottle in a caddy by their table the man hurried off leaving them back in their solitude. 

“I didn’t know you were so well versed in wine.” Emma commented, sipping the rich red he had selected. 

“I’m not, really, but we’ve been to enough fancy parties to learn what words to look out for. I’d be just as happy with a bottle of two buck chuck.” 

Emma bit back a laugh, “I have a bottle at home right now. You might have to put your money where your mouth is.”

Steve shook his head, “I will drink it happily. There is nothing wrong with Trader Joe’s wine.” 

“Heathens.” Bucky interjected haughtily before sipping from his glass.

Steve raised an eyebrow at him, “Should I share the story about that time you drank bathtub gin with Danny O’Neil and got so sick your ma thought you were dyin’?” 

Bucky’s eyes widened, “I was fifteen and the only reason you didn’t drink it was because you were getting over pneumonia. Again.” 

“You were sixteen and I told you that bathtub looked dirty.”

They shared a look and both erupted into laughter. 

“I don’t want to know.” Emma said, shaking her head at them. 

The tension was relieved though and gradually conversation flowed easier. By the time their meals arrived they were talking like they would have if they were back at Matty’s. The platters in front of them were enormous and artfully presented. The restaurant clearly had two Michelin stars for a reason. Two bites into her gnocchi and Emma had decided that they could have served it on a dumpster lid and still have gotten those stars. The tiny pillows of pasta were so delicate and the lemon chive pesto brightened it so that the richness wasn’t overwhelming. It was easily the best meal she’d ever had.

Steve let out a startled squeak and she looked over just in time to see Bucky shoveling a forkful of Steve’s pasta primavera in his mouth. He chewed quickly despite Steve’s shoving at him. “He started it.” Bucky pointed at Steve with his fork.

Emma looked at Steve, waiting for him to explain.

“I took one, tiny, little piece of veal.” he admitted finally.

“And so I took a fork of his pasta.” Bucky explained without remorse.

“It was a giant forkful!” 

“I have a giant super soldier appetite.” 

Steve huffed but this was clearly a squabble they had often. 

Emma rolled her eyes at the pair of them. “I can’t take you boys anywhere…”

“Uh oh,” Bucky said kicking Steve under the table, “I think we embarrassed our date, Stevie.”

Steve sighed, playing along. “Jeez, Buck. What should we do?” 

“Drag her down with us!” 

Buck and Steve both had forks in Emma’s pasta before she could blink and she tried in vain to fend off their utensils with her own. They escaped with one gnocchi each and in her mind that was one too many. They were all giggling and stealing off each other’s plates when the waiter returned to pour them more wine and the trio did their best to look mature and not like they had just been acting like children. 

Even with Bucky’s super soldier appetite, they all had leftover boxes to take home by the end of dinner. The chef was aware of Bucky’s birthday and brought out a thick slice of tiramisu with happy birthday written around the edge of the plate in chocolate. He chatted with Bucky for a moment and Emma sat back just watching the obviously familiar exchange. The trio tucked into their dessert as soon as the chef bid them a good night and Emma wasn’t surprised it was just as good as the pasta. The tiramisu was so light that between the three of them it disappeared quickly. 

Wanting to be fair, Emma sat up front with Bucky on the way back to her apartment. He looked extremely pleased when she opted to sit there and reached over to hold her hand across the console for the entire drive. Old, gentlemanly habits dying hard, Bucky and Steve both insisted on walking Emma to her door. It was clear none of them were ready for the night to be over but Emma didn’t trust herself to invite them in. She wanted to take things slow and after such an amazing night it would be all too easy to get carried away. They stood outside her door, each holding one of her hands. 

“So, how’d we do?” Bucky teased, swinging his hand and hers a little. 

“Are you sufficiently wowed?” Steve joined in.

Emma pretended to think a moment, “I think I need another date to really form an opinion,”

“Do you now?” Bucky laughed, “Sorry to tell you this, but second dates are for pizza and Star Wars.” 

“Oh wow. That’s some bait and switch routine you got there.” Emma giggled.

“Yep, we get you all starry eyed and then, bam!, it’s all sweatpants and greasy take out.” 

Emma freed her hands and pulled Bucky close by his lapels. “I’ll take sweatpants and snuggling on the couch over fancy dinners any night.” 

“Whatever you want, baby doll.” Bucky gave her a wolfish grin before lowering his mouth to hers. Emma shuddered despite herself. His lips were firm and demanding against hers and it was difficult to not get swept away. Bucky wasn’t greedy though, he pulled back after a few moments and Emma braced her hands against the hard plane of his chest to steady herself. They both remembered Steve at the same moment and looked over to see him shifting in place with his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets. He was trying to not be obvious with his staring but he must have seen everything with not being even two feet away. 

“Hey Stevie.” Emma said, blushing furiously and still clinging to Bucky. 

Steve’s own blush deepened. “Hey.” he replied quietly, finally glancing up. 

“See something you like?”

Steve mumbled his assent. 

“Then come here. Unless you think you need to go get beaten up first?” 

Bucky chuckled and turned Emma around by her shoulders so she had her back to his chest and was facing Steve. 

Emma reached out for Steve and pulled him to her gently. He was so shy at times, it was endearing. Once he was all but toe to toe with her, she reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. Steve looked into her eyes for a moment, asking, not demanding, before leaning in slowly. Emma let him set the pace as his lips carefully danced across hers. His kisses were reverent where Bucky’s had been commanding and the difference between the two enthralled her all over again. She loved how dissimilar they were, it made for a heady experience. Emma was the one to pull back this time, watching a broad smile spread across Steve’s face. She looked up and back to Bucky who gave her a nod of approval. 

“We’d better let our girl get some sleep.” Bucky told Steve who nodded in agreement.

“Thank you for tonight. It was… perfect.” Emma admitted honestly. 

“We aim to please.” 

They exchanged another round of quick goodbye kisses before parting finally. Inside her apartment Emma leaned against the door after closing it behind her. She was in way over her head with those two.

Bucky wrapped an arm around Steve as they headed down to the car. They were both still vibrating with happiness that the night had been a success. 

“We got so damn lucky, Buck.” Steve told him once they were in the car.

“She’s one in a million.” Bucky agreed. 

“Think we can convince her to come over tomorrow?”

“She works tomorrow night but we could go hang out at Matty’s with her.” 

Steve nodded thinking. “I thought synching up two work schedules was going to be a pain.”

“We’re gonna need a bigger calendar.” Bucky told him with a laugh. 

Steve chuckled but whipped out his phone, pulling up wall calendars on Amazon.

Tag list lovelies: @godofplumsandthunder​ @remilupin22​ @supraveng​ @hiddles-rose​

If anyone wants added or removed please lmk! 

[laylainalaska]

Iron Fist Week Day 5: Favorite Scene

There’s just, like ... SO MANY scenes that I love. Fight scenes, funny scenes, sweet scenes, hurt/comforty scenes. 

Just to pick a few actually quite a lot more than a few:

The flashback of the kids in 1x01. It’s just such a good snapshot of them at that age, and tells you so much about their personalities and relationships in a very short space.

The Danny/Colleen doing katas together scene in 1x12. It’s so beautifully choreographed and hot. 

The entire climax and fight on the roof in 1x13: Ward working against his dad, “we can’t leave Ward up there”, that bit where Danny crashes through the window and again when he blows the glass out of the windows, everyone getting to have their part to play and everyone getting to be awesome and all the teamwork, which is my favorite kind of climax boss fight.

Colleen and Danny in the restaurant in 2x01, fighting over food and trying to outdo each other in “horrible training” stories. SO CUTE I DIED.

That scene in 2x05 where everyone is helping Danny when he’s hurt. It’s just such a lovely and heart-melting contrast with early season one when he was so alone.

Every scene with Danny and Ward in 2x05-06. It’s so great. I couldn’t really pick a favorite bit: Ward’s attempts to be emotionally supportive, all their talking about addiction, the I-love-you’s, snarking at each other after Danny’s feeling better.

Misty and Colleen’s fight with the Crane Sisters. So fun and badass!

The “waiting at the hospital” scene in 2x07. All the worry for Danny! I love Misty waiting with Colleen, and I love that we saw Ward there, even though he’s only in it for 0.5 seconds and they could so easily have not showed him being there, and I love that part with Colleen holding Danny’s hand. And just generally the way the scene was put together with the music and the cold lighting. It’s so good.

That moment when Colleen’s hand lights up at the end of 2x09.

And again with Colleen delivering the knockout blow to Davos and getting the whole “hero pose” scene.

Ward shooting Davos’s henchdude and the “thank you/call me Ward” exchange with Misty and rescuing Joy.

Danny’s fight with Davos in 2x09 and the gentle way he lowers him to the floor.

Colleen and Misty’s bantery goodbyes and their hug. “Knight ... Wing ... got a ring to it.” :D

“Come with me” at the end of 2x10. I squeaked in delight!

Colleen’s katana lighting up. YESSSS.

That final scene in the bar in Hokkaido.

[trickkombowerskru]

Relationship ABC’S-Nolan Rayburn

A- Anniversary

(What would they do for your anniversary?)

Nolan will switch it up but one thing's for sure the day will end with him making you candle lit dinner on the beach

B -Birthday

(How would they celebrate your birthday?)

On your birthday it is whatever you want to do, Nolan is at your service 24/7... and that includes in the bedroom ;)

C- Cook

(Do they cook? Can they cook? What food do they like to cook for you?)

OFC! I mean this boy doesn’t go to culinary school for nothing, he loves cooking for you no matter what the meal

D- Domestic

(How domestic are they? Would they clean/cook? Help you clean/cook? Or would they just mess everything up?)

Nolan obviously has the cooking front covered, but he isn’t the cleanest, he will clean up messes he makes, but enough of the cleaning falls on you

E- Effort

(How much effort do they put into your relationship?)

HE PUTS IN THE MOST HE CAN WHICH IS EVERYTHING HE HAS BECAUSE THIS BOY IS SO HAPPY TO HAVE LOVE IN HIS LIFE 

F- First Date

(Where do you go on your first date? How does it go? etc…)

You’d known Nolan for while and while he didn’t directly introduce you to Danny, Danny caught you two talking after Nolan was leaving the restaurant and could tell he liked you so he set up a free dinner for the two of you a bit before closing

G- Gifts

(What kind of gifts do they give you? What kind of gifts do they like receive? etc…)

Usually for gifts you two wing it, if you see something the other will like you’ll pick it up and it always works out great

H- Honeymoon

(Where do you go on your Honeymoon?)

He takes you to a getaway in italy

I- Intimacy

(how touchy feely are they? when would they become comfortable to be touchy feely?)

Oh yes this boy loves to be touchy feely with you

J- Jealous

( How jealous are they? How often do they get jealous? How they react? etc…)

Nolan getting jealous turns you on more than you care to admit to him, of course you don’t purposely try to make him jealous but when it happens he tends to pull you closer and tell off the guy flirting with you

K- Kids

(How are they with kids? Do they want kids? etc…)

Nolan in better with kids than he thinks he is, and he always figured if you get pregnant that he would have to step up his game to be be a great father (When in reality he is a 12/10 dad)

L- Long Distance

(How do they cope with Long Distance? How they prefer to keep in contact? etc…)

It’s nothing new for Nolan to have the people he loves comes in and out of his life so with you the only difference is that he always knows where you are, what with your constant texting and weekly sky

M-Marriage

(Do they want to get married? How do they propose to you? The wedding? etc…)

Yes Nolan wants to marry you more than anything, he does it on the night of your 6th anniversary after dinner he is such acute  nervous mess, and oh damn is this wedding beautiful it’s actually held on the beach outside the Inn with a ton of your friends, your family, and Sally and his mother there, hell his mother even sings the song you have your first dance to

N- Night’s Out

(Where do they take you on nights out? How often do nights out happen?)

When you need a night away from everything Nolan will take you on for a boat ride and just let you vent

O- Open

(When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything at once or wait to reveal?...etc)

While you never met Danny you could always tell something was off when Nolan mentioned him, it took a few months of being in a relationship for him to tell you everything about how he and his mother were hidden away from the Rayburns

P- Public Displays Of Affection

(Do they like PDA? Do they have boundaries? etc…)

This sweet boy can get flustered with anything more than a cheek kiss and it’s the cutest thing to watch him turn bright red, but aside from that he love to pull you in his lap or to throw his arm around you

Q- Quarrel

(What do you argue about most? How often fights occur?)

Most of your arguments used to stem from him hanging out with Danny’s drug dealer friends and how the more they got him involved in Rayburn family bullshit the more danger it could put him in

R- Reunited

(What’s it like when they reunite with you after a trip?)

When the two  of you get reunited Nolan gives you a big kiss and tells you how much he missed you before filling you in on the newest Rayburn bullshit you missed while you were gone

S- Snuggling

(Do they like cuddling? How do they cuddle? etc…)

YES! Nolan may seems like a little shit, but this boy loooooves his cuddles he will hold you nice and tight or let you hold him while you stroke his hair because if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousands times NOLAN IS A WHORE FOR HAIR PETS

T- Text

(How often do you text? How do they speak when they text? How do they react when they receive texts from you? etc…)

Nolan gets so giddy wherever you text him it’s precious

U- Upset

(What do they do when you’re upset? What do you do when they’re upset?)

When you’re upset Nolan will do whatever he needs to make you feel better, when he’s upset you take him in his arms and stroke his hair waiting until he wants to talk about it

V- Valentine’s Day

(What would they do to celebrate Valentine’s Day?)

Nolan always surprises you for Valentine’s day you never know what the boy has cooking in that crazy of his, but every ear rest assured he gives the one red rose

W- When

(At what point do you move into together? What kind of place? etc…)

You move into together during college nto a decent sized apartment he gets the two of you with the money he got from Sally

X- XOXO

(What are their hugs and kisses like?)

Nolan’s hugs always make you fee safe and secure and his kisses are always the sweetest things

Y-You

(What do they love most about you?)

He loves how supportive of him you are like you can make him feel so good with just your love alone

Z- Zoom

(Zoom into the future, what does your future look like?)

You two are married with a pair of twins on the way and you co-own a restaurant out in Miami a few blocks away from where Danny’s place was

[traceyaudette]

To Love and Protect-1

It had been almost a year since we’d lost Linda, the pain of lose was still there. I’d only known her for three months, before her death, that’s when I started dating Jamie. She’d taken me under her wing, helping me deal and understand the life of dating a cop. The ins and outs of being involved with a Reagan.

I looked over at Jack and Sean, laughing at their antics during our weekly lunch. It’s something we’d started a month after Linda’s death. It was an opportunity for them to talk, and vent to someone.

The waitress set the check down beside me, as I was reaching for it. Jack swiped it. “It’s our treat today Aunt (Y/F/N)!” He grinned at me.

“It’s a thank you, for always being here for us.” Sean said softly.

“Thanks boys! I’ll always be here for you two.” We got up from the table, leaving the restaurant. Walking down the street, the two boys walked on either side of me.

They towered over me, they often teased me about my shortness. Actually, so did their dad, and Uncle Jamie. We were almost to my car, when a van, came to a screeching halt next to us.

I shoved the boys behind me, an uneasy feeling coming over me. “RUN!” The side of the van opened, two men in dressed in black jumped out. I turned and the boys were just standing there.  “Jack! Sean! Go now!”

One of the men shoved me out of the way, grabbing Sean. I jumped on his back and started to beat his head and claw him. He screamed in pain, the second man went for Jack. 

I kicked my feet out at him trying to connect, he grabbed my legs, trying to pull me off of the first man. I yelled again for the boys to run, the sound of sirens filled the air.

I was dragged to the van, and thrown inside, the two men jumped in, slammed the door, and the van took off. I exhaled, knowing that I had protected the boys.

XXX

Jamie and Eddie got out the squad car, approaching the crowd, to get control. His heart hammered to a stop when he saw his nephews. He looked around, not seeing (Y/F/N) he swallowed his fear and panic.

His job was to get control of the crowd, he saw out of the corner of his eye Danny and his partner pulling up. Eddie walked up behind him. “Reagan, you need to go over and talk to your brother.”

Jamie closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before walking over to his family. “What’s going on? Where’s (Y/F/N)?”

He looked at Jack and Dean, they looked devastated. Danny put his hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “We’re going to find her, I swear! She protected the boys from being taken. I won’t stop until I find her.”

XXX

My hair was pulled, so my face was lifted. “Smile for the camera!” A voice was hissed in my ear. My hair was released and my head dropped to my chest. “I wonder what Detective Reagan is willing to do, to save you?  I mean you’re his first girlfriend since his wife....”

I let out a laugh, and shook my head. “You didn’t do you’re research, I’m not dating Danny. I’m just his friend.”

The man let out a scream of anguish, and picked me up. “Then why are you always with his sons?”

“I help take care of them, I’m nothing to Danny!”

“We’ll see!”

XXX

Danny looked down at his phone, his eyes widening at the picture of (Y/F/N). The message alone with it read: What will you do to save her? I’ll be in touch!

He closed his eyes, knowing he had to save his brother’s girl. If something happened to her, Jamie would never forgive him.

@mac5323 @fanfreak07  @mac5323 @fanfreak07 @hauntedduckdefendor​  @cherieann2001 @mwesterfeld1985​ @clairese1980 @small-town-wayward-daughter​ @marcus-demitri455

[letterfromtrenwith]

Prescription Passion - Ch. 7

Carolight Hospital AU

Ch.7 - Dwight's day gets off to a bad start...and it's all downhill from there.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

~

HONKKKKK

Dwight jumped as the horn blared, turning to see a red Ferrari startlingly close behind him, but only because it seemed to be trying to drive over the pedestrian pathway in the car park to get to a space opposite. He half-leapt out of the way, and the car pulled in. A tall, dark-haired man in his 40s got out, locking the door with little more than an imperious glance back at Dwight. Under ordinary circumstances, Dwight might have objected to being nearly run over, but he was not only too astonished by the man’s behaviour, he was also in too good a mood.

Admittedly, he might have actually seen the car coming if he hadn’t been so distracted. He’d been in a bit of a dream for the last couple of days, since Caroline had waved off his taxi outside the restaurant. Like the smitten fool he was, he’d twisted around to watch her until the car turned a corner. She’d stood out in the twilight, golden hair bright against her simple red dress. It wasn’t until he got home that he’d realised she’d watched the car drive away in return.

It was only Monday, so he wasn’t sure if that was too soon to ask her out on another date – or rather, ask her out on a date for the first time, since she’d done the inviting last time. Dwight wasn’t used to being asked out by women, and definitely not ones as beautiful and fascinating as Caroline. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her that relationships weren’t exactly his strong suit – he’d only had one truly serious one, and that had ended…

“Are you all right?” He was startled out of his thoughts by George’s voice. He’d made it into the hospital lobby, following the man who’d nearly knocked him down. “I saw your near miss out there.”

“Oh, er, yeah, I’m fine. Just got a bit of a fright.” He glanced after the driver, but he’d disappeared down one of the corridors which splintered off from the reception. “Do you know who that was?”

“Oh, yes.” George pursed his lips, disapproving. “Francis Bassett – he’s one of the hospital directors. Not a doctor. Some sort of pen-pusher. It’s not the first time he’s nearly caused an accident in that midlife-crisis-mobile of his. Arrogant bastard. And I work with surgeons, so I know from arrogant.”

Dwight laughed. He knew the type – both from his previous work in the NHS, and his time with MSF. Charity higher-ups were often the same, treating the organisations they were in charge of like their own personal fiefdoms, believing they could do what they wanted because they were ‘helping people’, despite the fact that they rarely went near a patient or anyone in need. Primarily because most of them weren’t doctors, or anything at all, so far as Dwight had ever been able to tell.

“So, are you on your way in or out?”

“In. I’ve just dropped Valentine off at nursery.”

“Elizabeth not with you?”

“She came in earlier. They had a bit of a rush on.” George smiled. “If you’re hoping to avoid her, she’ll probably be finished by about 3.”

“Avoid her?” Dwight frowned. “Why would I want to avoid her?”

“Because you’ll get the third degree about your date with Caroline on Saturday night.”

“How did – “

“Oh, she got that out of Caroline days ago.” Obviously sensing that Dwight was slightly taken aback, George’s expression softened. “Elizabeth’s not trying to interfere, she’s just pleased for Caroline, that’s all. Caroline didn’t really know anyone when she came here, and her Uncle is an old friend of Elizabeth’s dad. They’re close. She’s Ursula’s godmother.”

“Oh, I see.” It made sense. He couldn’t really imagine Elizabeth as the busybody type, and he felt badly for thinking otherwise, no matter how briefly. Caroline had certainly given him the impression that she was good friends with the obstetrician. He elected to change the subject. “She’s very cute, by the way. Ursula, I mean. People couldn’t tear themselves away at your party.”

“Yes, she is.” George smiled fondly. They’d begun to walk into the main body of the hospital, towards the staff wing. Dwight still had a short while before he needed to sign in for his shift. “She’s got us both wrapped around her little finger. Valentine was the same.”

“How did you and Elizabeth end up working in the same hospital, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“No, not at all. We met here, actually. I did the first part of my registration in Bath, but came down here to finish. First week on the job, I got called in for an epidural and…there she was.” He smiled, remembering. “Took me six months to work up the courage to ask her out. Wish I hadn’t wasted all that time, to be honest. What’s the point in waiting when you know what you want? Well, this is me. Got a budget meeting. I’ll see you later.”

With that George disappeared in the direction of the administrative offices. Dwight stood a minute watching the double doors slowly swing to stop. He had a feeling that George’s comment about not waiting hadn’t been solely referring to himself and Elizabeth.

~

Dwight stretched, hearing a popping noise from somewhere in the vicinity of his shoulder. He would go and have a sit down, he thought. It hadn’t exactly been busy today, just a steady flow of one patient after another. Nothing especially serious, thank God, although a man with chest pains had been admitted for further observation, but there had barely been a pause.  

As he was signing off a patient form, the phone rang on the desk and Rosina answered. She listened intently to whatever the person on the other end was saying, and the way her mouth set into a grim line gave Dwight a deep sense of foreboding. He was proven right when she hung up.

“There’s been a scaffolding collapse on a building site. At least 20 casualties. First ones should be arriving in the next 10 minutes. Don’t know how many are coming here yet.”

“All right.” Dwight took a deep breath, steeling himself. He’d dealt with mass-casualty incidents before and he’d had significant training. As the senior physician in the department today, he needed to take charge. He could do this. “Activate the MCI procedures. Call in everyone nearby, and see if other departments can spare any qualified personnel.”

Rosina gave a sharp nod and picked up the phone again – she’d be paging just about every doctor in the hospital with the emergency notification. Dwight headed off to round up every spare staff member he could find in the A&E, hurrying them to clear as many beds as they could – getting all the patients who were to be admitted or discharged processed as quickly as possible in the time left, which wasn’t much.

The estimate hadn’t been far off – about fifteen minutes after the phone call, they were alerted that the ambulances had begun to arrive. Just two to begin with, but there would be more, he knew. Thankfully, the extra staff had also started to appear. Mostly nurses, but a few doctors, as well – Dwight saw Hugh Armitage and Malcolm McNeil, and some others whose names he still didn’t know. With another deep breath, he strode out to the ambulance bay doors.

Everything after that seemed to happen both too quickly and in slow motion. The injuries were just what would be expected from a building collapse, but that made them no less distressing. Crush injuries, broken limbs, head traumas – and not all members of the building crew. Debris had fallen onto pedestrians on the street.

It seemed the first reports had underestimate the number of casualties – some had gone to the Royal Cornwall and a few with relatively minor injuries had been taken further afield – but over the course of the next few hours at least 20 patients arrived, although Dwight struggled to keep count, even though he was nominally in charge of co-ordination. There were more pressing issues to attend to – like the young builder with a metal rod through his torso, or the other who had fallen almost thirty feet, or the little girl whose leg had been crushed by a scaffolding pole. After some struggle to stabilise the men, both were whisked away for emergency surgery. Hugh stepped in to take charge of the girl, also hurrying her away to theatre.

Dwight ended up calling time of death on two patients in a row – one who had been struck on the head by a falling plank of wood, and another, an older man whose heart simply gave out with the shock of his injuries. At the edge of his awareness, he heard at least two other TODs being called – the second he recognised as being in George’s voice.

Shortly after that George appeared at his side to tend to another worker with fall injuries – he was still conscious somehow, and in severe pain. Ironically, that was a good sign under the circumstances, indicating against paralysis. The patient was also very distressed, by everything that had happened, and by being strapped onto the spinal board, his head held still by the cervical collar.

“What’s – what’s going on? Ah Jesus! It hurts so much.”

“Shhhh, it’s all right. What’s your name?” Dwight did his best to keep his voice soothing.

“Danny – ah – oh God.”

“All right, Danny, just try to breathe slowly.” As he did his best to assess the young man’s – he couldn’t be more than 20 – condition, Dwight saw George prepare a syringe, inserting into Danny’s drip and injecting the contents, eyes on the monitors at all times. Relatively quickly, his vitals stabilised a little, blood pressure and heart rate decreasing closer to a normal rate, the opioid acting quickly. His injuries were still severe, however. Dwight was certain both his legs were broken, and quite probably his pelvis; he was struggling to breath in a way which suggested the possibility of a collapsed lung.

“He needs an x-ray, and a CT scan.” Dwight said.

“We still need to get his BP down.” George rummaged in the cabinet, extracting another syringe. A dose of ACE inhibitors did enough, and Danny could be admitted for further treatment.

By the time everything began to tail off, Dwight had no idea what time of day it was. Once the last casualty from the collapse had been wheeled away into the main body of the hospital, he slumped against the nurses’ desk, all of the energy and adrenaline draining out of him. Nearby, a nurse was cleaning blood from the floor. There were still a few patients receiving treatment – some not from the collapse, but they were being treated by reserve staff who had been called in to take over.

Although he’d called TOD on three patients all told, he’d paid little attention to the actual passage of time, his mind on other things. Blearily, he squinted at the large clock about the desk. It was half past eight at night, about seven hours since they’d got the call. With some difficulty he made it out into the corridor, sitting down with his back against the wall. It was blessedly cool; drawing up his knees, he dropped his forehead onto his folded arms.

He felt as if a weight was settling on his shoulders, and – uninvited – his brain began to conjure up memories. Sparse wooden shacks used as hospital wards, blood permanently ingrained in the floor planks;  little malnourished bodies on pathetic excuses for hospital beds; bombed out buildings; remains pulled out of homes crushed by mudslides; a knock on the door in the middle of the night, blue lights flickering through the glass…

“Dwight? Dwight? Are you okay?” Lost in his unwelcome thoughts, Dwight was startled. He looked up to find Rosina crouched next to him. She gently put her hand on his shoulder. “That was…pretty awful.”

“Yeah..” He scrubbed a hand over his face, and it came away wet. Oh Lord, he’d been crying. He blinked a few times, and saw that Rosina’s eyes were also red-rimmed. She was relatively recently qualified, this was almost certainly the most severe situation she’d ever been in. “You – er – you did really well back there.”

“I tried. You were amazing. You were so calm.” She smiled a little, still rubbing his shoulder gently. Unexpectedly, she leant forward and pressed her forehead against his for a moment before quickly standing up, wiping her own eyes and disappearing back into the ward. Dwight glanced in the other direction, just in time to see Caroline turn and walk away through the doors. 

[amandajoyce118]

Iron Fist Season 2 Easter Eggs And References

I actually managed to squeeze in watching the second season of Iron Fist in less than a month. Maybe I’ll be able to catch up on all of the other TV I’ve been behind on. Who knows? As usual, I haven’t explained who characters are if we’ve already met them, and I’ve tried to stick to comic book and MCU related Easter eggs, not the broader pop culture ones.

I will say, I found the first season of the show to drag, and not particularly compelling. The second season is much better. I actually don’t hate the Meachums this time around, for example, and I didn’t find Danny as annoying. Colleen is still the best.

If you haven’t yet watched the season, there are, obviously, spoilers. I’ve broken the Easter eggs down by episode so you can read one episode at a time if you want to avoid being spoiled, but you want to read as you watch.

Enjoy!

S2E01 “The Fury Of Iron Fist”

The episode title

The title is actually the title of Iron Fist’s first appearance in an issue of Marvel Premiere. Marvel Premiere was more of an anthology series. It was used to introduce a lot of characters in short story arcs to see how they did with the audience. Some of them stuck, others are now lost to time. (Funnily enough, when I first started watching the show, the episode titles were not showing up in the right order. Thanks, Netflix.)

Danny’s yellow mask

Yes, it’s yellow, a nod to his comic book costume. It also reminded me though that he promised Matt Murdock to take care of the city. Danny wasn’t huge on masks before, but Matt was.

Golden Tigers

This gang was actually in the comics, though in the comics, they were a little more conspicuous. They basically wore robes and tiger masks.

WJPBTV

The news footage that Danny watches and Colleen observes over his shoulder? That’s courtesy of the unofficial Marvel news network of the TV arm of the franchise. It was last seen in Luke Cage, I believe.

Mr. Yang

Mr. Yang not only appeared in the first season, but I think he also got a mention in season two of Luke Cage when Mariah was attempting to get all the gangs to work together.

“Old truces are being thrown to the wind.”

This is a bit of a theme in the Marvel Netflix world right now. Just like Luke Cage going after gangsters in Harlem, Danny Rand and company taking out the Hand here left a power scramble going on and old rules are no longer in play.

Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Oak Creek isn’t big in the comics, but since Mary said she’s from Wisconsin, I thought you might like to know of a few other characters from the same state. Phil Coulson is, for one. So are the Great Lakes Avengers. Funnily enough, the first time Wisconsin appeared in a Marvel Comic was in an issue of Captain America.

Mary

Speaking of Mary, she is a comic book character, but I think I’ll wait until that’s revealed in show in case anyone is taking this episode by episode.

The Silver Lotus

This restaurant actually exists in the comics. Usually the restaurants for the Netflix shows don’t. This one was a spot where Jean Grey, Storm, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight grabbed some food. In case you didn’t know, Jean and Colleen actually were roommates for a while in the comics.

47

When Davos and Danny are talking on either side of a doorway, the number of the door reads 47. It’s probably a coincidence, but it made me wonder if there was any significance to the number since it was right in the middle of the shot. No Iron Fist solo series has ever made it to that number. Marvel Premiere, the comic where Iron Fist first appeared did, and it’s original issue 47 featured the first time Scott Lang put on an Ant-Man suit. Item 47 was also an MCU one shot featuring SHIELD Agents Sitwell and Blake after a couple who stole alien technology. That’s all I’ve got.

S2E02 “The City’s Not For Burning”

The episode title

Just like the first episode, this one is also named after a comic book. I guess that’s a thing this season. This title comes from Iron Fist #3. Though that comic book took place in London, it as a lot of the same ideas of the episode. In it, the city was seeing a lot of violence, though it was Danny and Misty who were teaming up there instead of Danny and Colleen.

Coffee A Go Go

Actual coffee houses have this name in reality, but it’s also a location from the comics. Hank and Bobby (AKA Beast and IceMan of the X-Men) used to double date with their girlfriends there. It was eventually turned into a sushi place instead.

Mary in the mirror

If you’re not familiar with this comic book character, the whole bathroom mirror thing is a huge clue to her identity.

Masks

The masks worn when Davos and Danny fight for the honor of facing the dragon are probably one of the closest things we’ve seen to the Iron Fist and Steel Serpent comic book costumes. They also employ the green and yellow color scheme.

The bowl

The priceless piece that Joy and Davos are after reminds me a lot of the candy dish that was in Joy’s office (I think?) in the first season. Same colors, in the Iron Fist scheme of course, but even similar in size and pattern.

Davos loses

Though Davos actually fought Danny’s father in the comics, the match basically went down the same way. When he loses, it’s actually his father up there on the panel watching who declares Danny the winner.

S2E03 “The Deadly Secret...”

The episode title

This episode gets its title from Power Man and Iron Fist #99. In that issue, Colleen and Misty team up for one story while Danny and Luke team up for another. Unfortunately, Misty gets kidnapped while they’re looking for an artifact, so Colleen is forced to ask the guys for help. They also find all of the films at their movie theater office stolen, Luke’s friend DW missing, and their foes Comanche and Shades out of prison. Whew. That’s a packed issue compared to this episode.

Cafe Bustelo

I just think it’s funny that this particular coffee brand hasn’t shown up (that I remember) on the show before. You know where this brand is popular? Luke Cage. I feel like these two shows have borrowed a lot from one another in their sophomore seasons.

“Someone called Walker.”

Yet another clue to Mary’s comic book backstory. Some might have thought this was a nod to Trish Walker if they didn’t know better, which would actually be very interesting if the shows decided to tie those two together. But no. I’ll wait for a full reveal to give the character details though. And isn’t it funny how we all thought Joy’s PI mention in season one was Jessica Jones? Apparently not. Instead, it’s Mary Walker.

Mrs. Yang’s hairpin

As far as I know, the Yangs aren’t comic book characters, but I love her use of her hairpin as a weapon. It’s a comic book trope that all of the femme fatales had deadly hairpins back in the day. It’s a classic.

S2E04 “Target: Iron Fist”

The episode title

This is the title of Iron Fist #3 from the 70s. In it, Misty takes center stage. She’s determined to take down a drug kingpin. It’s a storyline that was a little early for Marvel. Most of Marvel’s drug related arcs happened in the 80s instead. (It also featured Iron Fist facing off against a villain named Boomerang, if you’re interested in the Danny side of things.)

“I lost it back there, didn’t I? I blew our shot at peace.”

Oh, look. Another thing that was happening in Luke Cage. Luke taking things a step too far when all he wanted was peaceful streets. Were these writers hanging out before filming started or something?

Misty Knight

We all remember Misty from Luke Cage and The Defenders, right? Colleen saved Misty’s life when her arm was chopped off. Danny’s company paid for and developed Misty’s prosthetic, and now she’s in town for a visit.

Crane Sisters

Madame Gao was the show’s equivalent of the Crane Mother. The Crane Sisters appear to be the equivalent of the Crane Daughters. In their case, they were women who were the Mother’s actual daughters (she gave birth to thousands over the years according to the comics, but it seems more likely they’re from the same “Heavenly City” as her for the show). They actually gave their chi to another when they believed the Iron Fist was in the wrong for killing the Crane Champion. We kind of get a weird version of that here with them giving Davos his power.

The Steel Serpent

The symbol on Davos’ chest isn’t the dragon like Danny’s. Maybe it’s because he stole his powers. Maybe it’s just because it’s a nod to his comic book character. He’s the Steel Serpent in the comics. The same symbol was used on heroin in the Netflix corner of the MCU before.

Davos also stole Danny’s power in the comics, but it wasn’t quite the same way. He basically just stole it via the power of chi. This way looks more complicated.

S2E05 “Heart of the Dragon”

The episode title

This one comes from Marvel Premiere #16, which actually has a lot of nice thematic tie ins to this episode. In the comic, Iron Fist gets attacked by thugs as soon as he first arrives in New York. He also discovers there’s a mercenary named Scythe after him and that Scythe was paid for by the Meachums. He also spends a lot of time in the issue remembering just how Danny Rand became the Iron Fist. The difference here is that we’re seeing things more from the point of view of Davos this time around.

Promotion to Captain

This was flirted with in season two of Luke Cage. Misty was getting the offer for the job, but she didn’t seem to keen on it. She still doesn’t. But at least, we now know vaguely where we are in the timeline.

Colleen’s investigative instincts

Misty remarks that Colleen has good instincts when it comes to investigating Mary. Coincidentally (or not, since this is an Easter egg list), Misty and Colleen ran their own private investigative firm called Daughters of the Dragon. Still want to see Netflix make that the focus of a series.

616

A possible suspect with abilities gets this very fitting police code. Why? Because 616 is the designation given to the main universe in Marvel comics. Every Marvel TV series must give a nod to 616 at least once. It’s just a rule.

Mary Walker

They have definitely changed up Mary’s comic book backstory for the show, and probably for the better. In the comics, she’s a prostitute who is accidentally thrown out a window. When that happens, it awakens her “Typhoid Mary” personality, who essentially wants vengeance on all men ever. She starts with three distinct personas; the villain, Mary the meek, and Walker the stable peacemaker. As Typhoid Mary, she works for a few supervillains over the years. As Mary, she dates Matt Murdock. Her Dissociative Identity Disorder creates such distinct breaks in her personas that he can’t even tell that they’re the same people.

S2E06 “The Dragon Dies At Dawn”

The episode title

This comes from Iron Fist #9. In it, Danny ends up facing off against some members of the Golden Tigers, gets poisoned, and then finds out the guy he’s been fighting for the antidote isn’t the bad guy at all. Oh, and he’s framed for murder. Whew.

The Steel Serpent

Okay, I already talked about the tattoo, but it gets a comic book shout out here because the Crane sisters specifically say they used steel needles and Davos called it a serpent instead of a snake.

42 Baxter

Probably a coincidence, but when Mary calls the ambulance to 42 Baxter, I thought of the Fantastic Four with their Baxter Building on 42nd Street.

S2E07 “Morning of the Mindstorm”

The episode title

This title actually references Marvel Premiere #25. That issue was the last of the Marvel Premiere titles before Iron Fist got his own comic book series instead of being featured in the anthology. In it, Colleen was kidnapped and Iron Fist teamed up with Scarfe (who we see was Misty’s partner in season one of Luke Cage) to find her. The bad guy was Angar The Screamer who actually appeared in an old episode of Agents of SHIELD, so fun MCU connections in that particular comic.

The man with bullet-proof skin

Obviously, that’s Luke Cage. I like how the detectives think they’ve only got one person with abilities in each precinct’s jurisdiction. I have a feeling there are a lot more than that what with terrigen in the water in the MCU and all.

Red Fist vs Yellow Fist

In the comics, when Davos stole his power, Davos also had a glowing red fist.

A Tibetan antiquity

In addition to this being a nod to just where K’un L’un was in the comics, this also provides a nod to some of the other more mystical aspects of the MCU. The bowl might have been found somewhere near Tibet, but that’s also where the Ancient One is from in the comics (though that is certainly left murky in the MCU). Outside of Tibet somewhere, if I remember right, is also where Jiaying hid her village of Inhumans.

Professor Erskine

No, this isn’t the same Erskine that developed the super soldier serum for Captain America. He must come from a family of academics though. In the comics, Ernst Erskine was actually a writer and adventurer. He used the alias Lucky Pierre and he wrote about a much older Iron Fist than Danny.

Sokovia

Mary in Green Bay might be backstory we never get, but hey, she was in Sokovia, a major place in the MCU. Back when she was a soldier, she was captured and held there. When? We don’t know. But I do wonder if it was during the war torn days that saw Wanda want revenge on Tony, or if Mary’s too young for that, and she was captured by Hydra or something right before everything with Ultron went down.

Sensei Colleen

Not an Easter egg, but I think Colleen deciding to become Danny’s Sensei, break up with him, and not hold back while she trains him is my favorite scene in the show. I love her.

S2E08 “Citadel on the Edge of Vengeance”

The episode title

Named after issue #17 of Marvel Premiere, the only thing the two really have in common is Danny seeking vengeance. In the comic, this was only his third appearance, so he was setting out to take on Harold Meachum. Meachum had set elaborate traps for Danny so the Iron Fist couldn’t get to him. (He had 10 years to make sure he was ready, after all.) In the end, Danny ended up facing off against a guy who had been trapped in Meachum’s office building for 10 years who vowed to kill him, because, why not? His name was Triple-Iron, and I think that he only appeared in the two issues of their fight, never to be seen again.

More than two Marys

So far in the show, we’ve seen Mary and Walker. In the comics, her most deadly personality is Typhoid Mary (or Bloody Mary, some people label them as different personalities in the comics, but I think they’re the same?), which is likely going to end up being the person who saved her in Sokovia that she doesn’t know about. Interestingly, in the comics there’s also technically a fourth person called Mutant Zero. This version of Mary was part of the Initiative and was initially unstable, kept in check by the team leader, before becoming a full fledged fourth personality of hers that abandoned the team.

S2E09 “War Without End”

The episode title

Funnily enough, this is a pretty common title in sci-fi series. This episode shares its title with an episode of Babylon 5 and an issue of the old Transformers comic. Less famously, it’s also a title of a Power Man and Iron Fist comic - issue #83. The issue actually focuses on Luke Cage because Iron Fist is beaten unconscious. Think of it as an ally having to save him because he can’t use his powers, yes?

Turk

It feels like it wouldn’t be an episode of Marvel on Netflix without Turk. I guess he gave up his legit business in Luke Cage, and went back to selling weapons.

The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay

This is actually a character from the comics. Wu Ao-Shi was the first female Iron Fist, and yes, a pirate queen. She wasn’t just a fairy tale. I think we see where this is going, yes?

S2E10 “A Duel of Iron”

The episode title

This is actually the title of Iron Fist #1, and though the title suggests a battle between multiple Iron Fist powers, like we saw in the show, that’s not what goes down in the comics. Instead, Misty and Danny team up to save Colleen, not unlike the show, but Misty suspects that Stark Industries has something to do with Colleen’s disappearance, so that’s where they head. As you can imagine, it’s more of a misunderstanding, but Iron Fist and Iron Man do get into a brief fight before uniting.

The Mamas and the Papas

Mary singing “Monday Monday” while waiting to take aim at Davos is almost straight out of the comics. She sang it on the page during a fight scripted by Brian Michael Bendis, who is also the man behind the creation of Jessica Jones. (I’ve seen some people speculate that because the Mamas and the Papas were known for their four part harmonies that Mary might actually have four separate identities, not just the three we know about. I think that’s reaching, and that it’s just a nod to the comics, but anything is possible.)

Colleen’s fist is white

I like that each of the people sporting the Fist gets a different color scheme. Danny, of course, has yellow because of his comic book aesthetic, and Davos had red to show he’s a bad guy. Colleen gets white because white is her signature color in the comics, but white is also often associated with “pure” power, bright light, and all that, so maybe Danny’s right in the end and it was her destiny to be the Iron Fist after all.

(Also, Colleen has never been the Iron Fist in the comics that I know of, but she has shared Danny’s power on occasion when him using his power to heal her changed her. While she doesn’t have the Fist itself in the comics, she does have mastery over her chi.)

Misty’s arm bling

Misty makes a joke about blinging out her arm in the show, but in the comics, she did have a gold one.

KnightWing

No, this is not a Titans reference to poke the DC stick. Instead, this moniker coming up while Colleen and Misty talk career paths is a nod to NightWing Investigations, the name of the private investigative firm owned by the Daughters of the Dragon.

Orson Randall

The mysterious “employer” that Danny and Ward steal some property from? Yeah, he’s the World War I era Iron Fist. It looks like he’s still alive and kicking, and that his weapon of choice still holds onto his chi or something? Those two guns Danny sports that allow his fists to glow were what Orson liked to use in the comics. Just like Colleen channeling her power into her kitana, he could do it with his guns, and Wu Ao-Shi could do it with arrows. Fancy.

That’s all I’ve got for the second season of Iron Fist. I’ll be back for Daredevil season three next month!

[burnouts3s3]

Let’s Talk About: Eric Forman

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.

"Let's Talk About" is a series of articles focused on individual character or characters and their development and commentary throughout the work in question. THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE WORK, but rather what the character says about the world around them.  If you wish to read a strict review, please click on the link to read it. My reviews focus more on the purely technical aspects of the work. There are bad characters with good messages. There are good characters with bad messages and so on and so forth. Thank you.)

Let’s Talk About: Eric Forman

When writing about That 70’s show, I kept going back and found myself charmed with how much the characters and the drama drew me in. While the show’s humor was its main selling point, it became apparent there was much more going on and that the serious moments kept me watching.

Eric Forman was the show’s main character, a high school boy living with his Korean War veteran father, Red, and his smothering mother, Kitty, while having to battle with his slut sister, Laurie, when she visited from College. Eric was a skinny, pale introvert save for a close group of six friends who often hung out at Eric’s basement, where they would smoke marijuana and grouse about their daily lives. The show took place during the late 1970’s in Point Place, Wisconsin, a suburb just modern enough without feeling like a city but far away from cities to be considered intimate.

In some ways, Eric was the perfect protagonist, at least for That 70’s show. As a character, Eric’s not really that interesting. He’s a whiny, neurotic, paranoid person who overreacts to non-important and petty situations but deep down does care, even if he’s a bit too obsessed with things like girls, high school, GI Joe and most of all, Star Wars, to notice it at first. It makes him the perfect character to bounce off the wacky personalities for the other cast members such as Stephen Hyde, the conspiracy theorist and delinquent, Michael Kelso, the dumb friend who’s ready to physically injure himself and sex seeker, Fez, a Foreign Exchange Student unfamiliar with American customs, Jackie Burkhart, a shallow rich girl and Donna, tomboy and love interest.

Eric is essentially the audience avatar; too much of a weakling to do anything against a backdrop of characters. But as the show went on, Eric’s character grow, developed and changed as we saw his transition from boy to boy who lives with his parents to man.  I would argue that Eric, while not that different from sitcom stereotypes, defied expectations and eventually became the show’s emotional core and his plight was compelling (even if said plight was from the perspective of a white working class male with a mother and father figure).

The first 4 seasons of the show were basic high school antics. It depicted Eric living day by day through the late 70’s dealing with high school, his growing on and off relationship with Donna, his butting heads between his need for independence and his role as a son in his family and other mundane topics. This wasn’t exactly compelling stuff but it did hit a note. Eric was essentially us, a child living with his parents and not sure where to go in life but getting through things like a post-Vietnam world with his friends.

What really sold the show was the chemistry between the characters. Getting a group of character actors like Kurtwood Smith, Danny Masterson, Wilmer Valderama and discoveries of genuine talents such as Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis solidified the show as a syndication mainstay. But it was really Topher Grace that brought the show together. To be fair, Topher Grace is not a very diverse actor with a big range. But he had a toned down sardonic wit that made him relatable enough to laugh at but humble enough to bond with.

Then Season 5 came to a close. The gang had graduated from High School. Eric and Donna were ready to leave for College. And everyone else was ready to move on with their lives.

But, there came a complication. After being arrested, Fez realizes that his student Visa expires when he graduates and he will be deported. (Fans of the show have pointed out the continuity error that during his trip to Canada, Fez has a green card thus making him legal to stay). But, just before the gang leaves, Laurie makes an announcement: She’ll be marrying Fez so he can stay in the country.

This causes Red to have a heart attack. Red survives but cannot work and in need of special care. With Red unable to work, Kitty has to take double shifts at the hospital to make ends meet. All the while, Eric realizes that his dream of going to college gets further and further away.

Again, this was an obvious stunt by the showrunners. They wanted the gang to graduate high school but they also wanted them to stay at the Forman’s basement since they wouldn’t have to build another set.

Then comes the most emotional moment of Season 6.

“I have to go!” Eric cries, desperate to convince Donna and himself. Then after a moment of silence, Eric says “I have to stay”.

It’s a big moment. Obviously, the show producers want to keep Topher Grace, Eric’s actor, around for another season. But here, it’s made into a big moment. What was the American Idea, a child leaving his adolescent home to pursue higher education is focused through the lens of economic strife and reality. With Eric, the idea of being stuck under his parent’s roof and having to live there is almost a nightmare to him. But he chooses to stay to help his family in this time of crisis, during a time when Laurie is having a sham marriage with Fez while partying like she’s still in college without him. (Behind the scenes, Laurie had to be written out. Her original actress, Lisa Robin Kelly, was dealing with drug abuse and was kicked off the show and replaced with a different actress. The fans of the show didn’t care for the new actress so Laurie eventually disappeared without a trace. The last reference is when Kitty asks “Has anybody seen Laurie?” during the series finale. Lisa Robin Kelly would tragically pass away from her drug addiction).

And thus, it’s the crux of his character: Eric wants to leave not only his childhood home but Point Place, the very place where he grew up.

As such, the show’s conflict also became a meta statement: How long can the characters, and by proxy the actors, keep doing this? How long can they keep meeting up in the Formans’ basement? How long can Kelso keep being an immature man-child with no thought other than having sex with the next girl he meets? And how long can Eric still be a child under his parents? And how long can Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and the other actors keep in the comfortable work that is a sitcom without advancing their careers?

Season 6 continued. Eric got a job as a dog food coupon dispenser, before Bob and Joanne broke up. Eric then became waiter at a restaurant to help out at the house. Donna decided to stay as well, putting off college for a year to support Eric.

Eric and Donna even planned to get married during Season 6. However, at the last moment, just when we’re finally ready to see these 2 characters we’ve been following for 6 seasons tie the knot, Eric gets cold feet and doesn’t show up to the wedding. He comes back to Donna’s room while she’s sleeping. Donna wakes up, hits him but just tells him to stay.

This is also a commentary on Eric’s character and the nature of the series. Eric says he ‘wants’ to change but can’t commit to it. Much like the familiarity of a sitcom needing to stay the same, Eric needs the familiarity of not being married to Donna but still having a relationship to her. It’s a sign of immaturity. Eric isn’t doing anything with his life, whether it’d be financially, socially and even romantically. He, like the series, was running in place.

Season 7 came around and Eric is completely lost in his direction in life. When he started Season 6, Eric was planning to leave for college. But after refusing to marry his one true love, Eric has eventually regressed into a state of adolescence and decides to take ‘a year off’. This was done out of uncertainty from the producer’s part. The show had lasted for longer than they had anticipated and no one was sure who was going to come back next season.

Both Eric and Red were locked in nostalgia, though for different generations. Red Forman’s nostalgia was for an ideal 1950’s America with white picket fences, a nuclear family, with him bringing home the money from his manufacturing job and his wife is a homemaker and his daughter is sweet and pure and his son is a football player so good he can get a sports scholarship for college. Eric’s nostalgia is his high school years continuing on forever, where he could just hang out in his parent’s basement, his friends would always be there and he would have a carefree sex-ready relationship with Donna without any consequences.

It wasn’t until Eric met a man named Stu, another adult male concerned with little more than reading comic books and lounging around without a care in the world. Eric, enchanted by this idea, befriends Stu and wants to become him. It’s not until Eric visits Stu’s home that he realizes that Stu still lives with his mother and has done nothing with his life. When Stu’s mother coddles him and offers Eric a cookie in the shape of an X-Wing, Eric realizes he will become Stu if Eric doesn’t change right now.

And at the core of season 7 was the message: change. For Eric’s desire and stubbornness for everything to stay the same, it simply can’t. Social Movements like Civil Rights and Feminism make an appearance. More and more persons of color are being introduced into the group. Eric wants the show to stay 1979 forever, but it just can’t. Time marches on. Childhood doesn’t last forever. People change. Life changes. And Eric, as hesitant and painful it is to take the first step, must change as well.

Eric’s plan to take a year off turns out to have huge ramifications, even going so far as quitting his job. (This was probably intentional on the producers’ part as they probably didn’t want to have the restaurant as a set anymore). His friends all end up getting jobs and getting on with their lives. Hyde, the rebellious conspiracy nut, becomes part of the corporate machine he so much despises, Jackie becomes a newscaster and Fez becomes a shampoo boy at a local salon. Even Kelso, the moron of the group, finds a career in law enforcement as well as a daughter he had out of wedlock.

In some ways, Eric Forman is the evolution of stay at home children, such as Bud Bundy from Married with Children. But whereas Bud’s situation was often played for laughs and satire, Eric’s is played up more for dramatic purposes. And it some ways, it reflects the situation of arrested development. Obviously, this was unintentional on the producers’ part; they had no idea that their sitcom would run for 8 seasons and thus set the first episode in 1976 (such as to get the Star Wars reference in). But, just as the back end of the Vista Cruiser never went beyond 1979, so did Eric.

Then came an opportunity. Eric, after an awkward talk with his guidance counselor, finds a path. If Eric goes to Africa to help out, he can get payment for college. Obviously, Kitty and Donna do not take this news well. Donna is furious with Eric, stating how selfish he is for asking her to put on life on hold for him. Eric and Donna make up and Eric prepares himself to leave Point

In the background, Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher decided to go on with their careers. Ashton, having gained fame from his reality show Punk’d, decided to make a go at Hollywood along with Topher Grace left the show to pursue a movie career, starting with playing Eddie Brock in Spider-man 3. (Yeah… Didn’t work out so well, though he has found other parts in other movies).

And after 7 seasons, with Bob’s Polka band playing him off, Eric rides his Vista Cruiser to the airport finally saying “So Long, Point Place!”.

In Eric’s absence, the show didn’t really have a thematic crux. They just had their biggest turning moment and dramatic finish to the series. Originally, this was the series finale only for the show to still be popular and incur another season to make.

Say whatever you will about Topher Grace’s range (or lack there of) as an actor, his character, Eric, played a vital balance to the cast of wacky characters. Without him as the Straight Man, Hyde’s cynicism, Fez’s innocence, Jackie’s shallowness, Red’s anger and Kitty’s smothering had nowhere to essentially go. It’s not that the actors couldn’t bounce off each other but without an Eric character to balance all the chaos, the show became sort of a mess.

To replace Eric, the producers introduced Charlie, a son of Red’s War buddy, back in Season 7. Charlie is also a meek, unsure waif and honestly, I feel like he would’ve made a fine addition to the show. But, there was a complication. The real life actor who played Charlie was contacted by Fox to star in his own live action sitcom and couldn’t return. So at the start of Season 8, Charlie is killed off by falling off the water tower. Instead, the show picked Randy, an old friend of Donna’s to be in the group.

Randy sucks. Or rather, the idea of Randy sucks. He was an obvious attempt by the producers to replace Eric and Kelso by combining them into essentially one person. But, it didn’t work. Fans of the show hated him and it felt like a betrayal. Plus, it didn’t help that Randy had no chemistry with the rest of the cast. Or, maybe that’s just a symptom. Watching these 6 friends interact for 7 seasons only to lose 2 of them and replace them with this guy feels really cynical and cold in terms of marketing.

Just as well, the departure of both Kelso and Eric made the ratings tank and forced the show to end. (There’s an ongoing fan theory that the producers ‘sabotaged’ the show so they could finish production and didn’t force it to go on). Ratings got so bad, the show forced an endless amount of guest stars and even got Ashton Kutcher to come back.

The series finale was on New Year’s Day and Donna is worried Eric won’t come back from Africa. But, in those final moments, Eric returns to Pont Place, confesses his love for Donna, has one last circle with the gang and proceeds to go upstairs, leaving the basement empty. And finally, after 8 seasons and 200 episodes, that 70’s show ended, the sticker of the Vista Cruiser showing a 80’s stick, signaling the show to turn into 1980.

That 70’s show was a show that was a lot smarter than people took it credit for. What started as a blatant attempt to get ad space and another live action sitcom for the Fox Network transformed into a running commentary about family, friendship and high times.  And in the center of the show was Eric, the boy who grew up during this period.

And as much as the characters wanted things to stay the same, much like Red feeling uneasy to depressed to ready to change after losing his manufacturing jobs, finding a new job to finding a place to support his family alongside his wife, so did the rest of the cast.

Thank you, Eric Forman. Thank you for everything.

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Any diehard “Friends” fan knows that the one holiday that truly belonged to our favorite six coffee addicts is Thanksgiving—with the eating pants, the ladyfingers and beef sautéed with peas and onions, and the truth about how Chandler lost a toe. But don’t think for a second the show ignored this festive time of year. Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross enjoyed hijinks around Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s, just as much as that other holiday. But which “Friends” holiday season episode reigns supreme? To figure it out, we weighed both the funny and the festive in all of the holiday episodes throughout the show’s 10-season run. See where your favorite falls on our list.            

11. Season 9, Episode 10: “The One with Christmas in Tulsa”

Barely even an episode, season 9’s holiday outing is mostly just a clip show dedicated to Christmases past and the strength of Monica and Chandler’s relationship (he’s stuck working in Tulsa for the holidays). Listen, I’m always here for jokes about stolen ham and Chandler showing just how much he loves his wife (they’re the best couple on “Friends,” yeah I said it) by rejecting advances from a co-worker and quitting his job because he hates being so far from Monica, but this episode is only funny because of the clip montages from previous episodes. Hard pass!            

10. Season 8, Episode 11: “The One with the Creepy Holiday Card”

Although it is a delight to watch Phoebe try to help a pregnant and horny Rachel by offering up (and then taking back) the Evander Holyfield cardboard cutout that helped her through her very randy pregnancy stage, the rest of this episode is a clunker. With Chandler spending time at the strip club with his newly single boss (Bing!), the only holiday storyline is left to Ross, who somehow gets stuck sending out holiday cards with his very new girlfriend, Mona. And by “somehow” I of course mean, he wants to avoid having the “Where is this going” conversation and ends up thinking sending joint holiday cards and saying “I love you” is the easier way. Oh, Ross.            

9. Season 1, Episode 10: “The One with the Monkey”

The first “Friends” holiday episode isn’t the funniest on this list, and its holiday spirit is mainly tied up in the pact the six pals make to go stag on New Year’s Eve (a pact they of course all break, but through shenanigans end up alone anyway), but it is an excellent episode to watch if you’re looking for the perfect early-season “Friends” time capsule. Marcel! Janice! David! Fun Bobby! Lots of important side characters make an appearance, and hey, that’s always a good time. Unless you’re Fun Bobby whose grandfather just died. Sorry, Fun Bobby.  

8. Season 7, Episode 9: “The One with All the Candy”

Yes, this is all about Monica making some nice candy (some might call them “little drops of heaven”) in an effort to get to know her neighbors better during the holidays and her neighbors turning into an angry mob demanding more and more candy (even Joey turns on her!), but it might be best remembered as the one when Phoebe learns how to ride a bike. Well, sort of learns. By the end of the episode, Ross has only gotten her on training wheels. As glorious as it is to watch Phoebe fulfill a dream, the episode is dampened by the whole “Rachel writes an inappropriate work evaluation for Tag” plot. More bikes, less tushy, I say.            

7. Season 4, Episode 10: “The One with The Girl From Poughkeepsie”

  “Monica, Monica, have a happy Hanukkah!” Phoebe’s holiday song about her friends—well except for Rachel and Chandler—is the most holiday this episode gets, and there is a boring subplot about Ross getting exhausted from dating “long distance,” but don’t totally discount it. Both Chandler and Joey get a chance to show how much they care about their gal pals in their own unique ways: Chandler, yes, is a terrible wingman for Rachel, but he does try his best! And Joey helps Monica win respect from the waitstaff at her restaurant by becoming a waiter she can fire in front of them. Honestly, it’s worth turning this episode on just to hear Joey say “It looks like it’s going to be a lean Christmas at the Dragon house this year.”            

6. Season 3, Episode 10: “The One When Rachel Quits”

Well, it’s definitely Gunther’s worst Christmas. Emboldened by Chandler and Joey telling her that she needs the fear of unemployment to help her find her true calling, Rachel quits her job at Central Perk after proving time and time again that she is awful at being a waitress. It’s horrible advice, but it does give us a moment to remember a time when we had to literally mail out resumes. And yes, this episode also gives us the delightful storyline of Ross having to sell “Brown Bird” (the “Friends” version of the Girl Scouts) cookies after accidentally breaking a Brown Bird’s leg (oh hi, Mae Whitman!), but it will always be remembered for its ending in which the gang buys all the dead Christmas trees from the tree lot where Joey’s working just to make Phoebe feel better about them “not fulfilling their destinies.” It’s always nice when “Friends” can make you both laugh and cry.            

5. Season 2, Episode 9: “The One with Phoebe’s Dad”

  Phoebs had some emotional holiday episodes in the first half of the series. Season 1 gave us her falling in love with David and then him leaving for Minsk, and in season 2 she learns that her father is not a “famous tree surgeon in Burma,” but a pharmacist who lives in upstate New York. The holidays are rough for Phoebe Buffay! But this episode isn’t. Full of heart and humor, Joey and Chandler offer moral support and tag along as Phoebe makes the trek upstate only to lose her nerve outside of her dad’s house. Back in the city, Monica and Rachel’s holiday party turns tropical when Ross breaks the radiator. Rachel utters the Ross burn, “nice seizing, gel boy” and honestly, that is one of the most underrated Friends lines in history. The best part though is Joey and Chandler’s gas station gifts for the whole crew. Naturally, Phoebe loves her toilet seat covers.            

4. Season 5, Episode 11: “The One with All the Resolutions”

  What this episode lacks in festiveness—it takes place post-Christmas, just as New Year’s Eve ends—it more than makes up for in jokes. I mean, you guys, this is the episode in which Ross, whose New Year’s Resolution is to try something new every day, wears leather pants on a date. Is there anyone among us who does not now know that using baby powder followed by lotion will form some kind of paste? This is right in the middle of the “Monica and Chandler secretly date” arc—a thoroughly excellent run of episodes—so the best fallout from making a resolution is easily Rachel, who promises not to gossip, figuring out the Monica and Chandler are totally doing it. Watching Rachel and Joey, who was the first to know the truth, try to figure out if they both know the same thing is peak Friends.            

3. Season 5, Episode 10: “The One with The Inappropriate Sister”

  Who cares about the holidays, this episode is a goldmine of favorite “Friends” moments. Aside from Joey and Chandler inventing fireball, the main story is that Rachel’s relationship with the cute guy in her building Danny is cut short when she sees just how “close” he is with his sister. I’ll never not laugh at Joey’s delayed realization that yes, Danny and Krista are siblings. But there’s also Joey writing a play that forces Ross and Chandler to make up after a fight which includes the line “Could I be any more sorry?” and Ross and Monica demonstrate how they used to wrestle as kids. Of course, most appropriate to this list is Phoebe collecting holiday donations outside of Macy’s. Does anything get you in the Christmas spirit as much as watching Phoebe yell at old ladies who are only trying to help?            

2. Season 6, Episode 10: “The One with The Routine”

  Please don’t tell the Gellars that the routine came in second. Listen! It was so close. If not for the insanely cheesy—even for Friends standards—ending in which Joey and his hottie dancer roommate Janine finally kiss, the routine storyline alone could’ve taken first place. (Rachel, Phoebe, and Chandler trying to figure out where Monica hid their Christmas gifts is funny but not the winning storyline here.) The show seriously underused the dorky dynamic of the Gellar siblings, but when it had Monica and Ross let their sibling freak flags fly, oh, it was a magical thing to behold. From how excited they get when they’re invited to dance at the pre-recorded bit of “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” to the actual routine they deploy in order to get primo placing on the set of the show, Monica and Ross are hilarious from start to finish in this episode.            

1. Season 7, Episode 10: “The One with The Holiday Armadillo”

  Is it the obvious choice? Sure. But is it deserving of the win? You bet. Not only is the A-story about Ross wanting to teach his son about Hanukkah and having it turn into a disaster both hilarious and thoughtful, the B-story in which Phoebe tries to ensure Rachel will move back in with her once their apartment is renovated even though she’s having fun living with Joey is also excellent. It turns out Rachel, too, loves a drum set and she isn’t the one scared of tarantulas—Joey is. Plus, any time you hear Chandler say “But I didn’t get to shake my belly like a bowl full of jelly,” an angel gets its wings. So yes, apparently Superman flew all of the Jews out of Egypt and also this Friends holiday episode is still the best.            

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