#and danny being way overpowered and scary

[the-witchhunter]

Danny watched as a blond man walked out of the... maintenance closet? At least that’s what the plaque on the door said. 

He didn’t recognize him. That’s not that unusual, he can’t be expected to remember every single person, but Danny is certain that he has never seen him before. The man looked around for a second, seeming almost confused before shrugging and walking up to the counter and ordering Nasty Deluxe combo. The accent sounded British, and Danny was sure he had never met this man before.

So why was he giving Danny a weird feeling?

It was something dark, oppressive, and almost oily. It lingered after the man got to close. Whoever this man was, he wasn’t a ghost, but Danny wasn’t sure if he was entirely human. 

Then the Brit looked right at Danny. The man grabbed his tray and strolled over to Danny’s table and stood there for a moment.

“Mind if I sit here?”

“I’m actually waiting on some friends.” Danny lied.

“Then let me keep you company until they get here.” The man grinned as he sat down.

“I’m sorry, have we met before?”

“I don’t believe so spooks. I think I would have remembered a fellow like you. Here, my card.” The man pulled a business card out from his rumpled trench coat and slid it across the table. Danny cautiously took it.

“John Constantine, Occult detective, master of the dark arts, and... petty dabbler?”

“That’s me, but you can call me John, mister?”

“Danny, just Danny.”

“Well Mr. Just-Danny. Mind telling me why you were staring me down?”

“I was-”

“Don’t lie now, you’re not good at it, and you weren’t exactly subtle mate. So take it from the top.”

“I really wasn’t!”

“Let me give you some advice. Never play poker, you don’t have a knack for bluffing.”

“Okay, fine. I was looking at you, so what?”

“I want to know why.”

“You came out of a maintenance closet.”

“Ah, fair enough.” The man sat in silence for a minute before taking a bite of his burger. “Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.” he mused.

“Why would it be bad?”

“Danny, the place is called Nasty burger, that doesn’t exactly instill confidence,”

“Yet you still ordered.”

“That I did.” The silence stretched on for a moment as the two sat there, munching their burgers and staring at each other. Danny knew the other man still wanted something from him. There was a look in his eyes, like a man concentrating on a jigsaw puzzle. Danny didn’t like the way he could tell when he managed to make a couple pieces fit.

“Why do you feel like that?” Danny asked, surprising himself.

“Like what?”

“Weird.” John cocked his eyebrow. “Like a dark cloud. Something that clings to you and sets my teeth on edge.”

“Hmmm, well, that could be a couple of things. Maybe it’s the demon blood in my veins.”

“You’re part demon?”

“No.”

“But you said-”

“More like a transfusion. Just something that keeps my healthy in my old age. So yes, it could be that, or, more likely it has to do with all the charms and wards on me and the fact you’re dead.”

“I’m not--” 

“Can it. We’ve already been through all this, you’re a shite liar.”

“... how did you know?” 

“You’re not the first ghost I’ve met, maybe the first one that’s still walking around living, but not my first ghost.”

“Why are you here?”

“Took a wrong turn and ended up here.”

“Yeah right.”

“Believe what you like, but you mind telling me what’s going on around here? This whole place feels like playing with a Ouija board in a cemetery, and that probably means it’s about to be my problem.”

“Why would that be your problem?”

“You read the card.”

“Because you’re an occult detective?”

“Because I’m a petty dabbler, with a habit of walking right in the middle of huge messes in need of a bit of cleaning.”

“You think you can fix things?”

“Depends on what needs fixed.” John looked up and cursed. ‘Can we talk about this elsewhere? My ex just walked in.” Danny looked around confused. The only new person in the store was...

“Johnny! Is that you? I haven’t seen you since college! When we went ghost hunting with Vladdie in that haunted house?” Danny stared on in horror as the man if front of him slumped forward and sighed,

“Hi Jacky. It’s been a while.”

Short DPXDC Prompts #719

Constantine opens a door in the House of Mystery and walks into a Nasty Burger

[fandomfuntimem]

Dp x Dc or just Dp things I (personally) want to see more of.

Just some stuff I've seen and really liked but never see enough of.

Danny is very casually a genius and/or skilled (engineering, gymnastics, really any skill you pick):

There isn't enough of it tbh. I dont think people realise just how smart and skilled he is. Being a ghost probably made him very flexible and gave him extra abilities the average human may not have. Also he comes from a family of scientists, yeah maybe up against them he doesn't seem smart, but being "smart" comes in different forms. More often than not the ability to be smart comes from your ability to pick up on things, retain information, understand information, and use that information accordingly. Danny does that, especially with his villains. He even finds outside the box ways to defeat his villains. Like tricking Freakshow into becoming a ghost.

I just think its under utilized. A lot of Teen heros are geniuses but no one ecknowledges it. Hell, you can make it that Danny doesn't even realise just how smart he is. He doubts it and often thinks he's one of the dumber people in the room. But when sleep deprived and running on a cup of coffee he can solve a problem he hasn't even seen before the konk out for an hour.

Danny has BEEF with the JL or isn't outright a fan:

In a lot of fics the JL (especially Batman) are huge hypocrites. Like they'll barge into Amity trying to solve problems that don't even effect them, screw things up more, then offer Danny more training. Hello????? You guys being there caused the problem???? Then, in other things Batman preaches about territory and Danny will get threatened or treated with suspicion for even stepping foot NEAR Gothem, but then barges into his territory like its his buisness.

Let Danny call them out. Let him point out that everything has been fine untill they showed up. Let him get MAD. This is HIS territory, HIS haunt, HIS people. These guys have done nothing for him! Why should he accept their help when their help only makes things worse? In fics where they help him because he needed it and ended up in Gotham let him be suspicious and careful. He doesn't need to be vivasected or hurt to be warry of the crime fighting furries he just met.

Mans has the experience to know you can't trust anyone untill they prove you can.

Danny should be casually overpowered and spooky:

This isn't even he has to be experienced. He is so used to his powers he doesn't realise how scary it is. He will casually stop a punch from superman, laugh, quipe, then punch back.

He accidentally breaks stuff, walks through things, glows, its so normal for him. He apologizes and does it again because he forgot. He genuinly has no idea how strong he is, he just knows he needs to be soft on humans.

Danny and Phantom are very different personalities:

I'm not saying they're two different people. They have the same mind same person. But the way they act is so different. Danny is grumpy, quiet, whimpy. Danny is a loser, and everyone knows it. Phantom, on the other hand, is confident, he jokes, smiles, makes a game out of his struggles, he's strong. Phantom is just a good guy. Everyone (minus others) loves him!

This happens because Danny is more comfortable as Phantom or Vise Versa. Sertant trates carry over, they're nerds, they're smart, they enjoy a good pun, they're sassy. But because Danny is a loser everyone sees it as lame, but with Phantom its endearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

None of this means you need to get rid of silly nerdy Danny. You can have that but all these other things ad depth to his character. Hes smart but not confident, he's kind but not naive, he's powerful but not violent, and he finds comfort in the fact no one knows him.

Idk. I'm not a big fanfic writer so i thought i would just share and see what others do with it.

[edithmaslow]

      the strangest thing, in retrospect, is that he had left the mall after the initial bloodbath and come home. edith didn’t have the closing shift at the record store, so the radio was going while she was washing dishes. usually she does have the closing shift, locking the front door and sorting the records and tapes before turning off the lights and rushing out the back. it’s an eerie feeling, closing up a shop like that. she’d never want that in the mall, where people are all around and yet unseen. daniel does it more often than she’d ever like to. she sometimes gets a bit suspicious about it, but there isn’t much thought to give it.

      outside, the street is eerily quiet. edith looks up from the plate she’s washing, surveying the darkened street outside the apartment. the streetlamps were fucked, honestly, but at least when they were flickering and spotty they gave off some light. now, it’d be pitch black other than pale yellow squares of other apartments and the occasional headlights of a car. she hated it. at least, back home, there would be crickets and flood lights and maybe even frogs. now it’s the staticky radio and little else. lost in thought, she keeps scrubbing the same plate. the radio loses connection, turning into white noise with snatches of words. kzzzzzt -- mall, sev -- kzzzzt -- an tor -- zzzzzz. groaning, edith shuts off the radio. no noise is better than indecipherable nonsense. “fuck, it’s ten thirty. where is he?”

     (once a flirt, always a flirt, dipshit.)

     shut up. he wouldn’t.

     she hears the truck door close. must have not seen his headlights. the radio flickers back to life, some old fifties love song playing. weird, but not unheard of. there’s been numerous times that the radio would switch to some random station, or cut on when no one touched it. it’d never done both, though. she turns to the door as it opens, her boyfriend standing in the entryway. she snickers at first -- he’s in some doofy devil-themed halloween costume, mask and all. she approaches, still laughing. “wow, very scary, daniel -- you’re a little early, aren’t you? c’mon, at least take that stupid mask off --”

      damp fingers tug the thin plastic mask off his face, revealing the specks of blood on his blank, unfeeling face. she staggers back, one eyebrow arching. “dan -- danny, you’ve got blood on your face … what happened?” 

       no response.

       she meets his eyes as best she can -- his eyes are dull, more gray than she’s ever seen before. it’s like there’s nothing behind them, just like a sleepwalker or a corpse. he’s ignoring her, just lumbering into the apartment. he pushes past her, which elicits a scoff as she closes the door behind him. “daniel, you’re being a real dick right now. you aren’t gonna say hey or i’m tired, g’night, or nothing? like, s’okay if you had a bad day, you just --”

       that’s when daniel pulls a knife from the drawer. edith turns from the door, eyes widening. “okay, sorry, but -- what -- what are you doing?”

         he’s advancing on her, knife held down. she continues her nervous requests for him to stop, asking him what the fuck is wrong with him, till he raises the knife halloween-style with clear intent. she ducks to the side just seconds before the blade collides with the wooden door. okay, shit, he’s serious. the radio is coming in clear again, a news report. reports of a mass killing of several shadyside mall employees are coming in, seemingly carried out by a young man by the name of ryan torres … oh. she scrambles away again, managing to put two and two together. daniel had helped. and he got out before the cops showed up, and now he’s trying to kill her. he isn’t even being subtle about it. like it isn’t him. she’s smaller and faster than him, vaulting over the couch and ducking into the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind her. the door opens out. she can hit him.

          in the dark, she hangs onto the doorknob to keep it pulled shut. her breath is heavy and quick, bordering on hyperventilation. the tears of fear don’t start till she feels the knob rattle roughly. no, no -- she’s jolted by him slamming himself into the door, knocking a small scream from her mouth. “daniel -- daniel, stop!” no response. he slams himself against the door again. in the anticipation of the third battering ram, she swings the door open. but it doesn’t connect, and instead she is face to face with her knife-wielding boyfriend. she gasps, immediately attempting to swing the door closed again. he stops the door with his hand, edith’s own force knocking her to the floor after her head hits the threshold. her hands fly up to shield her face, instinctively. he holds fast onto her wrist, pulling her kicking and screaming body away from the door. 

         she isn’t sure where he’s trying to take her, but she sure as hell doesn’t think she wants to go there. edith hooks her foot on a leg of the couch, trying to either bring forth the inevitable or stall it. his grip on her arm tightens, bordering on the strength it would take to break her wrist. she yanks her arm, nearly avoiding his stumbling feet on her face. the only response is an inhuman growl from daniel, who uses his offput balance to pin her underneath him. she lays on the ground, briefly stunned. he actually lifts the knife and stabs her -- on the wrong side. it isn’t her heart, it won’t kill her instantly. this was it, wasn’t it? she’d moved to ohio with daniel, thinking that maybe they could make something of a life here. but instead she was going to be stabbed to death by her boyfriend on this shitty rug in a shitty apartment, and it’s unlikely any of her family will ever know. this isn’t supposed to happen.

       why is she letting it happen?

       he lifts the knife again, but she shifts and grabs his hand with both of hers, fighting the downward power as best she can. he overpowers her, slicing open her cheek and hitting the floor. she screams, hands still over his. it stings, she can feel the blood pouring from her face. panicked, she pries at his fingers to release them from the knife. if she can get it out of his hand -- she can maybe incapacitate him, maybe long enough to call the cops and get them here -- his other hand clobbers at her shoulder, at her chest, beating her where he’d already stabbed her. “stoppit, stoppit, stoppit -- just … just let go, please!” she frees his hand from the weapon, grabbing it herself. she stabs at him, catching him once, twice, three times in the abdomen. she shoves him off of her, and climbs on top of him, her own wounds bleeding and her breath tasting metallic with her own blood. in a frenzy of fear, adrenaline, and the fury of someone who simply refuses to die like this, she keeps stabbing indiscriminately. his blood is spurting onto the carpet, onto her face, her clothes, her hands. he has to be dead. he is dead. she knows he is. he isn’t moving in the slightest, blood trickling from his mouth and the rest of him as dead as his eyes had been. her chest is screaming. the tears make the gash on her face sting worse than the air already did. still crying, shaking, her vision getting blurry, she lands one final blow. right to the heart. like a vampire. she pushes herself off his body, army crawling to the kitchen. weakly, nearly falling, she pulls herself up onto a counter, hands slick with blood. her shaking hands fumble the landline, her mouth tasting like blood and her vision spinning. she barely manages to punch in the three numbers. it rings.

         “911, what’s your emergency?”          “o-oh, oh thank god -- my name is … edith, edith maslow -- i-i killed my boyfriend, and -- and i need an ambulance.”          “you killed your boyfriend, ma’am?”          “listen -- i think my wrist is broken, my face is bleeding, he stabbed me in the chest -- please send an ambulance.”          “all right, i’m sorry -- what’s your location?”

       edith rattles off the address, leaning her head back against the kitchen wall. in the minutes before the ambulance arrives, she drifts in and out of consciousness, eyes fixed on daniel’s lifeless body. there are flies on his face. his face, which she’s kissed so many times. his face that didn’t move in any way when he attacked her. his face, his eyes -- she’d later tell the police that it wasn’t him, not really. his eyes were dull and dead, there was nothing there. there shouldn’t be flies in here -- are they getting louder, or is that what it sounds like when you die?

        the radio was still playing, static littering the song. oh, honey, i know, you belong to somebody new … it continues to play as the paramedics wheel her out, weakly conscious, and bag up daniel’s body.

       turns out, shadyside doesn’t just curse its natives. sometimes the fresh meat rots, too.

[elysiashelby]

In Another World - T. Shelby Imagine Ch. 3.2

Paring: (Eventual) Thomas Shelby x Aliena Welsh (OC)

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Word Count: 3, 449

WARNINGS: Cursing, Depictions of PTSD panic attacks, Hints of Self-Harm

Summary: Aliena Welsh has been living in the universe of the show Peaky Blinders for 7 months now. She’s beginning to heal after the incident, but when she hears Arthur having troubles while sleeping- she can’t help but intervene. How will the rest of the family take it? Will she listen?

MASTERLIST  CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER 3.3

A/N: This chapter and 3.3 are both considered extras. You can move onto chapter 4 without really reading them. I honestly wrote chapter 4 before 3.2 and 3.3. So, that will explain why Ch. 4 is a little different. THANKS FOR READING!

                Month 7 with The Shelby's 

It's been a month since the incident. We don't really talk of it and it's better that way. If I got one thing good out of it, it's that Tommy now trusted me. He trusted me with a lot. 

I was in charge of teaching the kids how to read and write. That included Finn which diverges from the original plotline 'cause Finn wasn't supposed to know how to read. He's a good lad, though. He really wants to impress Tommy. 

I did the groceries for everyone, but I doubt that I’m gonna be doin’ it for John much longer. I caught him and Lizzie Stark making out outside of the house. 

Anyway, I finally got a hang of UK currency. And Tommy told me that at the beginning of next year, I'll be expected to collect the money from some of the shops. It was gonna be family owned stores, nothing that would put me in danger. 

I was glad that I was trusted so much. It just solidified me routine even more. I trusted Polly the most though, especially after that night. Whenever we had a chance to just relax, she would always style me hair. It was really boss. 

It was nighttime and I was having some trouble sleeping. I discovered that this body had more talent that I originally had back home. See for some reason this body could draw. I can't explain it. But I can just draw whatever I like now. Before, I was just a really good storyteller. Mind you, the only affirmations I had were from family and friends. So, I never knew if me writing was actually any good. 

I was trying to draw a red spider lily flower. I bought some colours with me money. 

So, it was going just fine even though I was supposed to be asleep. That was until I heard a big bang. I jumped at the sound and I slowly got up from me chair. There was another bang. It was so stupid of me! What the hell was I going to do about it, right? So, why the hell did I decide I was gonna check it out?

I put on a robe and walked into the hallway. I followed the banging sounds and found it was coming from Arthur's room. I inched towards his door and slowly opened it. 

Arthur was thrashing around. The banging sound was actually him punching the wall from time to time. 

I remember that I read something about helping people with a PTSD attack, but it's not coming to me! 

So, I just rushed to him, grabbed him, and started to tell him he was alright. But instead, I triggered him. His eyes flew open and his hands wrapped around me neck. He rolled us onto the floor and his body hovered over me. It was hurting a lot and I couldn't breath. 

He kept screaming 'No!' 

I tried to peel off his hands, but immediately realized that wasn't going to work. I unwrapped me hands around his wrists and placed them on his face. I used me thumbs as I was slowly caressing him. He flinched but looked back down as I called out to him. Me voice was extremely hoarse and strained. I tried to smile at him. I tried giving him a very sweet, non-threatening smile. 

I saw the exact moment he realized this wasn't his dream anymore. He gasped for air like it was him who was being choked out. 

"Aliena?" He shouted. 

Arthur practically launched himself off of me and huddled into a corner. 

"What are ya doin' 'ere? Huh? What the fuck are you doin' in 'ere!"

I rolled over to me side and started coughing harshly. 

"You… You were punching the wall. I just wanted to help you."

"I coulda killed ya! I coulda-!"

"But you didn't. It's alright now." I shuffled closer to him, but I made sure not to reach out to him. 

He had his knees pulled to his chest. He just looked overall vulnerable which I hadn’t seen before. I've seen it in the show, but he hadn't shown me firsthand yet. He was crying so much. 

I just felt so bad that I stood on me knees and held open me arms. He looked at me up and down before going straight into me arms. I stroked his back vertically while combing his hair out of his face. I even started rocking us back and forth after a while. 

He sobbed into me stomach. We stayed like that 'til he calmed down. He separated us and looked up at me. 

"Is your neck alright?" His fingernails ran over me neck. 

I had to bite my lip to control the twitch that wanted to happen. I smiled as I whispered. "Yes, I'll be fine. Will you be? For tonight, I mean."

He nodded. We both got up and he really did tower over me. He hugged me again and it was my turn to be suffocated (again). I found that he was perhaps an inch or two taller than Tommy. I separated us after a while. He sat down on his bed and I bid him goodnight. 

I was barely out the door when I was given my 3rd scare of the night. Me hand flew to me chest as I saw Tommy leaning against me door. 

We met each other and he immediately started to inspect me throat. 

"'m fine, ya know. Hardly even hurts." 

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "That's a fucking lie 'n you know it. C'mon, we need to get it iced before it gets noticeable." 

He tugged me downstairs and we iced me forming bruises. I was really just sitting there. He was the one that did all the work. 

He sighed before speaking. "You shouldn't have done that, you know? His fits aren't gonna go away."

I looked away. "I approached him the wrong way is all. His fits won't go away, but I can teach him how to deal with them."

Tommy leaned back with a scoff. His smile was tight. He rubbed his chin while shaking his head. 

‘He didn't like what I just said.’ 

"You think you can cure us of what we have, eh, Aliena?" He asked. His tone, it was scary. I knew he was trying to scold me. 

"No. No, I can't do that. That's up to you and Arthur. And even youse can't fully cure yourselves. It's just not gonna be possible. But, you both can learn to deal with it."

"We are-!"

"In healthy ways, Thomas! It's not healthy to be drinking that much, either of youse! You can get alcohol poisoning or fuck! You'll both damage everything in your bodies. Your mouth, esophagus, pancreas, brain! Your fucking brain, Tommy! Liver-!"

"Enough!" He yelled while slamming his hand down on the table. 

I jumped and cowered. He yelled at me. I felt me eyes sting and the tears were  blurring me vision. 

"Don't yell at me… " I didn't even let him say anything else. I got up from the chair and ran to my room. I didn't want him to see me cry. 

When I woke up the next morning, I checked me neck in the mirror and sure enough, I had light handprint bruises. I ran me fingers around me eyes, exhaustedly. 

‘I can already tell this day is not gonna be good...’

I waved me hands ‘round before deciding to stop spazzing out. I began to get ready for the day. I looked through me collection of dresses and luckily, Polly had the good sense to buy me a dress that was a turtleneck. 

I did me hair in a bun like Polly taught me, put on me boots, then headed downstairs. I had to start on breakfast. 

When I rounded to the kitchen, I was only half surprised when I saw Polly standing there looking at me, expectantly. I sighed loudly as if I was already admitting defeat. She had a cup in her hands and she just stared at me. 

“So, what’s the damage, then?” She asked.

“Bruises.” I walked over to the stove and started it. It wasn’t gas-fueled, I knew that much. But I didn’t ask who turned it on in the morning or how. I figured it was someone else's job, or Polly did it herself.

After me reply, she said nothing. That did not ease the tension in the room. I knew what she was doing. I wasn’t gonna fall into her trap. Today, everyone will be eating egg on toast. I was letting the egg cook when I went to see if we had any bacon for meself. I grabbed it from the ice box and went back inside. I put it on the counter then went to flip the egg. 

Slurp!

Me left eye twitched. Slowly, I turned me head back to Polly. She slurped again, louder and longer. Sadly, on reflex, I began giggling. It was a nervous giggle. 

‘I broke. Stare-down is over. She won.’

“It was the banging,” I said. “I went to check on Arthur. I didn’t really realize what I was doing exactly, but it happened. I spooked Arthur while he was ‘aving an episode. It was entirely me fault. And don’t worry, Tommy already scolded me.” I looked back at her, gave her a small smile, then placed the egg on top of the ready toast. 

I turned me head back and heated up the pan for the bacon. 

“Ali, it’s not safe to be doing that. It’s better to let them ride it out. They’ll get better over time, love, but on their own terms. We’ll be there when their fit is over with, but it's best to not interfere while they’re having it. Okay?”

I nodded. I understood. I knew that men could help other men because they were less likely to get pinned down. Like Tommy is gonna do when Danny Whizzbang has an episode in the pub when the plotline starts. He and Freddie managed to calm him down ‘cause they overpowered him. While I was pinned to the floor by me neck. 

“It’s just that… It was so sickening seeing him like that. I couldn’t stand seeing him in pain like that.” Me voice was strained by the end of it. I shook me head as if that would prevent me from crying. 

The chair scraped against the floor. Polly pulled me into a hug. I held her tightly. She rubbed me back and rested her cheek against my head. It lasted until footsteps came thundering down the steps. 

Throughout the day, I managed to keep the bruises a secret from everyone else. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if they kids managed a glimpse ‘n decided to ask about it. When I had to give the boys their lunches, the only normalcy I maintained was with John. He brought it up, but he was very brother-like about it. 

Said that he figured it was gonna happen, he just betted that it’d happen with Tommy. More like hoped, he said. After that he cracked a few jokes with me. 

Then, I went over to Arthur. He couldn't even look at me. He asked how I was, I told ‘em. He nodded and left it at that. I figured that was for the best. 

Finally, it was Tommy’s turn. I was rather hesitant, to say the least. I acted very childish in front of him, and I was trying so very hard to avoid that! I knocked as always, went in, put down his plate, and in a last minute decision I decided I didn’t want to deal with confrontation today! I barely turned ‘round to walk away when he caught my wrist. His chair scraping against the floor as he sprang up to do so.

Me gaze was locked on him, but he was staring down his paperwork. I took in the sight. 

On the outside, I was keeping a composed face, but on the inside I was fangirling.

I swallowed and waited for his words. 

“I- uh,” he said, “I’m sorry. Shouldn’t ‘ave yelled at you.”  

I hummed and nodded. He gently let go of me wrist and I went about me way.

Thomas Shelby was never one to apologize, I’d say it was because the man was as stubborn as a mule. But this past month, that’s all he’s done.

So, everything was normal after that. I gave Finn a lesson while preparing dinner, I did all the chores, and yeah. 

I appreciated that he apologized, but that didn’t make the funk I was in disappear. With every strain on me neck, it hurt— stung. I’m sure it would have been unbearable if Tommy hadn’t iced it. But there was this sick part of meself that kept putting pressure on the bruises. 

The pain was there. The pain made me feel. 

When night came again, I still wasn’t asleep at a proper time. I was standing at the mirror. With the back of me fingers, I brushed over me neck. There was almost pain this time, I was just tracing over them. I was fixated on them. 

‘My sheltered life is truly over.’ I thought. ‘Parents aren’t here to coddle me anymore.’

I was safe in me suburban home back in California. I mean I had different dangers. Superficial dangers now that I think ‘bout it. I was now in a time that if I was taken advantage of, law enforcement would do nothing about it. If you weren’t from an affluent family who could kill the bastard, it was better to just adopt the mindset of “get on with it.” 

I think the only reason why I’m even slightly okay with what happened a month ago is because I’ve already accepted the fact that was going to eventually happen to me. Being in 1920’s Birmingham just upped the stakes, that’s all. 

I exhaled with puffed cheeks as I dropped me hands from me neck. 

“God, I want a ciggie, right now.” I whispered to meself.

I roughly rubbed me face before I picked up my hairbrush. Me hair was really thick and the length of it didn’t help me at all. It was at me mid-back. Me ma’ wanted it to be long. I’ve always had it short or mid length ever since I was a kid, but since she wanted me hair to be long, I caved. 

I was never gonna see her again. So, I might as well do everything that will keep her with me. 

I was still brushing me hair when I heard something. It wasn’t a bang or a thud. It was more like a whisper or a mutter. I stilled and waited. It was still going on. Gently, I placed the brush down then I crept over to the wall.

The wall that separated Tommy’s room ‘n mine. I pressed me ear against the wall ‘n the mutterings got louder. He was having an episode. I put me hand over me mouth and me other on me chest. I clutched on for dear life.

I wanted to help, oh, how I desperately wanted to! But, should I? After he told me off, after Polly told me. I don’t care. I still wanted to help him.

Me hand flew to me neck and I squeezed. Pain, I felt a lot of pain. Me eyes stung with tears. I stopped when I felt the pain begin to numb me thoughts ‘n rationale. That’s when I rushed to Tommy’s room. 

I didn’t care to put on a robe. I just ran out me room. When I got to his door, I slowly turned the knob, and slowly closed it behind me. He was having the sweats and muttering. I couldn’t tell what he was saying, but I knew he was dreaming about the tunnels. 

I stayed by the door and called out to him. “Tommy! Tommy, wake up!” 

He didn’t wake up.

“Tommy, you’re just having a nightmare. Wake up!” Despite my best efforts, I dived nearer to his bed. I had to be at least two feet away from him, I think. I didn’t even know what two feet away was!

“Tommy, you’re home. You’re not there anymore. Tommy, wake up!”

With a gasp, he woke up. Tommy’s eyes were blown wide as he jumped into sitting. Slowly, his eyes focused on me.

“Aliena?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing in here?”

“You were talking in your sleep. It worried me, so I came in ‘ere.”

His chest was heaving up and down, his eyes wider than I’ve ever seen— in the flesh at least. I tried thinking of ways to calm him down. 

“I told you-!”

“Smoking opium, Tommy? You’re killing yourself. Killing yourself with all the booze and smoking! You want to talk sense into me like a child, I’ll do the same. Me job is to take care of the lot of youse, so that’s what I’m doing!” I stood up. 

“You plan on doing Billy Kimber over, there’ll be consequences to that even ‘til Finn is old and grey. So you’re gonna listen to me and we’ll find out some other vices for you to turn to so you can at least sleep at night.” I started waving me hands a lot. 

“I can’t babysit you during the day, so to hell with that. But, while you’re within me sight and grasps, I swear by everything that’s holy- I’ll be counting every cigarette and drink you have. I can’t very well overpower you, but don’t doubt my power to be annoying! I will annoy you and I will convince Polly to join with me if you plan on getting rid of me.” I crossed me arms while leaning on one hip. 

“You want to be the leader of the family, Tommy? Take care of yourself so that you will never become a liability even when you’re old and grey. So, what do you say, huh? Are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?”

He was surprised, to say the least. He had an eyebrow arched with his mouth hanging open. He closed it then looked away and ‘tsked.’ 

“For the amount I pay you, I shouldn’t be getting this kind of lip from you.”

“Take it up with management, then.”

He scoffed while shaking his head. “All right then, how are you going to put me to sleep?”

I sat on the ground and looked at the floor. “You could help, you know? One of the steps is for you to tell me how to help you, not the other way ‘round.”

He scoffed again. “Will you go fetch me a drink?”

“Nope.”

“Right.”

I pouted. I knew some ways I wanted to try out, but I didn’t want to embarrass meself. 

‘Fuck it! This isn’t supposed to be about me!’

 “How about I talk to you? You know, it’ll be like you’re me living diary. Or I sing? Or I hold your hand? For some people, it gives them a sense of comfort, but for others it makes their skin crawl. Or I could just be by you ‘til you fall asleep? Yeah, that’s all I got. The rest of it that I read about is…for couples.”

Tommy hummed. “All right, we’ll try it. But, you have to promise that if this fails, you butt out. No more bugging me and Arthur about this, ever.”

“I promise! Now, what are we trying?”

“All of it.”

“All of it?”

“Yep, never done this before, so can’t tell you what will work. Go on, talk the night away.”

So, I did. I talked to him about me family and some of me past. I told him all about me rocky relationship with me ma’ and how me da’ was an absolute genius. I told him about the embarrassing things I did as a child that I regretted. I told him a little about how the future would be. It didn’t matter if he believed me or not, still would be me talking.

And I made sure to not tell him any historical events!

But neither of us really paid attention to the fact that at some point, his hand was holding mine. I had to have talked for at least three hours before he fell asleep. All that talking made me tired too. I was yawning so much that tears were running down me face and me nose was runny. 

I fell asleep that night sitting at his bedside with our hands entwined.

TAG LIST: @amirahiddleston​ @nemesis729​

[lovejustforaday]

My Top 10 Albums of 2019

Rose Gold - Kitty

Main Genres: Electro Pop

A decent sampling of: Chill Hop, Chill Wave, Alternative R&B, Cloud Rap, Future Bass, Synth Pop, Trip Hop, Wonky Kitty's sound keeps changing from EP to LP, but one thing that remains constant is her witty, hyper-feminine cool girl persona. On "Rose Gold", she explores a variety of electronic genres while maintaining a near-perfect chill mood and atmosphere. "Rose Gold" easily avoids falling into the traps of repetitiveness prone to a lot of lo-fi chill music thanks to Kitty's charming personality and clever lyricism on tracks like "B.O.M.B. (Peter)" and "Florida". I feel like this is definitely a late night album, one you might listen to while sneaking around your kitchen to make a late night snack while wearing your cutest pajamas. Alternatively, this is the album your stuffed animals all get up and vibe to while you're sleeping. Oh yeah, and "Counting All The Starfish" samples FF7 which is pretty cool. Highlights: "B.O.M.B. (Peter)", “Don’t Panic (Interlude)”, "Mami", "Counting All The Starfish", “Disconnect”

8/10

House of Sugar - Sandy (Alex G)

Main Genres: Indie Folk, Neo-Psychedelia

A decent sampling of: Folktronica, Psychedelic Folk, Indie Pop, Americana I admit, I was completely unfamiliar with Alex G's material until this album came along and garnered a lot of attention. I'm very excited to explore his back catalogue now thanks to this album. Fitting to its name, "House of Sugar" is somewhat like a psychedelic sugar rush, feeling at once strange and whimsical yet also sickly sweet and delirious. Under the album's upbeat folky veneer lies darker themes about loss both personal and conceptual. "Gretel" and the album title itself are both inspired by the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel, which makes a lot of sense because I really just want to get lost in the woods while listening to this album. "Project 2" is a noticeable outlier and the weakest track, forgoing conventional song structure completely for experimental synth music yielding mixed results, but even this short track manages to be oddly beautiful and adds to the overall experience. Likewise, "House of Sugar" is an exceptionally interesting musical journey even at its weakest. Highlights: "Gretel", "Sugar", "Hope", "Walk Away", "Taking"

8/10

Titanic Rising - Weyes Blood

Main Genres: Art Pop, Baroque Pop

A decent sampling of: Progressive Pop, Psychedelic Pop, Soft Rock, Progressive Electronic, Alternative Country Most acclaimed album of 2019? Quite possibly. While it's not my top choice of the year, I can definitely understand the widespread praise this album has received. At its best, Weyes Blood's "Titanic Rising" is a truly lush and cinematic experience, incorporating musical influences from the best of 60s and 70s era pop music with a moving lyrical narrative of coming to terms with depression and getting older. Mering's voice is warm and tender, and her insights about generational woes on tracks like "Everyday" and "Something to Believe" are mature and nuanced. If you're new to being an adult like I am, and you find the prospects of trying to build a fulfilling and meaningful life in the kind of world we live in scary, then listening to "Titanic Rising" will feel like a very bittersweet soundtrack written for a movie based on your own real life. Considerably front-loaded, but the concept for this album is very fresh and ambitious, and when it's good, it's brilliant. P.S. definitely the best album cover of 2019 Highlights: "Everyday", "Movies", "Andromeda", "Titanic Rising", "A Lot's Gonna Change"

8/10

Grey Area - Little Simz

Main Genres: Conscious Rap, UK Rap

A decent sampling of: Jazz Rap, Hardcore Rap

Little Simz sounds like she knows exactly who she is and what she's doing on "Grey Area", like she has her flow and writing lyrics down to a science. The album really feels like seeing the world through her eyes, and Simz holds nothing back, talking about everything from institutional racism and violence, to things like therapy, motherhood, and even video games. "Grey Area" succeeds as well as it does largely thanks to the strengths of Simz's offbeat personality, lyrical insights, and excellent delivery, while the production on the album is mostly smooth and slick in a way that never overpowers her as the main focus. I'll admit, I find at some points that the production on some of the songs falls considerably short of the standards set by Simz's own talent as a rapper, but when the production does reach that level on tracks like "101 FM" and "Venom", the pay off is brilliant. "101 FM" in particular is such an interesting and unique hip hop song, in the same way that Simz is a very interesting and unique rapper. Honestly this album is worth the listen alone just to hear what Little Simz has to say about everything.

Highlights: "101 FM", "Selfish", "Offence", "Venom"

8/10

Pang - Caroline Polachek

Main Genres: Art Pop, Alternative R&B

A decent sampling of: Electro Pop, Glitch Pop, Ambient Pop, New Age, Downtempo Of all the albums I've listened to this year, "Pang" feels like the most varied journey with an impressive collection of 14 songs in under 50 minutes. On this LP, Caroline Polachek takes the listener through her world of romantic fairytales and magic. Some of the songs are poppy bangers like the funky "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" and the rhythmic "Ocean of Tears", while other songs are more mood-driven and meditative like "Parachute" and "Insomnia". Many of the songs place emphasis on the vocal gymnastics of Polachek herself, who makes great use of her range and techniques like heavy breaths on "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings". The production work of Polachek and Danny L. Harle is sophisticated and intricate, with a lot of attention to detail on tracks like "Door" and "Pang". A lot of the songs are  mysterious and cerebral, especially the penultimate "Door" which has an equally cerebral and trippy music video. Overall, I'd say that "Pang" definitely opens and closes with its strongest few tracks, but there’s enough variety and intricacies throughout its entirety to make the album experience highly engaging on repeated listens as you explore the different musical worlds that each song has to offer.

Highlights: "Door", " So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings ", “Parachute”, "Pang", "Go As a Dream", "Ocean of Tears", “Hit Me Where It Hurts”, "The Gate"

9/10

Norman Fucking Rockwell! - Lana Del Rey

Main Genres: Art Pop, Soft Rock

A decent sampling of: Dream Pop, Chamber Pop, Contemporary Folk, Psychedelic Pop, Piano Rock, Blues Rock, Americana, Pop Soul So yeah, this album happened. Lana Del Rey has always been an artist I appreciated for her unique sound and persona, but I found that her 2012 LP "Born To Die" mostly didn't quite live up to her potential as an artist, and I never really bothered with the rest of her work apart from individual songs until now. I'm so glad I checked this one out because "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" rightfully deserves the wave of acclaim it has received this year. Lana Del Rey's songwriting has become so sophisticated on this LP, and the warm, rich soft rock sound that she's adopted on tracks like "The greatest" compliments her vocals better than any other genre she's explored so far. Like most of her work, "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" explores American identity and femininity, and the songs are tinged with sadness and nostalgia. That being said, I actually find parts of this album very uplifting, especially on "Love Song" and "Mariners Apartment Complex". "Venice Bitch" is, simply put, a true masterpiece. It's the reason I checked out the album when I heard the single last year, and it damn near blows everything else out of the water with its gorgeous soundscapes and 9 minute length that could go on for an eternity if it wanted to. Regardless, there's a lot of songs here that I love, even if the LP is a little front-loaded. Lana has outdone herself this time with "Norman Fucking Rockwell!", and I already look forward to the projects she's announced for 2020. In the meantime, I should check out the LPs that I missed in her discography. Highlights: "Venice Bitch", "The greatest", "Mariners Apartment Complex", "How to disappear", "Cinnamon Girl", "Love song", "Norman fucking Rockwell"

9/10

Keepsake - Hatchie

Main Genres: Dream Pop, Indie Pop

A decent sampling of: Shoegaze, Synth Pop, Twee Pop, Jangle Pop

This album pretty clearly derives a lot of its sound from a particular era of early 90s dream pop, shoegaze, and jangle pop. So what makes "Keepsake" so special? For one, Hatchie knows her sound niche and does it incredibly well. Songs like "Stay With Me" and "Kiss The Stars" feel like lost gems from an era when they could've been heard on college radios in between the Cocteau Twins, MBV, and the Cranberries. While her sonic timbre is pure retro, Hatchie's own take on classic dream pop from a songwriting perspective is fresh and unique. Her lyrics and melodies are pure and saccharine in a way that reminds me of feel-good teen romcoms about sappy high school romances, only I mean that in the best way possible. Songs like "Without A Blush" and "Secret" feel like what I thought falling in love was gonna be like when I was 11 years old. "Stay With Me" is a rush of euphoria, and the song feels like prom again whenever I listen to it. Her pop songwriting sensibilities are well-crafted in a way that makes it look like she's been doing this for years and years, when really Hatchie only started putting out her own music in 2017. The sequencing of the tracks is well thought out, and I find "Keepsake" is at its strongest in the middle portion. There's just a certain essence of carefree youth and sentimentality that Hatchie has captured so vividly with this album. If you're looking to recapture the feeling of your best memories as a teenager, "Keepsake" will take you there. Strongest debut LP of the year, and I super look forward to whatever she does next. Highlights: "Stay With Me", "Secret", "Her Own Heart" "Kiss The Stars", "Without A Blush", "Unwanted Guest"

9/10

Djinn - Lingua Nada

Main Genres: Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Noise Rock

A decent sampling of: Noise Pop, Progressive Rock, Math Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Indietronica, Experimental Rock

Lingua Nada is that one really cool indie band that only I and a few others seem to know about. The band has a very distinct and creative sound which combines explosive noise with jerky, whacky rhythms and upbeat melodies. Last year's "Snuff" was a very raw and experimental album experience, and another year-end favourite of mine. This year's "Djinn" boasts slightly more conventional song structures, but the sonic timbres and rhythms are just as strange and beautiful, if not more. As its name would suggest, "Djinn" is partly inspired by Arabian folklore and evokes a sort of mysterious, ghostly presence on songs like the title track and "Salam Cyber". The mix of noise, acid-y psychedelics, and complex rhythms on "Habiba" and "Dweeb Weed" results in alien, otherworldly sounds. "These Hands Are Royal" is a very evocative track as well, with its propulsive beat and dusty guitar riffs giving me the distinct imagery of travelling a desert by foot. Lingua Nada never overwhelms the listener with their explosive songs on "Djinn", and the band takes time to mellow out a bit towards the end of the album with the bubbly, psychedelic indietronica bop "Yalla Yalla" and the minimalist folk tune "In Limbo". Lead vocalist Adam Lenox is buried pretty deep in the mix of guitars, and I wouldn't exactly say he has the strongest presence as a vocalist, but I can't say that this takes away much of the appeal because "Djinn" is clearly meant to be a more impressionistic experience. Lingua Nada have come out of the past two years with a strong 1-2 punch of innovative noise rock albums, and with "Djinn" they've proven themselves to be one of the most daring and multi-talented rock bands of the decade.

Highlights: "Habiba", "These Hands Are Royal", "Djinn", "Salam Cyber", "Yalla Yalla", "Proto", "Gucci Mecca"

9/10

Ginger - Brockhampton

Main Genres: Pop Rap, Contemporary R&B, West Coast Rap

A decent sampling of: Alternative R&B, Emo Rap, Conscious Rap, Indie Pop

This album feels like it's all about growth. Brockhampton have undergone a lot of changes as a band since they first blew up in 2017 between sudden fame, signing a major label, and kicking Ameer for his toxic behaviour. Last year's "Iridescence" felt like a raw, anguished, and messy response to the sudden changes the band had to cope with. Now it's 2019 and we have "Ginger", a more lowkey and sometimes deeply sad album, where members of Brockhampton are still processing many of the same problems. This time, however, the album is far more consistent, more nuanced, and overall, masterfully crafted. There's a lot of talk of male identity and what it means to be a man on "Ginger", and some of the traits brought up are moral integrity, honesty, and vulnerability, all which are part of emotional maturity and subvert machismo gender expectations. True to its album cover, "Ginger" is like a big hug for young guys struggling with depression, but anybody can get something out of this brilliant piece of art. The highlights are many: Joba's verse on "BIG BOY", Kevin's verse on "BOY BYE", and Matt's verse on "NO HALO" just to name a few. But the defining moment of "Ginger" is Dom's takedown of Ameer at the end of "DEARLY DEPARTED", a brilliant 66 seconds of anger, remorse, pain, and condemnation.  Guest rapper Victor Roberts rapping about his traumatic childhood experience with the police on album closer "VICTOR ROBERTS" is also a key highlight, and serves as a fitting note to end an album that so forwardly tackles depression and coping with traumatic life changes. The production is fantastic, from the effortlessly cool R&B jam "SUGAR" to weirder tracks like the off-kilter "IF YOU PRAY RIGHT" which is built around a cartoonish trombone riff. I simply can't praise this album enough. Brockhampton have matured as artists, and "Ginger" will go on to prove their legacy as one of the best rap groups of the 2010s. Highlights: "DEARLY DEPARTED", "NO HALO", "SUGAR", "GINGER", "BOY BYE", "VICTOR ROBERTS", "IF YOU PRAY RIGHT", "BIG BOY", “ST. PERCY”

10/10

Magdalene - FKA Twigs

Main Genres: Art Pop, Glitch Pop

A decent sampling of: Progressive Pop, Ambient Pop, Alternative R&B, Post-Industrial

It's hard to describe what makes this album so brilliant because it's so subtle. "MAGDALENE" slowly unravels to reveal its beauty, in the same way that a flower slowly blooms, petal by petal. Likewise, FKA Twigs slowly strips away all of her defenses, track by track, to reveal the heart of a wounded lover. "MAGDALENE" is all about the breakup of Twigs' highly publicized relationship with Robert Pattinson. The lyrics explore her lover's emotional distance on "home with you", her feelings of inadequacy after being thrust into the broader public eye on "cellophane", her lover's lies on "fallen alien", and the physical pain she endured undergoing fibroid surgery that rendered her feeling weak on "daybed". Like the rest of her work, many of the songs on "MAGDALENE" juxtapose the unnerving with the beautiful, with tracks like "mirrored heart" and "fallen alien" alternating between ethereal vocals backed by piano and glitchy, spine-tingling production that evokes earthquakes and mirrors shattering into hundreds of pieces. There's also a lot of empty space on this album, and a general appreciation for minimalism. Tracks like "mary magdalene" and "cellophane" are made stronger by allowing enough room for Twigs' vocals to carry the music, and boy does she ever. Twigs breathes, moans, cries, screams, whispers, and commands with her voice to utter perfection throughout. The vocal highlights are all over "MAGDALENE", but my absolute favourites include the last line of "home with you", the dark incantations of the verses on "fallen alien", and the withering refrain after the beat-drop on "cellophane". "cellophane" is the centerpiece of "MAGDALENE" and the perfect closer, like listening to the music of a dying flower as it slowly wilts away. Overall, "MAGDALENE" is a stunning piece of art. Twigs has reclaimed her pain on this album by turning one of the lowest points in her life into the most beautiful album of the year. Highlights: "cellophane", "home with you", "fallen alien", "mary magdalene", "daybed", "sad day", "mirrored heart", "thousand eyes"

10/10

[mademoiselle-historienne]

headcanon time baybee

((These are just a bunch of headcanons since I feel I never released much about my OC Nicolette. Take this dump-- and a bit of a CW for 18+ content, disorders, gore, etc etc))

                                _____ under the cut be like :o _____

Actually really organized 

Will get fussy when someone isn’t organized enough to meet her standards

Major closet weeb

Loves old 90s anime and vocaloid music

Avid Taiko/rhythm game player 

Really good at keeping and pointing out rhythms and patterns

Used to be a drummer in an all girl group

Eye scar comes from playing at a bar and, when a fight broke out, a chair was thrown at her and knocked her tf out

She got scratched in the eye and is now significantly blind in the left eye (not totally)

Very blunt with her feelings unless it’s romantic

Cue nervous, blushing, sweating mess

Literally never trusts many men unless they’ve proven they’re at least good natured

Women? Women are fine. Women are great and cute

Daddy issues to the nth degree, need for a strong male figure in her life

Definitely has a daddy kink

Will absolutely not admit it unless she slips it out, or it’s extorted out of her

Big scary men with knives is a big yes

Sadomasochist, prefers masochism with bondage and knives

Being overpowered and thrown around is something she fantasizes about

Is also a virgin (lol loser)

May or may not get turned on sometimes in trials because of this kink :flushed:

Knows how to skateboard, mostly just riding it but also knows a few tricks here and there

Volleyball player so she always finds some way to stay physically active; actually is pretty tough

Her intelligence is where it’s at tho

PHAT ass cerebellum

Any question you have she will answer clearly and concisely 

If she doesn’t know the answer? It will bother her and she will actively do the research herself

Dissociation disorder mixed with a bit of PTSD

Can’t really stand much blood (other than in a sexual sense or injury)

Gore is a big no

Can and will have a mental breakdown at the sight of gore, even if she’s been in the Fog for a set amount of time

Doesn’t like the idea of killing people unless it’s justified (which is short for “sexually abusive men/women/people”)

Really good at comebacks

“That’s why yo shoes raggedy” “That’s why yo mama’s dead” type beat

doesn’t remember the last time she hugged someone

Very touch starved

Will cling to anyone who dares to show her a bit of physical affection

Never kissed someone, never been intimate besides the times it was non consensual 

Her favorite people get showered in hugs and affection

Likes to listen to all kinds of music i.e “don’t knock it till ya try it”

Especially likes EDM and synthpop (Capsule or Vocaloid), but alt rock like Grimes is top tier

Jeff and Nick fangirl over BABYMETAL together no cap :pensive:

Would 105% be a raver if she hadn’t been taken by the Entity

Occasionally visits the killer campfire to see Anna 

Anna acts as a bit of a mother figure to her outside of trials

The others definitely unnerve her to some extent (honorable mentions include Herman (Doctor), Kenneth (Clown), and Danny (Ghostface) even though she is adamant she could kick his scrawny ass if it ever came to too much flirting)

Writes only in cursive because “printing is too hard :(”

Can write really fast and have it come out perfect for some reason?? how she do dat

Has a tick/calming method of squeezing her thumb when getting very upset or in major pain

Other ticks include the Leg Bounce, tapping on things to a rhythm of a song, lip biting, twirling of hair

“Eat the rich, anarchy is the way to live”

Dissociates commonly at the sounds of yelling, excessive blood or gore

Constant “what?” 

Often has trouble remembering things-- barely remembers that she killed a man unless she’s reminded

[phantomphangphucker]

Something Clearly Went Wrong In The Build-A-Ghost Workshop - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @imdeadtiredtm Prompt: Danny discovers that Ghosts find his mostly human-like appearance (even in ghost form) is, to them, extremely disturbing. Summary: Why are all your body parts like that Phantom? What cruel god designed you?

Warning: Mild cannon typical body horror, mentions of injuries, mentions of broken bones

Danny Phantom is just chilling in a tree watching the night stars, as a long black haired ghost pops her head up beside him. “Where the? Uh, do you mean harm lady?”, Danny’s a little startled that she showed up before his ghost sense went off, but decides not to start shit.

“Naw, I’m chill, just wanted to invite you to scare a bunch of young ghosts”, she props her head and arms up on a branch close to his face.

“I’m not in the business of scaring and nothing about me is scary anyway? I’m, like, the most inoffensive ghost out there”, for emphasis Danny runs his hand up and down his small friendly form.

She shakes her head at him but snickers, “you’re thinking like a human. Nothing about you isn’t horrifying, except the eyes and glow. Hair’s ok too I guess, kinda fucking hard for hair to be scary”.  

“Um, what? That doesn’t even make sense?”, Danny sits up properly while the other ghost gets herself settled on another branch; looking plenty amused.

“DP, just last week there was gossip around saying that Skulker managed to snag your glove, and while fighting him you scratched him. But you don’t have claws, so the scratch marks were all blunt and shit. Even heard your freaking nails bent off the nail bed, that is straight up disturbing”, she shivers a bit as if to prove a point. Before wiggling her very sharp and long claws at Danny, “we’re supposed to have claws not freaking nails, and they’re not supposed to bend off”, she’s laughing a little now, even if it’s a bit off.

Danny rubs his neck a bit bashfully, “hey now, even I though the nails coming off thing was fucked, any human would too. I don’t go around yanking off my nails though and I’m definitely not doing that just to scare some ghostly kids”. Tilting his head curiously as he continues, “though I don’t see how blunt nails is scarier than sharp claws. Claws cut and slice, that’s far more terrifying”.

The girl shakes her head, “nope, that’s useful, not terrifying. Nails are completely useless and only serve to hurt yourself, ripping them off in fights and shit. Plus, I’d rather be slashed by a sharp knife than a dull one. Claws are a sharp knife, nails are a blunt knife”, she makes stabbing motions at her arm which just makes Danny slightly unsettled.

“Well yeah, nails, in general, don’t serve much purpose, not everything has to have a purpose. But I can at least see your point there”, Danny nods a little while inspecting the tips of his gloves. “But it’s not like they’re even visible, usually. Literally the only visible things you implied were scary is my jumpsuit and skin, how the hell is my freaking skin scary?”.

She smacks her cheeks in reference to the fact that the only skin on Danny that’s even visible is on his face, “well, ignoring that you actually have skin under the suit, which is just plain wrong. Your skin colour is bland, it blends into everything. Like some creepy ass chameleon, ghosts are supposed to be flashy things. Our greens and blues are safe colours, you’re like a tan/yellow caution light”. Fiddling with the end of her ghostly tail, which is wrapped loosely around the branch, “then there’s the whole your ghost skin is darker than your human skin, like you’ve been fucking fried or burnt. One of the running rumours is that those rings of yours literally burn your skin when you transform”.

Danny stares at her incredulously, “what? Hell no that would be awful! My skin’s probably darker because I was electrocuted to my half death. Peach is a warm colour, safe. Blue is pretty sickly looking, so not sure how that’s supposed to be better. And so what none of you have skin under your clothing? If you ask me that’s fucking weird”.

“Ghosts aren’t supposed to be warm, we’re cold things. Looking warm when you’re not is so deceptive and that’s kind of creepy. Blue is cold”, she then makes a point of yanking off her collar showing nothing but floating semi-solid ectoplasm. “Our clothing is our skin. Zone knows what your “clothing” even is!”.

“Pretty sure it’s just ectoplasm taking a specific and solid form based off what I half died in”, Danny proves his point by yanking off a glove, letting it dissolve into ectoplasm and slowly dissipate away. Promptly forming a set of mini rings to reform it.

She watches the glove as it dissolves and disappears, “so it’s skin then, you have two sets of skin. That is fucking freaky”.

Danny blinks a couple times before staring down at his hand, muttering, “I never even thought of it that way before, huh”.

She nods curtly before bending her body and head down to look him in the face, “that’s not too mention the fact that your suit looks like a ghost hunters suit. Hell, the others who wear the same sort of thing actively try to actually destroy all of us. The flaming DP is cool though, the rest, not so much”.

“Ok yeah, I’ll give you that for sure, especially since that is literally what it is. Originally, it had my dad’s face on it too; so glad that got torn off before I half died”, Danny physically shudders at the thought of having to fly around with that thing stuck to his chest for the rest of his half-life and possible death.

She grimaces in suit, “that’s both creepy and gross”. Danny can’t help but nod and pat his DP symbol affectionately.

“Speaking of shit you shouldn’t have”, she holds up and wiggles her arm about like it’s a ghostly tail, “bones. You still have damn bones. At least half the zone has horror stories of seeing your bones jutting out of your skin or suit. Like what the fuck? Literally everyone comments about how it’s utterly sickening to hear the cracking sounds your body makes”. Shaking her head and shivering, “and like, what’s even the fucking point of them? To hurt you? Is your body just horrendously masochistic? Ghosts don’t need them to be stable so what?”.

Danny doesn’t really have an answer as to why himself, “can’t say I know why but unlike you guys, I can remain stable indefinitely outside of the GZ. So consider that a use. And I can’t say anyone enjoys broken bones but humans have them, I’d be fucking disturbed if my bones suddenly disappeared whenever I’m a ghost”.

She taps her chin a bit, “well at least that sort of makes sense. Still creepy though”.

Snapping her fingers at him before pointing at her ghostly tail, “what about your leg bones or whatever? You have a ghostly tail, I know that for sure”.

Danny blinks at her a bit because yeah he had no bones and shit in his tail, “and there’s something else I never really think about. But yeah, no bones in my tail and thinking of it I can pretty much negate my bones”. To prove his point, he wiggles his arms like a ghostly tail and spins his head around, which earns some laughs from her.

“Now see that’s some proper ghost shit, that means your bones are just a straight up enigma then”

Returning to normal Danny shrugs, “my very existence is supposedly against the very laws of the universe and nature so”. He can’t help but bring his attention to his impossible, but still there, pulse; showing a small toothy smile.

She points at his mouth, “yeah see, that’s creepy too”.

“Uh what? My damn teeth? If I had extra teeth then I’d get that, but they’re pretty damn normal and average”, Danny runs his tongue across his teeth, never having actually paid any attention to them before and now officially wondering if they were weird.

She opens her mouth wide at him, showing off her rows of sharp pointy teeth and four large sets of fangs, snapping her mouth shut with a loud clack sound before speaking, “teeth are for biting, so again with the sharp knife verse dull knife thing. You couldn’t even make a clean bite through someone’s arm if you tried, you’d have to like, naw it off”, both of them shudder but she’s shuddering at the feeling of blunt teeth slowly grinding away on her arm until it severed. While he’s shuddering at the idea of biting a part of someone’s body off at all.

“Who the hell goes around biting people?! Teeth are for biting food, and maybe catching shit when my arms are full, not for biting people!”, Danny stares at her judgingly while she laughs at him.

“Ghost do, that’s who. Like I said, you think so very human. Plus, not having fangs is like not having fingers on your hands. It’s not horrifying, just very off”

Danny rolls his eyes, “I mean I could see how fangs might be useful but they’re predatory, predatory usually implies scary or threatening”.

“Ghosts are predators, so be more of a damn predator then. It’s like you’re a lamb behaving like a wolf. Your form screams prey but you’re a predator. Combine that with your power and it’s even worse. You’re a straight up super predator”.

Danny rubs his neck bashfully, knowing full well he’s easily one of the strongest ghosts out there, “while I won’t deny my power, I think I look more approachable by looking less like a super overpowered being”.

Switching out her tail for legs and crossing them, “That’s only to humans! Which really shouldn’t be comforting to them either, since that makes you quite literally a wolf in sheep's clothing; in a heard of sheep. Your form doesn’t reflect your power at all, strength is supposed to be palpable. Seeing a strong form is comforting and far less embarrassing to lose against, but you just look like a failed predator. The sight of a lamb maiming a wolf is just fucked up and all kinds of disturbing”.

“You keep saying predator but I wouldn’t call myself a predator at all. I’m not running around devour things or some shit”.

“Oh so you don’t prowl the night looking for trouble, getting into fights and protecting your territory? Could have fooled me”, her words are thickly laced with sarcasm while Danny looks rather embarrassed. Smirking at the green glow coming to his cheeks, “that’s what I thought, Mr. Predator”.

Danny makes a pouty face at her while she rolls her eyes, “so party? Literally, you could just show up and throw your gloves at them. Bare your teeth or smile or whatever. And congrats! A bunch of disturbed, slightly terrified little ghost brats. Who maybe learn a little life lesson about not underestimating people for their looks or some shit”.

Danny groans but decides why the hell not, they’ll all met him eventually at some point. Might as well play around a bit, pointing at her aggressively but playfully, “fine, I am so not breaking a bone or tearing off my nails though”.

End.

[evan-macmillan-trapper]

Trapper’s Killer Tier List:

-Tier SS:

Philip: Good silent type, been with me since the beginning. We both Feel we’ve been treated badly and overcame those people. It gives us a sense of being similar.

Anna: Good Hunting Buddy, Cant deny the appeal of a woman who can take on a bear solo and win.

-Tier S: 

Sally and Max: Both been with me since the Beginning, but have some.. kinks to work out.

-Tier A:

Amanda: Smart, Deadly and we share New Bear Trap ideas. Spent so Long trying to get her over John’s death. 

Rin: Sweet Kid, Feel bad for Her and how She got Here

Legion (Joey, Susie and Julie): Good kids most of the time, too bad they follow Frank Though..

-Tier B:

Myers: Silent but in an Annoying way, Seems to follow his own Rules

Bubba: Gives the sense of a scared Kid, pushes the Rest of the Killers to Eat the Survivors..

-Tier C: 

Oni: Makes me look calm and collected, Too Loud and one of the few I cant talk sense into or overpower with strength. 

Plague: Puke. Everywhere! Personally not to bad, but cant understand anything she says.

Hag: Scary Looking, acts like a Wild animal.

Doctor: Annoying to an intense level, cant even try and hid from em anymore with his new power.

-Tier D:

Danny, Clown,and Freddy: Annoying, smug, and Creepy asshats.

Demogorgon: a Literal wild animal. We Somehow got it to not try and eat us ... as Much..

Legion (Frank): Had enough with Insane Leader types to trust this kid. Steals my Traps for “Prank Videos” with Danny

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of June 19th, 2019

Best of this Week: Teen Titans #31 - Adam Glass, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo and Rob Leigh

Lobo came to bring the pain.

Starting off with a bang, Lobo completes a contract on a Dhorian at the behest of Kanjar Ro, blowing up the disguised alien’s bodega before shooting him right in the face for his cash. After completing the contract, he receives a job from The Other to take down the Teen Titans. After an initial rebuff of the job, his interest is piqued after he's shown an image of Crush, the only other living Czarnian. (not counting Twink Lobo that should still be trapped by Larfleeze)

Cutting back to the ending from the last issue, Lobo confirms that Crush indeed her daughter and proceeds to absolutely DESTROY the Titans. All of my love comes for this book comes from just how amazingly dominant Bernard Chang makes Lobo look and how terrifying Glass scripts him.

All of the Titans rush the Main Man with Roundhouse being the first to face his wrath. Lobo takes Roundhouse, who has taken the form of a ball, and uses him to BEAT THE OTHERS. He slaps Kid Flash with his best friend, he smacks Red Arrow upside her head, Robin dodges, but his cape is used against him as he’s crushed between Roundhouse and Lobo’s hands. Kid Flash tries to come back with a flurry of punches, but Lobo has none of it and decks the Kid in his face.

Djinn teleports him into Crush’s room and he sees her wall of pictures and articles about her dad. Djinn tries to bind him with magic, but he uses a mirror to turn it against her and just as he’s about to kill her, Crush saves her in the nick of time, suplexing him out of the Titan’s hideout. Lobo, unaffected, uses her as a basketball, throwing her into the backboard before using his hoop as a bat and hitting a home run with her as the ball. Throughout the carnage he has nothing but a smug grin, like he’s playing with these kids; because he is.

Lobo has killed a lot of things, including his own children, so killing the Titans would be nothing to him. At the very least, he’s jovial and having a fun time beating their asses. Chang draws him as being kinda relaxed and casual about his violence. He’s still rippling with muscle and almost appears to be showing off a little, it’s really charming in a sick way.

Catching up to Crush, he shows no restraint against her. He breaks her ankle to test if she has his healing factor, grabs her by the hair and smashes her into a train. The impact is hard and brutal with the train crumpling as Crush’s face kisses it. Back at the hideout, Djinn has the idea to loose Crush’s chain, Obelus, as it might be the only thing that can save her. Crush, however, is not a fan of the idea because the chain came from Lobo and may not obey her. In her anger, she crushes her communicator and LOBO CRUSHES HER WITH A TRAIN.

This splash page made me lose it. Lobo just leans on the train car as Crush is pinned underneath, reaching out in pain and the bottom is EXPLODING in a hail of debris and fire with a deep red and some blood spatter effect acting as the background to the insanity. Lobo taunts her, saying she was lucky that he wasn’t around to mess her up for all of her years, but that there was still time for him to let her down. The absolute CHAD hasn’t been in her life at all, comes back and IMMEDIATELY threatens to ruin it, absolutely. I can’t believe how callous and brutal it is.

Crush spits blood in his face and just as Lobo is about to deliver his coup de gras by smashing her head into a fine red past on the ground, Kid Flash swoops in and saves her, setting up Round 2 for the next issue.

This issue was absolutely insane thanks to The Main Man. Lobo just brings out the crazy in everything that he’s in and introduced the Titans to a WORLD OF PAIN. Crush was absolutely an overpowered member of the team because almost nothing could hurt her and to see her absolutely dominated like this was astounding. One thing that truly stood out was her anger when seeing Djinn in danger because of her, pun intended, crush on the young Genie. She had a burst of rage and actually slightly overpowered Lobo, but of course he continued the beating.

Lobo’s ferocity stood out in a way that we haven’t seen in any of his fights with Superman or his time in the Justice League of America. He wasn’t angry at all, but was having fun. While he could have swatted any of the kids into dust, he played with them, dragging out their pain. His fight with Crush was hard to read/watch at times with his banter. It was almost scary how ready he was to straight up murder her to keep his rep as the last Czarnian, (again, not counting the pretty boy) but at the same time he was weirdly fatherly in his own murderous way.

Honestly, this issue was just a ton of fun. I love Lobo and any chance that I get to see him act like a madman, I enjoy. Adam Glass wrote him so very well that it kind of feels like a callback to Giffen and DeMatteis’ series and Change makes him look like an imposing freak of nature that eats nothing but protein and drinks rage. Seeing Crush express even a little bit of fear was fun because all we’ve gotten out of her is anger and snark. I can’t wait for the next issue and her eventual win just to see what she’ll be capable of. High recommend.

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

Runner Up: Superman: Year One #1 - Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Danny Miki, Alex Sinclair and John Workman

That's the approach visionary writer and sometimes crazy person, Frank Miller, took when writing the great, but flawed, Superman: Year One. The book is a masterwork on the slow burn that builds excitement and tension for a character that has all the potential to be exciting, especially as a young child.

Beginning with the destruction of Krypton from the toddler Kal-El's point of view, the boy is rocketed from his dying home. He watches as his parents get further and further away, engulfed by the fire and explosions of the dying Krypton, scared and alone until he reaches his new home; Earth.

TW: Attempted Sexual Assault

Slow and steady wins the race.

This presentation feels a lot more personal through his eyes. Though his inner monologue is a bit jarring for a toddler, it speaks volumes that he doesn't know what's happening. He's terrified that his parents are leaving him alone, that he may never see home again. His hands press against the glass in fear.

Pa Kent just happens to pass by, noticing the rocketship land with this strange child in it. The baby Kal exhibits a strange telepathic suggestion ability and makes Pa Kent think that taking him home is all his idea. Ma Kent is introduced as the ideal small town mother and the majority of this book expands on Kal-El's life in Smallville.

This comic acts as the absolute ideal in what Superman's life as a kid could have been. It's hokey in a way that the Kents are just simple farmers and the perfect parents with Clark learning the values of how to be a good person. He defends his nerd/outcast friends from bullies and gains the love from the always awesome Lana Lang.

The books flaws, however, are as awful as the entire thing is good. Things get a bit jarring as the bullies go from simple name calling and egging to physical violence and attempted rape after Lana takes pictures of their actions. If anything should have been cut, it should have been this gross depiction of near violence against a teenager.

This and the fact that there's no real comeuppance after the fact, aside from Clark just beating their asses, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth and the plot is dropped from there. It shifts to his relationship with Lana Lang after he reveals his powers to her and gradually makes up his mind about his future. In his late teens, instead of going to college or to Metropolis for his common origin of becoming a reporter, he decides to join the US Navy.

I am a little biased because his experience was much like my own from people questioning the decision, to telling my girlfriend at the time that I'd come back and what not and the teary goodbyes. Of course everyone who joins may have the same story. It just felt very personal to me and stood out as the most glaring change to how Clark Kent becomes Superman. I felt kinship and traumatic flashbacks when seeing John Romita Jrs. representation of RTC Great Lakes.

Speaking of the amazing artist, his art for the book is absolutely stellar. Capturing the vibe of the dry heat of the American Midwest, Romita Jr pulls you into every scene. The sense of scope is grand in space, it feels home-y in Smallville and the road to Illinois feels desolate and empty and yet full of hope and joy.

The line between adult and children's faces, however is very thin. Clark's faces run the gamut of emotions from joy, to surprise to near rage, but between each time jump, it's hard to tell just how old he actually is. Ma and Pa Kent age with the subtle graying of hair and maybe a few wrinkles, but Clark is forever having the face of his three year old self.

Despite covering ground that's been trodden millions of times, Frank Miller's found a way to inject a bit of interest into a familiar origin story. I love the new angle of Clark Kent becoming a Sailor and fighting for America, not exactly knowing what kind of person that it will change him into. Though I hope we get a more focused and less Crazy Frank Miller in the next issue. Attempted rape is disgusting as a simple storytelling device and depending on what kind of accounts he's gotten from Sailors on boot camp, things could go either way.

I am excited for the future of this series, however, and can't wait for the next one. High recommend!

[loudhaoleinatie]

5 Headcanons

Okay, so someone recently challenged me to write down 5 headcanons for Danny, and I can’t for the life of me find or remember who it was... I’m guessing either @hoouna @konokalakaua50 or @itsxharris?

Either way, if you guys haven’t done it then I’m challenging you next, lol!

Here are my five headcanons for my Danny. Some are a little dark, but he’s already been through the shitter in canon so why not add some more angst to the pile?

1) The reason he was kicked out of Scouts

Danny was 14 when he was kicked out of Scouts, and the story as far as most people are concerned is that he got into a fight on a camping trip and was kicked out for unacceptable behaviour.

That is only partly true - it wasn't a fight, but he was kicked out under the ‘unacceptable behaviour’ label; the reason it was unacceptable, however, was down to the Scouts being a Christian-based organisation at the time.

Danny once mentioned to Grace that a friend of his in Scouts had snuck a whole rack of ribs out on a camping trip, and that kid was Joey Benaducci. He was more than a friend, though; when Joey had moved over to Jersey from New York and into Danny's class at school the native blonde had taken him under his wing, and he and Danny had become really close due to their families both having Italian roots.

They spent a tonne of time together, became almost inseparable, Joey joined Danny's Scout group, and by the point the camping trip came around they were extremely close. When Joey managed to conceal a rack of the juiciest ribs he could find from his dad's butcher shop in his bag, presenting it to Danny and their other friends in their tent, Danny had felt like he could kiss the boy.

So he did. Later that night after they'd all roasted and devoured the ribs between the five of them and the others had gone to sleep, Danny had stayed up with Joey by the fire and thanked him for the feast. And then he'd kissed him, and Joey had kissed back, and neither of them saw a damn thing wrong with that… unfortunately the Scout leader who had chosen that moment to come and check on their group caught them did, and he lost his shit.

The leader dragged them back to the main camping ground by their shirt collars, called their parents to come and pick them up, and the two of them were out on their ears so fast their heads were spinning.

Ma Williams ripped the Scout organisation a new asshole, of course - she and the whole family believed unerringly that love is love, and it didn't matter to them if their Danny was gay or straight or whatever - but homosexual behaviour was apparently against the rules. Not that Danny had wanted to go back after all that, but it was the principle of the matter.

Joey’s parents were not so open-minded. They barred the boys from seeing one another, and soon moved to another district of New Jersey and Joey had to go to a new school. Danny never did see much of him after that, and to this day he sometimes wonders what his friend is up to and how he's doing, and if he was ever accepted by his family.

He was Danny's first kiss, after all.

2) Boxing, and why Danny decided to become a cop

In his later teen years, Danny started hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble. It was kind of typical adolescent bad behaviour like underage drinking and getting into fights, but it was awkwardly coupled with Danny's anxiety and anger issues which stemmed from his sexuality not being widely accepted - he was bisexual, and in 1990s New Jersey if you weren't straight you may as well be dead, so he mostly had to hide who he really was.

His Ma and Pa figured the best way to keep him off the streets and out of trouble was to re-direct his anger, so they signed Danny up for boxing lessons at Vic’s Gym down the street from their home. Danny hated it at first, but soon found that getting to vent his frustration on the punching bags there really helped, and the owner was very good at encouraging the young blonde, telling him he had great potential though he was rough around the edges.

With not much cash to his name, Danny started to help out around the gym in exchange for lessons in form and technique from Vic, and got to know the man a bit better. It turned out he was a retired cop, and he inspired Danny with his tales from his law enforcement days of fighting crime and taking down bad guys. He taught Danny that his anger and fears could be focused and transformed into something a lot more useful: determination and resolve. He also recognised and encouraged Danny’s ability to read others and extrapolate the facts of a situation, and his seemingly inbuilt need to obtain justice for those in need of it.

After six months of tutoring from Vic, Danny had decided that he was signing himself up for the New Jersey police academy the first chance he got. His grades at school improved, especially in the subjects the academy would require, and he stopped hanging out with the guys who had been dragging him down.

Vic was a constant inspiration to Danny, and even showed up the day his favourite boxer graduated from the academy with honours to wish him good luck for the future, presenting Danny with his old decommissioned service weapon. Danny still has the gift in a box in his closet, and brings it out whenever he's feeling depressed so that he can hear Vic’s words of wisdom a little more clearly.

He misses the old man and cried for weeks after his funeral, but Danny is determined to go out the same way Vic did - not in some blaze of glory in the line of duty - he sees no real honour in that - but peacefully, retired, and as an old man surrounded by family who loved him.

3) Danny's first time with a guy was almost his last

When Danny lost his virginity to another boy, it was one of the worst experiences of his life. He had been seeing one of the guys from the football team on the down low, both of them sneaking around because homosexuality was enough to get the crap beaten out of you at the very least when they were growing up. Mostly they had just made out, groped and used their hands on each other, but one night they ended up taking things further and it got out of hand.

Rich was a lot more closeted and repressed than Danny, more ashamed of his sexuality, and while Danny used boxing to vent, Rich used football to battle his own demons. Trouble was, it wasn't enough.

The team had just lost to their biggest rivals, and Rich was already going through personal shit at home so he spent a lot of his time angry and on edge and the defeat hadn't helped. After the big game, he had decided to drown his sorrows in some stolen whisky and Danny, dragging the blonde off to the empty locker rooms after everyone else had gone home.

Danny was young, naive and too blinded by what he thought was love to realise that he should have been treated better, and by the time he had the courage to tell Rich he was being too rough it was too late. The other boy was bigger and stronger, and his inebriated state meant he didn't see anything wrong with overpowering his boyfriend and taking his frustrations out through sex - after all, this was what they had been building towards, right?

The whole event for Danny was painful and scary - he wasn't prepped properly, his pleas for Rich to be gentle were ignored, and the other boy didn't stop or slow down until he had gotten what he wanted. They hadn't even used protection, and Rich had refused to look Danny in the eyes either during or afterward. They had broken up the next day, and Danny had been left heartbroken and confused, vowing to never be with another guy if gay sex was such an uncomfortable experience.

It wasn't until a lot later and Danny was in college and talking to a female friend that he really came to terms with the implications of what had happened. He'd blamed himself, figuring maybe he'd led Rich on and hadn't had the right to change his mind when things hadn't gone the way he'd hoped, but looking back on it then he could understand that he'd had every right to withdraw consent and have that decision respected. It had been rape, and he hadn't realised that at the time because rape was something that didn't happen to guys… or at least that was how society saw things.

His second time with a guy was about a year after he'd dealt with the impact of his realisation, and it was wonderful and perfect and respectful, and with someone he loved; everything that his first time should have been.

From that point on, whenever Danny tops he always makes sure his partner is happy and comfortable, whether male or female. He is respectful at all times, listens carefully, and doesn't rush the prep. He much prefers true intimacy and rarely messes around with one night stands or strangers, but when he does he is still a perfect gentleman. He enjoys rough sex now, but it has to be fully consensual and on equal terms with a partner he trusts.

It was a horrible experience, but Danny has always believed that it's the reason he is who he is today, and has made him a better person and a better lover.

4) His anxiety is worse than he lets on, but it's better than it used to be

Danny doesn't really talk to the team much about his anxiety. He's told Steve a few things about the ways in which his mind works sometimes - that when a good thing comes along Danny can't help but almost immediately see all the ways it could end, or how when a situation goes awry the alternatives of what he could have done differently cycle endlessly through his brain until he feels exhausted - but he generally doesn't want to burden his friends with feeling sorry for him.

He worries about things pretty much twenty-four/seven, second-guesses himself constantly, and it's all stuff that is completely out of his control more often than not which tends to make it worse.

All this worry usually triggers his insomnia, and getting by on only a few hours of restless sleep a night has kind of become Danny's life now. The team tease him for his coffee and pastry intake, telling him it's unhealthy, and he takes the jibes and gives as good as he gets… but the caffeine and sugar are probably the only things that keep him a functioning member of society on those bad days.

It used to be the case that Danny was known for being prickly, sarcastic, short-tempered and grouchy, but that was only one side of his natural personality. His friends thought he was acting out of character on the days when he was actually happy, when he laughed and joked openly with them, when he was being soft and smiley and tactile, but those were really the days when he'd managed to get a decent night's sleep.

He's better now he's used to being in Hawaii, and knowing his ohana surrounds him and will be there for him or his kids when they need them lessens the burden and his anxiety hugely, but he does still have the odd day, week or month when his insomnia attacks again and logic can't save the day. These tend to be after the big, harrowing cases, the ones that involve kids, and around dates that bring back bad memories like the anniversary of his marriage to Rachel or Matty’s death.

The times when it's about Matty though, Danny prefers the insomnia - when he falls asleep, his nightmares about seeing his brother’s body and killing Reyes are way too vivid and real for him to handle, and it's better not to sleep at all than to wake screaming and clawing at the sheets.

However on those mornings, when the alarm goes off and he's already awake and waiting for it, it can actually bring a smile to his face knowing that when he turns up at the office with dark circles under his eyes, laden with coffee and donuts and other things to keep him going, that his team will emerge and gently tease him while stealing some like they always do. It's actually comforting to know that routine will never change, that it's a reliable and non-intrusive link back to reality that his ohana will always provide.

They know why, these days, and they understand what he needs from them. So Steve will give him that look that says he knows Danny didn't sleep well and to take it easy, and Kono will give him that squeeze to his shoulder or side that says ‘come talk to me when you feel up to it, bruh’, and Danny will know that things might be shit, but they aren't half as shit as they used to be. And that's good.

5) Danny talks with his hands - literally

Danny is actually pretty well-versed in sign language, though he hasn't had to use it for a case yet in Hawaii. He learned it because of a deaf victim he dealt with when he was just a few months into his job as a beat cop.

She'd been assaulted and had her bag stolen by some douchebag, but was finding it hard to communicate with the cops due to none of them knowing ASL. She had been deaf since birth and so virtually unable to speak, and it seemed like none of the guys in Danny's precinct had the patience to try and help her, seeing her as a nuisance. They had no resident interpreter at the time either, and the nearest one was hours away.

Once they took the woman back to the NJPD the process ran pretty smoothly as they were able to get her on a computer, and Danny spent three hours with her, staying past the end of his shift, just to make sure all the paperwork was filled out correctly. But he'd always regretted the amount of time she had spent frustrated and upset, unable to communicate properly with anyone, whilst they had been at the scene - it was wasted time but, more importantly, more stressful for the victim than it ever needed to be.

He'd looked up the nearest sign language classes and attended them religiously, ensuring he know the basics as well as some of the more advanced stuff relevant to his job as a cop. The NJPD asked him to act as interpreter a few times between then and when he left for Hawaii, and he was glad to help out and put his skills with language to good use.

When Grace's Aloha Girls’ troop leader discovered his hidden talent, she even asked him to give the girls a basic lesson with Grace - whom he had already taught some to - as his lovely assistant. He was so proud watching her teach the other girls some of the signs, but when she said she was proud of him (in sign, of course) his heart just about dissolved in his chest.

Danny has always been pretty skilled with languages and accents, and Ma Williams once said that he loved to talk so much that he was obviously afraid he might run out of words so he just went and learned some more to keep himself going. He knows a decent chunk of Russian from the undercover mob case he worked back in Jersey - much more than he let on to Steve at the Embassy that time - and also a few Spanish phrases, and some Italian due to his Nonna and the family's heritage. He doesn't tend to mention it to people though, playing down his language skills as he gets a bit embarrassed sometimes… plus it's sometimes nice to have the advantage and let people underestimate him.

[cinematicallusions]

A Quick Essay on Wonder Woman (2017)

Note: There will be spoilers, you have been warned

 I enjoyed this movie.

I feel like I have to say that first, unfortunately - There has been so much pressure put on Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot. That it has to be a success. That Wonder Woman has to be a good role model for girls. That Gal got the role because she is pretty, and not because of her acting abilities. That Gal isn’t the right role because of her political beliefs. That she’s too skinny. 

That a movie with a female lead has to be feminist.

That much pressure is absurdly unfair. There’s a famous saying (now backed by data) that black men have to work twice as hard to get just as far (as a white man). How unfair it is that for women of color (I’ll include Gadot for that) it seems to be four times as hard!

What’s scary is that if Wonder Woman was bad, future movies of her would have been axed. Which is nuts because all the Superman movies post-Reeve’s Superman II have been horrible, or milquetoast at best, yet they keep pumping them out. That’s unfair.

But Wonder Woman wasn’t bad. So far it’s raked over $100M at the box office, the most important metric (the only color Hollywood cares about is green). It has 8.3 on IMDB and 93% on RT. Little girls line up to pose with cardboard Gadot at their local theatre, grown women recognize in their hearts that this was them when they were younger (and even now). The movie exceeded expectations, and I can let out a sigh of relief.

It did suffer from some fundamental problems - a simple plot, too much orange/blue, really dark in some scenes, prop goofs (THE TANK AND THE WATCH. AM I TAKING CRAZY PILLS - and no trench whistles), bad CGI, and bad acting. But it’s a comic book movie about a daughter of a greek god from an island of all women and she has a lasso of truth and fights in WWI against Germans and also Ares and in the comics she also has an invisible jet. Cut them some slack! There’s bigger things at play. The victories outshine the goofs, for they are home-runs.

For instance, the third of the DC trio finally has her own theme music (Superman’s got his John Williams theme, Bat’s got two -his Danny Elfman theme and the Hans Zimmer one) by Hans Zimmer and played by Tina Guo (girl power!) It seems trivial but it’s important that she gets what’s hers.

Secondly, the fact that we even have a Wonder Woman movie is way overdue, the last representation of Wonder Woman being on the silver screen by Lynda Carter ( I almost typed Mary Tyler Moore). The ‘90s and ‘00s were not kind to women on screen, let’s be real. Gal has a presence on screen.

Thirdly, the diversity of the supporting cast. I love Said Taghmaoui in anything he is in, and Eugene Brave Rock had a great character (even though there’s no reason he would be on the Western Front). A short night scene between him and Wonder Woman solidified the world and helped develop her understanding of the world of men.

Lastly, the controversy. All good products are polarizing - you have to be wary, as a creator, if your baby is received lukewarmly. “It was nice, it was fine…” are death sentences. There will be debates on whether Wonder Woman was feminist enough. Why there were women-only screenings. If a sex scene with a man was necessary for the plot and the movie. It’ll be tough. But creating these kinds of conversations are important.

Philosophically, I think it’s interesting that in comics, physical violence is often a catalyst for social justice issues. (see also, Luke Cage, X-Men, Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Incredible Hulk*). I mean, how fantastic is it to be a black man that is bulletproof. To crush people who have gassed your family. To punch Hitler in the face. To finally say, “That’s it, I’ve had it up to here with the status quo,” and step out of the trenches and do something about it. It’s a cathartic release, and we relish seeing justice delivered because it happens so slowly on our timeline.

The legacy of the movie is cemented, I believe, as a success. There’s going to be memes and gifs and it will be cited in articles and studies (also, I think Chris Pine single-handedly brought back the Hemingway fisherman turtleneck).

Little girls have a Lawful Good role model to look up to that looks like them, that empowers them, that tells them they can do anything and be anything.**

  *The Hulk is the quintessential guy that everyone can identify with when they’re mad. He literally overpowers anything that oppresses him. Don’t we all wish we had that power!

 ** Ironically, after my friends and I got out of this movie and went to go get burgers, a guy from the table next to us came over and sat down uninvited and began what I call “chill-bro harassing” where he began to talk up one of our girls and when she told him to leave he acted upset like it we were the ones being rude. Then his other friend came over and began to talk her up too. It’s like, dude, we all just came out of WONDER WOMAN DO YOU WANNA DIE?