#due to the nature of his powers and being a ghost he just doesn't leave dna around once it leaves his body it just dissolves

[dcxdpdabbles]

Die with a Smile

For @anonymous-existences who asked for a "Die with a Smile" by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga using Spirt Halloween ship. Hope you like it!

Danny remembers being alive, but it was a distant memory as if he had woken from a wonderful dream. He could recall no scents or tastes from his time being flesh and bone, but he remembered sights and sometimes, if he was lucky a few sounds.

The sound of his sister singing. His father's laughter. His mother's humming. His best friend's fingers tap on his keyboard. His other best friend's plants when the water of her watering can fell over their leaves.

Danny held all the sounds dear to his heart, even if he could not remember their names or voices. Just their faces, smiles, and the warmth in their eyes before the car accident. Danny had been a Halfa from the age of fourteen, but twenty years later, he had died in a collision caused by a drunk driver, turning into a complete ghost.

Like all his previous adversaries, Danny could no longer return to the human world willy-nilly. He had reformed after he died in the Zone, becoming one of its citizens, anchored to the Realms between Death and Life.

He needed a gateway made by a mortal who willingly invited him through. All natural portals were nice, but it was a one-way. Anyone could pass through them to the Realms, not vice versa.

His parents had unknowingly created an open invitation when they stabilized their portal, allowing ghosts to run a rampage in the city. Danny doesn't remember why they had made it, but he wishes it was still there so he could see them again.

So that he could feel the deep love so evident in the glimpses and flashes of their faces that ran through his mind. He couldn't find his way back, so he spent years looking. He was one of the few ghosts that had no anchored haunt. Danny spends all eternity flying through the Realms in search of the love that he had once felt.

He lost count of how long ago that was. But along the way, he picked up other various wonders.

A bag that opens to his pocket of cosmos is flung over his shoulder. A long cloak that protected him from the scorching heat, freezing blizzards, howling winds, and drowning rain. A glimmering book that recorded his adventures in the consultations. And many new friends who have been in the Realms for so long they had developed their own culture and given birth to generations that knew nothing of the mortal realm.

Danny's ghost's name had also faded from his mind, knowing he used to answer something when he was fourteen. He is grateful that his birth name stays with him, even if he does not know his surname.

He now went as the Wander. Always searching for something he did not know if he could hold, let alone own. Wander grew in power, for his death had brought along all the ectoplasm of his Halfa days, and while his travels were relatively peaceful, there were times he needed to fight his way through.

He has never been defeated.

That was Danny's experience now. Wander, find adventure, find friends, find new incredible sights, become saddened that the new things didn't match the love he set on a pedestal, and wander again.

Over and over. Never lingering for too long. Never belonging.

Just lost in the endless void of the Realms.

Then, Danny had run into him.

A human had fallen through a portal caused by unnatural means. It was due to being attacked by a monstrous tyrant that was threatening his world. Omega Beam radiation polluted the portal, and for a second, Danny had thought he had finally found a stable way into the human world.

But alas, when he approached it, an invisible force kept him from leaving the Realms. Its constant flickering and electrical crackles mocked him, even if the scene behind the portal depicted a broken world.

Danny wanted nothing more than to fly through the human world, feel all those fantastic emotions, and live again. He pushed and pushed against the force field; however, there was no open invitation. He could not pass through the portal.

The human that fell after being pushed by the sudden explosion could. Danny had caught him and nursed him back to health, and when he awakened, he was struck dumb by those intense, intelligent eyes.

Batman was the name the human gave him, and for a few months, that was what Danny called him. The way to his home, an Earth called Gotham, had closed as soon as the omega beams had vanished. Batman was beside himself, attempting to find another portal.

As the man was living without means of flight between islands, Danny offered to take him to a few natural portals. He warned him that even if he could enter said portals, there was no guarantee he would be back when he vanished.

Portals bend time and space. They may appear in the same spot, but it was also a gamble of when that would be. Batman had no care, taking Danny's offer, and the two went off on a new adventure.

The broken pieces of an endless city was the connection between the Realms and Batman's Gotham. It took some time before Batman admitted that the city they traveled through - as, for some reason, the city bounds stopped Danny's flight - was his beloved city. It was an exact duplicated, over and over again as time moved on in the mortal world; this one copied every new development without removing the old one.

It merely expanded right next to the old building. The natural portals across the range were unstable, lasting only a few seconds before Batman was forced to throw himself back into the Realm or he got stuck at the wrong time.

Batman left a clue at every stop the portal gave him, claiming one of his children would notice and help find a way to bring him home. Danny wasn't so sure, but if the human found comfort in the thought, he would not be the one to burst his bubble.

As for Danny, the familiar emptiness that came with the urge to move on never showed itself. He found comfort in the footsteps of Batman. He found glee in the laughter around the small fires they make in the destroyed streets, void of any color.

Danny had forgotten most colors, so used to the Grey's, blacks, whites and dark purples of the Realms but the way Batman spoke of it made him think back to the reds blues yellows and greens he had not realized he missed.

Slowly, his journal filled itself with nothing but the mortal he had found.

Batman survived on what little they could find in the broken streets of his colorless home. He seemed disgruntled by the silence of the repeating streets, the obvious signs of violence that never quite healed in his city.

After a while, Danny realized he felt whole again. As if a part of his soul had been returned. Batman did not bring him back to life, but he made him feel alive.

Danny informed him it meant the land was cursed, but that only earned him a cold glare and a sharp bite of beef jerky from a gas station with its window smashed in. Their travels continued, with Danny dreaming of the five sounds he could recall of his loved ones- he did not need food anymore as a ghost, but he did need sleep. His core required recharge- realizing a new sound had been added.

The sound of Batman's soft taps as he marched on, searching for a way home.

Danny created a new constellation for him. He named it the Lost Vengence. It seemed right, even if Batman rarely spoke.

A few months of them together, Batman had wandered into an air that exploded with green grass. He grasped for his belt, but whatever he was searching for wasn't there, and he fell to his knees screaming.

Danny, who hadn't breathed it in, had rushed him over to a crumbled hospital, strapping the human down and panicking over his state. He was no doctor, but if he left Batman alone to get help, leaving the area that didn't allow him to fly would take far too long, and Batman would die.

Already, his heart was beating too fast for a human. Danny had ripped off his strange mask, trying to get him out of the clothes covered in the green goo, but it didn't do much. All that was left was a human- a handsome human- screaming his head off.

Eventually, Danny realized that his journal may have the answer. He could not always remember what he recorded, but if he asked it to, it would pull up records of adventures he may have forgotten.

There was a method of passing on his healing that Frostbite once shared with him long before his death. He pressed his hands over Batman's chest, not with his palms but with his soul, and prayed the human would accept it.

A few minutes later, Danny's ectoplasm had sunk through the skin and cleaned out the effects of the strange grass. Batman slumped against the metal table, breathing heavily and sweating profoundly, but he stared up at Danny as if he were bestowing an angel.

Since ectoplasm was purely emotional, no words had to be shared between them to know Danny had wanted to save him more than anything. Had felt the way Batman made him feel complete.

"My name is Bruce Wayne," Batman had told him later that night while the pair looked through a mall that seemed to have been flooded. The water splashed against their mid-calfs, slowly picking their way through the new clothes that Bruce could wear.

His soft smile filled up to his core, and neither mentioned the way the distance between them closed or the fingers that laced together,but Danny knew he had found it.

What he had been searching for all these years.

Bruce would sometimes stop them in the nicer parts of his city- places that merely went out of business instead of being broken down- and treat him to the few things he had forgotten of the human world.

An ice cream parlor had been stripped clean, but the owners had left one fringe with three tubs of ice cream. As time was frozen, it was good to eat, and Danny realized that while he did not need food, he did enjoy it. Bruce was sensitive to the weather that changed every few hundred miles.

In the parts with ice and snow, he curled up on Danny's chest, protected by the cloak that expanded to cover them. In the fires, he was carried on Danny's back, the fabric of the cloak protecting him from burning while Danny's hair flickers snowflakes for him to breathe.

Other times, he merely liked holding hands because he, too, felt whole with Danny.

Then they came upon a part of town that belonged to Bruce's third youngest son. He called it the Nest, and a date and time was carved on the wall. His son had found a way to stabilize a portal, and he planned to pull Bruce back home.

The boy thought Bruce was trapped in the past, but his rescue would still work. Bruce could finally return to the humans.

He understood. Danny had lived his life. Now, it was time for Bruce to finish his.

"Will you go? Would you leave me?" Danny knew the answer to his questions the second he looked into Bruce's eyes. It cracked something deep inside, but he was not angry or feeling betrayed.

"I'm sorry," Bruce whispers, tracing his hand on the curve of Danny's cheek. The ghost leans on it, wishing, not for the first time that he had the sensation of touch again. He only gets brief impressions of something against him, but Danny can not feel the texture of Bruce's clauses.

The warmth of his skin.

"Don't be. This was the best part of my existence in a long time. You were everything that I had forgotten about love."

He knew humans were warm. He remembers a tiny moment when his sister's fingers in his hair comforted him.

But he could not remember what their warmth felt like.

Bruce's face crumbled before it softened. "I'm not gone yet. We have a few hours."

"Just three," Danny whispered, looking at the numbers on Bruce's watch. He had set a countdown to when Tim would activate the machine- the portal- that only called Bruce home. Since the boy did not know it wasn't a time issue but a different reality, he had unintentionally made it with only Bruce in mind.

The force keeping all ghosts like Danny in the Realms wouldn't let him enter.

"I know how I want to spend them." Bruce found a record player broken in the movie theater beside his son's shining new hideout. Apparently, it was the one that had been abandoned in Bruce's youth.

It played a lovely old, slow dance from the forties that echoed through the dusted room, surrounding them in its soft, wistful melody. Bruce guided Danny to the center of the stage- the only place not covered in dust or supplies- and carefully bent him into an elegant dip.

At that moment, Danny and Bruce were all that existed in the broken-ended city of Gotham's past.

A smile blooms on Danny's face, twirling around the man who caught him and guided him, saying without words how much he adored Danny. The unsaid words between them meant nothing in the face of their world ending, but their smiles made up for it.

Danny's book had fallen open at one point, his collected stars and cosmos flying out to surround the pair as they swayed and slowly danced. He felt the thumping of Bruce's heart against his chest, pressing closer to record the feeling in his core and soul.

Song after song. Step, spin, sway, dip, intelligent eyes that watched him with the same amount of wishful longing and bright, loving smile.

"I could die again," Danny told him, hands on Bruce's shoulders and the human hands on his hip.

"I am," Bruce whispered back as his clock started beeping. They had ten seconds left. "I want you to remember me with a smile."

"Of course." Danny leaned back only far enough that when he pushed his face against Bruce's, their lips sealed in a burst of incredible, indescribable sensations. All at once, it's like sounds, feelings, tastes, and sights rush back at him, making him feel as if life was being breathed back into him, only for it to vanish as Bruce's body slowly fades away.

He leans back after his hands pass through Bruce's body, no longer anchored enough in the Realms to hold, and gives him the brightest smile he can muster. Neither mentions the tears rolling down their faces as he whispers.

"The party is over, and our time on this Earth is through, but I'll love you. For all eternity. I always do when I think of those who are still alive." Danny watches him fade away in soft, gentle sparks that he would later gather and shift into stardust.

He places them in Gotham's skies so Bruce can have a tiny part of him, even though he cannot see it. Danny turns around and marches back towards the realms.

The Wander must find a new purpose.

[regonold]

Theres a new guy going to gotham high which isn't unusual only wierd this is he looks identical to daimian wayne except pale

So seeing as he looks identical the bat's do some investigating only to find it all checks out only slightly wierd part he's living with his sister but that could be for any number of reasons

The "final" part of their investigation is meant to be the easiest part get some dna so why is this so hard they tried everything hair saliva blood but this guy leaves nothing

They evn got daimian to invite him to the Manor and somehow SOMEHOW HE DIDN'T LEAVE A SINGLE SHED OF DNA AND IT'S DRIVING THEM MAD

Meanwhile danny is quite happy he's made a friend with daimian wayne and his brothers are cool they've invited him to the manor a dew time's (the butler alfred reminds him of cockwork sometimes it's erily similar) amd the spirit of Gotham has been much more relaxed around him now that he's interacting with mr wayne and his family

[soullessdianthus]

𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲 | 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟒𝟏 𝐱 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Requested by anon:

A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR SUCH DELAY, I kept postponing it and then I had other things on my head.

Summary: Task Force 141 is sent to gather intel from cartel's warehouse. However, their informations were flawed and they were cornered by hostiles. Soap got shot and it doesn't look good. What will they do in a stalemate as such?

Warnings:reader is eastern european coded (just briefly), some gruesome desc. of wounds, blood and fights, talk of killing people

Word count: 3.8k

GIF by oleworldblues

The flight wasn’t a steady one, turbulence occurring every minute on board. Although such voyages weren't anything new, those tremors were irritating to say the least. You managed to stay in the seat for the most part of it, cursing the pilot, Nikolai for such an unpleasant ride.

A flick of regret crossed your mind, scolding yourself for being so strict on him. But all the remorse passed, when another turbulence made you hit your head over the helo’s wall.

When you crossed through the storm cloud, the helicopter twitched so suddenly and you jumped in your seat. Afraid of falling off the bench, without much thinking you grabbed what was the nearest to search for support. And it was Soap’s thigh.

 ━ Jesus, since when th’ lass‘ so handsy? ━ Scott laughed it off as you straighten your back against the helo’s surface. 

━ Since Nikolai forgot how to navigate damn thing. 

━ Then ye hadn’t seen Ghost drivin’ a car. That was somethin’ to be terrified of. 

Soap chuckled while jokingly mocking the lieutenant sitting across them. As always the skull face remained solid, still and emotionless. You spent enough time in Task Force 141 to know that he had to be smirking under that thick layer of balaclava. Even if the big, grumpy guy denied it verbally. The spark in his eyes revealed all you had to know. Some people laugh with their eyes, you know?

━ I hope we won’t live that long to repeat the thing. ━ Gaz cut in, leaving the cockpit and entering space, where they were sitting. It meant they were close to landing. 

Thank God, because if the flight would continue like this, you would have bumped into all of them by the time of your arrival at the meeting point. 

The lights went off, when you got closer to the ground. A one, stronger jolt and the helo landed, dust floating in the air due to the propellers spinning around.

All of you gathered up near the exit, doing the last weapon and inventory check up. When everything was proper and intact, you were ready for the ramp to open.

━ Gonna wait for your signal on the radio ━ Nikolai said with a Russian accent, flicking some of the controls above his head. ━ Nadrat im zadnitsu [rus.: Kick their asses].

━ Sure will. ━ Gaz patted the pilot on his shoulder, before joining the rest of the team. The platform began lowering itself until it hit the ground beneath, hard.

You were supposed to meet up with Captain Price, leading a group of his own, just a few kliks from your landing location. Team’s sole purpose that night was to infiltrate the cartel’s hideout, north of Mexico's border. It wasn’t a fortress, but a well equipped warehouse at most. 

Well, at least that's what your superiors were suspecting.

They needed proof of the cartel's affiliation with powerful drug traders overseas and any other information you managed to find inside, while Price’s team created a diversion. You were a group of professionals, what could go wrong?

When all of you walked out the helo, you took a look around, eyes getting used to the darkness flooding the field around. The night has fallen as the sun disappeared over the horizon. 

You stuck closely to MacTavish as it was never smart to split up without strict order. Your main task as a medic was to keep an eye on them, patch them up if needed – overall, keep them alive.

There were no crickets to be heard, creatures hiding somewhere in the grass. But the gut feeling, or rather a natural intuition convinced you, something else was lurking in the plain field. When Nikolai started the engine again of the helo and flew off the ground, your eyes crossed with Ghost’s. 

It was too quiet.

He believed something was off too and the Englishman was much more experienced in a field than you. That could only mean trouble. 

You pinched your lips together into a fine line, involuntarily holding a breath in. Your muscles and joints were in a preparation mode. If the military had a medal for prophetic abilities, you would have a stack of them by now. 

Just as you started moving towards the old, abandoned truck in the middle of the grassy field, the first shots got fired. Your knees softened, when you sprinted towards the rusty vehicle to take a cover. 

You managed to take a quick look through the scope on your rifle, trying to asses – where were the fuckers coming from. But they hid in the bushes quite well. Those who were foolish enough to come closer to your group, quickly got eliminated.

Kyle was right by your side by the rusty car, shooting just above your head as you kneeled down. Suddenly an enemy troop jumped from his cover swinging a knife at your comrade. The steel shimmered in the moonlight.

It was a matter of seconds – despite the training sergeant had received, he couldn’t break the laws of time and space. You, on the other hand, were facing the threat directly. 

━ Gaz, down! ━ You yelled, before taking down the man, piercing his chest with few bullets. You held the rifle up and steady, meanwhile the attacker stumbled backwards and fell onto the coarse grass beneath. Lifeless. 

Kyle nodded in your direction, not exchanging a word of gratitude, but he didn’t have to. Besides, there was no time for courtesy. You were under fire. 

━ Piece ‘f cake, eh? Real nice fuckin’ cake, Lt. ━  Soap mocked Ghost earlier words, as his predictions regarding this mission didn’t include an ambush right off the bat. ━ What now?

━ Focus, MacTavish, we need to take a cover. There’s an ol’ farm, only a klik east-south ━ The lieutenant reloaded his own rifle with a firm tug on the empty magazine. As always, he kept a cold blood even when surprised by unpredictable ━  We’re headin’ there, is that clear? 

━ Aye. ━ Gaz approved and you silently nodded, feeling the raging pulse of your own heart in the neck artery. 

You noticed that his dark gaze got stuck on your face, that probably got a little too pale due to the adrenaline. You were still getting used to working in a field, you’ve never been cornered like this before. Verbatim. 

Every time after the mission, when you lay still in the barrack at night time, you wonder if Ghost felt like he was actually babysitting the whole Task Force. At least sometimes. Because it was usually you, Soap or Gaz who got into trouble.

Kyle and Johnny were around the same age, still fairly young to be in special forces, but you? You were even younger and less skilled, though you managed to catch up with different abilities than your male mates. 

And Lieutenant Riley? He was older than all of you, that’s for sure. You didn’t know how much exactly, but that’s what you managed to deduce since your joining the squad. 

So it wasn't an uncommon occurrence, where Ghost took the lead during a crisis and led you all to safety. He was more than sure all of you would manage on your own, if the circumstances were different. 

━ Y/C, with me ━ the lieutenant stated, getting ready for the next step. ━ Soap, Gaz, you go together. We’re movin’, now. 

Each soldier with a rifle held steadily in their hands, began to move swiftly through the darkness of the upcoming night. While Gaz and Soap took the right flank, you and Ghost took care of the left. The lieutenant kept in mind checking the back too. All you had to do was push forward.

It was a challenging task to keep up with their longer strides, but they were mindful of your struggles. You would never be left behind. One for one. 

The outline of the old barn appeared in the reach of your hand as you pointed the rifle’s barrel towards the two men coming from your left. You managed to take one down, by shooting through his knee, however you missed the other one.

You cursed in your native language, letting the frustration out. Within the span of a couple seconds you collected your breath and aimed once again. This time you shot him, right through his shoulder. They had bullet proof vests, therefore shooting at their chest made no sense at all. 

Shooting at the vest from up close – then, that’s a different story.

Muppets, as Captain Price called them, took down each one of the enemies without a slip up on their flank. 

You’ve never said it outloud to anyone, especially not any member of Task Force, but in a work field you looked up to…well, some of them. They executed their tasks immaculately. Whilst you still had some things to learn, they were usually understanding, willing to help out. Usually, not always. 

Sometimes, due to his harsh comments, you thought that Ghost expected you to be born with skills he achieved through the years in a service. Which, for obvious reasons, was not fair.

The way to the farm was a bumpy one, tall grass covering any holes in the ground, but you finally made it. Ghost and Gaz broke into the old stable and began checking out the insides. You were just behind them, when you heard Soap’s grunt through clenched teeth.

It could only mean one thing – Johnny got shot. You reached to touch his arm, maybe to pull him inside, but the Scottish sergeant did it anyway. With Kyle’s help you shut the heavy doors behind to give the team extra coverage. 

You finally took a deep breath. 

Ghost spoke through the radio, slowly walking up to the barn's other end. You deduced that he spoke with Price about the ambush, but your focus was on blood pouring out of the fresh wound.

You stepped closer and MacTavish leaned in, letting you take a look. And it didn’t look good. Soap inhaled the chilly air, a droplet of sweat rolling down his temple.

━ Shit. ━ You felt Ghost’s gaze upon your back, when you cursed with such passion. He was waiting on a report. ━ Bullet went through his arm. 

━ The cartel wasn’t wasting money on security, huh?  ━ Gaz mentioned, still quite not believing himself they encountered such skilled soldiers. Why weren’t they informed about that beforehand? They would take a bigger team.

━ But ━ you continued ━ because Soap is so bulky, the ammo didn’t scratch any important artery. 

━ I knew you’d appreciate my form, lass. 

━ Nevertheless, I insist on patching him up.

━ Insist? ━ The big Englishman repeated what he just heard, surely raising an eyebrow beneath mysterious balaclava. At least that's what you imagined him to do. When he looked at you, he saw your scowl. ━ Fuckin’ hell, fine. We need to stay ‘ere until Price comes with backup. 

Ghost’s voice sounded firm and emotionless as always. Maybe there was a hint of annoyance, but who wouldn’t be? The intel wasn’t good enough if the cartel's security managed to take you by surprise and outsmart the special forces. 

Kyle silently went outside to take a look around, patrol the surroundings when you took care of John’s nasty wound.

━ Hey, I’ll manage, no need to–

━ Don’t even start ━ you interrupted Scottish man, rummaging through the medic bag.  ━ You want them to follow us by the trickle of blood you left behind? Or do you want to faint due to blood loss?

━ Alright, alright, I get it, lass. Sweet Jesus. 

━ You’re like children. ━ The lieutenant pointed out at your foolish scuffle, checking each corner of the barn. 

━ Do you know children that carry M4s?━ An even more stupid joke escaped your mouth, before you giggled silently, opening the new package of gause. Even Johnny chuckled, when you began applying pressure on top of his wound. 

━ Keep your morals like this and we just might fulfill our task. 

Ghost definitely had the charisma of an exhausted father, but that was one of his characteristics that not many people were fond of. But you were. You liked his tacky humor, always a way to brighten the day.

━ One-four-one, do you copy? 

A sudden sound of the radio on your vest broke the silence. It was a voice belonging to Gaz, but usually his tone wasn’t so… nervous. Another bad omen. 

━ We need to get out of ‘ere! ━ Just as he finished the sentence, Kyle ran through the barn’s door, M4 rifle in his hand. ━ They’ve got their own reinforcement. 

━ How many? ━ You asked, finishing wrapping a tight bandage over Soap’s bicep. 

━ I saw four cars riding through that bush we came from. ━ Dark skinned soldier answered, glaring through his shoulder. You have to be very aware of your surroundings from now on.

━ Y/C, you feel like sniping? ━ The skull had spoken, the brown eyes looking at you. No, through you. ━ Can you cover us?

━ Yes, I’ll keep an eye from the attic. 

━ Good. 

━ What about Price? Where is he? ━ Soap asked, reloading his weapon. 

The Englishman pressed the button on his radio.

━ Bravo 0-6 this is Ghost, how long?

━ Hang on, four more kliks. Are you still in the barn? ━ Captain asked through the speaking channel only your team had access to.

━ Positive.

━ Good, stay there. Over and out. 

Price’s voice vanished as soon as he echoed through the old stable. Situation wasn’t looking good for your team, but what else could you do? If Gaz was right and the enemy managed to distribute groups of his soldiers around the farm, there was no way out. 

So you had to defend your position and wait. For what? At this point for a backup that miraculously appears from the skies.

You swiftly climbed onto the wooden ladder until you reached the upper floor of the old stable. There were bales of hay scattered around and few windows. One of the bigger ones was facing the courtyard between the buildings. When you were in a position, you took a look around the property. 

Ghost was already prepared on the right side of the building you were in and Gaz was on the other. Meanwhile Soap was slowly walking around the antique fountain in the middle of the courtyard. 

Everyone was ready and anticipating the enemy’s next move. 

━ Gaz, three coming from your left. ━ You warned him through the speaking channel, before pointing the rifle’s end to those mentioned soldiers. 

When the adrenaline bursts inside of your veins, time passes quite fast. Which was a dangerous thing, because if you lost track of it or a consciousness about your surroundings – you would be dead quickly.

You had to withhold your nerves and focus on one task at the time.

After a deep breath in, you slowly let it out. Looking through the rifle’s loupe, you began shooting at the group that just got out of the truck. A gunfire right beneath their feet, before they got perforated with your bullets. 

A bitter, metallic taste spreaded over your tongue. You swallowed some saliva, checking up if you had bit the inside of your cheek. It happened before, when you completely zoned out during a shooting. You were so fixated on the task, you clenched your jaw on the delicate tissue. 

But this time it was just remorse, building up each time you pulled the trigger. Of course, you knew not each inflicted harm caused inevitable death, some just made the enemy’s soldiers… indisposed. Nonetheless, it was a burden you had to carry on your shoulders.

When you cleared out the zone near the parked car, your sight moved to the Ghost outpost. He was stabbing the soldier's neck and shoulder with short and quick movements. In your assessment, he was doing fine.

Then when you wanted to check on Gaz and Soap, there was a thud over the wooden surface that got your attention. You snapped your head towards the sound and saw one soldier that managed to climb  here. 

━ I found the sniper. ━ The man said into his own radio, hooked over his tactical vest. 

He rushed towards you and you tried to point your rifle at him. The man was faster and he grabbed the weapon, stopping you from shooting at him. There was only a little window of time to decide what to do next. So you used all your body weight to tackle that soldier to the ground.

Your arms wrapped around his thighs and you pushed forwards, causing him to fall backwards. Meanwhile, still having an upper hand, you reached for a karambit that was stacked behind your belt. 

You managed to climb on top of him swiftly, because that was your advantage in a clash with big, muscular men. You raised your hand and before the blade reached his chest, the man grabbed your wrist in the air, blocking your further movements. 

For a short while you struggled against his grip, trying to push the knife into his ribcage with the mass of your upper body. However, the mercenary locked you with his leg and rolled over you, trapping you beneath him. 

You took a quick look around – both of you rolled over dangerously close to the edge of the attic. A sight of a few meters depth made you lightheaded. So you continued struggling, as the soldier held a firm grip over your wrist, cutting the blood flow. Even when your wrist went numb, you did not drop that karambit. 

It was your most valuable bargaining chip in this situation.

You huffed a couple of times, slightly changing the position under the man’s frame. But when he finally reached for his gun, you grabbed the short barrel and pointed it far from your head. 

Calculating the next step carefully, you decided to let him win over the knife in your hand. Because with the drop of it, he released your wrist. The man swung his whole shoulder to punch you in the face. 

For a short moment you saw spots in front of your eyes, when his clenched fist met your cheekbone. Ouch. 

And finally, when your arms began to give up, you focused your defense on your legs – they were stronger. You managed to tuck them beneath his pelvis and strengthen your legs, kicking him over your head. Only then, you released the barrel of the gun. 

The mercenary fell over the edge of the attic and onto the ground beneath. You heard the loud thud followed by a crack. He broke his neck.

You laid there for a while, collecting your breath as you just faced death. Quite a normal day in the life of a soldier. The shootouts from the outside began to fade and it got you worried. You had to check that out.

━ Steaming Jesus ━ a familiar voice, brought you back to your full strength. You got up on your knees and carefully looked through the hole in the floor. ━ Is that how you greet people?

The American was standing above the body you just threw from the upper floor. A puddle of blood staining the ground. 

━ Alex! ━ You expressed your enjoyment, seeing your college for the first time in a while. It meant he came with a backup. A miracle of tonight's ambush.  ━ You’re saving our asses. 

━ Come down now, the situation is under control. 

You ran to gather your weapon, before hooking it around your shoulder. You quickly climbed down the ladder and walked up to a man with bright eyes and trimmed mustache. 

━ Laswell send her regards. Price team wouldn’t make it on time ━ Alex Keller explained, putting one of his hands on your shoulder as the two of you slowly walked out of the barn to the courtyard. ━ A bloodbath, huh? Only the four of you?

Soap was sitting on the fountain’s edge, the material hugging his arm wasn’t soaked with blood. “Good” you thought. Some of Alex’s soldiers that were sent here by Kate Laswell walked around the farm to check every corner. 

━ We don’t like crowds. ━ Gaz reached his hand to greet their friend, who was in Urzikstan. At least, that's what they thought. Until now. 

━ Understandable, sergeant. ━ The ends of his mustache lifted up as he smiled. ━ We should wait here for Price and regroup. 

━ So we continue what we started? ━ Just before you asked, Soap and Ghost joined the conversation in the middle of the courtyard, the pathways laid out with stones.

━ We can’t retreat now, they would know we’re after ‘em. ━ The lieutenant explained, why the retreat was an idea not even being speculated here. The presumed cartel would move along with their belongings, the proof you needed to gather. 

So therefore withdrawal was off the table. 

━ We need to strike ‘ard, now. ━ Ghost continued his talk, when the soldiers began to talk between each other from the other side of the abandoned house. 

All of you turned around to see the upcoming Captain Price, pressing his rifle to his chest. 

━ Took ya long enough, Captain. ━ Gaz stated bluntly, few droplets of blood appearing on his forehead. 

━ Yeah, the intel was shit, we’re gonna take care of it later. Now, we have different targets. Gather up. Everyone in one piece? 

The man in his forties looked at each one of you – from head to toes. Obviously, his eyes were locked with the bandage over Soap’s arm, but MacTavish quickly assured him it was only a scratch on the surface. 

Which it wasn’t, yet he wasn’t bleeding, so for the sake of peace you nodded your head to assure Price.

━ Alright, the real fun can begin. We got ‘em outnumbered, this is going to be a quick and smooth operation. No slip ups from now on, understood?

The whole team agreed and began to mentally prepare for what was coming. Captain patted Gaz on his shoulder, before slowly walking away.

━ No more flying corpses? ━ Alex whispered, leaning towards you. It seemed that only the two of you heard the conversation. 

And maybe Ghost who was standing on the other side of Sergeant Keller, because he looked at you with amusement. 

━ We’ll see about that. Just try to get on my bad side, American boy. 

Price whistled in a high pitched tone, announcing that all of you should gather up. 

Once again you had that feeling in your guts, that it was going to be a long, exhausting night. And at the end of the day, your hand would be covered in blood, like a butcher (which you swore you wouldn’t be).

[impyssadobsessions]

DpxDC vague concept.. The normal what if Damian and Daniel was brothers. EXCEPT what if when the Fentons adopted/fostered Danny, they thought he was possessed by a ghost because of the pit rage this feral child had. So they managed to successfully cure Danny of it- but because of it and being revived from the pit Danny lost all his memories of the league. He didn't even know he was adopted. Until ding dong years later finds out and is so confuse. Jazz like OH right.. you did try to kill me when mom and dad took you in. Danny: I DID WHAT?! Jazz: Mom said you were trying to assert your rightful place or something like that. Sam: Pfft! No way Danny could be that scary- Parents have photos. Danny was indeed terrifying the first few photos they had of him.

Also actually had this idea of the concept.. from like What if Danny ended up in Gotham because parents doing a convention and had to be saved by Batman and Robin.. Only for Damian to recognize Danny and start investigating to see if this really is who he think it is. He keeps it from his siblings though they all know Damian is up to something. Damian gets his answer even after blowing up the machine from it trying to read Danny's dna sample. Damian then warns Danny to leave Gotham- doesn't realize at first how much Danny remembers or not. But once its clear he doesn't, he just really strains Danny needs to leave. Damian fearing Talia and the League of Assassins will find out Danny's alive and well. Though never having a close bond due to the nature of the league with Danny, he didn't want his brother to be subjected to it again. (Damian only having realized how much he regrets not being an actual brother to Danny after living with the bats and learning what family relationships are suppose to be like.)

Danny finding out he's adopted- and also a deep-rooted fear rises as something is telling him to really heed Damian (Robin at the time)'s warning. Only hard part is getting his parents to leave when they're about to reveal their grand achievement to the world. So Danny has to juggle sabotaging his parents' portal they're making for the convention, avoiding being kidnapped, figure out who's after his parents invention, and his own turmoil (of being adopted, not remembering who he is, and fear of where he came from) Of course turns out the League of Assassins and Court of Owls are already interested in Fentons' invention.. more importantly the ectoplasm that powers it. Danny really has far too much on his plate. While Damian tries to keep it secret the entire time that Danny is his brother from the other bats as they try to figure out why the assassins and owls are interested and what they plan to do with the Fentons and their inventions. explaining things poorly again LOL my mind been rummaging this idea all day especially after I read Noise and Light by TheWritingOwl last night on Ao3 >w< hehe.

[jadenoryuu]

Phandom Holiday Truce Time!

(For maximum experience, please turn the light mode on.)

Sorry for keeping you waiting, @raaorqtpbpdy here's your @phandomholidaytruce gift!

When I saw the prompts "Danny-Wes Role Swap", comboed with the No One Knows AU, Creepy Cryptid Danny and your mention about the Ghost King Danny trope only used in a significant way, the gif "I have a MIGHTY need!" started playing in a loop, so here's the bg for this mini-comic.

Before the Portal Accident, Wes and Danny were friends. Not as close as Danny and Tucker, but they sometimes hung out when the Fentons were too busy to entertain Wes' interest in the occult.

My boy Wes Weston has also a side hobby/obsession with basket and it all started since he watched for the first time Space Jam. (It doesn't help that I headcanon Amity Park in Illinois, which means Chicago Bulls.)

(So he plays basket because His Airness does so and because MJ was involved and interacted with the embodiment of a visual novel. Talk about supernatural!)

(Yes, I'm saying that crossovers between animated and physical world can count as a supernatural and ghost-related event.)

All of this premise was to introduce the personalized jumpsuit that the Fentons made for Wes with the colors and accessories of the Chicago Bulls.

(Jack made a mistake with the number and stitched only the "2", so once Wes became a halfa, he added the "3" with marker and later learned to shapeshift enough to change some of the inverted colors of the jumpsuit. Originally it was white with red inserts, the accident made it black with blue inserts, then the shapeshift finally made it black with red inserts.)

Since it's a No One Knows AU, Wes was alone when the accident happened, but being the smart bean he is, no one discovered that he's a halfa until Danny, much like Jazz in canon, discovers Wes' double nature after stalking investigating him.

Like sister, like brother, Danny doesn't say anything to Wes about knowing, but here and then he assists (in the shadows) Wes in ghost wrangling.

Due to living above the active portal and Maddie experimenting with ectoplasm while pregnant, Jazz and Danny are liminal, the latter more than the former. (Thus, Danny becomes the creepy cryptid of Amity Park.)

Even if Danny isn't a halfa, Vlad still tries his scheme of stealing the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage to obtain enough power to defeat Wes' hero persona (who Vlad believes is a full ghost).

Much akin the Reign Storm episode, Amity ends in the Ghost Zone, but Wes gets stuck fighting "alone" the army (the Fentons and a reluctant Plasmius do the same on another front after the Ecto-suit is deemed a failure).

While his parents are out fighting, Danny sneaks in the lab and fixes the Ecto-suit (my boy is as much as a genius as his family, after all), then goes to challenge Pariah.

Due to his liminality, after the victory, Danny IS eligible for the Throne, so he becomes the King. (He doesn't discover this immediately, but when the Observants start bothering him, he gets the explanation.)

So, after declaring Amity Park Wes' (and his) Haunt and a No Fight Zone, the ghost attacks practically stop, leaving Wes on edge, because he doesn't know about the Law.

Thus, we're back to this mini-comic! Danny decides to finally reveal both that he knows Wes is a halfa and that he's the Ghost King, but where would be the fun if he didn't mess with Wes a bit? So he amps his creepy factor and plays a Yandere act (he isn't, he's doing so just for the prank. As a matter of fact, 3-5 seconds after the last declaration, he bursts out cackling at Wes appropriate horrified face, then after moving to a more private place -a roof-, Danny explains everything.)

Does this became a UFS? I like to think so, but you're free to decide.

I'm adding the non transparent versions under for those without the light mode:

[lockpickingliar]

Hello! May I request information regarding The Ghost Kokichi OC? I have been informed of its existence and am now curious. Thanks in advance!

I'm gonna be real, at FIRST, I had NO IDEA what you were talking about when I got this. I thought you were talking about one of our DOA kids, Cookie, Cusp, or Gemini.

However!

@woobifykamukura has since informed me that you're actually asking about a Kokichi expy I made for an original story they and I collaborate on for our old podcast, Zero to Chaos! (Note: Currently this podcast is on indefinite hiatus due to the fact we are taking the time and care to revamp the story and start it again from scratch.)

Without going too in-depth about the entire world, I will at least explain that there is a fundamental concept in this world for spirits and the afterlife. There is a distinct Spirit Realm where there are three types of spirits: spiritborn, those born in the Spirit Realm to other spirits; halfborn, those born to a living human and a spirit; and humanborn, someone who was born a living human and who has since died and become a spirit. Humanborn spirits typically manifest with some distinct attribute that relates to how they died.

With that out of the way, I will tell you about The Boy! He doesn't have his own name yet, since I haven't had much of a chance to think on it (read: I'm having too much fun with the development of the character himself to think about little details like a Name), so for now I've taken to calling him Bloodkichi.

Bloodkichi is a humanborn, meaning he was once a living person who died and came to the Spirit Realm in his afterlife. As of now, the circumstances of his death are mostly the same as Dangan Kokichi: He was in a snuff film type killing game, and in an attempt to usurp the rules he sacrificed himself in a gruesome death by hydraulic press to obfuscate the identity of the victim.

As a result, he takes the form of a poorly-formed mass of blood and viscera, which he can coagulate at will to shape himself into the vague silhouette of his former self. I love him so much he is such a goopy mess. He leaves a trail of blood wherever he goes and is able to change his viscosity to a degree to squeeze through small spaces and slink across the floor kind of like an Inkling from Splatoon swimming through ink. He likes to slink around like this to sneak up on people and pop up to scare the everloving shit out of them. Carpet is annoying because he gets soaked up in it and it slows him down, and he has to sleep in a container of some sort like a bowl or tub because he will just be sopped up into beds and blankets like a sponge. You could probably put him in a jar and shake him up just to watch his one (1) eye swirl around in it and make him dizzy. When he gets stressed out, he has more trouble maintaining a semisolid form, so he literally "melts" under the pressure into a little puddle.

But to be honest it's actually kind of distressing being a sentient mass of coagulated blood because he can't ever really be hugged or touched by another person without their arms just squishing through him like a wet, bloody clot, which people find gross. Not to mention his overall grotesque appearance makes him kind of unapproachable in general, which makes people avoid him in general. It makes him kind of lonely.

Not that he'd ever admit that, though!

Spirits in the Spirit Realm also have distinct powers unique to them in some way. For humanborns, this also often reflects the manner and circumstances of their death. Typically they manifest as a spirit accepts their death, but due to the nature of suicide, spirits who die via suicide have their powers manifest very quickly and explosively.

Bloodkichi is the Spirit of Illusion--or the Spirit of Deceit, as he likes to tell people (it sounds cooler!). He is able to warp people's perception of the world around them, on both large and small scales. He is capable of large illusory projections on par with hallucinogenic-level altered reality, but it takes a LOT of energy to maintain that perception because it doesn't actually change the reality. Once a person realizes that they're being deceived, it all completely falls apart, so it's not really worth the trouble most of the time. No, he's more likely to change people's perception of small things. He'll give you a basket of pears only for you to realize later that they were actually tennis balls. Things like that. Just like with his plan where he made it appear that he wasn't the one who died, he can make things around him appear like something they're not to others. Obfuscates reality in a way.

Sometimes he makes people see him as a Normal Boy instead of a malformed mass of blood, usually when he first appears to them to appear more approachable. He really wants people to like him. However, the longer he interacts with people, the more likely something will happen to make the illusion fall apart--they'll touch him, or catch him at a bad time. Once that happens, he'll never be able to trick them again. They'll always see him for what he really is. A bloody monster.

He's so silly, look at him!

[my-own-walker]

Hiiii can I request some kyle angst where him and the reader r dating but she catches him flirting with Zoe or something at a party and she storms off etc etc 🥲🥲🥲

In Love With A Ghost, Please Don’t Come Back

note: so because this request says angst and doesn't clarify otherwise, they're not getting a happy ending...mwahahaha

warnings: angst, cheating/pseudo-cheating, drama, college shit

+++

I still remember the way I smiled on the way home when I met him. I was a kid again, unable to sleep like it was the Christmas Eve. His charm enchanted me. It was as if he had a silver tongue, saying everything I wanted to hear.

‘I just think you’re cool,’ he’d said to me over the phone the day after. ‘Of course I want to see you again.’

I say all of this as if Kyle is a bad person. He’s not. What he is, however, is a flirt by nature. His words have the power to make you feel like you’re the only girl in the world.

I fell fast and hard for the blonde boy with the deepest brown eyes. It almost wasn’t fair how insane he made me feel. Kyle was attractive, sweet, and a giant goofball, so it was natural for any girl to want him. But I had him.

The world turned all around him. He was the sun and I was just a mere planet in his orbit. I don’t know how I ever could have lived without him. As soon as I met him, there was no ‘before him.’ His love was a caress I couldn’t escape, nor did I want to.

At the end of the day, though, Kyle was an idiotic college boy. He couldn’t see five feet in front of him. He lived exclusively in the moment and didn’t understand what he had until it was gone. It was tunnel vision.

Not to say my love for him wasn’t reciprocated. I was so happy with him. He treated me so well. He even lived with me in an apartment on campus. We were happy in our little blissful life together in our place.

Parties were another story, though. He was so easily distracted by everything around him. I’d stand in the corner, wordlessly watching, waiting by the window, feeling empty. I didn’t fit in at his frat functions. Not for lack of trying, mind you. It was almost like he was embarrassed to be seen with me.

Every attempt I made to join in was unsuccessful due to his flippant attitude towards me. His frat brothers changed him, made him someone in public that he wasn’t in private.

+

It was ‘Thirsty Thursday,’ as (insert frat here) called it. Kyle invited me to come along, god knows why. They hosted this party on one Thursday every month. It was just another lame excuse to drink too much and act stupid, as was any other function.

We arrived and once again, Kyle was immediately pulled away from my side, leaving me standing by the stairway alone. I only had eyes for him, watching as his frat brother Joey weaved him through the swell of people in the main room. God, I probably looked so pathetic.

I detached myself from my feelings of abandonment and pushed my way through the crowd to the backyard. There, more drunken 20-somethings were falling over themselves to get to the drinks at the pseudo-bar. It was really just a fold-up table with a smattering of large glass bottles containing hard liquor with a few feeble attempts at ‘chasers.’

When the swell near the table cleared up a bit, I snatched the nearest bottle of cheap liquor and poured a cup. It was bitter and disgusting, but as the warmth of it spread through my middle, I was pleased at the job it did. I needed to loosen up, after all.

The party had increased substantially in size when I got back inside. I stood awkwardly in the kitchen, waiting to see a passing glimpse of my boyfriend again. He was altogether there and not. It was grating on my psyche. I moved further into the house.

Eventually, my eyes fell upon a scene I had never seen at one of these parties before. Kyle, being still for a moment, not surrounded by frat guys. I rushed, as quickly as one can in a large crowd like that, toward him, but as I got closer, the circumstance became clearer to me.

In front of Kyle was a beautiful, doe-eyed brunette with long straight hair and full lips. Her black dress hugged her form just right. She giggled lightly as she spoke to him, taking a strand of hair in her fingers and twirling it. He looked down at her with a huge smile on his face, the corners of his eyes wrinkling in further emphasis of his joy. My stomach churned in the most awful way. That drink I had was about to come back up.

I stopped dead in my tracks to watch, building my case before taking up the issue with him. I didn’t want to storm in on an innocent conversation acting like a crazy bitch.

The two conversed for a bit. At one point, she even went to leave him, but he grabbed her by her arm to keep her there. The giggling and smiling continued. I tried to calm the quiet ball of rage that was forming in the pit of my stomach. My heart dropped when he leant down to whisper something in her ear. That’s when I decided to descend upon them.

‘Hey girl, is he bothering you?’ I asked the stranger. Kyle’s head snapped in my direction, a look of dread coming across his big dumb face.

‘Oh, uh, ahaha, no I’m okay!’ she stuttered. ‘Kyle was just-‘

‘Huh, we’re on a first name basis already?’ I snarked, looking Kyle dead in the eyes. ‘I’m sorry, what’s your name?’

‘I’m Zoe,’ she replied, demeanor changing. This poor girl.

‘I’m Y/N and I’m sorry, but this idiot wasted your time tonight, Zoe,’ I apologized. ‘He is unfortunately dating me, but maybe not for long.’

‘Oh god, Y/N, I’m sorry, I had no idea…’ she gasped. I turned my attention back to my boyfriend.

‘Kyle, care to chat? Outside?’ I spat. He simply nodded and followed like a puppy with its tail between its legs through the house and out the front door. The front yard was always less crowded. In this case, only two other people sat smoking on the stoop.

I marched a decent bit away from the house before rounding on Kyle.

‘Really, Kyle? What the fuck was that?’ I shouted.

‘Y/N, it wasn’t like that,’ he whined.

‘Like what? I fucking saw the way she was looking at you. The way you were looking at her. What do you take me for? You fucking asshole!’ I cried.

‘Listen, I’m not interested in that girl Zoe. Never was. I was just talking to her,’ he defended himself.

‘Oh yeah? Talking to her? The thing you’re too busy to do with me at parties? You’re so repulsed by acting like I’m your girlfriend in any way when we’re at things like this,’ I continued. ‘You don’t even LOOK at me when we’re at parties, let alone pause to have a conversation.’

‘There was nothing behind that, I promise. I trust you and know you’ll have fun without me, so I go have my own fun,’ he replied.

‘You think I have fun? I stand there alone and wait for you to tell me it’s time to leave. You call that fun?’ I scoffed.

‘I didn’t know that,’ he muttered.

‘Because that’s how fucking blind you are,’ I yelled. ‘You can’t even see how much I SUFFER. You only care about yourself.’

‘That is so untrue, Y/N, you know that.’

‘What I know right now, is that I feel like I’m in love with a ghost. Someone who only appears when it’s convenient for them to love me back. You did this to yourself,’ I spat.

He stood there staring at me with wide eyes, shaking his head. I had never blown up on him like this before.

‘Please, I implore you, don’t come home tonight. I don’t want to see you,’ I sobbed. I turned on my heel and began walking in the direction of our shared apartment, tears streaming down my face.

‘Y/N! Please! Don’t be stupid,’ he called after me.

I spun around. ‘I’m not the stupid one here, Kyle. Don’t come back.’ I walked off without looking back again, ignoring all of his pleas for me to stop.

+++

Ahhhh back to the writing grind. Missed it. Thanks for this request! Send more in. I’ve got a lot of time this week.

[heroofashesnot]

what are your favorite murderdock fics?

I'm not good at picking favorites so this will be a bit long and also under a read more, also my ability to word started to fail me at times so sorry ahead of time.

Series:

-Take What the Water Gave Me by The_Shy_One: Having Castle as the main POV character for most of the series allows the writer to strike this balance between what the audience does and doesn't know. As of such while this is a romance, there is an element of mystery and danger as Matt's true nature and intentions are masterfully hidden. Plus I'm a sucker for mercreatures!

-The Lawyer All the Wickedness by poisonivory: Listen the way the writer unfolds this version of Matt and Foggy's story is exceedingly gripping even after having read this series several times over.

-Ghost Stories/Haunted Houses by Faaacethefacts: Honestly this is a case of initially reading for Murderdock and then staying for witnessing Sam's descent. However, the way that Sam and Matt's toxic father and son relationship is so beautifully written and how it both contrasts and mirrors the relationship that their Earth-616 counterparts makes it too good to leave out.

-Nelson & Murderdock by thelonebamf: While the stories within this series are all fairly different, they all share the writer's beautifully crafted narratives and excellent characterizations!

Spider-Verse 2: Into the Devil-Verse by 94BottlesofSnapple: While this is only earth-65, the whole series is too good to only read those parts but the way the writer balances all the different relationships and characters while also having all them shine is enviable. Also how Gwen and Murderdock's interactions always seem to maintain this edge due to the undercurrent of the power Murderdock has over her is just so good...

Grayson's Home For Wayward Assassin Children by Ferith12: A DC Crossover that just characterizes younger Murderdock just so well!

Pathetic by Udekai: The way that this writer has the characters feel so very painfully human while not sacrificing any character traits is just so great. An excellent series for if you're in a pre-canon mood.

-Earth-65 Matt/Foggy Stories by BlueBioluminescence: While the reason I adore each of the fics in this series a little bit different for each, I thoroughly enjoy all of them.

Murderdock x DA Nelson:

-give up on trying to save us by returnsandreturns: The way that Matt manipulates Foggy and how that blends so naturally into the sex is just so good. Power dynamics, my beloved <3.

-Ask Nelson and Murderdock (Fan Comic) by thelonebamf: Can also be found over here on tumblr, wonderful art, adore how organicly their relationship progresses. Also Dramatic Irony is so very good.

-shake hands with the devil (but i'm calling it a fist fight) by AsperJasper: A great take on a more heroic Murderdock, the way everything builds is great and so good...

(With the Exception Of You) I Dislike Everyone In The Room by MissMoochy: A very manipulative Matt, the way that Foggy just gets more and more drawn into his pull like a spider in a web is just <3

-You're a Question to the Universe by Longdaysjourney: DA Nelson is absent in this one but the way Murderdock with his Earth-199999 counterpart and how he has to take the role of advice giver is just delight to read.

-human after all by JustGail: Outsider looking into Murderdock and DA Nelson's relationship is a good trope and having it be Gwen is just so smart... Also love having DA Nelson's connection with George Stacy being acknowledged...

-The Last Goodbye by StripedScribe with Art by thelonebamf: Hanahaki Disease is a trope that I personally have mixed feelings about but StripedScribe's take on it just knocks it out of the park! Having Murderdock's allergy to expressing his emotions stab him in the back is just great!

-A Murder of Crows (A Seduction of Foes) by inkforhumanhands: Lots of callbacks to the comics, miscommunication done so well and in character, also just funny as hell!

-Find me in the ashes by EmeraldStorm: Post-canon story that really shows the push and pull of these two's relationship in such an intoxicating way, a really gripping read!

-As we dance by brittlestars: Masochism and manipulation, two favorites of mine. Matt stroking Foggy's anger is just so good...

-Lost in The Palms by deniigiq: An eerily heartfelt story, Foggy is both biting and tender and just such a good stories.

Murderdock x Frank Castle:

-All's Fair in Love and Hate by blackmetaldahlia: Banter and kinky hate sex.

-Down To The River by Feathers_and_cigarettes: Terrible people doing terrible things, love the tension between who Castle thinks he is and how easily he gives into Matt.

-The Power of Manipulation by alohdark: The way that Matt draws Castle out of his comfort zone and maintains control over the situation is so good...

Misc.:

-A Matching Set by contact_high: Dwells on the similarities between Matt and Maggie, a short but haunting story.

-Into the Dragon-Verse by Chlodobird: Best understood with the rest of the series but listen-I cannot deny this take on Dragon!Murderdock doesn't delight me everytime I read it.

-Gently Wipe the Blood from Your Hands by 94BottlesOfSnapple: The whole story builds up this sense of foreboding that sends shivers down my spine in the best possible way.

-Gwenverse Backstory: Not Quite Lovesick by 94BottlesOfSnapple: This story perfectly balances the homely feeling of a mundane sick day with a high-strung character like Murderdock so well.

-Walking Out The Door by 94BottlesOfSnapple: The way that the writer maintains such a high tension throughout the story without it faltering is masterful and just the characterization is just wonderful.

-the dirt by tigrrmilk: The tension between how much Foggy knows about Matt's actions and what he doesn't want to know as well of the back and forth of Gwen and Matt's interactions is just wonderful.

-Blood and Tears by bluspirits: A speculation on Murderdock's time with the Hand that I have read time and time again.

-Be It Done to You by LieutenantSanya: The way that the writer gets into Murderdock's thought process during his suicide attempt is chilling, just a great analysis on the character.

-Mending With Gold by Writing_Puffin: The way Murderdock's weird affection Gwen is characterized and just how the two interact is just so good.

-Bending Towards Justice by Dragonbat: While this was written just after Murderdock's first appearance, I love this take on a more heroic Murderdock even if it is OOC now.

-Stranger Danger by bluspirits: Has lots of call backs to various aspects and mentions within the comic series as well describes a potential first meeting between Gwen and Matt that gains its tension in just how mundane it is.

-To Have a Voice With Which to Sing by SenkoWakimarin: A Cyberpunk take on Murderdock that has a perfectly eerie atmosphere, Matt's detached perspective is perfect for this characterization of him.

-A Foray in Morals by GremlinMan: Earth-199999 Frank Castle and Murderdock encountering each in extremely comedic way, an absolute delight.

-diminishing returns by Hueyhuey with Art by PomegranteBelleArt: Just The Characterizations! The Interactions! The Takes on Elektra and Eleanor! Fun read!

-Don't be a stranger by Kamaya: More centered on Gwen on Murderdock but shows their interactions while Gwen is in jail, also just Matt's bitterness and how the writer characterizes his depression is just lovely.

-The Devil That You Know by Kamaya: Oneshots that range from Matt's response to Elektra's death to his suicide attempt, love the way the writer writes darker topics.

-Fog and Shadow by The_Shy_One: Earth-616 Mike interacting with Murderdock, just a genius concept that is tackled so wonderfully, the way Matt just mocks Mike with what he knows and Mike's unease is just great.

-The Future Is Written In Cathode Rays by 94BottlesOfSnapple: The way Gwen responses to such a violent invasion of Murderdock's privacy through such an intimate view of his past and potential future is just! wow! This story is just visceral on such a personal level!

-Burn The Past by Gunn: A What-If in which Maggie lives, Matt is just so callous and it's! so! good!

-Enjoy the Dance by thelonebamf: The way that everyone interacts and the tension and suspense and the contradictions of Matt's thoughts are really good!

-Welcome Knife by neonbrutalism: Matt is a karma houndini and this is short but so good, post-canon.

-The Seven Stages Of Grief as Experienced by Norman Osborn by abitofren: Messed up in the best way, love how the writer gets inside of Matt's head and its shown is just so good.

-The Cat Came Back by Udekai: Such a great comic, the way that the writer uses lighting and such to tell the story is great, just really atmospheric...

-How Not to Kill Yourself: An Elaborate Long Con by Matthew M. Murdock by Ferith12: So fond of this one, just so very messy in such a great way.

-Holiness by Ferith12: Just analyzing Murderdock's relationship with religion and how it changes as he and also the way he views himself changes is great.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

[lumilasi]

Next up is Diojas' dad Alexander. For his humanoid Grimmhound form, since I figured they'd all look somewhat similar, I just used the one I drew for Mihail, and then changed around some details.

More info below:

Name: Alexander Sterling

Nicknames: Dear/Darling (Mellina), Boss (His Grimmhound/werewolf pack), Golden hound (Nickname among Grimmhounds in general due to his unique coloring) Papa (Mia) dad, old man (Diojas)

Age: Unknown, but he's fairly sure he was born before both world wars in human world.

Height: 187 cm

Friends: His pack of young grimmhounds and Lycans he sort of ended up as the boss off, more tba

Family: Wife Mellina Sterling (A powerful Lightcaster sorceress), Diojas (His eldest child/son) Mia (His daughter)

Powers:

Regeneration: His kind regenerate most injuries insanely fast, and are generally among the most durable land-dwelling beast types outside non-flying drakes.

Transformation: He has two forms; The humanoid skull-hound form, and a full black dog form the size of which he can change at will.

Shadows: He can merge with shadows to hide himself very well even in human form, and can attack you through them.

Bite force/claws: He has very strong bite force and can actually tear people's throats open even in human form. His claws can also be used to easily cut limbs off and damage metal.

Golden Hound Special power: Because he is a rare, more powerful type of his kind, Alexander has special form/extra claws that can also cut through magic essence and ghosts, meaning he is one of those rare type beings like Soul Eaters, who can affect a soul directly.

Keen senses: Being a predator type of beast, his sense of smell is about as accurate as you'd expect from a trained bloodhound, he also has excellent night vision, and can pick up the faintest of sounds from hundreds of meters away. Also he's generally just very aware of his surroundings.

human weaponry: He's an excellent shot and even a sniper, pretty much never missing his target. He also knows how to use blades if necessary.'

Leadership: He is the current leader of a large werewolf/ Grimmhound joined pack that mostly stays with his wife and daughter, but will immediately respond to his call if he asks them to come and help.

Weaknesses:

Light magic spells are naturally effective towards his kind, as they tend to dispel the skull-dog humanoid form and force them to turn back to full humans, which is their weakest form. It does specifically need to be some sort of sacred type of light, you can't just whip out a flashlight to force them to transform. (Unless it has somehow blessed light-bulb I suppose...)

He's very impulsive and doesn't always think things through, he's also kind of messy and tends to often leave kind of a disaster first impression with people.

Personality:

Alexander is pretty relaxed and almost lazy at first glance, which is why he tends to catch people by surprise when he decks them without warning. He is fairly good with children despite appearing scary at first glance to many, which is not too surprising given he's a loving father.

That being said, his kinder, gentler side is not to be mistaken for weakness (even if certain types of fools try); he is very good at his job of being the muscle for his wife, and absolutely ruthless in a fight if needed to be, largely due to his bg of having survived 2 world wars.

He used to be much more crouchy and antisocial (Which, tbf he still somewhat is) before meeting his wife, who gave him more of a purpose in life - by first just becoming her work partner. Them falling in love later was more of a result of their years of history working together before that.

FUN FACTS

He used to mostly live wandering life in hound form, so his wife had to teach him a lot of basic things about living as more human, such as how to take baths regularly.

While Mellina comes from the Ether, she and Alexander did meet in the human world.

Alexander is especially strong among his kin, which is why he ended up with golden bits in his hound form. He's considered kind of a royalty among them, although he doesn't give a shit about it.

You can tell Alexander is a special type because of his hair; Grimmhounds typically ALWAYS have black/very dark colored hair, no exceptions. The same way, his type of Grimmhounds are always blonde.

The pack he leads consists of the leftovers of another Grimmhound Mihail's group, and some werewolves they used to fight and defend a village against. (for a price)

he didn't really intend on gathering a pack, he just sorta stumbled into it, though it is typical for the Golden hounds like him to gather up a following, even if by accident.

His name was given to him by an older hunter he lived his dog years with, it was a reference to the old man's late son whose name was also Alexander. (Though the old man mostly called him "Alex" or "Buddy" or "Damn dog!")

He keeps getting told to tidy up and shave by Diojas - or anyone really - almost every other day, and his answer is always "No."

[detective-inspector-her]

so, the medium AU, right? would being a medium be like a discipline among sorcerers, or is it it's own thing, and would it be considered linked to necromancy?

would valkyrie be able to see the ghosts of characters who died in-series? with her being able to see sorcer ghosts before meeting skulduggery, does that mean she would already know a bit about sorcers and how magic works before hand? is she did would she have taken a name due to that? because, the ghosts could use her given name to control her

also how common are mediums?

and how common are ghosts, like are there alot, or only a few. also do they stay near their graves cause you said their stronger there (at least tommy is)

also, can you tell me about more ghosts, other than tommy?

(sorry for the long ask, the au sounds pretty interesting)

Okay, so Mediums are their own thing. Their natural-born like teleporters and sensitives. It's not linked to Necromancy but there are records of Necromancers protecting Mediums because they can 'access the stream'.

Valkyrie has known about magic her whole life because one of the first ghosts she met was her Great-Grandpa. He protected her through early life for reasons I'll explain later. She meets two ghost sorcerers in particular but I won't spoil that.

She has her first name 'Valkyrie' due to Gordon calling her Little Valkyrie, she doesn't have her last name yet because she hasn't decided. Ghosts don't have the power over names that Sorcerers do, they just aren't that powerful. They can possess Mediums though, which is why Valkyrie needed protecting.

Mediums were hunted down by pretty much everyone due to how powerful they are/were. They can channel power through ghosts, giving them access to pretty much every magical discipline if they're powerful enough so Sorcerers felt that they were too big a threat, especially during the war. Necromancers attempted to hide them but most failed.

Remnants also killed Mediums due to them being able to exorcise and banish them from people. They were taken out pretty quickly, even if they were already possessed. Another threat was ghosts and spirits themselves. A lot of young Mediums were possessed and forced to do malicious things before being killed or left for dead, so the chance of them being able to reach adulthood is rare if no one realises the child's gift.

Ghosts themselves, it depends. Some ghosts, the ones that want to stay or a cursed, can be seen by everyone, they're rare. A lot of others are just happy accidents, some ghosts stay in the place where they died, waiting to see a loved one, some are just waiting for their energy to fizzle out so they can move on, and some stay to protect until they're not needed anymore. They're pretty common and the dead don't leave immediately, they linger for a few minutes to a few days depending on how much death energy is around when they die. If that makes sense.

Tommy, for lack of a better example, stuck around his grave because he wanted to explore and he kept meeting more people (ghosts) who he found interesting (a five-year-old's curiosity knows no bounds). He meets Valkyrie, who he finds amazing so he sticks around and her presence gives him more and more energy to the point where he can be seen by other dead things (vampires, zombies, Skulduggery).

Thanks for the ask, I enjoy talking about this au so much. It's my favourite rn. Tell me if you have more questions or if some of this didn't make sense :D

[quiiscnt]

CHICO ― meet the ghosts

🕯 ❚❙❘ The mage has many ghosts under her control. At any given time they will surround her. She even has the ones with a stronger handle of physical object interactions working at her cafe. But there are a few she is particularly close to and appear more than others. It isn't rare for her to mention them from time to time.

HELDA : Her grandmother and the previous owner of Fairy Hill. She does not leave the apartment build and tends to only complain. Having her around is rather conflicting. Chico would prefer it if she moved on, but it is nice to still see her, even if she is cranky.

DOE : A Fairy Tail mage from many years ago who specialized in plant magic. She has a tan complexion with light freckles, giving her the appearance of a deer like her name sake. This is further by her kind and gentle nature. She was on a team with two younger girls, and when she passed of a sickness she stayed around to keep an eye on them. Feeling guilty for not being able to protect them anymore, something she hasn't been able to move past. Now she assists Chico in protecting others.

RAPHAEL : A rather smart young man who couldn't get over his own death. He wanted to continue learning which is what he was doing when Chico first found him in the city library. He was not a mage, and can not do much in a fight, but he is like a walking encyclopedia. His usefulness shines through when she is solving the pasts of other ghosts.

CLARISSA : Her newest ghost. A mage from Mermaid Heel who came to Magnolia to help in the war. A mage with solar powers, which were weakened greatly during the cloudy battle. When she died, she was rather confused, and missed her chance to move on. She is still young, at the age of nineteen, and out of all the ghosts who came from the war, Chico takes extra care of her. It isn't surprising to find Clarissa clinging close by because of this.

TONI & SONI : A brother sister pair who have been haunting this city so long no one can find information on them. There names were ones Chico gave herself due to them forgetting the originals. Toni, the older, is eight, is very protective of his little sister Soni, who is five. They have the unique magical ability matching magnets. While Toni repels objects, Soni can bring anything closer to herself. These are rather powerful and it is theorized that is because of how long they have been here.

ARIEUS : The most powerful ghost under her control, and he is not happy to be. One of the main reasons she dislikes leaving town is he is particularly hard to regain, each time the difficulty increases. Not much is known about him, just that he enjoyed terrorizing the towns people before Chico stopped him. He appears as a knight who only requips weapons with spikes. Arieus is not allowed to harm alive humans unless given permission, but that doesn't stop him from creating situations which can lead to harming Chico. So while she is not clumsy, she plays these events off as her being such. The other ghosts do there best to stop anything too dangerous befalling her.

[sennikold]

here are a few things about my beloved slavic ghost oc, heavily based in slavic myths and folklore (leaning more towards the western slavs and poles, however not exclusively):

there isn't much known about the origins of vola. not the ghost's real name, not real appearance, not really the specifics of how this ghost came to be exactly. a lot of it is due to the fact vola himself doesn't know where he's from; his consciousness returned already blank after he was dead and has been dead for a while. the name itself is only something that has been given to him over time, among others, and it means free will.

the mystery of his real appearance has many origins. some suspect it's because he was wrapped in a burial shroud too tightly and therefore could not uncover his own face, some say that it was because he was buried in a mass grave and became confused as to which body was his. in his ghostly appearance, he does have certain attributes that may suggest both could be true, but neither have ever been confirmed.

he rarely uses his true ghostly form. it's often said that whoever sees his true self is about to go on a significant tribulation, as his true form is really quite frightening and it's also when he is the strongest. precisely because it is when he's strongest, he only uses it in very significant moments, often times historically prolific.

in his ghostly form, he wears a funerary shroud as a tunic. the shroud is fully red, the tunic beneath is embroidered with traditional patterns. the red doesn't come from natural fabric tint, however, but rather looks to have been originally white and fully dipped in blood and tattered. beneath, he wears traditional shoes with puttee over trousers, and a belt. his form seems to be male, but it's hard to tell, as the shroud is rather loose. his face is a mystery — over the years, he adapted a traditional mask used in funerary rituals called dziady as a form of mockery of his many failed banishings. long golden hair falls loosely from beneath it, and on top of his head, he wears a crown of poppies.

generally speaking, since he rarely appears in his true form, he's very skilled at shapeshifting. he tends to appear as beautiful people with golden hair, usually dressed in red or white (though not exclusively, as he has taken form of people both young and old - it's just his main form is a young man with golden her, followed closely by what could be his twin sister). there tend to be poppies incorporated into these disguises, one way or another. though he leans towards the male gender, he's fine with being addressed in any other way, and opts for using feminine speech when in female form (since slavic languages are quite gendered and his name does sound somewhat feminine). he can be considered genderfluid. it's not just people he turns himself into, as he has been mistaken for a number of demons and slavic gods. he likes to pretend to be veles or krasatina the most.

for a while, he did work for veles, but only when he felt like it. the only god that can really make him do anything however, is marzanna.

there are many attributes associated with him, as well as many names. red and white are his colours. shaman's mask, poppies and moths are his symbols. he's associated with free will, as it corresponds with his capricious personality, one day feeling helpful, the other mischievous to the bone, and another full of wrath. his powers are also great, as his spiritual rank is higher than many strongest spirits. he's considered supreme precisely because he isn't tied to any place, like many other ghosts that haunt old castles or forests — he's free to go where he wants.

it's hard to say how far his power goes, and among his skills there are mind powers. it's said that meetings with him are fateful, but he never forces any outcomes. he's a patron of free will precisely because he leaves people with fateful choices, and whether they lead to their downfall or not is up to them.

it's said that when he first appeared, he was just a slightly annoying ghost rucking up food offerings left by the people during the rituals, but impossible to really get rid of. when approached by veles himself to move on, he simply refused and continued on his merry way. having disappeared for a while, the next time he appeared was with his true form already formed, causing a terrible ruckus and getting involved with a war between tribes. some said it was a revenge, but he has neither confirmed or denied. ever since then, he's been a prevalent figure of myth and has inspired a number of rhymes and myths.

[sennik]

here are a few things about my beloved slavic ghost oc, heavily based in slavic myths and folklore (leaning more towards the western slavs and poles, however not exclusively):

there isn't much known about the origins of vola. not the ghost's real name, not real appearance, not really the specifics of how this ghost came to be exactly. a lot of it is due to the fact vola himself doesn't know where he's from; his consciousness returned already blank after he was dead and has been dead for a while. the name itself is only something that has been given to him over time, among others, and it means free will.

the mystery of his real appearance has many origins. some suspect it's because he was wrapped in a burial shroud too tightly and therefore could not uncover his own face, some say that it was because he was buried in a mass grave and became confused as to which body was his. in his ghostly appearance, he does have certain attributes that may suggest both could be true, but neither have ever been confirmed.

he rarely uses his true ghostly form. it's often said that whoever sees his true self is about to go on a significant tribulation, as his true form is really quite frightening and it's also when he is the strongest. precisely because it is when he's strongest, he only uses it in very significant moments, often times historically prolific.

in his ghostly form, he wears a funerary shroud as a tunic. the shroud is fully red, the tunic beneath is embroidered with traditional patterns. the red doesn't come from natural fabric tint, however, but rather looks to have been originally white and fully dipped in blood and tattered. beneath, he wears traditional shoes with puttee over trousers, and a belt. his form seems to be male, but it's hard to tell, as the shroud is rather loose. his face is a mystery — over the years, he adapted a traditional mask used in funerary rituals called dziady as a form of mockery of his many failed banishings. long golden hair falls loosely from beneath it, and on top of his head, he wears a crown of poppies.

generally speaking, since he rarely appears in his true form, he's very skilled at shapeshifting. he tends to appear as beautiful people with golden hair, usually dressed in red or white (though not exclusively, as he has taken form of people both young and old - it's just his main form is a young man with golden her, followed closely by what could be his twin sister). there tend to be poppies incorporated into these disguises, one way or another. though he leans towards the male gender, he's fine with being addressed in any other way, and opts for using feminine speech when in female form (since slavic languages are quite gendered and his name does sound somewhat feminine). he can be considered genderfluid. it's not just people he turns himself into, as he has been mistaken for a number of demons and slavic gods. he likes to pretend to be veles or krasatina the most.

for a while, he did work for veles, but only when he felt like it. the only god that can really make him do anything however, is marzanna.

there are many attributes associated with him, as well as many names. red and white are his colours. shaman's mask, poppies and moths are his symbols. he's associated with free will, as it corresponds with his capricious personality, one day feeling helpful, the other mischievous to the bone, and another full of wrath. his powers are also great, as his spiritual rank is higher than many strongest spirits. he's considered supreme precisely because he isn't tied to any place, like many other ghosts that haunt old castles or forests — he's free to go where he wants.

it's hard to say how far his power goes, and among his skills there are mind powers. it's said that meetings with him are fateful, but he never forces any outcomes. he's a patron of free will precisely because he leaves people with fateful choices, and whether they lead to their downfall or not is up to them.

it's said that when he first appeared, he was just a slightly annoying ghost rucking up food offerings left by the people during the rituals, but impossible to really get rid of. when approached by veles himself to move on, he simply refused and continued on his merry way. having disappeared for a while, the next time he appeared was with his true form already formed, causing a terrible ruckus and getting involved with a war between tribes. some said it was a revenge, but he has neither confirmed or denied. ever since then, he's been a prevalent figure of myth and has inspired a number of rhymes and myths.

additionally, vola's been greatly associated with laughter. more so, when he puts on disguises, there tends to be a mischievous flare to vola's antics, unless the person he's impersonating, be it an imitation or an original disguise. still, laughter usually follows, save for the very few instances where vola has chosen to be malevolent. these rare occasions are definitely nightmare fuel.

[unhingedreblogging]

Danny immediately clocks Batman and Wonder Woman, Batman due to his definite Liminal nature, WW because there's hardly any difference between her in civvies and in spandex, Superman takes a bit more time, but he clocks the Man of Steel before the night is over, Martian Manhunter gets a blast of static and really powerful emotions if he tries to read Danny's mind, leading Danny to clock him next. Those are few only JL members Danny clocks though. This holds nothing to really do with the story, but my thoughts on how Danny would figure out any of them. Onto the actual writing now.

Danny was out at a bar, spending a bit of time with a few of his more friendly rogues who look the more human, since they're in a bar and not in Amity, and his actually human friends. Ember, Johnny, and Kitty, as well as Sam, Tucker, and Valerie join him.

Danny immediately detects someone not quite living, and that's a surprise because they don't actually set of his ghost sense, he only feels it bubble, not mist, which is new. Turning to look at where the feeling came from, he spots Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, some detective looking guy, and Clark Kent, but Bruce Wayne is definitely the one who set him off.

Danny was of course on the outside of their booth, so he stands up after a second. "I'm gonna go talk to them, I'll be back. Bet I can drink one of them under the table." He says, leaving a $50 behind as his bet.

Sam, Tucker, and Valerie of course match the bet, the ghosts don't have money but they do have insider knowledge, Danny can't actually get drunk, so it wouldn't be fair to bet anyway.

Danny saunters over to the table and smiles, not too wide, at the four people. "I don't usually do this, but I want to have a little fun tonight, what do you say to a shot-for-shot as a way to get to know each other?" He's gotten much more confident in his years after high school and into college, so his voice doesn't even waver a bit, and Diana nods.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea, we could always use new friends. Who will be paying?" She asks, pointedly looking to Bruce, who doesn't pale but does roll his eyes and start reaching into his pocket, before being stopped by Danny. "No no, I'll be paying, keep your money Mr. Wayne."

A surprised look crosses his face, but Bruce smiles and nods, taking his hand out of the suit pocket, he's not surprised in the slightest that his young man knows who he is. "Alright, what's your name young man?" He asks smoothly, taking a drink of the beer he had already been served, he's already mentally ready to call someone for the man after Diana drinks him into unconsciousness.

"The names Danny Fenton, and what's yours ma'am? I'd like to know who I'm drinking with and against." He asks, extending a hand easily to Diana, Clark seems a bit concerned about something but doesn't want to bring it up, something Clark Kent shouldn't know but Superman would. "Diana Prince, lovely to make your acquaintance Danny, shall we start?"

And that's how it began, the others at the table thought Danny would go out after ten, he was after all in rather good shape, clearly healthy, but no, ten shots in and he's still laughing and talking clearly, Diana much the same, but a little surprised and even elated.

Twenty shots in and she's ever so slightly swaying, Bruce looks concerned. 30 shots and it's getting ridiculous, Danny hasn't even started to sway or slur his words, Diana is having to hold herself up by the table edge. 40 shots and Danny is still laughing good naturedly, J'ohnn J'onzz looks confused and then as if he was smacked, but no mental connection comes to Bruce, Clark looks deeply concerned. 50 shots and Diana is barely able to hold herself up, while Danny is still as chipper as he was at the start. 60 shots and two hours later, Diana is snoring with her face on the table, Danny stands up and pays for the drinks, everyone's drinks, and two more rounds for the ones who didn't just drink themselves unconscious before walking easily back to his booth, not even a hint of staggering.

Danny is obviously confused as he sits back down, everyone else looking at him with amusement or shock, Danny shrugs and just goes back to his cocktail.

Short DP X DC Prompts #17

Danny cannot get drunk. The Justice League have a night out in civillian clothing and this scrawny kid challenges Wonder Woman to a drinking contest. Wonder Woman in good nature agrees to this challenge. Over the next few hours the Justice League watches in absolute fascination and horror as this kid drinks the freaking Wonder Woman under the table. 

[consumeroflemoans]

Nekomata... Bakaneko... Pussy willows... Cactus cat... Yule cat... Cha kla... Cat sith... Kitty kitty kitty

I've been somewhat dreading tackling these (and also dog and fox myths) because there are so many different creatures that originate from the same inspiration.

Bakaneko and Nekomata

(I love the ZZZ ads I'm getting during research)

Bakaneko are magical creatures that have developed biomimicry as a way of survival. Their young appear like normal cats despite being magical creatures. Due to this, they are most vulnerable during their youth. Having humans caring for them as they would a normal cat allows bakaneko to survive past their earliest stage of life. This habit has allowed the bakaneko population to flourish due to the increasing popularity of cats as pets.

Once they reach maturity, the choice of what to do is inevitably left to the bakaneko. Some choose to remain as cats if they're satisfied with the pampered life while others choose to attempt life as humans. Either way the older they grow, the more magic they accumulate. If they stay with a human, misfortune befalls said human and they typically leave to find another human to parasitically attach to.

Nekomata are far rarer and result from a bakaneko surviving for a long time, centuries typically. They're wickedly intelligent and tend to either live in urban centers or in the middle of nowhere.

The majority of these beings end up living with a contempt for humans, but some are affectionate and even view the humans they've lived with as family.

Cactus Cat

I had not heard of this legend until I started researching it and I love it. A cat gets drunk on cactus juice and wanders around the desert at night screaming, only killing people who mess with its cacti. If this doesn't scream 'Murica I don't know what does. He's just a spiky drunk boy.

They're not really known to be sentient but I want them to be just so I can have some bakaneko be like, "Yeah, that's my weird American cousin. We've been trying to get him to go to his local AA meeting but apparently, they don't let cats in."

i like to think these guys are very much still in cowboy times and just wander around the empty stretches of desert in the southwest. They're just chilling out there they don't want to leave.

Yule Cat

Anything related to holidays like Christmas gets a little odd to me. How do you explain that there's a massive cat that picks and chooses which children to eat based on the clothes they wear?

The answer? It's a legend. Well, mostly is one.

The yule cat itself exists, roaming the Icelandic countryside. It's likely an old god forgotten by time. There are quite a few animalistic deities that have lost their sentience and most magical power to time while their bodies remain immortal. This cat likely exists in that state. It roams its territory, avoiding any noisy machinery, and picking off stray wanderers out of habit.

Some humans living within and near its territory are aware of it and use its existence to make children behave. The Yule Cat will never truly come to pick them off. Not unless they truly are foolish and attempt to confront their legend.

Cha kla

These thai ghosts are somewhat related to the bakaneko. They're known for being more reclusive but easier to domesticate than their demonic cousins. Thai sorcerers tend to tame them to use in battle, as seeing or touching them can ensure death.

Some foreign sorcerers come to attempt to tame them on occasion, but the lives of these ghostly cats remain largely unchanged. Not many mortals want to brush against death or venture deep into the jungle to attempt to.

Cat Sìth

This cat is another that is a relative of the bakaneko. Fae, demonic creatures, and spirits are all entities that are closely related to each other when it comes to magical nature. Cats spread across the world alongside their human companions and as a result, the cat-like beings followed. These beings then evolved to match the nature of those around them.

The cat sìth in particular is more of a benevolent being than its other cousins. As long as the humans appease it, it's satisfied, similar to many fae.

I'm debating having it prefer rural versus urban areas. Because on one hand, it tends to hang around farms to take milk from cows, but on the other hand it would be really, really funny if there were a bunch of convenience stores that just keep losing their milk stock and only their milk stock.

[pianostarinwonderland]

This masquerade event has definitely blown away my expectations thus far like,I want more darker toned events or more scenarios that just pull a twist (ahah) on you

like damn I wish they went like this during endless Halloween

!!! Same same!

Glorious Masquerade is everything I wanted in an event. I love TWST's events in general. They're fun and lighthearted, and they have a touch of that Disney magic that you don't get to feel in many of their works anymore. But this event actually presents us danger. And it's threatening and it makes your heart pump and puts you on the edge of your seat as you learn more about the characters and hope to God that they succeed.

I wanted this for Endless Halloween. It presented us with a real danger, where the people you know and care for suddenly disappear in one night for mysterious reasons. I even had theories that maybe a TWST Chernabog would actually appear.

And yet it ended with a "surprise it was actually a prank". My disappointment was absolutely immeasurable. In hindsight, the music was a big big foreshadow to the prank due to its playful nature, but still, I wanted something thrilling. I wanted to see everyone sigh in relief as they defeated the big baddie, bring their friends home, and be greeted to a sunrise as they are thankful that everyone's alive and safe The only reason why I'm not going insane about it is because we got one mob talking about Azul stepping on people, which is very hot and sexy of him.

It didn't help that that ending presented Malleus in his omnipotence, so much so that he was the one in the "right" for pulling off such a prank (along with Lilia and the ghosts), and the boys were "wrong" for fighting the ghosts. Like 😭 I don't mind the prank itself, but I do mind the way that they presented Malleus and Lilia as innocent.

I think that's one of the main things I really like about Glorious Masquerade: that it presents Malleus as more than just an omnipotent figure who has everything under his control. It presents Malleus as someone more "human". He doesn't brag about his power. No, he is aware of it, he knows that it is a gift. And he even says it—that it's a gift that he chooses to share with the people he cares about. That has to be one of the kindest things anyone can say.

And there is that expectation to do a lot since he is powerful. But we see him needing help from Sebek and Silver when he was entangled in the flowers. He's told to conserve his power by Azul and Idia. And from that, we get to see Malleus being kind to his guards (him telling them that he trusts that he has good guards when they had to leave Sebek and Silver behind). We get to see Malleus giving praise where it is due (him praising Azul for getting rid of the flowers). And there are so many more moments that show Malleus as more than his omnipotence and power. We learn about Silver proudly presenting the magic handkerchief to Malleus. We see him being upset about receiving a false invitation when he had been excited about it. I've gotten to enjoy a lot of Malleus moments this event, but most importantly how he's become a bit more relatable.

I think I gone off topic from the ask completely HWAHAHHA but yeah, great event, everything is awesome. I am so happy.