#exists at the same time as normal dp timeline

[flamingpudding]

Time for some time shenanigans?

Here is an idea.

Time is an interesting thing but not something one should mess with unless your the being ruling over it. And in a moment of true Clockwork No! Clockwork Yes! Fashion. The ruler of time decided that something needed to be done to help his king heal once more after having lost his family.

And as someone who lived millennial of years and no real understanding of humans aside from what he sees from watching timelines, Clockwork came up with the, in his opinion, perfect solution. Deaging his king into a toddler and sending him into the past to expirence some familial love. He had made sure his little king was getting picked up by the man with an adoption problem. A family with a lot of siblings for his king to love and to get loved back.

Now, that would all be fine and dandy if Clockwork had remembered to at least seal or erase his kings memories. The problem was he didn't. But really, what could his little king with his memories but the mind of a toddler do?

Apparently a lot. Espacially with the help of the family that picked him up.

Okay, plan B. Clockwork was going to send all his king's rogues to keep him and his vigilante family occupied so his king would stop attempting to get to Amity Park and change his own past and focus more on his new family.

Meanwhile the bat clan is freaking out. Their newest baby brother of 3 years old appears to be the constant target of other worldy attacks they barely managed to protect him from. Why were these weird beings after a little toddler that hasn't harmed anyone?! And why in the name of anything good did it look like the toddler was okay with fighting them too?!

[skylersprompts]

DC X DP Prompt *19*

Daniel Kane knew that he was different. The older he got, the more he remembers about a different life. A life with a different older sister - Jazz - and not in Gotham, but somewhere in the Midwest. But he didn't dwell on it to much. He loves his sister Martha and he couldn't be happier for her. She married Thomas Wayne and they both seemed to be so in love. Then Martha got pregnant and a few month later he held his little godson/nephew Bruce in is arms.

Daniel stayed close to the Waynes and was more often in their house then not. But he also started to remember more, things that seemed impossible. Like a blues skinned, floating boy/man/grandpa. Sometimes when he looked in the mirror, his features looked wrong for a split second. White hair, green eyes and far to young. But he pushes all of this away and tries to live a normal life.

Then his sister and Thomas die. So he does the only right thing and becomes little Bruce's Guardian. It's hard, even with Alfred's help. But he tries do be there for him, while grieving behind closed doors.

When Bruce comes to him, to tell him about his idea to protect the people of Gotham, he first wants to objects, but something tells him that this needs to happen.

So after a few years Bruce becomes Batman. And Daniel worries every night, but he somehow knows that his nephew is doing the right thing.

And as their family grows, he can´t help but be grateful, even though his memories become more and more distorted. It was like he had a life before this one. A life of a normal middle class kid, then a teen hero with outlandish powers. But he was never much older than Damien in his memories, even though he got a new one almost every night.

At some point he started to write everything down. He hid his notes from the rest of the family, until one day when he had a strange feeling. He left everything out in the open for the others to find.

Daniel Kane wasn’t seen again after this day.

.

.

.

The same day, a black haired teen stepped into a portal to another dimension, dying without dying.

.

.

.

Clockwork had a sad smile on his face. But this was what had to be done to right the timeline. Danny Phantom couldn’t exist without Daniel Fenton, so he needed to make sure that this time someone was around who could also protect his human side.

After his identity got revealed accidentally and his parents captured him, it didn’t take long till his human half couldn’t take it anymore. He was only able to rescue the full Ghost of Danny Phantom and it took so long for the young ghostling to heal.

He send his soul back to reincarnate in the past so that they could change everything and he was again able to become the Ancient of Balance. But the moment that Daniel Fenton formed as a Ghost the soul of Phantom had to be reabsorbed into him. And so Daniel Kane would no longer exist.

But Bruce Wayne would still see him as family and Danny would get the family he deserved, even if he didn’t know this anymore.

[bonewaryreblogs]

I’ve decided how Batman meets Danny Phantom.

While connecting characters between DC and DP, I came across the DC villain Pariah, who shares a name with DP villain Pariah Dark. I’ve decided that these two are the same person and fighting him will bring Danny Phantom into contact with Batman, or at least get Danny onto his radar as someone to look into further.

But first, some backstory...

Since we don’t know much about Pariah Dark, other than being sealed away a long time ago, I’ll mostly be pulling his backstory from Kell Mossa, a scientist who accidentally brought his universe to Anti-Monitor’s attention and watched it be destroyed as the only survivor, renamed Pariah by his savior, Monitor (Anti-Monitor’s “good” twin brother). He involuntarily watched Anit-Monitor destroy several other universes, blaming himself for (supposedly) releasing Anti-Monitor, though he is later assured that Anti-Monitor was just doing what he had always done and Pariah had simply diverted his path of destruction. Pariah is dropped off in a random universe, where he tried to live a normal life, though he was constantly drawn to impending disasters that he had no hope of preventing, as no one heeded his warnings (like a mix of Pokemon’s Absol and Greek’s Cassandra); he was killed and revived a few times, only to eventually fall through the cracks of reality and driven insane. Instead of being found by Flash and sent to the “paradise world” called  Earth-Flash.1, Pariah became the first inhabitant of the newly formed Ghost Zone pocket dimension and declared himself the Ghost King, sometimes calling himself Pariah Dark. (He may or may not have connections to the cosmic Great Darkness, I haven’t decided)

Pariah decides to use the ghosts of the Ghost Zone to invade the living realm of Earth but now he needs a lieutenant he can trust...

After turning completely evil, Eclipso was replaced as the Wrath of God (yes, THAT God, cuz apparently He exists in DC) by Aztar, who instead calls himself the Vengeance of God, and is bound to a human host to keep him from turning evil like Eclipso did. He’s had many hosts over the millennia and his most recent host, James “Jim” Corrigan, had been the hero Spectre with Aztar since Jim’s “death” around 1940, but he was getting old and had chosen Detective Crispus Allen of the Gotham Police Department as his replacement in 2005. The ritual to transfer Aztar’s host was interrupted by Pariah Dark and Aztar was “recruited” as Pariah’s lieutenant, killing Jim and leaving Cris unpowered and in distress. Pariah convinces Aztar to join him by promising freedom to choose his own path rather than be tethered to some goodie-two-shoes human and Aztar accepts. Danny is called on to defeat Pariah by the ghosts that don’t want to serve the self-proclaimed King (most of whom end up being Danny’s various Rogues Gallery) and is thrust into leading the resistance; meanwhile Cris enlisted the help of Batman and the rest of the Batclan (and maybe some members of Justice League Dark), who join the resistance as well.

I’m thinking this will be the first big crisis Damian will participate in as Robin, though I’m not sure if I want Duke Thomas (Signal) to have been recruited yet or not; if he has been recruited already, he’s still in training and hasn’t become Signal yet. I’ll get my timeline ironed out for my next post.

Various other connections:

There is a Pandora in both continuities, so after she “accidentally” released the Crime Syndicate (evil JL) into this universe, she decided to move and found the new Ghost Zone to be acceptable, as the inhabitants amused her. She recognized the ectoplasm that saturated the pocket dimension as being related to the Fountain of Life but didn’t bother looking into it or telling anyone because she didn’t want to risk them ruining her fun. She let the Box Ghost steal her box and toyed with Danny before agreeing to help him retrieve it. She could probably take down Pariah on her own but that would be really hard and this resistance thing sounds like more fun than she’s had in ages anyways.

DC Cronus is more-or-less the same as the god from Greek mythology but has also been equated with Chronos, the Greek god of time. After Cronus was imprisoned in Tartarus by the Olympian Gods, Clockwork was given his duties as the God of Time by Hera, loosely working with the Quintessence’ Observants.

Speaking of, DP’s Observants seem to fulfill a similar role as DC’s Quintessence, so I’ve decided that the Quintessence are the gods in control but they employ the Observants to catalogue and categorize events for the Quintessence so they don’t have to do everything themselves. The Observants are the ones who decide what deserves the attention of the gods in charge. I’ll probably have the Quintessence decide the fate of the Ghost Zone after Pariah Dark is defeated.

The Guys in White are an obvious reference to the Men in Black. Looking up various government agencies in the DC Comics, the Bureau of Normalcy (formerly Bureau of Oddities) seems to serve a similar function, so I’ve decided that GiW and BoN are both departments of the larger Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), where the GiW are specifically focused on eliminating threats from ghostly (and similarly paranormal) origins, while the BoN handles cover-ups and convincing the public that everything is “normal” and work both in the field and in cyber security. BoN people often accompany other agencies to run interference so the other agencies are able to do whatever they need to do without fear of being seen or regular people getting in the way. The GiW was beginning to investigate the uptick of paranormal activity in Amity Park and would have contacted SHADE if they ever discovered Danny Phantom was anything more than an ordinary ghost.

Other departments include Knightwatch (general military enforcement), the Suicide Squad (generally works with Knightwatch, enlisting the aid of established heroes and villains alike, the roster constantly changes), Squad K (which is specifically designed to take out Superman if he ever went rogue), the Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive or SHADE (focused on talent acquisition), Project Cadmus (technically Research and Development, but actually trying to clone heroes for SHADE), the Department of Metahuman Affairs or DMA (the public face of SHADE), and probably others I couldn’t find in my quick search. 

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #3 Oh Brother,

Imagine dis…

 We all read and heard about the lost son of Bruce Wayne and also the Lost twin of Damian Al Ghul Wayne. 

 But what about the lost brother of Bruce Wayne?

 On the night of the 26th of June, The young Bruce Wayne didn’t just lose his parents but also his brother. After murdering both of their parents the gunman, Joe Chill turned his attention to the boys, one young teen who could not be older than 16 keeping his young 8-year-old from seeing the corpse of their parents. Thinking that it is better to leave the scene with no witness fired two more rounds in the direction of the children and quickly turned tail.

 Daniel Wayne covered his little brother’s body from the bullets catching the two rounds with his own body. Catching the horrified look of his younger brother, feeling the blood in his mouth as well the fact that his own body is shaking from what had just happened in a matter of minutes. Grabbed his brother’s shoulders, smiled, and hugged him so tight as he knows that his brother is not allowed to follow him or his parents to the afterlife for a long time.

 As his consciousness fades he catches the teary-eyed brother of his, trying to catch him before he hits the pavement.

 …

 Clockwork frowns at the timelines between the two realms, one who is not supposed to exist, exists while the other who is supposed to be born is not to be born thus collapsing the timeline of both realms but with the recent development to the other realm made him have a difficult choice. Guiding the young Daniel’s soul to the other realm to replace what was lost.

 …

 Danny grew up feeling missing something, with absentee parents and a parent sibling it's no wonder what he would have missed. 

 Maybe he missed the times when his parents were actual parents to them instead of focusing their attention on their machines.

 Maybe it is the life he had before the tragic accident that changed him.

 Maybe it is the normality between him being a ghost hero and being a normal teen.

 But…

 Every time he saw two brothers playing near Casper High, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of longing.

 His ghostly core and human heartache for the familiar setting to the point he kept seeing a younger “double” of himself.

 Don’t get him wrong he can create clones of himself to help him during fights but this “double” is different from him he looked like someone he missed so dearly while he looked like someone who has the same delicate face as him.

 Which would be impossible if it was always been him and Jazz alone in the house full of things that could potentially end his existence.

 The phantom pain he would feel from bullets on a specific month, day, and time, instead of electricity made him quickly go to Frostbite and Clockwork.

 Frostbite explained that it is quite normal for a newly formed ghost to feel the phantom pains of its reason for death.

 But he died from electrocution, not from bullets.

He went to Clockwork but the moment he saw the figure of his grandfather mentor he couldn’t help but sense a feeling of dread.

 …

 Clockwork knew that in each timeline there would be a day and time for his grandson apprentice to ask about such ire that had been bothering him ever since he became a halfa. Each time he tried to prolong the inevitable but it seems that he was caught off guard for today. 

 …

 Clockwork explained to Danny his crimes to him and his soul. How the Master of time itself forced him to live a life just after he had ended his first one.

 Danny’s mind may have had a million thoughts at the time but at that moment he only cared about two things.

 Who has he been before and what happened to his brother?

 Clockwork explained He was Daniel Thomas Wayne the firstborn son in the union of Martha and Thomas Wayne. He used to live in a manor with his family grandfather/butler, he gained a little brother that was named Bruce Wayne. On the day of his former death day, his brother kept pestering their parents to go to the movies as they have been busy and Bruce felt that he was alone, being loving parents they indulged Bruce in his pestering as they too noticed them being too busy. On the night they went to Crime Alley for a shortcut to Wayne manor, they were ambushed and killed, and his parents were.

 Shakingly, Danny begged to see Bruce, his core ached for his missing family, his brother. Bruce his little brother, hoped that he didn’t follow, he hoped that he is doing fine.

 Clockwork didn’t respond but showed him a one-way mirror-view of his former dimension. There the mirror shows a familiar dining room, with a grown man who has black hair and striking blue eyes talking to a younger boy named Jason as Alfred serves Bruce’s morning coffee.

 Danny could not help but smile, his little brother is all grown-up. Starting a little family of his own, Danny’s only request is to be able to visit Clockwork’s haunt to observe his little brother.

 Each visit made him learn more about the man his little brother turned into.

 He turned into a vigilante protecting the people in Gotham, his favorite soup stayed the same despite the fact he used to eat that soup with someone else, he has an adoption issue (He could not blame him though, not when he adopted both Dan and Dani), then his little brother went and adopted a sentiment starfish from outer space, that he owes his nephews and nieces a ton of gifts from missing their milestones, and many more…

 But he wished that he was there as well…

 When Jason died at the hands of Joker, when he was lost in the time stream, when he learned that he missed a decade's worth of his “blood” son’s life, the death of Damian, not protecting Barbara from being shot by the Joker, letting his demons run his life…

 He just wished he was there to hold his little brother in his arms as he protect him from the dangers of the world just like he had done when he was Daniel protecting Bruce from his nightmares as well the monsters under his bed.

 After a reveal went wrong he gathered up his human friends and flee toward the zone after destroying everything related to ghosts and the realms.

 Taking up the mantle of Ghost king he made sure that he still have time to observe his family on the other dimension.

 …

 Meanwhile, in the DC universe, Ra Al Ghul and Lex Luther had created a bioweapon that turns ordinary people into some sort of zombie slaves of the Lazarus pit minus the death part of being a zombie. Things got out of hand both villains and heroes are scrambling to contain the bioweapon virus as well as looking for a cure as it has spread from Gotham, Metropolis, Star City, and more big-name cities. They could not merely kill the infected just like in a movie from a zombie apocalypse as they are still alive.

 Symptoms include glowing green veins that are seen as well pupil-less eyes in addition to an extra boost in strength, as the infected multiply by having an open wound be infected by the green veins that produce some sort of green murky blood aka the Lazarus pits.

 Danny saw the predicament of his home dimension and decided to intervene, with the approval of his court. He entered the dimension, and as he turned into his human half he noticed that his age was regressed to the time he was murdered.

 The infected ignored and followed his commands as per his position, avoiding any confrontation with his brother or any supers that might demand him why the infected are ignoring him, he pretended to be infected that can think and speak as well that was raised from the dead.

 It was quite easy for him to pretend on the glowing veins as pure ectoplasm flowed through his veins. He just made sure that he is always a glowing green glowstick.

 Walking around in a zombie apocalypse is less fun than he thought it would be, grabbing a backpack that was discarded he filled it up with weapons and started his journey at the foot to look for the cure.

 (Thoughts of seeing his brother made him fill his head full of possibilities)

 On his way to Gotham, he saw his nephew (Tim) surrounded by infected and about to wound him when he immediately snatched him to safety. Seeing the deep eye bags of his nephew he let him rest at his makeshift safe house as he guarded Tim he can't help but wonder why on earth he was out in the open.

 …

 Tim groaned awake as he remembered what had just happened in a few months. Ra’s and Lex made a bio-hazard weapon that was made from the Lazarus pits (Which made him wonder which of the two thought that was a good idea as the Lazarus pits are still a mystery to the Batclan as well to the world) and went out of hand thus ended up having the Justice League cleaning up their mess.

 He remembered being surrounded by the infected after his usual recon, he was pretty sure he broke a rib and his arm as running away from the horde or getting them with tranquilizer darts were the only options, he was sure that it was his end.

 When he woke up he didn’t expect to be still infected free nor the infected teen, who is a blue-eyed black-haired teen, definitely a Wayne bait, in front of him trying to bandage him.

 After the initial confusion and panic and the conversation, he concluded that the bio weapon had evolved to the point of reviving dead teens.

 (Seeing what the Lazarus pit had done to Jason and Ra was not far fetch)

 The teen who introduced himself as Danny woke up somewhere which was near Metropolis and stated that he was nowhere near his hometown nor where he was buried initially and was walking around to find more humans as he was pretty sure when he died zombie apocalypse are nothing more than fantasy as well the supers are but fictions as he kept reading the latest yet tossed out newspapers, which explains the newspapers in the corner and had concluded that it has been more than 2 decades since he died.

 He made an offer to Tim that he couldn’t possibly refuse, he could help him return where he was as the infected tend to ignore him thus having a guide and bodyguard in his injured state as well a specimen that can talk and walk around cities without having the risk of being infected, in return he just needs help in finding his brother.

 After a long tenacious walk to Gotham, both bond over small talks, jokes, and camping as well as filling up Danny with what he had missed in the decade while he was 6 feet under.

 Tim learned that Danny adored his little brother and wished to see him one last time before going back to the dead.

 …

 Bruce was worried, Tim was supposed to time in a few hours back. He along with the rest of the bats and the Justice League members were lucky enough to escape and regroup at a later date. Sitting in one of the fortified safe houses with a few infected being wandered.

 When he was about to check the communication for the umpteenth time the cameras caught something. Immediately all went to the monitor to have a better look at what had just tripped their alarm. There is Tim wounded and bandaged but still infected free, which gave relief to the Batclan behind him on the other hand caused worries.

 An Infected teen behind Tim follows him while looking around him, upon closer inspection they can see the boy’s eyes despite being infected. Some of the Justice League thought that Tim may have found someone who has at least some sort of immunity to the Infected.

 The Batclan on the other hand caught sight of Bruce stiffening along with Alfred. Both seemed to look at the infected teen with familiarity. Luckily that the cameras had audio and played the live feed.

 Tim was talking to the mystery teen about meta-human rights while the mystery teen kept nodding along. Tim asked about the mystery teen’s little brother which the teen brighten up and talked about his little brother’s pranks towards their father every time he left them on their own devices like melting crayons on top of his shoes to adding color according to his little brother. As well as the fact he made a special lullaby just for him.

 The mystery teen began to hum an unfamiliar tune to those who are watching except Alfred and Bruce, Alfred was ready to cry while Bruce made a face that both his co-workers and children never saw him make.

 Bruce’s mind immediately supplied the missing lyrics while the mystery teen kept humming along.

 If I was dying on my knees

You would be the one to rescue me

And if you were drowned at sea

I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe

I've got you brother-er-er-er

I've got you brother-er-er-er

I've got you brother-er-er-er

I've got you brother-er-er-er

 As they were nearing the armed gate of the safe house, Tim asked what is his little brother’s name was as once this was over he was willing to pass the message. 

 The mystery teen smiled sadly and said fondly… oh brother,

[fandomandangstlover]

The Disguised Partypooper

Name's unknown, though have been called Mun, Author at least once or twice.

Age is also unknown, but acts like an adult.

Gender is Yes and Pronouns are Any Go Nuts

DP is a Second-to-Last Partypooper in existence in the [XXX] timeline where the FUN war took place. Dressed in a Black Hoodie, a Dress that looks similar to Partygoer skin that covers their arms, hands and goes over their feet, the usual frowny blue mask, and a Paper bag with a Smiley face drawn on it that seems to be fresh and still liquidity to touch that has the same texture as their dress. When they put the Paper bag on, they would immediately be seen as a Partygoer, like a Disguise.

They don't hang by Partygoers that often, even with their ability, and stays far away from them as much as possible. At the moment, they seem to be assisting an “Engineer„ on their travel and exploration. In secret of course. The reasons are currently unknown.

They always have a bowl of candy and packs of Almond Water on them at all times, giving these supplies to any Wanderer that they encounter, normally when they are in their Disguise. Reasons are also unknown. They often lure the Wanderers away from any Partygoers, often by putting balloons in where the Partygoer is near/in, or being in that area that said Partygoer is in/near while Disguised so the Wanderer would see and leave immediately.

They often hang by Level 0, 1, 52, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] . But now mostly hang by where the “Engineer„ and the Anons are.

[lexosaurus]

I Love You

My fic for day 5 of DP Side Hoes Week (yes I’m a day behind). 

Character: Jazz Theme: Hospital

This oneshot exists within my Everything Was White fic series [ao3]. You do NOT have to be following Everything Was White to understand this fic, this one exists as a prequel in the timeline and I give enough context in the text for anyone to be able to understand it. 

Okay, enjoy!

---

Jazz sat on the armchair, her gaze blank. Hazy. She hadn’t moved since she sat down some time ago. Time moved without reason, and she wasn’t sure how long it had been. Her back hurt and her lips were chapped, but she hardly noticed her discomfort.

The only thing that mattered was the person laying on the bed before her.

The person she hardly recognized.

Four weeks. That’s how long he had been missing from their lives, that’s how long the Guys in White had him. Twenty-eight days on the dot.

She could never forget his eyes as he was dragged out the door. They were wild, desperately staring down their parents who were both pinned down by government agents with guns trained to their heads. He screamed, struggling against his captures. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

Because in the end, he was thrown in the back of a white van. All while Jazz stood on the stairs doing nothing. 

She should have freed him. She could have helped. But she was too weak. 

Too weak.

Her eyes stung, and she wanted to cry. Break down. Sob. But she had already used up her stock of tears hours ago, when she finally saw him for the first time since he’d be transferred out of critical care.

He was frail, tiny. Nothing but skin and bones. His body was scarred, torn, encased in gauze and casts. Doctors fluttered about, talking in hushed tones as they analyzed her brother’s body. They tried not to show it, but Jazz knew they were baffled by him.

There was talk about his injuries. He hadn’t woken up yet, at least not completely, but Jazz was already told of the more...drastic injuries.

The Y scar on his chest.

The paralysis.

The starvation.

No one knew what the permanent effects were going to be. No one knew how he was going to fair once he woke up. But there was one thing they all knew for certain, a truth that none of the Fentons had said out loud yet: 

Danny was not going to be the same anymore.

She crumbled, allowing her head to fall into her hands. Apparently, she still had more tears to give. A sob tore its way from her throat, pulling with it a wave of emotions that Jazz had just spent the last few hours desperately trying to repress.

She was tired. So, so tired. And yet, this nightmare refused to end.

“Danny, I—I’m so sorry.” Jazz’s voice was raw. The naked truth was hanging right there in front of her, the consequences of her complete failure. 

She should have been there for him during the ghost fight. The one between him and Skulker that ultimately led to his revelation right there high in the skies in front of the entire town. She could have helped him.

She should have known the Guys in White would then come surround their house and take him.

She should have tried harder to find him and break him out of the government compound. They tried so hard, but they couldn’t find the stupid building.

She should have practiced her questions better in court. Maybe then the jury would have decided sooner. She could have gotten him released before he was hurt so bad.

“I’m sorry.”

He didn’t respond.

“I love you so much, Danny. I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t respond.

---

“You alright there, son?” Jack asked. He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

It didn’t seem to matter. Jazz doubted Danny even heard their father’s question. She was honestly questioning if he even realized they were in the room.

His eyes wandered around the room as if he were still trying to take in the walls of the hospital. He woke up four days ago, and yet every day had been the same blank wandering gaze. 

Jazz hoped it was just the pain medication the hospital was giving him. She desperately clung onto the belief that her brother would snap out of it one day and would come home and he would be back to normal.

Back to how he was before.

“Your mother and I are going to meet with the surgeon.” Jack put an arm around Maddie, pulling her into his side. 

Her face was white, streaked with red as if she’d been crying recently, and the bags under her eyes had never been so pronounced. But Jazz couldn’t blame her. After all, she probably looked more or less the same.

“Stay with Danny, alright? We’ll come grab you after.”

“Sure, Dad,” Jazz said, putting on a smile she hoped was comforting.

Her mother muttered something that Jazz didn’t catch, and then both parents were gone. 

And Jazz was alone. With Danny.

Again.

She turned back to face him. The doctors had said that he’d sustained significant brain damage, and they weren’t sure yet how much communication he would be able to do. He was too drugged up still, too out of it. 

He couldn’t speak, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand her.

Or maybe that was her hopeful side talking again. She shouldn’t get her hopes up. She would only be hurt in the end.

“Hey, Danny,” Jazz tried. Her voice was thin. Dry. She tried to wet her lips and spoke again. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I hope you’re comfortable. If you were wondering, you broke your spine. I mean, I’m sure you already knew that but—” Her voice cracked. “—you know. That’s why you, um, might be uncomfortable right now. It’s the brace.”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at her.

Just continued staring at the ceiling.

Jazz wondered if anything was going through his mind. If he had any questions. She would if she were Danny. 

She tried to imagine the sort of things he would say. His voice, crackling through the throes of puberty, as he poked fun at her in that annoying way only a brother could accomplish. She tried to envision a world where he could still do that.

And she tried not to think about the fact that there was a good chance that she’d never hear his voice again.

“Your SCI was incomplete, you know. So there’s still a chance…” Jazz shook her head. 

There she was getting hopeful again. 

“Everyone really missed you, Danny. I—I really missed you.”

He blinked slowly. In her imagination, Jazz heard him say “I missed you too.”

“I love you.”

He didn’t respond.

---

“What band are we in the mood for today?” Jazz asked, scrolling through her playlist.

Danny was starting to come to. He seemed to be able to hold eye contact, albeit not for very long, and his minute facial expressions showed at least some understanding of what was happening around him.

Although, he still hadn’t spoken yet.

Jazz glanced brightly down at him. Now that she knew he was conscious of her presence, she couldn’t afford to show up at the hospital in sweats with her tear-stained face anymore. She had to be there for him. She had to be strong.

Maybe she had been too weak to help him before. Maybe back then, she had failed him.

But she would be damned if she wasn’t strong enough to help him now.

“What do you think? MCR? Blink-182?” she asked. “I got these band names from Sam, by the way. So if she lied to me about what music you listen to now, don’t blame me.”

Danny just stared at her with his owl-ish expression.

“Here, if you want, you can choose.” Jazz held her phone screen out in front of him, watching as his eyebrows scrunched up ever so slightly as he gazed up at the screen.

Jazz felt her smile falter for a split second before she pulled her phone away and straightened herself up on her chair.

She had to be strong.

“It’s okay, I’ll just choose one.” She tapped the screen and set her phone down. 

The sound of over-compressed guitars filled the tiny bluetooth speaker on the windowsill, and Jazz beamed down at Danny, waiting for that tiny flicker of recognition to hit his face.

And, to her delight, some of the fog in his eyes momentarily lifted. He looked over to Jazz as if he were seeing her for the first time, the shock and disbelief seeping through the blank slate that was his expression.

Jazz was hardly able to keep the glee out of her voice. “You like it?”

His eyes flickered between Jazz and the bluetooth speaker. Back and forth again before settling back on the ceiling.

“Well, I’ll have to thank Sam for the recommendation later! She can’t wait to see you, you know. The doctors are only allowing family in your room right now, but maybe next week if you’re feeling up to it, Sam and Tucker can stop by. I don’t want to make any promises right now, but you never know.”

Danny’s eyes slowly traveled around the ceiling.

“Are you thirsty?” Jazz asked. “Hungry? Well, you’re probably not hungry. Doctors have been monitoring your nutrient intake a lot. I’m glad, too, because you have some color in your face again.”

His eyes shut, and a content smile twitched on his face.

Jazz couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked so peaceful.

“I love you, Danny.”

He didn’t respond. 

---

Danny was home now. That should have been a good thing. 

It should have been.

And it was. In so many ways, it was wonderful having him home again.

But in so many other ways, it wasn’t.

Jazz had been under some illusion that once he made it home, things would go back to normal. Sure, he would be in a wheelchair until his PT started, and he might not be able to turn into a ghost for a few weeks either, but her brother would be home. 

Except, Danny never came home. Physically, he did. But mentally he was still trapped somewhere far away.

He was talking now at least. He’d started talking the week before he’d left the hospital. He wasn’t able to speak in full sentences, at least not without pausing, and he wasn’t able to really understand long sentences either, but this was a start.

Jazz wanted to hope that things would get better, but hope was a dangerous drug.

After all, even though he’d started speaking again, he still refused to talk about what happened to him. Anytime Jazz would try to bring the conversation up, he’d clam up and close off for the rest of the day.

And that hurt. It hurt so bad. She so desperately wanted to be there and support him, to help him talk through the trauma he’d experienced, but he just didn’t want to.

But that was okay. It had to be okay. She had to be strong.

She stood in front of his door, pausing only to compose herself before knocking.

He didn’t acknowledge her knock, but Jazz wasn’t expecting him too. He was trying to isolate himself, and Jazz wasn’t going to let him.

She’d already failed him once. 

“Good morning, Danny!” Jazz bursted into the room, her voice chipper despite the fact that she hadn’t slept last night.

She doubted that Danny did either.

Danny was lying on top of his comforter, already dressed. Their mom must have gotten him situated before shutting herself down in the lab.

Their parents seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

“Come on, get up. I come bearing an activity!”

“Too early,” Danny grumbled.

Jazz ignored him, sauntering into the room brandishing a large, easy piece jigsaw puzzle she’d just ran out to buy that morning.

It was hard to find one for kids that wasn’t either a princess castle or a race car scene. Fortunately, the store had one on sale that had colorful, cartoon baby ghosts covering the image.

“Either you get up, or I drag you up. Either way, you’re doing this puzzle with me.”

“Puzzle?” Danny asked.

Jazz tried not to stare as he struggled upright, only swooping in to set his pillows upright behind him. “Yeah, puzzle.”

She set the box down in front of him, pulling off the lid and revealing the large pieces in front of him.

“That’s...so Boring.”

“Well, the doctors still want you avoiding screens for a little while longer. I figured this was better than staring at the wall.”

Danny eyed the box, his face impassive. 

“Here, wait.” She went out into the hallway, grabbing a large piece of cardboard from the wall. “I brought something to make the puzzle on. Figured it would be easier than the mattress.”

“Okay.” He picked up one of the pieces, inspecting it slowly as if he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“So…” Jazz plopped herself down on the mattress next to Danny and put the cardboard over their laps. “What do you think we should do first?”

Danny gazed blankly down, his eyes trailing between the cardboard and the puzzle piece in his hand. He blinked, and then put the puzzle piece down on the cardboard.

“Okay, we can start with that one!” Jazz chirped.

“No…” Danny ran his hand through his hair. “No that’s not...need to sort.”

“Oh?” Jazz grabbed another piece from the box. “So what should I do with this one then?”

Danny gazed quizzically over at Jazz, grabbing the piece to inspect it. “Edge,” he finally said, setting the piece down on the opposite side of the board from the first piece.

“So we’re sorting the edge pieces from the regular pieces?” 

Danny hummed, grabbing another piece from the box.

“Sounds like a good plan!”

They worked together in near silence after that, Jazz only stopping every so often when she could feel Danny’s attention slipping to ask him to help her sort a piece. It was almost cute how determined he was to complete the task correctly. It almost reminded Jazz of the quiet determination that would slip onto his features in the moments just before he transformed into Phantom. 

Solving the puzzle was a whole different beast. If Jazz were honest, she wasn’t sure if they would have been able to finish in one sitting. Danny still tired far too rapidly throughout the day, and he still slept for more hours than he was awake.

But finally Danny snapped the last piece into place, completing their simple blob ghost picture.

“Nice job!” Jazz put her hand up for a high five.

Danny blinked, slowly processing the motion, before his brain caught up and he gave a little smirk, a tiny eye roll, but met Jazz’s hand all the same.

She put the cardboard with the now completed puzzle on the floor before sitting back against the fluffy pillows. Breathing out, she allowed herself to sink back into the cushions for just a moment.

She was so tired. 

Her brain swirled, and she wanted to sink deeper into the darkness. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t allowed to.

“Are you asleep?” Danny asked.

“No.”

“Oh. Okay.”

A quiet trepidation settled over the pair. Jazz could feel the unspoken questions hanging in the air like forbidden fruit ripe for picking. But the apples were just out of reach, and she knew the branches wouldn’t sink lower until Danny was ready. 

But he had to come home first. He would never be ready to tell her what happened until he finally came back to them. And Jazz didn’t know how long that would take.

“I love you,” Jazz said.

Danny didn’t respond.

---

Thanks for reading!

[mymadmedleyw]

For the fanfic writer ask game, 15, 20, and 29

For the fanfic writer asks: (link)

Huh, well... I have to say you challenged me, these are hard questions.

(Just as usual from me, prepare for a really long reply.)

15. What is the fanfic you've written that you're most proud of?

Definitely, this one is the evilest question, like ever. That was a low bow, shame on you, but seriously, I think I'd say it's WTPH (and even more once I’ll finish it - I'll certainly celebrate that day somehow I'm sure). After all, that one is my little child. Its development I follow eagerly as a parent looks over their firstborn. I watch it proudly as it stretches out into several one-shots and side stories with time. (Note: overall, I call everything belonging under the same concept as 'Heart AU', so all in all, I'm proud of my 'Heart AU'. 😊)

(For clarity, Heart AU includes (chronologically): CMOT, Seasonal Portal Cold (Happens Like Never) (whether it's the same for Dan in the past or just for Danny, I leave it open, because I can't decide it either sometimes), Huntress (Dan's Valerie, alternative timeline), WTPH (+BOTP), Portal (yes, this one belongs here too, oops, spoilers…), My daughter, my perfect base(same Dani as in GG), Core (Danny's Valerie), GG ones, LoD (soon…) (+Sailor), Dollhouse)

It's hard to choose only one though because every fanfic - if I exclude everything that is not DP - has its own beauty. GG is my second-born, which I treat as a bit more 'experienced'. Coming 'LoD' is my third child, which I plan, to prepare for to have but not my 'firstborn'. It's like having two boys, longing to have a girl once which you know you'd love from your heart the most wishing always to have a girl, but still you love your other kids too. Wrong metaphor, I know, but for a second, if I try to think about it, this is how I see them. For real, I can't decide which one is my favourite. But, let's play for a moment why I love (proud of) each of my fanfics:

Phantom: heart-wrenching concept, I'd never ever deny its existence, I love it, it's an AU, an existing version of things in my mind - also, the first thing that came to my mind while I was watching that episode with Amorpho. The moment I finished that episode I sat down, writing this. Also, this one is my first fanfic in DP. (Based on a comment I’ve got for it, I planned to write a just-as-short-one continuation for it, called 'Mad', about Maddie going to Vlad to get revenge on Phantom for Danny… - I have no idea why I never wrote it, but I guess time will tell if I come back to this concept once)

Seasonal Portal Cold (Happens Like Never): my attempt to write what happened before S1E1 - also, I needed something 'comforting' for myself after 'Phantom'. (Also, the title is hilarious, equaling Danny’s symptoms with a probable ‘cold’ got from the portal. This is where my hilarity has begun to give great titles to stories.)

WTPH: young parent's firstborn, first steps into something, surprised by its length (with originally planned 7 chapters - 7! how?! look at this monstrosity now…), and into what it developed with time. (To stay at the child-metaphor, this one right now a bit got neglected due to the second and third child… also, it's a 'teen' now, hardest to handle compared to spending time with its little, ‘harmless' sibling, GG…)

BOTP (aka short scenes from WTPH): exploring everything a bit more, giving more depth to things - also, as time went ahead, I realized I should have added more scenes to WTPH, so then, I did it in another way :) (messier this way though, I see it too…)

GG series (previously titled as BOT - Bonds Over Time): my second born, entirely different issues to cover up, an absolutely interesting mix of two different things (normal life and ghost issues), also a very much self-indulgent fanfic, if you love it too, I love you, if you don't love it, then I love it nevertheless. (If I need a bit of comfort, then I always imagine a scene with Dani and Dan, and then, if I have time, I write it down to. It doesn’t count if they have a ‘hard time’, their pair always calm me. It’s like a safe zone.)

CMOT (Certain Moment of Time): damn, I just love this, very short, but within those short chapters it tells a whole tale about Dan's Vlad. I'm still awed how it turned out. I could’ve never ever guessed I'd manage to seize everything just in some tiny chapters. Really short concepts but if you think about it… it's just much. (Also, I’m proud because it was for Angst Week and I did every day in time!)

My daughter, my perfect base: I'm sad it slipped back in the writing process because I have things to tell in this (things connected to GG), but I still love it from my heart - also it's my very first attempt to make something to someone - or at least in a way 😊. (Yeah, uh, sorry, Lena, I'm not sure if I said that or not - more like, if I had the courage to confess it or not back then - but this is not a 'good dad' Vlad one. It's how I imagine Dani's past with Vlad about the time we haven't seen in the series, so it won't be a 'happy one'. Even though, Dani’s past is known, but I have tiny interesting details in my sleeve. 😁)

Milkshake and Double-Cheese: my second attempt - my seriousfirst attempt - to write something for someone by a given prompt, I'm a bit proud I managed (sort of) to do that, especially with a character I've never thought I'd ever write. (more in the way to expand it more, not sure though when exactly)

Possibilities & A half of a half(a): ideas and prompts that don't belong under 'Heart AU' at all. (Except, the controversial ending of the latest one helped me a bit to use it for something in the future… 😁 I'm really proud of that idea, I have to say, but no more words, my lips are closed…)

LoD: if WTPH is my love-child, then LoD is my planned one, born in a 'stabile' background for it to exist safely. I fell in love with darkgray stories with Deliverance, so I wished for a long time to once write mine, I wasn't sure how, but I always wanted to do it. Well, LoD is my version for Valerie and Dan. :) Far away from Deliverance level, and I'm not sure if it could be counted then as darkgray one strictly, but I'm really looking forward to getting into it more once I can. (I have its first 4 and ½ chapters - the first one needs a very strong editing - but mostly it is prepared to share once WTPH is done. Also, I have 3 chapters in the middle, so when I manage to write the gap between the two written parts, then I'll be okay for a long time. Note: Sailor plays somewhere in its third part. Also, I have its entire main plot points so then I 'only' have to sit down for it and write - once, I don't have anything else to do.) (Note: missed yet to write Damon-one for Side Hoes Week gives a bit of start point for it.)

Dollhouse: definitely wrecks the 'innocence' of GG, so deny it, if you don't want it to be connected that. It's my messy child, my beloved black sheep in the family, and I'm proud of it too - though debating with myself constantly to continue working on that or not.

I think I listed everything that exists, now comes my ideas that are not out there yet, but in the line to exist soon:

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear?

planned InvisoBang one (no idea how to title it): if I could write it, then I'd be very proud. It's about an 'alternative' Dani, where she has her parents, getting into a similar situation like Danny when he got his ghostly powers, but of course, this story won't be the same as things that happened with Danny. I'll play a parallel game, many things will be the same at the same time, but different. Mostly it'll be about how things turn out if someone at some point decides else. If I could write it, then I'd the happiest person on Earth, not just because this idea wanted to be written, but also because I participated in an event to write something for a schedule, and I managed to do that. It's a big step, and not just writing something when I 'feel like that'.

All in all, every kind. I'm not getting much, so then I appreciate what I get - very very much. ^.^ I know there is a reader count but a feedback doesn't feel for me like a void. Any feedback is a note for me that someone not just 'accidentally' clicked on it or something. But if I could confess it from my heart, it's maybe when someone enlightens what they liked in something the most. It might be a really small detail, what they saw behind it, or an entire scene. I'd be glad to hear what effect a scene made. (Was it too much? Too lame? Did it make you wonder why that certain character said that or reacted the way they did?, etc.)

Also, it might be a constructive criticism too, I'm open to hearing that kind of feedbacks too. Like, if someone would be brave and tell me that they disagree with something, I'd like to hear it too, and explain how it was valid for example. (We even could get into a debate if you wish, but keep in mind, I'll always protect how I see my characters in my stories.) And I'd be happy to hear the 'turning point' too, what decided the fate of an actual story - closing the tab ('not my type'), or reading further (because something was catchy or you just want to see where it goes). And even more, a third option: if you read further, giving it a try what made you change your mind (same two ways apply here too - hate it from that point or it became catchy). In short, I'm curious. I'd love to hear anything. 😊 (Anything means, anything, if you want to write an essay about how much I misinterpret and picture a character who shouldn't be redeemed at all, then do it, it's okay too, my mailbox is ready for an intellectual battle to defend my choice of characterization.)

29. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)

(Side note: I’d be happy to hear suggestion/feedback in case I use a word or expression wrong. Or to note me a typo. My not native ass begs for correction, and (polite) explaining to things. 😊. It’s okay to correct me. I’m okay with that too.

I guess, for me, it is the brainstorming and outlining process. Writing is fun too, after all, that's the part when everything gets on paper (document), and getting to live from one's brain, to then grow up into a chapter, but it is not always 'fun'. If the flow kicks in, then it's okay, but mostly it is just a struggle, over and over again. During the 'writing' process, I mostly write as things come into my mind, using brackets for words that don't come to my mind at that moment, or stopping constantly to look after how it is written (I have near to a dozen opened tabs for vocabulary if I sit down to write, that's my average number).

If, somehow the 'writing' process is okay, and everything is done from the beginning of a certain chapter to the end, then I call it the first 'draft'. I have for everything at least four-five drafts (in case of a ‘short’ story), before I start editing. Editing is my second torture. Sometimes, the plot shifts as I start correcting things. Sometimes, it stretches into more words, even as many that I have to cut it into parts. I'm not getting into it now, but you can imagine, it’s a damn circle, the writer’s devil wheel. Sometimes I just want to be a bit more familiar to use English, to avoid this endless circle during writing anything - funny though it is still easier for me than writing in my native language. So, my masochism is necessary and unavoidable.

In fact, brainstorming and outlining is not the best part of the writing process, if I think about that. The best part is (for me) when somehow, entirely unexpectedly something comes in and it clicks. Let me explain it through an example.

During the very beginning of WTPH, there was a comment that made everything betterbecause it made me realise I forgot about one certain basic thing during outlining my story - and believe me I took every single question what will happen that could lead everyone to the end and I answered them before I started writing WTPH, but still, somehow I overlooked this tiny detail...

I'm talking about this, the absolutely first comment to WTPH:

I forgot about the C.A.T. retake. I looked at my notes, and tried to search for the answer to how I could have forgotten it, but I didn’t find anything. I didn't write things that it was already written, nor that it wasn't written, so then I sat down and tried to figure out how to use it, because the part 'so soon'gave me a ring that it should be 'soon' after the C.A.T, but not after the retake… then it just clicked, and it clicked with many good ideas: the retake hasn't happened yet. It led then to many other questions, and soon it affected many things in the later chapters too. Like, Jazz thinking Dan is still there because of that - even though he said to her that he came because of Vlad (but it could have been a lie…). Dan having no cognition that there was an option to a retake, and against him, Danny was given that opportunity - creating the gap between them even more, how different they are. Then, there was an entire chapter about Danny and the retake - which was a great blink to 'avoid the shadow of the future' thought, and then as Danny got home, the 'future' (aka Dan) was there. And let's not forget the (untold) part that Dan got jealous that Danny got a second chance by doing a retake, feeling it unfair, doubling it with the truth that Jazz didn't 'remember' him, because Danny was a poor little puppy for Clockwork who 'retake' for him everything considered as faulty – cutting of everything that could have equaled with Dan or his timeline, how things happened, turned out, and everything... It is just a twist in the heart. And could have guessed this all came from one single part-note that just got stuck into my mind? No, of course not. Or could you imagine everything now without these parts and depths? Either. That is my best part, when from out of blue, something just clicks, making everything you have planned before, turning upside down and giving everything an even better background.

Anyway, thanks for the questions, those were hard to answer – especially the first one. 😃 (Seriously though, could anyone tell what is the story they are proudest of? Of course, it’s always the latest – or something… it’s an evil question, like asking what’s your favourite scene you’ve ever written – okay, no, surprisingly, I could give an answer for that 😅)

As I said, WTPH was officially outlined for 7 chapters. Now, you can imagine how much everything has changed with time by that (Just by numbers: it is standing now at 18/21-22 + 13 chapters in BOTP - it speaks for itself I guess). In conclusion, no matter the early brainstorming, or any attentive outlining, everything shifts to its final form at the editing - for me at least. Sometimes entire concepts got rewritten at the final part because the pace requires it to change into a completely different path. Mysteries of the soul of the story, I reckon. 😄

(I wait for the day when I won’t answer to something in a novel length…)

[regrettablewritings]

How They Spend the Quarantine (Tadashi Hamada, Lucifer Morningstar, Dewey Finn, Wade Wilson, Harley Quinn, & Benoit Blanc)

Just a fun (?? is that even responsible to say?) little thing I’ve been thinking about while slogging through this neverending hellscape of an extended lockdown.

Tadashi Hamada

When San Fransokyo was ordered to go into a lockdown, there were mixed feelings.

At first, Tadashi had a hint of optimism that this would mean more time to work on his prospective projects . . . But then he quickly realized that his projects mostly required tools and space offered by the campus. He could technically make do at home, but it wouldn’t quite be the same considering the garage was considered Hiro’s space.

Somberly had to clean out his lab and take whatever he could home.

Cue the rest of the group (sans Fred and Hiro) griping that at least his style of science could travel well enough to be somewhat continued off of university grounds.

Helps do delivery for The Lucky Cat. It helps him get out the house, and it’s simply helpful altogether.

Uses Baymax frequently to make sure everyone down to Mochi is sanitized, and nobody’s running a fever.

Nearly as frequent a sanitizer as Aunt Cass.

He starts most days prepared to be productive, only to stop and poke fun at Hiro, who’s almost always got his eyes trained on a video game.

Tadashi realizes three hours later that he, too, has been playing the game as Player 2.

Learned how to make facial masks with Aunt Cass. He already knew how to sew a little but frankly, making the masks made him realize he could have a new hobby on his hands. He’s currently trying to figure out how to make Mochi a little vest . . .

Lucifer Morningstar

B o r e d. A s. F u c k.

At first, he thinks everyone being forced to go home would work in his favor -- surely some rule-breakers would sneak out and try to bunk up with the Devil, right?

Well . . . Kinda? Once Chloe found out and scolded him about it, the idea died real fast. Plus, he realized he wasn’t quite fond of the possibility of being around someone who could pop up with a disgusting human sickness at any point during their time with him. Smearing their snot all over, coughing into his Egyptian cotton sheets . . . Nope, never mind, he is perfectly content having the penthouse to himself, thank you very much!

Except he’s not.

The poor bastard is going crazy by himself -- he’s just not used to being without some kind of company!

“At least in Hell, you could tell there were people around you based on the screaming!” he’d whine at his phone during his hourly video chat with Chloe.

Oh yes: The video chats. He tries to make them hourly with anyone he can get a hold of (namely, his long-suffering detective) but this clearly never plays out as he would like for it to: If he had it his way, everyone would respond in an instant and let him bounce mainly one-sided conversations off of them -- basically, what he did before all this went down.

What usually winds up happening is he gets hung up on or nobody answers him at all out of sheer annoyance over his clinginess.

Ironically, he’s not exactly crazy about when Amenadiel initiates those “family calls”. He insists it’s healthy and normal for them to do this and even calls Luci out on the hypocrisy, but let’s face it: Lucifer finds it obnoxiously gushy and weird.

He works his way into Linda’s video appointment books to help him cope with his boredom and admitted need for interactions. She doesn’t mind offering him counsel, but once Lucifer starts attempting to butt in during others’ appointment calls, it becomes an issue.

Has, at some point, gotten buzzed down in Lux and streamed himself attempting to pole dance. It drew quite a bit of attention.

He’s managed to gain a bit of a following and some companionship by streaming himself playing piano and singing. It’s not the same thing as having an actual audience, in his opinion, but it will have to do for now.

He’s never been one to binge with regards to TV shows or movies, but after the first week, he decided to binge watch every work action star Wesley Cabot was ever in.

Makes sure his staff still gets paid well. After all, he’s pretty well-off; there’s no need to make an innocent bartender’s life a living hell just because some other rich bastard fucked up, yeah?

Going off this, should he need to order to-go or anything, we already know he tends to tip as handsomely as he looks.

Dewey Finn

Kids were being sent to Horace Green on tuitions worth more than what some people saw in half a year -- of course the school was going to continue classes online!

While technically an afterschool instructor, the program is popular enough for parents to expect it to continue, and for Dewey to be kept on payroll.

Initially, he was pretty smug: He’s one if, if not, the youngest teacher-figure at Horace Green, so surely that means he’s more tech savvy than his older, stiffer coworkers, right? For once, he’s ahead of the curve!

Wrong: Figuring out Zoom was a headache, and then there was the realization of just how dependent his classes were on actual physical presence.

Plus, let’s be real: Dewey’s Internet connection was decent on its own, but craptastic when compared to those of his wealthier students. The lag is strong with this one.

Has definitely accidentally messed up the background on his screen. Somehow wound up with the Beetlejuice background and got so frustrated, he wound up keeping it there for two whole sessions.

In spite of the slight issues regarding lag, they pull through and try to resume lessons as best they can.

Tries to keep optimism by pointing out how this is a new form of entertainment they could be pioneers in.

Some days, it’s just going so wack or everyone’s so bleh that Dewey just assigns for them to watch a music documentary or something.

“Okay, kids, Mr. Finn’s hungover and clearly Summer is the only one who went to bed before 3am. So what I’m gonna have you do is watch . . . Prrrbbbb . . . Amadeus.” “How is Amadeus rock-related?” “It had a rock single, shut up. Anyway, we meet back next class and talk about what we saw, m’kay? M’kay. Over and out.”

Next class, he’s filled with dread as Summer produces an in-depth analysis of the relationship or lack thereof between character and the presence of talent as evidenced by Mozart’s abilities juxtaposed with his immature presentation and -- Dewey just can’t keep up. Sure, Summer, why not?

When he’s not busy teaching, however, he’s using the lockdown to work on some new material. Or just screwing around.

Otherwise, let’s be real, Big Boy’s living the high life in a place of his own: Playing video games (Animal Crossing, recently got back into Team Fortress 2, is trying to finally finish Ocarina of Time); eating a not very great diet; staying up late, napping at weird times; all in the name of quarantine.

If he orders delivery or to-go, he tips the best he can.

Wade Wilson

On one hand, murking never goes on lockdown. But on the other . . . He’s already technically not well, why risk that even with his mutation?

Oh, fuck I just remembered he lives at the X Mansion, never mind turn back turn back oh god give us free --

The situation is tense to say the least. There’s Wade, who’s sensible enough to know why the quarantine is in place . . . and then there’s everyone else, who knows Wade’s full of shit.

And by everyone, I “coincidentally” mean Colossus, Nega Sonic, Yukio, Domino, Cable, and Russ because the already small world of the sequel just got smaller by the fact that everyone is bound to a large but nonetheless single estate whose size has probably decreased from that of the First Class timeline.

You know those videos of the usual Quarantine Characters? Wade is somehow yet still unsurprisingly all of them, save for the frequent sanitizer. He raids the pantry frequently, sleeps at all hours, considers scooting a swivel chair down the halls exercise for the thighs, blasts video games, and so on.

Going back to the sanitizer thing, it’s not that he’s just not exactly known for being tidy. Colossus occasionally does drag him out of bed at a decidedly decent time (read: any time before 11am) to try and get him excited about cleaning up around the mansion, but it rarely ends well. At this point, the safest option is to just remind Wade to wash his hands for 20 seconds as necessary.

Has acquired a Switch and visits everyone’s island, often to bonk them on the head with a net or gift them with weird crap they don’t necessarily want. For the “friends” from Sister Margaret’s, he has somehow acquired their Dodo Codes. Nobody knows how he did this. 

Facetimes Dopinder frequently.

“Precious, you’re the beacon of light in this cold, cruel world.” “I miss you, too, DP --” “Sshshsh! I’m having a moment . . .” *weeps*

On the many occasions he orders delivery, he tips by giving the delivery person something expensive from the mansion that they can sell. Prof. X is loaded, after all. Plus, he more or less isn’t even present in this universe, it’s not like he’s gonna miss anything he can’t see/probably doesn’t even know exists in his house. The problem is, Colossus does exist and does notice and does care when things go missing. Leading to many a delivery person getting caught up in shenanigans at that weird school in the boonies that they either don’t get paid enough to deal with or couldn’t pay to make up.

“Oh, pawn shops are closed?” asks the man who looks like a skinned avocado if avocados had human skin. “Don’t worry, lemme hook you up -- I know some guys --” “DEADPOOOOOLLL!!” roars a Russian accent from inside the house. “WHERE IS THE BRONZE BUST OF THE PROFESSOR!?” The poor delivery person’s eyes widen as they realize that the odd cargo they’ve been presented with apparently holds some value of some kind. But before they can flee, the avocado man blurts, “Shit! Leave the pizza in the bushes, look me up on my Youtube page, byyyeeee!!”

In his defense, Wade does hold up his end of the deal. Much like the Dodo Codes, nobody knows what strings he pulled. They just accept it and move on.

Harley Quinn

Surprisingly compliant.

She’s crazy, not stupid: Staying at home may suck, but what sucks more is making things harder on people who may not fair so well. Besides, she’s spent time in a maximum security prison -- she can handle staying cooped up in her own home. At least home has TV, books, and snacks.

When she hears people are still going out without masks or plotting to have a protest, she strongly considers firing up the old Fun Gun and popping the next sign-carrying Karen she sees with a tit full of cadmium yellow powder.

Seriously, stay the fuck home and fuck up your own hair; this is the perfect time to make mistakes with your looks, it ain’t like you got anywhere to be or anyone to impress.

“STAY THE FUCK HOME, BITCH!” P O W!!! “JUST GO GREY ALREADY, WE ALL KNOW YOUR HAIR AIN’T THAT COLOR ANYMORE, YOU’RE THREE YEARS FROM BEING IN THE GODDAMN AGE-BRACKET!!!” P O W!!!!

Only leaves her new apartment to grab groceries and to take Bruce on a walk. She actually refuses to steal or cause a scene during this shitshow because she may be a bad guy, but she sure ain’t evil.

So far, there haven’t been complaints about the fact that she’s walking a hyena down a public street. Maybe it’s because there’s hardly anyone out? Maybe it’s because Gothamites just can’t be bothered to be fazed by it . . . Or maybe it’s because she made him a little mask for his snout.

“In this house, we wash our hands for at least 20 seconds, kid.”

Lets the forest reclaim the earth, so to speak. She was never really shaving anything for anyone but herself before, but now it just seems especially pointless.

Spends almost every day in a kigurumi. To give her a semblance of routine, she has a pink bear one she calls her “Sunday Suit.” She doesn’t know it’s not Sunday because the days just blur but Cass just doesn’t have the heart to tell her; she seemed so proud of herself . . .

Like everyone else, she’s gotten Animal Crossing. She’s trying to create an all-preppy island with a few exceptions (Astrid = Aesthetic, m’kay?)

Tips nicely when ordering delivery.

Benoit Blanc

As young and spry in nature as the gentleman sleuth would like to think of himself, he would really rather not test the dangers of the situation and go about all foolhardy -- he’s staying home!

In theory, it’s only logical and therefore perfectly fine. But in practice . . . God, he wishes he’d invested more in things to occupy himself with when home.

It wasn’t that Benoit was never home, he just never felt too much of a need to invest in a fancy entertainment center -- the fanciest he ever got was an iHome.

The beginning of the quarantine served as the perfect time for him to read over case files, catch up on paperwork, even catch up on some reading he’d been putting on hold since God knows when due to cases popping up left and right. But that dried up quicker than he’d assumed, and that’s when he was faced with what a man of his mind dreads the most: Boredom.

Finally caved and decided to hook up Amazon Fire.

Expected to use the one-month free trial on Netflix and be just fine but once the lockdown in his area got extended and he realized he wasn’t going to be able to catch up with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend at this rate, he caves even further and buys a subscription.

Fully delights at the influx of platforms uploading Broadway recordings; when The Show Must Go On put on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, followed by The Phantom of The Opera, it was a treat, I tell you!

Sanitizes often, despite hardly ever leaving his house besides to have a smoke or to go grab groceries. Honestly, it’s less about cleaning at this point so much as it is finding something to occupy his focus when he feels there’s nothing else to so.

Takes zinc after every meal to help lessen the intensity of any ailment that might hit him.

Definitely owns a facemask. There’s a good chance it’s from Marta or one of his relatives, and there’s another good chance the pattern is as flamboyant as his clothing. He’s delighted.

Benoit tries not to rely too much on delivery,  as he’d much rather just cook. On the rare occasion where tipping comes up, however, he gives as generously as he can.

Bonus: There’s a slight chance he might have acquired a companion to foster early on in the quarantine. Benoit hadn’t had a pet since childhood, a crime of which he was admittedly melancholic of his own involvement. However, his surprisingly busy lifestyle just wouldn’t suit a four-legged friend, now could it?

Well, now there’s time to. Besides, it would certainly ease the potential feeling of loneliness to have someone or something with whom he could interact with.

Admittedly, when shelters began encouraging people to invest time in taking home a companion, he’d been looking more for a comrade on the canine side of the spectrum -- but darn, if Duke wasn’t a handsome cat.

A lovely grey-and-white cat with eyes that matched his own, Duke has become the one Benoit monologues to (because in all honesty, the man is a performer at heart, in need of an audience to speak his mind to and portray a thought before). Plus, he doesn’t appear to mind it when Benoit finds himself belting out in tone-deaf notes to showtunes while washing the dishes: The mark of a true companion.

At this rate, he’s probably not going to keep fostering Duke when things calm down -- he’s probably going to just straight up adopt him.

Stay safe & healthy!

[darks-ink]

Fic Masterlist 1: Events

Apparently my last masterlist/archive got too link-heavy so I’m splitting it up in three parts! wowie. Here’s #1, dedicated to fics written for all kinds of events! (and yeah, these are all Danny Phantom fics lol. the other guys get their own post)

Last updated: November 3rd 2021 Links: 150/250

Ectoberweek 2018

AO3 series

Witching Hour: Maddie set out to learn more about the Witching Hour, but instead she learns a little more about Amity Park’s most mysterious ghost. [family, bonding] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Disappearance: Series rewrite in which Danny had his accident all alone—and then disappeared into the Ghost Zone. Continued in Harvest. [hurt/comfort, family, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Necromancy: Danny didn’t survive the accident, and his ghost never stumbled out of the Portal either. But nothing can keep Sam away from her best friend. [angst] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Corruption: One must learn from the past to change the future. [angst] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Harvest: Vlad learns about, and from, Danny. Sequel to Disappearance. [hurt/comfort, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Unearthed: Danny Fenton’s body is found, but the boy never died. Or did he? Continued in Buried, basis for Disinterred. [crime, hurt/comfort, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Spells – Harry Potter crossover: Danny has always known that, unlike his friends, he has no magic. So when he tries again, years later, the results are rather… unexpected. Prequel to Weirdward, rewritten as Spells 2.0. [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Ectoberweek 2019

AO3 series

Fangs: Danny Fenton, half-ghsot and teenager, enjoys his first day of school, and meets some future friends. Continued in The Visit. [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Stalker: Phantom is not Fenton. If only Danny’s friends believed him when he said as much. [angst, hurt/comfort] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Electricity: Electricity is just one of the many powers Danny gets access to but, like all others, it requires a bit of figuring out. [humor] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Artifact: After the Reality Gauntlet is destroyed, Danny is ready to spend the rest of his summer relaxing. But he keeps waking up to the same day, over and over again. [hurt/comfort, family, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Grave Robber: The GIW, tipped off by an anonymous caller, investigate Vlad Master’s mansion, where they discover a very special ghost. [hurt/comfort] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Exorcism: Sure that Danny was suffering from overshadowing ghosts, Maddie purges his system of all ectoplasm. But he still didn’t seem to get any better. [angst] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Ectoberweek 2020

AO3 series

Fog:  Valerie Gray had always been able to See. See ectoplasm, see spirits, all that fun stuff. By the time she entered high school, she was fairly sure she'd seen just about everything there was to see. Until, one day, Danny Fenton changed. [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Pulse: Sam and Tucker attempt to deal the change of their best friend after his accident in the lab. [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Rewind: After changing the past and altering the timeline, Danny is forced to stay in a world where he was never born. [family, found family] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Darkness:  Danny, still new to being half-human, finds himself in a room with someone almost like him: a half-ghost. Sequel to Antonym. [identity reveal - sorta kinda] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Reanimation:  What started as a plan to stabilize the Phantom-like ghost they found under Masters' control somehow spiraled completely out of control. And, quite frankly, Agent O wasn't sure he minded. Sequel to Grave Robber. [found family, hurt/comfort] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Glow Sticks: Later, Valerie would worry about the implications, about how it might affect her. But she was here to have a normal evening, for once in her damn life, and that was exactly what she was going to do. [friendship, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Cloak: The trio come up with a set of matching Halloween costumes. Sequel to Third Time (’s a Charm). [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Ectoberweek 2021

AO3 series

Boo!: Intent on pulling a joke on his son, Jack discovers an unexpected secret. [humor, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Pumpkin: art piece [Tumblr]

Cobwebs: An unexpected visitor graces Sam's room. [alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Insect: art piece [Tumblr]

Echo: That morning, when Danny came down, he no longer sounded like himself. [implied identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Summoning: The trio discusses the possibility of summoning Phantom. [friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Blood Moon: art piece [Tumblr]

Phic Phight 2019

AO3 series

Captivity: The Wisconsin Ghost. Plasmius. Whatever name they call him, Maddie has him captured now. [identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Dog Days: Jack Fenton thought all ghosts were evil, until he met a certain ghost dog. [fluff] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Cacoethes: Danny was raised by two ghost-hating parents. Yet, somehow, he befriends not one but two ghosts. [hurt/comfort, friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Distortion: He’s flying. Or is he? [mystery, supernatural] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Unveiled: Jack finds a hidden lab in Vlad’s mansion. But why had it been kept a secret from him and Maddie? [hurt/comfort, family, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Rise Above Myself: Danny is off to college, leaving Vlad in charge of keeping ghosts out of Amity Park. [hurt/comfort] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Grounded: Valerie is underground, and she can’t remember how she got there. Her suit has no information to offer her, either. [hurt/comfort, identity reveal, alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Unseen: After getting hit by his parents’ newest invention and being unable to shift back to human form, Danny is forced to go to school as Phantom. [humor, post-reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Phic Phight 2020

AO3 series

Antonym: When the Fentons fire up their newly invented Ghost Portal, it unexpectedly spits out a kid. But why does he keep insisting he’s a ghost? [family] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Synonym: No matter how she tried, Sam couldn’t convince Danny to go back into the Portal. So the world would have to settle for her, no matter how temporarily. [angst, alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Naturalistic Observation: The Fentons take a new spin on ghost research by observing a very special game of dodgeball. [fluff] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Third Time (‘s a Charm): Why go through the ordeal of being half-ghost alone if you can do it with your best friends? [friendship, alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Parasite: Vlad had given up on being freed from Plasmius’ grip ages ago. All he wanted, now, was for Plasmius’ reign to end. Before he could do too much damage. [angst] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

To Be: After Danny’s inhibitors break during chemistry class, his fellow students and even his teachers fight to make him feel accepted. [fluff, post-reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Of Tweets and Twats: Amity Park’s constant ghost troubles finally get it on the radar of the internet. And boy, are they unimpressed. [humor, Twitter-fic] [AO3]

Self-Perception: A ghost’s appearance is based on their self-image. How they see themselves. So when you’ve been told your entire life that ghosts are monsters, well… That does things to one’s appearance, that’s for sure. [hurt/comfort, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Parental Woes: Humans form families of flesh and blood, while ghosts form theirs based on connections in their cores. But what does that mean for a half-ghost? [family, hurt/comfort, identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Got My Reasons: Maddie and Jack find Phantom heavily injured in the GAV and patch him up. [angst, hurt/comfort, family] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Living So Dangerous: Phantom had tried to kill her. It was undeniable. Now she just had to end him before he could finish the job. [hurt/comfort, friendship] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Phic Phight 2021

AO3 series

Reversal: Sometimes Valerie wished she could show Phantom what it was like to be her. She doubted that he would care--the ghost only thought about himself--but the roleswap would at least annoy him, surely. [identity reveal] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Spark: Danny discovers he isn't the only one in Amity Park with ghostly traits. [alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Ephemeral: Tucker Ghouley, hoping for a quiet patrol for once, finds his peace disturbed by the sudden appearance of three half-ghosts from alternate universes. How is he meant to get them back? [friendship, alternate half-ghost(s)] [Tumblr] [AO3]

Christmas/Holiday Truce

Warmth – Truce 2018: Team Phantom celebrate their ghost-free Christmas. [friendship, fluff] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Recovery – Truce 2018: Dani and Vlad celebrate their first Christmas as a family. [family, fluff] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Just To Be Seen By My Eyes – Truce 2019: After receiving painting after painting from a mysterious ‘DP’, Jack just wished to know who it was that kept making those beautiful creations. But, as he discovers, sometimes you’re better off not knowing. [family] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

What We Are – Truce 2020:

 Vlad Masters, young half-ghost, finally meets his uncle. And discovers that the man is a half-ghost, just like him. [roleswap AU] [Tumblr] [AO3] [FFN]

Phango

How Rare And Beautiful It Is (To Even Exist) – Phango19: The Trio look back on the years they’ve known each other, and the way they came together as a family. [hurt/comfort, family, friendship] [AO3] [FFN]

[lorrainecparker]

Script Based Editing: Avid’s Untapped Ecosystem

For the editing of films, TV shows and other videos in the art of narrative storytelling, many if not most editors use the edit system called Avid Media Composer. One of its shining gems is its ability to integrate paper-like scripts right inside of it, using what we call a script-based editing interface. It allows editors to click on words in a film, TV show or documentary’s script and jump right to the corresponding video itself. Scripts or interview transcripts are synced-up manually by an assistant editor or automatically using an option in Media Composer called ScriptSync.

Editors discover this often-overlooked aspect of Media Composer, and never look back.

This is an edit bay in a PBS television station. Here we’ve made documentaries, TV shows and series. There are many editing suites. Windows. Mac. New old. Each one at this TV station is running Avid Media Composer.

So how do editors in a place like this work?

We used to be busier. Not busier, that’s the wrong word. If you were to rewind technology, you’d see us making the same amount of product, it just took more effort to make it, and the effort was more deliberate and tangible. Now it takes less effort but there are many more steps. The work is faster and there are many more layers to it. The workflow is less linear, and often results in us never actually touching the finished product.

That doesn’t just apply to professionals. These days most people in general wear all hats when making a video. Shooting, editing, music, voice overs, graphics and animations, and then uploading, tagging with metadata, tracking that data, seeing who’s watching, when, where… Each person is an entire production company, broadcasting entity, corporate communications department, and security and tracking agency all rolled into one.

Editing without Avid script-based editing

This is an era of “upload it and ask questions later”. This is an era when over 300 hours of video are being uploaded to YouTube every minute. It’s reasonable to assume then, that the glamorous and elite Hollywood workflow of writing a movie script and producing it, as a film isn’t being used nearly any of it. Preproduction? Location scouting? Storyboarding? Scripting? Is it all going away?

If the ratio of creating videos is that one-sided against even the idea of scripting, then what’s the use of learning about some computer software interface that helps you with your scripts?

Those of you who have used it – you know the answer.

Look forward in time, into that edit, and start imagining that more than one person is sitting there in the edit. Imagine that the editor is a pro, not a hobbyist. Imagine there is a producer, a director – clients if you will, sitting in the room. Perhaps the project is a documentary for PBS or Netflix or even YouTube. Regardless, there is a huge budget behind it. It is huge enough at least, to pay for these people to be here.

What are the questions being asked by those non-editors in the room?

“Do we have a better instance where that woman is saying that?” “ Does that guy say anything about the product that doesn’t sound so operational?” “ Of all the people interviewed, who talks about X?”

I know, you’re thinking “amateurs!” Well, not so much these days. These days, people are indeed wearing many hats and just might not have time or budget to get things to the editor as smoothly as they “should”.

And as editors, it’s our job not to worry but to accommodate.

Script based editing is for many types of projects. For commercials and weddings, not so much. Music videos? Not really, unless there are a lot of lyrics to match-up in multi-cam shoot. It’s for things with where people talk… a lot. In fact, I’ve talked to many feature film editors and editors of episodic television that say they don’t even use it on the whole film. They just decide to use it on scenes that they’d describe as dialogue-heavy.

One told me, “I’ll use it when there’s a lot of takes and a lot of coverage, or when there is coverage for one scene spread across three different scenes…”

But some editors don’t use it at all, or want to but simply haven’t had the time or ability to do so. Another editor told me, “I’ve actually never really used it. It usually requires an extra assistant dedicated just to prepping it… it’s too much to ask to take on scripting / ScriptSync prep in addition to all the normal prep work.”

Producing for an edit that will be using script-based editing

Producing and/or directing for an edit that is going to use script-based editing is not just different, but wildly different. This is probably one of the main reasons editors have stayed away form it. If the person getting all of the materials to the editor is not doing so in a way that’s conducive to using script-based editing, then… why do so?

Not producing for SBE means the writer/producer is delivering media and then babysitting the process because the only tangible road map is the brain of the producer/writer.

Would writing out that road map be a good idea? There’s the script. Would having the scripting process save time or add time in the edit? There’s how you budget your time and resources.

Hint: I was working on a television series back in the mid-2000’s. It was a routine 30-day edit. As soon as we adopted SBE, ScriptSync and PhraseFind, that went down to a 14-day edit. And it took no more time or effort on my part. It simply required creating the materials for the edit differently, and then shifting my focus at various points.

Here’s an analogy. I was editing a branding campaign for an ad agency. It was a massive project. They weren’t just looking for a couple of :30 commercials and a little web marketing, but “mini-docs” – a bunch of 5-7 minute long videos describing various visions for their products. Hours worth of interviews and B-roll were shot. It wasn’t that too much media was shot, because I ended up using most of it, but there was one drastic thing sorely missing – no one at any point in the process scripted a single thing; and no one even thought to transcribe all of the interviews. They just went out, recorded people saying stuff, and then assumed the post process would create a story.

Of course they were right (wink, wink).

No fault to them at all. They are an ad agency that had been used to small commercials, but then asked by their existing client to ramp-up the scale. So they switched editors and edit plans. At the DP’s urging, they called me, a documentary editor, and I was handed hours of video. In a week I was going to have clients in the room looking to “see the stories we’ve got so far”.

I know, a bunch of you just got all up in arms, saying “stupid clients” or “bad directors”, but no. This is what happens in the wake of a recession. When an agency is able to get a client, and the client wants a heck of a lot more than the agency knows how to do, they’re lucky to be able to call on people like you and me who know all of the extra steps. It’s good to be able to up-scale a project quickly, and to do so, you need to know as many editors as possible.

So I subcontracted all of the transcriptions, and implemented an Avid script-based editing workflow. And yes, it was itemized as such on the invoice, to make sure all parties understood the process, and there would be no bickering at the check-cutting stage.

How an edit can “live inside of the script”

Not sure about a lot of my documentary colleagues, but I’ve been using script-based editing almost since it came out two decades ago.

Many of you are probably starting to think, can I completely edit from inside this interface? No unfortunately, although I’d love to, truly.

It’s important to note that although the interface for script-based editing is amazing, it does not replace a sequence. Sequences play in the Timeline Window, which is where Media Composer can play to tape or be seen on a client monitor or export with layers to AAFs and so on. So in the script interface, you can’t drag a bunch of stuff into it, and then hit play or export and have it make a finished video.

What you CAN do however is use it as a storyboarding process. Unlike storyboarding apps out there, everything can happen entirely inside Media Composer, which is ideal. So in a way, you can begin to live inside of your script and your project even before you begin cutting. You can use SBE as a preproduction means of communicating your intentions to your producer, to yourself, your assistants, or if you are an assistant then to your editor, before day-1 of the edit.

Let’s say you’re able to begin storyboarding but not necessarily ready to start cutting yet. For example, in a documentary you are editing, you’ve learned that an interviewee discusses a few specific points. You’re not ready to add music or pacing yet, so you aren’t going to be finding the clips and making in/out points. You just want to organize yourself so that you know that these shots – in whatever length they currently exist – need to go with this interviewee at this point. So you take those clips, and drag them to the script. This way you’re not editing anything and you’re not creating new subclips or spreading too many extra versions of clips across bins after bins. That can sometimes become a media management nightmare. Instead you’re simply adding Post-It notes if you will, onto your script, and those Post-It notes come with the thumbnail of the shot and the metadata hidden inside that allow you to match-frame with one click, and even find them in your bins with another click.

Depending on the project, you can get extremely robust with this. You can even decide music, add a scratch voice-over, temp animations and graphics, titles, sound effects and so on. In essence you are pre-building a sequence.

Well, why would you want to? If nothing translates into a tangible sequence by hitting “Insert”, why bother?

In large projects, reality TV for sure and definitely documentary, there is more to editing than just cutting together what’s on the script or even what’s organized in bins. You are quite truly making up the story as you go. So you need as many different ways of looking at and accessing your content as you can get. In addition to browsing media in the source window and bins, it’s amazing the first time you begin using script-based editing how many new ideas for approaching a scene you get, and how quickly you are able to access and implement those ideas. You can even take it a step further and print out your fully loaded scripts, so that others in the process can look at them and mark them up.

Under the hood – how it works

To understand how script based editing works under the hood so to speak, you already have the best resource available. You know how when you buy a new car you get a manual? Well it staggers me how many people don’t know how robust the Help directory inside Media Composer is. Rather than Googling questions about workflow, any editor should first look up top in the File menu for the last file tree called Help. In there is Media Composer Family Help.

“Family” help? Yeah I know… You’d think childhood counseling right?

Actually it’s one of my favorite resources in Composer because it gives you access to hundreds and hundreds of pages worth of a manual.

So since this resource is better than any sort of “how to” I could put together for you, let me just describe the important process of how to get scripts into script-based editing. Then when you have specific questions, you can use your MC Family Help menu to search for the answers.

All transcripts are made, and from them the script is written. Don’t go and open Media Composer yet, first grab a transcript on your computer. You’ll have to reformat it as a text file (.txt). Open it in MS Word. Click File > Save As. Before it saves, another dialogue comes up. This is important. Text encoding? Even if you are on a Mac and going to a Mac, click MS Dos. Options? Insert line breaks. End liens with CR/LF. Allow character substitution? Always.

Once you have these four things selected, click OK, and it saves your script as a text file. Now this is ready to be brought into Avid Media Composer.

ScriptSync and PhraseFind

Speaking of resources that are available to you, let me mention ScriptSync and PhraseFind. These are options for Media Composer you can obtain. ScriptSync cuts down on the immense amount of time it takes to prepare scripts for script-based editing. Once scripts are built, PhraseFind gives you one of the best possible ways to search inside of your scripts – phonetics. A transcriptionist might not spell every word spoken in an interview or by an actor correctly. So a phonetics-based search is remarkable.

I won’t belabor these here, because you can find detailed webinars I’ve made previously here at Pro Video Coalition.com

Here are the links:

ScriptSync

PhraseFind

Does it seem outdated? Or is it just me?

So you now have a glimpse at this whole thing. What are your thoughts?

“Uh, the workflow seems great but…” If you’re unimpressed with the interface, don’t worry. You’re not alone. This whole thing was designed, engineered and implemented in 1996. It was amazing back then. There have been a few small updates, and some very welcome ones for a refresh in 2017, but it certainly seems frozen in time. Some are OK with that from a workflow standpoint because the workflow of scripting hasn’t changed much in 100 years. Sure there are new apps out there helping script supervisors on the set; new apps for logging on an iPad, plus all of the great updates in Final Draft and so on. These can certainly, certainly leave us starved for similar updates to how an editor can interact with a script.

  We’d love to see stronger storyboarding. We’d love to see different views and sorting tools allowing us to just see one actor’s lines, or just lines from the narrator, or at least the ability to highlight one actor’s lines with just one click. We’d love a 3×5 card view. We’d love the ability to add shareable comments, like in MS Word. We’d love a tremendous update to our ability to color code and reorganize the interface. We’d love additions to multi-cam situations. We’d love an Avid Partner program in which editors could commission script-based editing friendly transcriptions through the Avid Marketplace. In addition to that, and similar to ScriptSync, PhraseFind and Symphony, we’d love a paid speech recognition “Option”. In documentary we’d love to have an “additive script” that springboards to and from all of our transcripts, kind of like how you can step-in to and step out of effects.

We’d love a spell checker.

If that were impossible, we’d love an ability to send the transcript for updates to Final Draft or MS Word from within the script window, and then bring them back to have changes update dynamically.

We’d love to finalize the script and have it converted to captioning. And of course, ultimately, we would love the ability to have the script-based editing interface become a rough cut sequence creator. To essentially add a vertical tracks bar into the script interface, and then “commit” our storyboarding into something that the sequence can accept.

Perhaps as editors, these are all things we could all get together and propose in the next Avid ACA vote?

Tips, tricks and troubleshooting

As far as tips and tricks, there are certainly a few you’ll love. Most of them are for ScriptSync and PhraseFind though, so when you have the time, go watch my Pro Video Coalition webinars on those apps. This way you’ll see the tricks in-context with real situations.

Regarding tips for script-based editing interface, here’s one everybody needs. Over the years, there have been many goofy reasons why scripts in a Media Composer project change their fonts. OS updates, fonts change in your system, or even slight changes in each new version of Composer. Whatever it is, there’s no reason to worry. Just do this.

Open the script. Take a moment to either panic, or marvel at the magnificence of how goofy the thing looks, and then click in the File menu: Windows > Set Font.

Another great trick is using scripts as reference materials. What does that mean? Well, do you remember earlier when I mentioned you can print our your scripts so that the producer and others involved can mark them? When I say “others involved”, I’m referring to the legal department, the business office, the funders, the RFP’s you’re answering on future productions and so on. Usually these people are asking for information about the edit right in the middle of when we’re working. So just exporting the scripts for them to use in any way they see fir is always a good idea.

The Avid script-based workflow: learn it; share it

It seems the line in the sand dividing many editors and their productions is the script – whether they get one, how well it’s formatted and presented to the edit, and how much input an editor gets to have based on it.

So if you’re an editor who is deep in this workflow already, find one who isn’t and share the wisdom. More people working in this way means more producers and directors will learn how to integrate themselves. Likewise if you’re an editor who wants this workflow, start learning it and then present it to your clients. As in my case many years ago, it changed the way they worked forever, which changed my situation forever.

Integrating scripts into the video editing workflow using Avid’s script based editing interface does add time and effort at the front-end. But once it’s set up, it saves a remarkable amount of time throughout the rest of the process. Like the fable of the tortoise and the hare, editors find they win the race using the slow but sure process every time. Not always because it gets her or his project done quicker, but certainly it gets done more thoroughly; and that’s exactly what every client hopes for when commissioning an editor to the project.

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