#handyman daniel

[onboardsorasora]

something something Daniel is the handyman/contractor that Vic calls after Max hammers holes in one of his doors to free his cat. He comes over while Max is showering maybe. While Daniel is gone for tools, Vic yells through the bathroom door that they have company and Max should wear clothes.

Anyway, he totes doesn't listen/remember and walks out of the bathroom in just a towel to see Daniel in the doorway across from him on his knees (he was unscrewing the lower hinge). Cue mutual surprise and blushing and Daniel being ultra focused in finishing the job while Max not so secretly watches him.

Vic rolls her eyes

[anonymous-existences]

DCxDP Prompt 15 :

Danny/Wes idea, Demon Sibs Combined into it.

Short prompt and vague stuff. If I had to motivation I'll do some continuation to it but picture this.

DanyalDanny knows he's adopted, always had known especially since he was adopted as the Fenton's were out and about looking for ghosts back when he was merely 6, they found him all battered and bloodied up and immediately took him in as their own, Jazz was very pleased with a new little brother and she became her reason to stay and purpose to protect.

The Fentons aren't the best but they loved Danny, Danny could say the same as he was shocked to see their reactions when he first called them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. They burst into tears and pulled Danny into a love filled bear hug, Danny could say it was the most love he has ever felt.

But Danny, he would never talk about his past, no, no, he claimed amnesia. He felt subtle guilt when he lied about it but now it felt insignificant to worry about, after becoming a Halfa due to the portal accident, he found himself in the middle of simping A-listers and a conspiracy theorist who immediately clocked him upon sight(how did he do that??).

Wes Weston always had the affinity of finding out someone's identity behind a mask, he always voiced out these thoughts knowing no one would believe him but at times it can still get pretty annoying. Danny Fenton caught his eye, he never paid attention to the boy but he kept a secret tab on him, the way he walked felt stuff and subtly regal, the way he talked had a hidden southeast accent(?) that Wes couldn't pinpoint where came from.

Considering the Fact that Danny was adopted... Completely out of nowhere, the Fenton's picked up a boy from somewhere in the world and adopted him without question but Wes doesn't think that's suspicious since the Fentons ARE the Fentons after all.

What kept his tabs, and everything else come to life is when Phantom appeared, Kyle Weston, his brother refused to help and exempted himself from Wes's spiraling Theories piling up.

Wes immediately clocked Phantom as Danny, It's too obvious for Christ's sake, Fenton? PHANTOM? It was so original and unoriginal at the same time, Wes still forced his brother to listen and at some point Wes noticed Dash stopped bullying Danny after having Dash listen through Wes's Theoretical Rant.

Dash and Kyle want nothing to do with Danny, they don't have him, they just suspect Wes is secretly gay and his love language is comparing his crush to the awesome town vigilante ghost.

Everything is as normal as everyday until the GIW found out about Danny's identity, The Fenton Parents and Jazz weren't there when they took Danny away for 'Examination'. So Wes did what any normal person would do, pull out the exact blueprint and hidden passageway of The GIW Facility Base and Bust Danny out of there without getting the already wounded and partially open boy even more injured and in pain.

The Fenton parents did everything they could do to hide Danny as soon as they got home after Wes had contacted them somehow, they love their baby boy so much, He's their Danny, their Daniel, their Phantom.

Wes dragged Kyle into the mess, Not that Kyle had any options and thus. With the help of Jazz who was in Gotham for college, The Fenton Parents stayed behind to keep the GIW in Amity, And Wes along with his Begrudgingly Dragged Along Older Brother Kyle, Is heading to Gotham.

Did Danny anticipate that Wes and Kyle both have truth altering possibly also Reality Warping curse that they bend to their will, but then again sometimes they're too stupid and too human to use these curses to their advantage.

They arrived in Gotham and at first everything was Normal, Danny became the Handyman of their free and he'd fix anything for food and any of the sort. Especially candies for children who wanted their toys fixed, Wes was the weird quiet one who was deemed tough on the outside, soft on the inside because of how oddly kind he still was despite his first impressions.

Kyle was the chill one who was denser than rock in most occasions and jazz was the oldest one who was raising them(along with Kyle) as well as pursuing psychology.

Now here comes more of the DC part :

Wes starts to theorize about the bats, same old same old, Danny listens to them intently as Wes makes pretty good points about the identities(Except Bruce Wayne as Batman, cuz that guys a Total Himbo Billionare.)

Danny and Robin meet by pure coincidence. Danny recognizes him immediately, Damian impulsively taking off his mask and charging at Danny, Both knew they were not Clones of each other and Danny comes home with an unmasked Robin and not any of them feels that this is something out of place.

Going as far as serving Damian a plate of food and Danny introducing the Weston Siblings and Jazz. Jazz immediately mentally adopting Damian because he's her baby brother Twin thus he's just another little chick of hers.

For a while Robin takes time to have dinner on their house, Alfred obviously instantly notices but doesn't mention it Infront of others but merely tells Damian to stay safe and eat well.

The Batfam slowly notice the change of demeanor, Damian slowly getting less aggresive and acting softer and perhaps a tad bit too innocent like for their comfort, they finally follow him to the place he frequents and sneaks off to every night and they see him take off his mask and hug someone who's the exact replica of him, just blue eyes.

They see him drop his guard and become comfortable by their small dining table that fits 5 perfectly. If it weren't for his current costume at the time then he would have looked like a normal civilian boy.

Shenanigans Ensue. You guys can take it from here ✨

[eupheme]

PPCU - 2024 FIC RECS

a rec list to share and support all the gorgeous fics I read this year. please check these out and support these writers, they are all incredible! 💖

COMANDANTE VERACRUX X READER

— the bet by @/flightlessangelwings

DAVE YORK X READER

— sweet dreams by @toomanystoriessolittletime

For you it was just a very intense wet dream, clearly never thinking a candle you bought at an occult store would give you the best orgasm you had ever experienced. For Dave York, cursed to fuck whoever lit said candle, you were a willing virgin waiting for him to take you.

DIETER BRAVO X READER

— i'll try anything once by @murder-wife

When you make a joke to your boyfriend about pegging him, he takes you up on it

FRANKIE MORALES X READER

— do me yourself by @/jolapeno

a meet-cute in a hardware store? impossible, out of the question. except, that's exactly what happens. a need for screws leads you to a broad-shouldered, brown-eyed man who you're sure is about to change your day, never mind your life.

— seasons of you by @kedsandtubesocks

your first winter in the valley brings in a frosty breeze & a push towards a certain blacksmith

— wet 'n wild by @/jolapeno

“This what you wanted?” His breath fans across your cheek, your neck—teeth all but gliding over your hammering pulse. “You just wanted me to touch you, querida?”

JACK DANIELS X READER

—trussed up by @wannab-urs

The stress of being a Statesman Agent, especially one in charge of the entire New York operation, gets to Jack sometimes. When he needs release, he comes to you.

JAVIER PEÑA X READER

— bite me nicely by @jolapeno

Javier Peña, a guilt-ridden vampire, struggles with the growing intimacy between him and Bones, the woman who willingly offers her blood to keep him alive.

JOEL MILLER X READER

— a happy man by @/psychedelic-ink

when your friend sets you up on a blind date, you had no idea how impactful it would be.

— anywhere but here by @pedgito

A poor damsel in distress, saved by the most unlikely of man.

— as it was by @/psychedelic-ink

you decide to host a New Year’s party and when Joel shows up soaked to the bone thanks to the rain, you lead him to the bathroom to dry him up.

— could i have this kiss forever? by @flightlessangelwings

— don't move, honey by @jolapeno

joel doesn’t want you to move or touch until he comes back to bed.

— eleven stitches by @/almostfoxglove

After Joel comes back from patrol injured, he wakes up restrained to a bed in Jackson's clinic where you've been tasked with patching him up.

— flowering by @tinycozycomfort

Always itching to be blamed for something, just so he can try and redeem himself; some kind of penance has sunk its teeth into the soft belly of his desire, staking its hold.

— first love in the late spring air by @moonlight-prose

in the late spring air with summer setting like the sun, life with joel suddenly becomes clear.

— get you alone by @5oh5

joel wants you, but you aren't his to have.

— half asleep, half awake by @morning-star-joy

Every time Joel Miller realizes he loves you. Every time he wants to tell you, and the time he does.

— handyman by @/mrsmando

it’s the worst time of the month for you, and you’re in pain. joel hates to see it, and will do whatever he can to make you feel better.

— him. he. joel. by @/jolapeno

you don't know his name. he doesn't know yours. yet.

— hiraeth by @honeyedmiller

the most invigorating and intoxicating drug you’ve had in your life is completely forbidden… and then there’s weed.

— his sweet secret by @ozarkthedog

joel fucks you over the kitchen sink.

— how do you sleep? @thriftedtchotchkes

joel's always there to comfort you with his words and a warm bed after a nightmare, but tonight, you need a little more

— is it that sweet? by @joelscruff

you probably shouldn't let some random middle aged man on the beach take nude photos of you, right? right?

— it’s different in the sun, in the day by @/jolapeno

— juno by @lotusbxtch

Your honeymoon with Joel is off to a bang.

— knuckles deep by @/ozarkthedog

 joel fingers you for the first time in his truck.

— mornings like these by @pedrospatch

There’s a reason you’re always late to morning patrol. That reason’s name is Joel Miller.

— night breeze by @hier--soir

joel comes home to find you sleeping in his bed, wearing his clothes.

— no one can hurt you now by @guiltyasdave

You’ve been traveling through the country with Joel and Ellie. After finally arriving in the safety of Jackson, you realize how much Joel means to you.

— pretty baby by @mrsmando

working as a nanny for joel miller is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

— phonophilia by @ozarkthedog

Joel Miller loves how responsive you are.

— put your sweet lips on my lips by @/thetriumphantpanda

He won’t ever kiss you, those are the rules, but you fall in love with him anyway.

— real love, baby by @/honeyedmiller

joel has a bad day at work, but seeing you dancing in the kitchen makes it all better.

— red light by @kiwisbell

The men you keep bringing home are no good for you. It's up to your landlord Joel to protect you from heartbreak. 

— ripe by @/hier--soir

a night out with old friends helps you and joel realise what’s been missing in your relationship.

— road trip by @elflutter

car sex with joel on the way home from a weekend trip ;)

— say yes to heaven by @/psychedelic-ink

joel finally allows you to pamper him.

— seasons of you by @kedsandtubesocks

it’s your very first spring living in the valley & you’re very sure Joel Miller already wants you to leave

— so much goddamn talkin’ by @stargirlfics

Sometimes Joel has to quiet the noise in your head. Luckily he’s quite good at that.

— sundown by @bageldaddy

you're used to being alone. that changes when joel moves into the trailer across from yours.

— sweet days of summer by @ozarkthedog

you and joel sneak away for a quick fuck during a family outing.

— sweet release by @/cavillscurls

the aftermath of finishing without joel’s permission.

— take care of you by @theidiotwhowritesthings

You spent your entire adult life supporting yourself and barely getting by. It’s why a life of ease offered to you by a mysterious stranger sounded so foreign and unbelievable. Joel Miller, dressed in flannels that had seen better days, didn’t look like the kind who could promise you the world on a plate, but he seemed desperate to help out. All he asks is that you let him take care of you. That wouldn’t be so hard. Would it?

— that pretty girlfriend by @psychedelic-ink

When your boyfriend is desperate to win back what he lost, he bets on you this time without your knowledge. And everyone knows you don't go back on your word when it comes to Joel Miller.

— the checklist by @thetriumphantpanda

Your new boyfriend Joel finds your hidden stash of porn, full of pages with their corners folded over, marking the things you like the most. Expecting him to feel bad about finding things you’re into, things you haven’t asked for from him, you’re surprised when he offers to help you tick them off.

— the duke's illicit affair by @hellishjoel

You want to tame the wild stallion that is ‘the Duke’, Joel Miller. Even if you have to lose your virtue in the process.

— the last day by @elflutter

It was the morning of his thirty-sixth birthday the last time he saw you.

— the older one by @frannyzooey

Best friends with younger one, you’ve known the Miller brothers since forever — you’ve wanted the older one for just as long.

— the way he was by @/cavillscurls

a recollection of joel miller and the man he was for you.

— trouble by @/mrsmando

joel miller hasn’t seen you for years, and what a goddamn surprise you turn out to be.

— you all the way down by @covetyou

You have a rare moment of privacy, a chance to luxuriate in bringing yourself closer and closer to a peak you’ve been teasing yourself with for hours…. Until a knock at your door snatches it all away.

— walking through fire by @macfrog

you’re neck-deep in a bout of seasonal depression. your boyfriend suggests an autumnal walk.

— what happens here, stays here by @fettuccin-e

— when his eyes open by @/jolapeno

joel wakes and admires you and the morning.

— wherever you stray, i'll follow by @cavillscurls

Joel resents the choice to allow an unmated omega into Jackson—until he’s the only one who can help her feel at home.

JOEL MILLER X READER X TESS SERVOPOULOS

— between two lungs by @/ozarkthedog

you join Joel and Tess mid fuck.

— july by @psychedelic-ink

you’re new to town and tess invites you to go camping with her and joel.

— three's a party by @/studioghibelli

joel knows you, his pretty little girlfriend, has always harbored sexual feelings for tess. he can’t help but oblige you on your birthday.

JOEL MILLER X TESS SERVOPOULOS

— wish you were here... by @always-andromeda

Joel mourns a life he wishes he could've had.

MARCUS ACACIUS X READER

— broken vows by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

When Acacius receives word that he is to be sent to the arena, he must decide where his true loyalties lie.

— prima nocta by @fuckyeahdindjarin

Tomorrow, you will marry your husband-to-be. But tonight - it belongs to his father.

MARCUS PIKE X READER

— give and take by @agentmarcuspike

marcus asks you for something he's wanted for some time...

MAXWELL LORD X READER

— stiff by @idolatrybarbie

Blackjack has the best odds of winning in any casino game. All you have to do is beat the dealer. Still, the notion doesn’t comfort Maxwell Lord. He likes to be certain. He likes to win.

MAX PHILLIPS X READER

— the prettiest by @almostfoxglove

After a restructuring at the company, Max finds himself dead—this time for good—and haunting his old duplex. Lucky for him, you move in. Now he'll do anything it takes to have you.

if you haven’t read these, you need to! and please support these amazing fics & writers by reading, reblogging & commenting! 💕

[ladyvendetta]

EXTRA:

He went to Theraprism again after dealing Bill's Weirdmageddon (that includes the zombie apocalypse he caused) and met other Bill's Variants.

Mr. Bill Pines asked him why his name isn't Bill. Daemon/Damon just basically said he'd isekai to be a Bill Cipher for a reason. Deity and Hero Bill are his fellow friends.

Tbh he aimed at the Wrong Bill 💀💀💀💀

HOTD X GRAVITY FALLS (anything is possible don't judge me)

Ok so tweaks on le lore.

Daemon Cipher's Lore:

So basically Bill finds a muse so he chose Curien instead of Ford, cuz Curien has set of knowledge to create a portal. Ford and Fiddleford warned Curien but he's a mad man, even made abominations that fits Bill's image (especially the Magician and the Bosses).

Curien made a deal with Bill to cure Daniel, unfortunately due to his madness that caused from Bill. Daniel died from the illness without a cure.

That's why after Curien made the portal early, the Weirdmageddon and zombie apocalypse came. Even Curien was killed by Magician, the triangle can possess him (possibly to become Wheel of Fate) and Goldman (to become The World).

Daniel at first thought it ended his story, so he met Axolotl and made a purpose: to be Bill's equal opposite like the rest of the Bills. Aside to protect humanity and the rest of universes that affected from Weirdmageddon, he will interfere Bill's evil plans.

Axolotl reincarnated him as Bill Cipher, however after he left Euclydia (don't worry about them, they're still alive but sad thing his parents still accept him as their Billy even he's not) and he has identity crisis before went to Theraprism early (like Deity Bill) in order to recover who really was in the past. He changed his name to Daemon Cipher to not confuse with Bill Cipher.

He helped people especially Thomas Rogan and G. Daemon and Rogan made a deal to revive Sophie, in exchange of their knowledge of protection and assistance in battle (that's why he'd rather wield a gun). He even befriends Ford and the Pines Family and proven he's no threat to him. Stan in that universe was Rogan and G's fellow friend in AMS.

Rogan favored in return: to protect Lisa (that's why the two soulbonded when time comes). If ever Lisa done reckless things, he immediately possessed her and calmly reprimand her.

Yeap that's his lore, he's Bill's counterpart and he doesn't brought chaos, only second chances and redemption.

P.S: I'm terrible at drawing so 😁

[simscici]

@mdshh invited me to show the wedding memories of all my heirs and their partners from the Not So Berry challenge, thank you so much 🩷

Gen 1. Minze & Tim - They met in a bakery that Minze used to frequent.

Gen 2. Carmin & Hellen - Carmin met her when he moved to another apartment; she was his neighbor.

Gen 3. Luna & Daniel - Luna moved to the countryside to work on her rocket, and Daniel was the town's handyman, always sticking his nose in everything lol.

Gen 4. Jaiden & Briana - They met in Selvadorada when Briana got scared and actually hit him.

Gen 5. Asher & Kelsie - They've known each other since childhood, but their first marriage was a failure, mainly because Asher didn't handle the birth of their children well.

Gen 5. Asher & Kelsie - After a long time apart, only seeing each other on important dates and doing a lot of therapy, they gave each other another chance.

Gen 6. Dahlia & Mathias - Dahlia ran away from home when she was a teenager, and while living as a homeless person, she encountered a dirty Sim who stole her baked bananas.

Gen 7. Penelope & Ash - They've known each other since childhood, but the universe never seemed to cooperate with them, and they drifted apart countless times. But in the end, love will always prevail.

It was so fun to remember this, I feel like reading it all over again🤭

[cobra-wives]

this reality tv show follows valley senseis chozen toguchi and mike barnes as they renovate houses in the la area, helping clients turn their dilapidated homes into dream homes… and teaching their students karate?

aka, after johnny and daniel retire from being senseis and the karate war is long over, chozen and mike start their own house flipping business (chozen does interior designs, mike does all the carpentry/furniture work) and get so popular that they get an hgtv show. heck, they might even get assistance from johnny with handyman stuff, or daniel with electrical work. all the while giving their new miyagi do kids some lovely chores to do, because we really aren’t paying for someone to sand all these wooden boards, are we?

(also, EVERYONE — EVERYONE GETS A FREE BONSAI IN THEIR HOUSE.)

[captainsophiestark]

CaptainSophieStark's Year in Review 2024

GUYS. I WROTE 100 FICS THIS YEAR!!!!!!

I've never done an annual fic roundup before, and I'm not sure I will again, but I wanted to celebrate the truly crazy amount of things I managed to write this year. 13 fandoms and 52 characters in 12 months! Honestly, I don't know how I managed to pull this off - thank you to everybody who sent me requests or reblogged or commented on any of my fics! The support is seriously, seriously appreciated! All fics are linked under the cut if you want to check them out 😄

I'm planning to take a break from writing for January to let my creative muscle rest a bit, although we'll see if that actually works out- and regardless, I'll still be around on Tumblr! Happy New Year everybody!

January

Week One: Parents Weekend (Platonic!Percy Jackson)

Week Two: Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (Bill Weasley)

Week Three: The Best-Laid Plans (Platonic!Annabeth Chase)

Week Four: Dive Bar (Maxon Schreave)

February

Week One: To The Stars (Rhysand)

Week Two: Galentine's Day (Platonic!Natasha "Phoenix" Trace)

Week Three: Unexpected Guest (Dick Grayson)

Week Four: Super Surprises (Harley Keener)

Non-YoF Bonus!

The Hard Call (Azriel)

Not A Relationship Guy (Tristan Flynn)

Nosy Best Friends (Tristan Flynn)

Presentation Problems (Tristan Flynn)

The Best Night Ever (Tristan Flynn)

For The Team (Ithan Holstrom)

March

Week One: A Much-Needed Vacation (Elijah Mikaelson)

Week Two: Little Moments (Jane Foster)

Week Three: Come Here Often? (Cassian)

Week Four: Flickering Firelight (Luke Castellan)

Week Five: Competitive (Matt Donovan)

April

Week One: Not A Doctor (Bones McCoy)

Week Two: Like Home (Klaus Mikaelson)

Week Three: Anniversary Allergies (Piper McLean)

Week Four: Star-Crossed Agents (Grant Ward)

Non-YoF Bonus!

Hypocrite (Bucky Barnes)

Smooth Talker Part 2 (Poe Dameron)

May

Week One: Picture Perfect (Benedict Bridgerton)

Week Two: I Made You Breakfast (Kai Parker)

Week Three: End of the Line (Anakin Skywalker)

Week Four: Miscommunication (Kol Mikaelson)

Week Five: Weekend Plans (Jason Todd)

Non-YoF Bonus!

Lost Memories (Elijah Mikaelson)

The Old Me Never Left (Kai Parker)

June

Week One: A New Man (Colin Bridgerton)

Week Two: Guest Appearance (Dick Grayson)

Week Three: Head of the Family (Anthony Bridgerton)

Week Four: Popcorn (Wedge Antilles)

Non-YoF Bonus!

Scavenger Hunt (Platonic!Padmé Amidala)

Drinks With Peggy (Daniel Sousa)

Filed Away (Agent Carter Gen Fic)

The Most Important Mission of All (Jack Thompson)

July

Week One: History (Jack Thompson)

Week Two: Vigilante Book Club (Jason Todd)

Week Three: Vigilante Book Club Part 2 (Jason Todd)

Week Four: We're Good (Kol Mikaelson)

August

Week One: Corn Maze (Bones McCoy)

Week Two: What The Fuck Is A Grid System (Jack Thompson)

Week Three: Exceptions (Grant Ward)

Week Four: Oldies and Goodies (Bucky Barnes)

Week Five: No Way To Know For Sure Part 2 (Daniel Sousa)

September

Week One: Take A Break (Javi Rivera)

Week Two: Broadway Calling (Angie Martinelli)

Week Three: The Richmond Vampire (Damon Salvatore)

Week Four: Naval Wedding (Natasha "Phoenix" Trace)

October

Week One: Vigilante Book Club Part 3 (Jason Todd)

Week Two: Dress Clothes (Han Solo)

Week Three: Jurisdiction (Jack Thompson)

Week Four: Irregular Heartbeat (Bones McCoy)

Fictober Bonus!

Don't Mess With Demeter (Luke Castellan)

Epiphany (Javi Rivera)

Don't Believe Everything You Read (Anthony Bridgerton)

Rippah (Stefan Salvatore)

Recruit (Grant Ward)

The Arena Club (Peggy Carter)

Hopeful Future (Stephen Strange)

One Night Werewolf (Dick Grayson)

The Gunmen Were A Relief (Daniel Sousa)

Did I Forget To Mention? (Klaus Mikaelson)

Pranksters (Maxon Schreave)

Welcome to the Chaos (Anakin Skywalker)

DIY Karma (Angie Martinelli)

Husband, Not Handyman (Colin Bridgerton)

Just The Two Of Us (Wanda Maximoff)

The Details (Jack Thompson)

Power Couple (Tristan Flynn)

Batting Cages (Kol Mikaelson)

Winglets (Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw)

November

Week One: Procrastination (Grant Ward)

Week Two: Comfort (Dick Grayson)

Week Three: Rock Solid (Enzo St. John)

Week Four: Crib Construction (Cassian)

Week Five: After An Eternity (Finn Mikaelson)

Fictober Bonus!

Sleight of Hand (Jimmy Woo)

Watch Out For Vampires (Daisy Johnson)

Nothing Wrong With Emotions (Anakin Skywalker)

Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Dick Grayson)

Worth The Risk (Jason Todd)

Who You Gonna Call? (Platonic!Ahsoka Tano)

Partners (Grant Ward)

Oblivious (Damon Salvatore)

December

Week One: Not All Bad (Rebekah Mikaelson)

Week Two: A Very Dagger Christmas (Jake "Hangman" Seresin)

Week Three: Not In The Spirit (Leia Organa)

Week Four: Not On The Guest List (Platonic!Percy Jackson)

Non-YoF Bonus!

The Right Choice (Jack Thompson)

Same Page (Harley Keener)

Rebound (Dick Grayson)

Snowed In (Rex)

The Shiz University Book Fair (Fiyero Tigelaar)

Fire Burning Low (Luke Castellan)

My Hero (Steve Rogers)

[persephonethewanderer]

Do you have any recommendation for what Daniel Craig's movies are worth a watch?

yes yes yes i do! so, in order of date:

love is the devil (1998), where daniel plays george dyer, the young lover/psychosexual obsession of notorious artist francis bacon

some voices (2000), where daniel plays ray, a recently discharged schizophrenic patient who goes live with his brother with whom he has a very intense and rocky relationship

hotel splendid (2000), a dark comedy where daniel plays ronald, a chef full of psychoses coming from a family who has it all (including covert incest)

the mother (2003), where daniel plays darren, a young handyman who engages in a secret and destructive relationship with a woman who is 20+ his senior

layer cake (2004), an action movie where daniel plays [redacted], and which has one of the best plot twist finale EVER

enduring love (2004), where daniel plays joe, who is the psychosexual obsession of a man named jed (played by rhys ifans!!)

infamous (2006), where daniel plays the notorious criminal perry edward smith, the center of truman capote’s in cold blood (and his obsession)

the girl with the dragon tattoo (2011), where daniel plays mikael blomkvist. i feel like this doesn’t need an introduction, it’s just so cool and it’s a must watch imho

logan lucky (2017), where daniel plays joe bang, a convict who is recruited to organize a heist. daniel’s first foray into doing a southern accent. he also sports an incredible head of platinum hair. it’s crazy but great.

i feel like the knives out series and the james bond series are so widely known you don’t need me to tell you what they are about asfgjkl

BONUS: check out the hour long tv movie The Visitor (2019) from the anthology called “Shockers” because he plays such an incredible serial killer

[beechersnope]

omg trick or treat red light spells danger 🏮

regretfully i do not have anything new from that verse prepared, but i do have a few other anons clamoring for max or maxiel content, so i shall offer a ghost town fic that is a bit longer than most of the stuff that i've posted for the trick or treat fills

***

The sun had already set behind the black ridge of the mountains when Daniel finally pulled onto the stretch of rough dirt road that led into the town of Coldspring.

Calling it a road was a kindness it didn’t deserve, Daniel decided after bouncing along in his truck for nearly half a mile before a haphazard collection of buildings in varying states of disrepair came into view. He felt practically an expert on the subject after spending the last fifty-odd miles on a relatively well-maintained gravel road that ran north-south between Highways 6 and 50. If he’d known what he was in for after that, Daniel might have taken the long way around—but eager to get to Coldspring before dark, he’d opted for the more straightforward route.

Daniel didn’t know much about Max Verstappen or her ultimate plans for Coldspring even after countless emails exchanged over the last three months in addition to a handful of curt, to-the-point phone calls in the last two weeks. But he did know that she would be driving a truck almost identical to the one he’d picked up in Vegas after he’d landed a couple days ago, and when Daniel pulled up alongside the only vehicle in town—a rusty pickup with a bed cap that might have been white, once upon a time—it became immediately clear that Max wasn’t here.

As soon as Daniel hopped out of the truck, his boots crunching loudly through the clumps of gravel and sand, the door to the building he was parked in front of swung open to reveal a grizzled old man in plaid and overalls, a cowboy hat adorning his otherwise bald head. His beard was halfway down to his gut, and everything about the man’s appearance set off alarm bells in Daniel’s head. He didn’t have much Este that Max had done her due diligence in making sure the former owner of Coldspring wasn’t a serial killer. At least he’d had the presence of mind to buy a gun before hauling his ass out to the middle of the desert, though he hadn’t ever really planned on using it.

But surprisingly enough, the man paid Daniel barely any attention at all. “I was expecting a lady,” he said in a gruff voice with a similar cadence to the way country folk spoke back home. His eyes moved straight past Daniel and off into the distance, like he was expecting to see Max’s truck trundling up the road any second now.

“I know her flight landed in Reno this morning,” Daniel explained, “but I haven’t had any cell service the past couple hours, so I’m not sure where she is. She should have been here by now. You haven’t seen her?”

The man shook his head. “I’ve been waiting here nearly all damn day, and I ain’t seen a soul.” Finally, his eyes drifted back to Daniel with a suspicious glint. “You the handyman she mentioned?”

“Yeah,” Daniel replied, nodding. He wasn’t sure where the man was headed with that line of questioning, but he was starting to wish he’d put on his holster as soon as he’d stepped out of the truck, just so everyone was on the same page.

The man seemed wholly unaware of the effect his presence was having on Daniel as he responded. “You’ve got your work cut out for you,” he said with a derisive snort. “That’s all I’ll say.”

Daniel had figured that, seeing as Max had bought the place for a fraction of what the land should have cost—regardless of the level of disrepair the buildings appeared to be in. Evidently, the man in front of him had been desperate to rid himself of whatever burden owning this ghost town had become.

The man seemed just as eager to get the hell off the property now that Daniel had shown up, despite the fact that Max was the one who should have been there for the passing of the torch, as it were. But after fifteen minutes of the two of them standing there in uncomfortable silence, waiting, as the sunlight rapidly waned, it became clear that something was gonna have to give.

“All right, why don’t you show me around,” Daniel finally offered. “I’ll go into town tomorrow and make some calls if Max doesn’t show later tonight.”

“You know where town is?” the man asked in a skeptical tone.

“Keep going north, right? Until you hit the highway, then west for a few miles.”

The man nodded, seemingly impressed. “Y’all did your research, at least. Don’t see how it’ll help you much with this dump, but God bless you for taking it off my hands.”

Daniel was tempted to ask why the man was so desperate to sell, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to open that can of worms with a stranger who seemed like he wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of dodge.

The man—whose name Daniel still couldn’t remember from the sale documents though he’d been wracking his brain trying to recall it since the second he’d pulled up—took Daniel’s silence for the cue it was and started to walk up the dusty road that used to be the bustling main street of a turn-of-the-century gold mining town.

Daniel was surprised by how many structures were still standing even though practically every building was crumbling at the foundations, so ill-cared for in the century since the town’s abandonment that it was a wonder there was anything left. There was a bank, a schoolhouse, a jail, a handful of residences, and a brothel, all nestled within the narrow valley that sloped up toward the crown jewel of Coldspring: its namesake—a deep limestone pit with clear blue water that lay at the base of the mountain in the north end of the valley.

The man stopped where the road had been overtaken by sagebrush just a few hundred yards from the limestone caldera of the spring. Behind it, Daniel could just make out a dilapidated wooden path that meandered up into the mountains, where the great yawning mouth of a mineshaft stood starkly amongst the vegetation even in near darkness.

“Well, that’s the lay of the land,” the man told Daniel, his eyes flitting toward the mineshaft up on the mountain for just a brief moment before returning to Daniel’s face. “If you or Ms. Verstappen have any questions, you’re welcome to call and ask, though truth be told, I’m rather relieved to be done with this place for good.”

Once again, Daniel made a conscious decision to keep his mouth shut, instead of asking the question the man almost seemed to be daring him to ask. “Where do we sleep?” he inquired instead. He’d had a long drive after all, and for all of Coldspring’s charm—or lack thereof—Daniel wanted nothing more than to crawl into his sleeping bag so he could get some rest. He didn’t harbor any delusions about sleeping in an actual bed.

“The saloon,” the man said before starting a quick pace back to their trucks, both parked in front of the building in question. “It’s really the only building still fit to live in. For now, anyway.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

Once the former owner had raced down the valley toward the main road, leaving Daniel on his own in the growing darkness, the magnitude of his decision to take this job finally started to set in.

When Daniel had first responded to the listing, which had asked for someone with a litany of skills better suited to a contractor and his entire crew, he hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to look up where the hell Coldspring was before deciding that the job was his.

The strain of the pandemic that had led Daniel to move back in with his parents now had him desperate to get as far away from Nashville as possible. Running away to the middle of the desert and getting paid to do it had seemed like the perfect solution. It wasn’t until after he’d actually gotten the job and signed the paperwork that Daniel even bothered to research why this particular ghost town had died.

In Coldspring’s case, it was literal. The entire town had perished without warning in the late 1800s from an apparent mass poisoning. The prevailing theory was arsenic contamination of the groundwater supply caused by a mining accident, though no definitive evidence to that effect had ever been found.

While that hadn’t been enough to scare Daniel away when Max had booked him a one-way ticket to Vegas, it was the only thing he could think about now as he unpacked all his necessaries from the truck and brought them inside the dusty saloon, which didn’t appear to have a single working source of light. Thankfully, Daniel had come prepared.

Daniel set up camp behind the bar, his lantern perched on the countertop near the windowsill as a beacon of sorts, though he wasn’t expecting Max to come strolling in any time soon. There was a deadbolt on the inside of the saloon door and a more elaborate padlock on the outside. Daniel removed the padlock and secured the deadbolt once he’d retrieved everything that he thought he might need, and then tucked himself into his sleeping bag, the lantern still sitting on the bar top casting the rest of the space into shadow. Daniel stared into the patch of darkness in the corner for a moment before finally sitting up to turn off the light entirely.

It wasn’t until he was lying there surrounded by the pitch black and the overwhelming quiet that he realized he’d never asked the former owner where he was supposed to go if he had to take a shit.

Daniel woke up bright and early the following morning from a sleep that had been fitful at best. It was difficult to get used to the change in the ambient sounds. Gone was the frog-song that had lulled him to sleep since he was a baby; in its place the rhythmic instruments of insects hiding in the brush, their melody muted now that fall was in full swing.

Daniel’s mind was busy as well. Max still hadn’t shown up, which meant that he had a long drive ahead of him before reaching the nearest town, Austin, and even then, there was no guarantee he’d have cell service. Or that Max would, for that matter.

But luck was on his side. Daniel made it up to Austin just in time for mid-morning breakfast, and his signal made a reappearance almost as soon as he crossed into town. Max answered on the first ring and out came a long, rambling explanation for her absence which boiled down to her car breaking down somewhere just outside of Fallon, where she’d spent the night, and that she was on her way to meet him in Austin as they spoke.

Satisfied with her assurances (for now at least), Daniel strolled into the little diner on the side of the highway in the center of town and sat down for a bite to eat.

There was a waitress at the head of the table almost as soon as he slid into a booth, a broad bucktoothed smile on her face as she greeted him. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Just water, miss, thank you,” Daniel replied. He didn’t like to rely on caffeine to keep himself going. “Do you have any breakfast specials?”

“Eggs and bacon with toast or a short stack with fruit,” the waitress recited easily. “But if you’re looking for something a bit more substantial, Pierre makes a mean chicken-fried steak.”

Daniel thought it over a minute. “Yeah, all right,” he decided. It would give him a reason to hang out in this diner a little longer, at least. “Side of scrambled eggs with that, also.”

“You got it, boss,” the waitress replied with a flirtatious little wink before sauntering back to give Daniel’s order to the cook.

Daniel watched her walk away with a bit more interest than he’d shown before and made a mental note to try to get a look at her nametag, assuming this place had the budget for something like that.

It did, as it turned out, and when the waitress came back with Daniel’s glass of ice water, he discovered that her name was Este. When Este came back with Daniel’s chicken-fried steak, slathered in thick white gravy that had his mouth watering before the plate reached the table, he also discovered that Este liked to gossip.

“You planning to stay in town long?” she asked, nearly leant up against the table while Daniel cut his steak. He couldn’t really fault her for hanging around, seeing as he was the only customer in the whole place, but he had to wonder just what she meant by it.

“In the area, yeah,” Daniel replied.

Este scoffed. “There’s not much else ‘in the area’,” she countered playfully.

Daniel took a careful bite of his steak, chewed, and swallowed. “You know where Coldspring is?” he asked her.

All the color drained from Este’s face. “You work for Don Stevens?” she asked in an almost breathless rush, her tongue stumbling over the words. “Don’t tell me he’s planning on fixing up the place.”

“Was that the guy who owned it before?” Daniel clarified. “No, I work for the person who just bought it.”

“Someone bought it?” Este sounded utterly incredulous. “You’re not staying there are you?”

Daniel nodded. “Through most of the winter,” he replied, “long as the weather’s mild enough to work.”

A taut expression took over Este’s face as she drew back from Daniel’s table, her eyes darting toward the door, where another customer had finally come in. “Well, I’d rethink that plan if I were you,” she snapped before rushing away like her ass was on fire.

Daniel had to suppress the urge to laugh out loud.

He thought Max might find the anecdote amusing as well, but when she finally showed up a few hours later, it was clear that the young woman was in no mood for ghost stories. She looked uncharacteristically frazzled when she burst through the door of the little diner, her long blonde hair knotted up into a messy bun atop her head, and she blew straight past Este without a word, her fiery gaze fixed solely on Daniel.

“Nice to meet you,” was the first thing she said, her consonants sharp and carefully enunciated, though beneath that Daniel could still detect the remnants of a lisp. The second was: “I didn’t get ripped off by that Don guy, did I?”

Daniel shook his head. “Long as you knew you paid for some rundown old ghost town in the middle of nowhere,” he told her.

Max rolled her eyes. None of his previous interactions with her had been what Daniel would consider the height of professionalism, so he wasn’t really taken aback by her attitude, but it was a whole other thing in person, that was for damn sure.

“All right, let’s hit the road, then,” she said, gesturing for Daniel to follow her back outside.

Daniel climbed to his feet a bit reluctantly. He was sort of hoping to grab lunch before heading out to the boonies. “You don’t want to grab a bite first?” he asked. “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t exactly stock a gourmet kitchen when I packed.”

“If gourmet’s what you’re looking for, I’m pretty sure you’re in the wrong place,” Max replied with an unjustified sneer before storming out the front door.

They caravanned back to the saloon in Coldspring at a slightly quicker pace than Daniel would have liked, though even Max for all her impatience couldn’t maintain the same speed once they reached the rugged trail that led up into the mountains.

It wasn’t until they parked in front of the saloon and Max hopped out of her truck that Daniel finally took real stock of her, realizing almost immediately that this woman did not seem well equipped for living off-grid over the next three to six months, or however long she expected this damn project to take.

But he had to give her credit where it was due: as soon as her designer leather boots hit the dirt, she was already rolling up her sleeves and getting right to work.

That work consisted mainly of surveying the entire property from top to bottom and making a list of everything that needed to be done. Daniel followed along, letting Max know exactly what was required for each task in the way of supplies and manpower, and the whole time, watching the grimace on her face deepen ever-further with each new item added to her notebook.

“What exactly are your big plans for this place, anyway?” Daniel asked after they’d combed practically the whole town top to bottom—with the exception of the mineshaft looming high above them and the spring below.

“Tourism,” Max replied vaguely. “People love ghost towns.”

Daniel wasn’t sure that even the most hardcore would-be ghostbusters could be convinced to come all the way out to Coldspring to get their rocks off, but he just nodded and let Max keep believing that all of this wouldn’t just be one massive money sink in the end.

“First snowfall could be right around the corner,” Daniel pointed out to her as Max leaned down over the bar top to jot something else down in her notebook. His eyes dropped to where the first few buttons of her shirt were undone. Her fair skin was already starting to burn. He forced himself to look away. “We might not have much time to work on the exteriors before winter makes things harder than it needs to be.”

Max glanced up sharply, but if she’d intuited the focus of Daniel’s gaze, she didn’t make any indication of it. “I guess we better get started, then,” was all she said in reply.

Over the next week, Daniel managed to make significant headway on repairing the foundations of the major structures in town, though he still wasn’t convinced some of the smaller residences could actually be saved. Max was a surprisingly big help throughout the whole process; Daniel had anticipated more traditional foremanship on her part, but when it came right down to it, she didn’t seem at all afraid to get her hands dirty.

With another human being sharing the saloon floor—albeit on the other side of the bar, out of view—the town didn’t seem quite so threatening at night. Daniel slept well after each day of strenuous manual labor, and with Max keeping them supplied with fresh food from town, Daniel was missing a lot fewer creature comforts than he’d expected.

By the end of the first week, the days started to blend into each other. Without being able to rely on his phone, which had been tucked into his backpack turned off since the last time Daniel had gone up to Austin with Max for gas and propane, there wasn’t much to keep him tethered to the trappings of the outside world as he worked. It was everything Daniel could have hoped for and more. Complete and utter freedom.

But Daniel couldn’t quite seem to shake the sense of unease that came over him every time he caught a glimpse of the abyssal void of the mineshaft in his periphery. Sometimes he forced himself to stare up at it for minutes at a time, squinting against the wind that howled through the valley in the late afternoons, trying desperately to convince his subconscious that whatever movement he’d thought he’d seen in the darkness was just a trick of the light.

The next time Daniel went up to Austin on a supply run, he bought a calendar from the gas station and started marking the days.

It was a Tuesday when something finally happened that Daniel couldn’t explain, nearly two weeks after his first arrival in Coldspring. He was doing measurements in the old jailhouse, flummoxed as to how to begin restoring the damn thing without just knocking it down and starting all over, when he heard it.

“What?” Daniel called out frustratedly. It was the fifth time Max had called his name in the last twenty minutes with no additional response. After the sixth, Daniel finally threw down his measuring tape and notepad and stalked out of the building to see what she wanted. But when he walked outside, Max was nowhere to be found.

It was only after he turned a full one-eighty degrees that he spotted her, sitting out on the porch of the saloon where she usually hung out when she was thinking over a problem. The only thing was, Daniel could have sworn he’d heard her calling him from the opposite side of town.

Daniel slowly turned his head again, his eyes drifting upward to the mineshaft that Max still hadn’t made any mention of in her grandiose plans for restoring the town. He squinted hard as he stared up into the darkness, half-convinced that if he tried hard enough, he could make sense somehow of the disquiet that fell over him every time he remembered the source of Coldspring’s demise.

“What are you doing?” Max asked.

Somehow, she’d managed to come up behind him without making a sound. Daniel whirled around to face her, and then glanced over her shoulder at the place where she’d just been sitting to find the chair on the porch empty, though he wasn’t sure what to make of the relief he felt at the sight.

“Were you just calling my name?” Daniel wondered.

Max shook her head. “No, why?”

“Nothing,” Daniel replied. “Don’t worry about it.” Then he put the whole thing out of his mind and got back to work.

By the end of the third week, Daniel was positively certain he was going stir crazy.

He hadn’t had any more auditory or visual hallucinations, or whatever the hell it was that he’d experienced the week before, but he was waking up every day painfully hard in his sweatpants with no hope of release. It didn’t help that he was spending each night in the saloon just a few feet away from Max, who hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in Daniel since they’d met—and honestly, Daniel was kind of grateful for that, but it didn’t help him address the more immediate problem he was facing, and that was that he desperately, urgently needed to get laid.

Per their agreement, Daniel was entitled to a full two days off of his choosing every week. Today was a Friday. Barely five minutes after waking up, Daniel had decided that he was going to make a trip up to Austin that afternoon to see if Este was maybe a little bit interested, even after their sour farewell at the diner that Daniel had been carefully avoiding since their first encounter.

Este wasn’t interested. Georgie, a tall English tourist who was dressed more appropriately for mid-July rather than late-October, was.

“Please tell me you have a hotel somewhere around here,” Daniel muttered against Georgie’s sweat-soaked skin as he pressed her up against the cab of his truck. He had a knee wedged between her bare thighs, and he almost felt like he would die if he didn’t get inside her in the next five minutes.

“I have one of those van conversions,” Georgie replied with an awkward giggle. “Got a whole mattress in the back. We could really make my bed rock, you know?”

Daniel nodded, barely registering a word she was saying. He was pretty sure he would have followed her off a cliff if she asked nicely enough in that moment, but when he finally pulled away from her so they could do just that, it wasn’t Georgie’s face looking back at him. It was Max’s.

Then Daniel blinked, and like that, whatever he’d seen was gone. But the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach was only growing stronger.

“What’s wrong?” Georgie asked, reaching forward to pull Daniel back in.

He dodged her and stumbled back a few feet. “I have to go,” he said, mouth dry as he fumbled through both pockets before remembering that his keys were attached to his belt. “Sorry, I—”

Daniel didn’t finish the sentence before climbing into his truck and speeding away, leaving Georgie and the rest of Austin behind.

But when Daniel finally made it back to Coldspring about an hour later, Max’s truck was gone. She hadn’t said anything to him when he’d left that morning, but a cursory examination of the saloon revealed a note hastily written and taped to the bar top. Went 2 Fallon for more supplies. That was it, no further explanation of when she planned to be back or why it was so urgent that she’d left midday for an errand that would take her at least six hours of driving to complete.

Frustrated with Max, but more-so with himself for letting this damn place get the better of him, Daniel buried himself in his sleeping bag and screamed into his pillow until he tasted copper in the back of his throat.

It was dark when Daniel woke up on the floor of the saloon, and it took him a moment to realize what it was that had woken him. Usually, on nights where the moon was full, as it had been the past two nights, the light shone straight through the saloon windows, illuminating the entire space with an eerie glow. But when Daniel’s eyes opened, all he could see was blackness, and there was a disorienting period of half-awake confusion before it finally dawned on him that the shape obscuring the moonlight belonged to a person.

Daniel’s blood ran cold. Instead of opting for fight or flight, his body simply froze.

Daniel watched as the shadow moved, completely silent, with none of the tell-tale creaking of the wooden floorboards underfoot that had become the de facto confirmation of either his or Max’s presence within the saloon. He held his breath as the shadow drew closer, and then—

“Max?”

She put a finger over her lips and moved closer as Daniel sat up in his sleeping bag.

“What is it?” he asked, in a whisper this time.

Max answered with a press of her lips against Daniel’s, surging into him, forcing his mouth to open to the insistent pressure of her own. She tasted metallic, but her hands against Daniel’s thighs were electrifying, distracting him for the moment from the strangeness of the encounter.

Then he remembered himself—remembered that Max was his boss and that there couldn’t be a worse idea.

Daniel pulled away sharply, and as he did so, he caught a glimpse of a face that wasn’t Max’s face, desiccated and bone white. But when he blinked, the apparition was gone, and it was Max staring back at him again, though there was still something about her that seemed…off. Different, somehow.

“If we’re going to do this,” Daniel started to say before just as quickly backtracking. “We shouldn’t,” he finished, though it felt like he was trying to convince himself more so than Max.

Once again, Max didn’t respond, but when she leaned forward to kiss him again, this time, Daniel didn’t put up a fight. He tangled his hands tightly in her long blonde hair as she laid a trail of bites along the hollow of his throat and down his chest, his other hand struggling to find a way to take off whatever it is that she was wearing. A nightgown? Bloomers? Before this, Daniel had never seen her go to bed in anything less than a crewneck and sweatpants, but maybe that was the reason she’d gone to Fallon, to plan for this—whatever this even was.

 Finally, Daniel managed to literally tear the undershirt off of her. With it gone, he drew back to appreciate the way her breasts were illuminated by the moonlight. Under other circumstances, it might have all been very romantic, but as it was….

Daniel quickly flipped Max over onto her back, temporarily getting himself tangled in his own sleeping bag before managing to break free. She stared up at him quietly, her expression calm and supplicating. The silence was a bit unnerving, but it wasn’t hard to ignore now that Daniel had his thumbs tucked into the waistband of her lacy bloomers. He slowly pulled them down, savoring every centimeter of skin revealed to his eyes. He was surprised to find a full thatch of dark blonde pubic hair between her thighs, but he certainly wasn’t disappointed.

When he ducked his head down to press his mouth against her cunt, Daniel was startled once again by the sharp metallic taste, the same as her tongue. It took him a moment to get used to, but then it faded quickly, and all Daniel could taste was a familiar mix of sweetness and salt.

Max sighed quietly when she came with her thighs flexing against Daniel’s face. He sat back, fingers shaking to unknot the front of his sweatpants, his cock so hard it almost hurt. Condoms, he remembered belatedly. There was a stash in his backpack on the other side of the bar.

“I’ll be right back,” Daniel reassured Max before running around to the front of the saloon to grab his bag.

The condoms weren’t in the pocket he remembered putting them in, which led to a frustrated scramble as Daniel searched every pocket and seam for them before finally finding them tucked between the pages of his notepad. He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief as he tore one away from the rest before hurrying back to where Max was waiting for him.

Only she wasn’t there.

Daniel stared down at the imprint in his pillow where Max’s head had just laid, his mind conjuring up a vivid memory of her moonlit blonde hair standing out starkly against the black fabric. He stood up slowly, examining every corner of the saloon for any sign of her, but she was just…gone.

“Daniel.”

He turned his head to find the door to the saloon hanging open on its hinges. Through the darkened entryway, he caught a glimpse of something out in the sagebrush, a distinct silhouette with bright eyes, reflective like an animal’s, but whatever it was he’d seen, it disappeared too quickly for Daniel to get a good look at it.

Daniel slowly stumbled over to the open doorway. He peered outside cautiously, taking note of his truck, which was parked on its own next to the vacant spot that Max’s vehicle had occupied before he’d left for Austin yesterday. It didn’t make sense. He should have heard her pulling in, loud enough to wake him, or at the very least, driving off again. Had she parked further down the road? How had she gotten out of the saloon without him seeing her?

Daniel swallowed, trying to clear his throat so he could call out to her, but as he stared out over the lonely valley, his vocal cords seized up, a paralyzing fear suddenly washing over him like a tidal wave. Daniel stood there just a moment longer, and then reached forward to slam the saloon door shut. His fingers were trembling as he secured the deadbolt. It was a long time before he managed to fall asleep.

Daniel woke the next morning to the sound of tires crunching against the gravel outside the saloon. He ripped himself from his sleeping bag immediately and stumbled out into the daylight, his eyes slitted against the sun’s late-morning brightness as he watched Max hop down out of the cab of her truck, looking for all the world as though she’d had a perfectly peaceful evening.

“Where the hell did you go?” Daniel demanded as she walked over to the front door of the saloon.

Max paused, looking a bit startled by the venom in his tone. “Didn’t you see my note?” she asked.

“I mean last night. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Max countered. “I left yesterday right after you did. I just got back. And good morning to you, too, by the way.” She stormed past him into the saloon with a quiet ‘asshole’ muttered under her breath.

Daniel remained standing there on the front porch for a minute or two, he wasn’t quite sure. When he finally came back inside, he walked straight past Max and into the backroom, which might have served as living quarters once upon a time before the gaping hole in the wall had rendered it unusable. The mirror still worked, though, for all its spiderweb cracks and layers of dust, and Daniel approached it with a trembling hand pressed to his collar.

Daniel stood in front of the mirror for a few seconds, just staring at his own reflection as if to reassure himself that he was still real, and then at last, tugged down the neck of his t-shirt to reveal a pattern of pale white marks that trailed down the side of his throat to his sternum, tracing the exact path of Max’s mouth the night before. They weren’t bruises—the exact opposite, in fact, as though the pigment in his skin had literally been leached from the places where she’d marked him.

All Daniel could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears as he stared at the marks. Then something—a face in the mirror that wasn’t his own. Daniel whipped around to find nothing waiting over his shoulder, just the same gap in the wall that had always been there, opening up onto the sagebrush-covered landscape, illuminated fully under the bright sunlight.

But Daniel could have sworn he’d seen something.

When he finally emerged from the backroom a few minutes later, Max was standing at the bar, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked him.

Daniel nodded. “Fine,” he lied. “Just a little….” He paused and swallowed hard. “Have you noticed anything strange lately?”

“Strange like what?” Max asked.

Daniel just shrugged.

Max laughed. “You should really stop letting the locals tell you ghost stories about this place,” she advised.

Daniel forced a smile and nodded. “You’re right,” he told her.

“Come on, then,” she said. “Let’s get back to work.”

[onboardsorasora]

Victoria saying “how very cliche of you to fuck the handyman”

To which max has to tell her that he is unfortunately not fucking his handyman

He absolutely would be fucking the handyman if he could. So far he hasn't been able to get that far.

He hasn't actually asked Daniel out or truly propositioned him. He's totally thought about just coming out and telling Daniel he wanted him, but when he opens his mouth to say it, Daniel does something incredible sexy to Max and he gets distracted.

[bobbole]

@windsweptinred xDD In honour of our poor Matthew, I wrote this silly thing:

Resignation letter from a raven

With this letter I take back my resume working here isn't very opportune

I love my king the Big White Cat but sometimes he's just a little brat

He hunts butterflies and dreamers' hats, sitting on the throne he licks his butt

He destroyed all Lucienne's tea cups and ate almost every library magic rats

And the night, alas, the night are even worst! He goes around with the Nightmare he loves the most

They play at chasing each other among roofs and stars, and making love wherever they are!

I'm an onest bird with no money and no pay so I take back my resume and fly away

@windsweptinred kittiel trying to grab Corinthian's ass (nsfw!!!!! :P)

[msfbgraves]

I wish CK would end with Daniel giving up Miyagi-do and teaching, leaving LaRusso Auto to Amanda, and just becoming a full time stay at home dad. He loves family life and homey stuff, and he always seems happiest and most content when he’s at home with his family 💕 I genuinely believe Daniel isn’t ambitious and would have been perfectly content being a househusband. I don’t think Amanda would mind either since she seems to be the one who runs the business and Daniel there just to help her out and charm the customers.

speaking of careers johnny needs to go back to being a handyman and like, actually try and be a dad to robby. his “karate” is better off as a hobby and certainly not something miyagi-do needs to be associated with.

So you feel there was zero character development for either of them Nonnie? Pretty damning on the writers 🤭 I didn't use to think Johnny was a bad sensei, but contrasting him with Miyagi-Do doesn't bring out the best in him. Sam and Miguel said they wanted the All Valley to be able to compete safely, to prevent injury, with the possibility to safely back out of a fight and if Johnny doesn't understand that Tory was at serious risk to hurt herself and Sam, after what had already happened to Miguel when Robby got like that, he's no better than Kreese.

As for the business - Amanda needs Daniel there as a front man. It's cars, the sexism must be rampant. I'm sure he already gets as much time as possible at home but without him, they would lose out on customers and contracts. I said what I said. The likes of Cole would really be like: "You're buying your cars from a chick???" The presence of a man legitimises a woman to those kinds of people. There also must be a reason why they focus on foreign brands, Daniel probably feels familiar and less aggressively Murican to those suppliers. I know for Americans, Johnny Lawrence may feel mainstream but to Europeans at least all the flag waving and bigger-is-better feels pretty foreign. Daniel of course to us is still very obviously American, but less loud, so he can close certain cultural gaps more easily. As long as he defers to Amanda behind the scenes, this model works very well. There would simply be too much stigma if Daniel stayed home permanently. I bet Amanda always closes up and comes home to a home cooked meal with Daniel having picked up the dry cleaning. It's the best this culture will allow.

[landslided]

Do you have any headcanons for Johnny’s life between the end of tkk and beginning of ck? The show gives us a lot of background for his life before tkk but not so much after that

ANON IM SO SORRY I FORGOT TO REPLY TO THIS!!!

but omg, yes of couuuurse i do.

as a slight warning: canon is my sandcastle, i get to reshape it as i please, this might not be totally accurate to the info given by the show but i! don't! care!

tw: alcoholism, sex work mention, sickness

johnny did graduate high school but it was very precarious. bobby and jimmy pulled through in those last months by making the three other boys study as much as they could, tommy and johnny managed to graduate but dutch dropped out at the last second (and got his GED later, in prison).

johnny enrolled to business school because sid told him this was all he would pay for. he was more interested in a sport related career but sid told him trying for sport coach or exercise physiologist would just be a waste of time.

the cobras had a shitty rock garage band from 1992 to 1994, there are extremely cringe clips robbie would have definitely found and left anonymous hate on. johnny played the bass and sang. (robbie was upset that, yes, it was cringe, but his dad was kinda good)

johnny had messy MESSY relationships for whole of his twenties and the start of his thirties. he had a pretty serious girlfriend after his short time at business school but they broke up because he absolutely did not want her to meet his mom and it started a huge fight.

johnny also DID have relationships with men because i am of the #BiJohnnyAndAwareOfOIt school at least as he got older. he was extremely repressed in high school but had an awakening in his twenties. he and the cobras did fool around when they were younger but only johnny really seems to have stuck with it. (take that as you want)

(meanwhile to ME daniel larusso was aware that he liked men as a teenager but it didn't really become an issue until he was an adult and he is now creating levels of repression totally unreachable by the common man)

okay back to the question: johnny dated/slept with a few guys, mainly it was casual sex because he accepted he wanted to fuck men, he less accepted that he could also fall in love with them. he did have a pretty serious boyfriend who broke up with him to get married to a woman and it made johnny SO FUCKING UPSET (he couldn't really??? express it?? like yeah okay dude, it's chill we basically lived together but yeah go marry her i mean it was just fucking around right?) that he crashed the avanti. when he asked sid for money to fix it, sid said no and took the keys.

johnny had a bunch of jobs going from handyman to server, to basically anything under the sun that could pay his rent once sid threw him out. i do believe jhnny was a type of sex worker for a while although im not sure what and i don't think he stayed long.

johnny and laura were very close but as he got older, he started looking more and more like his father and it upset laura a lot.

he and shannon met in a bar, she was scamming guys out of their money at the pool table, johnny saw her and was like... i need to know her.

they WERE in love, it was genuine and real for a while but very quickly they understood they were too similar and couldn't have an actual relationship without devouring each other. they did continue to have sex for a long time because they trusted each other and stayed friends... until robbie.

when shannon got pregnant there was a moment they didn't know if it was his and johnny was like, even if its not mine i will help and it would have probably been easier for him to step up if it hadn't been his kid. shannon did a test, robbie was his kid and the mess started there.

laura got sick and it was long and agonizing. johnny tried to save face but that's truly when he started drinking (he always had a drink problem but this was the breaking point), shannon had robbie and johnny crumbled.

shannon and johnny tried to get back together for robbie but they did end up doing what they were afraid of doing: destroying each other.

for a while johnny was forcefully admitted to a psych ward by bobby and it worked as rehab for about six weeks but the moment he got out, it got worse.

meeting miguel is what saved johnny's life in many ways, however, meeting daniel larusso back in high school and then seeing him again at the dealership is what gave him the drive to keep trying (absolute spite)

[puella-peanut]

Teenage tramp Daniel has the hots for handyman Kreese lmao. Thots?

Gorgeous, seventeen year old neighborhood tramp Daniel LaRusso is…mad. Big Mad to be exact. 

It’s all because his attempts at seducing the local, rugged, handsome neighborhood handyman have…fallen flat. Failed to lift off. Closed on opening night. Houston, we have a problem, and his name is John Kreese. 

Thing is, Daniel’s gone all out. Taken out all the big guns. Brought out the big, flashy, show-stopping numbers. He’s been coy, coquettish. An innocent and not-so-innocent tease. Sweet and shy. Sassy and spunky. A bonafide ingenue to the Lolita of the Valley, and all around the block and back again! 

Jeeze, he’s never worked this hard for a lay in his life!

See now—he’s worn his tiny band crop tops. His tiny tank-tops cut to show plump, caramel nipples. His even tinier, cut off jean-shorts that hardly leave anything to the imagination. 

He’s boosted himself up on the front of John’s battered Ford pickup, just to criss-cross those long, bare, coltish legs of his. Straddled (and stolen) ladders John’s been using while he works, to display parted, slender thighs. (And show off how limber he is. How…flexible.) Reached up to grab at nothing on his toes to show off a waist so small and trim that a pair of (large, callused, rough) masculine hands could span oh-so-easily. He’s bent himself over convenient surfaces—countertops, couches, tables, wobbly banisters and kiddie coloring tables for crying out loud!—to show off his sweet, juicy ass. The lush cheeks that spill out. The roundness of it all. 

He’s brushed up against John, sat touching him knee-to-knee, fallen across him “accidentally”, faked a sprained ankle in the hopes of a bridal-carry, and still—still goddammit!!—John hasn’t paid him any attention!! Not the slightest bit. 

All Daniel has gotten in return is: ‘Hey, you’re in my way.’ To, ‘Put some clothes on, Prima Donna, it’s January, and your sneezing is unhygienic.’ And even a, ‘Join the Service, kid. That’ll whip some sense into you.’

Ugh. 

Ugh. Ugh. Ughhhh. 

…Why, by this time with his other conquests, he’d gotten railed twice over! All stupid, annoying, teenage boys; simple schoolboy, after-school flings to pass the time. Like that total brain-dead bimbo Johnny, or violent karate bad-boy Mike. To foreign exchange student Chozen, followed by future sociopath Dutch. A real slick wannabe named Ponytail got him next, then sweet preacher’s boy Bobby. Jimmy and Tommy had tag teamed him after, and then finally that dorky piano nerd, rich-boy Twig (he’d gotten real maid service, a night in a mansion, and breakfast in bed for that one!). Between all of them, Daniel had gotten laid in six months more than some people did in an entire year! Lifetime even! Yeah, yeah, the lays themselves didn’t rank too high on the scale of one to ten (some far lower than others!)—but a fucking was a fucking, and he had been sixteen and desperately horny. Besides it had been summer, and California had made it too hot to be too fussy. 

…Except that now he is, because there is something about this Kreese that gets him all hot and bothered. Something about those sinewy, hairy, muscular arms. That solid, sturdy body. The heavy booted footsteps. The worn jeans and faded flannel. The fluffy, sandy hair (and matching, coarse stubble). The hairy, broad, hard chest. The squareness of his jaw, the strapping height. The surprising brightness of his blue eyes. The sudden, rare smiles. The fact that he is older, is an adult. A full grown man. That he can do anything to Daniel, and, smitten boy that he is, he’d let him. 

Yeah, Daniel wants him like one would want a cool drink on a hot day. He has it bad. But things have to get worse before they get better, right? And all fevers must run their course. 

And boy, what a fever this is!

(And may he never recover!)

…

Meanwhile, our John has indeed been stoic in the little tease’s presence—but, thing is, the moment he’s alone, tucked away safe in his bed or in the shower or even that one time in his kitchen for fuck’s sake—John has spent nearly every spare minute in his day jacking off furiously. Getting his sheets, tiles—even kitchen countertop—all sticky with jizz like he was fifteen again, and had seen a pair of breasts for the first time in a dirty magazine. (But those thoughts of his former teenage fantasies have nothing on the centerfold that is LaRusso.)

And, damn it, he spends far too much of his day dreaming about that full, red mouth. The glossy, floppy hair. Those long-lashed big brown eyes. The perky brown nipples, the slightest swell of the soft chest on that tiny, fragile body. The endless, shapely legs. The endless, tan skin. The endless smoothness of it. The curve of that plump ass. The bounce it had, the little tormenting jiggle when the boy walked with a spring in his step. The sweet little puckered cunt hidden between those slim thighs. How it would drip and spill and gush out all that John has to give the little shit. Is dying to. 

Oh, John’s got a calendar counting down the days until the boy is legal, until he’s all of eighteen and the law can’t save him—and then John’s gonna fuck him into submission, rail him into obedience. Pound that tight, juicy, boypussy raw until LaRusso can’t think for how good John’s giving it to him. 

And then he’s gonna make the little shit his, because fuck it all—the little Italian brat has made him fall for his charms big time.

Only a matter of time kid, John thinks later, watching the boy work his bag of tricks with a stoic, calm expression. Though he all but grins (inwardly) when the boy fumes in frustration at his non-reaction.

Just you wait, Prima Donna, John promises.

You’re mine. 

[stormymists]

"What? Oh. Sorry. I dozed off. My name is Jack Daniels Drake. Yeah. My parents are alcoholics. Named my little brother Jäger. They were shit parents, but we survived. Live in the trailer park still, but at least my job as a handyman helps pays for Yag's classes at the university. Oh, yeah, just turned thirty and my pronouns are he/him. Don't really got time for things like romance and shit so . . . yeah. Nothing to say there."

Faceclaim: Jack Mulhern

Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation: Cis man & biromantic/asexual

Wanted Connections: friends. the guy just needs friends tbh

Positive Traits: kind, empathic, protective, hardworking

Negative Traits: anxious, paranoid, depressed, obsessive

was the first of two unplanned and unwanted children. was only four when his little brother was born but he immediately strove to protect and care for Yag despite his young age

basically raised Yag since their parents were neglectful alcoholics, and although they had help from family members, he took the emotional weight upon himself. he works hard to help pay for his brother’s schooling, despite not getting to go himself

managed to save enough to get his own trailer for him and his brother when Yag turned 18, where he sleeps on the couch and gives the one bedroom to Yag whenever his brother isn’t staying with a friend on campus

[apoptoses]

♜ Interior decorating aesthetic (for Daniel)

☹ Response to a leaky faucet or other household problem (for Armand)

♜ Interior decorating aesthetic (for Daniel)

God this one is hard because it raises so many questions for me like- did Daniel live alone at the time he met Louis? Did he have roommates? He spent years in hotels, and then lived with Armand, and did he have any input on the decor when they were living together? Did he even care that much?

We know that he loved Night Island, that the mix of old and new there was gorgeous, that his room had renaissance paintings alongside modern decor. That he loved luxury. And to an extent I think that's still true, that he likes having nice, interesting things around and isn't like and HGTV trends guy lol

But part of me also thinks about Armand's collecting stuff phase and how he literally filled some apartments to the brim with his computers. How Daniel was probably too exhausted to clean up after their messes most of the time. And like how people who have lived in hoarding situations (or just messy spaces in general) come out preferring minimalism, as little clutter as possible on surfaces and few knick knacks.

And I think Daniel would be somewhere in the middle. All vampires have an attachment to the time they were turned, so he's got a retro-eclectic vibe going in his spaces with some 80s inspired pieces. He probably still leaves his shit laying around like his clothes and half-read books but Trinity Gate and Auvergne have cleaning staff to take care of that. For better or worse he grew up in the era of wall to wall carpet and still prefers that over a hardwood floor. And I see him as a physical media kind of guy- he's got a sick vinyl collection, he still gets VHS tapes and DVDs of movies he liked, his media is pretty organized and nicely displayed. Get a nice comfy chair in there and he's set.

His craft space is a fucking wreck though lol But that's okay because he can close that door and pretend that mess doesn't exist when he's not in there.

☹ Response to a leaky faucet or other household problem (for Armand)

Oh lord in DM era it's one of three options:

Demand Daniel go to the hardware store with him so they can experiment with fixing it themselves (Daniel's least favorite option, there's bound to be cussing and at least three trips back to the store even though Armand can afford to buy literally every fucking possible thing needed in one trip)

Call a repair service and pay double for the middle of the night handyman work, while he sits and stares and creeps the guy out with his observation (Daniel's preferred option, he tips the workers extra for dealing with Armand's questions)

Say fuck it and rent a new place to live (inevitable, sometimes, when the DIY option goes very very wrong and they wind up with severe water damage that threatens the safety of the residents below them, oops)

Now at Trinity Gate? Unfortunately I think Benji's the mature adult in that household, he's got task rabbit loaded and ready to hire someone before the problem can get out of control. Because god knows Louis can't maintain a home, and frankly someone's gotta protect the peace and keep Daniel and Armand from bickering all night again about whose fault it is that the dish washer broke ("We don't even use fucking dishes, Armand, what did you put in there??" is NOT when he needs in the background he's trying to record a podcast tyvm)