#interlude part

[flamingpudding]

Part 13 of Ghost Kid in Gotham

>>Masterpost >>AO3

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A/N: I got a bit too self conscious in regards to why Danny is the older twin in this story. I know it would be nice and cute for him to be the younger but when I started to work on this idea, I always saw him as the elder twin. It just kept bothering me that some wished differently and made me feel like I needed to explain my thoughts. Besides when I first thought of Danny as an assassin that couldn't kill, I also thought of Odasaku from BSD and the image just fit in my head, including the older brother energy and getting pushed over the edge when losing loved ones.

Interlude: A Brothers Protection

When they had been four Danny had quickly learned what it had meant to be an heir. Their grandfather had showered him and Dami in love and praise at first. Happy about having two heirs that would lead the league to glory. Even if only one heir was needed, having two was a blessing in his grandfather's eyes. His mother always spoke proudly of them, of how they were meant for something great. Then their training had started, and words of love and praise became criticism and pressure.

From the outside there was no difference in the pressure put on the twins. Their teachers and handlers treated them equally when they had lessons together. Both were heirs, but Danny was the primary one. So when they were separated for their training Danny knew their teachers were making differences influenced by that. At the age of five he started to egg them on, challenging them, making them more aware of him, to take the pressure off his brother. He didn't mind, because no matter how harsh they were with him, he still got to late night stargaze while cuddling his twin. Damian would indulge Danny's need to rest on him thinking Danny's stamina was not the same as his own but still pushed him away at times if he hindered his twin from drawing.

He had read about how elder brothers were supposed to protect the younger ones. When he learned about that concept he had gone to their mother asking, who was the elder and his mother had told him that he was born before his twin, which was why he was the primary heir. Yet all he cared about was that the elder twin had a responsibility towards the younger. Though even if he had been the younger one, Danny would still have found an excuse to protect Damian, this just made it easier for him to rationalize protecting his twin from the true harshness of their training.

With their growing skills, soon came the time for them to be sent on their first mission. An easy one. They were to eliminate a traitor. Someone that had joined the league for only a couple of months before deciding to quit, taking secrets with them that they weren't supposed to know.

Grandfather never liked loose ends. So they were sent out, with clear instructions. Grandfather had instructed Danny to be the one to deal the killing blow. Danny was supposed to prove his worth, for the first time their grandfather was acknowledging him as the elder twin. Words of promise were spoken to him during the briefing and when he had asked about Damian, grandfather had told him that his brother would prove his right during their next mission. For now Damian was to follow up and eliminate any third party that would prove to be a risk to the mission.

That mission was the first of many of Danny's failures.

He had critically injured the traitor but hesitated too long in dealing the killing blow. Their observer for the mission stepped in. Killing the target with a disapproving stare that made Danny wither and seek his brothers closeness. Grandfather had lectured him afterwards furious of how he as the primary heir could fail at something so simple when he had the target before him on a silver platter. A silver platter he had created with his own hands.

The image of his wheezing target, with glassy eyes, begging with fear and pleading for their life flashed before his eyes. Even without a killing blow, Danny knew he had injured them enough that they wouldn't have survived anyway if no help arrived within 15 minutes. But that was not up to league standards. Even if slim, do not leave your enemies with the slightest change of survival, his grandfather's words ringed in his ears.

They started to separate Damian from him more often then, sending Danny off to more harsh training that he had no problem completing. He had the skill but still, from there on he continued to mess up his mission in similar ways. Yet Damian was covering for Danny whenever they were sent on mission together. Danny incapacitated the target soundlessly and Dami killed them.

In a way Danny found another form of how to protect Damian like this. He couldn't kill but Damian would gain their grandfather's praise by covering for him. Danny in return would earn the punishments for failure, the lecturers and their teachers' harshness. Their displeasure would focus on him during lessons leaving his twin to learn their lessons in peace without them constantly shouting at him what to do better. Because that was directed at him, the failure they needed to correct.

Yet his twin insisted that they were meant to complete each other. Danny had the talent in incapacitating anyone no matter their size and impromptu thinking and a heart of mercy while Damian had the calculating and strategic handling with a heart steeled to kill. They were each other's missing half's his twin had told him. They were meant to work together this way, to balance each other out.

Danny loved Dami for that even more but he knew better.

When they were six Danny lost his title as heir. His grandfather had declared that Damian was the one true heir, the one meant to lead them in the future. He didn't mind that, he had expected that the moment he was unable to kill the first time. Besides even if he had the harsher lessons, Damian was still better skillswise, he truly was the better between them. His twin was of a different opinion, in the privacy of their rooms his twin kept insisting that Danny could prove their grandfather wrong. That they were meant to lead together and not alone but Danny knew better.

With the loss of his title, the scorn and mockery began from other league members more openly. The focus of his mother and grandfather turned to Damian and so did their love. Still Danny continued like before, challenging teachers and other members, drawing the focus on him despite having become the black sheep. His skills were still on par with his brother's, even if he couldn't kill and he made sure their teachers were aware. His mother was giving him knowing looks whenever she had to pull him off teachers sometimes several times a day. She knew why he continued doing that.

His twin also still adored him in a way that made Danny think that Damian might know about the way he attempted to protect the other even without the title of heir. As if Damian knew that whenever Danny learned that a teacher had been harsher on Damian than needed that Danny was the one injuring said teacher in his own lessons. That Damian knew that the exhaustion he displayed at night when they sat on the roofs to watch the stars over Nanda Parbat while Dami drew into drawing pads, was not because of a lack of stamina but the work he put into honing his skill so that they focused on the back sheep of the family and focused their scorn, jealousy and envy on him instead of Dami.

He was eight when he realized he had screwed up to much. His grandfather's words from long ago rang in his ears as he stood before his twin with drawn blades and the eyes of nearly every league member watching them, awaiting his inevitable death. This was his last act to protect his twin and fulfill the role of elder brother in the way he had read about when he had been even younger. Dami would live and that was all that had mattered to Danny.

"Is there a reason why you bring these memories to the surface, Nocturn?" A sixteen year old Danny asked frowning, watching his own memories like he was a bystander. His surroundings changed once more. Gone were the images of the memory of the last time he had protected his twin as a wide and empty space surrounded him. In the distance stars glinted, reminding him of the night sky of Nanda Parbat. An answer never came. It wouldn't matter either way. Because by the time he woke up he would have forgotten again anyway.

"If you won't answer, could you at least ask Clockwork what he was thinking by doing this?" He asked into the nothingness. Still not receiving an answer. With a sigh Danny plopped onto the ground, eyeing his surroundings as his earliest memory of Damian's and his first lesson in parkour started to form around him, coaxing a small smile from him.

Blinking into awareness Danny yawned before rolling onto his back, his eyes briefly flashed green before settling into blue. His head lay in his twin's lap as this older Dami was drawing something on a drawing pad. His head felt clearer these days but not by much. There was also the feeling like he remembered more stuff in his sleep yet whenever he woke up he felt like something was missing. There was always a headache pounding in his head making him dizzy when he tried outside of sleep. His eyes watched this older version of his twin and an image of the Dami drawing while they sat on roofs overlayed the one he was watching right there.

He chirped happily. There were still so many questions in his mind but the answers didn't matter to him anymore. Dami was alive and doing what he loved openly. Whatever happened in between his last fuzzy memory and now didn't matter. Because Danny was sure, he must have done something right in protecting Dami as the elder twin for this to be the result. Yawning, curled up more pressing his face into his twins stomach, to silence the noise in his head. His mind started to feel muddy again as he snuggled into this older and alive version of his twin brother. The extra set of instincts still screamed at him.

Blobbert and the other blob ghosts were trying to help him with that but the struggle was still there.

A small hiss escaped him as he turned his head, eyes zeroed in on the eldest that kept trying to pet him or give him sweets as bribery halted his approach. His nose scrunched up as he bared his teeth and the briber coed at him. Danny protested and he could hear his twin scowling as suddenly his senses were thrown for a ride. Danny's eyes focused on the icky one as he entered his field of vision.

The icky one was feeling more icky than before. Like the first time he had met him. Danny hissed in displeasure feeling something strange but familiar run through him. With his instincts screaming he sat up quickly before his brother could stop him and lunged as he let something else in him take over, not knowing that his eyes were glowing green.

[fisheito]

He's a magician

[stormystarlight]

map part for my own map (wyrd)! it's the intro so there will be Giant Text covering the middle of the screen in the final version, but here you get to see the back of scav 21655's head in all its glory

[pinkie-quinns]

rocker eddie/actor steve | exes to ? | fame au interlude

p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6

After the Globes both Steve and Eddie's teams decided radio silence was the best. Let people assume what they’re gonna assume. Hope that that assumption starts with D and ends with rugs.

And most people do assume that. It circulates as a listicle oddity for a week then disappears. Written off as some weird celebrity quirk. Hollywood whispers, but they always do.

But then some people, some people start to speculate.

They listen to Penitence, really listen to Penitence.

Through all its torn up apologies, its sorrow & regrets, they hear about someone getting left behind, turned against for the crime of their success & the artist’s failure. Someone the artist would do anything to get back.

And they start to dig through old interviews of Steve’s. The really early ones. Digital archives of defunct genre mags. Where he talks about falling into acting by chance, talks about moving out to LA with a partner and working odd jobs.

It doesn’t line up with the stuff Eddie had touted on late-night. Steve hadn’t moved to LA to be an actor. All his early interviews say so. Lie after lie piles up so they swirl and they speculate and they make their theories.

But it’s nothing to worry about. Their teams both reassure them. Not really. It stays in its corner of the internet. Stays that way for months. Well into the summer. Quiets down a little, even. Well, it does until–

The picture itself is incriminating.

Steve Harrington, leaving Eddie Munson’s NYC brownstone, stretching out for a morning jog. Hickeys littering his neck, a bite-mark visible on his collar bone.

But he's not embarrassed, no. For some reason, he’s grinning like an asshole.

[evenings-at-the-seaofquanta]

That Honkai sure can Impact it. and by "it", haha, well. let's justr say. My emotional stability and wellbeing

[lakesbian]

cracking myself up with this

[overly-verbose]

Part 9 is gonna be kinda funny honestly, since it's basically

SIkuna: *tries his best to balance coming off as Sukuna-like (kinda conceited and such) with also being relatively nice and making Yuji as comfy as he can despite the circumstances

(without letting on just how much he'd like to hug the kid, and ask a billion questions about whether he's alright or not, and tell Yuji just how badly he wanted the Detention Center thing to end differently-)*

Meanwhile, Yuji: 'I can't prove anything, but my Bullshit detectors are telling me that he's trying to Bullshit 🤨'

Though even more meanwhile (probably not outright depicted in the Part for now but it is happening);

Nobara, Megumi, and Satoru: *deal with their respective parts of the Plan, and try not to feel murderous at the people happy to see Yuji 'dead'

(whilst also attempting not to think about just how every single second lost could impact their 'deceased' friend/student)*

Ijichi: *gets his hand fixed and makes sure that Shoko is well-informed of the Plan, hoping that this will not end in an utter disaster*

Shoko: *is very outwardly chill about it all, but at the same time has a Lot of internal Hmmmmm's on the matter*

.

[mysimsloveaffair]

Part 1 (Collaboration with @igglemouse)

Drake swims a few laps in the pool. He’s glad that Dub invited him on this trip. Traveling and seeing more of the Sim world has always been on his to-do list, but a big part of him wishes he had more time to prepare.

Drake steps out of the pool to take a new selfie for his Cupid’s Corner profile. If Dub’s invitation wasn’t at the last minute, he could have made an appointment with his stylist to add some color to his hair - a bold purple this time and perhaps that same purple for his nails. Instead, he has to begin this vacation looking…regular.

But Dub has invited him here to serve as a glorified babysitter anyway, so none of that matters. This trip isn’t about him. He’s here to help his brother out. So that’s what he’ll do. While Dub and Maia are upstairs getting ready for their big date, Drake takes his niece Tambara to the nearby park. At least he’ll be able to see some of the city that way. 

The park is pleasant and seems a favorite among the locals and tourists. Several couples sit on the benches chatting, eating lunch, or staring at the clouds. Drake ignores them all and takes Tami to the toddler slides, which she seems to enjoy. After a few times down the slide, Tami comes up with another suggestion.

Tambara: We make caso, Unco Da. 

Drake: *chuckles* It’s uncle Dray…not Da. 

Tambara: *insistent tone* Unco Da, caso!

Drake: Caso? What’s a caso?

Tambara: San caso! We make san caso! 

It takes a minute, but when Drake thinks about it, he realizes what Tami is trying to say. 

Drake: You want to build a sandcastle? 

Tami nods with enthusiasm, practically banging her chin on her chest.

Drake: Okay, but you’d better hope we find some sand.

Dub didn’t warn him that Tami doesn’t like to be carried. Drake learns that the hard way when he picks her up and transports her in his arms around the park in search of a sandpit while she whines and struggles to be put down. 

Eventually, Drake takes the hint and puts her back on her feet in the sand. Tami is in her happy place and quickly forgives him. She grabs a bucket and uses a shovel to fill it, only to dump it all out again after it’s about half full. 

Tambara: *giggling* You build caso too! 

Tami isn’t content with him just watching. He’s going to have to get down in the sand with her. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t get his nails done after all.

[maxiewinchester]

been getting real into dental hygiene lately.

[askblueandviolet]

Do you still have problems with the other mayors?

Bonus:

MASTER POST

Asks Start 💙🐶

Previous 💙🐶

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[raspberryusagi]

Help. I’m not okay.

That interlude hit like a truck and I’m not just talking about the fights…

How am I gonna deal when OC2 drops?

[tennessoui]

Asfsgdgf Sheari has to put up with so much SHIT from these clowns. I really have to wonder what she thinks about their case as we get further in. Because, like. Anakin's in two relationships. But he only married ONE of them.

"A marriage that demands your loyalty and prioritization" surely can't be too far off when Anakin has clearly prioritized Padme by marrying her... Does Sheari ever suggest that Obi-Wan would feel more secure in their relationship if Anakin married him too? Make it harder for Anakin to leave, give Obi-Wan equal standing, (shut both their brains down by just saying it) -- or would that be outside the boundaries of what's acceptable to address?

such a good question!!!

so the timing needs to be real perfect for this whole leg of the story - Sheari can bring up the marriage before obi-wan and anakin realize she thinks they’re together but she can’t really get into the meat of the marriage issue (aka by asking why anakin married someone else and not obi-wan when it seems to be the root of a lot of obi-wan’s anxieties about future anakin abandonment - anakabdoment if you will) because if she asked them point blank why anakin hasn’t married obi-wan or shown him he loves him in some legal and binding way equal to the marriage he gave Padmé, both anakin and obi-wan are going to be like well. cause we’re not in love,,,,or together,,,, to her face

And that’s not the way the story is going to go!! So before sheari can really ask about the marriage, anakin and obi-wan need to realize that she thinks they’re a couple and then they’re going to need to decide that they’re going to actively lie and pretend to be a couple so that they can keep seeing her because they’ve already been vulnerable with her and they don’t want to start over with someone else

and before that can happen, they need to actually be vulnerable with her over an issue that they would need her to know about but would be very reluctant to tell anyone or talk about

which is gonna be forthcoming in the next few chapters (as soon as they stop storming out of the sessions)

[blood-orange-juice]

Oh darling. Oh no.

[astoldbychae]

That moment when you've had a sip (or two) and have been listening to 90's R&B all night...I-

Chile, I just KNOW this is on his playlist...

& I just KNOW he takes his time and is attentive, to all the things. 😩

sheesh!

[berberriescorner]

Asks Open...

Taking a little break from writing...

let's chat...

What are y'all hoping to read about in the next part of "Are You Listening?"

What have been some of your favorite parts thus far?

I'll do my best to answer any responses without dropping any spoilers.

Also, what other fics are you looking forward to?

Who y'all obsessed with these days😆?

Drop it in the ask box my lovelies🫶🏾.

[writer-and-artist27]

Because with the return of one bad apple at work and the upcoming advent of LB7 on NA, I had to return to dark places to write out everything.

And why not put an old friendship to rest through re-exploring the aftermath of the Extra Episode of the Lady Reines Case Files with my Grailed Pretender?

To those who were asking - you finally got the Hephaestion chapter you were asking for. REJOICE. And please thank @partialdignity, @lunarimpact, @crescentialee, @xxskaboyxx, and my real life Robin in my partner for this.

AO3 link here. OST Playlist here, with all the new songs included.