#luckily danny can relate

[hypewinter]

Kaldur finds himself caught between his duty on land and his heart in Atlantis, wishing he had someone to confide in. Coincidentally, Danny falls out of a natural portal right beside him.

[phantomrose96]

god and Danny's (slowly rebuilding) remains are on a GOLF COURSE. it's a public area!! it only takes one rich guy deciding he wants to play a game today to stumble across something out of a horror movie. Still screaming. And who do the citizens of Amity Park call when there's something undeniably weird going on? What duo show up to every ghost-related sighting in town they hear of?

(Prometheus)

"Hey Danny could you--stop screaming--Danny could you quiet down there's a noise complaint from the country club we're gonna get in trouble."

Luckily it's winter and there's snow on the golf course so the odds of some retiree 18-holer showing up and being not cool (🙄) with the mass of screaming organs blocking hole 14 is, luckily, slim.

But it still IS a public location and it has to be some amount of terrifying for Sam Tucker and Jazz to just be with this screaming thing that cannot be made quieter and is, in fact, getting louder the more Lung and Organ it has and..! There's nothing they can do. If it catches someone's attention, they can't stop it. And at least it's Phantom, who is easier to explain away than Fenton, but god just the "Sorry, yeah this is what happens to our heroes, yeah sorry he might never be okay again." There's probably some poor shmuck making minimum wage working off-season security on the golf course. And what do you do about it?

God only hopes this doesn't make it back to Jack and Maddie before Danny has healed. As ghost scientists, they may in fact be very interested to know what healing capabilities exist on the poor thing they obliterated 7 hours earlier.

[evilminji]

Gold can be exchanged for goods and services (o.o )

Pariah's Keep probably has a shit ton of Precious Goods from various places.

Danny is become King?

If Danny becomes King... then the Zone will somewhat obey him. The Crown and Ring could EASILY tell him where the next natural portal is, where it opens up, and for how long. How many there are. Could probably make a few.

Probably WAS supposed to be making them. Consciously. But, well, Coma(tm).

Would probably count as Kingly Duty to filter and collect. Clean Ecto goes out for souls that remain, a Gateway home for those that wish to LEAVE, so forth and so on.

Effectively, being The Grim Reaper. You don't CAUSE Death. You just guide the way home. If folks so choose.

And that's neat! Horrifying, but neat! And Danny can TOTALLY see how it would eventually drive him completely breakfast cereal fruity nuggets! LUCKILY, he's got a vaguely bro's/Mentor thing going with the ghost who has ALL OF POSSIBLE TIME flowing through HIS head! So Danny should be Gucci!

The headaches suck though.

But WHAT... to do with all this Gold and valuable Space Goods? Most of these aren't even recognized currency on earth! Like the Shells. You could buy a mansion with one of those... on the right planet. On Earth? Pretty paperweight. Hmmmm >.>

Wait.

WAIT!

<o> *points to top of head!* CROWN! It can? Predict and make PORTALS!

Portals lead any WHERE and any WHEN!

:O

Gold... can be exchanged for goods and services. He remembers, holding a gold brick, about to eat so, SO much pizza.

But WAIT! I hear you wondering! Surely, you mean? Within his past? The history and region of space he knows, right? Ha ha :) Nope! Cowards.

Danny is on the alien otter's planet, trading those sweet, sweet Shells for some snacks no human could eat and a shawl for his sister! He's hiding, badly, behind a food stall in the Martian market place. Hoping future hero J'onn Johnes doesn't notice him.

Lying to the Space Cops, bout where his untraceable Space Money came from, on an alien trading satellite. The Green Lantern's not buying it. Oh noooo >.> sudden Fright Knight. Looming Menacingly by the loading doooocks. Everyone's upset! Definitely not related to him! Better go check on that! :) *gets the heck out of dodge* (my king. Please stop using me as a distraction.) (No promises)

But! It's all fun and games? Until your human friends get sick. Like... REALLY sick.

And then you suddenly remember time and space mean nothing to you. One 15 minute flight that way, two doors, a quick flight of stairs, and a literal child's play place slide? You could be in the 32nd century.

That disease is AT BEST, an unpleasant afternoon, there.

Here, your friend could die.

You trade a student two Spanish dubloons. They have no idea what they are. Just like the look of them and know they're real metal. They walk into the pharmacy for you. Don't question your "social experiment paper" lie.

You're back in less then an hour.

The screaming argument about ethics and mortality lasts hours.

She still takes the medicine. Gets better. Won't talk to you for months. Because why does HER life matter more? Why bend the rules for HER? And you can't bring yourself to say what pulses as Truth from both Crown and Ring.

You could because she didn't Matter. Time... would not notice, nor change. She was in no way pivotal to the flow of history, must one more ant beneath its unrelenting march. Mattering only because those who love her CARE. Because one or two little things might change for the better.

But it takes the shine off of it, a little.

Being able to go to the FUTURE. Watch movies and see aliens and humans alike in the crowd. Read books and dance to songs from people who won't be born for hundreds of years. Eat snacks from the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Or the early BCs!

And that's BEFORE other time travelers clock him as That Shopping Guy. The one who keeps popping up... buying things. For what? Unknown. Probably dinner. Half the time it's food. Trinkets. Once it was a really, REALLY nice goat. (His aunt was THRILLED.)

It probably drives Bart crazy. Because NO ONE knows anything about the guy? Everyone just universally goes "oooh yeah! HIM! Yeah, he sure does Exsist(tm). Very... present and exsistant." Like that's not CRAZY! He has so many question. So Many! What is he even BUYING!? Why? Is there an order? Or is he winging it?!

*pulls out list* he needs ANSWERS!

@hypewinter @hdgnj @ailithnight

[clockwaysadmin]

One Stop Soup Shop (Series) Update Subscription Post

Ship: Dead on Main, Danny Fenton/Jason Todd CW: (updating as the series continues) Canon-Typical Violence, Blood, Blood Drinking, Cutting (for blood drinking reasons), Panic Attacks, Torture, Vivisection, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton, GIW

A white haired, green eyed stranger found a dying Red Hood while dumpster diving. He had a way to help. It would only change everything. Luckily, everything was a price that Jason was willing to pay. Now the newly forming halfa and the broken man (more ghost than not) are left orbiting each other like binary stars. The crash is bound to be blinding.

So far, only excerpts and snippets are posted here! I will notify when those go up. Please find the full versions on Ao3!

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All things related to this fic can be found in the 'One Stop Soup Shop' tag on @clockwayswrites. Major links are below.

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[pbeltarts]

I can’t remember where i saw this mentioned but someone pointed out how danny NEVER cries in the show. Like plenty of characters cry, just never danny, and mind you crying is necessary for emotional regulation. The phandom can use this as angst potential. Imagine characters seeing him cry and just going: “oh shit this is serious.” or theres some kind of last straw and Dan just kinda lets it all out at once and starts bawling. Im actually kinda begging u to make a comic based on this lil detail.

Bro in a remake I would love to explore Danny's relationship with his emotions in response to how he's handling his trauma. Because it wasn't done in the original and I think its such a let down!! The only major emotion I remember Danny expressing regularly, that got a slight spotlight, was anger. And that was interesting!

But imagine Danny starting out as an anxious teen, just starting his highschool career. He wants confidence, he wants to be brave, but its not that easy- and then the transition happens. Now, on top of a confusing puberty he doesn't want (because he's trans), he's struggling with this whole other biological change that no one can help him with. He doesn't feel like he can tell his parents for fear of what they'll do, he doesn't tell his sister yet because what if she tells their parents... the only people who know is his two best friends.

And so the anxiety is still rly bad, but he's learning to just brunt force through it because now? He's the only one who can protect people from the mistake he made. He feels responsible and despite the fear he feels, he has to move foward.

(Frankly, this whole 'get through the fear' thing I think would be mounted early on, as a "starting point" where we see Danny struggling p soon after getting his powers, eventually choosing "I can't do this" and wanting to just put it away and not think about it but something happens that sort of forces his hand and he has to do something and use these powers and the success of this proves to him that he CAN do this.)

From there we see Danny go from anxious and scared, to more confident and mischievous as he gains better control of his abilities. Its still awkward at times, its still bumpy but you can see the small change over time- and then he runs into his first biggest problem, Vlad.

Someone he should be able to relate to, someone he should see as a confidant, but instead Vlad treats him like Dash does. Like a freak, a burden, a loser. And it hurts so much more because Vlad is better at everything Danny is just brushing the surface of. And when he loses to Vlad? That puts this nail in the coffin of "I have to get better faster"

So Danny hardens. Subtly at first, spending more and more time as Phantom and practicing and training and at first his friends just think its a phase he's getting through- but he doesn't get through it. He just hardens more. No more goofy Danny, or anxious Danny. Just Danny Phantom, hero of Amityville, the person who faces any monster without fear. He starts not talking to his friends, to his family. He can't open up because they don't get it.

And then he's jailed in the ghost prison. Another trauma, another nightmare, but one he can't easily deal with and escape. It puts a lot of new pressure on him, being there and being surrounded by danger, and having to operate in this way that keeps him alive- to the best of his ability. He makes it out, luckily and barely, and there begins the start of the cracking. Because it was so fucking scary.

More and more I think we should see these moments in Danny's life that warp how he copes with them and see how he changes in response to them, and how the PEOPLE he relents this to help or hinder him.

[pandemoniclucio]

The Arcana HC #17

Superhero MC - MC is basically like Batman in the sense that they are a billionaire phillanthropist at day and a superhero at night, but they have superpowers and are one of the strongest beings in the world.

MC has a very specific Zodiac tattoo on both shoulders, their hero suite hides that.

Asra - Cafe Owner

Nadia - Senator

Julian - Lead Biochemist At (L/N) Enterprise

Muriel - Hero

Portia - Celebrity Chef

Lucio - Mercenery

Asra, Muriel & Lucio have powers.

Asra is a witch that can use Tarot cards and some celestial magic.

Muriel is a Leshy - Forest Guardian Spirit from Slavick regions & Russia - so he can communicate with animals and has powers relating to the earth.

Lucio is like Danny Phantom - He has ghost powers.

None of the LI's know MC's secret identity or that they are a superhero at first.

Asra

You are one of the regulars at their cafe by day & Asra is somewhat of an informant to you every once in a while

Due to a cultist finally getting fed up with Asra's response to her cult, she decided to kidnap them, because she needs all magic using humans with her, so she manages to draw your attention.

Before you could return Asra to their shop, the leader manged to tell Asra who you were before they could complete the memory erase spell on her.

The next day you come for your morning drink theh discretely ask you to go to the back with them where they reveal that they know who you are.

They are now very nervous whenever you come around to the Cafe & gets more flustered when you tell them to relax.

They continue gathering information for you and decide that they should try to teach you some Celestial and Tarot Magic, you might eventually need it. After each magic lesson you both bond over some drinks.

They realise they like you but they don't want to make anything awkward between you both. They are pleasantly shocked when you admit to wanting to be more than friends.

You two have been caught by the press being lovey doevey which has increased customers for Asra, but that means you can only get any sort of peace is if you get out of down.

Nadia

Your company is global, so you have met her several times to discuss business ventures in Pakra. She occasionaly helps you come up with any projects.

Not a lot of people from Vesuvia like the idea of peace with other nations (*Cough*, Vulgura). One day at a peace meeting at your tower, Nadia was taken as a hostage. Luckily you have an easy way to quickly change and save Nadia.

Due to Vulgura destroying everything in her path Nadia did get injured, but you managed to get her to the emergency room of your tower, she found this suspisious.

She went through some video camera's with Natiqa and found out that you were the superhero that saved her. She decided to confront you about it and promised to keep your identity secret, & she felt a bit bad for pryining.

Knowing what she knows now, she realises that the signs were there & now she worries that she might accidently tell the rest of her family, she also gets Natiqa to promise you as well.

She decides that she will try to help you by coming up with any suggestions, critiques & stratagies that you could use when you're out saving the city or world. She also gets Natiqa, Nazali and Nahara to help since their her only siblings that aren't gossibs. Spending time with you has let you both become friends.

You both have gotten quite close in a short amount of time, so with the support (teasing) from Natiqa, she confesses.

You two eventually become an international sensation: Bilionaire Philantropist & Pakran Senator. This means you both have to try extremely hard to get away from people so you can have a normal date.

Julian

He is your lead biochemist, so he reports to you daily and since you both are close friends, you sometimes go drinking with Portia. He is also the one you bring any items you find on your mission to get him to analyse.

As a wealthy billionaire, it is pretty standard for people to want to rob you, this time villains, Vlastomil & Valdemar, try to steal a new formula Julian & crew are working on. Whuch meant he gets kidanpped again. Lucky you, for having security cameras to alert you.

You managed to beat up the two villains but because Valdemar used a secret weapon and stabbed your arm, your healing wasn't able to work fast enough, luckily Julian is qualified for this, but he had to take you to his lab and he saw your tattoo.

He decided to get you talking before he accidently reveals that he knows who you are.

This hasn't changed your relationshup, much. The only difference is that he worries about you more & tries to analyse whatever artifact you bring in. He has also informed Portia.

He decides that he will try to help you, by creating gear and designing a better outfit so that it doesn't tear easily. He also thinks it's fun hanging out more again in an unprofessional capacity.

After years of friendship and some teasing from Mazelinka & now Portia. You confess that you do indeed like each other after Portia spits it out that he loves you.

At night, when he's done with his actual job he helps you analyse any evidence or create and improve any tech you might need to make your "side-job" easier.

By morning, he and occasionally you get teased and congradulated by everyone for finally becoming a couple. They give some advice and warnings about office romances.

Muriel

He is the hero that you work with whenever you need to go into the forest. You are both on friendly terms but don't interact often, due to him being a reclusive Leshy.

It's near impossible to capture let alone find Muriel or any other nature spirits, but somehow a "Ghost Hunter" managed to capture him, which meant Innana got to drag you to the scene to save him.

You manged to save Muriel but because the Ghost Hunter was a pervert you lost the top of your suit and your mask started to crack, once you got Muriel back into the woods, your mask fell off.

He then awkwardly tells you that your mask fell off, he knew that you were a business mogal but thats about it. He then tells you not to worry about it since he's not much of a talker. Unfortunately this is a forest full of nature spirits but they won't snitch to any humans either.

His life continued relatively normaly, except now he was being bombarded with questions & teasings from the other spirits. He also now has to apologise whenever they come to harrass you whenever you have to work together.

He feels bad about knowing your identity but doesn't understand why you keep visiting him and the other forest spirits. You do manage to gather more infromation about any mythical nusances and as a bonus how to help improve the forest.

Sooner than later you both realise you have feelings for each other. The other forest spirits decide to help Muriel out by setting up romantic events, getting Inanna to help push him to confess and getting Khamagalai to tell you that he likes you if he doesn't do it himself.

Since, you both aren't very public super heroes, you don't have to worry much about anyone bothering you whne you decide to do something romantic.

Portia

She is one of your closest friends and often comes to the office to check on you and her brother and bring some treats for you both and some of your employees.

Since she is a celebrity, there are people who get possesive of her. One day a villain who stalks her decided to kidnap her and threaten to take revenge because she rejected their creepy advances. Since it was broadcast across Vesuvia, you quickly arrived.

Luckily you weren't seriously injured, but your some of your clothes were scathed, which revealed one of your tattooed shoulders to her before you left.

The next day she invites you over to her place for tea & biscuits to tell you that she knows about your secret identity and lectures you on how much danger you could've put yourself into.

Ever since she found out, she's had more serious cinversations with you and brought Julian in as well. Now when there is a crisis that you have to solve, she will cheer you on more but she will be slightly more worried.

She tries to help you with anything you need as long as it's not life-threatening. She mainly gathers information on other celebrities or aristocrats that you might need. Your frienship continues to grow and return to a sort of normal once more.

After a while your friendship turns into something more. You both realise that but you both don't know how to go about telling each other, luckily or unluckily Julian tells you that you both like each other romantically.

She tries her best to gather as much information as she can and joins Asra and Julian in helping guide you through missions.

When the sun rises, you and she are the celebrity couple of the weekly news, which does lead to a ton of ship video's of you both along with some discource but nothing you can't handle.

Lucio

Depending on who hired him, he can either be an obstacle or an asset to your missions. You are frenemies, but Lucio will always get out of dodge if he realises his client could be a serious issue.

He is a mercenary which means he has pissed off any rivals of his employers. One day a rival Mafia boss of his employer at the time decided to get revenge on him and kidnapped him by using a draining machine. Luckily, you happened to be another pest to this Mafia boss and decided to rescue him.

You managed to save him but at the cost of your energy being depleted and some of your suit being torn. He decides to kill the enemy and get you out of there and into his abode where he finally notices that your mask fell off.

When you finally woke up, you were greeted by Melchoir & Mercendes along with Lucio bringing you a meal and drink, before trying to explain the events that lead you here.

After the events, he has become careful of his clients and researches them a bit to see if they have any powerful enemies. He is also more weary of everything. He now gets flustered around you too.

He does try to help you more & will now give details about any client he thinks might be out of his pay cheque, he also doesn't want to go to jail. He doesn't avoid you forever though and tries to befriend you.

He can't deny and neither can you that you both have grown close so he decides to prepare a spot where it could be romantic if he succeeded but also had a place for him to cry if it didn't. Luckily he didn't need it.

You two become a vigilante power couple in most nights which is greaet for you considering he's helping you rid Vesuvia of criminals even if he is being paid by others to do half of it.

By day you both get bombarded with paparazzi & interviewed by the press. You both don't mind too much but sometimes in can get out of hand when it's ruining any time you want to spend together in a public area.

[silver-rings-and-rabbits]

Open Heart - Chapter 6

Housewarming

The next few days passed quickly. All the interns could talk about was the competition. The second- and third-year residents were furious, having just missed out, but none of the interns cared. They were already used to being treated like the scum of the earth for starting the first year of their medical careers.

Matthew had had a good few days, keeping half an eye out for Rafael but he hadn’t seen him since the game. And then one night his streak came to an abrupt end when he received an emergency page from Danny and sprinted into the patients room to find it in utter chaos.

“Dr Valentine! Your post-op patient is in distress!” Danny reported.

“What happened? I saw her two minutes ago, she was fine!” Matthew cried as he looked around wildly at the wailing machines. In the midst of it all, the patient lay unconscious on the bed, pale and completely motionless.

“She can’t breathe! She has fluid in her lungs,” Marlene said frantically.

“OK, so…”

Danny read the monitor with a yelp. “Atrial fibrillation! Rate’s pushing one hundred and sixty!”

“But…”

“Her BP’s crashing, she’s hypotensive,” Sarah warned.

Matthew’s head pounded. He felt like the walls were closing in.

“Her body temperature’s climbing, she’s burning up,” Danny groaned. “What do you want us to do, Doctor?”

“I…I…”

“Dr Valentine! We need an answer now!”

Matthew had failed them all. He couldn’t breathe, let along think. In the end, it was Marlene who had taken charge and led the intubation; with over twenty years of nursing experience, she had seen it all and Matthew felt like handing his title over to her. He signed the charts as if he had authorised the treatment as he should have done, but he didn’t want to think about what happened if…

“Matthew, are you listening?” Landry broke Matthew out of his haze.

“Hm? Sorry Landry. I got distracted.”

“Still thinking about that patient from last night?” Sienna rubbed his back comfortingly. “You can’t beat yourself up about it. She pulled through.”

“Only because the nurses were ready to bail me out.” Matthew combed his fingers through his hair. “I feel like I’m better at handling things going wrong, but this was a million things going wrong and I panicked. I can’t handle when everything’s spiralling out of control.”

Matthew was not surprised to find he had placed nineteenth in the first post of rankings for the fellowship competition. Jackie was fourth, Landry seventh, Elijah tenth and Sienna fourteenth. Aurora was in first place, much to Jackie’s suspicion. Matthew didn’t care, but a bet was a bet and now he had to pick up a keg for their upcoming housewarming party. Apparently, word had got round to everyone and everyone was buzzing. Elijah was thrilled. He had wanted to go big for his first housewarming.

Matthew faced up to Dr Ramsey, who seemed very distracted and was lurking around the construction area for the new wing of the hospital, but luckily for him Ramsey had already been updated. Even luckier was that Ramsey decided he wouldn’t berate him on the grounds that Matthew had guilt written all over his face already. Nonetheless, he reminded Matthew that he was lucky he was getting a next time. Matthew felt like he was walking on eggshells as he hesitantly knocked on the door of the patient’s room…only to find her sitting up, talking loudly into an earpiece and working on three screens at once.

“Mrs Turner?”

“Just a second, Dr Valentine…No, no, Charlie, have Steve deliver the signed settlements to the court, Jane can speak to the client…oh, hold on…Bastien? If we don’t file at the courthouse by close, they’ll dismiss our motion…OK, great. And my kid’s soccer practice was cancelled. I need Tom to pick them up at three, not five…Thanks Bastien…Charlie?...Yes, good idea…OK, I’ll speak to you later.”

She ended the call but continued to type, smiling at Matthew pleasantly.

“Just a million fires to put out, but I’m sure you can relate.”

“I’ll say,” Matthew muttered. “I just wanted to check in with how you’re feeling today?”

“I’m fine, just a little sore in the throat and operation scars.” She settled back on her bed. “I heard I gave you a scare last night?”

Matthew hesitated but Mrs Turner smiled.

“I might be a lawyer, but I’m not going to sue you for being honest.”

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Matthew admitted, shame-faced. “We’re lucky the nurses are so good at what they do.”

Mrs Turner grew sympathetic.

“You’ll be alright, Dr Valentine. I might not be a doctor, but I am the senior partner of a highly respected law firm. I know what it’s like to have a million things to do and only two hands.”

Matthew hesitated for a second before closing the door and crossing the room to her bedside.

“How do you do it?”

“Delegation. I have a great team behind me and I’m damned good at telling them what to do.” She looked surprised. “Didn’t your doctor bosses tell you that?”

“They tell us all the time to ask for help, but how do you stay calm enough to know what to do? Last night…it was like there was a traffic jam in my brain.”

“Well I just close my eyes, breathe, and count to three.”

Matthew blinked. It seemed…extremely underwhelming. It couldn’t possibly be that simple.

“That’s it?” he asked. Mrs Turner laughed.

“Well it works for me and I pay a life coach two grand an hour for crap like that, so consider it a bargain.” She winked at him. “Try it sometime.”

Later that night, Matthew lugged a keg on his shoulder all the way back to his apartment and found the place completely rammed with people. Interns, residents, attendings…even a few patients. It was amazing how many people could fit into the small space.

“Matthew!” Ines gave him a hug, a drink in her hand that sloshed down Matthew’s back. “Thanks so much for the invite!”

“That’s OK….er, hi Dr Mirani, glad you could make it!” Matthew said as Zaid strolled over.

“This is really great, Valentine. I’m loving this party,” he said, even raising his cup to Matthew as he passed. Matthew couldn’t work out whether he was being sarcastic as he struggled over to the table where he unceremoniously dumped the keg. He looked up to see Bryce, watching him with a big smile.

“Thanks for your help, Bryce!”

“Ah, you were doing a great job!”

Matthew laughed as he ducked into his bedroom and changed into one of his better shirts before rejoining the party. Bryce presented him with a beer and Jackie waved him over to the coffee table where she poured him a Sambuca shot. Matthew downed it, following with a mouthful of beer. Bryce whooped.

“You sure you want to mix those right away?”

“I’ve missed two hours of this party after sixteen hours at work. I’ll drink whatever the hell I like!”

“Hey guys!” Sienna had just joined them, pulling at the hand of a young man. “This is Wayne!”

Wayne had thick, shaggy hair and square glasses/ He looked around with an unimpressed air and, despite the fact he was the same height as Jackie and shorter than Bryce and Matthew, Matthew had the distinct impression he was looking down on them.

“Hey Wayne!” Landry and Elijah had just come over. “We were hoping you could join us for a movie night last weekend.”

Wayne snorted and straightened the knot on his tie.

“I don’t have time to come all the way over here to just hang out, or whatever. I have a very important job.”

Landry looked surprised, as did Bryce. Jackie pursed her lips whilst Sienna fiddled with the end of her braid.

“What is it you do?” Matthew asked. He wanted to keep the peace but was genuinely curious to know what was so important that Wayne couldn’t cut loose for a few hours.

“I’m the lead developer at a software company.”

“Oh yeah, super important,” Jackie said, glaring at Wayne, who puffed up.

“Well it is. No one in the company could do my job but any one of you interns can do Sienna’s job when she’s not there.”

“Wow, you’re a real piece of—”

“Is there any food at this thing?” Wayne practically turned his back on Jackie to look at Sienna, who plastered on a smile.

“Sure, come see the kitchen!”

Sienna led Wayne away, casting an apologetic look back at her friends. Bryce gave a low whistle.

“Quiet Bryce,” Matthew said. Bryce spluttered.

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“I’m gonna need another drink,” Jackie growled. “And now I owe Landry twenty bucks.” She grabbed a liquor bottle from the coffee table and took several swigs.

“Why? What did you do?”

“Jackie wanted to bet that Wayne didn’t exist,” Landry said, triumphant.

Despite the unpleasantness, Matthew was determined to have as much fun as possible. He drank a variety of liquors as he danced and chatted with his colleagues. It was interesting seeing everyone outside of work. Women who usually scraped their hair into a bun now had long flowing locks. Eyebags were covered up, and people who were constantly stressed and snappy were the life and soul of the party. An intern with shoulder length black hair suddenly caught Matthew in a dance. As they twirled together, Matthew spotted Zaid laughing uproariously. It was uncanny.

After his dance, Matthew joined Elijah and Bryce in beer pong. Bryce grabbed another surgical intern – Rosa – and it was a showdown between medical and surgical. Bryce had a good aim and Rosa had apparently been a beer pong champion…but medical came out victorious. Matthew caught Elijah into a clumsy victory hug and they attempted a complicated handshake. Bryce laughed when it fell apart. Apparently handshakes required more thought than ‘hoping the other person could read your mind’.

“Drunk rounds, Matthew?” Jackie called to him. She was sat at the coffee table, which now held a large jug of a very dark drink. Landry and the intern Matthew had danced with sat beside her. Matthew settled beside the other intern – the drink smelled extremely potent – and she smiled at him.

“I’m Meg, by the way. I think I forgot to mention that earlier!”

“Matthew.”

“Landry’s feeling himself because no one’s made him drink yet,” Meg giggled.

“And they never will!” Landry gloated. “Matthew, your turn. Name the five most common causes of post-operative fever!”

This was known as ‘the five Ws’ and was almost too easy.

“Wind, water, wound, walking aaaaand wonder drugs!”

“That was a softball!” Jackie howled. “Your turn to ask.”

An idea flicked through Matthew’s brain as a slow smile spread across his face.

“OK, your majesty, King Olsen. I’ve got one for you…what was the name of your patient in room 1157 today?”

“Wait, what?” Landry’s smug expression was replaced with pure panic. Jackie and Meg shared an excited look. Even a crowd of onlookers had started to gather.

“But…but…that’s not a medical question!” Landry floundered, glancing round the room for help.

“It’s at the hospital, it counts!” Meg insisted.

“It was…er…it was…oh god…”

“Drink, Landry!” Matthew commanded and, to the cheers of everyone watching, Landry forced the jug of liquor down his throat.

A little while later, Matthew poked his head out of the front door of the apartment – somehow there were even more people in the hallway – when he saw Sienna looking glum. She tried to perk up when she saw him.

“Hey Matthew!” She glanced around. “Is your paramedic friend here tonight?”

“No. I wanted to invite him but I haven’t seen him since the game.” It was a shame Matthew hadn’t thought to get his number before he’d left the helicopter.

“Oh.” Sienna looked disappointed and Matthew felt the same, but then she nudged him. “We’ll throw another party and you can invite him to that one.”

“That could work,” Matthew chuckled. “What about you? Where’s Wayne?”

“Oh, he had to leave. He starts work early tomorrow.”

Matthew frowned and Sienna spoke with a touch of desperation.

“He’s been really stressed out recently, you just didn’t meet him on the best day. He gets tired easily…parties aren’t really his scene.”

Matthew wanted to tell Sienna what he really thought, that she deserved much better than someone so dismissive and stuck-up and who appeared the exact opposite Sienna had described. But she was looking up at him, searching for his approval and his words died. Instead he wrapped an arm around her and squeezed.

“I think some more people arrived when you were showing him round. And Landry lost drunk rounds just now so he might not be in the best shape.”

“Oh dear,” Sienna sniggered. “I’ll do my hostess rounds and make sure everyone’s OK.”

She seemed genuinely cheered as she slipped back into the apartment. Matthew leaned against the wall, his mind wandering. He had hoped word of mouth had reached the paramedics and Rafael would show up, but that didn’t appear to be the case. He couldn’t help wondering what it would be like if Rafael was there. He could properly introduce him to his friends, show him round the apartment. Perhaps they could continue to share their conversation from the helicopter…maybe finally share that drink…

A squeal and the sound of glass breaking caught Matthew’s attention and brought him back to reality as Elijah rolled past.

“Hey Elijah…don’t you think this party’s getting out of hand?”

“Farley said we’re good until midnight.”

“It’s 11:58.”

“WHAT?!”

“Guys, it’s midnight!” Landry stumbled over, still a little pale and shaky from the aftermath of drunk rounds. Jackie followed him. “Why’s everyone still here?”

“Landry, I told you to relax. The apartment’s not going to turn into a pumpkin.”

“But if a neighbour complains it’ll turn into not-our-apartment. We’ll get kicked out!”

Sienna came barrelling over, looking frantic.

“I’ve just seen Farley coming over! Someone must have complained!”

“I hate snitches!” Jackie steamed.

Delegation…I’m damned good at telling them what to do…

“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Matthew said, with an authority they had never heard before and made them all stop and stare. “Jackie, round up everyone in the hallway and get them inside. Elijah, turn down the music. Landry, break out the board games. Sienna, placate everyone with the treats we’ve got left. OK?”

“Sir, yes Sir!” Elijah cried, snapping a salute as they jumped into action.

By the time Farley was knocking on the door, the apartment was calm. A few guests had scattered as soon as they heard the word ‘landlord’ but the ones who had stayed were playing some of the board and card games Landry had passed around. Others were congregated in groups enjoying civilised conversation. Matthew opened the door to see Farley looking annoyed, and then baffled when he heard nothing but gentle indie music.

“What the hell is going on?” he demanded. “Mrs Edelstein just called me with a noise complaint. I was in the middle of Aliens Among Us.”

“We’ve still got a few friends over but the music’s been quiet since midnight,” Matthew fudged. “We didn’t think it would be heard but we can turn it off completely. Sorry if we’re still causing trouble.”

Farley blinked at Matthew’s openness, then shook his head.

“Mrs Edelstein’s such a damn whiner! Carry on, I’m going back to my show.”

“Enjoy, Farley! Thanks for stopping by!” Matthew said cheerfully, before closing the door and turning back to the sea of expectant faces. “You heard the man, carry on!”

The atmosphere relaxed as the guests resumed their boardgames. Matthew poured himself a glass of water and joined Jackie and a couple of others for Simpsons Monopoly. Landry had gone to bed.

It was an hour later when everyone started saying their goodbyes, hugging them and offering congratulations on a successful party. Matthew glanced around the living room: it was completely trashed with food wrappers, cups, cans and bottles all over the place…and he didn’t even care. From the look of satisfaction on Elijah’s face, he seemed to feel the same. They looked at each other and seemed to share a silent understanding: the clean-up was tomorrow’s problem.

“Quick thinking with Farley earlier,” Jackie said, clapping his back as she passed. “More of that and you’ll be top ten in no time.”

Matthew smiled, but he had just noticed Bryce tossing empty cups into a recycling bag and went to land a hand.

“Thanks Matthew.”

“Dude, you’re the one staying late to clean up after our party!”

Matthew hugged Bryce goodbye and then headed for his room, but not before he noticed Sienna and Danny on the couch. They were talking eagerly about books they had read when they were kids. Sienna’s expression was so uplifted, you never would have believed that she had been up for nearly twenty-four hours. Matthew, however, felt every minute of it.

He woke up a couple of later feeling just a little bit tender. He could hear the sound of someone – probably Landry – throwing up in the bathroom.

Matthew stumbled into the living room where Elijah was pouring a cup of coffee. He looked exhausted but grinned at Matthew and poured him a cup.

“The place is still a mess,” Matthew groaned, slumping at the dining table.

“Nope. Tomorrow’s problem.” Elijah nodded towards the sofa. “And look who stayed the night.”

Matthew glanced over to see Sienna and Danny fast asleep, curled up round each other. Her head was on his shoulder. It was picture-perfect really.

“That’s…actually pretty adorable.”

Eventually the six of them stumbled out the door – Sienna and Danny trying not to look to awkward, Landry popping painkillers – and made their way to work. It was only a few hours later when Matthew was paged by Danny himself: Mrs Turner was crashing again.

“Just like last time!” Danny groaned. “Body temp crashing, she’s in A-Fib, BP crashing, and she’s got a pulmonary edema!”

“Oh no…”

“Doctor, what do you want us to do?”

The team of nurses were looking at him frantically. There was no way he could let them bail him out a second time.

“I want to breathe…” Matthew groaned. He could only imagine failing again and Ramsey booting him out the door.

Except…it didn’t have to be that way.

Matthew closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath and counted to three before releasing it. When he opened his eyes, despite the chaos he knew exactly what to do.

“Sarah, prep the IV, she needs fluids. Marlene, get the ice packs and cool her down so she doesn’t get heatstroke. Danny, get the defibrillator and then we’ll intubate.”

“On it!”

“Right away, Dr Valentine!”

Matthew’s team worked efficiently, cooling Mrs Turner and stabilising her heart and breathing. She would be fine. She would be just fine. Matthew couldn’t help smiling.

“Thanks team!”

“Good work yourself, Doctor!” Marlene smiled at him. “You did it!”

Matthew was still grinning as he walked down the hall later still, when he came across Dr Ramsey who was carrying a file.

“Rookie. I heard you kept Mrs Turner alive.” He gave a rare smile. “Sounds like quite the litany of emergencies. Good work.”

“Thanks, Dr Ramsey!”

As Dr Ramsey turned to go, a CT scan fell out of his file. Matthew picked it up and handed it back, but not before seeing the name on the file: Patient X. Ramsey just took the scan with a mumbled ‘thanks’ before hurrying away. Something just didn’t quite add up.

Still, Matthew didn’t dwell on it too much, focusing on his patients instead, and was pleasantly surprised when he came up ranking tenth place in the next published rankings. Landry was thrilled to have moved up to fifth, Elijah was thirteenth and Sienna was seventeenth. Jackie was eleventh. She went quiet when she saw it and then stalked away before anyone could say anything. However, Matthew was more worried about Sienna who admitted that Dr Ramsey had caught her crying in a store cupboard. When he asked her about it, she only shrugged it off.

They resumed talking about the rankings over lunch: Landry and Jackie were fuming that Aurora still held top spot.

“Maybe we should get some one-on-one time with Dr Ramsey,” Sienna suggested. “Does he have office hours?”

“I don’t know if he even has time for interns right now. He seems really wrapped up in some secret case,” Matthew said, suddenly remembering.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw one of his files last week that had the name patient X. He seemed really distracted by it, and I’ve seen him hanging around the construction area more than once too.”

“Patient X sounds bad-ass. Maybe it’s a cutting-edge new treatment?” Elijah said.

“Maybe we could help him with it!”

“Um, I really don’t want to get on Dr Ramsey’s bad side by prying into his business,” Landry gasped.

“C’mon Landry,” Elijah coaxed. “You must want to know what he’s working on.”

“With every fibre of my being, but I have self-control,” Landry said, primly.

Jackie had been quiet throughout the meal, barely glancing at Matthew. He had to hurry to catch her before she left the cafeteria.

“Jackie…hey, wait!”

She turned to look at him, simply raising her eyebrows. Matthew gulped.

“Are you…mad at me for something? If I’ve done anything to upset you…”

“Jesus, Matthew,” Jackie snorted. “Don’t be such a martyr.”

“You’ve been ignoring me all day. I just want to know why.”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at myself, OK?” Jackie told him, suddenly. “I came to Edenbrook to be the best, and right now I’m not. I can’t be distracted now.”

“What do you mean by distraction?”

But Jackie ignored him and walked away. Matthew watched her go, unhappily. What was distracting her and why did it make her take it out on him when she still seemed OK with Elijah, Sienna and Landry? He remembered their first day when they had made out in the closet…but they had already agreed it was just some casual fun and neither of them had mentioned it again, so what could be bugging Jackie?

He tried to forget about it as he worked on his patients. A young man with a surfing affinity had a wonderful philosophy that it was pointless to worry about what you couldn’t control. Matthew agreed but it was impossible to change his mindset just like that. On the positive side, the surfer’s bronchial infection had cleared up. He would be free to go soon, Matthew just wanted to run a quick test on a rash that had appeared on his leg.

This was followed with some unexpected entertainment when he and Bryce caught Dr Ramsey heading towards the construction area and Bryce flirted with Zaid and Ines to distract them, allowing Matthew to follow Ramsey. The baffled look on Dr Mirani’s face was priceless, but Ramsey caught Matthew before he could find out anything useful. Matthew played dumb and even got a coffee recommendation out of Dr Ramsey: the café round the corner – Derry Roasters, which Ethan ‘didn’t hate’ – served a good espresso Romana.

Matthew was just wrapping up for the day when he heard his voice.

“Matthew!”

Rafael was walking towards him, his smile wide, the warmth in his eyes soothing any lingering concerns of the day. Matthew was glad to see him.

“Hey Rafael!”

“I was hoping to see you around again,” Rafael admitted, making Matthew’s stomach flutter.

“Me too. Made any heroic rescues today?”

Rafael chuckled.

“I’m not sure what counts as heroic…but everyone got the help they needed. Is your shift over?”

“Just about,” Matthew said, as Danny jogged over.

“Sorry to interrupt, Dr Valentine, but I have the results from your patient’s biopsy.”

“Right! Remy’s tests…thanks Danny.”

Matthew accepted the chart gratefully and scanned over the results with a sigh of relief.

“Good news?” Rafael asked, and Matthew nodded.

“Panniculitis…stems from his infection, that’ll clear up soon…” He turned the page and his face fell. “Oh no…”

“What?” Rafael asked, gently.

Matthew indicated for Rafael to walk with him down the corridor and into the elevator. As the doors slid shut he turned to Rafael.

“He has the markers for genetic muscular dystrophy. It’s late onset but someday, years from now, he could lose the ability to walk.”

“Oh geez…” Rafael looked sympathetic.

“Surfing’s his life. This will devastate him. And it’s all because I was curious about something he didn’t care about,” Matthew lamented as the elevator slowed and the doors opened. He paused as they stepped into the hallway.

“But…it won’t come on for another twenty years almost. I could just…not tell him and let him enjoy his life.” Matthew bit his lip, turning to Rafael as if he had the answers.

Rafael rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I haven’t been in your shoes but as a paramedic I have seen a lot of heavy things and had to comfort a lot of bereaved folks. But sometimes the truth does more damage than good.” He spoke cautiously. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Matthew murmured.

They stopped at a door where Rafael got a glimpse at the young man with floppy blonde hair casually playing on a ukulele. Matthew took a deep breath and turned to him.

“Would you mind waiting for me out here?”

“Of course I don’t mind.”

Matthew managed a grateful smile before heading into the patient’s room. Rafael gave him a supportive nod as he looked over his shoulder, then he leaned against the wall next to the door, waiting.

The room was quiet for a minute – just the indistinguishable hum of voices – until a sudden shout made Rafael jump. He heard the soft hum of Matthew’s voice, and then something hit the floor with a thud. The patient shouted that Matthew had ruined his life and needed to leave.

Rafael straightened up as Matthew stumbled out the door, looking pained.

“Are you alright?” Rafael asked gently.

Matthew pushed his hand through his hair.

“I really don’t know if I’ve done the right thing.”

Rafael put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and led him away from the patient’s room.

“You have to trust your gut, and yours said to tell the truth.”

Matthew nodded, but as he glanced behind him he didn’t look entirely convinced.

“How about I help you take your mind off this?” Rafael offered. “Let’s go get something to eat. I can take you somewhere you’ve never been before. The tour of Boston continues.”

He smiled. Matthew couldn’t help smiling back.

“…I would love that.”

Matthew got changed quickly and met up with Rafael in the atrium. He was excited, despite the difficult news with his patient; he had been hopeful to see him again soon.

Rafael took them on the T for a few stops before getting off and walking through the back streets. Matthew plagued Rafael with questions about where they were going and made him laugh.

“OK, OK, hang on a few more seconds, we’re almost there…”

They rounded a corner and came across a bustling night market, decorated with lanterns and colourful hangings, filled with a huge mix of people.

“It’s a bit of a melting pot,” Rafael said. “But it has the best street food you’ll ever find in Boston.”

He led Matthew through the market slowly, allowing him time to look around and take it all in, until they came to a group of various food vans: Indian, hot dogs, giant pizza slices, freshly made pasta, all kinds of worldly cuisine.

“What do you fancy?”

“I’m not sure…” Matthew looked around, spoilt for choice, but then saw a sign that looked interesting.

“How about ‘the best jerk chicken in Boston’?”

“My personal favourite!”

“Seriously?” Matthew smirked. “You’re not just saying that to impress me, are you?”

“No, I really mean it!” Rafael’s eyes were bright as he led Matthew to the counter, warmly greeting the woman behind it. She beamed at the two of them.

“Who’s your friend, Raf?”

“This is Matthew. He just moved to Boston to work at the hospital,” Rafael said, proudly. Matthew greeted the woman cheerfully.

“Just moved here, huh?” She said to him. “Well Matthew, stick with Raf and you’ll soon know all the best places to visit in Boston, better than what the guidebooks might tell you. And make sure you come here for food, you won’t find better. Trust me!”

“I will,” Matthew laughed.

The woman took their orders and brought said she’d bring it over. Rafael led Matthew to a small table under the lanterns. The evening was pleasantly warm and people cheerfully greeted Rafael as they passed.

“How many people do you know around here?” Matthew asked.

“Quite a few, I guess. I like using these markets, and a lot of these people live around my neighbourhood.” Even as he spoke, Rafael was nodding and smiling at the people who passed them.

Matthew’s eyes continued to roam around. Amongst the tightly-packed stalls, the canvas covers stretched overhead and the lanterns giving off a soft, ethereal light, he felt like he was far away from Boston. He could have been anywhere. The market was its own world.

“I love it,” he said, and Rafael glanced over at him. “You’ve got a real community here.”

“I love it too,” Rafael said. “Community is one of the most important things in my life.”

It was easy to picture Rafael being a figure in his community, carrying on his uncle’s legacy. The way people had been greeting him made it impossible to imagine anything else.

The woman brought their food over – steaming jerk chicken on a bed of fluffy rice and vegetables. They thanked her and as she left they both fell silent, focusing on their food.

It was one of the best things Matthew had tasted. Tender chicken flavours exploded like a firework in his mouth, gently cooled by the soft rice. From his sigh of contentment, Rafael was enjoying it too.

“This is exactly what I needed after today,” Matthew said as he stretched in his seat.

“I’m a strong believer in comfort food,” Rafael said emphatically. “So, what about you?”

“About me what?”

“Do you prefer community or your own space?”

“Oh! Well…” Matthew thought about it and frowned. “I used to very much keep to myself. When I was studying I was devoted to it, but I didn’t have any long-lasting friends. Don’t get me wrong,” he added. “I was invited out for birthday drinks or post-exam celebrations, but I wouldn’t just drop studying when someone suggested we hit the bar.” He sighed and looked at Rafael. “I didn’t expect to meet such a good group of friends so quick when I moved here…now that I have, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Besides,” he added. “Now that I know places like this are here, I want to visit more often! Have you seen the foods?”

Rafael laughed. “I know exactly what you mean about the foods,” He said. “Though I have to say, it’s surprising you were so introverted.”

“I wanted to do better on the social front when I graduated and realised I had no strong feelings about staying in touch with anyone,” Matthew admitted. “Good thing too, or I wouldn’t have made it through my first week.”

“Give yourself some credit, Matthew.”

The statement came out of nowhere, taking Matthew by surprise. He glanced away for a second, not knowing what to say. Luckily another employee came by to clear their plates and wish them a goodnight.

“Can I walk you home?” Rafael asked.

“I would like that.”

They took their time again as they went back through the market. A stall selling animal paintings caught Matthew’s attention but the vendor was wrapping up for the night.

“Would you, y’know, be able to bring me back here sometime?”

“Absolutely! There’s so many hidden gems if you know where to look.”

They kept up their conversation all the way home, a little talk about work, a lot of talk about life in Boston. Matthew wanted to tell Rafael about Casey…but it was hard, and there was a time and a place.

“This is me,” he said wistfully as they reached his apartment building. He couldn’t help wishing the walk was longer.

“So, did it work?” Rafael asked as they came to a stop. “Do you feel better?”

“I do,” Matthew said. “I’m really glad I ran into you tonight.”

“I start early tomorrow, so I guess I should say goodnight.” Rafael sounded like he didn’t want the night to end either.

Matthew looked up at him. His brown eyes twinkled and his lips looked so soft. Rafael slowly leaned in…until a cry down the street made them both jump. They looked over to see a small child had tripped over. Disappointment struck Matthew’s chest.

“Do you think he’s alright?” Rafael asked. The small boy’s father helped him up and brushed him down before giving him a cuddle. Within minutes, the boy was skipping alongside him again.

“He’ll be fine,” Matthew nodded, relaxing. “You’re off the clock tonight, Superman.”

“Superman.” Rafael shook his head. “That blew up out of nowhere. I don’t get it, I’m just a regular guy.”

Regular guys didn’t tend to run into burning buildings. Matthew gulped. “In all seriousness…please be safe. I’d hate for you to get hurt…” he trailed off, not wanting to think about it. Rafael squeezed his arm.

“I’ll do my best.” Then he looked a little nervous. “Matthew…could I have your number?”

“Oh, sure!”

They exchanged numbers and said good bye – Rafael promising to text Matthew when he got home – and Matthew opened his front door into his quiet apartment. He had a small smile on his face.

So they had almost kissed, but not quite. It was disappointing, but Matthew was hoping the chance would come again soon. He absently brushed his fingers over where Rafael had squeezed his arm and his smile got wider. Wandering into his bedroom, he grabbed his laptop and flopped onto his bed to check his emails.

He was just starting an email to Holly – he wanted to tell her about Rafael and the night market – when Sienna knocked on his door and poked her head round.

“How did it go?”

“What?”

“You and Rafael.” She came in and sat beside him on the bed. “I a few feet behind you and you looked all intimate, so I took a diversion round the block.” She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“Nothing happened.”

“But you want it to.”

Matthew groaned. “Yeees I want to.” He glared at her. “And maybe he wants to as well.”

Sienna smiled in delight as she nudged up to him. “If you both want it to, it will happen. Trust me!”

Later that night, Matthew was sat in the living room, doodling in his sketchbook: a bustling market scene. He was waiting for Elijah, who had suggested they all watch Battlestar Galactica after hearing no one else had seen it.

“What are you drawing?” he asked as he rolled into the living room.

“Just doodling.” Matthew showed him the drawing.

“Damn! If that’s doodling, I wanna see a masterpiece!” Elijah rolled to the TV. “Would you ever do commissions?”

“Maybe. It just depends if I have the time.”

Sienna trotted into the living room and placed a tin of cookies on the coffee table before settling on the couch. Landry had also joined them.

“Is Jackie coming out too?” he asked.

“I asked her and she said she was studying. Then she closed the door in my face.” Matthew scowled as he remembered. “Apparently, being friends with me is distracting. I wish we’d never joined this stupid competition.”

“Hey, don’t lose sleep over it. We’re only a month into the year. The rankings will change and she’ll get over it,” Elijah reassured him.

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Sienna asked.

“Nah, don’t worry, I’ll deal with it somehow. Right now I just want to relax.” He smiled a little. Med-school Matthew would be proud of his socialising.

“Alright my friends! Prepare to be blown away!” Elijah announced dramatically, as he set up the TV show.

Matthew wasn’t usually a sci-fi person, but the show seemed promising, with good characters and an interesting premise. It did start out slow, but started to pick up and Elijah promised another viewing party soon to finish the series. Matthew went to bed with a smile on his face.

The smile was gone the next morning when he went to check on his dystrophy patient.

“How are you feeling today, Remy?”

Last night had been lovely, but Matthew hadn’t forgotten the look on Remy’s face as Matthew had explained that one day he may lose the ability to walk and, once he did, would likely never surf again, with no cure for the condition. Remy now looked up at him with tired eyes and Matthew braced himself for another onslaught.

“Like an ass.” Matthew blinked. Remy looked uncomfortable. “I’m really sorry for what I said last night, about you ruining my life.”

“No, don’t apologise. What I told you would have been difficult for anyone to hear,” Matthew said, crossing the room to Remy’s side.

“I was thinking about it all last night…most people don’t know how long they’ve got, but now I do. I know I’ve got a good twenty years left in me so I’m going to appreciate them down to every last wave.” Determination crossed his face. “When the disease hits, I’ll know I used my time properly.”

“That’s…a poetic way of looking at it.” Remy’s acceptance filled the room with peace. Remy looked at the ukulele that was on his bedside table…and held it out to Matthew.

“Remy…I can’t take this…”

“It was, like, five bucks,” Remy dismissed. He looked at Matthew and Matthew was taken aback by the pure gratitude in his eyes. “Please. It’s an apology, and a thank you. For giving me my twenty years.”

Matthew’s hand shook slightly as he accepted the ukulele.

“I’ll keep it safe for you,” he promised.

Matthew put the ukulele in his locker, then had to take a second to blow his nose. He expected to give bad news, but Remy’s new outlook on life, and his kind gesture, he was unprepared for. It was elating to know he had done that for someone. No matter the outlook, he could make a positive difference in people’s lives. It was where he should be and that wasn’t going to change.

He still felt uplifted as he walked through the hospital and passed the construction area, where a definite gut feeling stopped him in his tracks. If no one knew about Patient X…and Dr Ramsey had been lurking around here a lot…

Matthew glanced around to make sure no one was watching before nervously ducking under the construction tape and edging around the building materials. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, or even why the construction had anything to do with it. He was sure he was being paranoid…except that there was a light on behind the window blinds up ahead.

Matthew gulped and edged closer, angling himself to get a better view.

It was Dr Banerji. He lay in a bed, dressed in a hospital gown and looking almost unbearably weak and frail. His eyes were only half-open behind his glasses. Matthew could see an IV in his hand and a dialysis machine, and something else too…

Dr Ramsey was there, looking right at him.

“…Shit!”

Matthew jumped back from the window, almost tripping over his own feet to get away but it was pointless. He heard the door being yanked open behind him and cringed. He was in so much trouble. He shouldn’t have come down this way. Why couldn’t he just mind his own business?

“Rookie, don’t move another step!”

“Dr Ramsey…I’m so sorry…I didn’t…”

“Matthew.”

Dr Ramsey put his hands on Matthew’s shoulders, but didn’t seem angry. He looked very, very grave. This close, Matthew could see the bags under his eyes and how thick his stubble had grown.

“Listen to me,” Ramsey commanded. Matthew couldn’t look away. “You cannot tell anyone what you’ve seen here. Do you understand?”

Matthew swallowed. He had stumbled on something bigger than he had imagined, much bigger than just the two of them.

“I understand,” he said. “But…didn’t Dr Banerji retire? What’s going on?”

“He…”

Ethan hesitated. His face paled and he was gripping Matthew’s shoulders as if to keep himself upright.

“He’s dying. Dr Banerji is dying.”

[kizzer55555]

Fenton Ghost Portal Science

This is my attempt at the science behind the Fenton Ghost Portal. And it was all started when I tried to make a fanfic where Danny would have to build the portal from scratch. Because my brain cannot let something rest as a character doing something just because he can. No, I have to go into excruciating detail on how this could possibly make sense. What is required to build the portal and why these things are necessary. Which means I have to figure out how the portal works in order to build it. Often involving actual science and research. Then going back and translating that into a way that not only doesn’t use the words and phrases I just looked up because they would just confuse my audience (the neutron degeneracy pressure will repulse gravitational collapse so long as the mass of neutron is below 3 Msun) but also makes sense in a way to people who aren’t me.

The portal is a mix of technology and chemicals. There are multiple small reactors making a circle around the portal and all are powered by a massive amount of electricity (some electricity was produced by an outside source and others were produced by inside machines creating friction). These reactors scattered around the entrance to the machine produce 5 separate forces. Each core force can manipulate the air as a concentration of them passes through, doing so twist the air in a different direction. Having one force twist the air can produce a certain powerful effect (such as the speed force, a burst of energy, gravity manipulation and more) but having all of them twist the air at the same time and in different directions basically creates a hole between the fabric of space and time. It’s like taking a piece of paper and twisting each end in a different direction until it tears. The machine around the actual portal is a complex system of wires, heating  and cooling to make sure the reactors don’t explode, a filtrator to suck in access ectoplasm that’s leaks from the newly opened hole (many of the first samples of portals leaked this ectoplasm into the world, blocking the actual portal. It’s that stuff that hit Vlad and created the ecto acne. Basically ectoplasm mixed with diet cola.) and protective lining to make sure the energy released from the ectoplasm doesn’t affect the machine itself while also safely containing it. The wires also power the machine and reactors. They must be activated at the same time. The portal also has a tunnel section. The air can't just twist, it must be directed at an angle. Warped all in one direction (like a spiral) to create an entrance people can walk through rather than just a leak between worlds. All allowing for transport between dimensions. The surrounding portal is then designed to hold in the ectoplasmic reaction and funnel the leak of ecto energy/ectoplasm into the filter. The air twists in an almost spiral shape. 

Danny’s parents studied natural portals and realized the five types of energy naturally found in this dimension along with all dimensions. They are basically like a different version of the light spectrum. The 4th wall. Or 4D. It’s like how humans are only aware of a certain spectrum of colors vs what actually exists. After the Fentons discovered these mysterious forces, they studied how they interacted. (One of these energies is the speed force). They basically recreated the speed force experiment but with 5 different energy sources. When these energys converge in equal amounts at equal velocities is when the portal to what is deemed the ‘ghost zone’ opens. Some energies are speed force, others are magic related. This is why time travel is possible using the speed force and magic. They can tap into these energies. The machine also requires certain chemicals to power some of the reactors and flow into them. Luckily, these chemicals only really are needed to create the reaction that creates the portal but once it’s open, the rest of the machine is designed to keep it open. There are sensors within to monitor the fluctuation of energies but as long as the core reactors are powered, they give enough energy to maintain the portal. It’s always open due to this. Which is why the portal has doors to close it. Because it cannot actually be turned off. At least not without the huge amount of energy and chemicals. Basically, the tunnel acts like a vortex or black hole that keeps sucking at where the five core reactors produced that first burst of energy. They tapped into the energy already in the mortal plane. And the vortex just keeps sucking them to keep pulling from that original energy source with very little effort from the core reactors. It acts kinda like a black hole. 

(The Fenton might even label each unknown energy source and Danny either looks up proper names for them (like speed force) or goes by the Fenton names which could be something like E Force or Fenton Force, Maddie Force, or something like that. Anyways, this is only the scientific version (and it might be in a place filled with enough ectoplasm. The five forces combined only make a weak spot between the veil and the living realm. There must be ectoplasm to connect to the ghost zone. Like a magnet. They chose Amity because of this but Gotham would also work. Not to mention a literal ghost lair. It’s possible to just tap into the energy between the ghost zone directly using magic. This is what Wulf and sorcerers use. The ghost zone itself is ectoplasm which is like a sixth force. It is made up of all the forces combined. Kinda like combining 5 formulas to create one new chemical. There is a different ratio of these five forces in every dimension. Scientifically, they can open a portal to other dimensions by figuring out the perfect ratio that corresponds to each one. (But then they would have to rework the portal). For magic users, they unknowingly tap into the pure state of ectoplasm that leaks into the world. This is produced by emotion and will which is why they can will their magic to do what they want. And also why Wulf is much better at it. He has a strong will and his claws connect to the ectoplasm in the realms. It’s also why other ghosts can make portals too. Their connection with ectoplasm directly plus their own power allows this. For everyone else, it’s harder. Magic users take multiple steps and use a variety of combinations and mystic items to enhance their connection to the zone/ectoplasm plus enhance their own will. Jack and Maddie discovered the theoretical idea of natural portals (unable to see them or just tracking where they opened up) and then discovered the various forces. 

From there, they studied how to recreate the phenomenon they were sensing in their devices to create the portal. Their studies started out as just trying to prove the existence of ghosts. They built things to track them because everything that exists must give off some kind of signature like humans give off heat or electricity in their brain signals. Even pure energy can be tracked. Once they figured out what could be tracked (labeled ectoplasm), they created better tracking equipment which is how they found the surges of ectoplasm followed often by multiple new ecto signals before the large signal disappeared. This was now known as natural portals. And if there are natural portals, it’s possible to make normal ones too right? This led to the study and discovery of what created these natural portals and the discovery of the five different energies/forces beyond things like the electromagnetic force, the strong force, the weak force, and the force of gravity. Also the speed force. (Yes, Danny’s parents did figure out how to do the experiment that gave the flash powers on accident. They just didn’t care because ghosts and portal). As for the black hole. Black holes are formed when a star collapses (Danny might actually have accidentally helped his parents with their research with his space obsession) and when a star collapses in on itself, which creates a lot of mass packed in a small amount of volume which thus creates a vacuum. An incredibly strong pull. The back of the machine in the tunnel mimics that by creating an artificial black hole and then containing it by making a contracting gravitational field around the outside of the machine. This way the pull is only directed towards the back. The sucking motion pulls each force created by each reactor into a central spot at the end of the spiral they are shaped into, thus perfectly combining them at a single point and this then creates the portal. 

The continuous sucking motion of the infinite black hole then keeps the portal open. (Yes, the Fentons also created an artificial black hole but were more curious about the ghosts). There is a lot to include in the machine. Rings layered in the tunnel to create a controlled gravitational field. (Multiple rings to make various layers to produce the force and mass necessary to make said black hole.), another device to then compress that artificial mass/gravity. The wires connecting to the 5 reactors producing the necessary force along with the chemicals necessary to charge electricity through in order to tap into some of those forces (one of these reactors is literally a mini particle accelerator). The tubes collecting the excess ectoplasm leaking from the new ghost zone opening to contain it in a separate filter. The power required to open the portal and keep it open Although once it’s open, again, it creates a repeat cycle of the events and the energy produced by the artificial black hole is something known as Hawking radiation. Black holes are not infinite, the mass compresses but the scientific law is that neither mass nor energy can be created or destroyed. So when the mass is being compressed to the point where it has nowhere to go, it is converted into what is known as Hawking radiation. This is a powerful energy which the Fenton portal then absorbs and converts into the energy source powering the 5 different core reactors instead of drawing on an outside source. These reactors then keep powering the forces used to open the portal. And then the ectoplasm leaking from the new portal opening contributes to the mass of the black hole (with any extra sent to the filtrator). Thus, the mass never runs out and the cycle repeats in an infinite loop. 

This is how the portal continues to stay open. The Fentons had some success making mini portals but they never stayed open for long. This cycle is also why this is the only permanent portal vs natural portals as they eventually fade over time as the ratio between the 5 forces fluctuates and thus, seals the opening between realms. With the constant maintenance between the power and ratio, the Fenton portal remains open unless another factor interrupts it (like a buildup of ectoplasm). This destabilizes the portal, disrupting the delicate balance of the cycle, thus causing everything to overload and explode. 

[msfbgraves]

Does Terry think Daniel deserved his treatment of him that night where he raped him or? Does he think it’s okay and Daniel is making a big deal over what was nothing more than a hard fuck?

Disclaimer: as Terry has come to realise himself, his behaviour that night was inexcusable and "he's not that man anymore."

Well then: who is that man? What changed?

Imagine you're Terry Silver. You're an Alpha in a world that writes that word with a capital letter (and beta and omega look like this). You have gone through life taking what you want, by either smarts or violence. And then you took on a Don with an organisation several sizes too large for you, but you struck him at his weakest because you're smart like that, and you emerge with an alliance and an omega, at your age, and you feckin love that little brat, you have your first pup before the year is out because you're just that good. You're top fucking dog, literally, because not three months after the first you have him with pup again, so even there you're doing everything right, you're just that awesome. You're even a good boss with a very loyal crew and your sister, through your mechanations, is a Duchess. A Duchess! Through her, you're directly blood related to the 1% that would have spat on you coming up. You are an Alpha among Alphas.

Ah, but then.

Those Italians seem to think they're better than you. Even your boy has an attitude on him, and that's cute on him, but his siblings, especially that beta. He can't feckin get them to do what they ought to, which is what Terry Silver wants. All the little compromises they force him to make, the parallel loyalties going on. They're so tightly knit. He can't always put his finger on it, how they work. It's not his world. He's jealous. And that beta resists him, and is hard to play. But he, Terry, he won, didn't he, in even getting here? Why isn't he treated with the respect he's feckin entitled to? How does that Italian read him so well? That's his trick. Are they conspiring against him? Is his mate feeding his beta brother information? Who do any of them think they are? That boy is supposed to be a prize, a sacrifice to his power, and if he can't own the brother, he will own their beloved little family princeling. Because that boy is his and he'll show them... He took him before and he'll take him now, it's his feckin right! (He feels a bit muddled and amped up and ready to punch someone at this point but luckily sex is instinct, not reason, and lust and rage make a very potent cocktail.)

And he's firing on so many cilinders when he fucks, he's pure sensation, a raging conqueror, he's so fucking high. This could be heat sex, it's so intense. There's an edge of fear around it, but Terry Silver should be feared. And when he's fucked it all out he straight up drops, maybe even passes out.

Wakes up feeling like shit. Where's Daniel? Danny always makes things better...

And then he finds him clutching Robby, reaching out to Gianni in his little cot, and bodily on him, his three eldest loves, in full on protective mode, and that is when the first Alpha instinct pierces him ...

This is very bad. If anyone else had put his Danny in such a state, he'd be burning down the town to find them and bash their skulls in right now.

But there's nobody else. It can only have been him.

And there's rationalisations galore to be had in the aftermath of this. He might want to convince himself that this was a harder fuck than usual, no big deal. But right now, he's still mostly running on feral mode, which he knew he chose to let get the better of him, the way he usually only does when fighting an enemy. No mercy.

But this Danny. It's his mate.

And he fucked up and he knows. In his gut. Even the pups know.

This is bad.

That moment when he fucked him? He didn't care what Daniel thought because he wasn't thinking of him at all. And now, deep at night, his brain is not online enough to lie to himself about what is right in front of him - his omega in acute distress.

And this isn't the whole story, he'll tell himself a host of things in the coming days but it doesn't take away the horror of what he can see and feel is his own, terrible, fault.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Children of the Dark: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.1k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: So sorry I keep forgetting to post. I’ve been so busy at work, I try to keep up with the schedule I’ve outlined. I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

You, Emily, and JJ enter the hospital since you thought it was a good idea to bring the women along. The survivor, Carrie, might open up if there are all women around. Men attacked her, so you want to do everything you can to make her feel comfortable.

"She's lucky to be alive," her doctor says. "The injection went into the soft tissue of the arm and missed the vein."

"That's a first. This guy doesn't miss."

"We have to think about the possibility that he didn't miss."

"Like I said, she's lucky."

"Is she awake?"

"She's in and out. Keep in mind she's suffering the effects of an acute barbiturate overdose. She's drowsy and confused."

"Can we see her?"

"Sure."

The doctor takes you to her room where Carrie is. She has an empty look on her face, but when she sees you three, she tries to look more lively. She may not remember what happened fully, but she looks like a strong girl.

"Hi Carrie. My name is Y/N, and they are Emily and JJ. Do you mind if we talk to you about what happened?"

All she does is shake her head. You take a seat at the edge of her bed, but you don't touch her.

"Just tell us whatever you can. Anything that you can think of."

"I went to get a bag... but when I got back, there were two of them."

"What did the other one look like?"

"Heavier... Hispanic... Quiet. He never looked straight ahead."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, a few times, I felt him staring at me. When I looked up, he always looked away."

"He was avoiding eye contact," you say to your coworkers.

"Then my dad came in from the study, and they jumped him. They made Danny call for my mom, and they tied them up. Then one of them went over, got the thing from the fireplace, he started hitting them with it. And they made us watch."

She is starting to get emotional about this, which is understandable.

"Okay, you know what? We can take a break," JJ says, but Carrie stops her immediately.

"No. You need this, right?" Like you said earlier, she is a strong girl. "After a while, the quiet one took Danny away, and the other one just started going through drawers, looking for stuff. I ran."

She explains that the quiet one took a family picture of her when she was younger right before she left. She didn't want to leave her brother, but she was going to die if she stayed there. She is going to have survivor's guilt, and that is something you wish you could prevent her from feeling.

Carrie isn't up for many questions after that, but luckily, you got enough to paint a vivid picture. You head back to the station to see what the other half of the team found out. Hotch, Derek, and Spencer went to talk to the witnesses, and you're eager to hear what they have to say.

"A witness says these unsubs are using cats. We should find out where they might be getting them," Hotch says.

"There's plenty of strays out there. Nobody would notice if a few went missing," Derek shrugs. "Or they could work someplace where they had access to animals."

"It could overlap with the pentobarbital--research labs and veterinary hospitals," Spencer nods.

"I'll get Garcia to make up a list for it."

"Casrrie told us that the unsubs referred to each other as brothers," you say.

"It's not uncommon for duos to be related. The Hillside Stranglers were cousins. The Carr brothers perpetrated the Wichita massacre."

"Yeah, but these two are of different races, and Carrie said the hispanic one did not speak Spanish, which makes me think that he was raised in a white household. Maybe they're half brothers."

"What if they're adopted? Family destruction plays a role in the crimes. It could be a reflection of their own broken home," Spencer asks.

"Could be in a foster home," you shrug.

"This guy expressed affection for Carrie. We know he took her photograph. We could use that. If we release news of her survival, it might draw him out." Emily scrunches her face up, and Hotch notices that. "Not comfortable with that?"

"Not so much uncomfortable but worried. I'd be more comfortable if we doubled her security."

"Go back to the hospital and see to it."

Only Emily and JJ go to the hospital this time while you hang back at the station. You and Spencer are inside the conference room while he is putting up the new evidence on the bulletin board.

"How are you doing in the hotel?" Spencer asks.

"I miss my bed," you chuckle. "I didn't really stay in hotels ground up since my family owned a farm with plenty of room, but I never really liked hotels. They're too organized and perfect. I've been staying there for a couple of weeks now, and I can already tell they want me out. My landlord voided the rest of my lease. I'm just glad I worked out a deal with work that they'll take something out of every paycheck to help pay for the hotel room."

"I'm sorry that happened. You're always welcome at my place."

"I know, I just don't know when I'll find a new place. I had a good deal on my apartment. All these places are super expensive even for a studio. I'll figure it out."

Spencer has that same look on him as he did back in the briefing room before you left for Denver. You want to question it, but the rest of the team filters in. Emily is back while JJ stays at the hospital. Carrie got cleared, but her entire family was murdered. JJ tried to get in contact with her family in California, but no such luck. Ever since the news aired about a survivor, people have been sending flowers to Carrie's room. Emily noticed that the placement of the flowers were the exact same as in the Ortiz' house when they were murdered.

Emily is talking with Penelope now to see if she can track the flower delivery, even if the lead is dead.

"What did you find out, Reid?" Derek asks.

"This is the Laybourne house where we believe our unsubs graduated from robbery to murder."

"Did you find a trigger?"

"Not until I looked at the daughter's autopsy reports. Check out the bruises on her torso." The bruises on her torso looks like someone had beaten her, but the bruises don't look fresh. They look old, as if someone inside the family was beating her. "She was beaten, but not by the unsubs. The coroner noted those bruises were several days old. It turns out she'd been to the emergency room three times in less than two years. The DS had even been notified."

"So, the Laybournes' were abusing their daughter. Where's this going?" Hotch asks.

"One of the unsubs decimates parental figures, but we know the statistics there. It's... It's likely he was abused himself."

"So, you're saying the unsub recognized the signs of abuse, flew into a rage, and killed the parents?" you ask.

"Anger displacement. He's getting revenge for his own childhood abuse."

"So, you think what, the victims were beating their kids?" Nellis wonders.

"No, the Laybourne case was just the trigger, but now they see all parents the same."

"That doesn't explain the kids."

"Maybe it does," you speak up. "Think of the family annihilators John List and Mark Barton. They thought they were saving their kids by killing them."

"But what is he saving them from?" Nellis wonders.

"Life without their parents, without love, life like his. They're orphans. What if they both grew up in a third-party household? Like a foster home."

"Didn't Carrie describe an aversion to eye contact?" Hotch asks you, and you nod.

"Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Often seen in kids who grew up in foster homes."

"Guys, I think we may have found our girl's secret admirer," Emily says, walking into the room. "The flowers were paid by phone with a credit card under the name Robert Serrano."

You knew from the minute you got to the Serrano house that everyone inside was dead. Their energies spill onto the street, but the thing you notice the most is the presence of the two unsub's energies. The quiet one is kind of scared and unsure about what he does, but the other one is angrier than ever.

You walk into the house feeling sad because of what happened, but also enraged that these monsters struck again.

"The flowers weren't the only thing they bought on that stolen credit card. Thirty-one dollars worth of gas at a station three blocks from here," Derek reads from the credit card statements.

"Hey, Paul. See if you can pull the security camera footage from the gas station. ID that car."

"You got it," Paul nods, leaving the group to do what was asked of him.

"The security chain has been broken. They couldn't lie their way in this time," Hotch notices.

"The media blew their MO. Everyone is on alert now that they know what's going on. They're speeding up because they feel us getting close."

"This is close?" Nellis asks you.

Your phone rings before you get a chance to answer him, and you see that it's Penelope calling you. You answer it and put her on speakerphone so Nellis can hear.

"What's up, Pen?"

"I got a match of felons in the Denver area with foster backgrounds, stressed on assaults and burglaries. I had to cross reference it with offenders having access to small animals and pentobarbital. I got a hit of nine names, and I just sent them over."

"Now we're close," you say to Nellis after hanging up.

The only way you're going to narrow the nine names down to the one you're looking for is if Carrie is here to identify them. She is the only one who can do this, even if Emily hates the idea. She's been taking a liking to the young girl, kind of like a mother figure that Carrie lost. You're not sure what will happen if Carrie's family in California doesn't answer, but you have a feeling Emily is going to be the one to step in.

You already dealt with having a child, you don't think you can do it again. You look over at Spencer and smile to yourself. At least... not now.

Instead of bringing everyone in and alarming one half of the killing duo, Hotch printed out the pictures and laid them out so when Carrie looks at them, she can easily point out to the one who did this to her. Nellis got the car's ID from the gas station's CCTV cameras, but only a partial plate was able to be seen. When Carrie came into the police station, she easily pointed out the person who did this to her.

Ervin Robles. Last known address is 39 Hill Street. He is also employed at the Denver City Pound.

Emily and JJ stayed with Carrie at the station while Derek and Spencer went to Robles' house. You and Hotch headed to the City Pound in hopes he's at one of the places. The owner or manager of the pound is in the back cleaning out one of the cages using an industrial power cleaner.

"Excuse me, sir. I'm agent Hotchner with the FBI. This is agent Y/N. We're looking for Ervin Robles."

"Ervin's off till the weekend."

"Do you have any idea where we might find him?"

"You might want to try his apartment."

"Our other agents are there right now. He's not there," you say. "Where do you send his checks?"

"He picks them up. What's this about?"

"We'd just like to talk to him," Hotch says without alarming the older man. "Who can we talk to that actually knows him?"

"Well, nobody, really. He comes in, does his job, and leaves. Real quiet. Efficient, though."

"What does he do here?" you ask.

"His actual title is animal care technician, but he's kind of the on-site Kevorkian."

Ervin is supposed to be taking care of the animals, but instead, he's been euthanizing the animals. It's how he has access to pentobarbital.

"We need you to call him."

The manager does as he's told, but Ervin didn't answer the phone. Instead, he leaves a voicemail for Ervin asking him to come into work. While you wait, you get a message that Derek and Spencer are back from Ervin's place. You and Hotch excuse yourself, heading to the front of the property where the two men are.

"The supervisor left a message for Ervin to come in right away. Work emergency. He also said a man stopped by yesterday, got into a heated argument with Ervin. The description sounded a lot like the one Carrie gave."

"Did he say what Ervin and his partner were fighting about?"

"He couldn't hear it."

"We need a name on this guy," Spencer sighs.

"Well, until we find Ervin, there's only one person that can tell us that."

"The foster mom."

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[thelastspeecher]

In Accidental Abduction, how did Stan take to becoming a parent for the first and second time? Him wondering how a his babies will turn out.

Tbh, Stan at first probably isn't completely sure that he'll be able to have kids with Angie. Sure, Angie herself is part-human, but part of him still thinks it isn't possible. But they're able to conceive without any issues.

Stan is simultaneously really excited and scared shitless the first time Angie is pregnant. He's settled in on the planet enough to consider it his home and become part of the society and culture, but he still feels like an outsider at times. Not only does he look completely different, but he needs some accommodation for his height basically everywhere. He doesn't want his kids to experience that. The kids do wind up being short for the planet, but not nearly as short as Stan. Their final heights are shorter than average, not child-sized like Stan.

Related, Stan is worried that they'll have only one kid, which is difficult in a society where having a twin is a central aspect of the culture. Luckily, it's twins each time.

Yeah, in general, Stan has no clue what his kids will look like. He sorta expects them to look more alien than human. Angie's mom is half-human and looks full alien, after all. So he's surprised (but pleased) by the number of human features Danny and Daisy have.

By the time he and Angie have Emily and Emmett, Stan's not as stressed or worried. He feels like he can handle it. They've done this once before. He does hope that the kids have a bit more of his features. And then his prayers are answered when Emmett looks just like a human, something that astounds everyone.

In terms of taking to parenting, there's a steep learning curve for both Stan and Angie. They come from different cultures with different parenting styles, so they have to do a lot of discussion and compromise. Which isn't something that Stan really excels at. But he does it for his kids. Once the two of them figure out how they want to parent, Stan settles in pretty well. He loves being a dad.

He also loves the incredibly generous paid parental leave packages both he and Angie get from their jobs.

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

➖ Mature content, 18+ ➖ check the trigger tags each time ➖      

Chapter 3 - Sparks. Episode 2.

Sparkle: It was after dark, and I was starting to get pretty drunk. We had all danced, eaten dinner, danced some more, and snow cones had been eaten plenty. Daniel and Gizmo had right before dark decided to skinny dip… well, that means Daniel had decided the naked part… Gizmo had kept his swim pants on… luckily. And soon after Clover had joined them. Naked too. Don't get me wrong… Gizmo has a nice body… skinny, but nice… but… I kinda see him as a brother… blood related family and all. I just don't wanna see him naked! Like ever! Evan and Andy had kept mostly to themselves, I had a few times snuck up on them, snatching a couple of ultra cute pics of them, as they were just being Andy and Evan, lost in each other. But now as the darkness had fallen, and Andy had already had a fair share of alcohol, he started joining the party more. And even Evan seemed to come more out from his hiding corner. finding his way to the alcohol and snow cones as well. The mood over all was growing, and after eating the delicious birthday cake Congo had single handedly made for me, we were all ready for more dancing, more alcohol, more fun! Pretty soon I found Daniel in his usual high mood, flirting with everything baring a pulse. And he soon enough made his way to me as well, after failing landing both Clover and Gizmo.

Daniel: He snuck up on me from behind, grabbing my waist tight and pressed a half boner against my butt, kissing the side of my neck a few times

Sparkle: DAN! I squeaked loudly like a high pitched mouse

Daniel: Chuckled deeply Mmm.. I miss you…

Sparkle: I blushed bright in my whole face as I desperately wiggled myself free of his grip Daniel! I frowned at him and spoke in a lowered slightly annoyed voice

Daniel: He looked around a bit confused, then frowned softly oh yeah…

Sparkle: Yeah… *I chuckled softly and shook my head. But we can dance *I nodded at the dancefloor and smiled softly*

Daniel: He grabbed my hand without hesitating and dragged me to the dancefloor, smiling cheekily as the upbeat music suddenly changed to a slow dance. So now the music is wrong too?

Sparkle: *I looked around a bit, but as no one seemed to pay too much attention to anything any longer, I didn't protest as he once again placed his hands on my waist line and started dancing to the slow tune. I gave in, and wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling softly as I started moving too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlhIIuifSw&list=PLixuBkBFIAJnx83gIorsEhfnKAjWxrFjo&index=110 I have to admit, for a while I forgot all about everyone else around us. Daniels arms were strong, muscular. The color changing disco lights above us made the light sweaty chest of his glint and glitter in all the colors of the rainbow. It sometimes dawns on me, that Daniel is actually really beautiful. If you put him in the right light so to speak. And here I'm not talking about disco lights. If you look at him with the right eyes, the right mind. He is obviously good looking. He has a nice face, a fucking great body… not to mention a fucking big dick, probably even bigger than Sirius, which was so far my biggest. Not that I have a lot to compare with, as I have only been with A, Sirius, Andy and Daniel. But, what I'm trying to say is… under his at times random and all over the place behavior… he's a great guy. Actually quite a catch. So why am I not feeling anything. Don't get me wrong, its not like I have no feelings at all. I mean, I care about him, a lot… I love him deeply, for the person he is. But, why am not falling for him? We have obvious chemistry, and we fuck like bunnies for weeks now. I love having him around my house, and miss him when I wake up alone. But there is no butterflies… I'm just not falling? Am I dead inside? Come to think of it, I haven't had a single crush since Sirius… There was Danny, who kept asking me out. I kept refusing. Although he was a very sweet, very handsome guy, and definitely my type. And when I finally gave in and went on a date with him. Nothing. Just nothing? I looked at Daniel with a soft confused smile.

Daniel: He smiled softly and lowered his head to my ear and spoke in a lowered voice You okay birthday girl?

Sparkle: I chuckled softly and nodded I'm perfect… thank you…

Gizmo: Suddenly came dancing in from the side, nodding at me with a small smile Hey bro!… uh… may I take over here?

Sparkle: I chuckled softly sure…. you wanna dance with me or Dan?

Gizmo: Kept dancing and chuckled softly That's up to you guys… I just have to break this up… the walls are starting to grow eyes… he casually nodded his head in the direction of Andy further down in the garden, his eyes planted stiff on me and Daniel as he was sipping a beer

Sparkle: I cleared my throat and quickly turned towards Gizmo, sighing relieved as the music once again turned more upbeat, and my self dedicated birthday song came on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjVNlG5cZyQ Quickly the rest of the gang gathered on the dance floor. Daniel Dancing with Clover, Andy dancing with Congo. Evan was hopefully somewhere where he could relax a bit. Most likely in his hiding corner again I hoped. We danced for what felt like hours, and when we weren't dancing, we were either drinking, eating snow cones or goofing around, taking funny pictures. It wasn't until late night I noticed Andy had started dancing more and more on his own. And here I am talking about the fact that Andy is a very skilled dancer. He dances exactly like in the movie step up. You know, the one with Channing Tatum. I bit my lips by the thought. Andy had often been compared with Channing. Same flawless face, similar facial features… same body type… same humor… same personality, only Andy is a chaotic version of Chan…. and same cheeky ass grin and laughter. I was dancing with Clover, observing Andy, so when a song from Step Up happened to start on the stereo, I saw it as a sign and teamed up with Andy, trying my best to copy the moves he showed me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqbYj01Grag He laughed warmly every time I made a mistake, and within the first minute of the song, we had the most fun we had had together in years! I had really missed his company. Just being near him and his energy. Andy is that kind of person, when he is really happy and free, he lights up the whole room. Making everyone smile. I always loved him deeply. And he would always be 'the one who got away'. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for him. Really, I am. He is doing so much better in life after he got Congo. The two of them, the love they share, the mating bond, how can that not be the best thing ever to happen for him? And Evan only adds to it in a very positive way. The three of them… Ace… the love and respect they all share for each other. I wouldn't wanna ruin that even if I could. So I set him free.

Andy: Suddenly he grabbed my waist, lifted me up, and kissed me!! He fucking kissed me!!! And it was more than just a peck on the lips…. there were no tongue… but I definitely felt a slight suck in his kiss… like he was really tasting my lips. It was a real kiss! But it happened so fast I could barely get to react and kiss back, before my feet once again landed on the floor

Congo: Chuckled softly and handed both Andy and I a glass of champagne Cheers kids!

Andy: Smiled lovingly at his husband and sipped half of his champagne in one go Thanks my love! I got so thirsty from all that dancing!

Congo: Nodded at me Yeah… I saw that… trying to steal Sparkle's mouth water… tsh tsh…

Andy: Chuckled softly Sorry about that…. he leaned forwards and planted a soft kiss on Congo's lips

Congo: He smiled warmly at Andy and stroked one of his cheeks gently It's alright my angel…. you have green light tonight, whatever you wanna do… I just had a conversation with Evan… we both know we have neglected you a bit this past week, so if you feel like doing anything within this garden, just go for it, okay? he smiled bright at me and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead I'm gonna return to Evan and keep him company a bit… you kids have fun.

Sparkle: I blushed brightly and sighed relieved as Gizmo yelled for me to come help him with the keg stand, as beer foam seemed to clog it up. Had Congo just basically told Andy to have sex with me? My stomach was burning, from fear, desire? I can't tell, but I just wanted to escape! So I quickly made my way towards Gizmo

----------Congo's view----------

Congo: I returned to my spot next to Evan on the grass, he sighed softly and smiled apologizing. I shook my head gently, speaking to him in a warm soothing voice Evan, don't start again. Please. I already told you I am more than okay to keep you company, in fact you are kinda my escape goat tonight, and I thank you for that. There is only so much dance music I can take before I feel my brain is melting… and over here, the music is not so loud. I chuckled warmly and laid down next to him on my back, looking up at the stars

Evan: He sighed softly I shouldn't have come here tonight. I mean… my mood… I just don't wanna ruin Sparkle's birthday.

Congo: Trust me I turned my head and smiled softly at him, even if he didn't look at me by now, they have more or less forgotten you're even here.

Evan: Sighed softly Maybe that's for the better anyway?

Congo: I frowned deep

Evan: He must have sensed, cause he turned his head fast Sorry… I realize I just sounded like suicidal Andy, that's not how I meant for it to come out. He frowned softly and returned his eyes to the stars I just feel I'm not good enough for him these days. This is the first time we have really been out since we were at the beach. Everything just became sorta weird after that day. He doesn't wanna make love any longer, he just want hardcore fucking. He cries sometimes, in the bathroom. I hear him, I just don't go to him, and I feel I'm letting him down. I'm just so filled up with my own sadness. I just don't know where to put it all. Or how to carry his on top of my own. it's not that I don't want to or don't care. It's that I care too much.

Congo: I observed him for a few seconds, his face looked defeated and sad, I had no idea what to say to make him feel any better. But I knew I had to try something. So I returned my face to the stars, as if they had the answer, and contemplated my words for a while.

----------Evan's point of view------------

Evan: It had been 5 minutes since I last spoke, and Congo still hadn't said a word. Did I hurt him in any way with my words? Had I said something wrong? Just as I started worrying a little too much for my own good… he grabbed my hand. Embracing it with his own big, warm palm. And I have to admit, it felt nice.

Congo: Evan… His voice was warmer and even lower than before, almost whispering you have to first off take care of yourself, and your needs. If you don't do that, you can't take care of Andy either. He understands that. He paused for a while, then his thumb slowly started caressing my hand, as he started speaking in the same tone The crying in the toilet I honestly don't know what to do about. But I will pass it on to George. We are way out of our leagues here. Andy… he wants to be a dad so bad, it is getting to his head. George will have to talk with him, maybe he can convince him to adopt when we can. Let's hope. As long as we don't lose hope…. and as long as we keep working together he squeezed my hand gently, and I couldn't help but squeeze back in a silent agreement

Evan: I sighed deeply Look at him… is he hitting on Gizmo? That can't end well…

Congo: Chuckled warmly Don't be so sure Evan… Gizmo is one of the most tolerant people I know.

[jordie-gvf]

i think i may have mentioned having anemia in a period ask i sent in one time. if i didn’t, i have anemia so unfortunately getting lightheaded is a very prominent part of my life. i am bringing this to you because i want to your additional ideas. how do you think danny would react to you getting light headed and falling over? he would be so worried but sweet. i think he would help me stand back up SLOWLY and probably get me water. definitely not asking because i took a tumble today…

please mama!! feed my daydreams!!!

-🐛

luckily for you, i do have low blood sugar, so i can relate. i will get this started for you very quickly!

[doveriathegoddess]

Attacks of L.O.V.E (Part 1)

Today I’m going to give the lore on the attacks of the villain group L.O.V.E and the details of how they planned the attack, how they carried out the attack, and the aftermath of their attack. 

1st attack: NSR Tower and the Stealing of the Grand Qwasa

As talked about in my previous post Motivations of L.O.V.E, Burning Constellation were the ones who launched the first attack which resulted in the creation of L.O.V.E. Orion/Black Cat was the one who suggested that the band take revenge of Titanium for banning them from performing, and after some discussion Mason/Vulture, Sonya Fyra/Hobgoblin, and Danny/Morbius agree to Orion’s idea and start planning their attack. A week later when the NSR Tower is closed for some remodeling taking place, Orion hacks into one of the many satellites belonging to her OFA branch and sends it down towards the NSR Tower. Since there was no warning, the entirety of Vinyl City could only watch in horror as the satellite crashed into the NSR Tower and destroyed it completely. Before it was destroyed, Orion, now Black Cat snuck into the NSR Tower and stole Kul Fyra’s Guitar along with a few other NSR related assets which would be useful for their later attacks. 

Later Black Cat hacks the screens of all technology throughout Vinyl City, and broadcasts a message with Burning Constellation claiming responsibility for the attack. While the message is being played, a horde of bats belong to Danny now Morbius swarm Festival Plaza and send the civilians there into a panic. The bats then carry the Grand Qwasa off the ground and fly away with it as everyone watches in horror. Luckily the backup generators kick in to keep Vinyl City running with power, but this act committed by Burning Constellation is enough for Titanium Qwartz herself to call in the Spider Heroes of Nueva York and the Psychonauts for help.

2nd attack: Vandelay Campus/Vandelay Technologies

About 2 weeks after the attack on the NSR Tower, the completed L.O.V.E group begins to plan their next attack to show that they’re not messing around. After debating on the location for an hour or two, the villains decide to target Vandelay Technologies and steal all of their assets so CAL, now Ultron, can use his powers to influence the technology and robots of Vandelay to amass his army to boost L.O.V.E’s strength. Black Cat sends Ultron, Loki (Henrick), and Madame Hydra (Rosie) to infiltrate the island where Vandelay Campus is so they can launch their attack. Ultron disables the security system without any problems and shuts off the power for a few minutes so that Loki and Madame Hydra can quickly get in and kidnap Roxanne Vandelay along with CNMN as L.O.V.E’s chosen hostages. Despite the efforts of Chai, Macaron, Peppermint, and Korsica to try to stop them, the power comes back on and Ultron has taken control of all the robots, which they charge at the 4 making them retreat off the island, along with all the other residents. 

With Vandelay Campus now completely taken over by L.O.V.E and with Roxanne as their hostage along with CNMN under Ultron’s control, the whole world is in shock. Madame Hydra is the one put in charge of keeping Roxanne locked up in a comfortable cell being guarded by her loyal Hydra soldiers. Meanwhile Ultron has made CNMN his second in command and general of the amassed robot army, before he puts some of the robots to work in creating a human like robot form for him so he can have a proper body outside a floating tablet. Black Cat then sends a message to the NSR Artists, the Spider Heroes, and the Psychonauts showing that L.O.V.E has Roxanne hostage and has taken complete control of Vandelay Campus. As for the Grand Qwasa that was stolen earlier, the villains decide to put it in a protective area of the campus, where it can also work as a power source while being guarded by Ultron’s robots and Madame Hydra’s soldiers as well. 

Meanwhile Chai and friends manage to get to Nueva York and tell Miguel what happened at Vandelay Campus. This of course gets him to get in contact with Titanium, who agrees to meet with him and the group so they can discuss a plan of action.

So far L.O.V.E has established their base of operations, has a hostage, and continues to amass their own armies to strengthen their power. What will NSR, the Spiders, the Psychonauts and now Chai and his friends do to stop them?

[biglisbonnews]

Sound Off: 10 New Songs You Need to Hear Now It's impossible to be across all the new music out each Friday. Luckily, PAPER is here to help you out: each week, we round up 10 of our favorite new songs from artists — emerging and established — to soundtrack your life. From the surreal to the sublime, these songs cover every corner of the music world. The only criteria: they all have to absolutely rip.Lana Del Rey — "Fishtail" For my money, this is one of the best – if not the best – cut from Lana Del Rey’s sublime ninth album Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Although it has the hazed-out, psychedelic tenor of an Ultraviolence cut, its alienation is ratcheted up with washes of acidic, fragmented autotune – a cannily destabilizing production choice. NEW YORK — "night n day" This extremely ungoogleable duo is one of my favorite new acts to have emerged last year – don’t sleep on their debut album No Sleep Til NY – and “night n day” retains the disorienting atmosphere of that record: It sounds like your sleep paralysis demon dressed up in its most glittery club outfit and decided to have a night on the town. BIA and Timbaland — "I'M THAT BITCH" Although drill isn’t BIA’s main mode, she sounds great over this sleek, sinewy drill beat, proving just how far she can expand her aesthetic horizons without losing a sense of her identity.Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro — "BESO" Aside from the very splashy real-life metanarrative of this song – Rauw and Rosalía announced their engagement in the song’s video – this is a gorgeously romantic opener to the pair’s sublime new joint EP RR.Shygirl and Björk — "Woe (I See It From Your Side)" Björk totally makes this Shygirl track her own, retaining the song’s breathy, industrial atmosphere while ratcheting up the song’s tension and alienesque cast. Related | Shygirl Discovers Her Ultimate Fantasy on 'Nymph'Mega Bog — "Love Is" Mega Bog, aka Erin Birgy, gets an assist from Westerman on this vast, skyward-looking synth-pop track, a song that places the inquisitive, wide-eyed Birgy firmly at the center of the dance floor. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown — "Steppa Pig" Although much of JPEGMafia and Danny Brown’s new collab album Scaring the Hoes is an abrasive, spectacular adrenaline rush, there’s also an intricacy and grandiosity to the production that shines through — "Steppa Pig" is a perfect example.Related | JPEGMAFIA Is Doing It All WrongDaft Punk with Todd Edwards — "The Writing of Fragments of Time" This cut from the new Random Access Memories 10th-anniversary box set is, like the immortal “Giorgio by Moroder," a song about the making of a song – a kind of documentary in the form of a sublime disco track.yunè pinku — "Sports" Another sleek, stylish heater from Yunè Pinku: “Sports” is as vaporous as it is embodied, somehow existing in two states of matter at once. It’s an ingratiating, sing-songy teaser for her new EP Babylon IX.Flo Milli with Monaleo and Gloss Up — "Bed Time" Emasculation-rap dream team Flo Milli and Monaleo reunite on this hard-as-nails new track that recalls 2000s classics. As ever, this track is a wealth of perfect one-liners — the "shout out to Santa" burn might be my favorite.Photo courtesy of Interscope Records https://www.papermag.com/sound-off-lana-del-rey-2659651605.html

[ectoamerican]

/// So, in Danny's human/living form, there are some specific tells that someone who isn't normal or average could use to figure out something isn't quite right with him. And a few that a keener eye or with better intellect/tools could notice.

Someone with extremely good hearing might not realize what it is that sounds off about him. But it is definitely the fact that you won't hear a heart beat from him. The blood still moves, but it isn't pumped by the heart. It is the small ghostly parts of his dna and biology that's seeped through to his living form that causes it to continue to circulate. Of course under analysis, his blood will also appear off because of this ectoplasm 'containment'. People unfamiliar with the substance will likely be confused. Danny knows his heart is no longer beating but is less aware of the change to his dna and blood. Either way, he is wary of hospitals and doctors. Another tell is his scent. For those that can identify others through how they smell, Danny's ghost form has a strange element to it. Not overwhelming, but clearly something wrong compared to the living.

It's something blood-like but not. Chemical like in smell. Vaguely similar to a morgue and laboratory.

His human form also retains this scent, although it isn't as strong and less noticeable among other elements of his unique scent. Most of which are drowned by the smell of whatever soaps and shampoos he's currently been using.

Danny will shower multiple times a day if given the chance to, but regardless of how recently he's cleaned himself up, that chemically scent is definitely always there and will make his living form seem to smell wrong.

The last tell I'll talk about here is, injury. While non-ghost hunting weapons can't even touch Danny in ghost form, the same is not true for his living form. His human form can't really feel pain from these injuries, but wounds can form and blood can spill.

No matter how severe though, these injuries are very temporary. Scrapes and bruises can be gone in the blink of an eye. Broken bones take a couple hours at most. This is because the ghost properties that fused to his DNA stitches everything back together as fast as possible.

Luckily Danny's never had to be reduced to a splat in human form (and hopefully never will), but he could come back from that as well. Although slower than if he were in ghost form.

Which, Phantom has been just a splatter of goo on the ground in ghost form before. He reformed seconds afterwards with no real side affects other than being kinda dazed.

Ghost hunting weapon injuries and ghost related damage are the only things that do cause Danny harm regardless of form. Damage sustained through these means will take much longer to recover from.

EDIT: Camera and recording equipment that aren't specifically designed for ghosts don't glitch out as badly while he's on screen in living form. But it will still have some strange blurring, smearing, and darken areas only around and on him.

When he's particularly emotional about something, strange things may happen around his human form as well. Such as temperatures in the room dropping dramatically. Or tech/lights nearby glitching and flickering.

If he's angry or distressed enough while eating and drinking, those around him might notice him accidentally taking bites out of cups and utensils regardless of the material. Maybe even swallowing them. Or any of these items falling right out of his hands despite seeming to have a firm grip on them.

Bite marks on these objects will be jagged, like they were made by a predator --like a shark. Despite his teeth seeming normal in living form.