#or like at least close enough to that that its basically that

[inadeqcies]

— THAT BOY IS A MONSTER ✘ ; a ricardo self para 

𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 | @redcreekfm !

a manila envelope sits plain and clear on your desk, your name printed in a neat scroll across the front, robotic even, devoid of any human touch. your curiosity about what lies inside will reveal a series of photographs featuring none other than daniela estrada, notably uniformed in the very clothes she wore the last time she was ever seen in red creek. closer inspection leads you to make out another figure - one bronte dubois, and she doesn’t look happy. in fact, neither girls do, their faces just clear enough you can make out what appears to be two people engaged in an argument, something that was never reported to the police. you can take the photos to the police yourself, or you can run with the exclusive story; the consequences of either path are unclear, but the choice is yours alone.

~ 𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙾 𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙸𝙰 , 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝟻 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝚄𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙿𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙴𝚂𝚃 .

ricardo  takes  brief  pause  at  the  envelope  on  his  office  desk  .  he  glances  around  his  closed  off  office  ,  but  nobody  else  has  made  their  way  into  the  register  yet  .  in  fact  it's  quite  unlike  ricardo  to  make  his  way  in  either  .  he's  been  in  ‘  his  office  ��  maybe  thrice  since  arriving  at  redcreek  .  he  can't  help  but  wander  how  long  this  envelope  has  been  sitting  here  for  .  days  ?  hours  ?  minutes  ?  did  someone  ,  somehow  ,  know  he  was  coming  in  before  he  even  did  ? 

distracted  ,  he  reaches  for  the  envelope  and  slides  his  metal  envelope  opener  expertly  under  it  .  ricardo  is  here  for  at  the  register  this  morning  for  one  reason  and  only  :   to  check  billing  and  find  out  who  he  can  fire  with  the  least  ramifications  .  the  register  is  making  him  barely  any  money  ,  which  is  ludicrous  because  the  town  is  basically  on  fire  .  despite  what  true  crime  podcasts  like  to  advertise  ,  nobody  gives  a  shit  about  murdercreek  . 

he  sighs  to  himself  and  reaches  over  to  his  laptop  to  unlock  it  .  it's  clean  and  crisp  ,  just  like  the  rest  of  his  office  .  BLATANTLY  UNUSED  ,  the  way  he  likes  to  be  seen  and  live  .  ricardo  almost  forgets  about  the  envelope  entirely  as  he  brings  up  payroll  and  gives  it  a  cursory  glance  .  there's  more  names  on  there  than  he  expected  which  means  he  has  extra  work  to  do  .  great  .  he  clicks  print  and  waits  for  the  flashy  ,  overly  expensive  new  printer  to  blink  to  life  . 

IT'S  THEN  THAT  HE  LOOKS  AT  WHAT  IS  INSIDE  THE  ENVELOPE  . 

he  immediately  pauses  .

it  takes  him  a  long  time  for  his  brain  to  click  into  gear  and  start  whirring  .  his  hands  move  deftly  over  the  glossy  photos  now  in  his  possession  .  he  recognises  one  person  in  it  immediately  because  he'd  recognise  them  everywhere  .  their  face  has  been  strewn  up  all  over  town  as  soon  as  he  arrived  :  daniela  estrada  . 

the  second  person  in  the  photo  .  .  .   ricardo  does  a  double  take  .  bronte  dubois  ? 

he's  seen  bronte  around  town  but  never  directly  spoken  to  her  .  yet  even  he�� knows  for  a  fact  that  there  has  NEVER  been  a  mention  of  bronte  and  daniela  talking  to  each  other  .  and  from  the  photos  ,  it  isn't  just  talking  either  .  their  faces  are  screwed  up  ,  hands  waving  .  daniela  looks  emotional  . 

THEY'RE  ARGUING  . 

ricardo  quickly  moves  to  the  envelope  and  flips  it  over  .  the  writing  on  the  front  had  surpassed  him  the  first  time  ,  and  when  he  looks  :   all  he  can  make  out  is  his  name  in  perfectly  non-descript  font  .  he  feels  his  heart  pick  up  its  beat  as  he  flips  it  over  again  ,  and  again  .  there's  nothing  else  on  it  . 

FINGERPRINTS  .  fuck  .   ricardo  drops  the  envelope  like  he's  been  burned  ,  then  looks  at  the  photos  again  .  he's  touched  the  edges  of  the  photos  ,  but  nothing  else  .  he  should  ,  and  could  ,  realistically  .  .  .  take  this  to  the  police  .

his  mind  flashes  to  daniela  in  the  photo  .  to  bronte  .  to  the  police  and  the  way  they'll  whisk  over  ,  bag  it  up  ,  and  leave  without  a  secondary  word  ,  besides  their  usual  bumbling  TOMFOOLERY  . 

his  heart  clenches  in  his  chest  .  it  moves  like  a  fist  ,  tensing  and  untensing  .  ricardo's  eyes  slide  over  to  daniela  in  the  photos  again  .  he  reaches  a  finger  up  ,  unable  to  stop  himself  ,  and  brushes  his  thumb  over  the  glossy  covering  of  her  .  she  was  here  .  she  was  here  .  and  now  she's  gone  . 

his  finger  moves  ,  slow  ,  steady  .  PURPOSEFUL  over  to  bronte's  face  .  he  hovers  and  scrutinises  her  face  .  he  can't  quite  recognise  the  expression  .  he  doesn't  know  her  well  enough  .  ricardo  doesn't  know  this  TOWN  well  enough  (  and  he's  worked  hard  to  keep  it  that  way  )  .  but  one  thing  is  clear  :  somebody  sent  him  this  on  purpose  .  somebody  saw  bronte  and  daniela  .  somebody  knows  this  is  meaningful  .

ricardo  leans  back  against  his  chair  ,  letting  the  photos  fall  onto  his  desk  .  he  evens  out  his  breathing  .  in  .  out  .  in  .  out  . 

his  eyes  move  to  his  phone  ,  right  next  to  his  laptop  .  the  printer  has  stopped  whirring  .  SILENCE  ENCOMPASSES  HIM  . 

the  police  will  want  this  information  .

 ricardo  picks  up  his  phone  and  the  time  blinks  back  at  him  :  5.45AM  .

this  information  is  important  .

a  click  .  a  slide  .  a  realisation  burrowing  its  way  into  his  brain  :  he's  the  only  person  who  can  decide  what  to  do  with  it  .  he's  the  only  person  who  knows  . 

ricardo  gazes  at  his  laptop  ,  at  the  open  payroll  .  THE  SINKING  SHIP  THAT  IS  THE  REGISTER  .  but  .  .  .  not  for  long  .  not  with  this   .

ricardo  moves  with  speed  then  .  enough  momentum  that  kennedy  and  effie  would  stare  at  him  aghast  ,  probably  .  he's  not  the  writer  or  the  reporter  that  either  of  them  are  ,  but  he  doesn't  care  .  first  print  goes  out  before  6am  and  he  has  15  minutes  to  make  it  happen  right  now  or  his  brain  tells  him  it  never  will  .

ricardo  opens  up  the  latest  copy  of  the  register   .  he  erases  whatever  junk  was  on  the  first  page  (  probably  some  stupid  fall  recipe  for  pumpkins  or  whatever  )  .  ricardo's  brain  swirls  ,  moves  like  a  hurricane  .  he  thinks  of  daniela  .  he  thinks  of  the  envelope  .  he  thinks  of  bronte  and  the  photos  .  there  is  a  crashing  noise  inside  of  his  ears  that  he  hasn't  heard  in  years  .

ricardo  uses  his  phone  to  scan  in  the  images  and  upload  them  .  then  ,  rather  hopelessly  ,  he  types  : 

WHY  WOULD  BRONTE  LIE  ?

new  photos  show  bronte  dubois  and  daniela  estrada  in  an  emotional  argument  .  the  police  have  not  reported  this  for  reasons  unknown  .   how  much  do  the  police  of  redcreek  really  know  about  what  happens  in  their  town  ?  how  many  bodies  have  to  pile  up  or  go  missing  before  sheriff  demetrius  and  his  dimwit  officers  do  anything  ? more  importantly  .  why  has  bronte  never  mentioned  anything  about  her  heated  ‘discussion’  (argument)  with  daniela  before  now?  is  this  an  innocent  fight  or  something  more  sinister  ?  if  the  police  or  bronte  are  part  of  this  coverup  and  crime  ,  the  register  will  always  report  whats  happening  to  its  faithful  residents  . at  the  register  ,  we  believe  in  honesty,  transparency  and  finding  out  what  is  really  happening  in  your  town.  we  will  follow  any  tips  ,  advice  ,  guidance  or  opinions  you  have  .  reach  out  to  us  today  if  you  wish  to  provide  more  real  news  about  what's  happening  in  your  town  and  don't  trust  the  sheriff  and  his  officers  to  do  right  by  you. anonymous  tips  can  be  sent   directly  to  ceo@theregister.com.

[deoidesign]

I met the me who made different choices

[potatobugz]

i feel as if im going mad so im going to just put this out here. real quick. movieunleashers starters ramble.

i cant stop thinking about how mudkip broke down in that one scene in "Typomaniac," when Chespin called him mean. for a second he lets his mask slip a little bit and to me he just... acts his age. he starts crying and calls chespin mean back. maybe im just hyperfocusing on this one detail but mudkip is about 12 years old.

and that just makes me wonder what happened in this guys life that brought him to where he is now. and it makes it all the more tragic how his whole world revolves around chespin, but he is the one bringing him the most pain. and how young he was when he died.

there is a large theme of growing up in "Rare Candy." the characters ages are emphasized in that particular episode, and one of the main conflicts is fennekin wanting to evolve faster.

the thing about characters in these stories is that they're not allowed to just be kids, to have a childhood. so many bad things happen to them. like. mudkips whole, Everything. fennekin when she was famous in typomaniac, or dealing with her own insecurities/pressure from society about her relationship w chespin. and chespin always having to shoulder his friends problems & always somehow managing to stay positive despite everything.

why cant they just. play video games. eat ice cream or something. go to the movies

at the end of the day, i think both mudkip and fennekin are characters who grew up too fast. by distancing himself from them, chespin refused to follow in their footsteps and just wanted to stay a kid.

good for him.

[laniidae-passerine]

catch me laughing in the club awkwardly because this season has a 19 year old blonde female companion from London, a space travelling left of law brunette queer boy who flirts heavily with the doctor, absolutely zero writers of colour and no mention of sensitivity readers…….and next season the new companion is a woman of colour. uh oh!

[francy-sketches]

I'm gonna have to work on my final project non stop for like a month straight bc I procrastinated on it too much fuck my stupid baka life

[thedrotter]

sweet sweet re:kinder community... I would like to ask y'all how you came upon the game and your experiences with it because i wanna know. im genuinely so curious to hear about other people's experiences and little opinions about this game because of how wild the game is (/pos) I'd love to hear it. do ramble to me about it

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[oopsallmabari]

still in shambles over all that remains even though this is not my first da2 playthrough but my 2 quick thots are

1) a much as I would love for jelani and leandra to have an actual conversation when leandra is (un)dying in her arms I subscribe to that being varric's authorial influence and a desire to protect his friend's real last moments with their last living parent (he was there so he knows all too well what happened). in reality jelani does talk to leandra and lament that she was too late but leandra doesn't respond, at least not verbally. personally i like it ambiguous as to whether leandra is still 'in there', experiencing the hell of being in a reanimated body that isn't all hers, or if leandra was gone well before hawke+co even stepped into the warehouse, before she could see jelani was going to save her.

2) I REALLY LIKE MAGIC THAT FLUCTUATES WITH EMOTION so once jelani realizes that leandra is truly gone and nothing merrill could do would save her the force mage tendencies come out. yes she has her friends with her (varric, merrill, and fenris are there) but she feels deeply alone and devastated by failing once again at what matters. she is untouchable, once the last bit of hope fades a wave of repulsive force comes with it, knocking her friends back and slowing them from coming near her when they try.

[rebellum]

To me the autism to autism communication thing seems very interestingly like cross cultural communication. Idk it reminds me of how while I love speaking to people from the middle east who moved/are visiting here, because they're SO FRIENDLY by canadian standards, if they're new here then they also often don't know about Canadian personal space bubbles, which are rather large by many cultures standards. Like they'll just stand like.. right there. Just in front of me. Speaking directly into my face. And to them I'm sure canadians seem rather standoffish and a little cold, like how Scandanavians seem to Canadians.

[heyitslapis]

its times like this when i really wish i had an SO's shoulder to cry on

Because I think i factrued/sprained my foot the other day it happened wednesday but its still pretty swollen and pops when i try to walk on it without hobbling. i know i signed up for health insurance through work. i wrote down the insurance company name as Bayside and I have my personal insurance id number but the card never came in/got lost in the mail (and i already called for one replacement that never came so idk if theyll send me a third) so i cant confirm the insurance name nor call them, but i need to because ive called/visited 5 health care facilities around me and NONE of them have even heard of Bayside. So im calling the phone number that my manager provided me with telling me that was the insurance company. I keep calling the number (and mind you ive called them before to try to get a second insurance card sent to me but that was in like April) and i get that its saturday but theres no answer and the stupid automated machine wont let me leave a voicemail. the automated answering voice on the phone also says that theyre called National Benefit Plans by SafetyNet and google says the phone number im using belongs to National Benefit Plans out in San Antonio Tx (i live no where near there). I found National Benefit Plans' website on SafetyNetPlus dot com but National Benefit Plans doesnt have their own website, just through SafetyNet, and also the SafetyNet website says on a side panel that "this is NOT insurance" and instead keeps saying "health benefits" instead so idk what the fuck ive been paying for for the last 6 months tbh and im having an emotional breakdown bc i dont want to fuck my foot up for life just cause i couldnt figure out my health insurance/benefits shit

[sharksliveontrains]

First race of the season in:

everybody wish me luck !

[deelovesbooks]

My uncle was sharing the fucking Facebook posts of "it's not happy holidays it's MERRY CHRISTMAS SHARE IF U AGREE" and the temptation to just rock up to family jesusmas and only say happy holidays this year is so so strong

[relativelyfvcked]

"basim isnt a warrior so be careful" is a funny way of saying "we didnt give a fuck about the combat so all of your controls feel unresponsive"

[i-like-writing-stuff]

the other five [ five hargreeves x reader ]

request: Hello! This is my first time desperately requesting a fic because the new season is SO bad 😭 Can you write a fic where the reader finds out about everything that happened between Five & Lila and then she gets taken away by one of the Fives at the deli and promising her that he’ll treat her better than OG Five (You can also add a part where OG Five finds out about this and lives to regret it)

a/n: AU where everything in that trash season was the same, except when five made the first jump in s1 he made it in his 32 yr old body bc i will not have y/n pull a zach justice (lmao)

even if lila did 😭😭

anyways basically everyone is the same age

i like to think of the five that comforts y/n as the five that explained everything to five in the last episode because that one literally felt like the five we were supposed to get, the five that was there all the first three seasons

sorry i cant stop trashing this season you guys 😭 i’m just so disappointed

summary: after breaking up with five, you make up with… well, five

part two

“Leave me alone, Five!” You yelled in despair, pushing the man before you away, “Actually, first take me back home, you psycho! I have nothing to say to you!”

“Y/N, please, just hear me out!” Five tried to reason with you, as if anything he would say could make your heart glue itself back.

You were standing in the subway station after Five had blinked himself and you away from the family- or what was left of it, watching him at loss of words. You didn’t recognize the man before your eyes, as much as you tried. You didn’t even have time to gather all your thoughts since there was yet another impending apocalypse on its way, so your mind was completely all over the place.

Five Hargreeves was not the same Five Hargreeves you fell in love with all those years ago. He was not the same man who had stolen your heart and made you feel like you were the most precious person in the world. He wasn’t your partner anymore, he wasn’t your lover. Your boyfriend wasn’t there. You looked at this person and there was a stranger, acting as if he was the same who had hugged you, held your hand, kissed you all those many times. You were questioning everything about him now.

“Take me back!” You yelled again, ignoring his same pleas, curling your hand in a fist, “I’m this fucking close to making you ash!”

As your pure anger got the best of you, you were ready to let your powers take over for a second. Obviously you weren’t actually going to hurt him, no matter how much you wanted him to feel your pain, at least physically.

You met him six years ago, during the first time you tried to stop the apocalypse. You were also one of the extraordinary kids, but luckily enough, Reginald Hargreeves didn’t manage to adopt you- more so, purchase you. You only met Five not long after he managed to time travel back to his family in 2019 after spending all those decades by himself. Before you knew it, you were dragged into the Hargreeves family and your relationship soon after developed.

Your six year relationship that was so merry a few hours ago. Now it was crumbled, trashed.

What hurt was that it was six years only to you. Five managed to block himself seven years away from you, only in the presence of Lila.

“This is so fucking stupid,” You scoffed, fighting back the tears in your eyes, “It’s fucking over! Do you want me to spell it out for you?!”

“I want you to listen!” Five didn’t give up on arguing, “I thought I’d never see you again!”

“You didn’t want to see me again!” You screamed, wailing your hands in the air, “Fucking save it- It’s over! I don’t want to ever see you again if we survive this apocalypse! You ruined our relationship, you ruined your brother’s marriage, family! For fucking Lila!”

You hated him absolutely. The mere thought of his infidelity, of the nerve to act as if he still loved you, it was all despicable.

You grew to love all of your boyfriend’s siblings, and also your nieces and nephews, even if you and Five were not yet married. You planned to be a part of the family officially, but still wanted to focus on your careers, you wanted to adjust yourself to your old life, back to your origins.

“Y/N, please!” He tried to step, towards you, but you started stepping away.

Thoughtlessly, because of all your anger, you just walked towards the first train approaching you, fully intending to be away from him at whatever cost.

“If you don’t want to take me back, I’ll fucking find my own way!” You hopped onto the train, watching as he tried to catch up with you.

But he was too late.

In hindsight, maybe it was not the smartest idea, but you were just so devastated nothing made sense to you anymore. You spent the past six years thinking that you are set for the rest of your life, now that the world wasn’t ending anymore. You reconnected with your family, you built a career for yourself and were living happily with Five, you had literally just finished settling yourself in the new house you bought together. You couldn’t understand how he could do this to you.

You couldn’t understand how Lila could betray your friendship either, especially Diego and their kids.

You tried to make it make sense, be reasonable- it was only a few hours to you, but they were lost in this subway system for seven years.

But then again, Five was lost in the future 45 years by himself and he didn’t give up on trying to return to his family once.

Now he did, he gave up on trying to return to you.

That’s definitely another aspect that stung.

“Fucking piece of shit,” You mumbled, as the train approached its first station, “How do I fucking get out of here?”

You stumbled out of the sub, taking in your surroundings. It was yet another crumbled down station, but if you were to be at least a tiny bit fair, it was maybe a bit better kept. You looked around curiously, trying to figure out where to go from now on. Your fire-based superpowers were totally useless in this situation, so you hated to admit that you were in a bit of a pickle.

You rolled your eyes, as Five rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks, watching you with widened eyes.

“You again?” You sighed angrily, “Take me back or get out of my sight, Five.”

Five raised his brows, putting his hands in his pockets curiously. He didn’t say a word yet, as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He slowly stepped towards you, not taking his eyes off you once. For a split second, you stopped as well, sending that something was up.

You took in his features, trying to make sense of what was going on, realizing that he didn’t have a coat on him. He was wearing the exact three piece suit an black tie, he was wearing the same silver watch on his left hand, but he didn’t have his coat on.

“Y/N,” He smiled, stopping in front of you, “I never thought I’d see you again, more so here.”

“What the fuck is going on?” You calmly asked, over-analyzing the man before you.

His smile didn’t drop. It was a genuine one, a smile you hadn’t seen in a while. Things between you and Five were okay a few hours ago, but he hadn’t watched you with this look since you first met. His eyes were sincere, taking in every single feature of yours, traveling all over your body.

“I take it your Five danced the devil’s tango with Lila,” He sighed deeply, raising a hand to gently brush away your tears.

When did you even start crying?

Your mind was scrambled all over the place, but at that exact moment you couldn’t say another word. You just melted into his touch, feeling warmth. It really hadn’t been that long since Five touched you, but this touch felt different. His hand rested on your cheek, as his thumb caressed you lightly. His touch was so intoxicatingly sweet, sending shivers down your spine.

“I’m so sorry I’m a literal shitface in some other timelines,” He lightly shook his head, “I’m so sorry.”

“What is going on?” You asked once again, calmer this time.

For whatever reason, you relaxed in an instant. You couldn’t tell if it was because of his gentle touch or simply his presence. Ironic, since just ten minutes ago you were ready to set him on fire.

“Come with me, my love,” Five said, grabbing your hand in his, “I’ll explain everything.”

You didn’t fight his touch, locking your fingers with his. None of you said a word, as you watched you hands fit so perfectly in one another. How could your relationship be over when you were so good together?

You followed Five through the subway station, rounding the same corner he appeared from. You watched as he turned his head to give you a reassuring smile, lightly squeezing your hand in comfort.

After a few more steps and going down a couple of stairs, you widened your eyes seeing a literal deli tucked away in this godforsaken out of order subway system. The headlights above the front entrance were lit up, writing Max’s Delicatessen. You saw inside a huddle of people as you entered, gathering everyone’s attention.

When they all turned to look at you, you literally couldn’t tell whether you or the huddle of people was more shocked.

They were all Fives.

There was music playing inside, as the deli was full of different versions of your boyfriend, whether they were customers sitting at the tables, drinking coffee or having a meal, reading the newspaper or having a chat. There were also other Fives working around, waiting tables or cooking in the back.

Nonetheless, they all stopped to look at you.

“Yeah, yeah, Y/N is here, carry on, you guys,” The Five that was holding your hand waved the others off with his free hand, “She needs a moment, stop being creeps.”

“I can’t tell if this is a dream come true or my worst nightmare,” You said, looking around the deli, as Five guided you towards an empty booth.

You sat down as the other picked up again whatever they were doing, still watching you with the corner of their eyes. Five took a seat in front of you, still holding onto your hand on top of the table, using his other hand to rub small circles on your skin.

“I am not the Five that dragged you here, in case you didn’t tell yet,” Five managed to say, “But I’m pretty sure that you did, since I know you’re smarter than he gives you credit for.”

“He did mention that this subway system is the knot to multiple timelines,” You sighed, as Waiter Five set down two cups of steaming coffee on the table.

You watched him curiously, as he looked yet again exactly like Five, wearing just a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with a black tie, pantsuit pants and a server apron around the waist. He smiled at you warmly, setting down two small packs of sugar and a creamer.

“I’m sorry, my love, we don’t have any Irish Capuccinos around here, since you’re the first Y/N to set foot in here,” He apologetically smiled, “I can only get you a shot of whiskey, if you’d like.”

Of course they all knew your favorite coffee.

“Make it a bottle,” You said, cracking a smile for the first time, causing him to chuckle, before walking away to attend to your order.

“I can’t begin to explain how much I missed your smile, darling,” The Five before you said, as you turned back to him, “The Handler got to the Y/N in my timeline,” He added, as sadness took over his eyes, “I missed you so much.”

“I can’t understand how you’re the same Five that fell in love with Lila,” You said, before quickly adding, “I mean- technically, you’re not, but still.”

“Everyone around here is a different version of me, from a different timeline,” He said, “I’m one of the many that didn’t go down that road.”

“Thank you, I guess,” You laughed, making him smile again.

What a sweet smile it was.

“When I lost you, I was a total wreck,” He confessed, as you couldn’t help but place your other hand on top of his, “I love you so much, Y/N, I could never hurt you like that no matter what. This is all such a fucked up turn of events, but when I saw you coming out of that train, my mind froze.”

“I love you too, Five,” You said, “But I need to wrap my head around what is going on- Everything is insane, I mean I’m right now in the middle of yet another apocalypse, I just found out that you love Lila and there’s just so fucking many of you.”

“I know, my love, I know,” Five nodded, “I wouldn’t dare to ask you accept everything so fast, I know it’s a lot to take in.”

“Can you just… hold me?” You asked, watching as he didn’t waste another second and got up to slide ne t yo you in the booth.

Wrapping one arm around your shoulders to pull you into his chest, he used his other one to caress your hair. You nuzzled your face into his shirt, taking in his scent, as you felt a wave of certitude wash over you. Five held you tightly into his arms, embracing you after years of your absence. He was grateful to have you in his arms once again.

And he was not about to let go anytime soon.

“I’ll always hold you, my love,” Five muttered, peppering small kisses in your hair.

The Five from your timeline watched from behind the window as you took comfort in his arms, but not exactly his arms.

This was only the beginning of his lifelong regret.

[zillychu]

I’ve gotten a WAVE of asks about this AU, so I decided to flesh it out some more and answer some of those questions!

I’ll probably polish this extended summary up at some point and submit it to AO3. But for now, here’s a rundown of my thoughts–please feel free to send more questions! I’ll update this post if I get any more. But if you’re someone who wanted to write fic for it, don’t worry, you don’t need to take my headcanons as gospel. It’s a pretty basic AU honestly lol

Summary:

The portal accident results in a violent explosion that wipes out the whole block, and condemns all of Amity Park. Danny haunts the city for 100 years, before Sam and Tucker find him. 

Setup:

In the 1920’s, 19-year-old Danny went into the incomplete portal on his own, hoping to help out his parents. Ripping the portal open through unnatural means created a huge burst of energy that resulted in a massive explosion. A good portion of the Amity Park population died, many were injured, and the ones on the fringes relocated–Amity was quickly deemed too dangerous due to the excess ectoplasm in the area that attracted ghosts. 

While the disaster was in Amity, the fallout was seen around the globe. Before, natural portals were rare, short-lived, and rarely allowed ghosts to fully slip into our realm (the most severe cases being on par with poltergeists that most people didn’t believe in). Now, natural portals pop open frequently around the world, large enough to allow the entirety of a ghost into the physical plane. They’re more common the closer you get to Amity, but they happen enough elsewhere that this change was something of a small apocalypse before people settled back down and found out how to combat at least some of their new, permanent neighbors. 

Danny is unaware that he’s only half-dead, believing he’s a full ghost. He ends up sticking around Amity, unintentionally making it his haunt. His grief and guilt over causing the death of his loved ones (and many others) makes him isolate and avoid human contact. Though he has, at times, scared nosy people away from the city in a mix of territorial instinct–and to get them to leave before a less friendly ghost finds them. 

Ghosts are much more of an uncontested danger in this AU. Lesser ghosts are practically mindless, and while stronger ghosts are capable of reason, their interests are limited. They’re highly territorial, possessive, and often destructive. Most worrisome is that they also like to snack on the life force of anything alive. No one is sure what dictates a ghost’s propensity to attack or hunt the living for their life force since ghosts don’t exactly experience hunger. At least, not the way we do. If a human is rescued before their life force is fully drained, they can make a full recovery–though humanity has still not yet found what this “life force" is. 

And since the Fentons’ research died along with them, there aren’t many tools available to the public to protect them from ghosts. Most homes have standard ghost shields and some weapons are available on the market, but certified ghost hunters are required to take care of anything more powerful than your average spook. 

Sam and Tucker met in high school, and are now rooming together for college very close to the Amity border. Rent is surprisingly cheap when you’re a stone’s throw away from a condemned area crawling with ghosts. Sam is the one who drags Tucker along with her fascination over finding out more about the city, and its largely mysterious demise. Sam is aware of the danger, but feels ghosts have a place in this world just like everything else, and does exercise caution–like one would while foraging in the woods with a known tiger population. 

What she and Tucker weren’t expecting was to run into a ghost that felt almost human. One that hasn't hurt them, not for lack of trying–while being powerful enough to walk past ghost shields without so much as a flinch. The long white hair is familiar in the whispers of the ectobiologist community, but there’s no way it could be the rumored ghost king Phantom, right?

About Danny:

He has very long hair, claws, and black sclera. His hazmat suit is more torn and ragged, with exposed hands and feet that fade into a burnt black.

His hair tends to float a lot on its own. It can start morphing into fire under duress. 

He does still technically have gloves and boots, they've just charred and melted into his skin towards the ends. He can't take them off in his ghost form. His hands and feet have a leathery texture that's tougher than the rest of his skin.

The white of his hazmat suit is both supposed to look like flames, and also a battered look representing his more violent, explosive death.

Overall, he appears rather listless and sad, with an unnerving air of danger around him–even for a ghost. 

Danny’s “ghost sense” comes out as white smoke.

He does breathe black smoke at times, usually when agitated. 

He's already fought and defeated Pariah Dark by the time Sam and Tucker find him, technically making him the Ghost King. This is heavily speculated by ghost experts, despite there being no real proof beyond a massive battle that scarred Illinois. He has not donned the Ring or the Crown, and captured sentient ghosts are hesitant to answer questions surrounding him. Danny basically has the throne but doesn’t do anything with it, and finds it meaningless enough to routinely forget he has the title. He only fought Pariah because he knew otherwise, humanity would have perished. A lot of ghosts are scared of him because he's so hard to figure out, and he's strong. 

Danny is usually very quiet and speaks softly, because his lungs were damaged in the blaze that half-killed him. He's technically healed since becoming a ghost, so it's more of a compulsion due to the traumatic memory. That, and he’s just… very forlorn and distant, shy around humans who don’t seem to understand how dangerous it is to keep hanging around him.

His memories pre-accident are extremely fuzzy. He knows the very basics of who he was, but specifics have been muffled due to trauma and isolation. He routinely forgets human habits, etiquette, etc. and tends to act more like a full ghost with some odd quirks. 

He does try to scare Sam and Tucker off numerous times. Unfortunately for him, they realized they shouldn't have been able to escape a ghost that strong–but they did, because he let them. 

Sam and Tucker think he's mute at first! He doesn't speak a word to them until several encounters later, when he fumbles his whole scary act and saves them from another ghost. 

He’s still half-ghost, though he doesn’t figure this out until Sam and Tucker come along trying to unravel the mysteries behind the Amity catastrophe. Physically and emotionally, he’s been stuck for 100 years–so his human form is still 19. It’s unclear at this point if he can age normally like a human as long as he stays in human form, or if he’s immortal. 

Danny's family did not turn into ghosts, though he sometimes worries he'll find them in the afterlife as shells of their former selves. He doesn't know if it's better or worse that he's not sure he'd recognize them. 

(Danny also still has some living family. Take a guess.)

Yes, he knows how to Wail. Understandably, he very rarely uses it. You do not want to witness this.

Danny :) is not immune :) from the allure of eating a human's life force :)))

[chisatowo]

I ❤ making convoluted hcs for inkling and octoling "hair" styling stuff that I will proceed to do nothing with.