#part 2 will be second chance

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC PROMPT #29

(#) = Notes at the end of post

✦

The Nasty Burger Explosion still happens, and Danny is left without his friends, family, and the only teacher who ever tried to help and encourage him in school. He manages to skirt around Vlad's custody by discovering a cousin of his Dad's he'd never heard about (1). He reached out to her, crying and begging for her to take him in. To not let Vlad anywhere near him.

Needless to say, after hearing a desperate teenager call her in tears and discover that besides Danny, her cousin Jack and his family had recently died in a horrible "accident," Lois nearly upends everything to go and get Danny from a middle of nowhere town in Illinois. After talking with Clark, of course. She didn't get one word in, however, cause he heard the entire phone call from the other room, though unintentionally.

After arranging for Mama Kent to watch over a still young Jon, they drove as fast as possible to meet this boy that already had their hearts in an iron grasp. When they first lay eyes on him, they immediately want to comfort him. His black hair is a tangled mess, his eyes bloodshot and red from crying. He sits in the corner of the school secretary's office, curled up in the small seat with an overstuffed backpack clutched tightly in a trembling, white-knuckled grip. A girl with dark skin and her hair held back by a headband sits with him, but she gets up and walks over as soon as she sees them enter the office. Danny doesn't seem to notice or even look up from where he's staring at the floor tiles.

"He's been hiding here for the last few days since he called you. He hasn't gone home once except to pack the bag he has with him." The girl explains. She holds out her hand to Lois for a handshake. "Valerie. You could say I'm a... friend of his (2). I'm assuming you're the cousin?"

Lois nods solemnly. "How's he been? He wouldn't tell me why he wouldn't go with his parent's first choice of custody. I've been worried."

Valerie grimaced and looked back at Danny before looking her directly in the eyes. "I can't say much without revealing anything i shouldn't. Let's just say Vlad has an unhealthy obsession with Danny, and it's unsafe to be around him. If he trusts you, he'll be the one to tell you the rest."

Clark and Lois share a look before they both nodded.

Valerie sees their acceptance and relaxes. She'd actually been tense the entire time she'd been talking with them.

"Well, with that said, I'll be going now." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked down with a sad expression. She looked back up at Lois with a deep sigh, and only then did Lois realize that Valerie looked to have been crying recently too. Looking between both adults, she made a quiet request. "Take care of him, will you?"

This time Clark is the one who finally speaks up. "You have our word he'll be safe and cared for."

Valerie's shoulders slump with a shuttering sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Once she left, Clark and Lois slowly approached Danny and sat to either side of him. Only then did he finally look up from the tiles and see them. His eyes ghosted over Lois but immediately locked onto Clark. He stared up at him, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Clark shrunk his broad form down a little, concerned his build might be intimidating for the young man. "Hi there, bud." He said in a soft tone. "I'm Clark and this is Lois. We're here to pick you up."

When introductions didn't seem to get a reaction from the teen, Clark's brow furrowed further. "Something wrong?"

Danny finally blinked and quickly ducked his head back down to look at the floor. "N-No." He croaked. "Sorry. For a moment there, I thought you were-" He choked on his words and seemed to have difficulty swallowing. He was shaking, his face hidden against his knees with one of his arms braced over his head to hide even further.

When he finally managed to finish his sentence, Clark's heart shattered completely.

"I th-thought you were my dad."

Clark looked at Lois with lost, watery eyes only to see she was in the same exact predicament. She couldn't stand seeing Danny so heartbroken any longer and leaned over to wrap him in a hug, Clark soon following. After a while of shushing and murmuring words of comfort, Lois gently spoke up.

"Why don't we get your things in the car and we can get on the road."

Extracting himself from their warm hold, Danny took a deep, shuttering breath before nodding.

"Okay."

"Is there anything else we need to get from the house? You have everything?"

Gripping his bag tightly to his chest, he nodded again. (3)

"Yeah. I do."

✦

Side Note:

(1) He found out through Tucker. He'd searched through Danny's family tree for any living relatives in case Vlad ever actually managed to kill Jack or something else happened to both his parents. He just never imagined it would be for this reason specifically.

(2) Yes, she knows Danny is Phantom now. She did not know before. She found out after she tried to pin the blame for Danny's friends and family on Phantom while Danny was in earshot, and he basically blew up at her and broke down. She's horrified and feels terrible, so don't be too hard on her. The confrontation also happened on school grounds with a bunch of other kids present, so a good majority of the student body knows now, too. If not from seeing it first hand, then by word of mouth. They're keeping it hush hush so nobody with bad intentions towards ghosts comes looking for Danny. Valerie will be the main defense against any ghosts that pop up, as well as a few other kids she trained.

(3) Before he left, Danny did disable and completely dismantle the ghost portal and translated all his parent's research into a code him, Sam, and Tucker came up with before destroying the originals as well as the entire lab itself. Natural ghost portals can still pop up in Amity Park tho, since the ghost portal kinda oversaturated the town with ectoplasm. Valerie and the kids she trained are just a precaution.

Haven't come up with a title for this one yet. I'll add it later when it pops into my head though.

Funny enough, this actually isn't what I planned to write for this prompt. It did involve Danny getting adopted into the Kent family, but there was going to be something entirely different happening. Apparently, the characters had other plans. Oh well, I'll save it for the next one, I guess. It might be a second part of this, actually. We'll see!

Enjoy the angst & hurt/comfort tho!

[housecow]

I am surprised that you still can't find a partner. You're gorgeous, interesting and cute at the same time.

(probably because you may be a federal agent)

i suffer from “can’t communicate effectively because of anxiety” BUT it’s getting a lot better!!!

i’ve also had a lot of “you are great but i’m seeing someone else now, bye” experiences. like, this happened three times. two in one year 😭 it takes a while to get over that and restore your self confidence, lol!!

[delusional-mushroom]

Part one |•| Part two |•| Part three

And they were staring right at you.

Ironically, the figure in the mirror imitated your own shocked expression.

But it was obvious they were no mere reflection.

Their dark blue lips parted surprise. Tentatively, they brought their bedazzled hands up to pull back the hood of their cloak. Almost as if they were approaching a skittish stray cat. Their towering form bending gently at the neck.

They weren’t human — if their pointy ears and almost antler-like, purple horns were anything to go by.

For a few seconds, you froze.

It was like time itself halted, leaving you with nothing but your racing thoughts and the frantic drumming of your heart. Eyes wide, your gaze never left the mirror. You couldn’t turn away. Even a blink proved to be impossible with your tense form. You didn’t know why, but the figure looked oh so familiar. Like you’ve known it for a lifetime and more. And yet, you’re certain you’ve never seen anyone resembling a ridiculously tall, glittery smurf.

A thud interrupted your train of thought.

A hand — a large, calloused, blue hand — pressed up against the glass of the mirror, a desperate look on the figure’s face to boot.

Nope!

You flung the covering back onto the mirror, ignoring the almost pained look the stranger shot you. Although now once again obscured, you could still feel their unusual eyes raking over your unnerved form.

What. The. Fuck.

Breathing heavily, you glanced around the office.

Just like before, glimmering jewels and preserved parts stocked the sturdy wooden shelves. Save for the blown out candles, everything was the same.

But that didn’t ease your nerves. Not in the slightest.

Sparing the room one last spooked glance, you turned on your heel and ran out into the halls. Unlike the dimly lit chamber, the grand corridors welcomed plenty of sunlight through grandiose window. After the past few minutes, it was comforting, to say the least.

After a few minutes of walking, (a dubious look from one of the crown guards had you reigning in your speed) you found yourself striding through the library doors.

“[Name]?”

You nearly screamed at the call.

“Whoa, calm down, you scaredy cat—“ Claudia stood up from the library loveseat she was splayed out on, laying a thick book upside down on the armrest. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost — Hey! You were meant to wait for me in Dad’s office!” Her recollection came with pinched eyebrows and a pointed stare from the librarian.

“Claudia,” you start, tapping your fingers to your thumb in anxiety. “Something happened.”

“What? Ugh, did Dad catch you? I swear if I have to listen to another lecture about ‘respecting the sanctity of the high mages office’ I’m going to—“

“No, oh gods no,’ you chuckle at the thought. So many hours that you would never get back. “I found something…” the nervousness returned. Like the maddening screech of nails on a chalkboard, it invaded every inch of your conscious — that fucking mirror.

And that is how you found yourself in that room again.

At least Claudia was here, her presence was a much appreciated comfort.

“So whats this about a glittery guy in the mirror?” Claudia’s inquisitive query drew you back from the raging sea of your thoughts.

“I’m telling you, he was there! Or maybe she — either way! There’s a person in the mirror!” Now that you think about it, you didn’t even see much of the sparkly horror in the looking glass, yet their strange eyes remained ingrained in your mind.

“I’m not seeing anyone, Oh! Maybe there’s a spell,” she raised her hands and wriggled her fingers with funny face. “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, Who’s the fairest of them all?” Her reflection stared back at her, silly expression and all. “Oh my god, that’s so nice of you mirror guy!” You rolled your eyes at her bashful giggle

“Ha. ha. Very funny.” Your deadpan was strong enough to turn any normal person to stone. Claudia, of course, was no normal person.

“I know right? I’m hilarious,” she snorted., before her face lights up in a realisation. “Wait… today’s the first of April… Was this a prank all along??!”

The only thing you could do was sigh, shoulders slumped.

“Pfft, good one.” Suddenly, she grabbed ahold of your arm and led you back to the library. “Now come on, I have to show you something.”

Aaravos wasn’t dreaming.

It really was you. The change of your skin tone, and the deviation of your hair colour, even the lack of starry freckles — none of that meant anything. It was you, he was sure of it.

That wondrous look in your eyes, the way you stood, and the way you kept your hair, they all caused his breath to hitch and his hands to shake.

Every detail, both new and old, threatened to draw tears from his darkened eyes.

Your ears were round — so you were a human, and from the way you were dressed, he guessed that you were at least living comfortably, but standards change with the times. By the looks of it, you weren’t that old — probably still in your early teens.

Every curve of your face, every emotion that flickered in your eyes, it all brought him so much pain.

And now as he cradled himself on the floor with his hair a stranded mess, he sobbed pathetically. Fate truly was cruel.

His sibling, his nefarious goblin, he might even go as far as calling you his first child, ripped away from him and dangled just out of reach behind that blasted mirror.

And you were afraid of him.

Those eyes — bright pools of [e/c] wonder — that used to look to him with adoration and jubilance, now gazed at him with fear and unease.

His four-fingered hands clutched his pearly locks as he wept, bitter anguish reaping what was left of his soul.

The memory of the nova blade sinking into your heart like a knife in butter always haunted him, but he swore that your pained screams rung so much louder today.

And they never stopped…

[umem1ya]

what if. what if I did a whole post abt ex-togame what if.

[rrainestorrm]

I'm actually insane (Done in about an hour and a half, including putting the edit together, holy moly) I have some feelings about Jay... and since season 2 part 2 comes out officially today, have a draft! spoilers for part 2 :)

THIS IS NOT THE FINAL ANIMATIC -- this is just a timed storyboard for now. I plan to add a few details, polish it and maybe even animate a few bits here and there... and the end screen will be colored and credits and such added. This is... part of what I'm getting a degree in lmao.

If you like it, consider reblogging? Especially when the full one comes out? Since I don't get paid for this quite yet just getting the word out is much appreciated :3 (for clarity I would not get paid to do Dragons Rising animatics regardless since it IS copyrighted content unless somehow I ended up WORKING on Dragons Rising which is a DREAM OF MINE but sadly unrealistic given my experience -- my getting paid refers to if/when I provide animatics/storyboards for a production).

[cheriafreya]

Zenless Zone Zero 🤝 Reverse 1999 *having a cool biker dude in the second phase of the present patch*

[velvetjune]

Spoilers for Alan Wake 2: the final draft—trying to figure out who wrote the dark poems that are found like manuscript pages and painted near the overlaps/murder sites. might be a case of “is it alan, scratch, zane, or the grandmaster? yes”

[alrightpoppins]

i’m just so mad that in a season with so many faults, people are so fixated on a gender swap that doesn’t even stop francesca from having her full fledged story

[an-droid-girl]

coming back to tumblr has made me realize: i don’t need to text someone all my inane thoughts through the day and MAYBE get a response to them. that’s literally what this blog is.

[astranauticus]

(spoilers up to orv chapter 270) (sort of?)

you ever just kinda. suddenly realise what you're listening to

[gentle-giant-swag]

Gentle giant swag, blueberry bracket second chance

Round 2, battle 1

[jinxedgods]

fanon says kids in jackson are soft but I don’t think that’s true. those kids have seen the outside world and all the nightmares it has to offer. tommy implies that many of the residents are former fireflies and their families— those guys have seen and done terrible things. second, in part one, jackson has only been around for a few years (5-7 ish I think) so most kids haven’t grown up there. they’ve seen the harsh outside world.

it doesn’t matter if they weren’t QZ kids. (I also have gripes with the “non-QZ kids are soft” trope). growing up outside of a QZ is metal as fuck. there’s raiders, hunters, cannibals, and all sorts of horrible people out there. if they weren’t in one of these groups, they were trying to avoid them. surviving in a hogdepodge of city ruins and wilderness while avoiding murderers and zombies is hardcore. in part one, every kid in jackson must be traumatized.

by TLOU 2, jackson has been long enough for some kids to have spent their lives safe and happy inside it’s walls. but these kids are max 10-14. Also, these kids had to have been living in jackson from the beginning. They’re probably in the minority. Most kids probably came later or arrived when they were older, meaning they had effed up childhoods.

anyway, I just think every citizen in jackson has seen horrors! it’s kinda sweet that this cute little town is full of hardened, troubled survivors trying to build a better life. I think of a former firefly who tortured someone to death raising a toddler who’s never left jackson and knowing their kid will never have to know about something like that. i think of patrollers who do the most fucked up shit to protect the people they love who live on the inside. I think the kind old woman who runs the deli is scarred by the screams of the people she murdered. I think the schoolteacher had to put down an infected loved one. I think they’re all trying to be better.

I don’t think they’re soft or complacent. They’ve seen the outside world. They know how fragile peace is — Jackson is an experiment that’s only been around for a few years. They will fiercely protect it. Luckily, they are twisted, brutal, survivors — the exact type of people needed to protect anything worth having in their fucked up world.

[wlw-webcomic-bracket]

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

BEST DAD BATTLE: SECOND CHANCE/DAD MANSION BREAK IN

ROUND 1 PART 1

You can vote for a duo if you only know one of the dads!

[keeps-ache]

cuz i Don't need it to be detailed or very realistic with my worldbuilding! because L. ron hubbard existed at some point and

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Johnrik + "Heaven, Iowa" by Fall Out Boy