#really spectra should be their own warning

[maskedemerald]

Weaving Webs CH1

It is time for @invisobang ! I wrote a fic and the wonderful @pricklenettle did some fantastic art that you'll see embedded through out the fic!

You can check out the fic here or on AO3!

If you like this consider dropping us both a follow!

Warnings: Body horror, manipulation, Spectra is her own content warning, Burns, Spider - for like 2 chapters then it goes away.

The Fenton parents were there when the accident happened, they saw Danny die in an act of sabotage. Now they’re just trying to go on with the strange ghost that is all that's left of Danny. While their old college friend is wondering where the subjects of his revenge are.

[Next]

Chapter One - The Accident

The metal panel came free with a few plinks of screws onto the floor making Danny cringe. He knew he’d be the one scrounging around on the floor looking for them later. His Dad grinned not at all phased by the extra work he was creating. Danny leaned over to look and was fairly certain on catching sight of the tangled mess of cables that this was his Dad’s work.

“Alright Danno, I need you to get your small hands in there. Diagnostics say some of the wires didn’t get plugged in right,” he explained with a little chuckle at his own mistake, “I’d fix it but now the paneling’s on I don’t fit.”

“Got it, know which ones?” Danny asked, eyeing the mess.

“Nope, some of the red ones? Some of the greens too. Just give them all a little extra push!” His Dad said before bounding off out of the portal frame to work on some other part of it.

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, typical Dad. He used a finger to pull aside a bunch of wires to see the circuit board behind but the wires pulled others and obscured it. He huffed a little, the visor of his white hazmat suit fogging up a little before it faded. He was going to have to fix the cable management if he was going to make any progress.

As Danny picked his way through the tangled chaos of unlabeled cables he couldn’t help but be reminded of a spider web. Every few moves of his hand he had to untangle himself Just to get another wire out of the tangle and neatly with the others of its colour. He had to hope that the colours had some kind of system. Even if they didn’t at least they’d be able to see the board.

“Jack? Did you change this setting?” he heard from out in the lab.

“Um nope, well maybe,” he could almost hear his Dad’s awkward shrug.

There was the clacking of keys, “that’s a bit odd.”

“Huummm, maybe if we change that bit. That should get it, right?”

A spark darted from the connected wire as he disconnected it from the board and he swiftly pulled back his hands. Even with the hazmat he wasn't going to risk it. It might not be the vibrant colours of his parents’ ones but that didn’t mean it was more professionally made. His Dad made each of them by hand. Said they needed a bit more oomph to deal with ectoplasm. He wasn’t sure how effective it would really be.

“Mom? The powers on!” He called out to them.

It wasn't meant to be. His dad had said it was off. Either he forgot, not impossible. Or something was wrong with the power system. If that was the case they'd have to shut it all down. It would be months more work before they'd be ready. Danny couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed at that thought. He didn’t believe it would really work but he wanted it to. Wanted it for his parents. Wanted it for the hours he'd poured in as a way to learn engineering.

“What? No it’s not,” his Mom replied confused, “none of the systems are reporting that.”

“I unplugged it, I definitely unplugged it. Where’s that cable?” His Dad insisted.

“What the… Danny! Move now!” His Mom yelled.

Danny startled and backed away from the panel. There was a high pitched whine building behind him. He scrambled forward, his heavy bulky hazmat boots catching on themselves and every cable. There was a loud hiss and the safety shield started to descend. The power wasn’t just on, the portal was activating.

“Shit, no, not yet,” his Mom cursed, her hands practically slamming across the keys, “Jack pull the emergency breaker!”

“On it!”

He stumbled trying to crouch enough to pass under the descending shield. His head bounced in the helmet as he hit the floor. He winced and his head spun. It took a moment too long for him to get his bearings and start moving. He crawled as fast as he could, racing against the descending shield. He pulled back his hand just as the shield descended, the tips of his glove caught between reinforced glass and the metal tiled floor. He pulled it free with some effort, the fingers tearing.

“Breaker’s not stopping it Mads!”

Danny pulled himself up leaning against the glass. He flinched back as his Dad slammed the Fenton Anti Creep Stick into the reinforced glass with an echoing bang. His Mom was at the console frantically trying to get control of the machine.

He could feel a tingle as the charge in the air increased, his hair standing on end. An ominous warning that the Hazmat was no longer sealed. Electric sparks darted from metal surface to metal surface. The growing green glow that was building behind him reflected in the safety glass that trapped him there. The air grew a strange hot cold. There was a crackle like lightning and then he was engulfed in burning cold green.

[Next]

[ejthenobody]

A Random Rambly Thought About Hi-Fi Rush.

Sooooo while I haven't been able to play the game at all lately due to having a dead laptop that I need to get a job to pay to fix, I've been looking at LPs and whatnot of Hi-Fi Rush as the next best thing, daydreaming about what I'll do for my own Youtube videos on the game and my quest for 100% completion. Due to watching other people play the game I've ran into this fun little thought about it from a few playthroughs:

(Warning for possible spoilers for Hi-Fi Rush, go play it if you haven't)

Chai's trash guitar/"junker", as I like to call it, isn't actually becoming a guitar in the moments we see it transforming during a cutscene. That is purely in his head due to Chai being kind of delusional about his dreams of becoming a rockstar.

Now, I think this interpretation is wrong, BUT I wanna ramble about it anyway just because.

First and most boring reason why I think it's wrong is because, well, it's just the tone of Hi-Fi Rush's world and story. Chai's whacking stick becoming an actual guitar whenever he's, *IN THE ZONE*, is not the most absurd thing we see in the game and is fully believable in comparison to people like Roquefort or Kale's whole plan with Spectra. This is a slightly fantastical, bright and colorful world with super advanced technology and a main character whose sick-nasty powers are coming from an MP3 player mistakenly embedded in his chest, and if you've gotten to the point of asking if that guitar-shaped whacking stick is actually becoming a guitar or not, then you likely won't care anymore within the next ten seconds when he takes that guitar and smashes a giant robot's face in with it.

Secondly and from a more interesting angle, I think there's enough evidence within Hi-Fi Rush's story and gameplay that points to the idea that Chai's junker is actually transforming in the moments we see it doing so.

Like I mentioned earlier, Chai's guitar only seems to transform whenever he's really feeling it; whenever he's at the top of his game; whenever we're going so hard that we're getting S ranks like it's as easy as breathing. In gameplay, we see this as being a feature of regular combat, where Chai's junker will transform into a proper guitar when we're doing well. In cutscenes, we always see Chai's junker transform with this very specific effect, where it seemingly starts charging with this blue energy aura before it then shifts into a guitar and the aura quickly fades. We only see this during moments when Chai is likely feeling extremely confident, A.K.A. when he's literally delivering the final blows to every single boss. It's during the final boss fight with Kale himself we see something that clearly shows the guitar is actually a guitar directly after Kale is defeated. It's a brief moment where Chai drops the guitar on the ground and it doesn't break apart or revert back to the junker, it actually hits the ground like it should with a very distinctly not-pile-of-scrap-metal-hitting-the-floor sound.

Outside of all of that, in general, we're lead to believe that Chai's "musical robot powers" and the power boost they provide are very clear and very apparent to everybody, even if Chai's the only one moving to the beat and seeing the world as doing the same. He's noted as having a ton of firepower in comparison to everyone else by Macaron, with that one line about how, "If even Chai can't get through that wall, then we're out of luck," or however it goes. And while we're pointing out quotes, you can't forget Kale's, "All you're good at is hitting things with a guitar," line, which is another big point to the idea that Chai's whacking stick is actually becoming a guitar, since I doubt someone like Kale would be willing to call said bonking stick a guitar unless it was actually becoming one every now and then.

Okay, this is kinda random to say here at the bottom of all of that but I don't have much in the way of creative flow going on right now so coming up with an actual ending to all of that is kind of hard, buuuuuuuut: I think the thought of Chai's junker only transforming whenever he's feeling 700% confident is a fun, if unnecessary, headcanon as to why he's not using the Flying V Chai Custom in the ending cutscenes and instead has the Vandelay Custom Crimson Red. Because Chai isn't always at 700% confidence, and...Really no one is or can be, or at least should be. He's a cool dude but he definitely doesn't have his chest always puffed out, especially at the end of the game's story.

If the junker can only transform whenever he's at the peak of his game mentally, with all hype cylinders firing, then of course he can't use it as an actual guitar the rest of the time when he's just chilling out with the gang and practicing.

[pixelbytesquad]

OKAY- so umm- I did mention AS Mira in my Alignment Shift post, then I talked about Mirage and Fire Mira... but I always tend to forget to do a post about another reoccurring Mira alternate I tend to show on here and my side account (@bakugan-doodles)...

I guess it's time to change that-

So- I should finally talk about...

Gosh this image is long

Fun fact, I slightly updated the design just to prepare for this... and then forgot...

Anyways... so here's my genderflipped Mira, or as I call him- Mire-

I am NOT doing a full on genderflip AU (too much work and I don't want to do that- if anyone wants to do it, be my guest-)- however, this isn't just the same story in canon but now it's Mire- it's a bit different.

Now, for a quick warning- Mire's AU has some bits of transphobia present in his story (to make it short... Clay is just an awful father).

I say this because... Mire is trans! Link of drawing I did of him for pride month!

Now, as mentioned earlier- Clay isn't that thrilled of the idea... however, here comes Keith- who would always stick by Mire's side... until out of a sudden he just, disappeared... right when the family was supposed to move to New Vestroia...

Shortly after that, similar to the canon, he'd stumble in Clay's lab and notice Hydranoid... however unlike canon- instead of seeing Keith, there's Spectra-

So, he does run, start the resistance and tries to free the bakugans... however unlike canon, there are some changes to how his story goes-

While he still tries to look for Keith, that mission is pretty much a side quest as he mainly puts his energy into the main mission at hand. There's no moment when he does ditch the team.

And then we get to Earth and when he learns that Spectra is Keith... yeah he won't take it well. Since he saw Spectra in the lab, he pretty much took it as Spectra working with Clay- and learning that Spectra is Keith, pretty much angers him (Julie would have to hold him so he won't just beat the shit out of Spectra).

When the moment comes for the group to just return to New Vestroia... he doesn't betray the team, meaning in his universe, the girls actually end up coming to New Vestroia to help the team- ALSO- not as important but the rest of the resistance on New Vestroia doesn't get captured.

So umm- yeah- dude's just ends up sticking with the team no matter what-

I do need to explain some stuff about him before I'll move forward.

Unlike canon Mira... he's a bit more on the dumb side... but in a charming way?

Despite all that, he doesn't fall into the pitfalls of "trying to find his brother". Mainly because he thinks he'd be just like him (in the sense of disappearing/ditching him) to the team.

There's also him and Ace... while for the most part in canon, Ace's the one to have a crush on Mira, while Mira is oblivious... here both Ace and Mire are oblivious to one another... but somehow still act like they're married couple. (Dan would try to call it out but they both deny it).

My brain's also like "Hey let's give him big brother energy", esp when I think ab the potential interactions he'll have with Runo and Julie.

This is also the reason why he doesn't betray the team when they return to New Vestroia, he's aware he'd leave everyone stranded and ruin the chance for the girls to join them.

So yeah- in short, he may be dumb, but he's- well, sweet, in a sense of "everyone likes this dude".

Honestly this is also why I depicted him once as a shoulder angel- it's also funny to look at him and AS Mira. AS Mira is just the most evil person you'll see, meanwhile Mire is the most compassionate person.

Also ngl, both of them are so different from canon Mira- but I like it? I really like when AU characters can be so different from their original counterpart. Their own person, splintered from someone else.

If you have any question about him or his universe, feel free to ask, I'll try to answer.

Last fun fact: His universe is named "The butterfly effect", to reflect how a tiny change can just spiral into something bigger.

[its-rat-time-babey]

Made more in-universe memes

[Part 1] [Part 2]

[its-rat-time-babey]

I always headcanoned that Spectra was the one responsible for it. Not just for Sidney’s death, but the deaths of a good chunk of Casper High’s population. Student and faculty alike. It’s just how she works. Get a job as a school therapist or something similar, feed off everyone’s misery (and lifeforce if you get the chance), and leave once the suicide rates spike high enough. And she’s been doing this since the 1930s. Wandering America from school to school.

Sidney was the first to take his own life that year, but he wasn’t the last.

something i don’t think we discuss enough is the fact that seemingly the entirety of casper high’s student population during the 50s is now in the ghost zone, as teenagers.

a lot of people assume that sidney pointdexter must’ve taken his own life, but i don’t think that’s the case. i think EVERYONE died in casper high in the 50s, and pointdexter just happened to have the locker with the ghost mirror in it. the school is there too, so did the entire thing just… blow up? or did it manifest as the collective lair of all of these dead students?

i might be looking way too into this, but isn’t Casper High’s mascot a raven? y’know, the bird most commonly associated with loss and ill omen?

tldr i think casper high blew tf up in the 50s 

[phantoms-lair]

Meet Danny's Deadbeats

(related to this picture)

The first one came on a particularly bad night. Physical damage he could take, but it was Spectra tonight and she always knew how to pry out his insecurities.

He was different. He didn't fit in anywhere. He never would. And he just...he wanted some comfort but from whom? He could never explain this to his parents. Jazz would try, but turn it into a psychoanalysis session that would probably bring up even more bad feelings. Sam and Tucker....he loved them dearly, but neither of them really got it. Sam thrived in being a 'freak' away from the norm and he knew Tucker still struggled with some jealousy issues. There really was no one...

He suddenly felt a strange sensation, almost like a piece of his power had twisted itself off. He bolted up on panic and was met by a tiny blob ghost. It was blue, like his ice powers, with shining green eyes like his own in ghost form. And it felt like him in a way he couldn't explain. Like Dani, but moreso.

Without warning the little ghost flew over to him and hugged him. "You're a cuddly little guy, aren't you?" Danny asked.

The small ghost squeaked in acknowledgement, snuggling himself as much as he could. Danny chuckled and smiled, his Spectra induced bad mood fading in the light of this little one's honest affection. And he knew he should be more concerned, but right now he just wanted to bask in this feeling of true unconditional love.

~

The second one came on a night that was just as bad, but in a different way. His little ghostling (whom he'd dubbed 'Apollo' after his old teddy bear Not that anyone was ever going to know that) was no good in a fight, but it was easy enough to keep him out.

All he had to do was hand him over to Sam or Tucker and Apollo would just wrap himself around them like a kitten. The little ghost was made for hugging. As Sam had once put it 'Like a Klemper people would actually want to be around.' School days were a challenge each day to keep the little ghost from hugging him, or Sam, or Tucker, but it was a work in progress.

And he was glad he left Apollo with Jazz for some emotional support on her midterms because the fighting tonight was rough and neither Sam or Tucker was there. (He wasn't supposed to be there either. They'd agreed to try and get some rest that night for their own tests. But his ghost sense had gone off at 3am and he'd known he would get no peace till he dealt with it.)

He'd won, but at a price. There were several deep bruises and cuts that oozes red tinged ectoplasm on his sheets and he didn't want to wake anyone up, but everything hurt and he knew there was nothing to do but wait for his healing factor to take care of it, but he wished there was someone to help-

He felt that strange feeling of a piece of his power twist off and a ice blue blob ghost looked him in the eye. "Apollo?" he asked, even though he knew on some distinctive level this wasn't Apollo.

She clucked her tongue. Why did he decided this one was a she? Then she started to channel cold, similar to his ice powers, into his contusions. She cleaned his injuries and wrapped them, even the ones that would be gone by the next morning.

"You don't have to-" he started, but she gave him a look. And somehow, he understood it. Just as Apollo's purpose was affection, hers was to take care of injuries. She hummed a lullabye as she tended to him and Danny slowly found himself drifting off to sleep.

~

The third didn't come during a bad night, but rather a bad day. While Patches (as he dubbed his minimedic, since she patched people up) seemed to understand the need to keep out of sight, even if she kept close by, Apollo still did not understand why he couldn't be cuddling Danny or Danny's loved ones 24/7. More than once he'd had to intervene to stop the small ghost from showing affection to his parents or Valerie, and hiding him during class was a struggle each day.

But today was worse than usual. Dash had failed most of his midterms and there was talk of removing him from the football team, which would drop him from the A List faster than Valerie. As such he'd been taking it out on his favorite victim and Patches was risking detection trying to stay on top of the bruises.

And he wanted to strike back. Whether a simple punch or some sort of humiliation, but he knew he couldn't. He had to take the high road, he couldn't use his powers like that. No matter how much it hurt, or matter how many people saw and ignored it. He had to suck it up. He had to-

twist

By the third time he knew the sensation and frantically looked around for a new little blue blob, but couldn't find anything. By the end of the day he was almost ready to think he had imagined it when he felt a malicious glee over the bond he had with his ghostlings, right before Dash tripped on shoelaces that were suddenly tied together, skidded into a trash can, and right into Coach Testlaff, who'd been one of Dash's biggest supporters.

He'd risked invisibility, not wanting to run into Dash in an even fouler mood, and found an ever smaller blue blob than the others. Where Apollo was comfort, and Patches was medical aid, this one was retaliatory mischief. He'd have to keep a very close eye on this one.

~

Patches clucked her tongue at them as she applied bandaids to the smaller cuts on Sam and Tucker, having already stitched up Danny's leg.

Sam was tickling Apollo who was laughing with a sound like a theremin (Most of the ghostling made sounds like a theremin, but Danny could always understand them). Danny couldn't help but smile, feeling how happy Apollo was at the interaction. "I know they're great, dude." Tucker said, straightening his glasses. "Apollo is a ray of sunshine, Patches will hopefully mean i never have to see a nurse or hospital again, and Betelgeuse is objectively hilarious-" The smallest of the ghostlings gave Tucker a high five.

"-but don't you think you should be a little more concerned about the fact the you're literally spawning more ghosts?"

Danny stiffened, color draining from his face. "I think I need to talk to Frostbite."

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

fuck I still haven't done the rewrite of the Mutant Town AU that I specifically came off hiatus to write, like the Plant Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts were written to prep this au and I just got wildly distracted so uhhhh

yeah the concept is in the link but the gist is that the people and town becoming mutated by constant ectoplasmic contamination, we all know and love this concept right but I'm gonna expand on it

this is a direct result of the portal being opened, but they aren't getting infected from the portal, the issue is that creating a permanent opening into the ghost zone has weakened the veil between their worlds and Amity Park and the Ghost Zone sort of slip in and out of each other constantly

and because ectoplasm responds strongly to emotions (poltergeists being made from atmospheric emotions for example) it all tends to converge very heavily at the school full of hormonal teenagers

so Casper High becomes its own god damn cryptid, the teachers get so jaded about opening the door to a classroom and finding just a whole ass ghost zone on the other side that they just put a sign on the door telling kids to go to a different room, lockers swap contents with other lockers so kids have started putting their names on the inside so they know who's stuff they've just found

this also means the kids get super affected, like super affected, literally, they all get ghost powers, some are just physical mutations, some are just super abilities, or a general increase in natural ability, like a member of the track team getting super speed

it takes a while for Danny and co. to figure this out, Sam and Tucker should have been warning signs as they've spent the most time around ghosts and the ghost zone, but that's why the Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts are important

they have powers, but they thought they came exclusively from outside sources, they had no idea that their abilities were also strengthened and influenced by being highly contaminated by ectoplasm, which is why when one day Mikey sneezes and green acid shoots out of his nose and melts his desk, everyone is a little bit startled

the teachers have long since started using ghost detectors after the time Paulina spent a whole week overshadowed by Kitty, so Mikey gets a check over and other than the usual atmospheric reading Lancer gets nothing especially strong from him

there have been concerns about the gradually increasing ectoplasmic content in the air messing with ghost detector results, the devices have to be recalibrated constantly, so Lancer asks the one and only son of the local ghost hunters in the room if he has some other way to check

Danny's parents make him keep a few protective items in his schoolbag, so he tries some gear on him to see if anything comes flying out, but nothing does, Danny isn't too surprised seeing as he couldn't sense a ghost in the room anyway, but it definitely makes things a little concerning

even if it were a repeat of the Spectra incident and he wasn't being overshadowed, the Fenton's tech would have still gotten rid of whatever was causing this if it were an external influence

Mikey is sent home for the day and his parents are told to keep an eye on him

and then the next week, Star drops a pen off her desk and a strand of her hair whips out to grab it, she's also checked for ghost influence and sent home

a few weeks after that it happens again, a kid on the basketball team makes a leap to the net and stays in the air, they have to call in the cheerleaders to climb on top of each other to reach him and pull him down

Danny has been trying to figure out what's happening from the first moment with Mikey, and his parents have also been getting calls from worried parents who want to know if they can fix whatever's happening to their kids

over the next couple of months, every kid in the school has some kind of ability or mutation, Dash heals whoever he touches, which he discovers after punching Nathan in the face and curing his acne, Paulina turns invisible, which freaks her out at first until she realises it's great for eavesdropping, Wes can conjure fire (because I desperately needed him to have a polarising ability to Danny), Kwan becomes empathic and can feel and influence people's emotions

Valerie also had an early mutation that she didn't know about, when Technus gave her a new suit, her body pretty much just absorbed it as a part of her, Technus had not intended this to happen, and was pretty peeved about it, Valerie found out that she had stolen control over the suit when Technus had a big rant about it during a fight, and she put the pieces together once other kids started developing abilities

this whole thing causes a ton of chaos as kids are struggling to control what they can do, so Danny has to step in and help them out, he often has to run off to change into Phantom in order to protect everyone from an ability that's gone haywire, he ends up pretty much running ghost power training courses after school to help them control themselves

he's also gotten stuck in situations where he's had to step in and help someone without having the time to change forms, meaning he has to make up a cover story about having developed his own powers way before everyone else since he's been living on top of a portal for years, he only tells people about his ice powers

Jazz has always had a tendency to be able to reign in her emotions and keep a cool head, (the only ones who can really push her buttons are Danny and sometimes her parents, at school around other kids who look up to her she's often very in control) meaning she doesn't draw ectoplasm to herself all that much, and though Danny uses the excuse of having lived on top of a ghost portal to explain why he's already so familiar with using his power, it's actually not even remotely true, because the Fentons use specialised air purifiers to keep the atmospheric ectoplasm at a manageable level, the Fenton house ironically has the least atmospheric contamination compared to the rest of the town, that's how Maddie and Jack have had limited mutation to themselves (though they aren't wholly free, they've mostly just gotten physically stronger and tougher)

so even though Jazz develops her power a little earlier than everyone else's, it's not that far ahead, and she actually doesn't even realise she already has one until half the school has developed theirs

Jazz has the power to slow time in a little bubble around herself, she'd been using it without realising while studying, having gotten through hours of work in half that time, she always thought it was just her losing track of time or she was just getting faster at reading, she also spends a lot of time counselling other students and trying to help them sort out their problems, and they'd often comment that they felt like they'd been talking for so much longer than they had, again she just chalked it up to losing track of time

a lot of students had wondered why Danny developed a power early and Jazz hadn't, until someone walked in on Jazz helping a girl through a panic attack in the bathroom, and found them both talking extremely fast, a lot of her friends realised in hindsight that she'd been doing that unwittingly for quite a while, nobody had noticed because she always talked to people privately, so nobody outside her little time bubble had seen it happen

Sam and Tucker come clean about their abilities too, but they also don't give the full rundown, still keeping some things close to the chest to avoid standing out from everyone else

then there's the teachers

adults typically have a better time regulating emotions than teenagers, meaning much like Jazz they aren't drawing as much ectoplasm toward themselves, but this doesn't exempt them from developing something after a while, especially with the heightened stress of managing a school full of volatile super kids

Mr Lancer discovers that he can create shields, after an incident where he jumps in front of some students to protect them from another power gone awry

Tetslaff ends up with a sonic ability, able to project her voice like a megaphone (yes this is a Coach Boomer from Sky High reference don't @ me), Principal Ishiyama develops a physical mutation, growing to twice her size, she likes that she can tower over the students while delivering speeches, but she doesn't like having to stoop through doors all the time, she has the one to her office resized, along with her chair and desk

so as you can imagine, the town ends up erupting into chaos, a lot of kids very much misuse their abilities, Danny does his best as Phantom to teach people to be responsible, but sometimes he has to resort to literally kicking their asses to get them to straighten up

but for the most part, a ton of kids were already looking up to him, and are generally pretty happy to follow his example, especially the more popular kids, it's generally considered not very cool to get your ass kicked by Phantom, so weirdly enough a lot of kids get peer pressured into not causing any real damage or injury with their powers

this doesn't mean they don't absolutely misuse them, they're just more subtle about it

until a ghost shows up, a lot of the kids are more than happy to let loose to protect themselves and their friends, and Phantom for the most part is happy to let them, with some supervision of course, he still has to make sure nobody gets too hurt (including the ghosts)

the entire debacle makes Danny's life simultaneously a whole lot easier AND so much more fucking stressful

[cleanlenins]

Ectober Day 9: Mask

When The Clown No Longer Laughed

Things have been going well for Arkham Asylum. There haven't been any breakouts in a while, a new team of Psychologists are starting to make a breakthrough with the residents, and Gotham is starting to heal.

But with the recent suicide of one Mr. Freeze, Batman decides to look into what is happening in Arkham Asylum. Dr. Penelope Spectra talks about the good she is doing for the inmates, and how they are finally being rehabilitated.

But Batman knew something was deeply wrong.

When the Clown no longer laughed.

AO3

Warnings: Suicide, Depression, Character Death

inspired by @lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks

“It’s really amazing. It seems like we are finally doing something right,” Commissioner Gordan’s voice echoed through the Batcave. Batman sat in his computer chair, hands clasped, as he frowned in thought. “We haven’t had anyone breakout in at least a month. Hell, we haven’t even had anyone try to break out. Most of the residents are even going to their therapy appointments with minimal fuss.”

“Most?” Batman asked. Gordon sighed.

“We can’t help everyone. Quinzel has been really vocal against some of the new therapists we hired a few months ago. She nearly fist fought one of them after Ivy had an appointment with her.”

“Who was the therapist?”

“Dr. Penelope Spectra,” Gordon responded. “Apparently, she wasn’t all that phased by it. Said she expected it, at least once. But she wouldn’t let it scare away from her work.”

Batman hummed in thought, before starting to pull up Dr. Spectra on the Bat Computer.

“Who are some of Dr. Spectra’s clients?” Batman asked.

“She honestly has taken on quite a caseload. She’s got Crane, Isley, Dent, Fries...and Joker,” Gordon said the last one quickly. Batman narrowed his eyes as he looked at his screen. The image of a smiling redhead, dressed to the nines. Her green eyes seemed to peer into his soul. Something about the color seemed familiar. 

“And she has made progress with them?” Batman asked.

“Most of them, yes. You know how Joker is.” Batman didn’t feel a need to respond to that.

“They should keep an eye on her. You know how the Joker can be,” Batman advised.

“Yeah, we don’t want another Quinzel, that’s for sure,” The Commissioner grumbled before ending the call. Batman looked at the image of the woman, and started digging. He didn’t get far before he was alerted to a hostage situation on the east side of Gotham. He rushed out, putting his thoughts behind him as he focused on the problem at hand. 

~~~

“He’s dead?” Batman asked, Red Robin shifted uncomfortably beside him as they both focused on Oracle.

“It hasn’t been announced, but yes,” Barbara said. She pulled up an image of the scene. It was gruesome, mostly because the victim was so familiar. The dangling body of Victor Fries. Shredded blanket plaited into a crude noose. “All signs point to suicide.”

“Which signs?” Red Robin asked.

“There is no security footage of anyone going in or out of the cell. His therapist, Dr. Spectra reported to the guards that he seemed depressed lately. And of course, he left a note,” Oracle projected the note onto the screen. ���I already checked the handwriting, and it matches that of Victor Fries. He also seemed to be keeping a journal, as part of his treatment. And you can tell that he did seem to be spiraling for a while.”

Batman listened to Barbara rattle off more information from the scene as he read the note.

To Any It Concerns,

I have come to the realization that I am a failure. A failure of all that I have ever tried to do. I am a failure as a Husband, as I could do nothing to save the one I loved more than anything. I’m a failure of a man, as I could not face the consequences of my mistakes and instead chose to blame others. And I am a failure as a human being, as I chose to hurt and maim and sow the same grief that I used to rationalize my own actions. 

I know that none shall miss me, as all I have done was act as a plague on the human race. But know that, in these last moments, I am sorry.

-Victor Fries

Batman hid his sorrow. When he had heard of the changes at Arkham, he had hoped. Hoped that some of them could get the help they needed. Gordon’s words that they couldn’t save everyone rang in his ears, but still Batman mourned. Quietly, and unnoticed.

“I can’t believe this,” TIm said, running his fingers through his hair. “What did Dr. Spectra say?”

“She said she blamed herself. That as his therapist, she should have seen this coming,” Oracle said. She pulled up video footage of Dr. Spectra talking to the inspector. She wiped at her eyes with a tissue. Batman’s eyes narrowed, taking in her body language.

“It’s such a shock. I thought he was close to a breakthrough. We discussed some of the negative thoughts he had been journaling. I had hope for a full recovery,” The Therapist said, continuing to dab at completely dry eyes. 

“Well, she doesn’t seem all that upset,” Tim muttered. Batman nodded in agreement.

“I need to check this out myself,” Batman said.

“I’ll come to,” Red Robin said, and Batman nodded in agreement. Static briefly overtook the comm.

“I would like to come as well,” Nightwing said. 

“You don’t have to do that, Nightwing,” Batman grumbled, already strapping into the batmobile.

“I know. I just...I never would have seen Victor doing something like this. And I would like-”

“If you are emotionally compromised, you need to stay away from this,” Batman grumbled back. As if he wasn’t emotionally shaken as well.

“I’m not compromised, I just-”

“Let us handle this, Nightwing,” Red Robin said, not unkindly over the comm. A long pause.

“Fine,” Nightwing sighed. “Just-please keep me in the loop.”

“Of course,” Red Robin responded.

The rest of the drive to Arkham was silent. Batman and Red Robin jumped out of the Batmobile as soon as the door was open and walked into the secure facility. Security guards whispered as they passed.

The first thing Batman noticed was how quiet the place was. Red Robin seemed to be unnerved as well. Usually, the place was filled with riotous noise, insults and jeers thrown around. Angry swearing as Batman made his way through the facility. But there was none of that. The place felt dreary. Like a heavy blanket had settled over the place, muffling the loud personalities Arkham was known to house. Batman’s eyes narrowed under his cowl as he took in the slumping bodies and defeated expressions most of the inmates sported. Until he finally got to the cell of one Mr. Freeze.

The body had already been removed, as it should. The man deserved at least that much dignity. The room was a shock, however. It seemed cluttered and messy, where Fries was usually immaculate and tidy. Trash was spilling out of the trashcan, unemptied and untended. Bits of paper were ripped from one of the many books kept in the cell. Said books were not kept in their proper place, but instead laid around the cell haphazardly. The chair for the desk was still on its side on the floor, makeshift noose hanging from the ceiling.

The security guard that escorted them fidgeted uneasily outside the cell, giving them room to work. Red Robin started going through books, careful not to disturb anything that could be evidence. Batman analyzed the whole scene before him. 

There was very little to glean that Barbara had not already reported. It seemed very much like the many suicides Batman had witnessed over the years. No sign of foul play. It seemed to be cut and dry that Victor had finally just...had enough. Batman ignored the sense of regret that began to build in his chest.

“It really is a tragedy,” A voice broke Batman out of his musing. He hid his surprise well and turned to see Dr. Spectra in the flesh. Batman felt goosebumps as he looked into her eyes. He had not heard her approach at all. “He had come so far. I really should have been more attentive. I just didn’t realize he had been having such thoughts. It is such a waste.”

“A waste?” Batman asked. Dr. Spectra smiled at him.

“Yes. So much potential. Such a brilliant man, brought so low by his grief. He could have done so much in the world,” Dr. Spectra shook her head. “So much potential. You shouldn’t blame yourself, you know.”

“Why would I blame myself?” Batman stepped closer to the Doctor, who held her ground.

“Do you not? That is a very healthy attitude, then. I just assumed since you knew him for years that you might be feeling some guilt. Since you were never able to get through to him,” Dr. Spectra said nonchalantly. “I certainly feel bad, and I only knew him for a few months. I can only imagine how bad the people who have been trying to help him for years feel. But I suppose it really isn’t my place to tell you how you feel.”

Batman did not respond to such a statement. Truly, he did feel some guilt. He should have done more. He had tried to talk to Victor many times, but to no avail. But this was not his fault. He knew it was not his fault. Logically it was not his fault.

“If you never need anyone to talk to, I am available. No need to take off the mask and the cape. Sometimes it just helps to talk to someone,” Dr. Spectra said, putting a hand on the Bat’s shoulder. When did she get so close? Batman shook her off with a glare.

“Is there anything I should know about your other patients? Have any of them displayed any questionable behavior?” Batman said. Dr. Spectra crossed her arms.

“You are free to go and see them yourself. Honestly, I think they could use the company. All the people in Arkham are just so...miserable,” Dr. Spectra turned, and walked away. Batman watched her until he was out of sight.

“Red Robin,” Batman said. Tim was suddenly at his side. “See what you can find about the sessions with Dr. Spectra and Victor Fries.”

“Okay. What are you going to do?” Red Robin was already typing on his portable computer.

“I’m going to go see the Joker,” Batman walked away, the security guard jumping out of his way.

Batman didn’t need to know the way to where the Joker was kept. He was familiar with the long walk, through many security checks. The different locked doors that guard after guard swiped keycards to let him through. The Batman stayed silent, not having to communicate his intent.

Before long, Batman stood looking into the tempered glass that housed Gotham’s most notorious villain. The Joker sat there, scribbling on a paper with a black crayon. Amorphous blobs of black were doodled across multiple sheets of paper that littered the floor of the cell. The scribbling stopped when Batman made himself known.

“You’ve been quiet, Joker,” Batman said. The Joker said nothing, continuing his scribbling on the sheet in front of him. He did not turn to acknowledge Batman. Batman stepped closer to the glass, taking note of the black shapes on the pages. Each of them seemed to harbor a pair of glowing red eyes.

“Victor Fries is dead. Do you know anything about it?” Batman asked. Once more, the Clown stopped his scribbling, but did not look up.

“...no,” The joker responded.

“No,” Batman repeated. “Is that all you have to say?”

Batman watched the Joker nod, before continuing his scribbling even more frantic than before. Batman waited for the Joker to continue. To say anything. But the Joker completely ignored him. After a while, Batman turned to leave.

“...goodbye,” Batman paused as he heard the Joker speak no louder than a whisper. He turned back to see the criminal still scribbling, making no motions to continue the conversation. Batman left the area, mind working overtime. 

He knew something was very wrong. Since the Clown no longer laughed. 

[echoghost1]

Beta Timeline update!

Okay, as promised here is chapter 2 of The Beta Timeline using the DannyMay 2021 Prompt Nature!

I did not mean for this to take so long but life, you know?

Story Summary: Clockwork saw Danny's future unravel long before the boy was even born. Clockwork saw a multitude of ways to avoid such a terrible future.

This is one of them.

Story Word Count: 1893

Chapter Summary: A little dirt never hurt.

Chapter word count: 1146

You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut!

Danny sat back on his heels, the cool dirt caked his bare feet even more as he admired his handiwork.

Alicia had given him the easy task of weeding out the old strawberry patch. Easy, in that it was really just one repetitive task, but it sure was a lot harder than she made it sound. Not only were some of the weeds deep-rooted, but he also had to learn the difference between the plant he was trying to salvage and the invaders.

But that wasn't what he was doing today. He had finished the weeding last week. Now it was time to harvest the fruits of his labor. He chuckled at the pun.

No, two puns! In one sentence? That has to be a personal best.

Then he saw what he had been looking for, a bright spot of red between the foliage. Carefully he leaned over to delicately bending back the leaf that covered his prize. After a quick inspection to see that it was ripe and untouched by hungry bugs he plucked the berry with a little twist.

It rolled around in the palm of his hand and he was surprised at how small it was. He was used to the ones you'd find at the grocery store, but compared to the little berry he had now, those were monstrous.

Curious if it would taste any different, Danny easily removed the stem and popped the little berry in his mouth. Despite its diminutive size, the strawberry was amazingly flavorful.

With renewed vigor, Danny hunted for the sweet elusive berries. If all homegrown food was this good, no wonder Sam had a greenhouse.

The thought made Danny pause.

He hadn't meant to think of her.

He took a breath and remembered that his therapist had warned him this would happen. Or not warned, as much as encouraged it.

Happy thoughts were good.

He had to be good. He promised.

Danny smiled and figured if Sam was here then Tucker should be too. Even if he'd hate to be stuck somewhere with no cell service. Heck, he probably say that Danny had ‘gone native’ since he was literally foraging in the forest barefoot and in overalls.

Whatever, imaginary Tucker.

It's not his fault that overalls were the most efficient clothes. Besides, he used to wear jeans all the time, this was just more jeans with the added benefit of shirts being optional. Today was too hot for a shirt anyway.

No, that was a lie.

It was just too much effort this morning. Wearing overalls was the only reason he got dressed anymore. It was just easier if he didn’t have to think about it.

Besides, there wasn't anything wrong with overalls.

Wait, that sounded familiar.

"You got a problem with jumpsuits?" His mother's voice echoed in his mind.

Oh crud, this was just the outdoors version of his parent’s signature jumpsuits, wasn't it?

Whatever.

Danny went back to his task of picking strawberries.

================================================

He had completely lost track of time as he filled the basket. He hadn’t even noticed how low the sun was until he heard Alicia calling for him from the other side of the yard.

He stood up and brushed the stray grass and pine needles off of his knees before picking up the basket and heading back to the house.

“Well, that’s quite the crop you got there,” Alicia praised as she looked over his basket.

It didn’t look that full to him, but these were small berries so maybe it was a lot.

“How many did you eat?”

“Only a couple,” he admitted but then crumpled under her continued stare, “of handfuls.” he finished.

She just laughed and pulled him into a one-armed side hug, “So are they Fenton Approved?”

He nodded because they were really good. The best strawberries he ever had, good.

“Now just wait until we make jam and pie filling out of ‘em?”

“Do you think there’s enough for that?” he was pretty sure you need an obscene amount of fruit to make juice so that had to be true for the other stuff too, didn’t it?

“This isn’t the only wild strawberry patch in Arkansas.” She ruffled his hair and then gently pushed him towards the house, “Now go set those in the kitchen and get washed up. I got to get a few things to get in town and I could use the extra set of arms to hold things.”

He did as he was told but they both knew she just making excuses. She could go to the store on her own just as she had for the last ten years.

It was the leaving Danny alone thing that was the issue. Or maybe she just wanted to make sure he actually saw other people besides her, his therapist, and the receptionist at the therapist’s office.

Both of those seemed more likely than her needing help with shopping.

Neither of those things needed to be addressed.

He was…better. Not fine, not by a long shot, but definitely better than he was when he got there.

He was actually talking to his therapist now instead of just brooding and being suspicious that it was just Spectra in a really good disguise that wasn’t triggering his ghost sense for whatever reason. He was very glad that she was an actual therapist.

He still felt bad that he had to make his aunt drive so far just to see her though. There wasn’t a lot in the teeny tiny town of Spitoon and ‘good head doctors’, were one of the many things there were lacking. The town only had one doctor and he just kind of did everything unless you needed something serious, then he’d happily send you to an actual hospital.

Danny finished washing up and gave himself a quick once over in the cracked bathroom mirror. His cheeks were a little redder than they were this morning but it didn’t look too bad. He really should have put on sunscreen.

“Danny, we gotta go!” Alicia called from the front and Danny hurriedly ran a hand through his hair to get it more or less back to its usual level of disheveled before heading out and jumping in the truck.

She successfully started the truck on the second try but then gave him a look.

“What?” he double-checked and he had buckled his seat belt, so he wasn’t quite sure what that face was for.

“You forgot your shoes.”

He looked down and yup, he totally forgot. He’d gotten so used to just walking around barefoot in her yard that it completely slipped his mind.

He unbuckled his belt and slipped out of the truck and back into the house to grab the first pair of shoes he could reach before running back.

Once he was in the truck again, they were off.

[fabiasheen]

Bakugan Defenders of The Core

Episode 10: Party in the USA

• YAY SHUNS BACK

• i got caught by the vexos security like 5 fucking times bc i stopped giving a shit

•lync never gives up does he?

• this time he brought volt oop

•aight let’s go

•we choosing midnight percival for this one

•percival should just stab the bakugan with his sword

•alas this is a children’s game (,:

• eX CALiBUUUURRRRRR

• i really woke up today and chose violence

•but what else is new

•THE BATTLE AGAINST BRONTES, VOLT, AND WIRED HAS NO REASON FOR BEING THIS STRESSFUL

•WHY IS ALTAIR GOING FOR THE LANDMARK

•GOD DAMMIT IT GOT DESTROYED

• time to replay

•anyways shun just talking during the battle is what’s keeping me sane rn

•fuck you brontes, i hate your charged shot

•shun: “just like we practiced!” ummmm no?? YOU WERENT EVEN THERE FOR 90% OF THE GAME

•shun deserved to be with us smh

•oh well LMFAO

•also mc wouldve not had ANY TIME to train with shun

•JESUS CHRIST FINALLY

•i won that fucking battle

•periodt percival as you SHOULD

• lync talking and then winking randomly is so fucking weird

•THE TIMING AND LIPSYNC TOO I-

• WHY IS THE US VEXOS SECURITY SYSTEM IN THE US SO BBVWHAHWNS

•thanks for the anxiety omg

•at this point in just walking carelessly into the guards

•also i lost all my vexos passes too

•WHY DO THEY STILL ACCEPT MY VEXOS PASSES

• i would’ve thought by now the vexos guards would be warned about mc and knwo their face by now HAHA

•oh well we have strong plot armor anyways

•i love how in this battle hades is just minding his own business and shooting my holograms while elicos feral ass tries to come @ us

•mylene: do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?!

yes very much. now step aside while i literally drag elico

•THE BATTLE GOT SO LAGGY IN THE SECOND PART JESUS CHRIST

•i don’t recall ingrams charged shots taking long to charge

•”hmph, i don’t get it” me either

•alright so now we are back in the plan for the very last time, imma see what these peoples thoughts are !

•marucho, we’ve been knew that the vexos are in the area-

•DID YOU JUST NOT SEE THE FIGHT BETWEEN ME MYLENE AND SHADOW???

•dan i’m 100% sure spectras already found a way to reach abyss

•ty for the nice comment shun (,:

•mira you just decided NOW that you wanted to stop your brother ???

•no baron, we aren’t teaching you anything. mc gonna hop into that interspace once this entire mission is done

•”you’ve... changed a lot”. ace is that a good or a bad thing-

[raidbossmadi]

Rough Patch

Early CoV

Tyreen paced up and down the length of the Cathedral infirmary waiting room. She was glad that aside from the glass door, the walls of the room were thick metal. The God-Queen couldn’t be caught nervously wringing her hands as she paced like a captive lion. Not that she looked like the God-Queen when she was draped in a too big hooded jacket over a thin tank top, however she couldn’t settle down or stop herself. Troy was in surgery; perhaps the most extensive operation he’d been through besides breaking his jaw when they were teenagers.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it would be ok, that this was necessary. It wasn’t his fault he was so fragile, a fact that had been repeated to her by her parents since they’d been born back on Nekrotafeyo. She’d always had to be strong while she watched their parents dote over him, their mother boosting him with her own siren energy when he was running low. Tyreen had never been sickly, only catching a cold once or twice in her childhood,and she had never been severely injured before the incident with the guardians.It had always been so hard to wrap her head around the fact that her twin brother, who had once even been a part of her could be so sickly in return.

It was for that reason that Tyreen was grateful when Allison had sat her down and explained in great detail what they would be doing to Troy in this operation. She had been the one to catch that the scrap contraption Troy called a right arm was pulling his spine out of alignment and exacerbating a congenital defect in his vertebra. Without this operation the damage would worsen,and the neurological symptoms would become unavoidable. Allison had also gotten Troy to agree to getting a neural port installed so that he could actually use the arm instead of just hanging off him like the hunk of scrap it was.

None of that helped now,though,she was still anxious about what was going on beyond the waiting room door. In her mind, images flashed of her brother flayed open on a cold operation table picked through like an animal being dissected. Their fathers' warnings of what the corporations would do to them repeated over these images. She hated how the infirmary smelled, so sterile and clean. It felt fake like that, especially here on Pandora. Nothing should be this clean not even if it was a medical practice.

Tyreen stopped her pacing and shook her head, this was ridiculous. Allison Spectra was the woman who had saved them when she had been sure Troy was about to die in the Promethean slums. She had been their doctor for years at this point there was no reason to think she would suddenly be untrustworthy, especially when she’d brought in one of the best neurosurgeons in the six galaxies to aid in the operation. Troy was literally in the most capable hands he could be in, she just needed to relax.

She sat down in the chair she had left her bag on and fished out her echo-phone. Everyone in the Inner Circle knew what was going on, and Juni had assured her that they would handle things until Troy was stable. Tyreen still couldn’t help but check in on the morning reports, Jaxon had just finished leading the sermon. While it was a relief that the Children of the Vault could run itself without her constant supervision. Tyreen felt like it was all she had control of in this moment. If she truly needed to, she could phone Juni and have her do whatever she needed done, of course she knew that she should just let it rest, for now, and focus on the things at hand but it was comforting to know that one thing at least was always in her control.

She did however open the channel she used to talk to all the department heads. The moment her icon took a green aura indicating she was online she immediately got pinged by Juni.

Juniper (Marketing) : TYREEN! Turn it off!

Juniper (Marketing): You promised you’d look after yourself, micromanaging us isn’t looking after yourself Tyreen. I can handle things while you worry about yourself and Troy, Jaxon is on the alert too she promised to handle anything that comes her way.

Tyreen huffed at the messages, even though they made her feel fuzzy inside. Knowing that Juni was looking after her she couldn’t just not answer.

Tyreen (God Queen): Thanks. I’ll head off now, you remind me to get you a gift basket or three when this is handled.

She closed the app and sifted through some current news articles looking for anything to distract her. Until the door clicked open, one of the nurses stepped out and was almost immediately accosted by Tyreen.

“Is it done? Is he ok? He’s ok right?”Tyreen would never act like this if she thought it would get out into the general public but the medical team was sworn to secrecy the same way the department heads were.

“God-Queen, we aren’t done quite yet. Dr.Spectra wanted to speak with you. She’ll be out in a moment.”The nurse said in a tone that had anyone else used they would have found themselves husked. Today though nobody would be husked, these people were here to do a job.

The nurse disappeared back behind the door and after what felt like entirely too long the familiar face of Allison Spectra stepped into the room. Most of her definable features were masked off by her surgical scrubs but her amber eyes that softened when they focused on Tyreen were unmistakable.

“Ah Tyreen, don’t worry everything’s been going perfectly fine. We’ve installed all the vertebral implants and Dr.Sampson is getting ready to install the neural port. Actually that’s what I wanted to speak with you about, as I’m sure you can imagine it’s a bit of a delicate process and while Dr.Sampson is the best neuro specialist in this arm of the galaxy things can still be a little tricky.”Allison held up a hand as Tyreen began to glare at her.

Tyreen weighed the words carefully. She did not want to jump to any conclusions but Allison more so than anybody else in the CoV would know how seriously Tyreen took her brother's health. How could she not when she had been the one who had found a freshly rained on frantic eighteen year old in the lobby of her private practice on Promethea sobbing and begging for help, that her brother was sicker than he’d ever been. Allison had only ever been here to help, and she knew that.

“Shouldn’t you, y’know be in there then? Not out here with me?”She said after what felt like an insufferably long pause. Surely if the operation was not done, one of the attending physicians shouldn’t be out here with her just because she was wearing a track into the floor.

“I’m not a neurosurgeon if you’ll recall,the nurses can handle watching his vitals. There’s no reason for me to be clogging up the operating room when there’s nothing more I can do.”Allison took her mask and gloves off, shoving them into a pocket of her operating scrubs, then placed a gentle hand on Tyreens leg.”Besides, I figured you could use some company.”

Tyreen said nothing to that. It was true she could use the company. How often did she forget that despite all her bluster she was a person, there was only so much she could shoulder by herself before the bottled up emotions ran over. She said nothing but let the hand remain, a good little reminder that she deserved the comfort of others.

——

Tyreen didn’t know what to expect when she walked into Troy’s hospital room. The only force driving her forward right now was the need for visual confirmation that her twin was alive and well. Dr.Sampson had used a lot of big medical terms she didn’t really understand while telling her the operation had been successful. To be honest her brain had mostly blocked out everything he’d said after confirming that Troy had taken all the implants well. She knew that anything that she needed clarification on she could turn to Allison for, but nothing would settle her other than seeing Troy herself.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she entered the room. Time seemed to slow around her as she looked at the heavily bandaged figure that lay in the hospital bed. Her mind immediately registered him as her brother. However,he looked so different in that moment, even when he’d needed his jaw glued back together he still looked like Troy. Laying in the bed now he looked so small.

She was transported back in an instant to Nekrotafeyo, to the days when she would be pulled by her father kicking and screaming away from the bed while her mother would cradle Troy’s tiny body in her lap, how still he would be sometimes. This was just like that only mom and dad weren’t here now to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be alright.

Allison and Dr.Sampson had both warned her that it wouldn’t be pretty, that there would probably be blood seepage,but not to worry unless it seemed excessive.Even so,the bloodstained bandages caught her attention.She was glad that Troy was being pumped full of the best pain killers on the market because even without seeing what lay under the bandages it looked so painful.

It took every ounce of self-control she had to not just touch him with her powers and take the pain away. The doctors had been very clear with her that she could not make the same mistake she’d made with his jaw. He would be laid up for a month at the longest;they had to let his body heal naturally or he would likely be paralyzed if not worse. She perched in the chair by his bedside so afraid that if she were to so much as breathe on him he would turn to dust before her eyes.

She hummed softly, the old lullaby their mother used to sing when they were scared or afraid. Leda had so many lullabies that Tyreen felt like she did no justice to. They were, however, one of the last tenuous strands to their mother they had left and in this moment she needed the strength that Leda had always had.

***

Tyreen was determined to sit vigil at her brother's bedside; she hadn’t left the room in days. When the medical team would come in to check on him she’d excuse herself to the bathroom or go stand in the hallway. She had seen them change his bandages once and that had been one time too many for her. Allison asked her if she’d eaten every time she came in and Tyreen lied through her teeth, she hadn’t left the infirmary ward at all, for once in her life her ability to sustain herself without eating was useful.

She’d fallen out of the habit of checking her echo every ten minutes, if someone needed her attention so desperately they could message her. She was deep in thought when movement at the door caught her attention and Juniper walked in. Tyreen had forgotten that she’d given Juni permission to enter the ward if she so chose to, but she was glad to see a familiar face from outside the ward.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Tyreen echoed back at her, her gaze never straying. Juniper dragged a chair from the corner of the room and sat next to her God-Queen.

“How’s he doing?” She asked, placing a hand on Tyreen’s shoulder.

“Fine. They’re gonna have him sleep through the worst of it.”

“And how are you doing chica? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“I haven’t. Not really at least. I’ve caught a few hours here and there but…I just worry something awful will happen to him while I sleep.” Tyreen rubbed her eyes, she felt like a ghost of herself.

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for that Tyreen. You know that right? This is out of your hands now.” Juni soothed giving the other woman's leg a reassuring squeeze.

“I can though. This is my fault, the fact that he needed the operation at all, the fact he’s so sick all the time. All of it.”

“Would you blame yourself if he was like this and you hadn’t been born the way the both of you had been?”

Silence met the question and after a long pause with no answer in sight Juniper sighed.“ I get it. He’s your family, he’s all you got, but that doesn’t mean you can tear yourself apart like this.”

She sighed again and looked to the door before looking back at Tyreen. “Listen, when I was just a little younger than you my family lived in the Promethean slums. Folks didn’t care about what ended up in the air or water cos we were the underbelly and they were progress. I had a younger sister and I had to sit and watch as she got sicker and sicker and nobody gave a damn. I had to watch my sister suffer and die and accept there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. As the older or stronger sibling we so often feel like it’s on us alone to protect our siblings, but we can’t do it all Tyreen.”

“Troy’s a tough guy, and you're literally sitting in one of the best medical facilities on Pandora. He’ll be alright and if he does need you? Shouldn’t you be in the best condition you can be to provide for him. Please just get something to eat, have a nap. I’ll stay here and watch him for you Ty.”

Tyreen looked up at Juniper, there were tears in both of their eyes and a look of understanding Tyreen had never seen from another person before. She had always thought her burdens were things she couldn’t share with anyone else, she hadn’t even considered that other people would feel powerless in such a situation. She figured that regular people just accepted that other peoples lives were out of their control. For Juniper to understand her pain and be willing to watch over Troy in her place, it touched her. Juniper was among the few people Tyreen considered a genuine friend and this only cemented that thought for her.

She got up slowly, feeling a bit dizzy. Perhaps she did need to eat more than she thought she did. She gave Juniper a small tired smile.

“Promise you’ll call if anything changes.”

“You’ll be the first to know hun.” Juni patted her shoulder and tilted her head towards the door. “Go on, go take care of yourself.”

[maskedemerald]

Weaving Webs CH5

Here is chapter five of my Invisobang fic! The wonderful @pricklenettle did some fantastic art that you'll see embedded through out the fic!

You can check out the fic here or on AO3!

If you like this consider dropping us both a follow!

Warnings: Body horror, manipulation, Spectra is her own content warning, Burns, Spider - for like 2 chapters then it goes away.

The Fenton parents were there when the accident happened, they saw Danny die in an act of sabotage. Now they’re just trying to go on with the strange ghost that is all that's left of Danny. While their old college friend is wondering where the subjects of his revenge are.

[First] [Previous] [Next]

Chapter Five

Jack knocked on the door of Jazz’s bedroom. She’d been shut in her room aside from the occasional appearance in the kitchen for meals since the incident. It had only been a few days but he couldn’t help but be worried. She also wasn’t answering. He knew it wasn’t intentionally Danny’s fault, the ghost was downstairs waiting. Add on to that the ghost didn’t seem to have any intentional actions.

“Jazzerincess? We're watching a movie! Something fun!” He called through the door hoping that it would tempt her.

There was a long silence before a strained voice replied, “can't Dad, I've got too much catching up to do.”

He frowned, he should have expected that. She’d always been deep into her school work, it made sense that she’d throw herself into it even more now. What would Jazz call it? A coping mechanism?

“You sure?”

“Yes Dad.”

“Then how about we all help out in the kitchen?” He offered, that would help right?

“… no,” she said quietly, “I… just go away…”

Jack sighed, slumping as he moved away from the door. He’d been hoping for just a little bit of normal. For all of them. He’d managed to pull Maddie out of the lab and actually for once Danny was the easiest to get involved, but he tried not to think about why.

Jack trudged back down the stairs to the living room where Maddie and Danny were waiting. Maddie sat on the sofa, her limbs held close and taught, ready to move at a moment's notice. Her eyes not even straying up to him from watching Danny. He hated how uncomfortable everyone was. Even him.

He dropped onto the sofa, it sagged and Maddie tilted into him. She jolted and then relaxed against him, marginally. Danny looked up at him from where he was curled up on one of the arm chairs. Jack doubted he had legs right now with how twisted up he was. There was a questioning tilt to his head. The lights overhead flickered a little and a line scanned across the TV. It was just a little off from the consistent flickers that Danny caused.

“Is Jazz coming?” Maddie asked.

“She said no… I don’t think she’s doing well.”

Maddie sighed, “I don’t think any of us are. She’ll work through it in her own time. We can’t rush her. Just give her space,” she paused, “it's better that way anyway. At least up there she’s not near the ghost. Not in danger.”

“Right…” he glanced at Danny’s ghost, “you still want to watch?”

The TV fizzed with static, the screen sharply filling with snow. Danny shot off flying past the TV and up through the ceiling. Had he understood what was going on?

“I hope he isn't mad…” Jack frowned looking at where he had vanished.

“You saw how it reacted. We should go find it before it does something,” Maddie said, getting to her feet.

“It's Danny, Maddie. he'll come round,” Jack consoled.

“That was before he was a ghost… we still don't know when the other shoe will drop,” she looked away, “I don’t want it to but all the research says it will happen.”

Jack’s face fell. He didn’t want to think like that either. He wanted to think that Danny was different. He’d seemed so excited to be watching a movie together after everything that had happened but they couldn’t be sure if he really understood what was happening aside from them all sitting together. It was so hard to tell anything with him no matter how much Jack wanted to believe that he was just the same Danny. He wouldn’t be, there was no way that this Danny wasn’t different. Their research was certain of that. Their research said if a ghost didn’t get what it wanted then destruction and chaos was only a matter of time.

“Dad! Something’s wrong with my laptop!” Jazz’s voice called down the stairs.

Maddie frowned, “you check on Jazz. I’ll look for Danny.”

Jack nodded, he wanted to look for Danny too but Jazz needed support. Fixing her laptop was something even if it wasn’t as big an impact as he was hoping for. Both of them headed up the stairs but Maddie turned to go to Danny’s room. One Danny hadn’t been in at all the last few days. He’d mostly been sticking close to the rest of them. The chill that had vanished when Danny left returned at the top of the stairs. A confirmation that he was still upstairs and hadn’t looped back down into another room. That he hadn’t tried to go through the roof. Technically it was ghost proofed but there had never been a chance to test it with a real ghost.

Jazz's laptop screen was completely covered by a snowstorm of static. the speakers sounded like crumpling tinfoil and uncomfortably electrical. It would fizz and crackle as the static distorted Even more across the display. Jack tapped at buttons to no effect. Whatever this was, he was going to need his tool kit and a replacement screen. Maybe even a whole new laptop with the noise the speakers were making.

“Huh looks like your screen’s gone. Oh maybe we have something we can use in the lab!”

Jazz’s frustrated expression dropped and she paled, “no! No need. I’ll… I’ll just plug it into Danny’s monitor. No need for experimental things from the lab Dad.”

Jack deflated, right. Of course that was a bad idea. Even if it was sabotage they still didn’t know if anything else was affected. Jazz would want nothing to do with the lab after what happened.

“Right, okay no lab stuff. How about we check it with Danno’s monitor and if it's still funny I’ll take it to a repair shop tomorrow.”

Jazz nodded and leant over to reach the plug under her desk. She yelped and her chair clattered to the floor. She stumbled backwards leaving a clear view of under her desk. What he had thought was a light from her checking the plug already was actually the glow of Danny. The ghost was huddled under the desk, knees pulled up to his chest in a way that shouldn’t have been possible in the bulky suit if he wasn’t a ghost. His glowing eyes were watching them. His hands tangled in the power cable.

Jack startled, grabbing Jazz and pulling her back before he had a chance to think. Danny was unlikely to be a danger at the moment. He was probably just there because Jazz was.

“Danny?” Jazz breathed.

“Fizzzt crackle Jazz zpt Jazzy crackle fizzzt,” her speakers crackled as Danny twisted the power cable.

The noise was grating like nails down a chalkboard but at the same time there was something he was sure he’d heard in all that crackling static. It had been her name. Jazzy was something static didn’t normally sound like.

“Jazzy? Wait… are you… are you talking?”

“Ghost Speak! The tech interference is Ghost Speak! Mads, mads! Did you hear that!”

He was talking! There had been theories about the interference being an attempt to communicate in the research for years but there had never been definitive proof. Most recordings had just been white noise and the words too indistinct enough to actually be words. Even before this Danny’s interference had just been proximity based. Had he been trying to communicate all that time and only just figured it out?

Maddie whipped through the door, her pistol ready. Still expecting the other shoe to have dropped. Jack was less concerned, if Danny was going to do anything he would have before he was discovered.

“What happened?” she asked, aiming the pistol defensively.

“Danno’s talking!” Jack grinned.

“Talking?” She blinked, surprised. The weapon was lowered slightly.

“Fizzzt crackle lone? zpt lonely? Crackle sad fizzzt.” the laptops speakers garbled out.

Maddie stared. Jack let Jazz go, Danny wasn’t the threat. They were. He was a lonely child, a one that depending how much he remembered had been through something horrifyingly traumatic. And Maddie and him were treating him like a ticking time bomb. Jack had wanted to believe but he was still on edge. Expecting the worst despite his hope. He didn’t even hesitate to pull Jazz away.

Jazz sat down on her bed, more a slump than a sit. Tears down her face. Jack had a feeling she was also blaming herself for avoiding Danny.

“You’re not, we’re here Danny,” she muttered softly.

Jack pushed Maddie’s pistol lower and approached Danny, “it's alright Danno. We’re all here. You're not alone.”

“Fizzt Jazzt… Jazzt fizzt zpt lonely… Crackle”

It was hard to understand the words past the crackle and static. Not to mention the fragmented broken nature of the words. It helped that his eyes were focused on Jazz past him.

“Fizzzt missssss you… crackle Jazzzt alone Fizzt”

“Me?” Jazz questioned, “all this and you’re worrying about me? Oh Danny. I’m… okay okay, I’m not alright. I just…”

That was Danny, or at least some of Danny. A small confirmation that something more had carried over. He knew them, he could communicate and he was worrying about Jazz. Or at least that's what it looked like. He could see it in Maddie’s face. The way she still held the pistol that she was still wary. Still doubtful. It actually gave Jack a little hope that there was more of Danny in there.

“The movie is still on the table,” he offered.

Jazz nodded, “okay… I’ll try.”

[First] [Previous] [Next]

With that we have words for Danny! His mind's not all there and he doesn't know how to people but he speaks.

[srsly-messed-up-fruitloop]

Tug of War (Ch 3)

ch 1 - prev - next

Word Count: 1,495

(AKA the random Christmas chapter)

The next week, Danny was greeted by the sight of a very pissed off Sam giving Tucker the silent treatment. He had warned him.

Sitting down in his seat, Danny hesitantly asked, “Hey Sam, how was your trip?”

Her vicious glare redirected to him. “Danny, how could you let him install the grill?”

Read on AO3 or under the cut

“Uh…” He looked over to Tucker, who looked like he was about to cry. “I told him it was a bad idea.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I tried, Sam.”

Sam glowered at him for a moment longer before sighing. “Fine. Trip was alright. But I’m so behind on everything now.”

He took notice of her slightly tanned face. “Didn’t get much time to study?”

“No, ugh. My parents wouldn’t leave me alone for a second.”

“Sounds like they’re gonna miss you when you’re gone off to college,” he remarked, remembering his own parents.

“I won’t be gone off to college if they don’t let me study,” she huffed.

Right then, Mr. Lancer strolled in the classroom wearing a Christmas sweater with “TO BE OR NOT TO BE JOLLY” knitted on the front.

Danny couldn’t help the scornful look that appeared on his face. He never could stand the holidays. Every year, when stores started playing their annoyingly repetitive Christmas playlists, every channel on TV kickstarted their broadcast of the same five Christmas movies, and everybody in his life began to treat each other with an exaggerated cheer, he just wanted to vomit. Call him a Scrooge, the Grinch, he doesn’t care. He’d rather go to sleep and wake up in January than go through it all again.

Later that day after school, Danny questioned his entire purpose as he weaved around the mall’s annoying Christmas decorations (more like obstacles) to chase Spectra. Apparently, for the last week, she has been making kids miserable by telling them Santa Claus isn’t real. Which...well, despite how true she is, it still isn’t right for her to relish in their despair.

“Aww Danny, you’re so boring. You won’t even let me have some fun, it’s almost Christmas,” Spectra teased as she shot an ectoblast behind her towards him.

Danny grunted, barely dodging it. “I think you’re misunderstanding the definition of fun. One, in any dictionary you will not find ‘making children miserable’ under ‘fun’. Two, nothing associated with Christmas is fun.”

“Ah right, I almost forgot how much of a Scrooge you are. But we know you act this way to hide something deeper. Tell me Danny, why do you bury those traumatic memor—”

“Shut up Spectra!” Danny yelled before shooting a blast back at her.

She easily dodged it, and smirked at how easily ruffled the boy got. His frustration was so delicious! Spotting Bertrand in his human form, quietly approaching with a string of colourful fairy lights behind him, her smile grew even wider.

Before Danny could react, Bertrand tossed the fairy lights like a lasso, catching his leg and slamming him to the ground. The mall tile instantly cracked upon impact.

Bertrand harshly pulled a Santa hat over the boy’s head before flying off with his companion, cackling.

Wes filmed the entire exchange with his brand new camera while he hid behind a trash receptacle. He couldn’t help but wince when Fenton hit the tile.

“Eh, he’s a ghost, he’ll be fine,” he muttered to himself, zooming in on Fenton’s form as he slowly got up.

Fenton yanked the hat off his head and grumbled, “I hate Christmas,” before chucking it to the ground and taking off to confront the two ghosts again.

Wes stopped the camera and frowned. Fenton hates Christmas?

How could anyone—okay, sure, no doubt the concept of Santa actually came from Satan and the holidays are practically an excuse in today’s society for corporations to milk more money from their consumers. But, even he himself couldn’t help but feel a little happier during the holidays!

Of course, this only further proves Fenton’s true identity. Only a ghost could feel so hateful towards such a merry time of the year, right?

Suddenly, an imaginary light bulb lit up above Wes’ head. His eyes locked on the nearest store selling Christmas decorations and he naughtily grinned.

~

If Danny could have it his way, he’d just spend the entire day lying in bed. His back was so sore from the fight with Spectra and Bertrand yesterday. Even his self-healing abilities weren’t enough to ease the pain.

Of course, he had to show up today, he had a math test. And a physics lab that counted for twenty percent of his grade. He couldn’t even tell himself that he could rest after school, his entire week was jam-packed with assignment deadlines. It was the last week before winter break but to Danny, it felt like an eternity would pass before he’d get to relax.

He was so looking forward to the break. Don’t get him wrong, he still despised everything to do with Christmas. But he’d happily welcome a break any day. Ghosts also generally calm down around this time because of their truce. Although, Spectra yesterday definitely was an exception.

Before he pondered any longer on that thought, Danny sluggishly opened his locker and froze at what he saw. Every inch of it was covered in loud red and green Christmas wrapping paper, flashing multi-coloured fairy lights lined the door, and ornaments hung from the two hooks. He went to grab his physics textbook and growled when he realized all of his books were also covered in wrapping paper.

“Woah there Danny, I thought you weren’t much of the festive type?”

Danny whipped his head towards the sound of Sam’s voice. “I didn’t do this! Wes—he even wrapped my textbooks!”

It only infuriated him even more when he noticed Sam trying to suppress a laugh. “It’s not funny!”

However those words were lost to her when she couldn’t contain it anymore. Danny scowled and began ripping off the paper on his textbooks.

A few moments later, Sam finally calmed down just when he started to harshly tug on the fairy lights. “You know, even though it’s pretty cheesy to me, people do this. The whole decorating lockers kind of thing. Heck, Paulina still maintains that shrine of you in hers. Maybe Wes just really likes Christmas?”

“But I don’t! It’s my locker too,” he angrily insisted as he continued to pull.

“True. You should still talk to him before doing that,” she said, watching him grip an ornament as if he wanted to crush it.

He paused. “Why are you even trying to defend Wes when you still won’t talk to Tucker?”

She instantly shot an indignant look at him. “That is totally different! I told him not to do it, yet he did it anyways!”

“ You should still talk to him ,” Danny repeated in a mocking tone.

“Ugh! Fine, go and tear down those decorations!” she snapped before stomping off towards their first class.

He coolly observed her retreating form for a moment before crushing the ornament in his hand.

~

Danny and Sam were already sitting at their lunch table toying with their food and complaining about all their assignments when Tucker walked up to them with a steaming tupperware container. Sam’s look instantly melded into a glare.

“Tucker seriously? I already told you to get rid of that grill and now you’re here making food for yourself?“

“Sam. Here, take this.” Tucker calmly offered the container.

“You know I don—“ she stopped mid-sentence when she noticed it was filled with grilled zucchini slices.

“Try one,” Tucker urged. “I promise, I cleaned the grill properly before cooking these.”

Danny was almost sure she was going to reject it. Except, she grudgingly reached out and grabbed one with her spork.

“What did you put on this?”

He shrugged, “Olive oil, some salt, black pepper, herbs, garlic and onion powder, oh and balsamic vinegar. Just like how you taught me.”

She eyed the slice for a moment longer before taking a bite.

“Look, by the end of lunch, if you still don’t want it, I’ll uninstall the grill, alright?” Tucker proposed.

Sam seemed much calmer now and Danny couldn’t tell if she liked the zucchini or not. “Tucker, I’m mad at you because you didn’t listen to me. It’s our locker we share together, we’re supposed to make decisions together.“

“I’m sorry Sam. I just...”

“Listen, you promise that you’ll take full blame when a teacher finds out?”

“No teacher is goi—”

“Tucker.”

“Alright, I promise.”

This time, Sam smiled and went to grab another slice of zucchini. “What do you say about me bringing in a spice rack tomorrow?”

Tucker looked at her in disbelief for a second before responding, “Heck yeah!”

Meanwhile, Danny was grinning. His friends will always have their squabbles. But somehow, they manage to work it out in the end every time.

Abandoning his own bland lunch, he picked up his spork just when Tucker began to dig in.

[its-rat-time-babey]

Amity park headcanons:

Mail carriers often carry empty “decoy boxes” that appear different than their other packages (perfectly square and usually painted gold or other metallic colours) to offer to the box ghost. He gets the shiny decoy box and in return the mail carrier gets to deliver their actual package without any issues.

The box ghost will sometimes even reward the people that give him especially good quality boxes by protecting them from other ghosts.

Cujo may have been the first Axion guard dog to come back as a ghost, but he was far from the last. Amity Parkers eventually nicknamed this type of ghost “Axion dogs”, a nickname which soon spread to cover most doglike ghosts.

Basically if you hear people talking about an “Axion dog” showing up somewhere in town, don’t go there without proper protection. They were still trained guard dogs in life and even if they don’t remember exactly what they’re guarding now, they WILL treat you like an intruder if you get too close. And that’s assuming that the “Axion dog” IS an actual ghost dog, because the nickname extends to any ghost resembling a dog or wolf.

Crime rates in Amity are extremely low. They say those who break the law are better off handing themselves in, because even if you manage to get away, you may hear an unseen voice reminding you of what you did, and once you hear that voice once, no matter where you go, even outside of Amity Park, it will always find you and pull you directly into the ghost zone for eternity.

Amity Parkers are a very superstitious bunch.

All across Amity, it’s considered bad luck to step on someone else’s shadow. Especially in areas near and along the highway, because sometimes a person dressed in biker clothes will walk by, looking like a perfectly normal human being and meaning no harm to anyone. But step on their shadow and you will quickly realize just why Amity Parkers have this superstition.

And that’s not counting the one shadow that wanders Amity Park, attached to nothing, darting between alleyways. Unlike Johnny, it very much DOES mean harm. If you are seen by it, head for the nearest area with ghost protection. It will follow you, listing off everything you’ve ever hated about yourself, mocking you for everything you’ve ever regretted, but do not stop heading towards protection. It will tell you your own secrets, secrets that no one but you should know, and you will start feeling hopeless, lost, nihilistic and tired, but do not stop heading towards protection. You can cover your ears to try and block out the noise but it will continue to speak directly into your head, sometimes switching it’s voice to that of your loved ones or even to your own voice, mocking you all the way, but do not stop heading towards protection, and whatever you do, DO NOT find yourself alone with the shadow, lest it decide that feeding off your misery isn’t enough and begins to feed off of your lifeforce. If no protection is nearby but other ghosts are visible head towards them instead, as ghosts hate The Suicide Spirit just as much as humans do.

The phrase “I wish” is never spoken by anyone.

After the ghost king incident, some ghosts explained to some Amity Parkers that they never say the name of the ghost king, for fear that he may hear them and stir in his sleep. Now most of Amity Park refuses to say the name “Pariah Dark” as well, and any attempts to say it will result in all Amity Parkers in the room shushing you.

Computer parts are treated like armed bombs. Stores selling computer parts are legally required to have at least two forms of ghost protection and broken parts are destroyed or repurposed as quickly as possible.

Most stores sell two different kinds of incense. Ghost irritants, with most made from blood blossoms and a bunch of other things to dilute it down and make it safer/better smelling for humans and Ghost soothers, which are made from a wide mix of plants and herbs associated with death and the afterlife.

It’s illegal to grow blood blossoms without a license in most parts of America because they are extremely poisonous and the smoke made from burning blood blossoms is extremely bad for your health. Ghost irritants get around this by mixing the blossoms with other, less poisonous plants and various anti-ghost chemicals. Ghost irritants are too diluted to cause as much damage to ghosts as a blood blossom but they still damage the ghosts physical form if they stick around too long, not to mention that the smell of an irritant is OVERPOWERING as hell to ghosts.

The Fentons don’t use ghost irritants because Jazz, Maddie, Danny and Ellie are all genuinely allergic to blood blossoms and Danny and Ellie are both “allergic” to the stuff used in irritants that don’t include blood blossoms.

Ghost Soothers are the opposite of irritants. They calm ghosts down and safely reduce the effects of ghostly obsessions. If the ghost is rampaging because of its obsession (which is the case 90% of the time) a ghost soother can make it come to its senses and stop whatever it’s doing. It won’t work on ghosts that are genuinely malicious however, and the more a ghost is consumed by its obsession, the more soother it needs. Usually one is enough to get the ghost to peacefully leave whoever lit the incense alone though.

Things that reduce the effects of obsessions are rare to nonexistent in the ghost zone, so ghosts are common customers for shops that sell ghost soothers, often without them knowing. Sometimes they will send in a ghost that looks human enough to not raise any questions, sometimes they possess people so they can enter and some that really struggle with keeping their obsessions in check will sneak in while the store is closed and leave money on the counter.

In abandoned, run down parts of Amity it’s not uncommon to see ghosts smoking soothing incenses like cigarettes.

Even though the public’s opinion on ghosts is rather divided, all residents of Amity Park, from the Ghost lovers to the Fentons follow four rules when it comes to interacting with ghosts.

Never say it’s living name, unless the ghost gives you permission. (If you don’t have permission, saying a ghost’s living name can cause the ghost to briefly relive it’s own death and uncontrollably lash out at everything around it. This goes doubly so if the ghost doesn’t remember it’s own past.)

Never directly ask it what it’s obsession is. It’ll tell you on its own if it wants to. (Ghosts are very secretive about their obsessions and don’t take kindly to anything else trying to learn them.)

NEVER use its obsession against it or threaten its obsession. (Doing this will not only seriously piss off the ghost, but also piss off every ghost in a mile radius. To use a ghosts obsession against it is to loudly announce to the entire ghost zone, “I AM AN ASSHOLE WHO IS LOOKING FOR A FIGHT! COME AND KILL ME!”.)

Never ask it how it died. (This doesn’t cause any harm to the ghost, but it’s still considered impolite, especially if the ghost died recently. Older ghosts that have long since come to terms with being dead have no issues with being asked.)

No one in Amity Park respects the GIW. Absolutely no one.

[creepychippy]

Some Tricks for ScareScraper Mode: 

(Note: I’m gonna mention some Stuff that probably a lot of People know, just in case that there is someone who hasn’t heard of it-) 

- First and foremost, do NOT spam the A Button, as this doesn’t defeat the Ghost faster. Instead, press the A Button as soon as the Ghost hits the Ground to slam faster. 

- You can use Gooigi as Bait for the Slinkers (the Slinkers will also usually attack Gooigi instead of Luigi) 

- In case there is a Pressure Plate Room on the Floor, the first thing you and your Team should do is defeat every other Ghost inside all the Rooms that are available to you, as this will usually cause other Players to notice the Rooms that are left later on (that being the ones locked behind the Pressure Plate Room) 

- Do NOT spam Messages, as Players will usually start to avoid them instead of noticing them. Instead, 1-2 Messages will be enough for Players to notice you

- Traps: 

If you go down a Pathway, make sure to go slowly while pressing yourself on the side of the wall in case of a Rug that you can’t really see due to the angle

Real Doors have a small Carpet underneath them, Fake Doors don’t 

Closets can trap Players, so be careful with that (also, apparently according to the Wiki, Fake Wardrobes look different than Real ones)

- Make sure to not only concentrate on Money Goobs but also to search through Objects in case of a Money Mission, in order to find Clocks that add to your time (Trust me, you’ll need them) 

- In case you see a Rectangle without a Door on the Map, that’s a Secret Room (you can find the hidden Door with the Dark-Light Device) 

- You can see Ghosts with the Dark-Light Glasses 

- In case of an Power Outage, you need to go into a Storage Room/very Small Rooms that are displayed on the Map. Those have Breakers that can turn the Light on again if you flash them with your Flashlight 

- If you want to defeat a Hammer in one go, don’t slam them until their Health is at 100 

- Balconies as well as Pool Table Rooms are a blessing when it comes to finding Clocks that add to your time 

- The Hyper Strobulb Upgrade is very effective against Mini Ghosts and Crows 

- If you want to capture a Ghost that you don’t have in your Gallery yet, but another Player has also attached themselves to the Spectra, let them press A to defeat the Ghost instead of you, as this will somehow cause the defeated Ghost to be added to your Counter 

As for the new Update: 

- As you may have noticed, there are 3 new Types of Hammers that can be encountered in Hidden Rooms. However, these are really strong and very difficult to defeat on your own. If you really want to capture one, I recommend only going in there if you have a Hyper Strobulb and/or a Super Poltergust (Talking from Experience about the former one) 

One Tactic I haven’t tried yet, but might work, is going to a Pressure Plate Room and trying to get a Super Star there 

Note: There are usually 5 Hammers in there that have about 300 Health, so I’m really warning you on this one, since they’ve already managed to make me lose 2 Rounds (and therefore also disappointing my Team), because I kept getting knocked out (and didn’t really pay Attention to the Timer + I was getting greedy, since I’ve really wanted to capture them)

[weaverlings]

This Has Been Corrections

post 155 so spoilers!!

Summary: Carlos comes home, and makes dinner with his husband. Has Cecil Palmer ever eaten peppers before?

Warnings for food weirdness, mostly canon typical but gross/involving bugs)

AO3 Link

Cecil drove Carlos home after the press conference. He didn't say much. There wasn't much he could say. 

He had already asked, Are you - how are you, bunny?

And then, Are you sure? I mean I'm glad you're okay, just, Carlos, oh, Carlos-

A thousand times, a thousand variations. Or maybe just five, before Cecil had realized that Carlos actually did seem okay and at that point the questions were more likely to become stressful. So. He stopped talking. It hadn't even been that long, from the doors of the police station to the press conference to here, now, the car.

It was the physicality of it that drew the experience out, time understood through heartbeats. Cecil, catching Carlos in the long, tight hug they'd shared outside of the police station. Carlos, leaning on Cecil's arm as he tweaked the mobile broadcast setup, tangled with him like a wire, setting him sparking under his skin.

And here, now, the car. Cecil cast half-melted glances at his husband and took his hand at every stoplight. Carlos had his eyes closed. He could look so serene. He could do this; it was an ability, something he did consciously, and honestly. He felt serene - the triumph of facts and logic had bolstered him against gravity, allowing him off the couch for the first time in weeks. 

The car stopped at the light outside of their neighborhood. Carlos opened his hand and Cecil took it. They twined their fingers, palms together, and Cecil pressed Carlos' hand down against the console. It wasn't force, just pressure, just the weight of him determined to meet Carlos'. 

After Cecil had parked, he turned to Carlos, rested a hand on his shoulder this time. Carlos opened his eyes, but waited to get out.

Cecil moved the hand to Carlos' cheek. "You're okay. I trust that. I trust you. But I want you to tell me if you need anything, okay? Even though you're okay."

"Sure, Ceec." Carlos tilted his head to kiss Cecil's fingertips, and stepped out of the car. He reclaimed Cecil's hand at his first opportunity, and as they walked in, he said, "Hey. I'll handle dinner tonight, okay? You've been really good about it while I was, hmm... trapped by my own momentum. Scientifically speaking." 

"Are you sure? I mean, today was… You know." Cecil gestured vaguely, swinging their joined hands forward. "You know. It was pretty crazy. So I think I can handle one more night, if you need to rest, bunny."

"Mmm. I appreciate the thought, and you. But I want something to do with my hands."

Cecil hesitated, and said, "Then… let me help. Please." 

Carlos stopped in the entryway, spinning so quickly that his labcoat flared. Cecil just caught himself stepping back, when Carlos beamed at his husband, and clapped his hands in front of his chest. "Oh, sure! I think... I think that would be a very good 'welcome home' thing, or... Um. I'm not sure how to present it scientifically. But yes. I want to make dinner with you."

They settled on what to make, and Carlos prepared the necessary ingredients, settling into the act of making and filling a list - chickpea pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers. They were out of cilantro, but had plenty of dish soap, which Carlos preferred anyway. 

He worked with what was in front of him, and only that. He rinsed the peppers, turning them over in his hands under the water one at a time, before passing them on to Cecil to cut. Carlos cataloged the fruit's features, size and smoothness and shine, and each was a color that he thought was beautiful. This one, a vivid, dangerous red, to warn away hungry animals, mimicking the physiology of more potent poisons. At least, he thought so... 

Carlos held up the next pepper. Cecil opened his hand, and Carlos placed it in the center of his husband's palm. 

Carlos said,"It's a scientific fact that bright colors are warnings! I think that's true of nature, too. I'm not really a botanist. But it's definitely true when you're talking about chemical warnings labels-" He demonstrated with another pepper, this one an appropriate shade of yellow. "Or, of course, the higher spectra of danger as depicted on any standard danger meter."

"Like this, you mean?" Cecil spun the pepper he'd received by its stem. 

"Exactly like that!" Carlos rocked up on his toes. "So, according to standard fatality units, that pepper should be incredibly dangerous. We should have to, like, be watching for explosions or something-"

"Uh, so, should we be-" Cecil brandished the knife carefully, as if he'd never eaten peppers before. “-Doing this?”

"Oh, it's fine. There are two options here: option one is that peppers are just as dangerous as they look, for animals that contain less blood. With less blood, any toxins or venoms or poisons - which are different things, scientifically speaking - are less dilute. Also, humans are the only animals with straw-and-clay hearts that wouldn't be affected by most organic substances anyway.”

He settled back onto his heels, and held up an index finger. "Option two is just that peppers aren't very scientific. And they are kind of creepy inside, what with the bug eggs and all, so I can't discount that. It would be wrong of me to discount that without doing some research, and I've got a lot on my plate right now. So I can't say." 

"A lot of science to do, right? Hmm. You're so cute when you're excited!" Cecil kissed Carlos' forehead, and returned his attention to the cutting board and the fruit waiting on it. 

"I thought I looked like a child who wanted a toy, or who needed to pee," Carlos said. He was also facing the sink again.

"Oh." Cecil nudged a chunk of pepper away from the whole. "I did say that." 

"Mhm. You did." Carlos had picked up another pepper, but he stopped before turning on the water. They had enough peppers, anyway. Enough with the peppers. Since cooking was a science, Carlos was qualified to say that there were supposed to be other flavors in the dish.

He had sun-dried tomatoes to skin. He would do that. And then there were only those sounds: the soft tearing of vegetable flesh by hand or knife. Tomato skin landed softly in the sink. The knife landed rhythmically against the cutting board, and then scrapped its work to the side. 

"I'm sorry-"

"Carlos, I-"

They tried at the same time, and broke off. Carlos gathered himself first, or maybe did the opposite, or it wasn't so much that he did anything at all. What he had to say spilled out before he could stop it.

"I know I shouldn't have brought it up, or, if it was a problem, I should have brought it up before now. So that's on me. Anyway, it can wait. It'll wait. Can you hand me the pasta? The water's definitely ready. I think it's been ready, actually."

"Hold on. Breathe. Let me handle the pasta." Cecil claimed the box from the counter, and crossed to the stove. He tipped the pasta into water, which, thankfully, had not gotten too hot. He stirred as he spoke.  "As for whether or not you should have said… Maybe. But I could have said something, too, which is...”

Carlos watched him from the sink, with his arms wrapped around his body. “Which is?”

“Which is, I… really shouldn't have said that. I take you and your work seriously, and… nothing about that statement reflected how I think of you. So. Can I offer a correction?"

"Okay." 

Cecil flipped the spoon out of the pot, and tapped the water off. He held it under his chin. "Right. Corrections. I did feel like you were being childish. I guess. But it wasn't the way you stim. I just… felt… like you weren't listening. No matter what I said. Um. But that's all justification and excuses. I shouldn't have said that, and I'm sorry."

Carlos nodded, without relaxing. "Well… I'm sorry, too. I was so excited about doing science here, close to you, and I thought you would be too and then it took time for me to reconcile that strong preconception with the information in front of me. It's not like I didn't hear you. I did hear you. But I thought, about you, 'if I could just make him understand how cool and important these experiments are, he'd feel differently!' Which was really unfair. So. I'm sorry. That's what I've been thinking about – one thing."

"I mean, I thought I would be excited, too. I was excited about you being home more, and doing science at home. I love you, and your love of science, and all the ways you express that love! But it started to feel like you forgot about the home part, and all of these things that we chose together, and I was upset about that." 

Water hissed onto the stove, and Cecil jolted. He spun around and made the necessary adjustments to the temperature. As he resumed stirring, Carlos came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, leaning his cheek onto Cecil's back. Cecil braced his hands on the edge of the stove carefully, adjusting his posture to invite Carlos' closeness.

Cecil continued, "I missed you the whole time, honestly. I know you had to get your experiments done, and I do appreciate your finding that space. But, Carlos, darling Carlos, I missed you. I wanted you home from the moment you left. I, uh, may have… resented both your actions at home and you being gone. And that was, like, super unfair of me, too. I said something really mean because of it, and I should know better, right?"

"You should. I'm sorry for making you feel that way, and I understand that you're sorry about what you said. I accept your apology.”

He kissed Cecil's back, over the spine and between the shoulder blades.

“You should know to pay more attention to what you say, and I should know to pay more attention to things other than science. Which doesn't mean that science isn't the coolest - I have charts. Do you want me to get the charts? No. No, I don't think the charts are actually what we need right now. What I mean is, I mean, we both do know better, but look, we've spent over twenty years at home in our fields, so it probably makes sense that we're still learning what it means to be at home with each other."

Cecil laughed, just gently, just spanning a breath. He straightened up, and Carlos stepped away so that Cecil could turn around and hold him.

Cecil said, "Well... I accept your apology, too. You know how I feel about learning, but I think I can make an exception for this, if it means spending time with you." 

Carlos smiled up at him. "I know. I can tell... You were trying to make me feel at home these past few weeks."

Cecil winced. "Oh. Mhmm. I mean, I could tell it wasn't really working. You had a problem to solve, and we - our homes are within us, aren't they? You aren't at home with an unsolved problem."

"It's just the kind of people we are. It's the essence of us," Carlos agreed. "It's the things we do and the people we love and the connections and conflicts between these things..." 

"That's home," Cecil finished. "Well. I'm glad you're home. Hon, I am so proud of you for solving the crime! You're the smartest person in Night Vale!" 

He leaned down, and Carlos tilted his face up, and they kissed - not for so long, but enough to leave the sensation of breathlessness, anyway.

Cecil grinned. "I'm married to the smartest person in Night Vale! And I'm just so. So glad to have you back in our house, and home. I'm so glad you're safe. You know, words haven't been doing much for me lately. Will you let me show you what I think of you?"

Carlos pulled him into another kiss, even quicker, and assured him, "Oh, yes. I'll be sure to pay very close attention."

Cecil threaded his fingers into Carlos' hair, and kissed him, deep and full and with the lightness that a vanished ache left, until the water boiled over again.