#some tears escaped

[roxy665]

[kizzer55555]

Welcome to the Restraint! (Restaurant)

Imagine Danny runs to Gotham and starts squatting in an abandoned old building in Crime Alley. Slowly putting some ecto into the place to claim it as his haunt (while recovering from the sudden loss of his old one). And he does the normal stuff to survive. Finds some odd jobs, often as a messenger, and is just surviving. Another thing he does is make his own food. It’s cheaper than takeout and he’s gotten pretty good at cooking (out of necessity instead of eating sentient hotdogs). Then he ends up accidentally taking in some street kids. Or more like they follow him home. He can’t just turn them away so he makes a meal for them and lets them stay the night then sends them on their way. And then it happens again. And again. And ok, so maybe he saved a girl from getting molested. And that older guy from getting his only good blanket stolen. And sure, maybe letting that poor pizza delivery guy rant was unnecessary but he looked like he was having a bad day ok? Pretty sure that kid with the scar is a meta too but…he needed a place to stay a few nights alright? It’s not like any of them stay permanently. Danny’s started picking up a few more odd jobs to pay for all the extra food he’s had to buy. Always keeping his place stocked. At least he doesn’t have to pay for water and a fridge, he just makes some ice (or melts it). Sure the water is cold, but it’s probbaly the cleanest water in Gotham. And then some of the people start paying. Like…actually paying in exchange for food. Not sure if it’s because of guilt or pity but Danny won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. And with all the money, he hasn’t had to take as many dangerous jobs. Soon, his little abandoned apartment became what’s essentially the closest thing to a legitimate restaurant in Crime Alley.

It didn’t look normal. The chairs and tables were more like old couches and stools pulled up to coffee tables and cabinets turned on their side. Although with the bulling becoming more like Danny’s haunt, the walls naturally started repairing themselves so at least it didn’t look like it was gonna collapse anymore. And ok…so Danny might have rescued a few feral kids who…weirdly have gold eyes. And possibly stopped a meta trafficking ring on accident. And look, these people didn’t have anywhere to go! And the apartment did have empty rooms. It was already known as a place someone could crash for the night (last winter the entire place was cramped with people. Danny had to break up multiple fights but they usually calmed down when he got there.)

One benefit from controlling a haunt is controlling the temperature inside so it was one of the only buildings with ‘heat’. But back to his…strays. So yeah…most didn’t seem like they could rejoin society…so he let them stay. And…they kind of became employees? Impromptu bodyguards? (Some of the golden eyed people almost felt like he was rangling feral ghosts again.) they came in all ages. A few kids, lots of teens, and a few adults. Same with the metas he rescued. They mostly helped deliver food to costumers. They even got a phone line working and could take orders. (Although the new…employees…also got more protective whenever a fight broke out.) With all the extra money he’s been getting he was even able to afford some medical supplies. A lot of his customers(?) came in injured and he tried his best to patch them up but now he could do more than tie some ripped clothing around the wound and use ice to numb it. He’s got bandages. And pain killers. Plus other medical stuff. He can even give someone stickers now! All that experience as an injured vigilante was paying off. Even Villains and goons start attending this place. The place was unofficially designated as one of the Alley’s ‘safe zones’ where no fighting takes place inside (the body guards make sure of it.) the metas and Talons are getting an identity for themselves, the street kids even get a job and a hideout, random people can go there for help or to pass messages, this place provides food, shelter, and medical care. No one wants it going down.

So yeah, welcome to the restaurant!

(I’m debating whether I want this to be the weirdest restaurant/safe place/truce area in the alley, or whether I want Danny to accidentally become a crime lord. Possibly both.)

Also, this place is called the Restraint because I keep misspelling Restaurant and I think Danny would do the same so the name stuck. (Or one of the kids spelled it when making a sign or passing around messages to spread the word of this safe place.)

So anyways, to add some angst, after Danny adopts a bunch of crime alley kids/villains they find out about Danny’s powers and that he’s a ghost, only they don’t know about Halfas so they think Danny is fully dead and this super kind guy who has been the only person to ever treat them like people…died. He died likely a long time ago and there’s nothing any of them can do to change that.

(And if the GIW dare to come into the alley, they better be prepared for the entire place to turn on them.)

[soupdreamer]

hey brennan what the fuck

[bluestation]

i found you in the future

[captmuldoon]

'He sees something in me. Could lead anywhere. Anywhere.'

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

good night and sweet dreams to the best, sexiest, sluttiest, smartest, realest, most based, valid, relatable, girlipop, sympathetic, cunt, fun, cool, feminist, aspirational girlboss character in dead boy detectives: doll spider <3

good night to her and no one else. i hope the rest of y’all have a bad night and terrible dreams.

[whamss]

I see talk from time to time about Meat Rosemary reunions about how tragic it would be to see Rosebot reject Kanaya after she spent all that time chasing after her blah blah blah but man you know what would get me? The two of them reuniting and Kanaya seeing a Rose who's nigh unrecognizable to her. Seeing a Rose with Dirk's hands buried so deep inside her mind she's more like him than herself, in a body that isn't her own (made by his hands), and not knowing what to do with that? Seeing Rose continuously push Kanaya away would be tragic, yes, but what about imagining how Kanaya grapples with the reality that the woman she's trying to save is barely even herself anymore? Wondering if, when all is said and done, she would even get her back... Or if Dirk's influence is already so deeply ingrained inside of her that he would keep on living through her? What is it like to love a woman so deeply you're ready to kill her father to save her, while fully understanding the ways this might hurt her? To love a woman so deeply you'll cross galaxies to return to her side, knowing fully well that she might push you away in the end? Things I chew on

[child-of-hurin]

Part of what charms and compels me in Jeyne Poole's arc is her reaction to her predicament. All the female POVs in this book are dealing with a lot of gendered violence, and they all deal in different but dignified forms... Jeyne is not a POV character and she is absolutely not dignified lol. She cries and begs, she is utterly helpless. But unlike most women in this book who are utterly helpless, she survives. It's frustrating how fans refuse to celebrate that, simply because there is no glory in it.

[toads-treasures]

I reblog a lot of “write it cringey! Lean in! Who cares if it’s bad!” for someone who will cry if I think It’s Bad

[paradoxolotl]

I am very sad and could use some happy if anyone has a drop to spare

[acourtofquestions]

"You'll come back," Manon said.

It sounded like more of a threat than anything

Dorian smirked. "Would you miss me if I didn't?"

Manon didn't reply. He didn't know why he expected her to.

He'd taken all of a step, when Asterin clasped his shoulder. "In and out, quick as you can," she warned him. "Take care of Narene." Worry indeed shone in the Second's gold-flecked black eyes. Dorian bowed his head. "With my life," he promised as he approached her mount and grasped the dangling reins. He didn't fail to miss the gratitude that softened Asterin's features. Or that Manon had already turned away from him.

A fool to start down this path with her. He should have known better.

The hours that passed were some of the longest of Manon's existence.

From anticipation, she told herself. Of what she had to do.

Abraxos, unsurprisingly, found them within an hour, his reins sliced from the struggle he'd no doubt waged and won with Sorrel. He waited, however, beside Manon in silence, wholly focused upon the gate where Dorian and Narene had vanished.

Time dripped by. The king's sword was constant weight at her side. She cursed herself for needing to prove-to him, to herself-that she refused to let him go into Morath for practical, ordinary reasons. Erawan wasn't at the Ferian Gap. It'd be safer. Somewhat. But if the Matrons were there … That was why he'd gone. To learn if they were. To see if Petrah truly commanded the host there, and how many Ironteeth were present. He had not been trained as a spy, but he'd grown up in a court where people wielded smiles and clothes like weapons. He knew how to blend in, how to listen. How to make people see what they wished to see. She'd sent Elide into the dungeons of Morath, Darkness damn her. Sending the King of Adarlan into the Ferian Gap was no different.

It didn't stop her breath from escaping when Abraxos stiffened, scanning the sky. As if he heard something they couldn't.

And it was the joy that sparked in her mount's eyes that told her.

Moments later, Narene sailed toward them, making a lazy path over the mountains, a dark-haired, pale-skinned rider atop her. He'd truly been able to change parts of himself. Had made his face nearly unrecognizable. And kept it that way.

Asterin rushed toward the mare, and even Manon blinked as her Second threw her arms around Narene's neck. Holding her tight. The mare only leaned her head against Asterin's back and huffed.

Manon hadn't dwelled long on what she'd say.

And as the three hundred Ironteeth witches filed into the hall, some coming off their patrols, Manon half wondered if she should have. They watched her, watched the Thirteen, with a wary disdain.

Their disgraced Wing Leader; their fallen Heir.

When all were gathered, Petrah, still standing in the doorway where she'd appeared, merely said, "My life debt for an audience, Blackbeak."

Manon swallowed, her tongue as dry as paper. Seated atop Abraxos, she could see every shifting movement in the crowd, the wide eyes or hands gripping swords.

"I will not tell you the particulars of who I am," Manon said at last. "For I think you have already heard them."

"Crochan bitch," someone spat.

Manon set her eyes on the Blackbeaks, stone-faced where the others bristled with hatred. It was for them she spoke, for them she had come here.

jacket, then hoisting up her white shirt. Rising in the stirrups to bare her scarred, brutalized abdomen. "She does not lie."

UNCLEAN

There, the word remained stamped. Would always be stamped.

"How many of you," Asterin called out, "have been similarly branded? By your Matron, by your coven leader? How many of you have had your stillborn witchlings burned before you might hold them?"

The silence that fell now was different from before. Shaking shuddering.

Manon glanced at the Thirteen to find tears in Ghislaine's eyes as she took in the brand on Asterin's womb. Tears in the eyes of all of them, who had not known. And it was for those tears, which Manon had never seen, that she faced the host again.

"You will be killed in this war, or after it. And you will never see our homeland again."

"What is it that you want, Blackbeak?" Petrah asked from the archway.

"Ride with us," Manon breathed. "Fly with us.

Against Morath. Against the people who would keep you from your homeland, your future." Murmuring broke out again. Manon pushed ahead, "An Ironteeth-Crochan alliance. Perhaps one to break our curse at last."

Again, that shuddering silence. Like a storm about to break Asterin sat back in the saddle, but kept her shirt open.

"The choice of how our people's future shall be shaped is yours," Manon told each of the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks who might fly to war and never return. "But I will tell you this." Her hands shook, and she fisted them on her thighs. "There is a better world out there. And I have seen it."

Even the Thirteen looked toward her now.

"I have seen witch and human and Fae dwell together in peace. And it is not weakness to do so, but a strength. I have met kings and queens whose love for their kingdoms, their peoples, is so great that the self is secondary. Whose love for their people is so strong that even in the face of unthinkable odds, they do the impossible."

Manon lifted her chin. "You are my people. Whether my grandmother decrees it so or not, you are my people, and always will be. But I will fly against you, if need be, to ensure that there is a future for those who cannot fight for it themselves. Too long have we preyed on the weak, relished doing so. It is time that we became better than our foremothers." The words she had given the Thirteen months ago. "There is a better world out there," she said again. "And I will fight for it." She turned Abraxos away, toward the plunge behind them. "Will you?"

Manon nodded to Petrah. Eyes bright, the Heir only nodded back. They would be permitted to leave as they had arrived: unharmed.

So Manon nudged Abraxos, and he leaped into the sky, the Thirteen following suit.

Not a child of war. But of peace.

[qoldenskies]

Donnie describing the destruction of his space as preventable because all of this was preventable had he just been more useful and less annoying and quieter and smarter and smaller and scarce until needed.

How the family meeting had settled in how much the issue wasn’t what he did but more so what he was, and the only thing he needed to take from it was that he needed to hate himself as much as they hated him.

Or how three out of the eight messages he sent to Leo were apologies, but Leo doesn’t want to hear it if he doesn’t even know what he’s apologizing for, he’s only doing it so he’ll keep stroking his ego, and god Donnie do you ever shut the fuck up? Leo says please don’t apologize and Donnie says nothing in response. Because the only thing worse than them not accepting his sorry’s was tell me what you’re saying sorry for, and even when he said the right thing he was still wrong in the end.

!!!!! YOUUUU GET IT ESPECIALLY WITH THE LEO THING. that "please dont apologize" is LOADED in like four different ways, especially knowing the inner turmoil that it must have stemmed from; the thing leo and donnie have the MOST in common is that they have a tendency to run their mouth when theyre nervous, and even leo's "apology" (NOTE: this has always been intentional, but donnie calls it one, but leo never even said the words "im sorry" in those messages. donnie just grasped for straws because he was scared of their relationship falling apart) leo is kind of run-on and rambling and making excuses and being long-winded, but that curt three-word response after so much deliberation speaks of so, so much pain. and he doesn't even realize its one of the worst things he could have possibly said. he was probably laying in bed because splinter tried to get him to sleep, his heart falling more and more when donnie just left him on read, desperately trying to grasp for closure that he knew he was never going to get.

they used to be so talkative and now their voices have been taken from them because they both feel like there's nothing they can say to make it better. the coping mechanisms they used to fall back on in order to hide insecurity were ripped apart by the curse, leo because they were weaponized and twisted from something that he mostly used to show his family a good time to something vicious and cruel and manipulative and donnie because he was made to feel like a horrible person and a "liar" for them, so they're reacting in really similar ways in the end. literally despite the horrifying trauma they still find a way to twin LMFAO

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

No you don't understand, Anne and Marcy third-wheeling Sasha during the dinner episode (and Sasha third-wheeling herself during battle of the bands) is so important to me. Anne and Marcy have come so far having left Sasha behind. They're happy and confident and strong and closer than ever, all because they were finally free. Because Sasha wasn't there to stunt their growth. Despite how much they love Sasha and how much they don't want to admit the distance helped them, it's true: Anne and Marcy were both victims of a toxic friend and they're learning to move on together. Ik it sounds like I hate Sasha because whenever I write about her I make her out to be a massive piece of shit but that's because... she kinda was! And I love her for that! I love these three, I love their story and their drama and toxicity (I was soooo happy when it was revealed Marcy wasn't as great as she initially seemed like - yes! The CONFLICT is CONFLICTING). Like yes marcanne is my obsession, I have marcanne brain worms, but I think one of the reasons marcanne works so well is because of Sasha. Their past, present and future with her have such a huge impact in Anne and Marcy's relationship with each other and with themselves. You can't separate these three and I love it, how easy it is to ship two of them without making it weird by leaving the third one behind (ironically, Sasha the Character is included by leaving Sasha the Person behind).

Marcanne to me is about two childhood friends living in a toxic situation healing together after leaving, only able to fall in love now that they are free and more comfortable with themselves and each other. They couldn't fully connect with each other before - not really. Anne didn't see the importance of listening to what Marcy had to say nor did she take it too seriously, and Marcy was simply not in contact with real people in the real world at all. None of this was Sasha's fault entirely, but she did third-wheel Marcy and she was possesive with Anne and was just a generally terrible influence on her, while reminding Marcy that, well, she didn't really matter all that much to anyone. Removing Sasha from the equation is not enough but it's a necessary step towards knowing each other better and the fact that they so easily became closer than ever just shows their eagerness to be together for real this time. Marcy's increased confidence and Anne's newfound empathy and admiration for her friend wouldn't have been possible with Sasha's domineering influence present. If they were to fall in love, it'd be because Sasha wasn't there to stop it.

I imagine that, once she finds out, she'd be furious, but mostly just devastated. Her friends only found love once she was gone. As if they think they'll be better off without her.

[henrysglock]

I also have to laugh that if Henry had the "Is that why you don't have any friends?" and "Friends? What friends?" lines in the same situations...if Henry had gone off on Patty the way Will goes off on Mike in ST3 and then gone home to smash the attic to bits...the fandom would be using all that to double down on him being a "psychopath" because clearly they display a lack of compassion, understanding, and empathy for loved ones while also displaying jealousy and rage issues (/s).

But when it's Will, it's "he's upset because people are treating him more delicately after 1983" and "he's just a boy, he's lashing out because he's hurt, how sad" and "Slayyyyy gayboy!! Get her ass. He's just telling the brutal truth, lmao. Can't fault him for that, El was purposefully excluding him."

[decarabiandivorce]

Deca and Raiden (either Ei or the Shogun, whoever established the whole vision hunt/sakoku decree thing) would absolutely be best friends if they ever somehow met. They’re both storm/lightning gods, summoned storms around their region to “protect people” and heavily restricted people entering and leaving their region, heavy censorship, don’t understand what their people truly want, would prefer for things to eternally stay the same way, and like to stay isolated from the world around them. And don’t even get me started on the connection between venti & nb and kazuha & tomo

Deca would be so pissed at her for letting the fatui do whatever they want on her islands. Like he would be chill with the thunders and the vision hunt but having people from another place make a factory on your land and use your people as tools for them to gain wealth? That's going to make him so D:<

Do you know who else I think would pair with well? Amos and Yae Miko. Amos is at her heart an archer. She waits and waits and waits some more. She is no stranger to staying in a tree for an hour just for the perfect shot. Miko is so devoted to Ei that she waits 500 years to wake her beloved from her dream.

Both of them yearn for the divine gaze of their lover, sadly one ended in tragedy while the other is writing light novels about the whole thing.

Can you just imagine them talking? Going over how much they miss their partner. In Miko's case, she has to see the puppet version of Ei rule over Inazume, a parody of her friend's stern nature. Amos was so desperate and so heartbroken that she joined a rebellion.

There was this story on ao3 that I skimmed the summary of, where in a world without the traveler Miko would join Kokomi. They were so close to becoming the other person.

"Do you think if I stayed patiently like you did, I could have changed his mind? That we could have lived in a world without his death. That we could have enjoyed the simple moments once more- perhaps fish by the lakes or cloud-watch on the vales."

[blood-injections]

I fucking love the desert I haven't been there in years but between constant danger days thoughts and falling in love with it back when I've visited family there i can just zone out and feel like im standing there im so fucking like spiritually connected to it.