#the power of character development

[afterlife-2004]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl found dead in a hidden room.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[luxaofhesperides]

For ghostlights: baby Ellie + tired Danny + Duke the baby whisperer?

He has no idea how his parents did it. 

Babies are exhausting. Toddlers more so. Any infants in the strange stage in-between? Doubly so. 

Ellie is wonderful and sweet and cute and such a terror that Danny genuinely has no idea how his parents managed to raise not one, but two kids. For all their eccentricities and absent-mindedness, he and Jazz turned out pretty well. Ignoring the whole halfa thing because that’s more his fault than theirs even if Jazz says they shouldn’t have created the dangerous environment in the first place.

That environment is exactly why Danny refuses to let Ellie go to his house in Amity Park. His parents say they’ve disabled all the weapons and ecto-sensors since he’s had to reveal himself as Phantom, but he knows that things slip their minds and if they can’t guarantee that the house is safe, then Ellie isn’t going in there. Simple as that. 

This means that they live somewhere else now. Danny had thought about it, during the hours Ellie was asleep and he was awake, exhausted and worn down to his bones, and took Jazz’s advice to accept Vlad’s offer of buying a house for him. Except he argued Vlad down to an apartment in a city of his choosing where he wouldn’t stand out too much and he would be safe, or as safe as he can be, from anyone trying to hunt down ghosts. 

So here they are. Standing in the empty living room of their new apartment in Gotham. 

Gotham may not be very safe as a city, but it’s good for two ghosts trying to pass as normal. 

Danny sighs yet again, and looks at the space he’ll need to fill. At least Vlad is footing the bill. It’s the least he can do for creating Ellie. Frostbite was the one who was able to stabilize her, though it was almost too late and resulted in her reforming as a baby, just one and a half years old. Jazz is the one who’s choosing most of the furniture, thankfully, so it’s something that Danny doesn’t need to worry about it.

It’s a new start to their lives and it feels so empty. So overwhelming. How did his parents do it? How do any parents do it?

Ellie smacks a small palm against his cheek and babbles lightly.

“I know, Ellie,” Danny says, giving her a tired smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll have this place looking good in no time.”

He adjusts her in his arms, then heads towards the bedroom. It’s the only room that has any furniture, and all that’s there is a bed, a crib, and a bookcase. There are a few boxes on the floor, labeled ‘bedroom’ and ‘clothing’ and ‘books’. Most of it came from his bedroom in Amity Park, but he’s pretty sure he caught Jazz sneaking a few things in before they closed the boxes and loaded them up into the car. 

“Can you be good for five minutes?” he asks Ellie. 

She babbles again and smacks his shoulder.

“I’m taking that as an agreement. Just let me open these boxes and start unpacking before you start causing trouble, okay?”

Ellie makes another sound, but it seems agreeable so Danny carefully lays her down in the crib and gets to peeling off the tape on the boxes. The opens the one labeled ‘bedroom’ first, finding blankets and sheets folded and stacked in vacuum sealed bags. One of them is his old childhood blanket, the one he carried around everywhere that was faded with age, barely blue, with white bunnies decorating it. 

He was so small when he had this. It makes him oddly emotional to unpack it and pass it on to Ellie, draping it over her so her pudgy little hands can grab at it. 

This is no time to cry, though! He forces himself to focus and makes his own bed, shaking out the sheets and fluffing up the pillows. He’ll worry about washing everything later; Vlad made sure to get an apartment with an in-unit washer and dryer, which means he was actually sensible while apartment hunting for Danny. 

He doesn’t mean to flop onto the bed once it’s made, but he ends up there anyways. He’s barely gotten a full six hours of uninterrupted sleep since Frostbite deemed Ellie healthy enough to leave his care. The drive up to Gotham was long and wore him down to his bones.

He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but he does, drifting off as he wonders, distantly, when Jazz will be back from getting them dinner.

Ellie wakes him up at dawn with a loud cry. Danny jolts awake, heart pounding in his chest as he panics because Ellie isn’t here, she’s supposed to be in his arms, where is she? And then he sees the crib, where Ellie is staring at him through the bars, and he nearly collapses with relief. 

“Morning, El,” he says, voice rough from sleep, as he picks her up. She just stares up at him, then leans forward and rests her head against his shoulder.

It’s quiet moments like these that make his heart melt. Ellie’s had a hard life already; he wants to give her a better one, this time around. 

A quick check of the time on his nearly dead phone shows that it’s barely past six in the morning, and Jazz texted him a few times. All about furniture, saying that she didn’t want to wake them and that food is in the fridge. 

It’s only the mention of food that makes him realize how ravenous he’s feeling. Danny makes a beeline for the kitchen, ignoring everything else, and pulls out the boxes of take-out Jazz left stacked in the fridge. He devours it like he’s been starving for weeks, then gives Ellie her Ecto-Jello, the only food she’s allowed to eat until Frostbite gives the okay for solid, human food. 

Once he’s got her burped and cleaned up, Danny looks out of the kitchen and realizes that Jazz was very productive while he was asleep. The living room isn’t empty anymore; a dark green couch is against the wall, a low, rectangular coffee table made of dark wood in front of it. Two armchairs are on both sides of the couch, and a television has been installed, fixed into the wall. 

Jazz is asleep on the couch. Her legs hang off an armrest and she’s drooling slightly. 

Her phone is charging on the floor, so Danny takes it and snaps a picture of her for later teasing, then sends it to himself and writes a note to her that he’s going out with Ellie to explore the neighborhood.

He’s finally feeling more settled, energized from sleep and food.

In the warm dawn light spilling in through the windows, Danny looks down at Ellie and thinks that they’ll be just fine after all. 

. . .

Four months ago, Danny had hope. He was optimistic. 

Gotham was a fresh start, a new lease of life for Ellie. It is Danny’s attempt to be a single parent, sacrificing college for Ellie, and he’s planning to go out and beat the gangs black and blue if they start anymore shootouts in the next year.

He had just gotten Ellie to sleep. She was actually peacefully taking a nap.

And then a drive by shooter raced down the street, gunshots echoing down the road, and Ellie work up crying. She still hasn’t stopped, despite how Danny rocked her, soothing her as best he could.

They had been outside when Ellie fell asleep, her head on his shoulder. He had been catching up with Sam and Tucker when the car drove by, people ducking and crying out to avoid the bullets. Danny instinctively covered Ellie and made them both intangible, saving them from any stray bullets, but they ruined her nap and he needs to make them pay for that. 

“Shh,” he soothes, “You’re okay. We’re both fine. It’s okay, El, it’s okay.” 

Her little hands clutch at his back, twisting the fabric of his shirt, and she lets out a heartbreaking wail. He pats her back, hurrying down the street to get back to his apartment building, ignoring the looks people were giving them as they passed by. 

“I know it was scary, but you’re alright. You’re always safe with me, El.”

Ellie’s cries down down a little, but they don’t stop. She whimpers, burying her face against his shoulder as he finally reaches their apartment building.

The door’s locked, which wouldn’t be a problem except Danny can’t get his keys from his pocket. He knows he has them! But his pocket refuses to relinquish them and he has to stop every few seconds to pat Ellie’s back, trying in vain to calm her down. 

“We’ll be inside in a second,” he tells her, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice, “as soon as I can get these freaking keys!”

“Hey, you alright?”

Danny startles, whirling around so fast it makes Ellie go quiet, clinging to him so she doesn’t get flung into the air. There’s a guy standing before him in a gray hoodie, looking at him with clear concern. It speaks to Danny’s level of constant exhaustion that he hadn’t clocked someone sneaking up behind him. 

The guy offers an awkward smile. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you or anything. Um, do you need me to open to door? I live here too.”

Danny wonders for a moment if this someone dangerous, someone hoping to hurt Ellie, but she starts to cry again and he steps to the side. “Please. I can’t get my keys.”

“I’m Duke, by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Danny,” he replies, watching as Duke pulls out a large key ring, jangling with the amount of keychains on it, and easily opens the door. “I’ve been here a few months, but I’m usually inside. Or walking around in the mornings with this little monster.”

“That would explain it,” Duke says as he holds the door open, letting Danny in first. “I’m usually in classes at GCU, but I decided to take a mental health day after my lab, so here I am.”

Danny walks in and waits for Duke to follow, making sure the door closes properly behind them. “Thanks. How is GCU? What do you study? I was thinking of going there myself once she gets a little older and can go to school.”

“Oh, I’m majoring in English and Human Services.” He goes to say more, but Ellie wails again and Danny winces.

“I’m so sorry. That drive by woke her up and it’s really rattled her.”

“Hey, no need to apologize. I get it, Gotham is rough to kids.”

Danny tries rocking her back and forth, but it doesn’t help. He resigns himself to another hour of her crying before she exhausts herself, and makes for the stairs, going up to the fourth floor. Duke holds open the door again, then follows after them. It makes Danny wonder if Duke is planning to do something to them, then decides he can beat Duke in a fight, so it’s fine.

Duke doesn’t try to hurt them or steal Ellie away. He opens the door to their floor and stops before they do. “I’m in here,” he says, “If you ever need me to open more doors.”

“Thanks. Um, actually, I might need help opening mine?”

Duke just smiles and makes his way back to them, following them farther into the hall until Danny stops in front of his apartment. 

“If I could just get my keys,” he starts.

“Here, let me hold her for a second so you can get them,” Duke offers. Danny wants to insist that it’s fine, but Ellie cries directly into his ear and Danny, at the end of his rope, passes her over. 

Like magic, Ellie settles as soon as she’s in Duke’s arms. She sniffles and hides her face away, clutching to Duke’s hoodie, but she stops crying. They both go still, surprised, and stare down at her. 

“Seriously?” Danny says as he finally pulls out his keys, “Are you trying to say that I’m the problem?”

Ellie babbles lightly, and Duke turns his head to futilely hide his grin.

He grumbles as he unlocks the door and pushes it open. Ellie is acting as if she’s never been upset before a day in her life, making herself at home in Duke’s arms. 

“I can’t believe this. Betrayed by my own blood.”

Duke laughs as he follows Danny into his apartment, lightly patting Ellie’s back. “It’s always the smallest, cutest ones that do this.”

“Yeah? Do you work with a lot of kids or something? Used to being betrayed by the little ones?”

“I don’t work with kids per se,” Duke says, “But my foster family is a hot mess and the youngest of them likes to keep us all on our toes.”

“Family,” Danny says in a tired, fond tone.

“Family,” Duke agrees.

With his door open and Ellie calm, Danny’s ready to just lay face down on the floor for the rest of the day and not deal with anything else. He moves to take Ellie back, holding his arms out, and Duke tries to pass her over.

The key word being tries. 

Ellie tightens her grip and kicks at Danny. She refuses to be taken away from Duke, making him awkwardly try to pry her off his hoodie. Danny really hopes Duke doesn’t notice how she goes slightly intangible to make his hands fall through her arms and legs. It shouldn’t be noticeable, but it’s hard to focus on anything but a kid that clings to you, so Danny holds out for Duke’s goodwill and silence.

“As nice as it is to meet you, you need to go back to your… parent?” Danny nods when Duke looks at him in askance. “You need to go back to your parent. Okay? Come on, kid, he’s waiting for you.”

Ellie shakes her head, makes a frustrated noise, and then turns and reaches out a grabby hand towards Danny. 

She still refuses to be taken from Duke when Danny tries to pick her up again, so he settles with just letting her hold two of his fingers. 

“I’m so sorry about this,” he says to Duke, face burning. This is why he hasn’t been going out and being social since he moved in; Ellie is a handful even on the best days, and Danny doesn’t want someone to judge him as unfit to parent her and have her taken away.

Duke shakes his head, stepping closer. “It’s all good, man. I don’t mind. It’s not like I had any plans today. I’m already skipping my classes, might as well spend it with you two than sleep all day.”

“Are you sure? I’d be happy to invite you in, but I know Ellie can be a lot and not everyone wants to spend their day off with a baby.”

“I’m sure. Besides, I’d just be down the hall anyways. It’s no skin off my back, man.”

“Well,” Danny says, stepping to the side to give Duke full access to his open doorway, “Come on in, then.”

Ellie keeps them connected, one hand in Duke’s hoodie and the other holding Danny’s fingers, and though her cheeks are still red from how hard she had been crying, she’s calm now with her eyes shining with mischief. 

As the door closes behind them, Danny realizes that this is the first time someone he’s not related to has been inside his apartment. Not even Vlad has come in, always choosing to invite Danny and Ellie out for lunch instead. 

It should make him nervous, but Duke is calm and easy going and kind. 

He’s making silly faces at Ellie to make her laugh, completely at ease with her in his arms, as if he’s done this a thousand times before. 

Gotham is a second chance at life for Ellie. It’s a sacrifice for Danny, to be alone and without friends or family around. He’d been ready to give up everything for Ellie, to focus solely on raising her, but with Duke filling his apartment with laughter, he thinks that he can make a life here too.

All he needs to do is take that first step, reach his hand out, ask Duke to stick around.

He can do this.

[yourocdoeswhat]

If your OC is considered over-powered for your setting, what is it that sets them apart from the rest? How do they use it to their advantage? How does it impact them?

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing Characters with Powers

                This is sort of a part 2 to the post I made here, in which powers/magic isn’t a part of the world but is a part of your characters. The difference being that powers or magic is unusual to the world, but has somehow appeared in your protagonist.

                Just like in worldbuilding, we need to establish the rules of the power and how it can be used.

1. It needs a limit

No matter how powerful your characters are, they need to have a limit to what they can do. This limit allows for tension and conflict, whereas a character who can do anything isn't challenged by anything, and thus can't change.

                Limits could be physical, mental, or otherwise magical. Maybe using powers is a bit like consuming poison, or being exposed to radiation, or running a marathon in a second. Maybe it’s slowly killing your protagonist, but they have to use it to achieve what they want. I read a story about a character who could heal anything, but would suffer some or all of the damage to do it.

                Maybe it’s warping their mind, or confusing reality, or distancing them from their loved ones. Does using it make them feel negative, even evil? Or does using it make them feel powerful to a fault—in danger of becoming the thing they’re trying to destroy?

                Lastly, your limit could be a part of the magic system. Powers just stop working, as though there’s an invisible mana meter that runs out. Or it’s like working out, use it less and it becomes less powerful, push it too far and it breaks.

2. Your powers are well defined

This is similar to putting a limit on powers, but is more around the power itself rather than the character. You, as the writer, need to know exactly what your character can and cannot do. If your character has fire powers, how big can they make the fire? Can they use it even when it’s humid out, or raining? Is it a fire that can be put out by water, or is it magical and eternal?

                If your character can teleport, how far? Do they need to see the area or can they teleport somewhere they can’t see? Can they teleport somewhere they’ve never been? Can they teleport out of being tied up? If so, how can they choose to take their jewelry or clothing with them?

                Make rules. Make sure you know exactly what your characters are capable of at any point in the story. Make sure your readers are aware of these rules and limitations from the get-go, and if your character is able to develop greater power, make sure it's also established with how they are able to do so.

3. There’s a risk

In a world without magic, but a character with it, what’s the risk? Consider how society would react to learning your character has magic if they don’t already know. If they do know, how has that impacted your character’s life? This step is all about worldbuilding around a world unused to magic. Who knows, who can’t find out, and what is the risk if your protagonist mixes them up?

This step is all about creating stakes. What experiences has your character had with others surrounding their power? Positive or negative?

Any other considerations when making a character with powers? Let me know in the reblogs and comments!

[hiraya-sa-dilim]

not moving on from how louis so far surpassed the bare minimum of saving daniel's life? how he could've just let daniel walk away and call it a day but he sat him down and armed him not only against the past few days but the rest of daniel's damn life?? how daniel's had it horrible since, but in spite all his losses, he had something??? how he had the hope of being someone and mattering and he held on to it for 50 long years?? and it worked??? it helped him survive over and over and over???? a shit life is better than no life at all and daniel lived because louis chose to help him??!???

[inklore]

everyone wants stories about powerful women and women finding and knowing their worth and coming into their own without having a man be the center of it all until it doesn’t look the way THEY want it to. then it’s just chalked up to lazy writing.

[jamie101]

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy portrays vampires really well for several reasons, but one of my favourites is that being an immortal creature of the night doesn't actually help with most day to day problems (and probably adds several more). Yeah, turn into a truck-sized bat monster all you like; rent is still due first of each month.

[jeeaark]

I wish the emperor in bg3 was as cool ( and hunky ) as you make them out to be, how you portray the gang and greygold is all so sweet 😭😭😭 but after finding out what he did to Duke stelmane... I'll just pretend your version is canon instead. I love your art!

Right, so originally I wasn't gonna abroach that topic with a 13½ ft pole, because sensitive subject, but gonna have to roll up my sleeves and acknowledge it was very much indeed a topic that Greygold had to consider and formulate their own conclusions on. Sure even though Greygold didn't find out the be-hella-mean way, there were concerned friends with mindful observations that had Greygold confronting the possibility that the Emperor and Stelmane's secret underground business practices might've had some uh...Problems!

The conversation went a lil everywhere BUT in short-

Greygold's philosophy is to hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst.

Case in point: Greyg's team. Maybe not everyone did shitty things in their past, but they certainly had ample opportunity to do shitty things on this journey that Greygold had to veer them away from. As Greygold sees it, if their teammates can change for the better, hopefully the Emperor can and will too. Everybody is capable of being awful, but also being awesome kind, so gotta give the squid a chance.

[chapinii]

I think the funniest and most emotionally devastating thing cc fit could do after all this is sending his cubito back to 2b2t

[afterlife-2004]

Serious Silly

[mac33cheese]

"Tdlosk doesn't have any meaningfulness to it? It's all gags-" YOU MISSED IT!! YOU WERE SO CLOSE!! UR EYES WE'RE CLOSED DURING THE PLAY!! THE QUESTION WAS 2+2 AND YOU ANSWERED 5!! YOU HAD 3 SEASONS AND A REAWAKENED TO STUDY YET YOU STILL FAILED THE CLASS!! THE BED WAS MADE FOR YOU AND YOU STILL SLEPT ON THE FLOOR!! YOU DON'T EVEN NEED GLASSES YET YOU STILL CAN'T SEE THE MENU!!

[squoobest]

this pleasant étoile shows up at your door

[xia0ming56]

Hated that last episode so i drew this to convince myself i liked it

[k233-0]

who am i without my powers?

[cancerian-woman]

i hate when hope's stans say that Bonnie Is weak when Bonnie whole bloodline Is even the reason why almost everything on tvdu exist, what do you think?

The Bennetts are the backbone of this franchise but will never get real credit for it.

Hope benefits like most of the white witches from desirability and privilege. TO added into this as well by removing Ayana's importance towards the Mikaelson history. Esther did all of this work by herself and has the grand sister who comes with all this power. When that is not what we were shown in TVD. Legacies won't properly credit Bonnie for her work or skillset but can make negative jokes about her. While fueling of Bennett blood for spells because not even Hope Mikaelson can do specific requirements of a Bennett witch. They even brought in some unnamed Bennett witch to utilize once.

The Bennetts are an example of something black women and people face every day. You can have all the credentials and work--the Bennett's are involved in the world building, and magic basics but aren't even development or screentime and people will still flock to someone white who did not have to do much in order to have respect from everyone else.

Bonnie and her relatives are victims of racist writing but given their history are far from weak. Bonnie alone was 17 years old, as a self-taught witch mastering the power to bring a 1000-year-old hybrid to his knees successfully. The same Bonnie a season later saved everyone's asses even Klaus which is how he lived another day to get someone pregnant ANYWAY...Bonnie wasn't weak and never has been just not written with a real desire for her or her family. The real tea is that many fans don't see Bonnie's power as something to respect.

I'll leave you with this whenever someone makes comparisons about magic or witch abilities it is always Bonnie and or her bloodline being compared. You don't see Freya vs Davina covered as much or Hope vs Davina. Those fans see their power especially NOLA witches as respectable.

Hope has a werewolf queen mother in Hayley and she isn't even brought up in these never ending power debates lmfao.