#they're all his kids and he's the proudest dad

[tinderbox210]

Everyone, probably at one point: How many kids do you have? Pike: Biologically, emotionally, or legally?

[hyunverse]

dad activities ☆ stray kids hyung line

tags. fluff, headcanons. fem!reader. note. long time no update... (nervous giggles.) maknae line soon. enjoy <3

BANG CHAN...

he's a total girl dad. 100%.

chan is soft-hearted when it comes to his little girl. a glance of her puppy eyes and he'll surrender himself completely to her.

often times, you'll find chan sitting cross-legged with little ha-eun on a stool, giving your husband a makeover. no matter what ha-eun does to him, he'll simply let it be — even if she's dabbing a ridiculous coloured eyeshadow on his eyelids and tying a horrendous looking ponytail at the top of his head. if it makes his daughter happy, then he'll entertain it.

you can count on chan to get your daughter ready for school. he's mastered multiple hairstyles! whether it be a french braid or pigtails, chan made sure he's mastered them even before ha-eun was born. he loves preparing his daughter to school, enjoys the morning as he ties up her hair and makes sure she's dressed up nicely.

would not miss any single school event. talent show? sports day? bring your parent day? report card day? he has every event marked on his calendar, and never misses any. all the teachers and moms know him for being so present and sweet.

always has a hairtie on his wrist! ha-eun is a cheeky, cheeky girl — constantly running around. chris makes sure to have a hairtie prepared for moments where the little girl gets tired of her hair sticking to her face and ends up throwing a tantrum. of course, the other hairtie on his wrist is reserved for you. ♡

at the back of his car lays a my melody stuffie. he's proud to have it in his car!! every time someone gets in his car, he proudly says, "oh, that's my daughter's stuffie." the proudest dad around <3

overall, chris is a dependable and sweet dad.

LEE KNOW...

i see minho as a twin dad. a boy & a girl!!

having twins in the house, pranks become a common occurence. one twin would prank the other, then a revenge comes. it becomes a cycle!! you'd try to stop the prank war going on but it cannot be stopped when minho encourages it!!! sometimes he'll even conspire with the twins to prank you. watch out for the sugar jar as you make coffee because it might actually be salt.

i cannot explain this but he makes weird bento boxes. the typical ones would be of animals, or studio ghibli characters but he makes odd characters that are lowkey terrifying but the kids are so used to it that they're unaffected.

they'll never know what's coming for them when they open their lunchbox. it'll be either yet another jureumi-shaped bento or a weird-looking cat.

leaves cute little notes too! odd, and a bit threatening but cute nevertheless. some of the notes the twins have received range from — "fight back when someone bullies you," or "eat well or don't come home." they're all affectionate, but written in a very lee minho way that you can't help but smile when you read them.

you never have to worry about leaving the kids with minho for a long time. he's got you covered! the twins absolutely adore their dad. would spend an entire day building a fort and watching movies while you're out with your friends.

at the end of the day, when you're back from your outing, you'd come home to the sight of minho and the twins curled up in front of the tv, a studio ghibli movie playing in the background. ♡

CHANGBIN...

the ultimate boy dad!!

he would totally raise a gentleman. the kind to teach his son that chivalry isn't dead.

would 100% teach his son things like opening the door for other people, helping a senior citizen cross the road, and to carry mommy's grocery bags.

picture this. you're out buying groceries for the week. changbin and mini binnie are wearing matching jerseys & carrying grocery bags for you. so cute <3

would surprise you with your son!!! every single mother's day, he'd wake up early with the little boy to make you pancakes and scrambled eggs. sometimes they end up burnt but truly, it's the thought that counts.

ensures that his son does not forget your birthday!! you best believe that every single birthday you'll be pampered with gifts and handwritten notes from your hubby and son. <3

changbin has chronic dad jokes disorder and unfortunately, his son has inherited it. the little boy will have fun telling you dad jokes that changbin taught him.

also loves to play fight with his kid. you'd be watching tv and they'd be play wrestling in the corner, giggles filling in the house.

HYUNJIN...

twin dad through and through. a son and a daughter who'd get showered with love <3

hyune's a man of duality. he can go from boy dad to girl dad in one minute.

one moment he's playing soccer with your son in the backyard, giggling as kkami joins in the fun, little barks accompanying laughters.

or he'd be helping the little boy build the coolest train tracks ever. it's so long and loopy, stretches from the living room all the way to the front door.

the next moment he'd be playing tea party with your daughter, learning how to hold a small tea cup with his pinky up.

would end up coming out of the play room with a messy manicure and a tiara on his head. he doesn't complain. might give you a little twirl just to make his little girl happy.

he would even build the prettiest dollhouse for her. it'd be a whole project, would spend days building a dollhouse and they'd have fun painting it together.

i think hyune is the kind to support and encourage his kids to find new hobbies. his son wants to enroll in taekwondo? sure, he'll take the boy to the first class. his daughter wants to try out ballet? he'll sign her up to a class, buy her a tutu and ballet slippers. he's just so supportive <3

often times, he'd take care of the kids while you go out with your girls. you'd come back to him asleep on the couch, while the (very much awake) kids draw on his face with sharpie ^.^

all in all, hyune's a doting, and supportive twin dad. <3

taglist. @zoe8stay @starlostseungmin @hwajin @sleepyleeji @jdopes-recorder @sherryblossom @alyszaen @hyunluvxo @bokk-minnie @ghostyycat7 @fortunatelyhertragedy @yongbokkari @ameliesaysshoo @seoli-16 @jisungsdaydreamer @soobnny @seolboba @in2heartz @jehhskz @astraystayyh @mnwrld @hanjsquokka @pheonixfire777 @sapphirewave @seunghancore

[isa-ghost]

If you're still doing Philza headcannons, how about some specifically about Phil, Chayanne, and Tallulah? I miss the kiddos...

qPhil headcanons masterlist

(NOT) SINGLE DAD EDITION LETS GO

Those two are the light of his fucking life ok. If you were someone that had something against him, they're how you get to him. They're how you hurt him. He will do ANYTHING for them. He'll kill his friends, he'll fly on broken wings, he'll die for them. Nothing matters more than those two kids.

He's not typically a very physically affectionate person. But to the kids? Suddenly he's a cuddler. Suddenly he's head kisses and carrying them on his hip just because he can. Suddenly he's braiding hair and painting nails and playfully tormenting them with tickles. They flip a switch in his brain.

Nothing could ever make him waver on how proud of them he is. Both of them. Chayanne so brave and strong, stressed to the teeth like his dad but persevering like a true warrior. Lullah is so loving and open, even in the face of so much pain and adversity. She's been through so much, largely alone, and yet she still has the strength to smile and be silly after everything. Ideally he wishes they would've never experienced any pain at all, but Quesadilla says Damn You All

Chayanne & Lullah can make him laugh until his stomach hurts, and they can do it faster than friends he's known for YEARS. Lullah especially is the queen of comedic nonverbal timing. All it takes is a certain look with a slow turn after Phil says something stupid and he's Dying.

His favorite thing is when either of them fall to pieces emote bc smth stupid happened. Or whenever they Orange Justice after smth fucked happens.

Listen. LISTEN. Don't be fooled by this man. He LOVES adventures with the kids. He loves them. The reason he refuses to venture out with them or go dungeon raiding with them super often is because survivalist brain is like if the worst happens, the Feds do not have your back. If you lose the kids you have nothing much to live for on this island. Do not risk their lives, even if it sounds fun.

He fucking loves watching the kids talk to the other eggs. The constant taptaptaptaptap of signs being placed while they chat together makes him giggle. He also loves watching them just crouch and silently communicate.

Dude Rose's love for the two of them makes his heart so full. Like legit the first time she told him "they're under my protection" he nearly cried. And not just from relief that they'd be safe from EK.

And related: Oh my GOD does he fucking love the term "fledglings" for them. It's SO CUTE. Rose was so right for that. Something about it drives home the thought of "these are MY kids" even more. He just 🥺

Chayanne's mask reminds him of Techno's boar one sometimes and it makes him wanna cry /pos. If Chayanne ever mentions being guided by Techno's spirit to fight EK Phil will never recover

He loves this "new era" of Lullah, between her cutting her hair short a while back and now dying it + changing her hat. It feels like she's getting more independent despite everything and considering Phil used to have to Really hover around her to help her out, he's the world's proudest papa about it

He's told them stories about all the hardcore gods (that he knows of) at this point. Rose bc ofc he did. EK bc he kinda had to. The others bc at this point he's expecting them to poke their heads around at one point or another too. Chayanne loves Blaze. Lullah still loves Rose the most. She's gone on a rant about "Papa how the fuck is Ocean Overlord a god when he fumbles things so badly???" He wishes he knew, Lullah.

He wants to take them on a flight so bad it hurts. Literally. He's more angry EK fucked up his wings maybe permanently bc he robbed them of that than he is that EK did it to spite him.

He really really really hopes they do hatch some day and become lil dragon hybrids bc then he can watch them fly and teach them how to do it well (the best he can while he's grounded) (he might get a little envious)

He fucking LOVES sparring with the kids. He goes easy bc he's insanely skilled and experienced compared to Two Literal Children but they catch on and improve So Quick and it makes him so unbelievably proud and excited to see them demonstrate their skills in a real (hopefully non-lethal) situation.

[qhoaaaa]

Milo and Sweetheart who have kids that gained both their abilities

Imagine dilf! dad!Milo getting pounced on by one of his children whose in their shifted form but invisible

INVISIBLE WOLF PUPS WAITT AWEEE

He play wrestles with them regardless if they're shifted or not

Invisible fur all over the couch, becomes visible when they're in their human form

Milo and Sweetheart take turns to vacuum the couch at least once a month

"Wish my fur went invisible..." (he's pouting with the loud 'VMMMM' of the vacuum in the background)

"Milo, you're jealous over fur?" (Sweetheart's there for moral support)

"Yes! That's so cool!" (He's just overjoyed and Sweetheart is looking at him with the proudest smile ever)

Marie loves her grandpups, she always somehow sniffs them out if they're hiding and playing together in hide and seek

Stealth x Shifters pups who have near all white/grey coats, rare if they're not

Milo and Sweetheart with triplets, 2 girls and 1 boy; the boy has a white coat but the sisters have brown like Milo, they all have Sweetheart's eyes in both forms

Milo and Sweetheart who tattooed their kids' first shift paw prints on their shoulders (hc from a post I saw a long while ago, sorry idk who it's originally from!!)

Their kids WON in the genetic jackpot I don't make the rules

The entire pack was in awe of the pups' abilities because nothing like that had ever happened, pack wide party commences, even the Keaton pack was invited and some members of the Solaire Clan (that the pack liked lmao)

When the kids grew up, one of the girls has a smaller wolf like Milo and he's raised her to never let that bother her like it did to him before Sweetheart came in the picture

Sweetheart got Milo to let Colm see the kids and when Colm came over, Milo was glaring daggers at him the entire time, just wary over his dad and protective over his kids

C - "These are yours, Milo?"

M - "They're ours, who else's they'd be?"

The kids love to chase each other in the forest, going invisible and then trying to guess where they are by pouncing

Ash might've tried to join in once... miraculously only hurt a paw when he misjudged where a pup was and sprained his paw when he landed

[unidentifiedseacreature]

Montgomery Gator Headcanons

Links to other characters at bottom of post

General headcanons to know beforehand

- They all love Dance Dance Revolution but no one can prove who the best is

- Meet and greets usually happen once or twice a day after performances. They're like at disneyland where you can meet them, get a picture, and chat for a few seconds

- Monty, Roxy and Bonnie are much more laid back hanging out in their attractions/on stage. They go a little stiff in front of fans

Monty 🐊

- Struggles with his temper but always well-meaning

- Punches pillows to decompress because he breaks every punching bag (super robot strength)

- Sibling relationship with Roxy. Very competitive but extremely intune with each other and their boundaries

- Enjoys competitive banter with those who reciprocate it

- Has a 'fellow dad' respect with dads at gator golf

- Takes advantage of Freddy's responsible demeanour and goofs off when they're around each other

- Master of the 'hold the snotty child at arm's length' technique

- Most confrontational and surprisingly good at breaking up altercations. He gets this 'bro' attitude which makes others respect him

- Probably the best with rude guests

- Most likely to sneak someone past closing

- Never interacts with the daycare attendant, he has this fear that he'll have to care for the kids or something

- Up to any and every competition

- His proudest moment was when he won fazerblast against Freddy

- Can get a little too hyped up when competing

- Enjoys hanging out on the dancefloor, he's surprisingly close with DJ Music Man

FNAF Character Headcanons

Glamrock Freddy

Glamrock Chica

Roxanne Wolf

Daycare Attendant

Glamrock Bonnie

Glamrock Foxy

DJ Music Man

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

I've been reading Skelefamily fics, and I had to know how'd you do a similar idea!!!!

Alright so, whenever the Fallen Child of that universe is asked to stay with the Caretaker of the universe, they explicitly decline. They instead, in front of everyone, go up to Skeleton and their brother and ask to stay with them.

Does our dear Skeleton, and Brother accept the Fallen Childs request? How would life be with the Fallen Child if they accept? Why would they decline?

Do this with whatever AU fits, I know some don't really make it out on the surface or have a Caretaker that would ask, but generally I'd like to see the main 10 or so.

I'll go with Frisk/Chara/Aliza because it's funnier.

Undertale Sans - Uh... No? He's literally not ready to be a dad or whatever? He can see why Frisk is seeing him as some kind of father figure, but really, he never did it on purpose. Sans smiles at the kid gently, takes their hand, drags them back to Toriel, and disappears lol. He had already a very long day, give him a break jeez.

Undertale Papyrus - He immediately accepts, but... Uh... He has no idea how it works? To be a dad. Papyrus takes you on a father-child date and then abandons you at the end as he can't reciprocate your feelings. You're heartbroken, but that's fine, he knows the right person for you! He then proceeds to give you back to Toriel lol.

Underswap Sans and Papyrus - Both brothers look at each other in complete panic. They both start to whisper-scream silently and do wide gestures with their hands only them understand as they're arguing on the matter. Honey then tries to explain you the most gentle way he can that they currently don't have room but maybe later. Blue nods the whole time while pushing you back towards Asgore.

Underfell Sans & Papyrus - You want what now? Both brothers are really concerned. Red tried to kill you. Several times. Edge as well, even though he kinda spared you in the end (not his proudest moment as a captain, but you know). Why the hell would you want them as parents? They have no idea how to take care of themselves, what the hell would they do with a child? Edge straight tells you to ask the lesbians and then yeets you with blue magic towards Undyne and Alphys lol. Not his problem, have fun with the fish lady.

Horrortale Sans & Papyrus - Probably the only ones who would accept. You took them out of hell, and so you're a little bit a part of the family already. It's not like Toriel won't be your mother anyway because in case you didn't notice, Toriel is mothering everyone. If you don't have anywhere to go, they'll gladly accept you to follow them a little longer. They don't consider themselves fathers though.

Swapfell Sans & Papyrus - Surprisingly, Rus might say yes. He got attached to the kid and he was kinda the one who protected them through their journey. He wouldn't mind. And then you look at Nox LMAO. You gave him HELL through your journey, making it the worst day of his life as a general. He's stressed, he's tired, the Queen screamed at him all day and now you want him to adopt you? What's your problem? Why won't you let him be happy? Did someone hire you to ruin his life? Please, he's begging you, he just wants to be happy again. L E A V E. He's thankful you got them out of the Underground, but that doesn't make you friends.

Fellswap Gold Sans & Papyrus - Coffee wants to adopt you but more like adopting a puppy. He's holding you in his arms like a baby and he's doing his best to fore Wine to say yes with his best puppy eyes, even whining to convince him more. Wine eventually accepts, clearly not happy, at the condition Coffee feeds you and takes care of you. Coffee is so happy, though you're not sure if it was a good choice after all. You're not sure if you should feel offended or not at this point.

[eldritch-spouse]

Since Sybastian is a single dad, what would he be like with a single mom as his mate? 

That's all the more reason you two should get along, right? Right?!

Of course, raising mimiclings is very different from raising a human child, and Syb knows this, which puts him a little off at first. But hey, it can't be that hard. Humans are just a little more dependant, that's fine.

He's honestly more concerned about scaring the child with his huge teeth that are kind of hard to keep hidden for long periods of time.

Sybastian is surprisingly gentle and quiet with the kiddo, making efforts to learn to play the way they do and show them cool things only a monster like him can- By playing games where he turns into different shapes. Hide and seek has never been so fun for your child!

He's not the best with cooking, no, but he can pay more attention to it to make sure your child doesn't get hungry when they're left alone with him.

Speaking of, your kid now has so many siblings. Like too many. Help. Alas, the mimiclings have accepted this kid as their sibling, and as such, all will protect and interact regularly with them. They'll be teaching your child how to hunt soon, so get ready for that.

Sybastian loves nothing more than watching all of them get along, and he makes the proudest rumbles, preening loud and clear whenever your kid says they're having the most fun day ever.

Come on, everything's falling into place, why don't you just accept it too?

[steddieas-shegoes]

I just had this idea and I had to share it with someone, okay?

Steve seeing himself in Mike and how much of an asshole the twerp is turning into. Sees him trying to be a good boyfriend to El before she dumps him, like going all in but to Steve it looks like he's overcompensating. Overcompensating playing straight boy doting boyfriend because his father has tore into him about the disgusting f-words and how they're going to hell. Steve knows because Steve's been there, part of the reason he was such a jerk was because he thought he was broken and damaged because he liked boys just as much (if not more) as he does girls. So he tried playing hyper macho jock boy but then...

Then Nancy and "bullshit", then meeting his gremlins, his kids. Then getting parents in Hopper and Claudia Henderson, then meeting Robin and finding that there's a word for him and that he isn't alone. Then...then meeting Eddie and actually letting him fall for a boy when before he stubbed it out.

For the first time Steve is surrounded by love and support for who he is (Claudia just held him close and told him he was perfect just the way he is, that his heart was made to love freely and she won't stop him being happy. Hop just gave him a squeeze and told him spots he could sneak around to if he wanted to take a boy for proper dates, because of course the former police chief know gay friendly businesses, his future step son is gay and his two other boys aren't all that straight either) so he feels the need to help a boy before he puts himself through what Steve did.

So Steve takes Mike aside and just talks to him, tells him that he isn't broken and it's okay to like both. Steve likes both and he's very happy with his boyfriend.

Just Steve being a bi mentor to Mike because he had to figure it out himself and he doesn't want that pain on anyone.

Eddie calls him a bleeding heart with the proudest and softest look in his eyes.

(It takes weeks but Steve sees Mike and Will with pinkies linked and lovesick smiles watching the other talk, Mike with a relaxation to his body of someone comfortable in their skin finally. Steve almost cries in happiness for his boys)

Okay you win you’ve made me cry more today than I’ve made me cry today and that is impressive

But seriously, this is beautiful and canon because I said so and I took over when the Duffers screwed up.

To add to this: I think Mike probably started realizing stuff when he met Eddie. Sure, he idolized him, but he reached a point where he did the classic “do I wanna be him or do I wanna be with him?” And that just caused him to be WORSE.

And naturally, Steve notices. But it takes him actually being comfortable with himself, with Eddie, with everyone knowing for him to be able to do anything.

It takes Will crying on his shoulder about how he can’t keep watching Mike and El and he loves them both but doesn’t know what to do to like being around them.

So Steve intervenes, talks to Mike, makes it sound like a casual talk about himself. Talks to him the way he wishes his own dad had.

When he finally sees Will and Mike together, he’s proud of Mike, but he’s also proud of himself.

He’s proud that he grew up enough to be himself. He’s even more proud that he grew up enough to help Mike grow up before he made the same mistakes he did.

Thank you so much for this please write this 🥹

[stanheightsimp]

Step dad adam headcannons?

OMG anon this request hypes me up way too much !!!!

Step dad Adam headcanons

Olderbrothercore

Adam and Diana were both only children who wanted to have siblings, so it just happened.

Besides, Adam is too young to feel like a father.

Idk, he's a little 25-year-old boy, who never had another human being depending on him.

The only thing that depended on him were the stray cats in his neighborhood.

He introduces Diana to the best bands and movies. NIN, The Blair Witch Project…

He gives her a Game Boy.

Very protective!!! If anyone bothers Diana at school, he'll go yell at the kid.

He will also teach her to defend herself

"Adam, were you the one who taught Diana the word 'douchebag'? Her teacher summoned me because she insulted one of her classmates by using that word."

"Adam, don't lie, I know it was you!"

Tickle fights! All. The. Time.

The proudest stepdad.

He keeps every drawing and gift Diana gives him.

Lawrence is glad they get along so well, but sometimes he wishes they'd stop conspiring to drive him crazy.

They're the most infernal duo

When Diana gets her period as a teenager, Adam panics and calls his ex-girlfriend (punk, feminine and vegan) to the rescue.

Like, reblog and comment if you liked it! My requests are open btw

[br1ghtestlight]

I feel like I was asked this before but like what's your take on Jimmy pesto and him as a father? Like the pesto family, how do you think they're dynamic is cause we don't really see them as a family a whole lot

Cause me personally, think that Jimmy pesto is at least trying to be a good dad, he just messes up sometimes but like he does care about his kids, he's just crap at showing it. @amethysttheanarchist

you have asked this before and i have answered this before but i dont think i went into too much detail..... its an interesting relationship tbh and im one of the bob's burgers fans who doesn't actually think jimmy pesto is an abusive father. if he's a GOOD father is another conversation but i think he's trying!! in his own way!!!

jimmy pesto's characterization comes down to a lot of toxic masculinity internalized homophobia and insecurity which makes him defense and lash out at other people (obviously) he doesn't want to be seen as weak. and jimmy junior's dancing is seen as feminine and weak which is part of why jimmy pesto doesn't like it (i also think he just thinks its annoying and weird 😭)

his kids are all VERY different from him which makes bonding difficult bcuz they're so unashamed of being themselves and expressing their personality/interests vs jimmy pesto who has like 100 layers of interalized toxic masculinity to work through and he's not even CLOSE to doing that. if jimmy jr andy and ollie were more similar to jimmy pesto in their interests/personality i do think he'd have an easier time bonding with them and wouldnt be so cold

BUT IGNORING THAT i truly do believe that jimmy pesto loves his kids and wants to spend time with them in his own way. he was raised to believe fathers arent supposed to show affection to their kids or say i love you etc so he has a very hard time doing that stuff in public (in the water balloon fight episode he does say he loved andy and ollie but he looks embarassed/uncomfortable to be saying that around other people) for fear of judgement but when they're alone he does say i love you to his kids and maybe he even gives andy and ollie a little goodnight kiss. bcuz he DOES love them

andy and ollie are young enough that they'll take any love and affection they can get from their father but jimmy jr is in his angsty teenage boy phase so he gets pretty angry that his dad won't openly acknowledge he loves them or support their interests. yeah he'll attend their school performances etc but he won't say he loves them or he's proud of them in public. and it makes jimmy jr feel like his father is ASHAMED of him and that he doesn't love him enough to openly express that (for example like how bob does with gene) so he resents him. like even if jimmy pesto DOES love his kids does it even matter if he isn't brave enough to say or express that publically?? what is he so afraid of. is it something that andy/ollie/jj did wrong <- from jimmy jr's perspective. he's 13 and doesn't have the emotional maturity to understand his dads issues and how he grew up in society. he just sees a dad who's ashamed of his kids and doesnt like being around them!!

WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID...... i do believe jimmy pesto loves his kids (he has equal custody of them which doesn't seem like something he would do if he didnt want them around) and never for a second considered that he wouldn't want to be their dad or have them in his life. he knows his life would be 100x worse without them and (he would NEVER ever say this to them) they're his proudest accomplishment in life. he has his issues and isn't always the Best dad due to his own experiences with emotionally distant fathers and toxic masculinity but depsite that he's trying his best to be there for him

the last thing he'd want is for his kids to grow up without a father

[omegasmileyface]

The Forest, the Trees, the Fire I: CATALYST

Chapter 4

second chapter in a row to more than double the word count lets goooo. this one is the longest by far! feel free to take a break in the middle. also, it's my personal proudest! :3 Authors: myself, @attackradish, @ectolemonades. Artist: @/crunchysart

For the full characters list, word count, content warning, and a directory to all the currently available chapters and related content, see the Table of Contents!

full summary: The world outside of Amity Park has learned about the existence of ghosts, and the time for first impressions has arrived. The delicate public consciousness could be disrupted by the slightest ripple. Danny Fenton is being ripped apart from all sides, and when he finally breaks, the ripples will be very big indeed.

warnings: mind control/physical forcing, descriptions of pain, intense bad-faith arguing

words: 7587

AO3 link

first chapter

previous chapter

next chapter

===

November 8, 2006

Y'know, so much of Danny's big routine of "daily life" had changed, you'd think the smaller things would change too. But through all the turmoil— in Amity, in the Zone, in his own head— here he still was. Opening his front door after walking home from school, dreading whatever weapons and conversations lay beyond it.

He supposed, if he really cared that much, he could just fly up to his bedroom and hope his parents didn't notice.

And, wow! There they were, in the living room. No avoiding these pleasantries. If he vanished now, they'd just shoot at the open door anyway.

"Hi, guys."

"Hi, Sweetie! Here, come sit down and watch this news story with us."

Ooh, and a fate worse than death too! He'd know.

"Sorry, I've got a lot of make-up work—"

"Oh, some things are more important than homework!" His dad scooted over and patted the place where he had been sitting. Why? Why didn't he just leave the space that was open before? His dad was inscrutable. "I think you're gonna like this."

Danny listened to the little voice in his head that hated him and glanced at the TV.

It was an interview with Director Stewarts from the GIW. He seemed to be explaining the fight to get new passive ectofatal technology approved for public spaces. A man with a well-tailored suit in just the wrong shade of blue to match his eyes sat across a desk from him, nodding along and smiling like they were talking about a new library program.

They thought he'd like this. The thought froze him, his body torn between straight-up pouncing on the TV and shutting down completely. He paused to make sure they were done with the thought. Nothing? No well, we at least thought you'd like updates, sweetie? No well, not this, the documentary about comets that's on next? Not even a brief chuckle from his mom for his dad's blatant obliviousness?

Just silence. Enraptured silence. Pleased silence, even.

Danny took stock of himself before he responded. Held perfectly still until he was sure all his rage was moved out of his tense fists and glowing eyes and back into the little hole inside himself where he usually shoved it. Maneuvered his smile out of "betrayed lover who felt the stab before thinking to be sad about it" and into "obedient church kid". Put those secret identity acting skills to use. He refused to open his mouth before his body was loose and innocent on the outside.

"I thought you guys hated the GIW?"

"Eh," said his dad. Helpful as always.

"They tend to bury everything they do in bureaucracy," elaborated his mom, "and care about the science last, money first. But, intentions be damned, they're working on some incredible new ways to keep the people of this town safe."

"Really," said Stewarts on the TV, "it's a matter of doing what we need to. The current regulations aren't made with that in mind, but we're doing what we can, despite the misunderstanding from lawmakers. Publicizing our new research is a big part of that."

Danny took a breath. "Personally—" ah shit, some of his tightness came across with that one. Loosen up, D-Man. "I don't feel safer knowing that there are people who want to put untested radiation emitters in my school."

His parents turned to look at him. They weren't nearly as good at hiding their anger.

Fuck.

===

"Stop!" There were tears in Danny's eyes. It was all he could do to keep from Wailing. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." He ran into his room like a wild animal before he could hear any complaints. There were no restraints that kept a ghost down quite like social convention.

The argument had been no different from every other argument they'd had on the subject the last few months. Lightning-paced switching between heated discussions of ectology (in which both parties clearly had irreparably different understandings of fundamental facts) and direct war on Danny's track record as a "bad kid". Two "we studied this, honey"s versus one "and you don't even care about graduating high school". Danny wasn't strong enough to pull out the child neglect allegations. At that point, he may as well tell them why he thought of himself as such an expert, about the death trap in their basement, but even this endless conversational circle of unstoppable forces and immovable objects was better than that. He knew he didn't have it in him.

He didn't know, though, why he hadn't thought to just leave before now. Damn this family and their cleverness— none of them knew how to just take their losses and shut the hell up. Even Jazz, when she was here, only ended arguments by shouting her psychiatric advice the loudest.

Maybe Jazz would know what to do. She put up with being the only bearer of emotional responsibility in the household for years, maybe she'd have pointers now that it was his job. He fumbled for his shitty $20 flip phone to call her. 

He must have been more desperate than he thought, because he somehow reached into the phone to summon her number without giving it any thought. He laughed at himself and his core while it rang. Too lazy to scroll through my contacts?

"Hey?"

"Jazz! Hi. Um, how are you?"

"I'm ok, I'm just getting back from dinner. What's up?"

"Oh, well…" see, now he was starting to have second thoughts about bothering her with this. But she could probably hear how upset he was through the phone, so there was no stopping now. "I got in another argument with Mom and Dad."

She exhaled sympathetically. "About ghost stuff again?"

Danny scoffed. "What else would they be willing to talk about for that long?"

Jazz didn't respond. He sighed. "I really just need to cool off for a bit. But do you have any ideas on how I can keep from just getting in the same conversations again and again and just making it worse?"

"Well, you should probably just refuse to talk about it, if you just don't want to waste your time. But if there's any chance they'll listen, it'll be because you let them know that your info comes from a good source. Assuming they agree, that is."

Danny scoffed. "So, what? Tell them I've been hanging out with ghosts and taking their word for things? Yeah, they'll love that."

"No!" Danny could practically hear Jazz roll her eyes. "If you want to get anywhere, you'd have to tell them that you're learning these things firsthand. Let them know about… the accident. You don't even have to tell them about Phantom."

All the passion left Danny. "…I can't do that."

"Danny. You know they won't really hurt you, at least not if you leave the Phantom part out. And the fighting. I know you can be cautious about what you tell them, you're good at—"

"It's not that! I mean, I'm not convinced they wouldn't do something drastic with the way they've been talking lately, but even without that… I mean, imagine having one of your kids away from home, and the other is so disconnected from you and honestly kind of being a fuckup—"

"Danny—"

"—and then you find out that he's been a ghost for two and a half years? And you think that ghosts can't, like… experience emotions or love or anything? That would hurt them so bad. Assuming it doesn't drive them away completely, they would hate me for telling them. Fuck, they could magically end up not caring at all, and I would hate myself for making them hear that. They might suck, Jazz, but I love them."

"I understand that—"

"I don't want to hurt someone I love, Jazz." The tears on Danny's face had dried, but he could feel more behind his eyes.

"I'm really sorry it's like this. …I don't know if this helps or anything, but they're going to get hurt one way or the other."

"I should just be staying out of arguments with them—"

"Look, you asked if there was a way you could keep the same conversations from happening again and again. They're comfortable where they are, and if you want them to stop hurting you and everyone else, they're going to have to stop being comfortable for a little. There's no way everyone can get out of this one unharmed."

Maybe he just wasn't done with all the feelings from earlier, but he really felt like what he was hearing should have been making him sad. He didn't understand why he was just getting angry.

"The pain they're going to feel is just a normal part of living with other people and learning. Maybe they need it."

Danny's breath hitched with a very ugly sound. He felt… offended. Not by his sister, it wasn't by any means her fault, but… by something. Reality. "It's not fair."

"I know. I'm sorry. But, hey, you don't need to listen to me. Just keep it in mind, I guess. Hey, um…"

The phone was silent for a few seconds except for the sound of rustling fabric.

"Sorry, but could you try not to call me unless you really need to for a while? Things are getting sort of stressful here and as much as I like talking to you, I'm a little worried about, like, disrupting my schedule. N-not that you shouldn't call! But, I guess… try to hold off, if it's not a hassle? I'll try to call more often when I have the time. Sorry… Okay?"

Oh.

His calls were disrupting her life.

For a moment, yet another angry thought flew through Danny's head. Did he not deserve to call her? She always wanted to be up in his business at home, and she could still call, but he couldn't? She was the only one who got to decide when they talked?

The thought extinguished itself before he could dwell on it. All he knew was that one more of his outlets, his comforts, his friends was off-limits at the moment.

"Got it. I'll try. Thanks for talking to me."

Danny hung up and went to spend the rest of his night in the Ghost Zone. He didn't go to school the next day.

===

November 13, 2006

"Thank you for the opportunity to meet, Mr. Masters."

"Of course." Vlad set four mugs of coffee— with coasters— at roughly opposing seats of his dining table. He was getting a hang of this "unspoken social code" thing; in business, official meetings happened in the office, and the "personal" meetings where agreements were actually devised happened at restaurants. But in politics, though the official meetings still stuck to the civic buildings, the "personal" meetings were held in the home. In mayorship, at least. Perhaps it was different for higher up positions.

Others may have found the vulnerability of showing their own home to their peers upsetting. Vlad was always happy for a chance to look like he was being open without having to actually do so. The lab stayed sealed off, the offices only held documents that looked important, and even Maddie was taking a nap behind a locked door.

As far as he was aware, pitting three members of an interested party against one politician in their own home was bad form. The Garrison Irving Walker Commission were lucky that he was a match for them, and wouldn't need to speak about this elsewhere.

"We wanted to talk about the measures the city of Amity Park takes to keep its citizens safe in the face of high numbers of ghosts," said the leftmost agent, Robert something.

Vlad nodded because it was nicer than saying oh, really? I had thought you were here to talk about the quality of fishing spots in town.

"I do hope that you've all found the ghost alarm system and robust self-defense supply chain in town satisfactory, as well as our thorough emergency protocols and permit approval rates."

The center agent, David whatever, gave a polite smile. Vlad didn't even have to look behind the sunglasses to see that it didn't reach his eyes. "It's incredibly refreshing to find a place with so many well thought-out plans. But we were curious as to why the town hasn't implemented any new measures in the last few years."

"And," said the agent on the right, Rosalyn what's-her-name, "there is a large opening for preventative and passive anti-ghost measures in the town's infrastructure, especially given the constant return of the Phantom. That's much of what we wanted to talk through, since we have some ideas that can be looked through and altered."

Lovely! Ideas. They spent the next hour talking through the list, during which Vlad had to stay on his toes figuring out what he could and couldn't say was "worth thinking about". A live-updating webpage reporting ghost sightings in the town? Ooh, strong idea, David, he'd have to consider that! A high-frequency ectoenergy emitter that would annoy ghosts into leaving? Great start, Rosalyn, but that might need some more testing before the people in town would agree to it. These people were so dedicated, so convinced that they needed to put as much attention and care into Amity Park as possible, that he considered overshadowing them briefly, just enough to spark a little disinterest in his town. But they had a lot of protective equipment hidden on their persons. It wouldn't be worth the risk.

Not that he couldn't respect seeing an opening and trying to worm into it, it was exactly what he had done when he'd discovered the town, but the damned Guys in White had no idea what iceberg they were scraping against. If they knew, perhaps they'd just leave it to him and go about their days.

They left with a reminder that they'd be talking official proposals in City Hall next week— yes, Robert, I wouldn't forget it for the world— and a confident assertion that Amity Park and the GIW would be of great help to one another.

It was assertions like that that left Vlad wondering if they'd forgotten that he owned Axion Labs, the only current public retailer of ectotechnology. And that he funded practically all of the town's battle repairs. And that he was a significant donor to the GIW.

Little Maddie was impatient enough when he ushered the agents out and unlocked her door. She ran to the couch to bat at a toy she had left under it and ignored Vlad when he pet her.

He sighed. "For people seemingly so concerned with this town, they don't seem to have any respect for what the people in it want." He thought for a moment. "Oh, what do I care? I should be figuring out how to play this when we meet next week. Do you think…"

His thoughts drifted to Daniel like usual. Vlad's plan to become King had been invalidated last winter, when word had spread through the Infinite Realms like ink through water that Danny Phantom had been established as the Crown Prince. The Crown of Fire had disappeared from the safe in his lab without a trace. Though the boy hadn't been actually crowned, even the announcement that he would be was a simple truth, a fact that couldn't be disputed or undermined. At this point, if Vlad wanted the High Throne, he'd either need to defeat Daniel in an official duel, kill Daniel and be chosen as the inheritor, or get Daniel to give it up willingly.

The options were not ideal. Vlad had a reputation in the Zone, yes, but he didn't exactly have friends. Employees, business partners, and people in his debt, yes, but staggeringly few people who liked him. Daniel had been more than holding his own in unexpected fights recently, so Vlad didn't want to test his luck in a duel where the boy had time to prepare. Time to gather the support of all those ghosts who tolerated him better than Vlad. He couldn't ignore the likelihood that he would lose, and then… well, more than likely he wouldn't even be let close to the topic of the Monarchy again. It would be his last chance.

As for option B, Vlad had to put killing Daniel off the table for good. While his ultimate goal was the Throne, he wouldn't like to have to make himself alone again to get there. And if the boy did die in the meantime, Vlad had no illusions that any council that could be assembled would choose him as the replacement. See the, uh, "no friends" thing.

And option C… Daniel didn't like him. This was just something Vlad had to come to terms with. Despite his best efforts, the boy was too stubborn to let himself land on any of their common ground. But…

He looked back to the notes he had taken when the GIW agents were over. There were a lot of things in those notes that would disrupt Vlad's life, but even more that would make Daniel's that much harder. Some of those things would have them both toasted for good, but some would only push a little… if new GIW regulations went through, Daniel would have more stress going about his daily life, more trouble keeping up his relationships, more pressure to do something about it as King… he wouldn't know how to deal with it. He didn't have any experience with politics. But Vlad did. There Vlad would be, trying his absolute best to keep the GIW in check. But, alas, there's only so much he can do without the power of an official political position and the threat of the Infinite Realms behind him…

"Yes," Vlad said to Maddie, who had fallen asleep again. "I think I can work with this after all."

===

November 16, 2006

Danny had been shocked, last year, at how many of his allies were willing to spend time with him to help him prepare for the Crown. People he still regularly fought with had offered advice (though he didn't expect many of them would have anything useful to say, the sentiment was incredible). People he thought hated him had told him to at least ask if he needed help— Walker had handed him a business card with his preferred hours on it. Most surprisingly, actual political leaders had opened their arms readily to help Danny. Dora, Frostbite, Pandora… even Clockwork had been seeing Danny for their odd brand of "lessons" until recently. Sure, he didn't talk to them much about casual things because they all had him hard at work studying to bear responsibility or whatever, but nobody was as shocked as Danny that such a network had opened to him.

Today, since he was already running away from his problems in the living world, Danny had seen if Pandora was up for a chat. They were sitting under a golden tree behind her palace. The meetings had started more formal, but they had both gotten tired of it with time. Danny had been trying to ignore his problems in the living world by reviewing ethical and strategic lessons, but his thoughts drifted back, and here they were.

"…and now they've started moving more of their people to be based in Amity, so they can put even more, quote, 'defenses' into place where the most ghosts are."

"And these defenses haven't been approved for the wider state yet?"

"No. Not Illinois and not America. They're working on that, but it looks like they're trying to set a standard in Amity before they can even get started everywhere else."

"A good observation, Danny! I agree, it sounds as if the GIW are trying to use your city as a proof that their techniques would work on a larger scale. Like some sort of laboratory test."

Danny choked. "So, do… do you really think they're trying to escalate, still?"

"My little poplar, you already know the answer to that. The question is, what are they escalating toward?"

Danny swallowed. "They tried once to destroy the entirety of the Infinite Realms. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have worked, but they wanted it so badly. They might still think that's what they need to do. And even if they don't… some of my friends are missing. Wulf and Poindexter. And they keep coming out with new studies on ghosts. The GIW, I mean. I think they're kidnapping ghosts to experiment on them. I don't expect them to stop doing that."

Pandora hummed. "Those are both acts of war. Do you have any plans to respond to acts of war?"

Danny looked away. He really, really didn't want to think about things like that. But this was real, and there was no avoiding it.

Pandora waited for his answer. Eventually, he admitted, "I would like to let them know our perspective first, if there's any chance it would work."

Pandora nodded. "As Haides Polyxenos, you have the power of the Ghost Army behind you, both literally and socially. This creates an actionable threat against any army of humans, which gives you negotiating power. Even non-threats are backed up with the knowledge that, should it come down to sheer military power, you would be the de facto victor."

That was not what Danny meant. He felt that opening with "oh, and by the way, we could destroy you if we wanted, so, like, keep that in mind" was a terrible start for a peace discussion.

"Regardless of that, I respect your devotion to seeing if there is a peaceful option first. The blow to our people would not be insignificant, even with a guaranteed victory."

Danny played with the teal grass.

"…And I know that humanity means a lot to you. Even if they weren't your kin, you would have respect for them as another group that doesn't deserve war."

Danny nodded.

"All that considered, I think your idea to establish your people's perspective before doing anything else was very wise! If you research who you would need to contact and the etiquette behind doing so next time you are among the living, you could come back here and we could work on a script for your meeting them."

He smiled. "That sounds really nice, Pandora, thank you. Do you mind if I invite Frostbite? I think he'll add another good perspective to the mix."

Pandora stood up with a triumphant grin. "That is an excellent idea, Danny! Now, let's get you doing something with your body. Your archery still needs some work."

Danny groaned, but stood up too. Thoughts of his next step were already running through his mind.

===

November 21, 2006

"Mr. Masters, you've had some experience with ectology as a study, yes?"

Vlad had to force the smile when he replied, "yes."

The meeting at City Hall was stuffy, crowded, and— now, you'll want to be sitting down for this shock— boring. He had already fought through dozens of statements regarding technology that would disrupt Vlad's own connections, research projects that would bring humans far too close to true knowledge of ghosts, and legislative moves that took "guilty until proven innocent" to a degree even he balked at. He had made moves that would shift Daniel toward his arms, but not nearly as many as he would have liked. He was far more concerned at the moment with keeping the balance between his image and his safety.

He hadn't even realized that they had drawn up information on his past. Hmm.

"I looked into the field during my time in college. I enjoyed that time, but, eventually… I decided to leave to pursue business management." Close enough, yeah?

"We think you should see the interest behind our favorite project, then…" Rosalyn ("Dr. Ducharm", now) pressed a key on the keyboard wired to the computer at the front of the room. The projected slide on the wall changed to a 3-dimensional model of a square, concrete building with an impressive parking lot. It looked strangely like a larger version of the Axion Labs unit in town, except for a two-story glass dome on the north side of the roof. Painted next to the front entrance was "GIW" in massive white letters and the organization's circular seal.

"We would like to start a new operation in Amity Park, where we can employ ectologists from in and out of town to take advantage of the city's unique relationship with the Ghost Zone. We would have this building constructed as a base, and from there we could employ the talents of dozens of kinds of laboratory and non-laboratory workers, in an organized effort toward a safer future."

Now Vlad was trapped. There was that key word; employ. An operation of this size would spur Amity's construction and infrastructure sectors with something different than the usual repair jobs, and then it would employ STEM specialists from within the city, and then it would draw in dozens or hundreds of workers from the rest of the country, pulling outside money in. The city council would never pass it up. If they propagandized it well enough, the voters wouldn't, either. Vlad would look either malevolent or completely idiotic if he didn't express total interest now.

He let his eyes go flat lest they start showing red, and pulled the rest of his face into a plastic grin. "How exciting! Now there is a future."

Yes, a future where Vlad was watched from all angles by ectosignature-reading cameras.

Oh, well. Construction was an infamously slow process. He would have time.

===

November 28, 2006

…IN SUCH A SITUATION, OF COURSE, YOU WOULD HAVE TO BRING FORWARD ANY GHOST YOU WOULD EXPECT TO HAVE INFORMATION ON THE EVENT. SHOULD THEY WITHHOLD IT, YOU—

Danny's phone chirped. Oh, thank God. There were only a few spots in the Realms where he got a cell connection (do not ask him how that worked), and he would take a late text over the bossy, traditionalist, very-poorly-hiding-their-hatred-for-him Observants any day.

He held up a hand directly in front of the indignant eye of the floating robe closest to him. Hilarious as usual. "One sec, guys."

He tuned out the sound of spectral sputtering as he looked through text previews.

Sam: (11:25) call when u get… Sam: (11:22) if u don't show… Tucker: (11:10) Read pls. Import… (10:54) Sam: what are you up… Tucker: (9:43) Missed you in ch…

So on and so forth for the last couple days. Nothing Danny wanted to see until he was ready to deal with that. He would handle it all at once, cleanly and nicely, when he went back home. There was too much in his brain for now.

He should probably glance at that "important" message before he lost service, though. He trusted Tucker's judgement on whether something was an emergency.

Tucker: (11:10) Read pls. Important. I get youre out for a reason but your parents have asked me where you are. I had to tell them I didnt know. Sorry. Theyll probably start getting serious about looking soon

Oh, crap. His parents had noticed he was gone. Four days must have been too much for them. He didn't know what to tell them he had been up to this time… or what to say next time he disappeared.

Whatever. That was future Danny trouble. He'd deal with that when he went home, and he'd go home after these eyeballs finished up with him.

He put his phone away and stopped tuning them out.

—AND WHATEVER MORTAL IS CONTACTING YOU AT A TIME LIKE THIS CAN WAIT UNTIL—

"Sorry 'bout that. Continue with the whole… 'inappropriate relations' thing?"

The Observants looked like they were each going to pop a giant blood vessel, but they switched tirades without complaint.

===

December 1, 2006

Vlad was in his study, admiring a knitting pattern on his laptop, when Valerie Gray knocked on his window. Quietly, he wondered why she bothered climbing through a window in her suit when she could have just shown up at his door in civilian clothes and saved them both the suspicion, but he let her in anyway.

"Miss Gray! Please, can I get you anything? It's chilly out there."

"Thank you, Mr. Masters! No, I just wanted to stop by."

Internally, Vlad rolled his eyes. "Stopping by" was for afternoons in his office, or emailing him beforehand, or civilian clothes at the very least. Still, Valerie Gray was a smart girl, and had a tendency toward making herself small when she wasn't trying to do the exact opposite. She likely had a real problem, and was just being demure about it.

"Well, sit down! Let's go into the living room. We're the only ones here, so no need to worry about your suit showing or anything." They started moving down the hall. "Speaking of which! How has it been faring? Anything new recently?" He had, as "the Wisconsin Ghost", tussled lightly with her for appearance's sake a few weeks back, and he saw that her suit was acting oddly up close. He had already done his own studies on it and determined that it was somehow sentient, or something to that effect, and much more ghostly than he had originally designed it. Lasting effects, he supposed, of a time that she got tied up with Technus two years ago. She still hadn't told him about it. Bold.

Regardless, he wasn't too worried. Let the girl become more ghostly. As long as she was putting that isolative pressure on Daniel, as long as she was giving Vlad that in on the human ghost hunting world, what did he care? But she really should be telling her innocent, human benefactor about these things. Imagine if he really did have her best interests in mind? She was as reckless as usual.

"Nope! Working just perfectly! I hope I've been doing my job well enough."

Vlad poured some coffee for both of them— he hadn't been lying about the cold night. "You absolutely have. You are, perhaps, the town's best defense against ghostly attacks."

When he handed Valerie her mug, she casually set it down without taking a drink. He admired her caution.

"Thank you! Seriously. But, Mr. Masters, that's sort of what I wanted to talk about. I've been trying to keep up on changes the Guys— sorry— the GIW have been trying to make here in Amity and Elmerton. I really like how they're trying to keep us stronger in the face of violent ghost attacks. But some of the things they want to try out here kinda make me think they're looking at us like a… like an experiment, more than people. People with lives, who are hurt by ghosts, yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't be hurt by other things, you know?"

Ah. Vlad took a sip of his coffee. She wanted to put her word into this game, too? Figured she could get a little opinion in because she had business relations with the mayor? To Vlad, it was yet another force wanting him pulled a certain way. Luckily, he didn't need Valerie Gray's approval, not like he needed the trust of the GIW and Daniel. It was good to have her trusting him, yes, but she was low on his list of priorities. He let her keep talking.

"I just wanted to say, I know you're doing all you can to work with them for the best for the people in town. And… I trust you to make sure that they're not putting ghost defense above respecting the humans. I think you're a good mayor, Mr. Masters. Thank you for what you're doing."

Vlad was shocked. He was glad Valerie wasn't looking at him, because he couldn't keep it off his face for a second. She was sixteen and openly armed with the best in human-ghost weaponry, but she looked absolutely tiny, hunched over and entrusting him with keeping her and the people she loved safe.

Normally, Vlad liked to see people so vulnerable to him, but there was something off-putting about his strongest pawn, this teenager so full of rage and determination that it took only the slightest push to turn her into a living declaration of war, being so honest about her weakness. If there was anyone Vlad expected to be blinded into following the GIW from sheer hatred of ghosts, besides perhaps the Fentons, it would be her.

The look on her face was one he had seen on Danielle a few times before she had disappeared, when she thought he loved her. It wasn't begging. No, Valerie Gray expected him to pull through on these anti-ghost regulations for her, just because she thought he was a good enough person. She was thanking him for something he hadn't done yet.

She trusted him to handle this with grace. And he realized now, with the Red Huntress depowered and sitting on his formal living room couch, that he didn't.

===

December 4, 2006

People had been coming up to Danny when he was around the Ghost Zone. Really, he should have been expecting it, but he was sort of taken aback every time. Your average ghost knew that he was the Prince, and even before that he had enough of a reputation that sometimes they would approach him to ask for help on whatever superhero comic plot had come into their lives recently, but… really, shouldn't there be other options? Walker couldn't have been the only one upholding "laws". Johnny wasn't the only one going on adventures in the living world when necessary. There were other ghosts who handled this sort of thing. Why seek out some half-human two-year-old?

Especially when he couldn't even do what they wanted. At least thirteen ghosts had approached him in the past few weeks to report friends and fright members that had gone to the living realm for one reason or another and never come back. Captured by the Guys in White, shoved in some lab, and… who knows what, after that.

He had tried a few times. Logically, he should have a pretty good shot at getting in and out. Yes, they were looking for his ectosignature in particular, but he was human. He was skilled at hiding it. And he had links in the human world, ways to hide in plain sight, and a hacker friend for whom he was eternally grateful.

The first time, he had gotten the poor ghost out intact. The second time, he even got some hapless animal ghosts and blobs out too. After that, things got harder. Security got tighter, bases got put in stranger places, employees became even more ruthless at the sight of Phantom.

It hurt Danny inside every time he thought about it, but there just wasn't anything he could think to do without getting himself killed, and that wouldn't help anyone in the long run. The experimentation was legal, even on the more humanoid ghosts as far as Danny could tell. He couldn't physically attack the facilities if he wasn't sure nobody would die, and even then the newer defenses had a nasty effect of sometimes turning his own energy around on him.

And now, as he found himself surrounded by the desperate children and friends of a wolf-woman ghost who had been taken away while visiting relatives in the living world, that was what he tried to tell them. But he felt sorry at his own excuses, and he wanted more than anything to be able to do better for the people relying on him, and he saw in their eyes that they did, too, and Danny felt something in the air that said that everyone else did, too, and then—

He blacked out.

===

When Danny woke, he was sitting on a marble chair in a room where the floor was black tile and the walls glowed blue. Anything beyond that was blurry. Right in front of his face was familiar blue and red, and for a moment he worried that he had passed out in front of Plasmius before he noticed the scar.

He just had time to realize this was his first time seeing Clockwork since summer before his head was filled with pain.

It was terrible, and bone-deep, and from his mind as much as his flesh, but it did something to wake him up, too. Danny could see now that the far end of the long room held several ghosts, most of whom he had been studying under. He could see that the glowing on the walls was from tall stained glass windows in every color between ectoplasm green and ocean blue.

He could see that his marble chair was on a dais, and that Clockwork was looking at him with pity. It was an unfamiliar look on them.

Oh, Danny thought as the important people and the important room sunk in between throbs of pain. I am absolutely screwed.

Clockwork squeezed Danny's shoulder. The pain didn't go away, which he thought was incredibly rude since he knew they had some healing power. They turned around and said to the room, Daniel Phantom is here, and he will be King.

Fuck. Fuck. This wasn't supposed to happen yet. This was the coronation, and it wasn't supposed to be like this. He knew it was pretty different from European coronations, but there was supposed to be some kind of party involved, at least. Some kind of tedious ceremony, and it would be stressful and awfully final but it would be happy for a bit. There would be weeks of preparation and months of warning and everyone had told him it wouldn't happen until he was ready.

But here Danny was, on a throne in his own damn color scheme that Fate and Sam had chosen for him, alone except for a few ghosts who were very much not having a good time, in more pain than he'd felt at once since he died, and perhaps the least ready it was possible to be. He was a sixteen year old who was failing every class and avoided talking to his own parents.

He didn't want to see any of this. He tried to close his eyes, but the pain echoed somewhere in the back of his head and the back of his core and his eyes opened and his vision cleared. He couldn't move his eyes or his thoughts away when Pandora walked to the spot Clockwork had left. She opened a lapis lazuli box, and inside was the Ring of Rage, smaller than ever on its own in there. The last time Danny had seen the Ring, it had been locked in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

She put it on the middle finger of his left hand, and he knew that if his unfading Lichtenberg figures were visible, they would start right where the ring sat. It shrunk and simplified. A band of white, a band of black, a pointed gem of the same blues and greens as the windows.

The pain spread below Danny's neck, to the rest of his body. Whatever kept his eyes clear kept him from doubling over and screaming, too. He didn't have it in him to fight.

Pandora stepped back, and Frostbite walked forward with the Crown of Fire. He didn't place it on Danny's head, he just set it in his hands and wiped a tear off of Danny's cheek.

It was Clockwork who came forward again and lifted the Crown onto his head. It electrified his skin where it touched. Hadn't Pariah Dark's crown floated? Why was Danny's sitting on him, feeling like it was about to topple but refusing to fall, burning a halo onto his scalp?

Why was any of this happening?

Danny was distracted from the pain when that place in the back of his core struck a chord like a symphonic bell and first the Crown, then the Ring, then everything else oh God every drop of ectoplasm in the deep ocean around him every space hidden between every other space the entire seam between this place and the other resonated with it. One massive echo, one frequency carried to infinity in an instant, and that which was within was without, just the same.

May his reign be perfect, said Clockwork from out of sight.

Danny was on the floor. Son of a bitch! The pain ran through him one more time with emphasis before disappearing.

Some of the attendees— Observants, mostly— left without another word. Some, those Danny had started thinking of sort of like family recently, came and tried to help him stand.

It was a struggle to get to his feet, but once he was there, he couldn't help but notice that Clockwork was gone.

"Alright, Danny," Frostbite said. Heh, that might have been the first time he'd used his real name. "Let's get you some sleep, and then we can have a chat about your new powers before you go home."

Danny made himself smile from where he was collapsed over the yeti's arm. "Do I get cake now?"

"Sure," said Frostbite, comforting as any good doctor. "You can have all the cake you want."

Danny laughed weakly. "Some party this was."

(And when word hit them that a small team of yetis had shown up at a grocery store in Amity Park to buy a premade cake with real money, Sam and Tucker decided to keep it to themselves.)

===

December 11, 2006

"No," Vlad hissed when he read the paper Dr. Robert Eldridge handed him across his dining room table.

"What's the issue? I'm happy with the progress we've been making here, and this is the only logical next step."

"It's too invasive. People will never trust a group that measures their ectoplasmic exposure every time they go out in public."

"Their daily lives won't be disrupted because it's passive once installed. Not intrusive at all," said Dr. David Reyes, who had a hidden camera in one of his shirt buttons.

"It doesn't matter, the knowledge that they're having statistics about them being read out to some other body at all times will be too much. H— people hate that sort of thing."

"It's all about awareness," said Dr. Rosalyn Duchart, who had never been in an ecto lab environment in her life. "Most people will be okay with their ectoplasmic levels being measured, because they'll be low anyway. Nothing to hide. It'll only upset those who would be spotted. Disguised ghosts, long-term overshadowings, hauntings and whatnot."

"I'm not so sure about that." Vlad's hand tightened around his mug. "People don't take so kindly to the idea that they might be hiding something. I've certainly never enjoyed being watched."

Maybe, if he had paid a little more attention, he would have found he didn't enjoy the way he was being watched in that moment either.

===

Voicemail from… (708) 112-4816 on… December 13 at… 4:19 PM. [Beep!]

Hey, Danny. It's Val. Um… I haven't seen you in a few weeks. Well, okay, I've seen you around town and at Nasty Burger once in a while, but we haven't talked. You know what I mean. Haha. So, I guess, if you're not at school, and you're not with your friends— uh, I asked them, sorry— where are you?

…You don't have to tell me, of course. It's probably none of my business. Unless it is, haha! Um. But yeah! I guess I just wanted to let you know that… I'm thinking about you! And I hope you're okay! And if there's anything you want to talk about with me, you can. I, uh, I even have homework you can copy if you want to get back on track with missed school.

Hey, call me sometime! I haven't had a chance to tell you about this dumb movie my dad and I watched last week. It was this 3-D animated Christmas movie? Yeah, it's as weird as it sounds, hehe. But that's all I'm telling you now! If you want the rest of the details you're gonna have to crawl out and talk to me.

Have a good day, okay? 'Kay. 

…End of message.

===

December 15, 2006

[A1 - BREAKING NEWS]

LANCE: GOOD EVENING EVERYONE.

I’M LANCE THUNDER –

TIFFANY: – AND I’M TIFFANY SNOW.

THIS IS AMITY PARK 8 AT 5.

TONIGHT’S BREAKING NEWS, A LEAKED GARRISON IRVING WALKER COMMISSION RESEARCH PAPER ALLEGES MAYOR VLAD MASTERS IS ACTUALLY A GHOST.

[VO]

[B-ROLL: STILL OF COVER PAGE]

LANCE: PAMELA DEH-LEE-UN, AARON HAMPTON AND DAVID RYE-EZ, LONG-TIME RESEARCHERS WITH THE GIW, WROTE THE PAPER.

TIFFANY: HAMPTON DEVELOPED SUSPICIONS ABOUT MASTERS SHORTLY AFTER THE GIW BEGAN WORKING WITH HIM ON PUBLIC ANTI-GHOST MEASURES.

THE TEAM STANDS BY THE RESEARCH, THOUGH THE PAPER WAS UNFINISHED AND STILL IN REVIEW AT THE TIME OF THE LEAK.

[A-ROLL: HAMPTON INTERVIEW]

LANCE: THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED, BUT THE GIW’S MAIN CONCERN IS THE PUBLIC SEEING THE PAPER BEFORE PEER REVIEW.

WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO COMMENT FROM MASTERS OR CITY COUNCIL, BUT A PRESS CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT SIX-THIRTY PM.

TIFFANY: JOIN US AT TEN PM ON THE EVENING SHOW FOR EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE AND A MORE IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE RESEARCH PAPER.

UP NEXT, WE’LL HEAR FROM RESIDENTS ON A STRING OF BREAK-INS DOWNTOWN.

[space-ninja-fashion-show]

Darius has taken a lot of ppl under his wings since he awoke and considers his ragtag lil clan to all be his family, but he specifically has two who he considers to be His Kids

One is his tenno, Mae. She chose to withdraw from combat when she and Darius realised that that was an option at all, even if one they'd need to fight for to make work, and Darius did everything he could to support her in this while continuing the fight alone

During their combat days she was a very defensive fighter and not at all chatty during missions, but getting to just be a teenager and study the things she wants to (mainly architecture) has allowed her to blossom into someone a lot more easygoing and confident. She lovingly bullies her dad but no one else is allowed to look at him meanly. She likes to paint (the dojo has some of her work up on the walls! Darius is the proudest dad in the world and the entire dojo is now the fridge door for him to hang up his daughter's work) and naturally takes on a leader role amongst the clan's tenno when it comes to various Projects. This was initially granted bc "leader's daughter" but turns out she's genuinely good at it

Darius' other kid and Mae's older sibling is Tekla, an excalibur. The "an" is very on purpose here - excalibur was one of if not the Only frame that the Orokin had attempted to make multiple of before realising that 1) something will always end up different (often drastically so) bc the hosts aren't perfectly the same, and 2) warframes are extremely powerful so might as well get in some extreme variety too

Tekla's backstory is full of Ouch and i will not delve into it on This post, but basically: they never saw combat in the Old War, got severly traumatised while semi-conscious, and will never set foot on a battlefield ever again. Or be controlled via transference. They're no longer in contact with the tenno who had them post-long-sleep

They're meek and don't handle strangers well, but they're very content doing data and supply tracking for the clan. Spreadsheets galore. They were one of the first ppl Darius took under his wing. They'd never admit to seeing Darius as their dad but do claim him to be their hero. Darius on the other hand 100% sees them as his own kid and acts accordingly

Tekla and Mae have something of a "they asked for no pickles" dynamic, with Mae often serving as Tekla's security blanket/emotional support person. If there's strangers in the dojo, Mae will interact with them readily or at the v least Observe from the edge of conversation and report back to Tekla via transference conversation while they stay out of sight a few rooms away

[ooops-i-arted]

In the Royalty AU, what was it like when Grogu spoke for the first time?

Grogu has been used to being put first. He's been the apple of his dad's eye for years and now he's a prince of Mandalore. As one of the first foundlings adopted under Din's rule he's an important symbol of the Mandalorians rebuilding their home and culture and people, and of course he's the cutest thing on the entire planet. Most Mandalorians who see him wave and smile at bare minimum, and plenty coo and fawn over him on a regular basis. He has numerous found family aunts and uncles who adore and dote on him. Even Cara when she joined the clan paid tribute to him with cuddles and hugs and love. Finally he is being loved and cared for in a way that's very healthy for a kid his "age" (or rather, human maturity equivalent), especially one who went without love and care for a significant time.

A new baby completely disrupts that.

Din and Cara could never say they love Alanne or Grogu more; both are equally adoring of their beloved children. But Alanne is a little newborn with no routine and no self-care skills, so she usually gets first dibs on parental attention now, and Grogu has to wait. Wait?! He's never had to wait before! He could always walk up to Dad and Mom and show them the picture he just drew and be treated like he just made a masterpiece that should be hung in a museum. "Just a moment, Grogu," are words he is not used to hearing.

And he knows that Mom and Dad still love him. He knows Alanne is just a little baby and he's a big boy. He wants to be a big boy and a good big brother and wait and be patient and be a helper but it's hard. It's all new to him! And sometimes that scary, scary thought creeps in that maybe Mom and Dad don't mean all their nice words and they do like the new baby more after all. After all, it used to be that he barely had to coo and squeak to get their attention. Now Alanne makes all the same noises, and she's louder too. If they're watching her to support her head and see if she rolls over and all that, they're not looking at his hands for sign language. Sometimes they even look away in the middle of signing to check Alanne and he has to repeat. The audacity!

(Din and Cara are, of course, doing their very best to make sure Grogu feels as loved as always and give him all the attention they can. It's just that a new baby has disrupted their lives too, they're running on way less sleep than Grogu, and having Grogu has trained into them the idea that you shouldn't take your eyes off of your kid unless you want to find them getting into some Force-assisted shenanigans and it's a hard habit to break even if the newborn is, for now, immobile.)

It all comes to a head eventually. Grogu really is trying to be a good brother! But he stubbed his toe and it hurts, and he already lost his favorite ball under the bed where even he can't reach, and it's just been a hard day and he needs someone now but when he toddles over, Din is busy trying to settle Alanne down to sleep and tells him "Just a minute, buddy, let me get the baby to sleep." That's when all his frustration wells up and into his mouth and out pours a big "DAD!"

That gets Din's attention right away. He sets Alanne down and scoops Grogu up, wide-eyed. "What did you - is that - did you -"

All the frustration is replaced with a warm, happy feeling when Grogu sees his dad is so proud of him. "Dad!" he says again. He loves making his dad smile! Din is smiling so much, hugging him tight, telling him over and over again how proud he is.

It's a long road to go - no one knows Grogu's species so figuring out his mouth and tongue structure so a speech pathologist can start figuring out how to help him make sounds is a long journey and that's only the start. But Grogu was finally ready to find his voice, and once he did, he never wanted to let it go again.

Din and Cara are the proudest parents in the world. Even when Grogu starts cursing up a storm and they realize oops, he actually was listening and remembers every time we said dank farrik....

[hexiflexi]

2nd to last session!

ok so today was a really... interesting session of EWW.

It started with the characters in a port town called Ayrith, where Teddy (a pc of a new player. He's from Iska and is an investigator) and Sora were talking with an npc called Rosie, one of Teddy's mom's friends. They had baklava together, while Eilo and Albus were hiding in a bush. We ended up skipping over most of their walk from Ayrith to Nastra Port (the city they're trying to get to to stop the Countess), but after that it did start getting a bit... annoying for myself as the dm. See the player for Eilo, while she's amazing at improvising and making dramatic moments, she has a need to make all the dramatic moments somehow related to her character, and often doesn't accept input from other players.

This became relevant when the party was fighting the mastermind bbeg (Countess Seramajor). Our newer pc, Teddy, was trying to make use of his skills (which I encouraged because the player is new), Eilo's player had her make a plan that involved her being the only one to fight the Countess, while sending the others to save the kid and run and hide. At this point, it was becoming a pattern with this player that I did something kind of petty; I didn't let her plan work. I fudged some rolls in the rest of the party's favor, and eventually let the bbeg succeed a little more than I originally intended, so that Eilo's plan wouldn't work. Again, not my proudest moment, but it did seem to make the rest of the party feel a little more satisfied with their work, so that's good.

Plot recap: The party fought merrow's in the straight between Iska and L'akem, each getting down to around half health. They made their way to Nastra Port, fought Albus's dad and Countess Seramajor (who had kidnapped Elwyn's sister), but found out that Elwyn had made a deal with the Countess in order to save her sister. The Countess managed to unlock the passageway to Halivaara, the home of the ancient storm giants.

[kryptonitejelly]

Jake and babies/kids. That's it.

Whether they're his, nieces/nephews, or godchildren, you know Jake loves and adores the babies & kids in his life.

He'd have a whole football team worth of kids if you'd let him (you managed to talk him down to four but he's been dropping hints lately for maybe a fifth or sixth). Besides 'husband', 'dad' is the title he's proudest of having. He loves being a dad & taking care of his kids and absolutely hates it when people make the "dad's babysitting" jokes. He isn't phased at all by spit up, diaper changes, potty training accidents, or sick kids. When someone brings it up that they're surprised he's not freaking out during one of those situations, he just shrugs and says "It's a part of life."

And he'd totally be the fun dad and uncle. The zoo, museums, parks, Disney on Ice shows - he loves going on special outings with the kids. Always spoiling them by buying whatever souvenir or snack they want. He's also on board to play whatever made up games they want to play. And he's always down for a good tea party or just chasing them around the backyard.

It's not unusual to find him napping with a baby on his chest or a kid snuggled up against his side. It takes forever for your kids to get used to napping or sleeping by themselves because he just doesn't want to put them down. He's also usually wearing a baby carrier instead of using a stroller.

When the kids are bigger, he gets one of those running strollers and takes them out with him on his morning runs, letting you sleep in. If you wake up before he gets back, you sit on your front porch with your coffee to enjoy the view of him shirtless and pushing a stroller as he comes back down the street and up the driveway. He always gives you a cheeky wink and a "Like what you see, Mrs. Seresin?" when he sees you. If you're still asleep when he gets back from his run, he gets the kids dressed and fed so it's one less thing you have to worry about when you wake up.

He's also that dad that loves showing his friends and coworkers the latest pictures and videos he has of his kids. And no matter how often he takes his kids to work with him (he loves showing them all of the planes), Family Days at the base are always a favorite of his. 💙

homgggggggggggg thank you for this 🫠🫠🫠 dad!jake or uncle!jake absolutely gets to me 😌

He would absolutely hate the dad’s babysitting jokes 100% - because Jake believes all dad’s should be 200% involved. Whether you hc he comes from family with a shitty father or not I think this works - family with a shitty father? Jake will strive to be better. From a loving family - Jake will have had a good influence.

Everyone would totally think he would freak out at all these things - I mean look at him, always striving to be perfection, but they wouldn’t bother him. Just takes it in his stride.

I imagine that once he has kids - his helmet will have stickers. Weird sparkly ones, dino ones (sorry! idk if it is against regulations or not, but lets pretend for fandom sake it is ok). Even the back of his phone.

He’ll tape drawings to the inside of his locker :’) and people would ask him what is that, and he’ll be able to tell you in detail what the squiggles are.

Yess 🥺 whether uncle or dad, you’ll find him sitting with the kids with a tiny plastic cup in his hand at the pretend tea party, or just running around making them scream as he roars (think of that video homg). And he’ll just fall down at the end of it and let them climb all over him.

YES THE BABY CARRIER!!! And once whichever baby gets too big to be carried he would mope, and tell you “now we need another”.

I picture him as the crazy uncle / dad that is always tossing his kids / pushing them into the pool. And then of course after that he’ll come for you with a heheh >:)) on his face.

The shirtless runs with the stroller - hot damn, yes. All the neighbourhood moms would try to run with him - but he’ll entertain them for a while to be polite, and pick up the pace, leaving them behind - because he gets to go home to you.

Your kids love his pancakes more than yours - you totally pretend to be hurt about it, but it’s so cute you can’t really be mad about it.

Yesssss he takes the little buggers to work when he can - maybe one or two at a time because you can’t have 100000 children running about. And everyone loves them, because they won’t be shy at all (how can they? They are Jake’s kids) - and would be really chatty.

Each of his kids have mini flight suits, with patches that say “hangman’s son” or ���hangman’s daughter” - gifted by his squad from the base.

Family days are when he gets to have ALL the kids and you there, and he loves it, loves that you all get to see what he loves. He also swells with pride when people tell him he has a beautiful family. Jake has pictures from family days over the years - where his family gets larger, his kids get bigger and bigger - and it’ll go aaaaall the way till he becomes old and grey with you + as he climbs up the ranks in the Navy.

And maybe, as the years and pictures go - some of his kids start to don their own real flight suits and uniforms, and it starts to include pictures of you both at their bases and with their own families :’)

[artanddaddyissues]

The M6 with their children <3

IM SOBBING THIS IS SO CUTE

Heads up: MC text is yellow, PURE fluff, they/them pronouns for the kiddos, the Li's partners have fem pronouns <3

If you want some more baby content, go here! I will fuel your baby fever 😩

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- EXTREMELY loving parent <3

- if you thought Asra was caring and worried towards you, just imagine them with your kid.

- "You SCRAPED your KNEE? MC! OUR CHILD IS DYING!" "Asra no-"

- frantic healing spells and healing magic are always on the ready, since your child is very, very curious.

- constantly checking up on their child, making sure that kid is living their best life.

- Asra raises them with magic and holds back tears when they nail a new spell.

- "Yes! I'm so proud of you, that was perfect!" "Can I try another? "Oh my- I could cry." "But you are crying-"

- Absolutely IN AWE with the life he helped to create

- Doesn't believe that somebody as... messy... as himself, could create something so perfect.

- "Look at that! they've got my eyes."

- Julian is the proudest, of proud dads. he will take any chance he gets to boast about his kid

- "MC! GET OVER HERE THEY'RE STANDING UP!"

- Records everything in a notebook, filling it with drawings and pages and pages of notes, studying behaviour and keeping memories.

- Since the baby, he's put himself on strict schedule. He gave himself tasks and laid out everything he'll do with the kid up until the age of 16.

- "Hey papa, can we buy a dog?" "Well, your mama will probably say no." "So, then we dont buy one?" "You're right, we steal one!" "ILYA."

- MOTHER NADIA >

- Ultimate nurturer

- She will spoil this kid rotten and you have no say in this.

- She will put them in the best schools in all of Vesuvia

- Will teach them how to ride horses

- Will teach them how to create their own magical gate while you teach them magic

- When the baby was born, she secretly started planning all their birthday gifts up until they were an adult and began a photo album

- Nadia would take her kid on many royal engagements, to show them what it takes to be a good leader

- "But mom..." "I'm not hearing it now dear, we're already on the road. Plus, these nobles frustrate me so later, we can talk about them over tea." "Okay, that doesn't sound so bad now."

- “hey kid come here” “Dad I have a name-” “yeah but kid is easier. Want to go bother mom?” “Absolutely I do.”

- They are your worst enemies. Some Godforsaken tag team of dueling in the halls, painting on the empty walls, pranking the staff, swimming in the fountain and so, so much more.

- This kid grows up half you and half Lucio

- He doesn't waste a minute to start teaching the kid how to survive in the wild, like his mother did.

- Many people, including yourself thought that Lucio would be careless and teach his kid how to party first but it turns out that something in him changed with a kid.

- "My mama told me to never run from musk bears but they smell awful so take it from me and run." "Oka-" "Always find out which way the wind is blowing, it might mess up your shots." "Alrigh-" "when you're in the cold, don't stop moving. Keep moving, keep your hands close to you, make sure you maintain a-" "Dad please... It's literally summer."

- The equivalent of mother nature to her child.

- As soon as the baby was born, Portia got another cat for the baby and soon enough they became best friends.

- She teaches her kid about the seas, the stars, and gardening. Especially gardening.

- Your kid is feisty and very, very manipulative.

"But-" "Just because they're cute, doesn't mean they can have-" "M/C LOOK AT THEM."

- Portia adores her little baby and carries them around on her back in a scarf / sash

- She wastes no time in teaching them how to read and write.

- 100% would make flashcards and sit down with the baby for hours

- Trips to Nevivon skyrocket because Portia is such a proud mama.

- She also needs help taking care of a baby because she only knows cats and plants

- "What does it mean when they constantly brings me gifts?" "They hang out with their cat a lot.” "Oh-"

- Portia is the body positive queen <3 this baby will grow up so confident because of the constant love of their mamas <3

- Lowkey a millennial mom. Very protective over her kid

- "M/C what do i do?"

- Muriel is very nurturing and patient

- Lets the baby roll around in dirt, play with sticks, ride Inanna like a pony

- The fun / protective dad

- Muriel will do anything to protect his baby

- He loves to hold his kid

- "Muriel, they're 10-" "Still small enough for me to carry."

- By the time the kid is 12, they can survive completely off the grid. no questions asked.

- Muriel's weakness is his child's smile. Anytime this kid smiles or laughs, he gives in.

- Very much the, "I don't need it, they do." type of dad

- His child is very curious and always wants to take him on little trips and adventures through the city. As much as Muriel complains, he secretly loves it.