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aseaofyoongi · 2 years ago

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just desserts | jjk

jeon jungkook x reader (f)

genre: one night stand; neighbors; set in the summer cause i miss it dearly.

rating: mature audiences only (strictly 18+)

summary: jungkook is your next door neighbor who you have only crossed a few words with. however one hot summer day theres a city wide blackout and strangely enough, he shows up at your door w brownies. . and other delights.

warnings: crush culture; mentions of lack of confidence; masturbation (f.); foul language; naughty thoughts; penetrative sex; unprotected sex (wrap it up); dry humping; oral (m. receiving); praise; sub-ish jk!; jk has a huge dick;?brief mention of seokjin and joon; oc is very hørny for jk basically; those fucking gifs of jk w his long hair and glasses inspired this so thank you jeon jungkook; edited but excuse any mistakes please.

word count: 6,3 thousand words

posted: monday - january 30, 2023

A sixth floor walk up in the middle of the scorching month of July was certainly not fitting on your basis of an ideal home. But after your extensive apartment search always ended with high-priced, rodent infested corners New Yorkers often mistook for apartments, you were happy to shake on the deal for this studio apartment with Seokjin without having to break your piggy bank or burn a staggering hole in your pocket.

“When is the elevator going to be fixed, Seokjin,” you fanned yourself as beads of sweat adorned your white tank top.

“That’ll have to be when I finally win the lotto,” he guffawed from behind the plexiglass square standing between you and his office.

“Very funny,” you mumbled, beginning your journey up the stairs. He didn’t hear you though, instead his focus remained on whichever drama he played on the television.

Kim Seokjin, was the name of a superstar—or so he says. He claims to have attended the Juilliard School for about two years, with dreams of becoming the newest face of Hollywood and all of their high-priced productions. When Seokjin’s dad fell ill, he couldn’t keep up with the demands of keeping so many residence buildings open, he had to close more than half his buildings and just like that, financial strains created a hurdle the size of Mt. Everest in the life of Seokjin. He was left without his dreams, without his father and taking care of a building where the rent was too cheap to gain a profit, making just enough to cover the mortgage.

Normally, you weren’t so exposed to details of your landlord’s lives, but Seokjin was different. He was also your friend.

“I put water bottles around the halfway mark. The last thing I need is a lawsuit over a dead body,” he yelled up as you barely made it to floor two.

“How considerate. I’ll try not to die while you’re on the clock,” it was too hot to continue your journey up. . too hot to form coherent sentences. You just wanted to make it to your apartment and sit in front of the fan for the rest of the day.

“That’s all I’m saying,” you heard.

Once your foot met the landing on the third floor, your eyes desperately scanned for the promise of beverages Seokjin had informed you of, but the small table set-up on the other end of the hallway was completely empty. Leaving behind only the particles of dust and pure oxygen to inhale. Fuck—you actually felt like you were going to pass out. Just three more floors.

You wanted to yell down a snarky remark towards Seokjin but you figured that required too much energy you simply did not have.

Moving to New York was a decision you had made impulsively after feeling like you had overstayed your time in your parents house post-high school. You averted college at all costs because it just wasn’t for you. Lectures seemed like a bore and professors were individuals being paid to legally torture their students so you joyfully averted that nightmare all together. Your immediate option was to get a job, but after many places began getting closed down back home, you found yourself job hopping as a means for survival.

It was not convenient, so you boarded a train to the city that never sleeps in hopes of never looking back. . And you haven’t since setting foot here eleven months ago.

“Just one more floor,” you uttered to no one in particular but the patchy silver handrail and the chipped white walls.

Your apartment was now in your line of vision and the only thing standing between you and the black steel door were just ten sets of stairs. Walking into the building your body was glistening with a thin layer of sweat but now you were drenched, your top was sticking to your skin and the thick beads of dampness rolled down your body like the condensation on soft drinks from fast food places.

Heaving with exhaustion you took a seat on the very last step of the sixth floor, finally you made it but you just needed a minute, just a single minute to catch your breath. The fucking heat was unbearable; intolerable; irregular, you could have sworn the sun inched closer and closer to planet earth as the day progressed.

Initially, you hadn’t heard as much as the squeaky hinges on the door frame, you were too divulged in your suffering from the days heat. Not to mention, your eyes were closed and you were too focused in a state of cooling down before hiding behind the thin walls of your apartment.

“Are you ok?” His voice became trapped in the muggy air surrounding the two of you. The bass in his tone never ceased to make your knees turn to jello, to make your toes curl and to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight.

Was the heat not enough suffering for one day?

“Oh,” you cleared your throat, “I’m fine. It’s just the heat.”

“Yeah, it definitely feels like we were shipped straight to hell today.”

“I don’t know, I think hell might be cooler than this,” he chuckled lightly—you’re foolish stammer and poor excuse of words enlightened him. The sun was still beaming brightly but you swore you saw stars after he had serenaded you so sweetly with the sound of his infectious laugh.

“I think you might be right,” he locked his door and walked past you on the stairs, “have a good day neighbor.”

“You too, Jungkook,” you called after him as he began his way down the unfortunate set of stairs.

Sometimes, you felt as if you’d been blessed as the main lead in the plot of a cheesy rom com, but after today the idea was really cemented in your head. Ok, look. . Jungkook was your hot neighbor, like very hot, unearthly hot, like he was handcrafted by God himself, kind of hot. Furthermore, only you and him resided on the sixth floor, living in a pair of tiny apartments right beside one another. Although that was all you had gathered so far, besides his name, it was enough to fill your head with delusions and daydreams of the man your eyes loved to gawk at every chance you got.

You read him very well, like the everlasting pages of your favorite novel. His silky hair was long and inched over the nape of his neck, he wore specs that sat perfectly on the bridge of his nose accentuating his big doe eyes. Though his features seemed soft his aura was borderline the complete opposite—a silver hooped piercing sat in the right side of his rosette lips while tattoos peeked right out of the sleeves of the white button up he usually wore.

You closed the door to your apartment, removed your shoes and hung your keys on the flathead thumbtack pierced into the wall by the front door.

The apartment felt even more scorching than the bustling sidewalks. After opening all three of the windows you were bestowed to have between your room and the living room, you turned on your fan and walked into the bathroom to draw a much needed cool bath. Stripping off your sweaty clothes, you stepped into the tub. For a minute, you were immersed in the utter silence floating around you—all your ears detected was the distanced whirring fan all the way from your room.

Behind the back of your eyelids, the world was dark and your thoughts brought you back to your encounters with Jungkook on the stairs just moments ago. Your interactions with the boy were usually extended to a whispered, ‘hi’ or ‘hello,’ never as prolonged as it played out today.

In your thoughts, Jungkook strolled by day and night, as you embraced every look, every utterance, every single time he brushed his hair back using his slender fingers. He was the cultivation of your desires and the reason why your heart strummed against your chest a bit harder the days you saw him leaving around 12PM every afternoon.

It baffled you how he always managed to look fucking good every single day—even during the hottest days of the summer, while you looked like vile beast he managed to look so perfect.

. . So fucking perfect.

The faint tingles traveling through your body, caused your skin to form goosebumps. The pulsation of your clit is what really began driving you to clouded thoughts to imagine his hands against you. You imagined the pads of his fingers to be soft mimicking a delicate velvet fabric and while you crumbled under his touch, he would murmur the filthiest of words against your ear.

Those ministrations could be enough to have you coming hard—he wouldn’t even have to fuck you. Shit, even looking at him was enough.

Being away from all of the toys you safely stored in your nightstand, you grabbed the detachable shower head and adjusted the water pressure, prepped your feet up on the rim of the tub aiming it in between your legs in an inevitable attack against your clit.

Your head lulled back in sure bliss as you fed your carnal desires, the only thing missing was him.

“Fuck—” How you longed for him to have you in this position, so sensitive to his sinful doings; so aroused for him. It was like a hunger your fingers, toys and this stupid shower head could not satisfy.

The vibration of his name dripped from your lips like a chant and you felt that bubbling fervor form in the pit of your stomach. Spurts of pleasure rushed out of you so intensely you were overwhelmed by the explosions of fireworks as soon as your orgasm erupted.

When your breath had settled and you finally felt like you could stand, you opted for a quick shower, rushing to get into your pajamas and plopped down on your bed right in-front of the fan for a nap, having your dreams quickly invaded by him.

Work sucked on Monday afternoons.

All you ever did was stare out of the ticket booth at the movie theater as the few customers who despised the weekend rush came in. Besides, there was rarely anything to occupy your mind with on slow nights like this. You had already sweeped and your co-worker, Namjoon was surveying the screening rooms for any shenanigans the younger crowds could possibly be rattling up.

You always left that up to him—he was the more intimidating one between the two of you anyway.

“Room 5 is a wreck,” Namjoon announced his entrance into the lobby, “I’m gonna go clean up.”

“Walkie me if you need help,” you tapped the walkie clipped onto your belt buckle and he nodded, grabbing the broom and a few rags.

Your stomach grew irritated as you continued golfing down copious amounts of candies but the truth was you were starving and had no time to eat breakfast this morning; let alone make something to bring to work to eat for lunch.

Namjoon was a film major. He was the spitting image of a cliche by the way—his parents wanted him to become a doctor but that wasn’t his passion so he ran away to the city and began trotting up the golden stairs to his dream. You wished you had even an ounce of his determination, he knew exactly where he wanted to go and how to get there while you still stood at the base of the mountain of your life. . unbeknownst on how to tackle it or which way it was to begin your way up to the summit.

There was nothing you had a passion for and quite frankly sometimes you were utterly clueless as to what your purpose was in life.

Had no dreams and no goals to strive towards; nothing extraordinary you expected to blossom in your future. There was nothing, nothing and more nothingness occupying the hours of your days.

“My child,” Seokjin walked in through the glass door, he looked like he'd been chilling in an oven.

“Seokjin,” you narrowed your eyes in his direction, “what are you doing here? I thought you never left the air conditioner in your office plus don’t you hate the movie theater?”

“You’re absolutely correct. The dimmed lighting here is horrid and I deserve better than that. .”

“Of course, you do.”

“But,” he leaned over the counter, “I saw your little neighbor boyfriend leaving the building today and I was fucking gagged.”

“Trust me, Seokjin. I know how good he fucking looks in that white button up. I’ve lived it.”

“No,” he squealed, “He had a black short sleeve shirt today and—”

“Spit it out, bitch.”

“He has a full fucking sleeve,” he squealed.

“No. Fucking. Way.” The pauses in between your words were not placed for dramatic effect—you were in fact attempting to paint a detailed mental image of that sinful man.

How unfair is it that he gets to walk around us mortals with our average looks while he exudes such grand flawlessness.

“Looks like someone owes me fifty bucks.”

The bet. . you had completely forgotten about that.

“I'll pass it over on Friday once I get paid.”

“I told you,” he began, “once a man gets one tattoo they’re usually covered in them.”

“Yea, but he has this soft look to him, you know?” you shrugged, “I thought he might have had a few. But a whole sleeve?”

“Jungkook is a walking juxtaposition.”

“I suppose he is.”

Seokjin sat on the counter emptying a handful of sweets into his palm, “what are you doing eating all of this candy anyway?”

“Uh,” your thoughts were still filtered towards Jungkook. You wanted to see him so bad, “I’m starving and just waiting on Namjoon to finish cleaning room five so I can go on my lunch break.”

“Namjoon as in the buff hottie with the deep voice?”

“I guess.”

“Room five?” You nodded.

“I’ll take one ticket for whatever the fuck you guys are showing right now.”

“Didn’t you say you hated it here?” You printed a ticket to. . you looked down, to the latest minion movie and ripped off the top half, “you complained about the lights or something.”

“Can you just give me a ticket? I need it to execute my master plan,” he rushed your actions in cutting the ticket you had printed, “besides you owe me for coming all the way down here with vital intel about your secret crush.”

“I owe you nothing. I’ll be paying half a hundred for that by the end of the week, remember?”

“Consider this,” he snatched the ticket from your grasp, holding it beside his toothy grin, “your down payment.”

Before you could form a further argument, Seokjin vanished from in front of you and sprinted down the main hallway to screening room five.

The best thing about your job were the designated days off you had throughout the week. Tuesdays and Fridays were yours to enjoy and while today was Tuesday your schedule was still jam packed with an abundance of errands to complete come the early morning.

You had paid your utility bills, finished your laundry, cleaned your apartment and even set out poultry to defrost by the time you made it back home. It had been a very productive day.

Your last stop was the grocery store.

Oftentimes, you’d wander aimlessly, losing yourself in each aisle wondering about how the better half lives, how much better life would be if you didn’t have to keep incessant reminders of your weekly budgets stamped to the back of your head.

How much easier life would be if money wasn’t such a big determinant in the choices we were forced to make in our day to day lives.

Oh, how much easier life would be.

You only grabbed the essentials for the next couple of weeks including—rice, greens, fruits, water, milk, meat, and a variation of breakfast options.

Temptation roamed in the air as you headed out of the cereal aisle you were face to face with a bakery section where an unhealthy amount of baked goods were sprawled out—practically blaring out your name. All of the delicious delights made your mouth water and you couldn’t help but gravitate deeper and deeper, guided by the aroma of the sweet desserts.

“Neighbor?” It was his earthy voice, the same one you’d only heard vibrate among the walls of the tiny hallway of the sixth floor the two of you shared.

“Jungkook?” You looked up from the brownies and your eyes met his figure, in the same clothes you usually saw him leave his apartment. It was his work uniform, “You work here?”

“Is that judgment in your tone I hear?”

“N-no,” You stammered. Was he fucking with you? He had to be fucking with you. “Of course not. I would never judge—”

“I was just playing, neighbor.” Phew.

“I always come here. How come I haven’t seen you before?”

“I’m usually baking in the back. I was just coming out to set these down,” he held up the dozen cupcakes sitting inside the boxed packaging.

“You bake?” Hopefully, you sounded more stunned than judgemental because you were i. fact stunned.

“I’m an aspiring pastry chef. I go to culinary school,” Jungkook, your beautiful, doe eyed, tattooed, pierced neighbor was also a baker. Ok.

For some reason that made him so much more attractive.

“I would not have been able to guess that even if I tried,” You mentally kicked yourself at the lack of filter in your words. You weren’t trying to offend him and hopefully he does not take it as such.

He chuckled—that’s a good sign, “People tend to simulate that very reaction but you can certainly knock on my door if you’re ever craving something sweet. I promise they are amazing.”

Craving something sweet?

Your thoughts traveled back to the enticing thoughts you possessed a few days ago while you took a bath, the vivid image of the water pressure against your cunt and the pure desire to have him near made you dizzy. And now he was near, just a couple of feet away.

A wave of warmth traveled through your extremities, the pulse on your clit turned to an overbearing throb, you wanted to rub your thighs and alleviate the feeling. But you remembered where you were, in the middle of the grocery store and Jungkook still stood right before you. Nevertheless, you tried to ignore the wetness pooling between your legs; dampening your panties.

“I practically poured out all of the basic details of my boring life. I think you owe me at least something about you.”

“There’s not much to tell,” you shrugged, “but I work at the movie theater down the street if that piques your interest at all.”

“It does. I love movies.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you there before.”

“Well, if I’m honest I haven’t gone in a long time but that’s only because work and school keep me pretty busy.”

The lust streaming through your body doubled to make your heart beat with fondness and you grew endeared in the way Jungkook’s eyes lit up when he talked about his aspirations to become a baker.

“You’ll have a free ticket waiting for you whenever your schedule clears up.”

“Promise you’ll join me when I decide to go.” His words carved themselves into your brain like a permanent tattoo, just as those decorating his arm. The fluttering feeling in your abdomen heightened as a result of the dithers, without being aware of it, that is the effect Jungkook had on you.

“As long as it’s on a Tuesday or Friday.”

“Deal.”

“I’ll see you around, Jungkook.”

“See you, neighbor.”

Thursday was the worst day of the week so far.

Technically you were supposed to be at work, it was already 4:00PM, but instead you were still home. Even just sitting down in the muggy atmosphere of your in the miniscule space, you were doused, staining your clothes with sweat.

You were not willingly suffering at the lack of mercy the scorching weather subjected the city and everyone in it to, unfortunately the power had gone out. And while usually you had the luxury of a fan to cool down, today you had nothing.

Your windows and front door were left wide open in an attempt to cool down the place and still you felt as if you were sitting inside a fucking oven set to hightest temperature. There was no use.

“Neighbor.” Jungkook called out lightly knocking on the opened door.

Jungkook? Not Jungkook again when you looked like an absolute wreck.

“Hey Jungkook,” he stood at the door frame, a wide grin painted on his lips—he held a to-go box in his hands, “you can come in.”

“Do you want me to shut the door?”

“Sure,” you gave in, it’s not like it was actually doing anything. Besides, the last thing you needed was one of the crazy residents from the lower floors coming to bug you.

Jungkook took a seat next to you on the couch, he wore a sleeveless top exposing all of the ink embellishing his skin, every line, every curve, every word was so intricate and seemed so unique to him.

“I didn’t know you had these many tattoos,” a small fib was a price to pay to not seem like a weirdo, “did any of them hurt?”

“Some did,” he pointed at his tricep, “mainly these and a few others but I have a high pain tolerance.”

“Well, they’re beautiful,” you scanned his arm some more. It was truly like a mural embodying the beauty of art, “were you a singer?” you signaled at the microphone sitting on his forearm.

“I guess you could say that,” he adjusted himself on the couch, his nylon shorts rode up his thighs and you just hoped he wouldn’t notice the way your eyes glanced down constantly. Jungkook didn’t notice though, he was too busy averting eye contact and scratching the back of his head, “My highschool friends and I used to make music. We recorded a mixtape.”

“I need a link to this mixtape. . like now,” You laughed hysterically.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

“Ok, ok,” Again, another surprise from the man you thought you had all figured out—every single day he surprised you more and more, “were you like a vocalist or a rapper?”

“Vocals mostly. I did try rapping once though but I sucked so badly they scratched it off the track.”

“At least they were honest and didn't let you crash and burn in public.”

“You should’ve seen me though. I thought I was the shit.”

Jungkooks giggles were everlasting as he recounted the many times their parents grew exhausted of kicking them out of their garages for their disturbances in the making of their great musical legacy.. He filled the room with vibrance. The longer you sat in the presence of Jungkook the more you were exposed to the colors that made Jungkook, Jungkook. Of course, you were intrigued by the phosphorescent hues allowing them to inch you closer in his direction. Wanting him to spare no details in the adventure of his life.

“What’s that?” you pointed at the packaging box beside him on the arm rest.

“Brownies,” he handed you the box, “I saw you eyeing them when you were at the bakery but you didn’t buy any. So, I figured I would bring you some.”

In your mind, this was his way of saying he was thinking about you—that’s what you chose to believe anyway.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. Besides, I wanna see what you think of my baking.” Jungkook’s eyes were bigger than usual behind his specs, he fidgeted with the hem of his shorts.

If only he knew, the actual taste of the brownies would hold no significance in your criticism. You would love them anyway simply because they came from him.

“How about we have one together?”

“Yeah?”

You nodded, “let’s go to my room. There’s two windows in there and I’m literally about to pass out from heat stroke out here.”

The two of you sat by each one of the windows, the box of his remaining six hand crafted sweet delicacies sat between the two of you on the nightstand.

“You ready?”

“Yes.”

“1, 2,” the two of you held the chocolaty dessert up to your mouth, “3.”

Even after just one bite your taste buds were enamored.

“What do you think?”

“They’re amazing, Jungkook. You’re an amazing baker.”

“You can call me Kookie, you know.”

You nearly choked after taking another bite, hurdling into a coughing spiral, “that’s so fitting. Kookie the pastry chef.”

“Forget I said it,” he shook his head, laughing.

“Wait, no,” you loved the soft tint of pink dusting his cheeks, “that could be the name of your future shop.”

“Kookie’s Cookies.”

“Kookie’s Cookies,” you confirmed, “and I wanna be credited for the idea too.”

“Better yet, you’ll be my business partner.”

“That’s not a good idea. I’ll eat everything and you’ll just end up bankrupt,” your eyes were set on the congested sidewalks outside your window—everyone was out likely catching a break from their scorching apartments but here you were melting away all at the expense of being in Jungkook’s company just for a bit longer.

“I wouldn’t mind as long as you’re with me.”

Those eight words sent your mind into a spiral, head first into the rabbit hole of your fantasies. You couldn’t really make out if he truly meant what you thought he meant.

“Jungkook. .”

“I mean it.”

“Please don’t make me believe there could actually be something here,” Your voice was low and your thoughts were a scribbled mess. There was not a single coherency in your being at that point in time.

“I’m not lying,” your name tasted saccharine on his tinted lips—much like the brownie he had baked for you, “I like you.”

“Jungkook. .” was all you could muster.

“I’ve liked you from the moment you moved into the building.”

A single strike of thunder traveled down your spinal cord, you felt paralyzed in that moment and his sweet sweet words just continued looping inside the walls of your skull.

You were malfunctioning; shocked.

It’s astonishing how oblivious and just plain stupid human nature can make a person. For the past months, you had concealed the schoolgirl crush you developed on Jungkook and convinced yourself that there was absolutely no way in hell he could like you back.

Your insecurities had deceived you and now you sit here after so long with a thumping beat in your heart, giddy with excitement and lowkey wanting to slap yourself for not having noticed earlier.

“You like me?”

Obviously, he just fucking said that. He nodded.

“I like you, too.” You finally said out loud.

The temperature continued to rise in the small bedroom and between the two of you the heat became unbearable. With each passing second, you could feel the streamline trickles of your sweat cascading down your temples; your entire body matter of fact.

If eyes were the windows to the soul then Jungkook’s chocolate gaze was compelling.

And they were calling out for you so loudly.

“What happens now?” He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

“Can I kiss you, Jungkook?”

You caught on to Jungkook’s mannerisms and body language rather quickly within the past hour. For example, he was pretty straight forward with his words yet whenever he spoke his fingers fidgeted with a random object as a distraction, this time it was the black beaded bracelet sitting on his wrist.

He nodded yet again.

Your heaven resided in the comfort of Jungkook’s thighs. You realized it the moment you straddled him. The rich smell of sandalwood was a scent unique to him, so earthy and rich. It was the only thing you ever wanted to smell for the remainder of your time on earth.

After raking your hands through his soft hair you tugged at it a bit, guiding his face up towards you.

“If you want anything from me. You’re gonna have to use your words, Jungkook.”

“You know what I want,” his eyes traced the corners of your lips down to the intricate details, “just kiss me, please.”

There are an abundance of perfect scenarios in life. For one there was the idyllic scene of snowfall on Christmas day; the legendary creamy combination of cookies and cream; then, there was the way your lips danced against Jungkooks, composing a choreography so intricate and beautiful only the two of you could execute it.

You were in a haze, entirely stupefied and addicted to his soft and warm lips. Then, his hands snaked around your waist as he guided you back and forth on his lap. His covered erection rubbed against your clothed slit in a pace so slow, it was agonizing yet delectable. Jungkook pulled away, continuing to lead your movements against him. Your mouth remained agape and you couldn’t help the sounds escaping your lips.

You wanted to pinch yourself, you’d only ever dreamt of this. Was this all a fabrication of your dreams? You hope it wasn’t, it felt so good.

“God, I’ve always wanted to have you like this.” His voice was husk and he spoke in between grunts.

If today was dictated as your last day on earth, you’d die being the happiest woman.

His warm breath fanned your sweaty neck. A tickle ran down your back but you focused on the knot forming at your abdomen.

“I’m so close.”

“Let go for me.”

His commands were sweet like candy and the utters of his guidance to have you crumble on his lap were all you needed to send you over the edge.

“You were so good for me, darling.”

“Call me that forever.” Your knees were sore, your voice was hoarse and you were sweltered from head to toe but you craved more, you grew wetter just imagining what else could arise from this encounter.

“Darling?” You nodded. “Jungkook?” He hummed lightly, opening his eyes and lifting his head from where it rested on the wall.

“Are you tired?”

“I just had a long day yesterday.”

“Can I help you unwind?” your lower lip now tucked under your teeth, “can I touch you?”

“Please.”

Your hands tucked under the hemline of his shorts and underwear. The way you illustrated Jungkook in your dreams was close to what you would imagine a modern Greek God to look like and you quickly realized that was the case when his shirt lifted revealing that he should be the one on display in museums instead of those silly little statues.

Your chin rested on his shoulder, while your hand moved up and down the length of his cock. You couldn’t see it, not yet. But he felt so big in your palm.

The hushed moans and curses leaving him fueled you to maintain at the same pace. Your lips found themselves leaving wet kisses on his already dampened neck.

“Please—please don’t stop,” He was a stuttering mess, his hand was gripping the window still so tightly his knuckles turned white. Hypnotized by arousal Jungkook began meeting your movements, enraptured by his desire for release.

“You’re not being a very good boy, Jungkook,” you whispered in his ear, “besides I thought you were tired.”

“I’ll—I’ll be so good I promise,” he continued fucking himself into your hand.

Jungkook whined as soon as you released his cock from your grip. Instead you tucked off the pesky fabrics covering his lower half, with his help of course, your theories were proven to be correct. Jungkook, your hot neighbor with piercings and tattoos also had a pussy destroyer in between his legs because of course he did.

“There’s only two rules baby.”

“What are the rules?”

“You have to keep your hands to yourself and no coming until I say so. You got it?”

“Yes, darling.”

Opening the last drawer on your night stand you pulled out one of your vibrators and held it up for him to see, “is it ok if we use this?”

“Mhm.”

You shoved it in your pocket for later.

Taking him into your mouth, you began swirling your tongue in circular motions around the head of his cock. His labored pants were hushed and almost inaudible, you would’ve missed them if the two of you weren’t in complete silence.

Licking up and down his shaft you focused on pressing your tongue on the tip, as your hands began working, pumping him where your mouth couldn’t reach. You bobbed your head up and down occasionally, allowing the head of his cock pop in and out of your mouth. Slurp noises began invading the atmosphere around the two of you along with his whimpers. Your pace was fast and there were traces of your saliva coating his length entirely.

“Fuck darling,” his hands were reaching to grasp anything in his path but instead he ended up knocking everything off your night stand. “Y-Your lips were made to be around my cock. You know that?”

Jungkook’s praises were treats for your ego and you made sure to devour them in their entirety. He was a pleasant mess; his hair stuck out in all directions while his lips were swollen and vibrant with a scarlet hue as he kept biting down on them harshly. His glasses were slightly fogged and there were traces of saliva sitting on the corner of his mouth. All you wanted was to continue seeing him lose himself at your mercy.

You reached into your pocket and turned on the palm sized stimulator—you placed it against his balls before hitting the on button, setting off its vibrations. His head fell back and his hips buckled forward, causing you to gag around the majority of cock.

“I’m gonna come,” he cried out.

If anyone would’ve told you having Jungkook’s dick in your mouth would be this heavenly, you would live on your knees in front of him forever. Pleasuring him at every hour of every day but today you had different plans and once again he let out frustrated whimpers as you removed your mouth from around him.

“No—no, darling you’re fucking killing me. I need to come now,” he sounded desperate, “It hurts so bad. I need to come.”

“Don’t worry baby. We’re getting right to that,” you placed a kiss on his forehead.

“Did you bring any condoms?”

He shook his head, “I wasn’t exactly expecting things to go down this route.”

“Are you. .?”

“I’m clean. Are you?”

“I am.”

There was a timid breeze coming in through the opened window, it was enough to cool you down just a bit, well as cool as you could be without a fan.

Bouncing on Jungkook’s dick was even better than having him in your mouth. Sure, you loved the way he became a stuttering mess with the teasing of your tongue but having him deep inside of you, you felt like you were in your own heaven. On a deserted island somewhere with nothing but the swift breeze coming from the palm trees and his touch on your skin.

“You take me so well,” he whispered in your ear but you were too busy consumed by your own pleasure. Hyper focused on the way his hands dug into your waist; the way he swiftly pushed his cock in and out of you.

The sounds of your skin slapping against his blared through the room, as well as your profanities and his words of praise just as before.

Your nails dug into his shoulder as you felt a build up of tension tightening in the pit of your stomach, causing you to arch your back. Seemingly, the way you clenched around Jungkook he seemed to have noticed you were extremely close.

“Come for me darling,” with each word he buried his dick deeper into you.

It was a blissful paradise painted on the back of your eyelids as Jungkook continued to mold your insides with his dick, he was careful but rammed into you with such force, your voice was strained and you couldn’t hold it any longer. You finally came as sights of the beeming sun behind your closed eyes blinded you entirely.

“Come inside of me,” you managed; even more sweaty than how you began, absolutely tired and completely out of breath.

He chanted strings of your name as finally filled you up.

“Please come over more often and bring all of your brownies with you,” you were pressed up against him as he hugged your waist, placing a soft kiss on your head.

“How about we begin by going to that movie tomorrow?” It was so funny to you how Jungkook had practically just split you in two and now he was back to being soft spoken.

“It’s a date.”

It was now Friday, the power was finally back on around the city and Jungkook followed through on his plans to take you to the movies. The only problem was when you approached the theater you spotted your nosey landlord standing in line right beside Namjoon. “Before you say anything, Seokjin. Please just shut the fuck up.”

“You always think the worse of me,” he placed his hand on his chest, “all I was going to say is my Cupid’s bow is to thank for the two of you finally getting together.”

“In that case, thank you Seokjin,” Jungkook said.

“Don’t thank him.”

“Actually, please do. But the next time yall fuck in my building please keep it down. Just like the walls, the floors are also thin and the fifth floor did not appreciate your day of passion.”

“Seokjin, please go back to your own date,” you hissed, hoping no one else in line heard his little rant, “pretend we’re not here.”

Jungkook’s shame sat in his now red tinted cheeks, you peppered kisses on them to ease him.

“See, they can’t even keep their hands to themselves in public,” you heard Seokjin whisper.

This is going to be an interesting date.

a/n: this was pretty fun to write but supposed to be out on my birthday a couple days ago but i couldn’t meet the deadline sadly but please enjoy and disregard the smut scene if it’s bad. I tried lol my brain just wasn’t working 100%.

thanks for reading. comments, likes, reblogs and messages are always appreciated. let me know what you think ;)

#bts #bts smut #bts imagines #bts reactions #jeon jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook x reader #jungkook x y/n #jungkook drabble #very brief mention of seokjin x namjoon #bangtan sonyeondan #jungkook x you #bts jungkook smut

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jamiethebee · 1 month ago

Text

Harvest

My piece for ecto-implosion 2024!

I was partnered up with @tsubaki94 who did three whole lovely artworks, so go check them out here! (x)

(The AO3 Link (X) : broken up into smaller chapters rather than this one big guy)

25,252 words

Danny rubbed his foot around in the dirt, watching the small dust cloud billow up and hang there.

“Well come on, I’ll show you where you’re staying for the next few months.” Alicia turned around and started walking off.

“Wait!” Danny bent to pick up his bags and rushed to catch up to his aunt, “I thought that you lived in the cabin?” He looked over at the cabin he spotted through the trees.

Alicia glanced back at Danny. She sighed, “I do. You don’t.”

Danny frowned. “I won’t? Then where will I be staying?”

Side stepping a bush, Alicia grumbled, “you’ll see.”

They moved through the brush, dodging branches and stepping around roots and detritus on the ground. It was hot and humid and Danny was starting to feel sticky, carrying his bags with him through it all. The birds around them quieted as they approached and then started up again once they left. A gentle slope turned into a steeper incline and Danny quietly wondered how much longer they were going to take. He really hoped Alicia wasn’t just taking him in a circle in some sadistic test to see how long he’d last before complaining. Or murder him. It wasn’t likely, but Danny didn’t know his grumpy aunt well enough to rule it out either. Probably not though. Maybe.

As they made their way up, Danny smelled a change in the air. He arched his neck around Alicia to try to see what the cause was, but quickly moved his head back and away from a sudden branch flying in his face. Just as Danny was weighing the benefits of asking for a break, the ground leveled out, and Danny got his first glimpse of the farm.

Golden strands of wheat waved in the slight breeze, stretching farther than Danny thought he’d see. In the distance, taller stalks formed a different swath. Alicia stepped out of the trees and onto a path that edged the fields. Following Alicia, Danny realized the smell had gotten stronger. “Huh,” Danny thought. He leaned over, closer to the stalks. Yep, the fields were definitely the source of the smell. Turning back to Alicia, he looked down the path and stepped next to his aunt to walk side by side. They seemed to be close to the edge and Danny could see a couple of structures in the distance.

“These are the wheat fields,” Alicia said. “My farm grows two kinds, spring and winter wheat. This here is the spring wheat; it’ll be part of what you’ll be helping to take care of on the farm.”

“Oh. What else will I be doing?”

Alicia looked down at him, “We’ll see.”

Danny winced and looked ahead again. “Am I staying in one of those cabins ahead of us?”

Alicia huffed, “Sure will. I’ve got a farmhand that helps out - sometimes stays in one of the cabins, sometimes travels back and forth from here to town. You’ll be meeting him later.”

“I didn’t realize there would be anyone else here.”

“Well sure, ya think I can take care of a farm like this all by myself? It’s a lot of work. Course, if one of my hands didn’t leave me in the middle of the season, I wouldn’t have let Maddie send you here at all.” Alicia looked down at him, “My farm’s no place to goof around. We all have jobs around here and we all have to do them.” She leveled a sharp look at Danny, “Understand? Just because you’re my sister’s kid doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for pulling your own weight.”

Danny looked away, “Yeah. I get it. Don’t worry, Mom already told me.” More like lectured me to behave, Danny thought.

Alicia huffed. “Well, just keep that in mind.” They walked the rest of the way down the path in silence.

As they neared the first cabin they could hear a bark, “That’s Skip. He usually follows me around or hangs around the animals. Good for keeping most unwelcome visitors away.”

Danny looked out and around excitedly, “you have a dog?”

Climbing up the cabin steps to pull open the door, Alicia said “yeah, but he’s a working dog, so don’t go bothering him.”

Once Danny stepped in, Alicia followed, closing the door behind him. Sunlight streamed in through high set windows, illuminating the space. At one end there was a bed on a simple frame, a dresser next to it, and enough space for a chair and small table.

“This is where you’ll be staying. Got the place to yourself, though there isn’t much to begin with. The toilet is the outhouse in between these two cabins, unless you really want to head down to bother me for mine.”

Danny gulped, feeling a little intimated. “Got it – outhouse.”

“Yeah well, I’ll leave you to get settled in here and then I’ll come grab you for dinner. Most meals will be down in my cabin, since it has the kitchen. That said, you can bring food up here, but I don’t recommend it. Racoons and the like will try to break in if they smell it up here.”

Danny nodded, looking around. “Anything else?”

“You’d be best to wear boots if you’ve got them starting tomorrow, but for now? Make sure the cabin door latches correctly when you leave or it’ll swing open. That’s a great way to invite little rodents to make their home in here or to take a shit on the floor at the least.” Alicia looked over the cabin once, “Fer now, settle in and I’ll come get you when it’s time.” Alicia opened the cabin door and left Danny alone with his thoughts.

Stepping over to the bed, he set his suitcases down and sat between them. The bed let out a soft wheeze, but otherwise stayed firm. It was more of a cot than a proper mattress, but that didn’t faze Danny. He was looking to get shipped back to Amity Park as soon as he could anyway. Dust motes danced around him. The cabin was quite small. But at least Danny didn’t see any spiderwebs or droppings. ‘Small mercies’ Danny thought. Pulling out the older PDA gifted to him by Tucker, Danny tried to see if he could pick up a signal to send back to his friends. Waving his arm in the air didn’t do much. No signal. Sighing, Danny put the PDA down behind the suitcases and leaned back on his hands.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he could smell the dust in the air, hear the rustling of leaves on the trees, and the faint sounds of animals. He didn’t know why his parents thought he needed to get away from Amity Park for the second half of the summer, but Danny was annoyed. He spent the first half of the summer trapped in summer school, and no sooner did he have the freedom to spend time with Tucker and Sam, than his parents and Jazz decided to send him off. Between more ghosts showing up and causing problems, and his parents paying more attention to him now that Jazz was off at college, Danny had felt like he hadn’t had a moment to himself during the school year. Any extra time he used to have was taken up by his parents dragging him into the GAV to hunt down ghosts and talk about what he planned to do after high school. Danny had been looking forward to vegging out on the couch and running around the mall with Sam and Tucker instead of what? Shoveling dirt? Or watering plants? Or whatever. Danny wasn’t sure what would be expected from him this summer, but his mom made it clear that he was supposed to help his aunt with minimal complaint. Danny let his arms give out so he could fall back onto the bed.

He didn’t know what to expect here, but he knew that back in Amity the ghosts would be having a great time wreaking havoc with one less capable ghost hunter there to kick them back into the Ghost Zone. At least Valerie had enough of a truce with Phantom now to be convinced to empty the ghosts back into the portal instead of handing them over to be subjected to the latest experiment his parents cooked up. Danny closed his eyes. Even thinking about what he would be returning to at the end of summer back in Amity Park was enough to exhaust him and before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.

A short rap on the door woke Danny up, and he got up, threw a glance at his still unopened suitcases, and walked to the cabin door, pulling it open. “Oh,” Danny said. It wasn’t Alicia at the door like he was expecting.

“Hey, you must Alicia’s nephew?” the mystery man asked.

“Uuuh yeah,” Danny rubbed the back of his neck trying to work out the crick that he put there by falling asleep cockeyed on the bed. “And you are- ?”

The man laughed, “Aaah, figures that Alicia wouldn’t have told ya. I’m here to take you to dinner, I’ll tell ya about myself on the way.”

Danny eyed the man, dressed in a button down shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a hat - he certainly looked like he worked on a farm. Stepping out of the cabin, and making sure that the latch took, Danny walked after the guy as he led Danny to a dirt path off to the side of the cabins. “I’m Will, no it ain’t short for nuthin. Down this path,” he gestured, “takes you straight to tha boss’ place – and coincidentally dinner.” Will let out a barking laugh and continued. “I’ve been working here for a few years now. Actually, for most of my life. Worked here during the summers in between school for Tish and Dick back when they ran the place. Later, when I realized city life didn’t agree with me, I came back and started working here full-time. Alicia took over when they passed and she’s a bit gruff, but just as smart as her ma in running the place.”

“Oh, last time I was here, Alicia mentioned the women in the family being smart,” Danny said offhandedly as he looked around the woods.

Will hummed, “darn right they are, never met a smarter bunch. The town was real glad when Alicia moved back, and I think they’re still a bit sad her sister – yer ma – never came back.” Danny could feel Will’s gaze on him, “when were ya here last, by the way?”

“Uh,” Danny said, looking over at Will, “uuh must’ve been a year and half ago? Roughly? It was only a short trip. My mom came down for Aunt Alicia’s divorce party and my sister and I dropped in to make sure my dad had my mom’s anniversary present. That’s a bit of a long story, but we were only here for a day.”

“Aaah,” said Will, “makes sense. I usually take a trip to the next town over to see my brother’s kids around that time. Wouldn’t have seen ya and Alicia ain’t a big blabber if it’s not about the farm.”

Danny didn’t have much to say to that, so he looked ahead to the path, which had started curving away. Coming around the bend, Danny could see Alicia’s cabin through the trees and realized that Alicia could have chosen to take this path up when Danny was carrying his suitcases. His mood soured as they kept walking. Getting to the end of the path, and out of the trees, Danny noticed a small building behind the cabin. Maybe he could ask Alicia what it was for?

Will walked up to the cabin door and knocked, before opening and sticking his head in, “Heya Boss, got the kid. Anythin’ ya need help with?”

“You two better wash your hands ‘fore ya even think about touching food.” Without turning around, she kept stirring the pot on the stove.

“Yes ma’am,” Will said, before turning around to Danny behind him, “Follow me.” And he walked into the cabin, heading around a wall to another door inside.

Danny glanced around the cabin as he stepped in. Nothing much had changed since the last time he was here. He heard water running and looked back around to Will, who was washing his hands in the small bathroom sink. Waiting for his turn, he looked around. There was a picture or two on a table along with a radio, a small couch and chair, and a little fireplace. But no TV. Danny frowned, resigning himself to a very boring summer.

“Alrighty,” Will said, hanging up the towel, “your turn kid,” and he walked off around the corner to the kitchen.

Danny stepped in, noting the indoor toilet and shower that wasn’t in his cabin, and washed his hands. By the time he got back out, Alicia and Will were outside setting down the final dishes on the wooden picnic table.

“Ah there you are Danny, we’ve got everything out here, come join us,” Alicia called him over.

Jumping down the stairs, Danny walked over to the table and took a seat next to Will. Alicia may be his aunt, but he felt more comfortable with Will from the short walk over than he did with her. A stack of bowls, a pot, and some bread on a plate got his attention.

Watching Alicia and Will grab bowls and dish out stew, Danny grabbed the last bowl and did so himself once the ladle was free. Grabbing a piece of bread, he started dunking it in. Watching Alicia and Will eat, he took a bite. Danny made a surprised noise.

Alicia looked over to him, “Surprised?”

Danny nodded and swallowed his bite, “a lot better than I was expecting.”

Alicia laughed, “I’ll take it that my sister still ain’t much of a cook if you think that.”

Danny sheepishly laughed, “Mom’s cooking is alright.” How could Danny explain that most of the stuff in their fridge sat next to ectoplasm and that no matter how well the containers were sealed, most of the time, the food tasted slightly off from spending time in there? He elected to stay silent.

Alicia hummed in response as she ate another bite of stew. The rest of dinner passed quietly, and soon the sounds of bowls being scrapped clean echoed in the little clearing.

Alicia leaned back, waiting for Danny to finish. Will took out a little pipe, tapping down the tobacco and lighting it. Danny wrinkled his nose at the smell as he finished his bowl and straightened. “That was really good Aunt Alicia,” Danny said.

Alicia grinned, sharp and wide, “glad you thought so. Will, you can head back up, Danny here is going to help me with the dishes tonight.”

“Are ya sure?” Will asked.

“Yea, we’ve got some things to talk about anyway,” Alicia narrowed her eyes at her nephew.

Danny felt a chill run down his spine, unrelated to the waning light.

“Alright,” Will said, standing, “I guess I’ll be going then. Night Alicia, night Danny.”

“Night Will,” Alicia said.

“Goodnight Will,” Danny called out as Will walked back to the path they came down.

“Well,” Alicia started, “Grab the dishes and follow me in.” She stood up and grabbed the pot, heading back to her cabin.

Danny stood up, piled the bowls and spoons together in a neat pile, and walked in after Alicia.

“There ain’t no dishwasher in this old cabin, so we’ll be doing everything by hand.” Alicia plugged half the sink and started the tap. “I’ll let you rinse and dry the dishes.” Danny set the bowls off to the side of the sink and walked around her.

After filling up the sink sides, Alicia took the pan and started soaping it up. “So, Danny,” Alicia started. “Um, well, Maddie,” she cleared her throat. “Yer ma seemed worried about you. Anything I should know about? Since you’ll be working on my farm and all.”

Danny shoulders inched towards his ears. “No, nothing. I didn’t need to get out of Amity.” He scowled at the pot Alicia was cleaning.

“Hmmm,” Alicia replied, methodically working around the inside. “I never knew my sister to be a worrier, but I won’t pry. So long as you don’t bring any strangers or trouble around it’s not really my business.”

Danny’s shoulders relaxed some as he took the pot from Alicia and rinsed it off before setting it in the dish rack to start drip drying. The rest of the dishes passed quickly in the silence and as Danny was drying the last bowl, Alicia walked off around the corner.

Danny closed the last cupboard as Alicia came back around with a large fabric bag. “I don’t want to keep you up for much longer, but we’ve got some housekeeping to deal with first.” She held out the bag towards Danny. He took it. “First off, my cabin has the only shower. The only rules are to not use it when I’m sleeping and to clean up after yourself. I mean pick up your towels and hang them to dry over your cabin porch railing. I’ve got a standing unit in the back.” At Danny’s scrunched eyebrows, she sighed. “A washing machine,” she strode to the cabin door. Heading down the steps, she called back, “You saw the structure behind the cabin?”

“Uuuh, yeah,” Danny said, walking behind her.

“Well, the machine’s in there. We don’t got a dryer, instead,” Alicia pointed up at a line stretching from her cabin to a tree. “There’s a bag inside with clothespins. You’ll hang up your clothes after the washer gets done. I recommend getting up in the mornings and starting them so that they have the whole day to dry on the line. But that’s just me.” Turning back around she said, “well, I think that’s most everything. I’ve got a bell I’ll ring to let y’all know when food’s ready. I expect you to finish whatever you’re up to and to get down here when you hear that bell. Either you’re on time or you don’t eat. There’s too much to do around here to wait around.” She looked down at him as the sun finished setting, the orange glow around them the last remnant of the day. Her face softened some, “before I send you back to get some sleep, any questions?”

Danny shook his head, “Naw, laundry out back, shower inside, don’t bother you with either. I think I’ve got it all.”

“Good.” Alicia and Danny stood there for a moment. “Well,” Alicia cleared her throat, “I’ll uh, see you tomorrow mornin then. Night kid,” and turned to walk back to her cabin.

Danny stood there for a moment before sighing and making his way back to the path.

_______

Danny woke up to knocking on the door and sunlight on his face.

Knock knock knock echoed through the cabin and Danny squished his eyelids together even tighter. “Come on, get up boy, you don’t have time to lay around.”

Danny turned his head into his pillow and groaned. He spent long enough last night putting away his clothes and getting used to the small cabin that he fell asleep at a time that, had he been back in Amity, would have been early and yet here was late, based on how groggy he felt. Unrested.

Knock knock bang, “don’t think I won’t come in there kid,” Alicia warned.

Danny let out another groan before turning his head and calling out, “Alright, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Something that sounded like “too long” came from the door before footsteps started walking down the cabin steps. Quickly getting ready – jeans, shirt, and unfortunately, FentonWorks patented hazmat boots, Danny pushed open the door, hopping a little to finish getting the second boot on. He jumped down the stairs, making his way to Aunt Alicia, who was leaning against a tree.

“Well, 56 seconds ain’t bad kid, but come on. You’re following me around for the day.” She pushed off and started walking, “I assume you don’t have any experience working a farm?”

Danny shook his head, “no ma’am.”

Alicia snorted, “none of that ma’am business, call me Alice.”

“I thought your name was Alicia though?”

Opening a little gate, Alicia whistled and then beckoned Danny through before latching it, “Sure is, but yer ma and me had our Grandma Alicia, so family started calling me by Alice.” Walking off to a small building further back, she continued, “But enough of that, we’ve got a long day. You can ask if you have questions, but do your best to pay attention.” With that, she opened the door to a cacophony of clucking that quickly died down. Danny stepped in after her, and as his eyes adjusted he saw the inside of a coop. Two rows of chicken nests on either wall, with hens either standing around Alicia or sitting. Once they spied Danny hiding behind her though, they started squawking again and rushed forward, wings flapping and feathers fluffed. Danny started backing away before a hand pushed on his back and a bucket was shoved into his chest. Quickly grabbing it, Danny looked down at a bunch of seed and –

“OW!” Danny yelped as he started hopping from one foot to another, hens trying to peck away at the new intruder.

“Walk out, they’re just not used to you is all,” and Alicia shooed him out of the coop.

‘Fuck’ Danny frowned, not quite running away from the coop and wishing he could’ve used his intangibility to get away from the chickens. Alicia laughed at him as the hens kept pace around Danny’s ankles, lunging forward to peck at him. “How do I get them to stop?” Danny yelled.

“Jump the fence!”

Danny ran back to the gate and hopped over it with a little help from his ghost side to land a few steps away from the chickens.

Bwaack Squak Sqwauk!!

Danny looked up at Alicia who offered an unapologetic, “Sorry. I forgot.”

Squinting at the slightly amused look on his aunt’s face, Danny scowled, “Did you do that on purpose?”

“No idea what ya mean kid. Anyway, for now you can toss some feed in, but otherwise wait out there. I’ll explain what I did when I get back out to you.” Alicia grabbed a basket hanging outside the coop door and walked back inside.

Danny glared down at the chickens who were still protesting his presence. “What.”

“Squuuuawk!” was the response back.

Danny sighed and looked down at the bucket in his hands. It had some seeds and other things mixed in. Looking back up at the chickens staring at him, Danny slowly raised a hand, “I’m going to throw some seeds in. Please don’t scream at me for it,” and he reached a hand in. No sooner did Danny close his hand around some feed, then one of the hens decided to start flapping its wings again to cause a fuss. Danny jumped and glared at the chicken. Out of spite, Danny reached back in and with a handful of feed, overhand chucked it into the coop yard. Sticking his tongue out at the chickens that refused to let him out of their sight, Danny took another step back. He couldn’t wait till his parents’ summer banishment was over and he could go back to Amity Park.

Alicia stepped out of the coop with the basket and walked over to a trough sitting in the yard. After looking down, she gave a quick nod, and then started heading to the gate. Where the chickens were still standing. Glaring at Danny.

“Uuuh,” Danny said, “Do you have a plan on getting close enough to take this bucket back?”

“Sure do,” Alicia said, coming up to the gate, “step closer and hand it over.”

Eyes never leaving the chickens, Danny inched his way closer to Alicia and when he was close enough, thrust out the bucket towards her. “Do they hate everyone?” He asked.

Alicia took the bucket, “Nope. Not me,” and laughing, walked back to the coop.

“Great, real reassuring,” Danny grumbled to her back.

Once Alicia finished up inside the coop, and with a basket of eggs in hand, she walked back out of the enclosure to Danny. “Noticed how I whistled before?” Danny nodded. “I was warning the chickens that I was coming in. It’s how I let them know it’s me and not a stranger.” She grinned. “Not that it helped you any.”

Danny looking away, glaring.

Alicia paused for a moment, “Well, no matter.” She started walking to another log structure. “I want you to figure out what signal you’re gonna give the chickens and start visiting them in the mornings. Just so they get used to you. We don’t want to upset them too much, so they need to start recognizing you.” Walking up to the much larger barn, she opened the doors. Danny was hit with the smell of animals and he scrunched up his nose, coughing.

Alice looked back at him and laughed, “Well, you’ll get used to the smell soon enough. Anyway, this is where we’ve got the rest of the animals. Some pigs, cows, sheep - used to have a horse, but once we switched to using the tractor and truck full time, and old age killed her off, it didn’t make sense to get another. But that was a number of years ago at this point. I think ya mom and me were still kids then.”

Danny’s eyes finished adjusting to the inside and he saw the animals in their stalls. The cows looked over at him, but it was one brave pig that snuffled up to Danny. “Oh,” Danny said, crouching down. “Cute.” Reaching out a hand, Danny tried to pet the pig, which quickly moved away and waddled back to its stall area.

Danny caught Alicia’s smile as he stood back up. “Pat’s rather friendly, but I wouldn’t recommend getting too attached.” She gestured over to the far wall, “I usually open up the barn during the day, let the animals wander around. Before that though,” she bent down to grab a stool. “There’s some tasks to get done.”

Alicia made her way to one of the cows and picked up a stool and a steel bucket hanging up on the post. She turned back around to Danny, “Yer gonna learn how to milk the cows here. We usually fill up the pail and then transfer them to bottles. We get too much milk to use ourselves, so neighbors will come and pick up some bottles from time to time.” She set the stool down with the pail on top, then moved to the larger cow. Going around to the back of the stall, she unlooped a short rope and tied it around the cow’s neck. “This old gal here is Gully.” Alice jerked her chin to other stall, “and our younger one is Lass.” Alicia walked back out of the stall to move the stool and bucket closer.

“What’s the rope for Aunt Alice?” Danny asked.

“Oh,” Alice said, setting down the stool and pail at Gully’s side. Sitting down, she said, “just to keep her in place. Gully doesn’t move as much as Lass will, but she’s used to the rope. Either way, it lets her know it’s her turn. Here,” Alice beckoned Danny over. "Now here’s how you milk a cow.”

After the early morning of getting food to the animals, collecting the eggs, and milking the cows, Alice led Danny back down to her cabin. Going inside for a minute, Alice came out with a cup of water for Danny. “I’m gonna check on the oatmeal and cook up a few eggs for us. I want you to walk around the woods down here while I finish up breakfast.”

“Alright,” Danny said. “And uuuh, I’ll hear the bell when it’s time to come back?”

Alice chuckled, “Ha - yeah, you’ll hear it. Remember – don’t dawdle when you hear it, come straight back.”

Danny downed the cup of water in one go and nodded, setting down the now empty glass on the table. “Will do.” Danny started walking off and he heard the creak of the cabin door. Just as he was about to exit the clearing, Alicia yelled back, “And don’t step on my rhubarb!”

Danny walked around a bush, ducking underneath a tree limb, “Ok!” and almost ran into a large leafed plant. He tilted his head. Squinted.

‘I don’t actually know what rhubarb looks like,’ he thought. Danny shrugged and moved around it anyway. Walking further into the woods he felt the temperature drop some as shade took over. Standing still, Danny realized how quiet it was. No cars, no honking, no rushing of traffic in the distance. Instead, there was the rustle of leaves and the occasional bird call. He breathed in and out. Quiet, and it smelled like the earth. He looked around. A chipmunk scampered up a far off tree. Danny started picking his way through the bushes, tree roots, and other obstacles as he walked further in.

Danny looked back, and not seeing anyone, did his best to walk in a circle with Alicia’s cabin in the center. He almost tripped a few times, before remembering that he could use his intangibility to easily get through the plants without crushing any. ‘Problem solved. I can’t step on anything if I do this.’ Without having to pick his way in between and around foliage, Danny’s pace picked up as he walked the area. Coming up to what he assumed was near the back side of the cabin, Danny heard a sharp piercing bell echo around. Danny jumped. It was much louder than he thought it would be, especially through the trees. He started walking back, and spied Will coming in and out of view. Danny had gone farther than he thought and hurried up. Just before he popped out of the trees, he dropped his intangibility and walked out behind Will onto the dirt path. “Hey Will!” Danny greeted.

Will whipped his head around, “Oh! Geee-zuuus kid. Where’d you come from?”

Danny came up alongside Will, “the woods. Alice showed me around the animals this morning, then had me walk around for a bit.”

Will nodded. “Makes sense. You see her rhubarb patch?”

Danny grimaced, “Uuuh maybe?”

“You don’t know what they look like, do ya?”

Danny shook his head, “Not really.” After a moment of hesitation, Danny asked, “what do they look like?”

“Oh well, you’ll know it when you see it. Got these big leafs on them. Actually, she’s started a new patch of them in her actual garden. Not hard to spot, there’s about 6 of them? Started a year or two back to grow them in a different spot. Real finicky things, they don’t like it down here, but I suppose Alicia likes ‘em well enough that she takes the time to baby the things. Me personally, I don’t like ‘em all that much, wouldn’t bother putting in tha’ much effort.” Popping out of the trees, Will waved over to Alicia, getting her attention to let them know they had arrived.

Alicia looked over, “Good – kid came back with ya. I’ll finish hanging this line and then I’ll get food out.” She turned back to the laundry.

Will nodded, “understood ma’am.” He looked over and down at Danny, “We best wash our hands and start setting out dishes then.”

Getting the table set up with a small plate, bowl, and spoon for each of them, Danny grabbed the pot of oatmeal, while Will grabbed the scrambled eggs. They got them set down in time for Alicia to round the corner from the back. “Aah, thank you kindly boys. Wasn’t expecting ya both to set up, but I’m grateful.” Sitting down, she started dishing out a ladle of oatmeal for everyone and Will pushed off some eggs on each plate. Danny waited a moment for Will and Alicia to settle down and then started eating.

After breakfast, Alice once again shooed Will off to work and had Danny help her wash and put away the dishes. Putting the towel back on the oven handle, Alice turned to her nephew. “Well. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” She glanced around. “Ya bring a water bottle with ya or anything?”

Danny furrowed his eyebrows, “Uh no.” He flushed, “I forgot to grab one when packing.”

Alicia huffed, bending down to open a lower cabinet, and rummaged around before pulling out a spare canteen. Standing up, she unscrewed the lid and looked down into it with one eye closed. “Don’t think there’s dust or nothing in there. Should work fine for ya.” She passed it off to Danny and started walking out the door. “Get it filled and I’ll see ya outside. If you need to pee, now’s the time to do it.” She walked out and left Danny in the cabin. Looking around, he didn’t see anywhere other than the sink to fill up the water. Shrugging, he got it filled up from the sink, then quickly went to the bathroom. Looping the water bottle strap around himself, he left the cabin. Making sure to latch it closed, he walked towards Alicia who had put on a wide brimmed hat and they started up the slope together.

“Soooo,” Danny said. “What’re we doing today?”

Alicia chuckled, “you’ll see. I always found it easier myself to see what someone was talking about than to just listen to someone blabber on.”

They headed back up to the animals. Walking towards the barn, Danny squinted his eyes at the change in light as they reentered. He put a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle a cough. Alice looked over at him, eyes crinkling. “First order of business, mucking out the stalls. I’ll do the first one, then you’ll take over, so make sure you’re watching closely.” Danny wrinkled his nose as he took his hand away and watched Alicia roll up a wheel barrow from the side. She picked up a pitchfork, and as she speared the poop, started talking.

“You’re probably familiar with the poop part of this. You want to get out all the large patties, and then go back and clean up the pissed sections.” Alicia grunted as she lifted a large chunk into the wheelbarrow. “It ain’t tricky, but sometimes the animals like to cover the patches, so you gotta make sure that you get all the spots. We want them to have clean stalls when we bring them back in this evening. Specially the cows, don’t want them to get infections or nothing.” Alicia looked over at Danny who was looking up into the loft.

“Hey!” she called, and Danny dropped his head down to look at her. “You got that?”

“Yes, Aunt Alice,” Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

Alicia narrowed her eyes at him, then continued mucking out the stall. When she finished, she handed the necessary tools over. “Your turn kid.”

Danny flushed as he grabbed at the pitchfork, “Uh yes.” He looked around before facing his aunt. “What am I doing?”

Alicia stared him down. “The next stall, boy. Get to it.”

Danny gulped and walked to the stall next to the one Alice finished. “So I just-“ and he mimed stabbing a poop patty.

Alicia raised an eyebrow and stared Danny down.

Turning back around, he prodded the pile. Standing there a moment, he shifted his stance and jerked the tines into the pile. He wiggled it in a little further. Glancing over at the wheelbarrow, he started to crouch a little, bracing against his leg, and tried to leverage the pile up. The pitchfork shook a little and Danny shifted a foot back to steady himself. He shuffled around and clumsily wiggleded the poop off and into the wheelbarrow. He looked up at Alicia. Alicia looked back into the stall then back at Danny. Figuring that was as good of a “go ahead” as he was going to get, he turned back into the stall and continued. Alicia came to stand by the stall entrance and give the occasional tip as Danny rooted around looking around for spots to clean up. Danny groaned as he finished the last spot. Rubbing his arm, he turned toward Alicia.

As he opened his mouth, Alicia cut him off, “On to the next.”

Danny shut his mouth, glowering a little, and stepped over to the next stall in line. By the time he finished with that one, Alicia had come back with additional stall bedding, spreading it out and filling in the bare spots. Danny leaned against the stall divider and opened up his bottle, taking a gulp of water. It dribbled down his chin and he wiped it off. He hung his arms over the divider as he watched Alicia. Her movements were smooth and practiced, and she was methodical, poking around and moving material, building it up in spots and thinning it out in others. Alicia stepped back, shovel planted by her side. She glanced over at Danny, not surprised to see him watching.

“Any questions?”

Danny shook his head.

“No? Well, I’ll leave you to the rest then,” and grinned at him, before leaning the shovel to the side and walking out of the barn.

Danny sighed and dropped his head for a moment. It wasn’t hard to get the gist of what he had to do, but all of them? It felt like he spent an hour just cleaning out the two he did already. Not looking forward to the rest of the day, Danny pushed off the wall to continue.

At some point, Danny noticed something watching him from the barn door. His shoulders tensed as he turned around. The shape was grounded, solid in a way that most ghosts couldn’t replicate, and Danny felt his shoulders relax some. Squinting against the bright light pouring in, he made out a fuzziness to whatever it was. As his eyes adjusted enough to see more, Danny smiled. It was a large dog, light in color except for the face and ears where the fur darkened. Just as he was about to take a step to walk over, a low bark echoed throughout the barn. Danny stopped. The dog stood up but otherwise didn’t move, keeping eyes on him.

“Hey,” Danny said. “Aunt Alice said your name was Skip?”

The dog lowered its head down, staring down Danny.

Hearing footsteps coming from outside, Danny looked up. Alice came to the entrance by Skip’s side. “Sit,” she said. Turning to Danny, “can you turn away from Skip a little?”

Crouching down, she talked to Skip for a moment, before standing up and walking towards Danny. “Alright, this is Danny.” Coming to a stop near Danny, she clapped a hand on his shoulder. “He’s going to be staying with us a while Skip.”

Skip stood up, turned away, and walked off. Alice faced Danny. “Well, that was Skip. He isn’t the most friendly to strangers, but he’ll get used to you being around eventually. Not that he hangs around us all that often. Skip spends a lot of time with the chickens, sometimes the cows or pigs depending. And you,” Alicia shook a finger at him, “will be out with the crops. Shouldn’t run into any problems with Skip, just don’t startle him.”

Danny’s face fell, “Got it.”

Alice looked around. “So, you about finished in here?”

Danny ducked his head, “eeh about that.”

Alicia sighed, “Ok. Well, once you get done with this, come find me. I’ll be around, but if you can’t find me, just give a shout.” She walked back out of the barn.

Danny sighed, hopes of having a dog crushed once again, and got back to work.

_____

Putting the tools back where Alicia grabbed them from, Danny walked out of the barn. Stepping out of the shade, his hand flew up to shade his eyes from the sudden sun. Glancing around, he didn’t see Alicia. The woods on one side, chicken area in front, barn behind, and fields on his left. Danny’s arms were aching, and he turned toward the woods.

Walking through them for a while, Danny found a downed tree and sat down on it. Head turned up to the dappled sunlight, arms stretched back, legs thrown out in front of him, he breathed deeply. He slowly built up energy in his chest, before directing the collected ectoplasm out from his fingers, through the log, and into the surrounding area. Nothing ectoplasmic echoed back through the connection and Danny slowed pulled it back, collecting and dispersing it back into himself. Once confirming there were no ghosts out there, he fully settled his weight down onto his hands.

He ignored the guilt building a home in his stomach and stayed for a few minutes, letting the sun soak into his being. Danny was starting to get warm, bordering on hot - a foreign feeling ever since his ice core fully formed. His eyelids fluttered closed and a soft breeze blew through, taking the edge of the heat off. Danny could feel his heart slowing, mind growing fuzzy, and then he toppled back off the log. His back hit the ground and the air escaped his lungs. Wheezing softly, he stayed there for a moment. Gathering breath back in his lungs, he tried to roll himself over. Picking himself up, Danny did his best to brush the dirt and leaves off his backside. Turning his attention back where he came from, he stomped his way to the farm.

Coming back up to the path around the farm, Danny spied Alicia coming up to the barn. He started jogging faster before deciding to turn invisible and fly into the barn. Setting down in a shaded corner, Danny turned visible and walked to the open doors. Looking around behind him, he double checked that everything looked alright and walked out.

Alicia was almost to the barn doors, looking back at the chickens, when Danny popped out. “Hey!” Danny called. Alicia turned around to look at Danny before sending one last glance back. Waiting for Alicia to get to the barn, Danny rocked back and forth on his heels. His arms didn’t ache as much as when he first finished, but he could still feel the shaky weakness in them. Danny flashed a smile at her as she got to him.

“So, how are you feeling? Up to walking through the fields with me?”

Danny grimaced before he could stop himself.

Alicia looked at him, “I’ll take that as a yes.” She started walking away.

“Uh.” Danny started. Alicia stopped. “I – uh – what do I do with the, uuh, poop. In the wheelbarrow?”

Alicia sighed before changing directions, walking back up and into the barn. “I’ll show ya. You’re gonna dump it in a pile out back. We let it sit and age a while before using it. Not the most glamorous, but it does the job.”

Danny followed her in and took up the handles on the wheelbarrow. Alicia led him out back, through the gated fence, and to a pile of poop. Danny wrinkled his nose. It didn’t smell as bad as he thought, but it wasn’t pleasant either. He watched Alicia pick up a shovel that was leaning against a tree nearby, and she scooped the poop out of the small wheelbarrow and onto the pile. In a minute she was done and set the shovel back down.

“As I said, not hard. Get that wheelbarrow back where I grabbed it from this morning and catch up to me. We’ve got a lot to do today.”

Danny hurried to comply and jogged to get back to Alicia who was halfway to the fields.

“Sooo,” Danny stretched out the syllable, “what’re we doing anyways? Like the plants are all planted and stuff, right?”

Alicia scoffed at him and continued walking out to the fields. Coming up to a large field of corn, she sharply turned left and kept walking alongside it.

Danny hopped a little on one leg to change direction and catch up. After a few minutes of following Alicia and looking around the area – primarily at the woods in the distance, watching a bird fly up and overhead, and trying to find some shapes in the clouds – Danny sighed. He looked over at Alicia. Tried to find another bird to watch. Looked back down. Then further down at his feet. Kicked a stray rock, causing a small dust cloud to rise up. Alicia huffed. Danny paused for a moment. Started swinging his arms back and forth. Stopped. Started humming. Stopped. Shifted his weight on every step so he bobbed and swayed along more than walked. Stopped that. Looked back up at the clouds. He could feel the sun warming the back of his neck as they went.

Alicia glanced over at him, causing Danny’s extraneous movements to still. His shoulders lifted and he ducked his head down. After another moment Alicia put her hands in her pockets. Sighed. “If Will wasn’t using the tractor to go around the farm today I would’ve taken you around in it.” She leaned over to examine some of the corn stalks they passed by. Straightening back up Alicia said to Danny, “There’s still a lot to do on the farm. We may not be primarily livestock, but crops also require a fair bit of work. We have to make sure they’re getting enough water, fertilize from time to time, spray for bugs and other diseases, weeding of course, making sure we don’t see signs of problems on the plants themselves, taking care of tractor maintenance – among other daily tasks. You’ll be out in the fields mostly. I’ll show you what needs done these first few days and then you’ll be sent off to do those tasks. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know what to focus on, but,” Alicia shrugged, “a lot of it comes down to watching and learning the first few days.”

“Oh.” Danny said. “Uh, so what kinds of plants do you grow here?” He scratched his warm neck.

Alice lifted up her hat before setting it back down, “Well, we’re a bit unusual – mostly growing feed for the livestock farms around here. Remember when you and Jazz jumped into town last year from Air Grits?”

Danny nodded, “Yeah, that was weird; drove in this time though.”

Alice lifted her eyebrows for a moment, “Yep. Bit of a hassle to drive into town though?”

Danny looked away, “Uuuh yea, the roads were kind of bumpy?”

Letting out a loud barking laugh, Alice said, “That’s one way to put it. The road up here has a lot of sections through the woods too. People here don’t drive from town to town all that often. Makes us pretty secluded, and since there's not a lot of traffic it doesn’t make much sense to put money aside to pave a more direct route in. Easier to just jump in from a plane for the most part. Unless you live close that is.”

“I guess. But what does that have to do with your farm?” Danny wrinkled his noise as a breeze briefly brought the smell of manure his way.

“Mmm,” Alicia started. “Well, animals need a lot of food, and the harder it is to get it brought in, the more expensive it is. Growing up, your ma and me saw how the farmers struggled with the prices. When I grew up, I decided to shift the family farm to silage to help with the demand. You won’t see a lot of farms like mine, most of the food is grown outside of our region here or in other states entirely.” She paused. “It’s also a hell of a lot more trouble to get it to all work out if I’m honest. There’s a reason crops aren’t grown in these parts.”

Danny nodded, looking back at the trees they passed by.

“To answer your original question, we got a field we plant cover crops in. Depending on what we’ve got, I’ll send the cows and pigs out there during the days. You won’t spend a lot of time there. Then we’ve got this corn that we’re passing. Unlike the corn we eat, this gets left to dry out after it gets done growing.”

Danny looked over the field, eyebrows pinched together. “Corn?”

“Yessir, this is a corn field we’re walking by. I guess for a city boy like you, it’ll be easier to tell in a few weeks. These here are still growing their ears. We’ve got some fields we planted earlier – they got their ears and silk already. You’ll see them tomorrow probably.”

“Why?” Danny interjected, “Why did you plant them like that?”

“Well,” Alice starts, “Oh, we’re coming up to the wheat here,” and pointed forward to the next field. “We stagger our fields like that, so we stagger what time they’re ready to harvest. It doesn’t make sense to flood the ranchers around here with a bunch of feed all at once, or to hafta store a bunch of it. Arkansas up here in the north is a little interesting. I started doing that a couple years back, and it’s been alright. More work on my and Will’s end, but,” Alice shrugged.

Danny looked up at her, then tried standing on his tip toes as he walked. He couldn’t see past the tops of the corn stalks and stumbled over an uneven patch on the ground. Righting himself, he glanced back up at his aunt. “So you’ve got corn and wheat, anything else?”

Alice looked down at him briefly, “Sometimes we’ll do soybeans, sometimes sorghum. Depends. Nothing you’ll have to worry about either way. I think we’ll keep ya working on the wheat and corn this summer.” Alicia looked at him from the corner of her eye. “Speaking of, you drive yet?”

Danny choked on some spit, “Sorry?” He cleared his throat, “I’m still a few months shy of being able to get my permit. Eeeer,” Danny looked up her, “Why?”

“Aaah,” Alice said. More to herself than Danny, she muttered, “No matter, I’ll have to teach ya regardless.” She looked off in the distance before turning back to Danny. “Today, we’re going to go around the farm. I’ll show ya where are the different sections are and how they’re organized.”

Danny squirmed, “You don’t have to do that Aunt Alicia, I could walk around by myself. I don’t want to take you away from your work.”

Alicia narrowed her eyes at him. “You won’t be. I’ve got stuff to do out in the fields anyway.”

Deflating a little under her gaze he nodded, “Okay.”

Walking out to edge of the farm, Alicia took Danny through a section of wheat, pointing out things to watch out for, checking moisture levels, and more. Danny did his best to pay attention, but kept getting distracted by the wind brushing through the wheat. The plants would bend and rub against one another, creating a raspy sound, like someone walking around. After a sudden gust that caused Danny to jump, Alicia looked up at him. She waited for Danny to settle again, then went back to what she was doing. He could feel his shoulders tense and looked around the tops of the wheat to make sure that there really wasn’t anyone around. Danny moved to crouch down next to his aunt. He started to lean off to one side, unbalanced on the ground, and it was only when he put out a hand to brace himself did Danny notice that his hands were balled into fists. He slowly unclenched his left hand, the tension dissipating as he flexed it. Turning back to Alicia, he noticed she had turned to look at him. Danny looked back at her. She raised an eyebrow.

At Danny’s clueless face, she rolled her eyes. “Look over at the roots by you – do you see anything out of the ordinary?”

Danny ears flushed pink as he turned his head to look around him.

The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly, with Alice pulling snack bars from her overall pockets as a short break while they walked through more sections. As they exited a corn field, Danny heard a rumbling in the distance. After a minute or two of walking down the wider path, Alicia angled her head back, listening to something. “Seems Will is driving the tractor back. If he crosses near us, and has the cart hitched up, we can get a ride back.”

Danny desperately hoped that he would see Will. He might have the occasional ghost fight and Sam as a friend, but he wasn’t fit. After a day walking around, crouching and standing, his legs were tired, feet aching, and even his arms felt heavy. Danny couldn’t wait to get back to his cabin and fall face first onto his bed asleep. His stomach grumbled out. Actually, dinner first, then sleep. Hearing a change in the tractor rumble, Danny looked behind him and saw the tractor turn down their row. Danny waved at Will, and Alicia turned around. Ushering Danny to the side of the path, they let Will come to a stop, before closing the distance.

Grinning over at them, Will opened the door and told Danny, “You look dead on ya feet, kid. Ready to get back?”

“Yes please,” Danny begged.

“Alright, then climb in.” Will closed the door.

Danny gave a little wave and followed Alicia to the back, climbing up into the cart hitched up.

As Will got closer to the upper cabins, he let Alicia and Danny off before he went off to park the tractor and finish up some tasks.

“Well,” Alicia said, stretching out her back, “I’ve got some stuff to get in order before dinner. If you want to call home, I’ve got a landline down in my house. There’s not enough time to take a nap or anything, not that I’d recommend it anyway. Or you could always take another look in the barn, see if there’s anything to muck out before the animals bed down for the night.

“Ok,” Danny said. Alicia quickly turned and made her way down to the lower area. Danny stood there for a minute, looking off into the woods, before making his way behind his cabin to the freestanding outhouse.

After, he ambled to his cabin. Throwing open the door, he walked over to his bed. He flopped down on top of it, a leg and arm hanging over the edge. Danny wasn’t sure how much time he actually had before dinner, but he just wanted to be horizontal for a while. His body settled down, weighing into the mattress as he tried to stop thinking. After a while, his face got tired of being smashed into the sheets and Danny turned his head to the side, examining the little cabin. The sunlight coming in through the windows was yellow orange and muted. He watched the dust motes dance down the shaft of light before they disappeared into the shadows by his face. Feeling his body relax further, his turned his attention to his wide open door. The sounds of the woods filtered in, quiet, through it. He heard a deep bark come from Skip from somewhere. The sounds of a fly buzzing around his doorframe before flying off. Birds called back and forth. Danny sighed and felt his eyelids slide shut. He couldn’t wait to start counting down the days until he returned to Amity Park.

When Danny could feel his heart slowing down, he quickly opened his eyes and pushed himself up. The sudden shift started his heart beating rapidly. Despite wanting to sleep so badly after this day, Danny did not want to miss dinner and he had a sinking feeling that his aunt would not be happy if he didn’t show up. Not knowing how much time passed, he got up and left his cabin, making sure the latch clicked shut before he walked down to Alicia’s cabin. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, he made his way down the slope. He didn’t call last night, despite promising his family he would. Danny was relatively assured that his mom would’ve called Alice anyway. More than that, Danny wanted to check in with Sam and Tucker. As enthusiastic as his parents could be about chasing down ghosts, they were hardly reliable when it came to dealing with the ghosts in town.

He heard a steady clacking as he approached Alice’s door, and opening it, he found her in the kitchen cutting up ingredients.

Danny looked around, then cleared his throat. After a moment, Alice turned around to face Danny. “What’s up?”

“Uuh, I’d like to use the phone. If there’s still time before dinner?”

Alice gave one short nod then gestured, curving her hand around to point. “Phone is on the other side of this wall, it’s a mounted one. You can pull up a chair if you want. I reckon you have enough time for a call.”

“Or two, if you’ve got a special someone,” she tacked on, laughing when Danny spluttered half formed words at her. “Aah just kidding kid,” Alice said as she turned back around.

Danny let out a wheezy, “thanks,” before walking to the other side of the wall. He found the aged yellow phone on the other side easily enough. Pausing in front of it, he took a deep breath, before lifting up his hand to the receiver. His hand rested there for a moment before he tightened his fingers and pulled the phone off, dialing the FentonWorks business number with his other hand. Bringing the phone up to his ear, he shifted his weight, an arm coming around to wrap around himself.

Briing brriiiing.

….

Briing Brriiing.

….

Bri – “Hello?” A female voice answered. “You’ve reached the FentonWorks business. If it’s about ghosts or specters, we’re here to help. What can we do for you today?”

Danny let out a breath at his mom’s practiced spiel. “Hey, Mom.”

A gasp crackled through the landline, “Oh Danny!” she said in surprise. “Oh, honey, why didn’t you call the house number?”

Danny looked up at a corner of the cabin. “They all end up at the same place though?”

“Honey, but it’s different phones that ring – you know that. And I’m not sure your father deleted off old voicemails from this number, so if we weren’t here to catch your phone call you wouldn’t have been able to leave a message!”

“That’s what I was hoping for,” Danny mumbled under his breath.

“What was that? Danny, you have to –“

“IS THAT OUR DANNY BOY?! HOW IS HE? ENJOYING LIFE WITH YOUR OLD BAT OF AN SISTER?” Jack’s booming voice cut through, clear enough to understand even as it crackled the closer he got to the phone.

Danny heard a rustling and a light smack on the other side. “Jack darling, my sister is not an old bat,” she admonished. “But yes, it’s Danny.” A pause. “Danny can you hold on a moment? I’m going to put you on speaker.”

Danny’s hand crept up to the coiled cord connecting the phone to the base.

A couple of clicks, then – “Oh Danny, can you hear us?”

And a competing “Still there Danny?” coming through at the same time.

Danny winced as the phone screeched. “Yeah,” his fingers twisted around the cord, “I’m still here.”

“Oh wonderful,” his mom said, “how are you settling in?”

“Meet any farm animals yet?” his dad asked. A breath, then an excited “Meet any country ghosts?”

Danny sighed, his fingers twisting up more in the cord. “I’m doing fine. Aunt Alice explained where everything is, and I pretty much fell asleep after moving my clothes out of the suitcase. Sorry I didn’t end up calling you last night.”

“That’s fine sweetie, your aunt gave us a short call last night to let us know you made it there alright.”

Danny hummed, hunch confirmed. Hearing his dad take a breath in, Danny quickly tacked on, “and I haven’t seen any ghosts, Dad. Met some cows, pigs, chickens, and the farm dog though.”

“And how is Skip doing?” Maddie asked.

Danny’s face scrunched up, “Fine? I guess? He didn’t like that I showed up today, just kind of stared at me for a bit before walking off.”

Maddie laughed. “That sounds like him. He’s nice enough when he warms up to you. But no, he isn’t too fond of strangers. Just give it time Danny.”

Danny huffed.

“Yes, yes, but I think he’ll be back before then Maddie,” Jack replied.

“Oh, you’re absolutely right dear. How are –“ Danny heard distant footsteps.

“Is that Danny?” his sister’s voice called out in the distance, a whisper coming through the phone.

“YES, COME HERE JAZZ, SAY HI!” his dad yelled.

Danny untwisted his fingers from the cord before starting to wrap them up again. “Hi Jazz,” he said.

“Oooh! Hi Danny! How are you doing!?”

“Alright,” he said. “Aunt Alice was finishing dinner. I just wanted to check in with you guys before then.”

“Ok Danny. Well, thank you for that. We don’t want to keep you too long then.” Jazz’s voice turned sharp, “Do we?”

“No! No, we don’t Jazzy pants! Don’t forget to call later! We miss you Danny boy! Don’t work yourself too hard, but make sure you listen to your ba-“ Jack cleared his throat, “your aunt.”

“I suppose we should let you go then Danny. Thank you for calling us. As nice as it was to know you were there safe, it’s even better hearing your voice. We miss you sweetie, love you!” Maddie said.

A twin chorus of “Love you”s sounded off after her.

“Love you guys,” Danny said. He clicked the phone back on. Sighing, he pulled it back off after a minute. Dialing a different number, he waited for the signal to connect. Danny started counting, but before he could reach five, he heard it connect.

“Sam?” Danny said.

A gasp, “Danny? Oh, I didn’t know you’d be able to call so soon!”

Danny smiled. He heard a small voice come through, “Is that Danny?” After a moment, a much louder, “Hey dude! How are you? Is it smelly there? Did you get a signal with my Charlotte?”

“Hey Tucker, Sam. Uuh, no Tucker, your PDA didn’t connect to anything. Other than that, it’s fine. I was outside, like, all day today. My legs feely like jelly,” he grouched.

Sam clicked her tongue, “This is why you, and Tucker, should join me when I exercise!”

“You can NOT convince me to join your exercise regime,” Tucker said.

“One day,” Sam vowed, “one day you’ll join me, Tucker Foley.”

Danny laughed. “Alright, I’m glad I reached both of you. I’ve got some questions about our,” Danny paused for a moment, “city guests?”

“Guests?” Tucker said. “What do you – oof.”

“Ghosts, Tucker, keep up,” Sam hissed.

“Got it, there was no need to elbow me though.”

Danny could imagine Tucker melodramatically massaging his side as Sam rolled her eyes at him. “So?” he prompted. “Anything to worry about?”

Tucker sighed, “dude it’s been dead around here, Poindexter was walking around campus yesterday, the Box Ghost was seen flying around the warehouses, and then today Vaaaal – the Red Huntress was chasing Skulker.”

“Skulker?” Danny snapped.

“Yeah, no need to get your pants twisted Danny,” Sam said, “it was Skulker out of his suit of all things. No clue why he was wandering around like that.”

“It was weird seeing his naked, blobby ass Danny!”

“Eeeew, Tucker!”

“What?”

“Gross! Anyway, Danny, despite having so many sightings the past few days, there haven’t been many problems. Even your parents have kept the GAV destruction to a minimum. Your dad only dented a stop sign pole and your mom only scorched some leaves while blasting at the Box Ghost.”

“Huh,” Danny said, “that’s good. I guess?”

“Relax, dude, if any problems pop up, Sam and me have got this. Along with Valerie. We won’t let anything too bad happen. And hey! If all else fails, then your parents are always around.”

Danny snorted, “thanks, I feel so much better now.”

Sam sighed, “seriously though Danny, take it easy. You are nowhere near Amity right now, so it’s no use worrying about it. We have it covered and before you know it, you’ll be back.”

“Yeah, alright,” Danny said, fingers twisting in the cord again. “Okay. That’s – thanks for letting me know.”

“Are you okay?” Tucker asked.

Danny sighed into the receiver. “Yeah.” Silence stretched out between the two sides of the call. Danny heard Alicia shuffle out of the cabin and down the steps.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Danny said. “I’m just. UUuugh. I don’t understand why my parents thought I needed to get away from Amity Park. And my sister didn’t help, butting in with all these psychology studies about stressed teenagers, and environments, and whatnot. Can you believe that fink convinced my parents to send me away for basically my entire break!?! I already missed half of summer being in school, and now I’m out in the middle of nowhere? It’s stupid. I don’t even know why they thought the ghosts attacks were putting me on edge in the first place! I don’t even stick around for the ghost fights as Fenton because I’m so busy running off to fight them myself,” Danny hissed. He heard a stair creak. He sighed, letting the tension bleed out of him. “Anyway, how are you guys? Enjoying your summer?”

Sam and Tucker started talking about how excited they were for a new movie that was coming out next week and Danny smiled softly, listening to their back and forth. Hearing someone clear their throat behind him, he turned around, and lowered the phone away from his ear.

“Dinner’s gonna be done soon kiddo,” Alice said.

“Thanks,” Danny mouthed.

Finding a short break in the conversation, Danny interrupted whatever retort was coming next, “Hey, guys. I’m glad I could catch both of you, but I got to go. I’ll talk to you both later?” He untangled his fingers from the cord.

“Oh,” Sam said, “Yes, of course. Bye Danny!”

“Bye! Talk to you later!” Tucker said.

“Bye.” Danny clicked the phone back in place.

Collecting himself, Danny breathed out, plastered a neutral expression onto his face, and turned around to walk outside for dinner.

_______

Danny was in his bed. He was exhausted. His arms ached, his feet were sore, and his eyes were tired.

He rolled over. It was dark, likely the middle of the night, and he was groggy, limbs still heavy and heart slow from sleep. So why was he awake? He heard a far off call coming from the direction of the woods. ‘Probably a wolf’, he thought. Closing his eyes, Danny settled back down. Or tried to. His skin itched and Danny twisted around to rest on his other side. Scrunched together his eyelids. Moved his feet around. Sighed, then pushed himself up. Slipping on his boots, he opened up the cabin door and stepped outside.

Looking around, Danny didn’t see anything concerning. He stepped down and walked around the cabin, looking at the sky and the darkness in between the trees. Danny walked back in the cabin, pulling the door till he heard the latch click, then walked to his bed. Sitting down he took a deep breath, held it, and his eyes glowed green in the dark as he released the breath. Ecto pooled beneath his feet and he pushed it through the ground. He stretched out his consciousness with the ecto, making sure that there was nothing unexpected in the area. The only thing he sensed was a small pool of ectoplasm in the ground, far enough down that it was probably undisturbed by anyone for hundreds of years. Breathing in, he called his ecto back. Breathed in, then out. Followed the path of his breath through his body as it traveled. In through the nose, down to his lungs, inflating, then back up and out. Once he felt sufficiently centered in his body again, Danny kicked off his boots and laid back down. Sleep claimed him quickly once more.

Sun hitting Danny’s face woke him up. Throwing an arm over his eyes, Danny groaned. He still felt sore from the day before, tired from the ghosts fights prior to coming to his aunt’s, and annoyed from being sent in the first place. In short, Danny was grumpy. The sharp rap on his door a couple minutes later did not help.

“Up and at ‘em Danny.”

“I’m up!” he called back.

Hearing footsteps recede, Danny groaned. Loudly. Maybe he could convince his parents to pick him up? Call this summer trip short? Danny started plotting ways to get back home, with his parents’ permission, as he followed Alicia back to the chickens, then off to the barn.

Neither spoke to one another, Danny doing his best to help Alice. Before long, she had him mucking out the stalls again as she walked off to attend to other chores. As Alice said, it wasn’t tricky and the repetition had Danny zoning out, daydreaming about being back in Amity.

A short step back, and Danny tripped over a trough. Hitting the ground hard, he felt something squish against his backside. Danny sighed. He closed his eyes, gathered some motivation, then swung his legs over the trough and fully onto the ground. Standing up, he twisted around to see the cow pie he landed in. Wrinkling his nose, Danny pushed intangibility through his body to get the crap to drop off his butt and walked out of the way before releasing it. He stood there, feeling the warmth of the sun heating up the open doorway, and looked at the two stalls left to do. Danny was just about to turn around and walk off for a little break, when his mom’s chiding voice echoed through his head. Turning back around, he went to finish the job before the food bell rang out.

Later that day, the walkie that Alice had given Danny earlier that day crackled to life. “DANNY! Get the first aid kit from the barn and get out to the field Will was working in. Now.”

Click.

Danny, who had been lounging by the storage barn, darted inside to grab the kit that hung up there, and ran back out. He activated his flight so he lifted just above the ground, and flew most of the distance to the field. When he was close, he dropped back down and ran the rest of the way.

“Mmmm fine,” Will slurred out.

“Will Archibald Jacobson don’t you dare,” Danny heard Alice hiss out.

He darted around a row to see Will by the woodchipper, Alice holding his arm above his head. “What happened?” Danny yelled, dashing the last few yards to them.

Will’s arm was wrapped in his overshirt, blood soaking into the fabric. He had blood on his tank shirt and his pants. Blood dripped down to his neck. His face had an out of focus expression.

Danny set down the first aid kit.

Flipping it open, Alice responded, “darn idiot got distracted and forgot about the woodchipper next to him.”

“Hey!” Will protested. “Kid, don’t listen to her, I was… safe, prom’se! Jus’ go’ startled by this green thing – glowing like the sun – ‘n tripped ‘n fell is all.”

“Danny, press here,” Alice instructed, ignoring Will’s slurred explanation.

Danny helped Alice wrap up Will’s arm tight. Hauling him to his feet, Alice turned around. “Danny, I’m going to take him into town. I’m not sure how deep that cut went, but,” she trailed off, looking at the dopey look on Will’s face.

“Got it, what do you want me to do?”

Hoisting a shoulder over her own, Alice grunted, “help me get him there.”

Danny darted under Will’s other side to support him, and they started to walk him back. Will protested the whole way, claiming that he was fit as a fiddle and definitely didn’t need to walk into town and that they should check out ‘the weird creature in the woods, big, green, and glowing, can’t miss it’. Danny extended some of his flight powers to Will, lightening the load on him and Alice. They walked Will past Alice’s cabin, through a short stretch of woods, and into town. Will finally quieted down, grumbling instead of loudly complaining, and they made it into the small clinic.

“Patty!” Alice called out.

A middle aged woman came out from the back door, “what’s – oh, get him into the back room.” She propped the door open, and let them pass her, pointing them to one of the two examination rooms. Shooing Alice and Danny back out once they set him down, Patty got to work.

Walking back out to waiting room, Danny felt sick to his stomach. He was supposed to have gone to help Will out that afternoon, but decided to take his time and took a break near the chickens instead. “Is he going to be ok, Aunt Alice?”

“Probably,” Alice said, but the furrows between her eyebrows told a different story. “Well, nothing much to do in the meantime. You been through town yet?”

Danny blinked at the sudden shift, “uh, no, not yet.”

“Then I’ll show you around real quick while we’re here, make the most of this.”

Alice took Danny around, which consisted of walking him up and down Mainline and Riverway, the two major streets of the small town. There were only a handful of shops, the clinic, and a gas station.

“That’s it?” Danny asked as they walked back to the clinic.

“Yep,” Alice popped the p.

“It’s…. tiny.”

Sighing, Alice said, “well yea, most folks around here stay on the farms. You have a few homes down here near town, but most people prefer to move down to the bigger town about 50 miles from here.”

Stepping into the clinic, Danny now noticed the chime that signaled their entrance. They settled down in two of the three seats in the front area.

A few minutes later, Patty walked back out. “Well, Will should be fine. It’ll take a while for his arm to heal up, but he’s still got movement and feeling, so I don’t think he’s got any nerve damage.” She smiled at them. “Lucky, though, that he didn’t lose too much blood. I got him a snack and had him lay down in the meantime. What’d he even do? He had fat hanging out of the wound and everything.”

“Fool got distracted and the wood chipper was nearby,” Alice grumbled.

“He tripped into it,” Danny added.

“Hmm, well alright. You guys gonna take him back up to the farm?” Patty asked.

Alice uncrossed her arms, placing her hands on her knees. “Suppose so. His family’s too far away to call to get him today. I’ll see if they’ll come pick him up tomorrow.” She sighed, running a hand through her mullet. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, so they probably will.”

“Definitely lucked out then,” Patty said. She walked back to check on Will.

Waiting for the “all clear” to take Will back up, Danny stewed in his thoughts. He hadn’t exactly done anything outright wrong, but Danny knew that if he had taken his job more seriously, he would’ve been with Will and maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt or as badly or –

“Stop thinkin’ so loud.”

Danny jumped. The swirl of his thoughts coming to a halt.

“I’m sorry,” Danny whispered.

“What for?”

“I –“ Danny paused. “I –“

“Danny,” Alice cut in. “It ain’t your fault.”

“But –“

“Nope. Whatever ya think ya did or didn’t do, it’s not your fault.” Alice side eyed his hunched, guilty looking form. “Stuff like this happens – whether or not anyone else is around. So don’t worry too much.”

Danny dropped his head down.

The silence stretched between them. Alice looked out the window, and Danny made a promise to himself to take this summer more seriously.

__________

The next morning, Danny waved Will and his family off as they left down the back road. He’d be gone for the next couple of weeks to keep him away from the temptation of working. Knowing they’d have to pick up the slack, Danny and Alice hurried back to work.

_________

A week later, Danny was settling into a routine, getting comfortable around the farm. He was getting quicker at mucking out the stalls, and as such, he had some time to do some laundry. Taking the path down to Alice’s cabin, he passed under one of the open cabin windows.

“-addie.”

Danny stopped. Was Alicia talking to his mom?

“Danny?” Alicia asked.

Oh, they were talking about him. He stood there, holding his bag of laundry, curious about what his aunt would say.

“No, he’s doing good work around the farm.”

Danny shuffled a foot around, making circles in the dirt as he listened in.

“Yeah Madds, I can see why you’re so fond of him.” Alicia laughed in response to something Maddie said. “That he is, you raised a good boy.”

Danny’s eyes widened. Bugs buzzed around in the grass around him.

“Mmmm. If he didn’t have school to get back to, I wouldn’t mind keeping him around,” Danny overheard. Eyes widening, he decided to quickly walk off to the laundry.

He hadn’t realized that his aunt liked him that much. Even more surprising that she’d want to keep him on. Danny remembered the start of summer school when his teacher all but groaned at him walking in. Danny had just failed the second half of their class not 2 weeks before. Due to the sudden ghost appearances, Danny hadn’t been the most reliable in the last few years. But for someone to recognize his work? And be satisfied with it? Danny felt a warm feeling start in his chest. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay for the rest of the summer.

______

A couple weeks passed from that phone conversation, with Will coming back and slowly starting to pick up more work again.

Danny had, for the first time since he arrived on the farm, a short work day. By the time lunch came around, Danny had finished his list of chores. After getting the confirmation from Alice, he had the whole afternoon to himself.

He walked around the farm, ending up at one of the wheat fields. Will and Alice were focused on the corn fields for the day and wouldn’t be out this way until later. Standing there amidst the softly swaying strands, Danny watched the sky. The breeze in the air that moved the wheat also pushed the clouds around high above. He decided to take a seat between the golden rows, laying on his back, arm flung behind his head. Staring up at the clouds, he watched them flow across the sky, shifting forms as they traveled. The sun-warmed dirt below him felt like a warm blanket on his back. This close to the ground, it smelled sweet, a little moist and earthy. Danny pulled his cap lower over his face as the warmth settled into his bones. Soon enough, he was lulled off to sleep.

By the time he woke up, the sun had dipped lower in the sky. Sitting up, Danny didn’t hear anyone around and got up. As he walked out of the field, Danny raised his eyes, jumping a little at Skip sitting down and watching him from a distance. Danny paused midstep. When Skip didn’t make a move, Danny finished walking out of the wheat and onto the dirt path. They stared at one another for a moment. Out of view, one of the pigs grunted. Skip blinked, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, before he got up to walk to the pig. Danny watched his tail wag as he left. He chuckled softly as he headed off to Alice’s cabin.

After dinner, he stuck around, playing a card game with Alice, Will, and Jasper. Every so often one of the townspeople stopped by to get Alice’s opinion about something or another and stayed for a meal. When Jasper lost the third game in a row, he called it quits and headed out for the night. Will, Alicia, and Danny played a few more rounds themselves, Will and Danny winning a round each, with the rest of the wins going to Alice. By the time they said their goodnights, the moon was rising. The sky had darkened considerably and the stars were twinkling to life above them.

“Oh.” Danny breathed, stopping on the cabin porch.

Will looked back, “Danny?”

“The sky. I –“ he paused. “I’ve been falling asleep so quickly I haven’t had time to really see it.”

“Oh, that all? It’s pretty neat I guess… Well, I’ll head up then, see ya later Danny.”

Eyes never leaving the sky, “Night Will. See ya tomorrow.” He walked down to sit at the table.

The door creaked open, “Oh. Danny? Is that you still down here?”

Danny, from the picnic table, confirmed, “Yeah.”

“Huh, I thought you and Will left a while ago.”

“Hmmhmm. Will did, headed up already.”

“Ooook. Well, you need anything?”

“Nope.”

“Alright,” Alice stepped down, walking up to the table. “Well, it’s getting late. Now, I’m not your mom, but maybe consider heading up yourself soon.”

“Ok. Yeah, you’re right.”

“… Ya really like those stars huh?”

Danny finally looked down, “Yeah.” He grinned, “you can’t see the stars like this in Amity. I mean, you can, it’s not the worst, but it’s just so clear out here!”

Alice chucked, “Sure is. Sometimes I forget how nice it is.”

“If I lived out here, I would never take it for granted. I bet it’s so easy to track the constellations and star movements,” Danny’s eyes lit up with the possibilities.

“Don’t know much about the stars myself but,” she shrugged, “I guess it wouldn’t be hard to, no.”

Taking one last look up at the stars, Danny got up, said goodnight to his aunt, and headed up to get ready for bed.

_______

“And Danny? Come into my cabin for a moment, your job today is going to be a little different.”

Will frowned, “Aaah man, Danny gets to do that?”

“Do what?” Danny asked.

Alicia grinned. “Blackberry picking.”

“Yeah, and it’s the best job of the summer,” Will grumbled. “You better enjoy it kid.” He stood up. “Well, I’ll see you two later,” and he walked up the slope to get back to work.

“Bye,” Danny called. Turning to Alicia, “So what does berry picking mean I’m doing, exactly?” He looked around, “I haven’t noticed any berries around here.”

Alice laughed, “no you won’t. Come inside, I have to show you where you’re going.”

Danny furrowed his eyebrows but followed her into the cabin where some maps of the farm and surrounding area and a large basket sat on the table.

Alice picked up the first map, took a look, then rifled through the pile to find one that had a large circle on it. “Ah, here it is,” she placed it on top of the pile and pointed to the circled area. “This is where you’re headed today.”

Danny leaned in to look over the map. “That looks like it’s in the woods?”

“Yep,” Alicia said, “you’re going to be taking a little walk today. I’ve got your lunch packed up, all you have to do is fill your canteen, and then head out for the day.”

Danny frowned. “And how am I supposed to find them?”

Alice rolled her eyes, “They aren’t hard to spot. Here,” she pointed to a different area of the map, “we are. You’re going to head this direction,” she moved her finger up, around a small lake, and to the circle. “It’s pretty easy walking. The pond will keep you on track, though it’s more like a glorified puddle, but whatever. You’ll hear the stream feeding into it, so if you do get lost, just hush up and listen. You’ll pick the berries, put them in this basket, and when it’s full, you’ll head back. I scoped out the area last year and this was a fairly big thicket, so even if the animals have gotten to it there should still be plenty left for you.” She looked up at Danny. “Got it?”

Danny worried his lip. “I guess?” He hadn’t really explored the surrounding area, but figured if he needed to, he could just fly up and look for the way back easily enough.

“Good. Well, get your basket and water and get going. I’ve got work to get to. See you for dinner kid,” and Alicia walked out the door.

Danny took another look at the map, doing his best to memorize the path. He sighed, picking up the basket, stopping by his cabin quickly to grab his water bottle, and started off to the trees.

Walking into the woods, Danny noticed a strap on the basket and quickly put it over his shoulder. The basket bobbed against his butt as he walked, but it was better than having to carry it the whole way. As Danny got further in, the undergrowth increased. Danny activated his intangibility and walked right through. The sun was bouncing through the leaves, casting spots of shadow and light. He heard the birds sitting overhead in the treetops and a beetle buzzed past Danny’s ear. He made his way to the small lake.

As he got closer, he heard a soft bubbling sound that soon turned into a whoosh. Then the smell of the dirt changed – rich and a little heavy on the tongue. Danny walked through a bush and saw the puddle. If he wasn’t intangible, he would’ve gotten his boots wet.

Huh, Danny thought. It really is small.

The pond was only a couple of yards across and looked shallow.

Danny looked to his left and saw the stream that fed into it. Looking around the edge, he couldn’t find where the pond emptied. Danny stayed there for moment, comparing what he was seeing to his memory of the map. Once he felt confident in his orientation, he floated up and drifted across the pond. Setting himself down on the other side, he double checked his intangibility was still activated and started walking again. True to Alice’s word, the walk itself was easy, and Danny took the opportunity to look around at the woods. He spotted a deer in the distance at one point, and what looked like owl nests in some of the branches.

As he walked through a particularly dense area of bushes, he noticed some mist by a tree some distance away. Danny squinted at it. It was too warm in the day for there to be mist and, he looked around, it didn’t look like there was any water for it to come from either. As he started to walk to it, Danny realized that he hadn’t heard any birds in a while. Getting closer, he saw some wispy tendrils float out from the densest part of the mist. He tilted his head. Let some ectoplasm leak into his eyes. The mist suddenly contracted and came together to form a vague squirrel shape. Danny stopped. Followed the smallest tendril down to the earth. A squirrel, blood leaking out from a wound on its leg, was connected to it. Danny looked back up. The ghost followed the motion and looked at Danny. Danny looked back. Blinked. And stepped forward, holding out a hand. The squirrel ghost drifted forward and right before it made contact with Danny, turned to look back at its mortal body.

Danny held his breath as he watched one of the ears tufts twitch. The squirrel turned back around and jumped forward to touch Danny’s palm. As it nestled into his hand, its soft, transparent body started to disperse again. Danny reached for his core and pushed the ectoplasm circulating in his body to his hand. His palm started glowing green before some ectoplasm coated his palm. The squirrel started condensing again, pulsing as it made contact. The ectoplasm flowed off Danny to mix in with the translucent body. The ectoplasm swirled around like bubbles in soda before losing shape and being absorbed. The squirrel’s ghost glowed bright and Danny looked away, closing his eyes.

When he no longer saw the light through his eyelids, Danny cracked open one eye, and confirming the bright light was gone, fully opened both eyes. What was once a misty looking squirrel ghost was now a small green blob. As it rotated around, eyes came into view, and opening up, looked at Danny, letting out a small chirrup in greeting. Danny smiled a little. It was cute, if a bit sad knowing where this little blob came from. Danny looked back at the corpse. Then up to the blob. The wispy tendril no longer connecting the two. Danny let his hand drop and the blob stayed floating. Floated closer to Danny’s face. He could feel his eyes flash green. The blob ghost let out another little chirp and flew around Danny head before settling down on his shoulder, nuzzling up into his chin. Danny laughed at the ticklish sensation and then turned around to continue to the blackberry bushes.

As Danny got to the blackberries, he reached up a hand to the blob ghost. Gently scooping it into his hand, Danny lifted it up and onto the top of one of the bushes. Looking around and not seeing any animals, Danny focused on the bushes. There were a lot of them, and it seemed like the bushes had plenty of berries. Danny could make out at least 5 bushes growing into each other, and possibly more around some trees. He knelt down and picked a blackberry, tossing it into his mouth. As the berry burst open, juices sprayed Danny’s mouth, and he stifled a cough. He ate it quickly and indulged in a quick cough. Even though it was smaller than the ones they bought from the store, it was noticeably sweeter. Danny smiled and swung his basket off his shoulder. He started carefully plucking berries off, and every time he accidentally squished one, he popped it in his mouth instead of the basket.

At some point the little blob ghost woke up and started darting between the leaves of the berry bushes, occasionally trying to eat one. Danny laughed at its antics, making a little ball of ectoplasm form, and tossed it for the blob to chase.

By the time the sun started its afternoon descent, Danny had his basket filled and a happy blob ghost nestled on top of the berries. Over the course of the afternoon, its green color had started disappearing and now it was more wisp than blob again. Danny frowned briefly and started off to the farm.

As Danny got near to the edge of the woods, the little ghost had lost all its color and was now back to a translucent wisp. Before he could give it more ecto, he heard a shout and ran out of the trees. Aunt Alice had dropped a screwdriver on the ground and when she stood back up from grabbing it, she spotted Danny. She waved, walking over to him.

“Hey Danny, how was –“ the little ghost darted out from behind Danny’s back, coming to face to face with Alicia. She frowned. “how was the trip?”

He pulled the basket forward, “good, there were plenty of blackberries.”

“Aaah good. Any trouble finding them?” She eyed the ghost out of the corner of her eye.

“Nope,” Danny paused, and taking a chance, said, “I found this little guy on the way though.”

“Oh?” Alice raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “You can see it, right?”

Alice’s frown lightened. “Yes.” Sounding choked up, she cleared her throat. “Yes, I can. I didn’t realize - well, nevermind.” She looked at the ghost, nuzzling into Danny’s hair, mussing it up. “I don’t know why it’s acting so friendly, but you best not encourage it. The less attention you give it, the sooner it’ll pass on.”

Danny’s ears flushed red, “pass on?” he asked.

“Chiiiirup?” said the wispy ghost.

Alice leveled a glare at it. “Absolutely not.”

Danny’s mouth fell open. “Wait. What? Can you understand it?”

“Sure can. Ever since I was little,” Alice answered.

“Does Mom know you can see them? And understand them?”

Alice squinted at him, “Sure does, was the first person I told as a kid. Real supportive of it all.”

Danny stood there for a moment. “Mom knows? And she didn’t have you help her with the – the ghost stuff?”

“Nope. I was the reason she got into ghosts in the first place, but,” Alice shrugged. “I didn’t want anything to do with them. After I got back from the big city, I just wanted to live a quiet life and Maddie respected that.”

“Oh.” Danny looked between the ghost now on his arm and Alice. “Really?”

“Yep.”

The ghost floated between the two, circling Alice once before resting back on Danny.

“Well, looks like we should go deal with those blackberries.”

As Danny and Alice finished sorting the blackberries into different containers, Will walked up to them. “Hey! Oh, Danny’s back already?”

Alicia snorted at him, “Don’t act surprised.”

Will held up his hands, “Aaah you got me. I saw you two meet up earlier.” He quickly reached down to pop one in his mouth.

Alicia smacked his shoulder. The ghost flew up and chittered angrily in his face.

Will smiled, showing off his berry splattered teeth, completely unrepentant. Chuckling, he walked off.

Danny looked at the ghost, now flying over the piles of blackberries, and then up at Alice. “Will didn’t react at all.”

Alice grunted, “Hmm.”

“Are we the only ones who can see this little guy?”

“Far as I can tell, kid.”

“Oh.” Danny looked off into the tree line. “Aunt Alice, what did you mean when you said it’d pass on?”

“Well, exactly what I said. Little bugger died, and whatever was left will pass on to whatever’s next. Why? What’d you think I meant?”

Danny shrugged. “I guess I’m just not used to ghosts passing on? Most of the ones I meet stick around and cause trouble.”

“Ah. Madds has mentioned something like that. Have they caused you any trouble?” Alice probed.

Danny grimaced. “I guess you could say that. A lot of ghosts cause trouble around the high school.”

Alice nodded, “I can see how that’d be distracting.” Alice watched a bee buzz around the table. The wispy ghost chased after it.

“Yeah, most of them like to cause problems on purpose, but sometimes there’s the little blobs that hang around and they’re kind of cute, like a stray cat. They do make it hard to concentrate if it’s dark though.”

“What do ya mean?”

Danny looked back at his aunt. “Cause, they, you know, glow green?”

“Green? Huh. None of the ghosts round here glow green. I guess Will did mention something similar. And I remember Maddie showing me a vial of glowing green stuff once. Made me feel kind of sick.”

“Oh, that vial was probably ectoplasm,” Danny said.

“Ec-toe-plasm?” Alice sounded out.

“Yeah,” Danny said. “It’s the glowing green stuff that ghosts are made up of.”

“Really?” Alice sounded unimpressed.

“Hmmhmm,” Danny hummed. “You can kind of see their insides if they get hit with an ectoblast. It’s all gooey looking, like a really thick liquid. Their bodies kind of flow back in to fill the hole.”

Alice shook her head. “I don’t know about all that. All the ghosts I’ve seen are just misty lookin’ and real hard to see if the sun shines through them. Well, that’s only if I catch them. As I said, they don’t usually stick around too long.”

“Interesting.”

Alice shrugged, “I suppose. Madds had a theory that ghosts only form when the living aren’t prepared to die or something.” She laughed. “Not that I think most things around here have unfinished business. Everyone has a time and place, you know? A rabbit lives its life knowing it’ll be eaten and all that.”

“I guess.” Danny thought for a moment. “I think a lot of the ghosts I know didn’t even think death was a possibility.”

The little ghost zipped under the table and around their feet.

“Perhaps.”

In the time it took for Alice and Danny to finish with the blackberries and prepare dinner, the ghost kept fading bit by bit. Once Danny rang the dinner bell, the little ghost was completely gone. Danny tried not to miss it, knowing it was better that the little guy passed on, rather than hang around the ecto deprived area.

____

After dishes, Alice sat Danny down. “How you doing kid?”

“Fine?” Danny said, voice lilting up like a question.

“You sure? You looked rather, uh, sad about that little ghost disappearing on us.”

Danny shrugged, “hmm, I guess I’m not used to it.”

“It?”

“Yeah, I’m not used to things just…. Ending. I guess.”

“Oh, is that it?”

Danny looked off to the setting sun.

“You know, I can sympathize. Used to be a time when I thought that I could fix anything.”

Danny looked back at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know I’m divorced right?”

“Sure, Mom visited you on the anniversary for that party last year.”

“Right, well I know it was a big celebration, but when it first happened, I was lost. I mean, I knew that it was coming. He didn’t like the farm, fell in love with someone who wanted the city life with him. A real yuppie. And yet, when I sat in the lawyer’s office, papers in front of me, there was this emptiness that seemed to take me over. We both wanted our relationship to end, happy for it even, but, that didn’t make it easier to deal with. Waking up and knowing that there wasn’t going to be someone by my side? That there was no fixing it, no going back? It’s hard to accept that some things just can’t be changed. Don’t like talking about that even now.”

Danny’s mind flashed briefly to Dan. His shoulders raised. “I guess. How did you deal with it?”

Alice hummed. “The divorce? Time, I suppose. I had the support of the community here. With death?” She shrugged. “I grew up. At some point you just realize that some things have to happen and you can’t change it, so you have to accept it.”

Danny huffed out air. “Yeah, alright.” The variation of the age old excuse of “when you’re older” rang hollow in him.

A hand landed on his shoulder. He turned back to his aunt. “Danny. I mean it. Some things just need the perspective that time brings. I’m still not sure my sister has quite grasped that.” She smiled. “No fault to her; understanding comes in its’ own time. Worrying about it won’t help.”

Danny watched the last of the light chase the sun down with his aunt beside him, before standing and heading to his cabin to think.

An hour later, he stood up from his bed and walked down to his aunt’s cabin. By now, the air was cool against his skin. The cicadas were out, filling the air with a loud buzz. Danny stopped halfway down the path, trying to collect himself. As he stared up at the trees, his eyes burned. Rubbing them harshly, he breathed in, the smell of dirt and the green leaves settling into his lungs. He stayed there for a moment, collecting the resolve that started to slip away. He let out some ectoplasm around his feet to light up his path and continued. Exiting the trees, Alice’s cabin was lit up, warm light enveloping it like an aura. Cozy. Welcoming. Danny dispelled the ectoplasm around his feet as he walked towards the cabin, each step feeling heavier than the last. His shoulders curled forward until he stopped at the stairs up to the porch. He heard Alice set something down inside and a creak of a door, then a click as the front doorknob rotated open. Danny stayed at the bottom of the stairs, feeling frozen, as the door hinges creaked. Alice’s red hair came into view first, quickly followed by the rest of her. Catching sight of something, she raised her head to look at Danny.

“Danny, that you down there? Everything alright?” voice soft as she stared down at him.

Danny’s body moved, skipping steps as he rushed up to Alice. Her body swayed backward as he barreled into her, and she wrapped her arms around him to steady them both.

“I died,” Danny said, voice muffled in her shirt.

Alice didn’t say anything for a moment, squeezing Danny close. His body shook as he cried into her shirt. After Danny’s shaking petered out, Alice stepped backwards, hand on Danny’s back to nudge him inside.

“Take a seat on the couch, Danny. You want tea? Hot chocolate?”

Sniffling, he wiped a hand against his nose. “Hot chocolate please.” He went to sit on the couch, grief and emptiness gnawing at his insides in equal measure.

The sound of boiling water soon filled the space. A clink of a mug. Powder being measured. The fridge door opening and closing. Alice walked over to the sofa, two mugs in hand. Danny unstacked two cup coasters from the pile in the middle of the coffee table, placing them down for Alice.

Danny picked up his hot chocolate and took a sip, holding the warm mug in his hands. Alice said, “Now, what was that about?”

The silence stretched between them as Danny stared at the wall, quiet. By the time Alice had finished most of her cup of tea, Danny finally opened his mouth.

“When I was fourteen, I died.” Silence followed Danny’s statement, Alice’s torso turned towards Danny, but nothing else to indicate she was listening.

Danny let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t, come back. All the way.”

Alice took another sip of tea.

Danny set his mug down. Folded his hands together and set them on his legs. “I know what it sounds like, but I’m not crazy. I’m alive, but I’m also, somehow, a ghost? Not like the one we saw today, but the kind I talked about, the glowing ones. I think I turned the portal on when I went inside to look. Not that I remember a lot of that, except for the pain,” Danny laughed, the sound hollow. “I mean, it wasn’t working before, and after that, it was that glowing green. It’s kind of pretty, actually? Or maybe that’s just what I think. It swirls around, the ectoplasm, like a really slow whirlpool, but it’s vertical like a door, not horizontal like a pool. It makes it really easy for Mom and Dad to get more ectoplasm samples. Actually, I gave the ghost today ectoplasm and it kind of turned into what I call a blob ghost? By the time we made it back to the farm it was back to that wispy appearance, so, I mean, that was different. But it was interesting, made me think of the blob ghosts back home. You know, the ones that don’t pass on? That’s the kind that I’m like. A ghost. I mean, I’m alive too, but I’m also a ghost. I don’t know if that means I’m still dead or not? I don’t think anyone really knows, but it’s kind of cool because I’m like the town superhe-“

“Danny,” Alice cut in. Danny stopped.

Alice took a breath. “Danny, do your parents know?”

Danny’s eyes widened. He shook his head.

“Are you going to tell them?”

Danny tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth, throat tightening as he thought about the answer. He settled for a small shrug.

“Alright. Well, I can’t say this isn’t a surprise, but I won’t make you tell your mom or nothing. Thank you for telling me.”

Danny stared at his mug, still half full. He picked it back up. As quiet settled around them, he felt his heart speed up. Alice set her mug down, now empty.

“But, I don’t think,” Alice started, slow, “that it matters too much. From what I’ve gathered, dead, alive, or something else, you’re still you. The caring and hardworking young man that Maddie described is the same one that arrived on my farm. Sure, you’re not perfect, and the implications of it all is damn worrying, not knowing, but that’s life.” Alice swung her knee up onto the couch to fully turn her body to face Danny, arm braced along the backrest. “For what it’s worth, people love you because of who you are, not what you are. That includes your mom and dad. Heaven knows when Maddie decides to love someone, she does it with her whole heart, no matter the circumstances.” She tacked on a lighthearted, “and that includes your fool of a father”.

Danny laughed, rubbing his eyes of residual tears. “Thanks, Aunt Alice. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Danny finished off his hot chocolate, bidding his aunt a goodbye, and walking back up to his cabin, feeling lighter than he had in a while.

______

During that week, Danny started helping out even more on the farm, volunteering to lend an extra hand when needed or after his own tasks were finished. He was getting comfortable with the flow of the days – spending mornings and evenings with the animals, afternoons in the fields, and helping out with various chores. It was easy to fall into the rhythm and to trade playful quips with Will and Alice when they worked together.

Alice called Danny over one day.

“What’s up, Aunt Alice?”

“You know anything about machines?”

“Uuuh,” Danny’s eyebrows shot up, “I guess? I’m familiar with my parents’ inventions.”

“Hmmm. Why don’t you come over here then and tell me what you think.”

Danny peered his head into the propped open tractor hood, looking at the mechanics. “It looks like the belt, here,” Danny pointed, “is wearing out.”

Alice appraised him.

Danny shifted his weight. “Uh, was that it?” he asked nervously, feeling like he was taking a surprise pop quiz.

“Yea. Yea, it was kid. You familiar with engines?”

Danny made a face, “Sure? I’ll help my dad out sometimes when there’s a problem with the GAV.”

“The GAV?”

“Oh, it’s our family car. Or van, RV, thing? My parents souped it up, so a lot of service shops won’t even look at it. My dad keeps up with most of the maintenance on it and makes me help out.”

Alice nodded, “Ok, makes sense I suppose. Well, if you’ve got a familiarity with it all, why don’t you help me replace it. I’ve got a spare belt down in my cabin. I’ll go grab it and you can get the tools we need. Just look in the toolboxes around here, find the one we need for the tractor.”

Danny nodded in agreement and Alice walked off to get the part.

Later that night at dinner, Alice remarked to Will that it might be time to let Danny drive the tractor.

“Sure thing boss! Who’s gonna teach him?”

“I will. I’ll start him off with parking it in the barn, so tomorrow just leave it out when you’re done and I’ll walk him through it.”

Will nodded and continued eating.

“I’m what?” Danny asked.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

Danny swallowed his bite of food. “Can I even do that? I don’t have a learner’s permit or anything.”

From beside him, Will answered, “Don’t need one. Most kids ‘round here start driving tractors much younger than you are. It’s not like you’re going to be driving down the road or anything in it.”

“Oh. You don’t need a license for it?”

“No sirree, and it ain’t that hard to do either.”

Alice piped up, “You good with that?”

“Oh. Yeah. I guess, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

The rest of the night and next day passed calmly. Then came Danny’s first lesson.

“When you go to park it, don’t forget to let it out of gear and apply the parking brake. That’s about it. So, you good to go?”

“I think so, Aunt Alice.”

“Alright, well don’t forget your ear protection, and I’ll let you get to it.”

Alice swung the door closed and stepped back from the tractor.

Danny put on the headset, and did one last review of everything, before he turned the tractor on. Looking behind him, clocking Alice still off to the side, he carefully backed up the tractor. Slowed down and came to a stop. Danny turned forward again and started moving the tractor forward. Taking a circle around, he pulled up to the storage barn and eased the tractor in. Applying the brake and turning it off, he took off his ear protection and stepped out.

“Not bad kid, not bad. Now help me look everything over before we head back for dinner.”

Alice walked Danny through the daily checks and maintenance on the tractor, then showed him where they kept their log.

“What it comes down to, is if you notice a problem, either stop and fix it right away, or come get me or Will if you can’t figure it out. I’d rather you waste an hour doing that, then pushing through it and messing up the tractor on us.”

The bell rang out, clear and bright. Alice glanced out of the barn doors. “Well, guess it’s quitting time for ya. Let’s get this put back and get our asses down there.” Alice handed the binder back to Danny, who placed it back on the small table and hurried to close the doors and catch up with Alice.

Another week passed, with Danny learning how to operate the tractor, hitching up different attachments, and getting used to the daily checks.

“I think it’s time to start harvesting the far wheat fields tomorrow.”

“Already?” Will asked.

“Yeah, it’s ready to go.”

“Huh. Alright, if you say so boss.”

“Will I be helping with that?” Danny asked.

Alicia nodded, “you’ll be here through this first harvest, then you’ll head back to Amity after that.”

“Oh.” Danny forgot he’d be heading back soon. “Right.”

“So soon?” Will asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Madds reminded me that their school year starts earlier in the season.” Alice shook her head, “seems ridiculous, but there’s nothing to be done for it. The cities run on their own timeline.”

“Wait, then when do schools around here start? And where’s the school? I don’t remember seeing one when you showed me around town,” Danny asked.

“Oh, about a month later than yours I reckon. The school isn’t on the main roads. It’s back on one of the side roads, so the farm kids can get to it easier.”

“Used to be in the town,” Will added. “When most of the town families moved out, the farm kids got together and convinced the adults to move it closer to them, oh, I reckon ‘bout 20 years ago?”

“Closer to 25 I think,” Alice corrected. “I remember the big commotion when I visited from college. Maddie, I think, organized it all.”

“Sounds like Maddie,” Will agreed.

“Mom did that?” Danny asked.

“Sure enough. Everyone knows she’s a force of nature when she puts her mind to something. She argued with near everyone about it.”

“Don’t know why she fought so hard for it,” Will added. “Had to have been her senior year, didn’t even make a difference for her, considering the changes took place after she headed off to college.”

“Huh.”

“She never mentioned it to you?”

“No, not really. But it explains where Jazz got her single-mindedness from. She turned our annual Spirit Rally into a whole week at Casper High during her freshman year.” Danny grimaced, “My freshman year, I got put in a diaper and thrown on stage for it.”

Will laughed and Danny scowled at him. “Sorry, but just a diaper?”

“Are you kidding?” Alice was flabbergasted.

“Wish I was, it wasn’t funny.”

“Sorry, but you have to admit, that’s just a little funny,” Will chuckled.

“It really wasn’t. Also, our counselor tried murdering Jazz.”

Will stopped laughing. “What.”

“Yeah, she ended up getting, uh, jail, for it.”

Alice narrowed her eyes, “Really?”

“Yep,” Danny said, “last year wasn’t so bad though. Hardly anyone called me a baby the whole week.”

“Damn.”

“What the hell is happening in those cities.”

The sudden somber shift made the conversation die down and dinner was finished quickly after.

The next morning, the bell rang out clear and sharp. Danny blinked his eyes open, noticing it was still dark out. Stumbling out of his cabin, he turned to Will, who was passing by. “Why’re we up so early?” Danny yawned, pulling on a long sleeved shirt.

Will returned his yawn, jaw cracking in the early morning air. “Oh, we do most of our harvesting in the morning or evening. Means real early mornings the next few days. S’not so bad, once you get used to it.”

“Mmm.” Danny responded, following Will downhill.

“Hey Alice. You got the coffee brewing?”

“Hey, boys. Sure do. Another couple minutes or so, then we can get started.”

After getting their coffee in thermoses, the group headed up to the fields. Danny was put on tractor duty. Alice took over the truck with a wagon attached and Will was in charge of the forage harvester. With the exception of taking care of the animals, Danny and Alice traded back and forth on filling up their collection wagons and running them to the silo.

Soon enough, the harvest passed and it was time for Danny to return to Amity Park.

“Yep, got it sis.” A pause. “Uh huh.”

“No, no need, I’ll take him myself.”

“Of course I do.”

“No, it’ll be fine. A short trip up.”

“Will can do what needs to be done.”

“Yes I’m sure.”

“Uh huh. See ya then.”

“Take care Maddie.” Alicia put down the phone and turned to Danny, seemingly unsurprised to see him leaning against the wall. “Well, I’ll be driving you back up to Amity in a few days.”

Danny nodded, not looking particularly taken back, despite the fact that his aunt hadn’t gone up to Amity in the past 10 years or so.

The corners of Alice’s mouth turned up, “alright then, make sure you’re ready. It’ll take a couple days, since you can’t help with driving, but it should be a nice enough trip.”

“Anything to do before then?”

“Nope, the only thing left to do is to check on the truck. As much of a help as you’ve been with the tractor, I’ll be doing that. You just make sure you help out Will with any odd jobs before then.” Alice scratched the back of her neck. “Uuh, ya excited to be heading back?”

Danny shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.” He looked out the kitchen window, “I’ll miss being here though. I know I caused some trouble when I first got here, but it grew on me.” Danny smiled softly.

“It has a way of doing that,” Alice agreed. “Well, let’s get back to work then. It doesn’t stop for rain nor shine.”

Danny finished loading up his bags in the short backseat and closed the back door. Hauling himself into the front passenger seat, he closed the front door.

“Got everything squared away?”

“Yep. Double checked and everything.” Turning to grin at her, “but if I forgot anything, that just means I’ll have to come back.”

Alice laughed and shifted the gear to start the truck rumbling down the path. Soon enough, bouncing along the road, a dust cloud behind them, the farm was swallowed up by trees.

The journey itself was uneventful. The mountains turning to valleys turning to farms turning to small cities and large ones, a one night stop at a motel, then back on the road, and finally Danny recognized the outskirts of Elmerton in the distance. He could feel the rumbling of something in his stomach, and it solidified into a nervous ball when they crossed the town limits.

Elmerton had enough tall buildings that Danny couldn’t see over into Amity Park, but he could feel the flow of ambient ectoplasm moving about like chem trails, signifying the presence of a visiting ghost. Next to him, Alice clutched the steering wheel hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Coming to a red light, she glanced over at Danny and noticed his pinched eyebrows, eyes on her hands. She sighed softly, relaxing her hands and hitting the accelerator when the light turned. The sun filtered through the buildings, casting long lines of shadow that waved over the truck passing through. Danny turned to look out the window, head in hand, braced against the door. It was quiet, no ghostly interference on this side of town. Nevertheless, he could feel the ectoplasm that floated in Amity’s air reach out tendrils in Danny’s direction. Welcoming him home, beckoning him closer, wanting to wrap him up in its embrace. He shuddered. After getting used to a non-ecto infused environment, the not quite alive reaction of the ectoplasm felt like a slimy slick hand on his shoulder, slipping off before trying to embrace him again. He didn’t notice Alice next to him, her breathing becoming shallow and quick.

As the truck crossed over the interstate separating the two cities, Danny shuddered, feeling the sharp contrast of a decidedly unhaunted city to one that almost had more ghostly visitors than alive ones. He could feel the boundary like he was pulled through a film, the ectoplasmic residue clinging to his skin on the other side, settling back into his nose and lungs, coating the back of his throat and cooling his hands. It wasn’t enough that someone like Valerie – fully human - would notice, but being so attuned to the presence of ectoplasm as a being shaped by it, Danny could feel it like a physical weight, bearing down heavier on him the closer they sped to FentonWorks. Alice’s hands lightly shook as she clasped the stick to shift down.

Pulling up to the side of FentonWorks, Alice stopped the car. They both sat there for a moment, breathing in the quiet of the street, before a far-off blaster shot echoed in the distance. Danny turned to Alice, a wobbly smile on his face, “home sweet home,” he said, punctuating it with a little laugh.

Alice looked past him to the door, then back to Danny. “I suppose so,” mouth set in a thin line.

Danny turned away, not wanting to parse what Alicia was feeling, and unclicked his seat belt. He opened the door to slide out of the truck. Alice followed him out and walked around to knock on the front door. As her first rap against the door ended, weapons sprung out of the sides of the walls, focused down on her. Alice jumped back a little as a light popped out of the door, scanning Alice from head to toe. “Freaky,” she muttered darkly as something dinged and the door clicked open, the differential air pressure opening it further. Alice turned back around to Danny, “What was that?”

Danny shrugged, “It seems Mom and Dad added some things while I was away.”

Alice gaped at Danny. “Added some things? What was it like before?”

Popping open the back door to grab his bags Danny said over his shoulder, “Oh, the weapons have been there since the first house defense upgrade, but the unlocking is new.”

Alice looked back to the door. “That’s the new part?” She hesitantly reached a hand out and tapped the door hard enough to swing it open the rest of the way. She leaned forward a little. “Uuuh,” she started, peering in. Clearing her throat, she spoke up, “Anyone home? I’ve got your boy back Maddie!”

Danny walked up beside her. “I wouldn’t wait for an answer Aunt Alice. It’s best to just walk in and take a seat.” Danny did so himself, setting his bags next to the stairs and walking back to the truck. Alice walked in, tentatively lowering herself down to the couch, and looked around wide eyed.

“Just what in the world has my sister been up to?” she said mostly to herself.

The slamming of a door and a loud beep sounded out as the truck was closed and locked. Danny walked in with Alice’s bag and closed the door behind him. “Seen anyone yet?” he asked.

Alice swung her head around to stare at Danny, “No, not yet.” She gestured around at the living room, a myriad of objects on the table, hung on the wall, or thrown onto a shelf. “Danny, what is all this?”

Danny barely glanced down before making his way to the kitchen, “probably broken ghost inventions. I wouldn’t touch any of them though, they can be a bit, well, temperamental.”

The sound of a cabinet door squeaking open, running water, and Danny came back with a water glass for himself and Alice. “Here ya go,” he said, holding one of them out.

Alice absently took the glass and sipped from it. Choking and spluttering, she set the glass down on the coffee table, slapping a hand against her leg. She collected herself, wheezing, and looked up as green light tinted her peripheral vision.

“Oh Alice! And Danny!! I didn’t hear you two come in,” Maddie said after exiting the downstairs lab. She quickly went over and swept Danny up into a big hug. “Oh, I missed my sweet little baby boy.” Giving Danny one last squeeze, she stepped over to Alice to do the same.

A clang could be heard, echoing up the lab stairs and then some thumps as Jack made his way up. Danny set his glass down in anticipation. No sooner did Jack realize Danny was home than he rushed over, knocking over a chair in the process, scooping Danny up into a bone crushing hug. “DANNY BOY!” was shouted right into his ear.

Danny did his best to move his wrists enough to pat his dad back. “Hey Dad. Just got back.” He paused and with no indication that Jack was going to let go anytime soon, “Can you let me go now? It’s hard to breathe.”

Jack, embarrassed, let him go, giving him a firm pat on the back, “Sorry about that, I was just so excited to see you back home! JAAAAAZZIE-PANTS!” He called out.

Alice clasped a hand to her ear, scowling as Maddie looked on fondly. “Oh honey, no need to yell like that.” She turned to face her sister. “It’s so good to see you here Alice. I don’t remember the last time you visited and things have changed so much since then. Jazz was just toddling around and we still had the play pen set up for Danny.” Taking a seat, she pulled on Alice’s sleeve, inviting her to sit next to her. “I missed you,” Maddie said.

Alice coughed and looked around the room, “I missed you too Maddie. If you ever want to visit the farm more often, you could.”

Maddie laughed and waved her hand around, “Oh our work keeps us so busy nowadays. Speaking of, I hope you didn’t run into any ghosts on your drive in?” Eyes twinkling, Maddie waited for the answer.

Alice frowned at her, “No, we didn’t,” and watched as her eyes dimmed a little.

“Aah well, that’s alright, I’m glad you two made the trip up here safely. Speaking of, I was thinking we could all head out for dinner tonight? I know it’s not often you’re in the city, so it might be nice.”

Jack leaned down to Danny and whispered conspiratorially, “We had an ecto sample explode in the fridge. All the food is completely inedible, but wouldn’t you know it? The old chicken and hot dogs started a little kingdom in there. Fascinating stuff Danny. Really.” He looked over at him, “Would you like to meet them?”

Danny grimaced more than smiled, “Uuuh no thanks Dad. I think I want to get started unpacking instead.”

Slapping a hand to his forehead, “That’s right! I won’t keep you Danny. Go take your bags up to your room, we’ll visit with your aunt down here.”

A boom echoed through the neighborhood and Maddie jumped, starting to reach a hand for her blaster before relaxing, continuing the conversation she was having with Alice. Danny stopped briefly to grab his bags and headed up the stairs towards his room. As he reached the top, Jazz’s door clicked open and she stepped out.

“Danny! You’re back!” she said. Stepping forward, she wrapped Danny up in a hug, chin poking into his head as she said, “I missed you little brother.”

Danny awkwardly stood there holding his bags, “Missed you too Jazz.” He swayed a bag a little to knock into her leg.

“Oh!” she said, releasing him, “Sorry, I’ll let you get to your room.” Smiling at Danny for a moment, Jazz started down the stairs.

As Danny kicked his door open, he heard Jazz greet their aunt. Dropping his bags down in front of his dresser, he jumped up onto his bed. “Uuuuuuuugh,” the groan rumbling throughout his chest. He breathed out, then rolled over onto his back, arms flung out and over the sides of his bed. Danny stared up at the glow in the dark stars, stuck on his ceiling years ago. He had barely been gone for a couple months, but already his room felt slightly foreign - like returning somewhere he didn’t fit into anymore. It was like an old sweater you found again after a few years. Slipping it on and knowing every seam, texture, and fold as it settles around you, but no longer the same comforting weight – a little too thin, worn at the elbows and a hem starting to unstitch itself. Not as soft as you wanted to remember. Exactly the same, but time having polished away the fondness that once endeared it to you.

Danny rolled over onto his side, staring into his closet. The sliding door left cracked open from when Danny slammed it shut, the recoil pushing it back open before he left. He heard the cadence of a conversation float up the stairs and he closed his eyes.

Waking up to someone shaking his shoulder, he blinked awake. His room had darkened with the setting of the sun and Danny felt groggy. “MmMMMmm?” he hummed.

“Danny, we’re going to head out to the Nasty Burger for dinner. You gonna get up and come with?”

Danny bolted up, smacking his head into Jazz’s hand still hovering above him. “Up! I’m up!” he said.

Jazz chuckled, “See you downstairs,” and left his room.

Danny braced himself on his arms, letting the thrum of his heart settle back down from the adrenaline rush. After a moment he swung his legs down. A quick detour to the second floor bathroom later and Danny joined everyone else downstairs.

“Alright, now that we’ve got everyone here – to the GAV!” Jack announced.

Danny sleepily followed Jazz out to the garage and clambered into his seat. Alice, who was following Danny, stopped at the open door. Looking around the retrofitted RV, she hummed and side-eyed Jack who had turned the key in the GAV, prompting the consol to light up in a variety of buttons and gauges. She stepped into the back and climbed into one of the open seats. Maddie closed the door behind Alice and got herself into the passenger seat. After clicking her seatbelt in and checking that the kids had as well, she pushed a button, the garage doors clanking open behind them. Jack flipped on the headlights and backed out of the garage.

“Hold on,” Danny hissed up to Alice, who in turn, grabbed onto the hold bar at the top of the door.

Once Jack cleared the sidewalk and safely backed onto the street, he stepped on the gas and catapulted the GAV down the street, careening around corners, and speeding through yellow lights till they swayed to a halt in the Nasty Burger parking spot. Jazz sighed, Danny let out his breath, and Alice looked a little green. “ Does your husband always drive like that Maddie?”

Maddie turned around, unclicking her seatbelt, “Like what, Alice?”

Alice eyed Jack nervously before looking back at her sister, “Uuuuh. Nevermind Maddie. Let’s go,” and she opened up the sliding door to shakily step out.

The Fentons and Alice went into the Nasty Burger, quickly ordering food and sitting down at a booth. The chatter of the restaurant was pleasant, if a little overwhelming to Danny. He decided to listen to his family’s conversation and looked out the window. As Alice asked after Jazz’s college adventures, Danny saw a bright blast light up the sky. He blinked and took a moment to process as a streak slithered through the air. A ghost! He turned around, nudged Jazz out of the booth, and slid out with a halfhearted excuse about the bathroom before making his exit. Hiding behind the dumpster, Danny transformed and flew off after the ghost that he could still see winding around the tops of buildings. The trusty Fenton thermos clattered against his leg as the wind whipped Danny’s hair into his face. Coming up to a stop, he watched the ghost slow down over the park, then dive down. Danny pushed himself into action, darting into the tree tops to see where it went. He heard the whine of a blaster charge up below him and Danny looked down. Tucker stood there, a small blaster leveled at the backside of the ghost. Danny flew up towards the sky and starting arcing down the other side. Before he could do much, Sam ran out from the other side of the trees shooting at the ghost. A low hum joined the chorus of weapons and Danny turned invisible as the Red Huntress caught up to the ghost.

Danny drifted up higher, watching the teamwork between the three of them. They quickly captured the ghost. He lazily drifted down to the trio.

“Huh, didn’t know you guys would team up,” Danny said, turning visible.

Tucker flinched and the girls rolled their eyes.

“Hey Danny,” Sam greeted.

Valerie retracted her helmet and stared at Phantom for a moment before, “Hi, Danny.”

Danny’s eyebrows flew up, pinched together.

Tucker laughed at his expression as it quickly morphed into a look of betrayal aimed at Sam and Tucker.

“Sorry Danny,” Sam looked away. “Val kind of… figured it out?”

“Sam!” Danny hissed, voice crackling like steam. “What does that mean?” His eyes darted back to Valerie, who just stood there, looking conflicted.

“Exactly what I said Danny!”

Danny shifted so he could stand on the ground. “But how?” He was starting to get angry at the lack of answers. It hadn’t even been two months and without being around Valerie somehow pieced together his biggest secret?

Tucker’s laughter died down.

“It’s – Danny please don’t be mad,” Valerie spoke up. Her eyes darted around the clearing before landing back on Danny. “When Phantom disappeared after Fenton left it wasn’t hard to figure out you two were connected somehow. And then Dani stopped by in town and-“

“Dani came back?” Danny interrupted. He glowered at Sam and Tucker, eyes glowing brighter for a moment.

“It wasn’t a big deal!” Tucker tried to defend.

“Yeah!” Sam chimed in. “She was here for like, a day? Maybe? Hardly worth mentioning. She spent most of it playing pranks on Vlad.”

“And Valerie met up with her? But not me?” Danny voice raised in pitch, “I missed seeing my cousin and you didn’t say a word?!? I thought I wouldn’t have had to tell you two that Dani coming back would be something important to mention.”

Tucker’s shoulders crept up to his ears.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Really, Danny, it is so not a big deal. We didn’t even know for most of that day. She only came to see us towards the end of her stop.”

Danny’s core felt a sting go through it.

“Did she know I was coming back?”

“Yeah dude, we mentioned you were sent to your aunt’s farm. She asked about you! Promise! Once she realized that, she told us she’d try to stop by to see you. Seemed really excited to check out a farm.”

“Although,” Sam chimed in, “I don’t think she realized you’d be back so soon? If you never saw her, she probably got distracted by something on her way.” Seeing Danny’s sad expression, Sam said, “I’m sure she’ll be back to visit you, Danny. She did say she’d stop by at least a few times a year to check in, right?”

Danny sighed. “Yeah. I’m just bummed that I missed her. And with no way to get into contact with her,” he trailed off.

“Actually,” Valerie started, “Uhm, I gave her a little, well, kind of like a cell phone? It can make calls, but it’s also got a little button to send a distress signal to my suit if need be? And seeing as it’s never gone off, Dani’s okay. Ok, Danny?”

Danny looked down at the ground. “Alright. I guess that’s better.” He looked preoccupied - lost in thought and still a little sullen.

Sam, Tucker, and Valerie exchanged glances with one another over Danny’s bowed head.

Valerie gave a little cough. Seeing Danny head twitch at that, she said, “I saw Dani transform after one of her pranks. I was stopping by Vlad’s office to see if I could find anything new.” Valerie paused. “She looks a lot like you Danny. And once I saw that, and my suit recognized her like any other human, I approached her. She explained a lot to me and after getting lunch, I brought her around to Sam and Tucker.”

Danny looked up at his best friends. “Really? Valerie had to bring Dani to you guys?”

Sam nodded and watched Danny’s expression lift at the confirmation.

“Anyway, Sam didn’t tell me anything, but Tucker told me about the whole,” she waved her hands around, “Cujo? The ghost dog thing.” She sighed. “It wasn’t easy to sort through it all, but I realized that I was being really unfair to you Danny. I’m sorry for not hearing you out about it earlier.”

Danny shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Oh, well. That’s? Ok? I mean it’s not okay okay, but I understand. Why you acted like you did. Life dealt you a really bad hand with everything and you were dealing with a lot with your dad and his job and the A Listers and everything so – “ a hand settled on his shoulder.

“Danny,” Valerie cut in. “You don’t to forgive me right away. I’ve had a few weeks to deal with this. I just wanted you to know that I know about your … situation and that we – Red Huntress and Phantom – are cool now.” A bell tolled somewhere in the town. Valerie looked up at the street lamps turning on. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back, but it was nice to see you Danny.” She gave him a little smile, activated her hoverboard and helmet, and flew off.

Watching Valerie fly off, all three of them stood still for a moment.

“Well,” Danny started, “I’ve got to get back.”

As he started moving to walk off, Sam grabbed his arm, “Are you mad at us?”

Danny turned around. “No, Sam. I’m not. I just – I’ve had a long day and I want to go eat dinner. Can we get talk about this tomorrow?”

“Promise? I’ve got a new game I can bring over to play,” Tucker offered.

Danny smiled at them, “That sounds good. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Danny started walking backwards and turned invisible from one step to the next. He flipped up into the air and flew off, back to the Nasty Burger. He transformed in a stall, washed his hands, and walked out to the booth. As everyone turned to look at him, Danny’s neck flushed red. “Hi.”

“You doing alright Danny?” Jack asked.

“Uuuh yeah, just,” Danny paused, “had to take a dump?” He slid into the booth, Jazz pushing over his tray of food.

“If you say so m’boy.” Jack shoved more fries into his mouth.

Jazz scolded her father for his manners and Maddie smiled fondly at her eldest.

Danny inhaled a third of his burger and as he took a sip of pop, looked over at his aunt. Alice had a smile on her face, but it was stretched a little thin, eyes crinkling right underneath them, a fist on the table and body turned, supported by the window and booth back. Danny went back to eating his burger. Aunt Alice had looked like she was in pain that she was trying to hide ever since they entered Amity Park��s borders earlier. He hoped she would be fine considering Maddie had wrangled her into staying for a couple days. Danny ended up ordering another burger and Jazz decided to split a small shake with Maddie. Once they had finished eating, they climbed back into the GAV and headed home. Danny started feeling sleepy again, leaning his head on the cool window, watching the streetlights pass by. Jazz looked over at her brother, noticing how relaxed he looked. She missed him.

“You know Danny,” she started, “you look so much more relaxed than before.”

Danny glanced over at her. “I’m not giving you the satisfaction of saying you were right.”

Jazz smiled softly as Danny’s head rolled back against the window. “I wouldn’t expect anything else little brother,” she whispered.

___

Danny heard the clicks and whine of the Fenton door weapons activate and after a few seconds, the doorbell rang out. He left his room, heading down the stairs to hear his mom invite Sam and Tucker in.

“Hey guys,” he called down the half flight of stairs. He waited for them to start walking up before he turned around and led them to his room.

Pushing open his door, he dropped onto his chair. Tucker grabbed a spot on his bed and Sam, after closing the door, took a spot at the foot of the bed.

“So,” Sam started.

“So,” Tucker added.

“Soooo,” Danny finished, “any thing else I should really know that you didn’t bother to update me on?”

Tucker winced at Danny’s tone.

“Nope,” Sam popped the p. “Vlad’s still mayor,” she ticked up a finger. “No new halfas that we know of, no new ghosts.”

“Oh!” Tucker interjected. “Dash had a wipe out on a skateboard.” He looked smug, “I caught it on video, wanna see?”

“Yes!” Danny cheered, leaning forward to watch.

Sam scoffed at them, but she also leaned in.

After catching up on all the little things Danny missed over the summer – a new girl moved in next to Tucker, Sam’s petitions and protests, teaming up with Valerie – Danny stood up and stretched. His spine let out a loud crack and Tucker gaped at him.

“Geez, are you okay? What were you even doing on that farm?”

“Yeah Danny, you sounded like my Bubeleh and she’s, like, 80.”

Danny laughed, sitting back down. “Actually, I think that was because I’ve been sitting so much the past few days. I was pretty active before that.” He thought for a moment. “I might be able to beat Dash in a race now.”

Tucker snorted, “I don’t know dude, he decided to start working on his legs this summer. He’s no longer, like, a Dorito with sticks for legs.”

Sam definitely didn’t giggle as she said, “But sure, we’ll take your word for it, Danny.”

Danny rolled his eyes as he sat back in the chair. “Alright, enough teasing me.”

“Yeah, let’s talk about Sam ditching our elective class to take environmental sciences. Can you believe she disrupted our carefully crafted schedule that ensured we shared as many classes as possible just for? What was it? The earth? Can you believe Same is ditching us like this?”

“Huh,” Danny said, he turned to Sam, “what’s that class even about.”

Sam glared over at Tucker before looking at Danny, “I’m glad someone here is taking an interest in the important things in life.” Sam launched into an hour long explanation. After the first five minutes, Tucker had pulled out his PDA to play a game, mouthing along to parts of Sam’s explanation from time to time. Danny got the basic idea shortly after that. He started to tune out, thinking about school. How in 2 short weeks, he’d be back in the classroom, probably juggling ghost attacks, Dash, the other A Listers, homework, and sitting in a cramped chair for hours on end. The sun coming through his window warmed Danny’s side. He glanced outside at the street. A bird flew across, but otherwise it was buildings, sidewalk, and asphalt as far as he could see. No green at all. He wondered if Undergrowth would make another appearance, and if Danny could convince him to –

“Danny, are you even listening to me?” Sam’s sharp voice called out.

Danny whipped his head away from the window, “Uh, yeah, Sam, I’m listening. You were saying something about,” he searched his short term memory, “the climate?”

Sam huffed and crossed her arms, “So, as I was saying – “

“As she was saying,” Tucker interrupted. “She’s shamelessly ditching us, Danny. Can you believe it?” Tucker slid dramatically off the bed and grabbed Danny’s jeans, “and Sam doesn’t even care!” he cried.

“Tucker, you know that’s not it,” Sam reprimanded. “Besides, didn’t you sign up for Advanced Algebra or Calculus or something? You’re also ditching us.”

Turning around to face her, Tucker gasped. “How. Dare. You. It’s Finite/Brief Calculus and that’s only because they refused to put me in the computer class again this year.”

Danny laughed, “That’s because you hacked the school’s computers and played that banana song over the intercom for all of lunch.

“Because peanut butter jelly time is a classic,” Tucker grumbled. He got up, sitting back on the bed. “Anyway, you should have your schedule by now too. Have you looked at it?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, “eh? I think my parents handed it to me this morning, but I didn’t take a look.”

“Oh, well then what are you waiting for? Let’s see it! I want to see how many classes we share this year!” Sam demanded.

Danny sat up in his chair and rolled over to his desk. Grabbing the school letter, he opened it, gave the schedule a once over, and then surrendered it to his friends. Sam grabbed the paper and her and Tucker leaned over it.

“It looks like we share PE again Danny,” Tucker held up his hand for a high five as he continued looking at the schedule.

“We all share chemistry this year, right before lunch,” Sam added.

“Oh nice. And look – we end the day together in art too,” Tucker pointed with his other hand. Sam and Tucker looked over at Danny. “Dude?”

Danny stared past them, eyes not focusing on anything. When Tucker waved his hand in front of his face, he jolted back to focus and gave a half hearted smile as he high fived Tuck. “Yeah, that’s great.”

Sam narrowed her eyes at Danny, “that doesn’t sound very enthusiastic. Are you not excited for this year Danny?”

A shrug was her answer. “I don’t know.”

Tucker glanced over at Sam, “What do you mean? When you finished summer school, you seemed pretty thrilled to finalize your schedule request and send it in.”

Danny looked out the window, “Yeah, I know. And I was.”

“Was?” Sam echoed.

“Well, this summer on the farm was a lot different. I liked it, being outside and stuff. Working on things, knowing that I was making a difference for people.”

“Danny,” Tucker started. “Do you not want to be in Amity anymore?”

Danny whipped his head to stare at Tucker, “Oh course I want to be here! I missed you guys so much! And I missed a lot of other stuff too!”

“Danny.” Sam waited until he looked at her. “You can have missed us, and not want be in Amity Park.”

Danny dropped his gaze to the carpet between their feet. “Yeah, I know that. I do want to be here. I do!”

He fell silent, struggling for a moment.

“I just – it’s so much, you know? The ghosts, and Dash, and school, and my parents, and all of it. It’s so much, all the time, without a break. And I don’t feel like I have a choice in any of it either. Obviously I can’t skip school and I can’t avoid Dash. We live in the same town after all, and there’s only like, three places for teenagers to hang out. And then the ghosts on top of that! And the ghosts are here because of my parent’s portal, but I’m the one that turned it on – I can’t just ignore that the ghosts are causing problems even if I want to. I don’t feel like I have a choice but to take responsibility and step in. And I know you guys have been helping Val and stuff, but -” Danny shrugged his shoulders.

“I like being on the farm. It’s quiet. And even when there are ghosts,” he noticed their faces, “– and there are ghosts,” Danny confirmed, “they’re different! They don’t cause trouble. It’s like,” Danny waved his hand around, “everything’s so close to the cycle of living and dying and everything has it’s time from the plants to the animals and like – uuuuugh,” Danny threw his hands up. “I don’t know how to explain it. Death is always a part of living and everyone out there is used to it being a part of life, so when it happens it’s less of a tragedy?” Danny looked away. “I guess,” he scratched his arm and fell quiet.

Sam and Tucker looked at Danny, waiting for him to clear up what he was trying to say. The wind pushed against his window, a slight whistle from uneven weathering strips cutting through the quiet of the room. Danny sighed and looked at the ground in front of his feet. “I feel like less of a freak for dying and coming back when I’m out there.”

“Oh Danny!” Sam moved forward.

Tucker let out a quiet “Danny”.

Danny pushed away from them in his chair, rolling back some. Rubbing his arms he said “I mean, I know I’m not a freak or anything, but it’s hard to forget that I died when I’m in Amity, you know? I can’t escape reminders of it and that it makes me different from everyone else. When I’m out there on the farm it’s just? I feel at rest.” He laughed, “that’s stupid isn’t it?” He ran a hand through his hair. Looking up at them, “A ghost who feels at rest. But DAMN! I do, getting to be part of life and death like that makes me feel normal – I feel like I belong out there.”

“Danny,” Tucker glanced over at Sam before turning back, “Danny, do you want to stay there?”

“Tucker!” Sam admonished, “I don’t think –“

Danny laughed, “Yeah, I think I might want to…. Would you hate me if I left you guys again?”

Sam rushed forward to pull Danny into a hug. “Oh Danny, I don’t think we could ever hate you.”

Tucker joined in, “Yeah, we’ll just have to visit you.”

Danny’s smile was smushed against both their shoulders.

“Do you think I could get internet out there?”

And all three of them laughed.

_________

“So, that’s what I want to do. If I can,” Danny said. He stared at the coffee table in front of him. His parents sat on the couch across from him.

“Well, Danny, I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that.”

“But if that’s what you want, we’ll support you son!”

Danny looked up and gave him parents a smile, “Thanks.”

_______

It turned out Alice was familiar with the work programs that the local school utilized for their students. It consisted of students taking the core classes, like math and science, in the mornings, and then working on the farm in the afternoons.

The trick was getting Casper High to agree. But between Alice and Maddie, there was no trouble convincing Principal Ishiyama and Mr. Lancer that Danny would be better off in the modified program. As long as he came back to take the state proficiency tests, he could even still earn credit for Casper High’s records without having to transfer them back and forth.

Within a few days, Alice, and now Danny, climbed back into the truck, ready to head back down to Arkansas.

“Bye!” Danny called, waving out of the window.

A chorus of bye’s and love you’s sent Danny off as they drove away.

Extra:

“Come on,” Danny laughed as he looked at his friends struggling up the side of the silo.

Tucker’s hand slid off a rung and he yelped.

Looking up at Danny, Sam asked, “are you sure this is safe Danny?”

Laughing again, Danny started climbing again, “Sure is. Besides, I can always catch you guys before you hit the ground.”

“Wow, that’s sooo reassuring,” Sam grumbled.

Reaching the top of the dome, Danny disappeared from both their sights. They heard some clangs before his head popped back over the edge, “come on! Hurry!” He grinned at Tucker’s frown as Sam reached him first. Danny disappeared again as he gave Sam room to clamor up. Soon enough, both their heads popped back over the side. Twin grins met Tucker as he finished climbing up. Hands thrust towards Tucker, he grabbed them and let himself be pulled up the rest of the way.

“Okay, we’re here. What are we supposed to be doing?” Tucker asked as they crawled their way to the middle of the silo.

Danny sat down, and pointing up said, “Look.”

“Oooh,” Sam breathed.

“Wow,” Tucker added.

The sky stretched up above them, shades of blue creating a fabric where streams of stars traveled across the expanse. Blushes of red and green broke up the inky darkness and stars twinkled back and forth. A light breeze caressed the trio and they laid back, enjoying the view.

#ectoimplosion2024 #danny phantom #danny fenton #danny phantom alicia #danny phantom fic #the bee writes #it is very late so i'll look over things once i sleep... i'm hoping there's nothing weird happening with format #ok! it's now later. I've got the AO3 posted and linked #warnings: there is a farm accident and therefore brief mention of an injury. also a brief mention of animal death #ao3 separates out the “injury chapter” so if you want to skip that part and get a summary of what happens then you should head there #this is the longest thing i've ever written actually. and most of it was written in the last 2 weeks.#every time i join a phandom event something happens irl: a case study (in this case it was multiple things)

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abnomi · 3 months ago

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random assorted headcanons for Turbo because I like thinking and having fun !!!! 🎉

Read More to Find Out...or are you too scared?... i bet ur too scared ahaha youre too scared Lol! Hahaahaaa!!!

The steering wheel of his kart is covered in bite marks, similar to how one would bite their favorite pencil. he bites things to mark his territory because Nobody is gonna touch that unless they want all of his diseases (150+).

i just know he was fighting to restrain himself not to chew on any of the candy civilians

when it comes to music, he doesn't see the point of listening to it. he doesn't have enough patience to really take it in; to him, it's just a thing that exists and not much more than that ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ∵⁠ )⁠_⁠/⁠¯

adding onto that point, this guy listens to metal clanking sounds and loud engine roaring for entertainment because he likes things that would overstimulate any normal person. turbo is incredibly sensory-seeking and will do anything for The Sensations

someone should take him to a heavy rock concert i think it would change him a little. keep that thang on a leash

related to being sensory-seeking, i think he would absolutely love running his hands over random textures. if anyone has run their hands along a wall while walking alongside it...He does that...If u know u know... he is SO stimmy its unbelievable. Unreal.

very pain-tolerant. he'll whine and complain about it for attention, but physical hurt really doesnt bother him much until it gets in the way of what he wants to do.

funnily enough, he is very picky when it comes to temperature. he can handle getting ran over but if its 1° too hot or cold he'll start nagging and nagging for it to go back to normal. turbo really needs his own enclosure i think it'd do him a lot of good

this is a more popular headcanon and its canon-leaning, but he's an artist :-] he usually sticks to graffiti art because its generally considered more "rebellious and cool" but he also sketches cars, design decals, and other stuff when hes alone!

i would love to see his process of character designing king candy because i dont think he really knew what he was doing

he was just like "ok what does a generic king look like. uhhhhh.... 1, old and jolly like santa claus.... 2.... uhh crown..... 3......... purple.... FUCK YEAH im so good at this!!!!🔥🔥🔥"

i just noticed how his design has like 0 actual candy motifs aside from his bow being a candy wrapper and his shoes having those little gumdrop end pieces. what was he THINKING

while King Candy has a lisp, i think it's a coverup for his actual voice because of how goofy and recognizable it is. Overall its the same as his regular voice, he just gets silly with it. i noticed that he still does retain some of his lisp when hes screaming his lungs out at Vanellope, however, so maybe he genuinely does have a lisp that makes itself known when furious :3

another thing i noticed is how he hisses his S's. very cool very cool the reptilian

@/tasticturbo made a post abt how he has tinnitus from the constant noise in his game and i couldnt agree more

AND THE PRESCRIPTION GLASSES. where did he get those...he needs to See

side note, the aforementioned account has made so many interesting analyses on turbo and theyre all so insightful. i recommend u check them out

i think he gets migraines from stress. constant buzzing or pain flood his head but hes like "IDGAF i need to DO something at ALL TIMES no matter what"

hes like a shark in that way. if hes not moving he'll die instantly. idk a lot about sharks or if thats how it works srry but im going off of what the Worms are saying to me and i dont have much to work with

i think a really big contributer as to why he lacks in the self care department is because he fails to notice that something in his body is wrong. hes far too distracted on something he thinks is more important than remembering to Eat Food or Drink Water or Wash Himself or

he's like "WHY DO I FEEL LIKE SHIT ALL OF THE TIME!!! I HATE MY LIFE" and he hasn't slept in 4 days

hes so me. Sorry.

i dont think turbo is necessarily suicidal, but the way he behaves shows a clear disregard for his own safety and wellbeing. he thinks that he knows what he needs but he really doesnt :-[ i think he has some kind of immortality complex, feeling untouchable and like nothing could get to him. as scared as he was when ralph was about to turn him into sloppy mush, he didnt take the threat very seriously. like it was some kind of joke

his kart regenerates every time his game starts up, so what if he smashed it into buildings for fun. He's the number one fan of car accidents. he is all about that shit

i think his living space would literally be a garage btw. its a place to sleep and a space for his car all in one!! he thinks its very convenient and awesome but i think he is coping. he has some old dingy stained sheetless mattress that he has never washed in his life and its covered in dirt and smoke particles. no wonder he has such heavy eye bags Dude Please

the turbo twins have a garage used in a similar way, and while its still pretty shitty, they still at least TRY to maintain it. they just fight a lot over who has to care of it. nobody taught them how to take turns ever

but this aint about them. maybe another day

i think that turbo would find comfort in garbage and keeping it around because its familiar to him. a big clean empty space would make him so mad and if anyone moves even an inch of scrap off to the side he will throw a fit. he generally doesnt pay attention to his surroundings but when its his personal space he is 1093 times more neurotic

i think the big empty castle he stole wouldve been a big transition for him. maybe it helped him clear his mind a little more to practice his tricky schemes...it helped him get more subtle

thats all i have for nowww ty for reading ^_^ if anyone else has any wacky ideas pleeeease tell me i would love to hear them!!

#tw suicide mention #its very brief but still #also little edit but i changed my mind a little on the music thing...he listens to it sometimes just not actively --#-- he needs stuff that immediately hooks his attention and relates to his interests #side note i really want to talk about the turbo twins bec i fuckin love them but then i remember they have no personality in the movie--#--so id be making analyses on other peoples interpretations of them HAHA. EVERYONE STOP BEING CREATIVE NOWWWE!!!!#turbo wir #turbo #king candy wir #king candy #headcanon #analysis #<- ??#wat ever #i like little details that dont impact the story at all whatsoever. it just makes the characters feel so much more lively #like i could have full conversations with this guy in my head (normal)#love for ever #wreck it ralph

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system-hottakes · 8 months ago

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Not a serious hot take, but the endoskeletons from 2014 indie horror franchise Five Nights At Freddy's are the only endos I support

-- Umbrella

lmao, same. the only endos I support are Fnaf endos, because at least they're honest when they try kill me

#Endos from Fnaf are the only good endos #anti endo #did system #system #actually did #alters #did #endos dni #hot takes #hot take #did osdd #Tw mentions of killing #Very brief #/#Tw mentions of death #Not sure if I have to TW this #But I am just in case

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joicecubes · 4 months ago

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someone said their favorite version of vashwood is actually when they’re best friends and i could not agree more. the charm of a lot of ships to me, and this is also why i love satosugu so much, is that they’re friends first and lovers second. vashwood’s friendship and faith in each other is so deeply intertwined with their romantic feelings that their bond is one that can’t quite be described with either word. “friends” doesn’t quite cut it but really, neither does “lovers,” at least fully. regardless of what they are to each other, they’re each other’s people. wolfwood is vash’s person, vash is wolfwood’s person, that’s all there is to it.

like i’m being so fr when i say that i could see vashwood having some sort of complicated queerplatonic bond. giving each other noisy smooches on the cheek and never needing to quantify the feelings behind the gesture. holding hands, linking arms, being all over each other. deep conversations where nothing is left unsaid. “i love you,” and they both know exactly what they mean. they are so intrinsically linked emotionally that nobody else quite understands what they are to each other but them. you could call it romantic, sure. you could call them friends who have no concept of boundaries. but what they have, especially in canon trimax in my opinion, is something so much more than either of them even have the words to express.

#this post went way off the rails #idk i just think every interpretation of their relationship is correct thank you very much #they love each other too deeply to quantify #trigun #trimax #trigun maximum #vashwood #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #vash #wolfwood #satosugu #brief mention but im tagging them anyway

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varpusvaras · 1 month ago

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Friend, I am frothing at the mouth over your protective!Roy snippets. The way you had him go to tend to Jason's helmet, only to then piece together he was hit outside of true combat, by Batman, his father...ughhh. And the way he KNOWS every scratch on said helmet! That is love. God. Like, consider me obsessed.

I would read 100k words of this little jayroy world you've carved, if I could. I hope you continue to post about this particular version of them. 🥰

I will admit (this comes as news to probably pretty much no one who has read my stuff before lmao) I am a sucker for protective characters in relationships. Like that is the number one thing that gets me going. I will be writing it in. Roy and Jason both do display protectiveness and isn't that the good stuff. Roy especially is just such a perfect character to me in so many ways (just by himself, not just talking in ships). He is loving and soft and gentle and fierce and strong and emotional but stable at the same time (yes it makes sense if you look at him). I am a firm believer that Roy is the character who has all the rights to beat up shitty parents for free. He would be able to see that yes, Batman is someone who does a lot of good and isn't a bad person per se, but it's still not okay. It's not okay. One reason I like jayroy is that they just narratively complete each other as individuals in many ways, and I think Roy being someone who can actually see Jason and be so protective of him is a goldmine regarding them. Good stuff, good stuff indeed.

I would absolutely write that 100k for you in a heartbeat if I had just a little more time (hopefully things become a little less hectic after the New Years, I say, as my Master's Thesis is looming over my shoulder, reminding me that I need to write it too-), but I am going to continue giving smaller bits for ya'll in here because I am frankly just as obsessed. Seriously, I am in trouble.

#I also use all the little snippets and ficlets to keep my writing habits up when I can't write longer pieces #anyway protective characters are my salt sugar and butter #and this turned into my very brief roy harper simping rant lol #he deserves it tho #thank you nice anon <3 #dc #dcu #jayroy #jason todd #abuse mention

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neonpaperlanterns · 10 months ago

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Hello! I noticed you were open to any ideas or prompts and I thought of one

Reader being a worker of playtime that was Assigned to help dogday taking care of the children (this happens before the hour of joy) and reader has Cynophobia (extreme fear of dogs) and so when they first land their eyes on dogday, panic

Reader tries to avoid talking or being near dogday as best as they could, Which would confuse and made dogday feel guilty thinking he did something wrong to upset them

So dogday being the sweet pup he is tries to comfort and show reader he's not a bad guy

It's a bit long sorry ^^"

[A/n: I almost feel like I should make this a full series. Just to explore the development more]

He's a dog

Everything is fine, it’s perfectly, totally fine. You aren’t freaking out. Yeah totally not freaking out. These palms are completely dry and your heart is beating at a completely normal rate.

So what if things didn’t turn out how you thought they would? You were adaptable, you could roll with the punches. Even if… Even if the punches were this.

“Alright everyone, we have some new members joining us today!” Says the giant talking DOG.

This. Is. Fine!

You got this as long as—

The dog is touching your shoulder. His voice echoes in your ears and yeah no.

Nope.

You have got nothing. Nothing!

No—

~~~~~~~~~~

Your eyes flutter open. Breathing deeply you stare up at the ceiling. It’s a mix of yellow, red, and blue. The paint is chipping in the red part, showing that underneath the ceiling is just plain gray concrete.

Hm. Where were you?

“Oh you’re awake!” The voice was cheerful, sunny even. Looking over you are filled with regret. Standing in the doorway of what you now understand to be a nurses office was the dog. Every muscle in your body seized up and it felt like your throat was full of cotton.

“I was so worried when you fainted. Are you alright? It didn’t say anything in your application that you were susceptible to dizzy spells~” He kept talking, his hands? Paws? His appendages moved around animatedly. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him as he moved closer. His words turned to white noise as he loomed over you.

If there was some divine being watching from above why did they hate you? Had you done something in a past life to warrant such ire?

“Oh dear, you look like you’re going to faint again. Is there something I can help you with?” All you could do was blink owlishly at his concern. Words were unable to come as you stared at him. You were sure you looked akin to a deer in headlights. You watched him cough awkwardly into his fist. The smile never left his face but it wasn’t as genuine as before.

For what felt like forever you stared at each other.

“Okay, um I’ll leave you to rest. And when you feel better I look forward to working with you!” Some of that sunny disposition returned to his face. You did nothing but blink and watch him shuffle out of the room.

He said he looked forward to working with you. The sentiment was not returned but you were sure you wouldn't be seeing him much. You were assigned to be the helper of the unicorn. So you were sure you would be able to avoid him as much as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~

There must be a god and they must hate you. They must find your suffering to be the ultimate entertainment. You had thought you were meant to be CraftyCorn's helper. You could have sworn you were. But no! By some unholy sick twist of fate you are actually the assistant to him.

The desire to cry on your second day of work was overwhelming. But you held it in. Somehow. You had already fainted on the first day you did not need to get a reputation. So you sucked it up. At least you tried to suck it up. It didn’t help that DogDay was so tactile and friendly and inclusive.

You were living in your own personal hell.

“Hey there my happy helper!” If DogDay noticed you flinch, he didn’t say anything. But he did slow down and there was still some distance between you two.

You stared at him.

He stared at you.

A cough escapes him as you fidget.

“I uh need your help with one of the kids. It’s Isabelle.” You didn’t know all of the kids yet so you weren’t actually sure which one Isabelle was. But you nodded anyway and trailed after him. You may not like this but you did like the kids. You would bear it for them.

~~~~~~~~~

DogDay had no idea what he did wrong. He watched the other Smiling Critters with their helpers. Everyone was getting along. It was so nice to watch the others but then he glanced over at his own helper. Who sat with their shoulders hunched up around their ears and a perpetual thousand yard stare.

He had thought that maybe you were just shy. Not yet used to them but he has seen you interact with the others. You were quiet but happy. Talking freely and playing with them and letting the children climb all over you. But the moment he walked over you would freeze up. Any pretense of joy wiped from your face and replaced with a blank look.

He confided in Catnap and KickinChiken that he felt like you didn’t like him. Catnap had simply flicked his tail at him but KC told him that was impossible. He said that DogDay was a rad dude and his helper just needed time.

But it’s been a month and every attempt to get to know you was met with either silence or your rapidly walking in the other direction. He just didn’t understand and it was driving him crazy. Had his first impression been too much? Did he come on too strong when he came to see you in the nurse's office?

He wished he knew. He just wants to be your friend.

~~~~~~~~~

You were starting to feel like a jerk. At every turn DogDay was trying to be nice to you and at every turn you would bolt away or shut down. And he definitely noticed. How couldn't he? You weren’t known for subtlety, especially not in this situation.

Though with the forlorn looks you were getting from DogDay you wished you had been.

“Hey Happy Helper.” You watched as his hands did a lackluster wiggle. He wasn’t looking at you and they just made you feel even worse.

“H...H..” You swallowed thickly. “Hey Bodacious Boss.” Did you just say bodacious? To your boss? From the look on his face he was just as shocked as you. Though you don’t think it was because you said bodacious. Probably.

After a moment of silence with you staring at each other, DogDay recovered first. He was looking at you now and he was smiling and his tail was wagging. Seeing him light up made you feel a bit better. Your hands were still clammy and there was a lot of saliva pooling on your tongue but it was nice to see him happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Can I ask you a question?” DogDay picked at the fur on his wrists. It’s only been a week since you spoke to him and boy was he nervous. He didn’t want to ruin whatever this was.

“Hm?” You were making sandwiches for the kids. It would be lunchtime soon. Shuffling in place he took your noncommittally hum as que that you were listening.

“Do you like me?” He watched as your shoulders stiffen. That blank look slowly creeping back onto your face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“I’m afraid of dogs.” You blurted out stopping DogDay in his apologetic tracks.

“What?” It was his turn to blink owlishly. Not really sure what to say right now.

“When I was younger there was an incident…” You waved your hand in the air, like you didn’t want to remember it. “Anyways it messed me up and ever since I have been terrified of dogs.” You continued to make sandwiches.

“I’m a dog.” He says rather dumbly.

“I know.” You nod as you heave a sigh.

“I’m.. I’m sorry.” He frowns as he pulls at his ears and he can feel his tail sag against his legs.

“Please, don’t be.” You look up at him, a tight but genuine smile on your face. Your hand shakes a bit as you raise it in his direction.

“I like you. You’re my Bodacious Boss.” DogDay felt his tail twitch as he tentatively took your hand.

“I like you too, my Happy Helper.”

#poppy playtime #dogday x reader #reader insert #dogday poppy playtime #cynophobia #fear of dogs #very brief mention of childhood trauma #kickinchicken #catnap #craftycorn #bodacious

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peachdeluxe · 3 months ago

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This was going to be formatted as art, but I just have a lot to say. Please forgive a long vent-y (but positive!) textpost instead! a little update on me and my work vvv

It's probably evident if you've followed me a while, but I've had a really really bad past two years. Things are finally starting to look up again.

Stress from my home life & financial issues and grief caused a very difficult onset and worsening of psychotic depression, and I reached my breaking point recently. I made the decision to give myself and more hands-on treatment one more try, and for the first time in my life I feel like something is working. I am getting better! It's only been a short time but I really feel like I've finally been given my life back.

All of this to say: first of all, thank you to anyone who has helped me raise funds to keep myself afloat financially, or sent me a kind message, or shared my work. Aside from just having a heads up where clients can see it in case I've missed messaging anyone with updates, I am posting something very personal here because the kindness of my followers here in particular has very tangibly saved my life.

Second, getting better means I can, I hope, get back to doing art full-time again. I realized I've felt a massive disconnect with what I draw for a very long time because of how bad things have been going. I feel real clarity now about what I want to make, and I don't think I've been secure and well enough to listen to that feeling before. Maybe my art won't actually look different in any way externally after saying all of this! I still like to draw fun and bright cartoons, and I don't see that changing. I just feel capable of and feel a desire to make different, more 'me' artwork. I hope it's okay I'll be drawing different stuff going forward, a lot more original work than fanart. thank you very much for reading

#guy who never talks on main with a massive personal post outta nowhere... forgive #cw for a very brief mention of family death

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steddieas-shegoes · 1 year ago

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Putting under a read more because there’s some canon-typical violence and blood mentioned in this one. It’s still soft and cute though!

Eddie does his first tattoo by himself in his bedroom while his mama and Wayne are working night shift. He’s 15 and has no reason for etching a tornado into his thigh.

Except he does.

His mama’s always called him her little tornado. Wayne’s favorite story to tell him is the time he had to take Eddie into the trailer park’s communal underground shelter one week after he moved in because someone swore up and down there was a tornado a mile away. There wasn’t, but they stayed underground for nearly an hour anyway.

No one knows about it for years.

His second one is when he’s 17 and lies about his age in Indy, someone from the queer bar he’d found himself in offered to give him the bats for free and he couldn’t refuse. He probably should have. No one should get tattoos in the back of a truck at one in the morning.

The only one who knows about that is Jeff because he’s the one who had to help him clean it when it got infected.

At least until he’s 18 and his mama offers to take him to get his first one and he’s so bad at lying to her, she figures it out on her own.

She’s not mad. She got her first one done at 16, after all. But she warns him about how dangerous it is and says he needs to be safer.

“It ain’t just unprotected sex that’s causin’ the epidemic, baby.”

So he gets the chest piece done for his birthday, his mama bringing him to a shop with “real artists.”

Days before he plays the song to save the world, and more specifically, the guy he shouldn’t have a crush on, he gets a master of puppets tattoo.

He thinks maybe the fact that half of it gets eaten by bats makes it more badass.

Steve thinks it’s metal.

And then Steve sees all of his tattoos while he’s trying to stop the bleeding from…everywhere. He’s cutting him out of his pants and trying to fashion a tourniquet out of a thick denim that’s so drenched in blood, it’s impossible to see what color it was originally.

He sees the tornado tattoo, somehow still intact, but bloody, as is most of him.

“Hey. Talk to me.” Eddie’s losing consciousness, but he can focus on Steve’s voice. “Tell me about this one.”

“Mama’s tornado.” Eddie smiled to himself. Used up all the energy he had to do it. “Makin’ messes.”

He can hear Steve yelling at someone, something that sounds like “call his mom!” but he can’t be sure. The world turns to black.

When he wakes up, his Mama is sitting next to his hospital bed with a Cosmopolitan magazine in her hands. She’s chewing gum.

He smiles.

“Hey mama.”

“Hey my little tornado. Sure did cause a ruckus this time, didn’t ya?”

He falls asleep to her reading aloud, some article about getting a man to bring you flowers.

The next time he wakes up, there’s a bouquet of flowers by his bed, something that looks like it came from the side of the road, not a shop.

And there’s Steve.

Reading the same magazine.

“You know they suggest guilting your boyfriend or husband into buying you flowers? Was this why you almost died? To make me feel guilty enough to bring flowers?”

Eddie smirked.

“That was my plan all along.”

“It worked. I’ll give you that.”

Steve stayed, even when his mama showed up and gave them both a look that Eddie couldn’t quite distinguish.

He stayed when she left, giving her a hug on her way out the door.

And he stayed when he got to go to their new home, even bringing flowers along to add some color to Eddie’s new room.

#cw: mention of aids epidemic #it’s very brief and not even technically named #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #mama Munson #headcanon

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wouteke · 4 months ago

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Koppenbergcross 2017 mathieu beautiful prey animal supercut + interview. ft. wout and separately christoph for 2 seconds

#1. the amount of time hes on the ground 2. the RELENETLESS photography 3. very beautiful prince haircut? 4. pink everywhere 5. including #unzipped jersey 6. the fact they get him in that interview chair when hes still dry heaving dying 7. all of them patting him at various #points... i would too 8. the fact of christoph's gesture that looks like an aborted touch but im rly not sure................. its fine #mvdp #AND NOT TO MENTION 9. THE WAY HE FLOPS LITERALLY A FOOT FROM THE LINE... Oh baby... truly one of theee greatest #also 10. wouts thighs. 11. matje wrists and ankles and very brief grug hand display in interview 12.i didnt even include this in the cut bu #also the way that they were next to each other at the start and seeing matje rainbow sleeves lined up w wout rainbows... ouuugu #no cross chain in this either. shall we start trying to date exactly when he took it off

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aseaofyoongi · 2 years ago

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behind pixels 1 | jjk

jjk x reader (f)

genre: sex worker au (jk)

rating: mature audiences only (strictly 18+)

summary: with rising stress, being caught touching yourself and no satisfaction for your own imagination you decide to take your friends advice of using a certain little app for assistance.

warnings: not another college smut au . . you guessed it lol; foul language; sensual/dirty talk; masturbation; computer sex; strangers to sex worker jk helping you out for the night lol (pls stay safe of the world wide web yall); mentions of sexual intercourse - but ofc there is none; cum eating. . she licks her fingers after.. yeah; open ending and no preparation for a pt. 2 so dont hate me.

next part: behins pixels the sequel

word count: 3,3 thousand words

posted: april 8th, 2023

BunnyBoy98 is typing…..

Is this your first time

here?

Sorta.

You can’t sorta be

here for the first time.

It's a yes or no question.

I thought this site was

no questions asked. No

strings attached?

You against conversation

or something? Desperate

to get right to it?

Not desperate. . but that is

what we’re here for.

Right bunny boy?

Right.

There was a second of silence in between messages. For a brief moment you interpreted his quietness as a goodbye but he was still online. . Perhaps, he thought you to be too straightforward and that turned him off entirely and he moved on to the next user.

Still, there was a faint hope within you that he would reply so you sat in the dead stillness of your room, lights turned off to avoid recognition, door locked with only your undergarments to hug your body.

Typically, this wouldn’t be the event to make-up your Friday night however stressed induced days. . and the simple fact that you were in a torment of arousal twenty-four seven with no further satisfaction stemming from the guidance your imagination had on your fingers.

BunnyBoy98 is typing…..

You sat up on the bed in anticipation of his reply even though you'd never admit it to the stranger on the other side of the screen. He was about to help you get off, so you were definitely at the gates of desperation. It trickled all throughout your body as if a rain cloud sat right above you drenching you in its honeyed ardor.

Your skin turned to goosebumps as the chat bubble continued appearing and disappearing again and again.

Fine. But at least

tell me how you

found me.

I wasn’t specifically

searching for you.

Then who?

Anyone really.

Ouch. You know

I actually felt a bit

special for a second.

You still should. You’re

description helped me

choose you.

Be honest, was it

the tattoos?

If I say maybe would

you be mad at me?

Not at all.

Then, yes.

Plus your description

says you have long hair.

Who was the

runner-up?

Someone named Tae. But

I remembered a friend

visits him often.

So you found out

about us through

a friend?

Yes.

We can do either a

video call or messages.

Which do you prefer?

Video call.

If you’re up for it.

I’m OK with it

as long as you are.

I’ll call you in 5.

I’ll be here.

The rippling anticipation waved through you like electric currents rumbling your entire being right off its course. Though, BunnyBoy98 was a complete stranger you were minutes away from stripping yourself of every bit of shame and vulnerability right before him.

You couldn’t believe you actually went through with it.

And it all began about a week prior. When your friend had walked in on you in a . . less than ideal situation. You succumbed to the pleasure of your favorite toy, legs stretched wide and completely bare on your bottom half. Overcome in the feeling as you maintain focus on chasing your own orgasm. You remember hearing the hinges on the door creak but you weren’t expecting anyone so you remained painting a fervor image behind your eyelids. Envisioning slender fingers being pumped in and out of you repeatedly.

There were beads of sweat strolling down your body as you were in position; about to be catapulted into outer space. The atmosphere you set for yourself was serene and the only sounds that could be heard were your occasional whimpers and the music that played softly in the background. Everything drove you closer and closer to where you wanted to be.

Where you needed to be.

You were so close then a gasp inundated the air around you. A gasp that most certainly did not come from you.

“What the fuck?” You shot your eyes open and quickly saw your friend buried into a corner near the door. She faced the wall but you could only imagine the revolted look on her face, “can you lock the door next time?”

“Oh my,” you quickly pulled the covers over your sweaty body, “can you knock next time?”

“I did knock,” she yelled back, “but you were a little busy.”

“So you just barge in?”

“I thought you might have been dead in the toilet or something,” she shrugged and turned back around to find you sprawled in your bed, “oh, you’re done?”

“What do you think?”

“I mean don’t stop on my account. We all do it,” she sat across from your bed and began spinning around on your computer chair, “I personally like to meet Tae when I’m in the mood but you know this all works too.”

“Who’s Tae?” you questioned sitting up in the bed; wrapping your bed sheets around your figure tightly.

“He’s from this app where guys kinda help girls get off,” she said it so casually you almost didn’t fully decipher the words escaping her lips.

“There’s an app for that?”

“It’s the twenty-first century there’s literally an app for everything.”

You cleared your throat, “is it safe?”

“Are you interested?” she waggled her brows.

“No,” you scoffed, “did you need something?”

“I can’t come over just to spend time?” she shook her head, “I should’ve let you finish. Maybe you would have been in a better mood.”

“Fuck you,” you giggled.

“At least use this next time,” your phone dinged after she quickly sent you a text, “let me know how it goes.”

Her exit was barely audible. You were too preoccupied studying the link she sent for the app called ‘Eargasm An App for Women in Need.’

BunnyBoy98 is typing…..

I’m ready.

Can I call you?

Yeah.

You can call.

The ringtone echoing amongst your walls was taunting, and your nerves nearly fooled you into letting it ring. And while it took a lot of physical and mental strength to actually pick your hand up and move it towards the mouse pad you were finally able to press the green button lighting up your screen.

BunnyBoy98 sat up against a wall; glowing under blue LED lights. His black hair was long as detailed in his description and it sat right above his shoulders. Though it was hard to tell under the stark ambiance his eyes mimicked the tint of chocolate and his piercing stare was aimed at you on the other side of the screen. . Well, it was actually aimed at your dark screen. Though, it was selfish of you, as you hid cowardly behind your turned off camera you wished he would remove the black mask hiding the bottom half of his face.

“Hi,” he greeted.

“Hi,” you murmured, perhaps a bit scared that someone might hear this interaction play out although no one would. You made sure your door was locked this time and you didn’t even have a roommate. “Should I continue calling you BunnyBoy or is there something else you prefer to be called?”

“You can call me JK,” his voice was sultry, soothing, grave. Somehow a mixture of all three in one; it vibrated in your inner ear like some sort of an invasively soft tune, one you know you’d be replaying many times after tonight.

“Sorry about the dark screen,” you attempted to swallow down any ounce of nervousness, “I guess you can say I’m a bit nervous.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” his reassurance quickly eased your frazzled nerves, “though I’ll admit you did sound a bit more assertive over messages.”

“I tend to come off over-confident through texts,” you snickered, “it’s a natural flaw.”

“Confidence is sexy so I would say it’s a blessing.”

The word sexy sounded so enticing coming from his lips even as they were hidden behind that damned black cloth. You roamed through countless fantasies of the man sitting right before you, about the way he possibly looked without being covered; how his touch might feel on your scorching skin and the tone of his whispers closer in the proximity of your ear.

“You’re awfully quiet,” he voice was playful, but it was so hard to read his expression behind his covered face, “have you begun having fun without me?”

“No,” you mumbled, “I haven’t.”

“Good,” he said, “why don’t you tell me what you like.”

“Like during. .” you drifted off.

He nodded, tucking his hair behind his ear, “What else are we here for darling?”

“Yes. Of course,” you huffed, slapping your palm on your forehead undoubtedly astounded by your own stupidity, “Uh, I like. .” You gave it some thought but kept rounding the same corners leading to you cluelessness, “I’m not sure I know what I like.”

“Forgive me for being blunt but have you touched yourself recently?”

“That’s the exact reason why I ended up here.”

“You’re addicted to masturbating?” He whispered as if he was keeping some big secret.

“No!” you answered back quickly, “Not at all. I’ve just been a bit stressed lately and well. . something else happened.”

“What happened?”

“My friend kinda walked in on me,” you whispered.

“It happens to the best of us sadly,” he chuckled, a sound so beautiful and gentle it matched the soft tune of songbirds in the morning, “how about you begin by telling me about the last time you were aroused. Just walk me through whatever got you in the mood that day.”

You closed your eyes leaning your head against the headboard. Your thoughts traveled back to a couple of days prior when your body sunk into the mattress under the hex of your fingertips. You were stripped down bare but you recalled the way every inch of your body was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

“I had just gotten home after my classes,” a small white lie was the price to pay to save any once of dignity you had left in the eyes of the stranger before you — in reality, that very day and every other day you’d found yourself under the amorous touches of your sinful fantasies whenever you saw him, the boy employed at the campus student center.

You didn’t know his name and in reality he only lived in your mind in small flashes. The first polaroid was composed of his cheeky smile framed by indents of his round cheeks. While other snap shots focused on the way he always wore in a half up half down style or a bun; others were centered around the numerous tattoos inked into his right arm, especially the snake sitting right above his wrist and the patchwork tattoos on the dorsal side of his hand.

“Were you thinking about someone?”

“Yes.”

“What were they doing?”

There was a rush of heat traveling through you as you recalled the way you dreamt up his touch against your body, the way his fingers left behind trails of goosebumps on your skin.

“First he began touching me softly,” It was like your body was on auto drive and before you knew it you set the laptop beside you on the bed and began getting comfortable on the bed.

“Was he touching you anywhere specific?”

You hummed in response, “he drew all kinds of figures into my inner thigh, kept inching closer and closer and then he would pull away abruptly.”

“Did you enjoy him pulling away?”

“Yes, it made me want it more.”

“Ok, I’m gonna ask you to do a couple of things. If you don’t want to do something just tell me. I’m here for your pleasure.”

You nodded, then realized he couldn’t see you, “Yea, that’s fine.”

A strain of the jitters ate away at your nerves and you weren’t sure if you’d ever come down from that rollercoaster of anxiety. You were sitting at the peak in a single-person cart waiting to be plummeted down the valley of the tracks leading you to the finale; the culmination of an enticing ride.

“Are you naked?”

“Somewhat.”

“Take it all off.”

Even in the stillness of darkness removing your bra and panties made you feel entirely vulnerable. You were technically alone but JK was right there just a couple of pixels away.

“Close your eyes, doll. I want you to begin touching yourself just wherever it feels good,” he instructed and you weren’t sure if it was your mind playing tricks on you but you could’ve sworn his voice became more bass, “start high and slowly make your way down to your breasts. When you’re there let me know.”

His words were tainted with sin meanwhile he still sat back nonchalantly. You'd imagined he was satisfied in the way your soft whimpers overtook the air as you began pinching your perked nipples but you couldn’t tell for sure not while he still wore his mask.

“I’m assuming you’ve made it.” he chuckled.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“You’re not very good at following instructions. Are you, doll?” he rolled up the sleeves of his crewneck, finally exposing the infamous tattoos he detailed in his description. They were like pieces of artwork adorning his entire arm, not a single spot was left visible—and as much as you tried to get a better look at them for some reason you found it impossible to focus on just one.

“Sorry,” you muttered once again, “I was caught up in the moment I guess.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he offered, “but I need you to be vocal since I can’t exactly see you.”

“I’ll be more vocal. I promise,” you said, still toying with your nipples in between your fingers, “right now my hands are still at my tits.”

“Are you bored of that yet, doll?” the onset of his tumultuous utter; it was thunderous, like music for the soul, “you wanna aim lower?”

“Yes.”

“With the tips of your fingers I want you to move down your cleavage,” he said, “and stop right at your pelvis.”

Quickly, it felt like the evening had rushed by and the sun had been relocated right beside your bed. Though you complied with his command any form of coherent words became jammed in your throat incapable of rolling off your tongue.

The way your fingers slid past your folds earned a string of whimpers from your lips earning a satisfied titter from JK on the other side of the screen.

“Nice and slow, doll,” JK said, “be gentle but I want you to apply a bit of pressure every time your fingers meet your clit.”

JK’s voice was no longer muffled from the laptop’s static microphone. Instead in this version of your altered reality he was laying right beside you on your bed, and his fingers substituted yours against your cunt. His touch contained something yours simply did not possess, composed of a sort of spell that left you babbling moans. And as his fingers traced whichever incoherence they wanted into your clit you felt closer to your pinnacle.

“Fuck,” he stuttered, “I love the way you say my name.”

The bubbling daringness dazed with pleasure drove you to chant his name over and over in between your pants and obscenities. “You have no idea the things I would do for you to fuck me right now,” It was your best attempt at trying to break past his professional shell — His head fell back against the wall as his adam’s apple bobbed up and up, his eyes were shut tightly and his hands fidgeted with something off frame.

“You have no idea how much I’d love to fuck you but this is a contactless doll,” his breathing became uneven, “I’m afraid we could never meet. You could never know who I am and I could never know who you are.”

“N-never say never,” the contract enforced by the site was clear and simple, both parties must grant their consent to the meeting online without disclosing their identities. For safety measures you understood the implications of the rules applied but what of it when you genuinely just wanted to meet the dulcet stranger and ride along him for the wildest time of your life.

“Just focus on the feeling,” his voice was rugged; raspy as a result of the groans he sang into the air, “Focus on that shiver taking your back hostage and that very knot tightening in your core. I want you to only let your thoughts be consumed by that very feeling.”

You sat up using your elbow for support, still thriving to maintain the mental image of having JK near in curated colors. Again, you were in the presence of the man dipping the mattress beside you as he laid down with eyes to scorching their umber tone surrounding you in warmth.

“Now, finger yourself.”

The squelching sound of your finger pushing past your entrance had JK sitting up straight like he was intrigued by your facile compliance but you thought it was obvious that by now there was very little you wouldn’t do as long as it came from him.

“I wish I could see you doll,” he confessed, “I bet you look heavenly with your fingers inside of you.”

“C-contactless r-remember,” The motion living up to your satisfaction was hastened —you became divulged in the feeling of your walls on your fingers. You felt soft, warm, tight. All of the sensations combined to create a feeling so addicting your fingers developed a mind of their own as you drove themselves in and out of you with ease.

“Right. .”

“Fuck, this f-feels,” you swallowed to ease the desert developing in the back of your throat, “it feels s-so fucking good.”

“If I were there,” he mumbled, barely audible but your ears still perked up at the lulls of his voice, “First, I would serenade every inch of your skin. Your body would be the portrait I’d paint with my lips.”

“Mhm. .”

“I would cherish your body so well. Eat you out until your legs shake and fuck you until you’re a candid mess.”

“O-oh, fuck! JK don’t stop.”

“I would fuck you so well, doll.”

“I-I’m so close,” your arm became numbed yet, you kept fucking yourself with your fingers still succumbing to the fantasy of having JK in replacement of your own hand.

The temperature in your room draws beads of sweat on your body and the more you strive to reach your high the more scorching the temperature becomes. The creaking of your bed accentuated the speed of your movements, it was like a song featuring your constant moans.

“Until you’re babbling nonsense, and your headboard is marking up the wall and the neighbors finally know my name.”

JK’s words were laced with a delectable nectar, so sweet, a once off taste wasn’t enough and as you pleaded for more and he complied, continuing to fill your ears with sinful promises you crashed hard. Coming in spurts of white coating your fingers.

“I have a surprise for you,” you panted in between almost every word, “you ready?”

He nodded.

Call it post orgasm tipsiness but after sitting up a bit and adjusting the laptop to leave anything that wasn’t your mouth out of frame you turned on your camera for the very first time that night, pushing your glistening fingers which once invaded your walls past your swollen lips.

His hands rose to his hair and he slithered his fingers through it lightly before gripping his roots into his fists looking a fair amount aroused and frustrated. The tattoos you desperately wanted a peek of were finally on full display. After turning off your camera once again and JK began uttering praises your way, you began scanning the ink on his arm from his forearm up slowly. The artwork adorned his skin beautifully.

As you neared his wrists you noticed a very similar serpentine snake—one who you have stared at too often.

“Typically, things here are a bit different,” you finally registered his voice, “you would turn on your camera and I would provide more detailed assistance but I hope you still had a good time. I did.”

“Yeah,” your mind was in outer space, “I had a really good time.”

“Don’t shy away from visiting me again, OK?”

“Yeah,” you said, “bye, JK.”

Once the camera was off and you shut your laptop tightly, coming to the realization.

JK was him.

The boy, your boy from the student center.

an: i was bored and im so sorry lol

reblogs, likes, comments, replies are always appreciated 🫶🏽

#bts #bts smut #bts imagines #bts reactions #jeon jungkook #jungkook smut #bts jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook x y/n #very brief mention of tae #jungkook drabble

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legionofpotatoes · 2 months ago

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star wars outlaws

#star wars outlaws #kay vess #nix #did a brief detour into this game it isn't bad! but certainly lacks in polish for core loops. tutorialization pipelines are ass also #performance - also ass. had to play quality on ps5 for it to have any clarity at all. but the open world is gorgeous #and it certainly nails the very narrow target of horse girl star wars fantasy (ripping across tatooine on a speeder with a little Guy)#nix is everything I love him. modern star wars rarely captivates me but they do know how to do lil guys real well #my photos #star wars #also-also. would be remiss not to mention. never played a game with unregulated scope creep this noticeable before. it's baffling #I KNOW people crunched on this it's in the walls in the floorboards it's everywhere. unmitigated hodge podge of mechanics and pillars #and those pillars are often unbalanced between each other. storytelling payloads are an issue too. there's pre-rendered in-engine cutscenes #real-time in-engine cutscenes. and digic-produced full CG cutscenes. and their placement and prioritization feels insane and inscrutable #like three different teams were working on the game at the same time and never in congress or coordination #it also suffers from the open world 4th and 5th priority narrative payload issues - many secondary and sometimes even primary questgiving #and expository dialogues are in-game zoomed camera lipsync exchanges. or flavor text #on the other hand - surprisingly deft mission design itself? side quests reward either cosmetics or actual unlockable deployable skills #it has fleeting genes of a metroidvania spread across a wide open world in that sense. but only fleeting. the rep system is a smokescreen #and progression in general has a very open and unsatisfying end to it. this game needed less scope and maybe no space stuff at all #the resulting resource allocation adjustment would truly make for a captivating open world adventure. as it stands it feels like #a product of overworked people misusing mismanaged budgets and managing to sprinkle some love into it regardless #games should never be good on the merit of their perceivable seasoning of overwork and passion. that really only bakes a sadness cake

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ruvviks · 6 months ago

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The Dobrynin family is a corpo family through and through, rooted in Arasaka and Orbital Air going back by several generations; though their powerful position within the corporate world ends with the children of Nadya and Matvey Dobrynin. With Vitali and Daniil fired from Arasaka and Kang Tao respectively— the former indirectly getting his parents fired, too— and Roksana having refused to set foot within a megacorporation from the start, the family begins crumbling apart at the very seams when clashing interests lead to grudges, betrayal, and pointless acts of revenge. ↳ read the unrevised fic here if you're interested!

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @roseeway, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree;

@kanos, @swordcoasts, @ordinarymaine, @claudiawolf, @strafethesesinners

#cp2077 #edit:daniil #edit:matvey #edit:nadya #edit:roksana #edit:vitali #nuclearocs #nuclearedits #the fic has a proper title now thank you everyone who voted in that poll ^_^ i'm very excited to start working on a rewrite!!#it's gonna be a lot bigger because i'm going to be including chunks of previous events that take place between in-game and this fic #all in flashbacks. so like. vitali's death and how he stabs mikhail while brainwashed and how he snaps out of it #and the fight they have later on. because all of those events are key moments referenced in the fic #but they're not explicitly mentioned because past me went with the assumption people had already read those fics #so i just described the events if that makes sense. but if i want this to work on its own i NEED to include them #anyway. night city's most dysfunctional family fr i have so much to say about them but i'll keep it brief for now #nadya and daniil have nadya's last name because matvey and nadya end up getting divorced #initially roksana also gets her mother's last name but she changes it back sometime later #because she doesn't want to be associated with her mother anymore #daniil's stats are very bad because he's a useless loser sorry for everyone who took a liking to him. he doesn't deserve your love #the word count still makes me :0!! also because like. i did that... i wrote that...#also made this template myself so i don't have a link for it sorry :( and also i made it in firealpaca and not ps #anyway yes very excited to see what you guys think of this and also if you have any questions feel free to shoot me asks!!

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accirax · 7 months ago

Note

What is your opinion on the DRDT time loop theory? If you do have any thoughts on it, what do you think Mai, the Teacher & the past kg/(assumption) the altdrdt kg have to do with it? (Mai and Teacher often exist in proxy to evidence for this theory & the 'past killing game' & the teacher are clearly closely connected.)

Alright, so this one is going to be a bit more of a challenge than usual because, as I confirmed, the “DRDT Time Loop Theory” doesn’t exactly… exist. I mean, it definitely does, because you know what it means, and I know what it means, and I’m willing to bet that many other people who will encounter this post also know what it means. But, everyone’s understanding of it is pretty vague and scattered because no one has ever written it out before. Other than kind of this 3 minute segment of a video by Ocean Unknown (which never even says the words “time loop” directly, it just discusses a major piece of evidence for the theory), as well as this work-around by @/1moreff-creator, there isn’t any document I can read or video I can watch to base my opinion off of.

Therefore, this leaves me in the position of having to establish the original scripture for what the DRDT Time Loop Theory is, and then give my thoughts on how plausible it might be. Naturally, this may result in my answers having some obvious bias to them in one way or another– either that I will misrepresent some evidence because I don’t think the idea is plausible, or that I will become convinced of the theory because it’s tailored to exactly what I think makes the most sense– but, no matter! Somebody had to establish this someday, and I’m honored that you regard my opinion highly enough to task me as the one to do it. Here we go!

I usually like to establish a sort of premise to each of my theories near the beginning, because I think it provides a good structure through which people can pace themselves and know what to expect. For this theory, I think it will make the most sense to create sections based on the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Although, not necessarily in that order. Or rather, definitely not in that order, because I know where I’m going to start.

What?

‘Cause, like, what? What is the time loop theory? That’s where we should start.

As far as I’m aware, the time loop theory is mainly based on the combination of two different pieces of evidence. The first hails from DRDT’s About Page. In the same fashion that people found each character’s hidden quotes on their profiles, you can find a long monologue in the code of the text. I’ll copy it here for convenience:

“You don’t understand, do you? I used to be like you. I barely remember, but I used to be like you. I cared so much about people, I cried everytime someone was hurt. I suffered for a long time stuck in here caring about people. I know what you’re going through. You’re going to hold on as long as you have, with hope that you can make it out of here with everyone. Then you’re going to despair. That lasts a while, too. Then you’ll get bored. Like me. And you’ll wish you were still suffering. Anything else is better than boredom. I wish I could feel something, anything else, other than being bored. I’m stuck in here for eternity, and I know everything that could possibly happen. I know how everyone reacts to a murder, what makes people turn to despair, what fills people with hope and make them survive until we all run out of food and starve to death. I wish I could feel terrified, or afraid, or angry. But I can’t anymore. I don’t feel anything at all except boredom. Do you understand, Teacher? This is why I’m letting you suffer as long as possible. Because it’s better than the alternative. I’m sorry. I don’t envy you. You’ll understand eventually.”

Because this quote is found on the About page, we can’t tie it to any one character in particular like we can for the secret quotes. Many people suspect this quote may have come from DRDT’s mastermind, but we obviously don’t know who that is, either. To help us establish the speaker’s character, let’s see what we can infer about them from what they’ve said.

Firstly, we know that this character has been through a lot. They started off caring, then turned to cruelty, yet wound up feeling nothing but boredom in the end. Notably, however, this is only the way that this character sees themself– how kind or how cruel they were is subject to their own perspective. Personally, I don’t think that the speaker is as dead inside as they claim to be. The fact that they wind up relating themselves to “Teacher” and taking actions to minimize Teacher’s suffering proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity or caring for others.

The speaker also seems to think pretty highly of themself. They begin the passage by assuming that Teacher couldn’t possibly understand what they’ve gone through, and see themself as a tortured Atlas bearing the weight of all knowledge on their shoulder (“I know everything that could possibly happen”). The whole “this is for your own good” mentality also shows them as somewhat patronizing and commandeering.

As for some of the more physical details, while it’s not 100% confirmed, it seems pretty clear that the speaker is or was in a killing game. A murder can occur pretty much anywhere that there are two people, but “how everyone reacts to a murder” really makes it seem like the speaker is in a place where murder is expected. And then, there are the obvious references to hope and despair, which we all know are super killing-game-coded words.

The phrase that I find most interesting in the About Page quote (APQ) is “until we all run out of food and starve to death.” The speaker including themselves in a “we” means that they do identify as part of the group that is stuck in a killing game. Therefore, we can learn that 1) the speaker does not have a secret way to exit the killing game facility and/or time loop, and 2) the speaker is in a physical space, not a metaphysical one. They’re just as vulnerable to starvation (and possibly being killed?) as anyone else. This could be important when it comes to establishing how the time loop came to be and what kind of time loop it is.

And then, of course, there’s Teacher.

Due to the “wants to become the perfect teacher” tagline, many people have come to assume that the Teacher that the APQ refers to is a member of the unnamed fangan (which I call altDRDT) cast. Specifically, that brown-and-red-haired gentleman in the middle. This theory was basically confirmed by the second of the three Christmas 2023 comics DRDTdev posted.

Furthermore, one of the few images we have of him is with a piece of chalk and chalkboard.

We know from the altDRDT FAQ page that Teacher uses he/him pronouns (along with “Soundwave,” “XF,” “Dandelion,” “Scale,” “Bullet,” and “Ice”), which is important in potentially connecting him to the scholarly “him” that Min mentioned in A History of Hope’s Peak.

Therefore, the “Teacher” that the speaker is talking to is very likely to be altDRDT’s Teacher. However, I do want to take a moment to provide a bit of a counterargument. I don’t doubt that our close-eyed compatriot is the Ultimate Teacher. However, I also don’t want to assume that the person who’s trying to become the perfect teacher has to be the same as the Ultimate Teacher, despite the obvious throughline. For example, couldn’t the speaker of the APQ be trying to teach their beliefs to Teacher, searching for the perfect way to get him to understand what needs to be done? I still think that the Teacher that the speaker refers to is probably the altDRDT character, but I wanted us all to reach that conclusion while considering what’s outside the box.

Regardless, there’s clearly a lot to consider here. The people who first discovered this quote thought so as well, and started looking for answers by connecting it to things we’ve already seen in DRDT. The most popular connection comes from the prologue, Veronika’s introduction in particular. Remember when she rants to Teruko and Xander about the (fictional) book Forever Dead? It goes by pretty quick, but her summary is quite interesting:

And thus, the exact phrasing of the “time loop” began. Forever Dead touches upon a lot of the same plot points that the speaker brings up in the APQ. People die, the main character transforms from invested to bored, and straddles the border between relatable and sinister.

We also learn a bit more about the speaker and what happened/will happen to him. He identifies as a boy (who uses he/him pronouns), he’s impaled by metal spikes and left to die at some point, and he manages to apologize for “everything he did,” though apparently only through some level of force. “Everything he did” is interestingly vague– is that implying that the boy was the cause of the time loop, or just that he was apologizing for the terrible things he did as a result of his bored insanity? What forced him into the apology if he was “left alone?” These characteristics may apply to the APQ speaker as well, under the assumption that the boy and the speaker are allegories for the same character.

So, those are the two main pieces of information that I’m aware of that lead people to devise the time loop theory. In case it’s important, I’ve also compiled some of the instances I could remember offhand of DRDT characters bringing up the cyclical nature of humanity and how things never change.

Any of these characters’ ideas about what “always has to happen” could be supported and/or challenged in the future by a time loop.

I also know that some people like to bring up the comments section portion of Literature Girl Insane (conveniently written over the words “the world won’t change!”) as evidence of DRDT being stuck in a time loop. I could explain why I don’t think that’s the case, but FF already did that as part of their giant LGI analysis video (which I will continue to recommend). I don’t think I can really put it any better than they did, so I encourage you to watch that section of the video at least if you’re curious as to why I won’t be including this as evidence.

And now, for a summary of what we’ve learned so far, the basics of the Time Loop Theory. Due to the About Page Quote, the summary of Forever Dead, and references to cyclical behavior, some believe that the characters in the DRDT killing game are experiencing a time loop. The speaker of the APQ, who is possibly the mastermind, is likely the only one of the sixteen students who is aware of this. When the loop began, they put their all into trying to achieve the best ending. However, over time, they became more bitter, first turning to wreaking havoc before succumbing to apathy. They have somehow captured “Teacher,” the protagonist of altDRDT, in an inescapable state of suffering, in order to teach him a lesson about how foolish it is to continue to care about others. They’re a bit of a cynical know-it-all, but their dedication to correcting Teacher’s behavior proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity.

Basic facts, established! However, this is still pretty vague, and there are plenty more details to sort through. How about we start with…

How?

Because even among people who believe there is a time loop, there are many definitions of what a time loop can mean. In this section, I’ll aim to figure out which I think is the most likely in two broad categorization systems.

Is the time loop meta or non-meta?

A meta time loop would be one that is directly caused by the player/viewer interacting with the property, breaking the fourth wall. For DRDT, this would mean something along the lines of “every time you rewatch an episode of Despair Time, the characters are forced to relive the events of the day in an eternal loop, and they’ve started to wise up about it.” Conversely, a non-meta time loop would exist in the plot regardless of what its audience is doing, and be caused by a force that exists within the story. “After Teruko accidentally broke Eden’s favorite grandfather clock, Teruko was cursed to repeat her worst day over and over again.”

DRDT has made some fourth wall-breaking jokes before, such as when MonoTV directly references YouTube or the narrator tells the viewer to like the video and subscribe to give Teruko power. Because of this, it’s really tempting to think that DRDT is going for a meta time loop. However, given the actual text we have to work with, I think it’s more likely that we’re looking at a non-meta time loop. Remember how we learned that the APQ speaker exists in a physical space and not a metaphysical one? Focusing on the physical space of their environment and living conditions is drawing attention to how the world is real to them, not just a collection of pixels flattened into a video file. The Forever Dead boy also had to “apologize for what he did,” which might imply that the character was responsible for the time loop, not the audience.

Most of all, though, it’s the concept of “surviv[ing] until we all run out of food and starve to death” that makes me think that the time loop is not meta. Why? Because it makes it sound like there are different possible endings out there. If the time loop was caused by me going back and repeatedly rewatching the CharWhit FTE, there’s only one way that that FTE can start, and one way it can end. No matter how many times I make the characters loop that interaction, there’s only one version of that episode posted to YouTube. The APQ speaker makes it clear that they, as a character, attempted multiple things and achieved different results with them until they exhausted all viable possibilities and grew bored. I can only make the characters do one thing, but the characters within the story can, in theory, do whatever they want.

Really, a lot of it boils down to the medium in which DRDT is told. A lot of what I “know” about time loops comes from watching theory videos about Undertale and Deltarune. I won’t spoil either of those games for those who haven’t played them, but in Undertale, the player’s input is directly related to the time travel elements that the characters experience. This connection works really well because Undertale is a video game. Video games are a fantastic medium for meta commentary because player input is required for the game to function. The player can make choices of where to go or who to trust that have an impact on the story, which then makes it easy for the story to turn back towards the player and question the choices they made. DRDT, however, is a video series, not a game like the original Danganronpa. Its formatting would make calling the viewer’s impact into question, because we’ve hardly done anything other than want to watch the show. We have no impact on the direction of the plot.

Of course, I’m not trying to say that it’s impossible for anything other than a video game to tackle meta subjects. DRDTdev should be allowed to tell a meta fangan story without being forced into the life of a programmer. However, with all these elements combined, I think it’s more likely that DRDT’s time loop would be a canonical, non-meta one. Because of this, our follow up questions will be based around how the time loop could have formed in canon.

Is the time loop magical or scientific in origin?

A magical time loop could be something that appears as some sort of spell, legend, or artifact, such as the example with Teruko and the grandfather clock that I provided above. I would also count time loops that just appear out of nowhere in the “magical” category. One of the most famous time loop stories in modern Western cinema, Groundhog Day, could be thought of as a magical time loop, because the main character entered a time loop as a repercussion for his rotten personality seemingly out of nowhere. A scientific time loop would be the consequence of pushing the boundaries of science, whether purposefully (“Veronika, after researching the fourth dimension, put the killing game in a time loop so that she could experience its thrills forever”) or accidentally (“Trying to bring Ellie back to life, Charles’ time machine malfunctioned and trapped him in a time loop”).

Honestly, I’m really torn on this one. That may come as a surprise to some of you– how on earth could DRDT’s time loop be magical? The answer is our lovely protagonist herself, Teruko Tawaki. If Teruko’s luck, a supernatural force, created the time loop, then it’s magical in origin. It’s already been hinted that this could be the case through Teruko’s “you all have the misfortune of being ‘characters’” speech. Does Teruko know how stories like this work out because she’s looped through them before? If Mai is a lucky student, the time loop being a result of her luck or the combination of her and Teruko’s luck would also be magical. Assuming that luck was something that they were born with, that is.

However, it would also be very easy for DRDT’s time loop to be scientific in origin. The mysterious company XF-Ture Tech is clearly being set up for some kind of relevance down the road, which could be a science experiment gone wrong that resulted in a time loop. This could even be the thing that “Unnamed Student” (Mai) asked Xander to dig into.

That might seem like a bit of a leap, given that Mai is asking Xander to look into Hope’s Peak, not XF-Ture Tech. However, we already know that XF Tech had a vested interest in Hope’s Peak through their sponsorship of Min.

Personally, I don’t think that the XF Tech CEO would have had much personal interest in Min outside of her skill/potential, based on how Min describes him as a stranger. That means that the CEO’s goals must have been to sponsor the future Ultimate Student. The entire Ultimate Contest may have existed just because XF Tech wanted to get an insider within the Hope’s Peak system. There’s evidence to show that Hope’s Peak and XF Tech may have been collaborating– Mai asks why Hope’s Peak would even announce an Ultimate Contest, and Min answers from the perspective of the prospective student. But, why would Hope’s Peak want an Ultimate Student obtained through that method/at that time? If Min really did poison the competition to win, the entire Contest may have been rigged from the beginning to get an XF representative into the East Class.

Because of all this, I’m inclined to say that DRDT’s time loop is both magical and scientific in origin. Here’s what I’m thinking: 13-27 years ago, XF-Ture Tech signed some sort of deal with the new Hope’s Peak Academy that would allow them to look into students and their talents, much like how the original Hope’s Peak Academy was studying the origins of luck. HPA agreed for the money, while XF Tech believed that the partnership would help them sell better products/services, either through getting the first scoop on up-and-comers in the field or by scientifically developing talent rather than allowing it to occur naturally. That might sound really similar to what already happened in DRDT’s canon universe with the Kamukura project, but, hey, maybe part of the whole “time loop” motif would be history repeating and man not being able to shake the desire to play God.

Anyways, when they made this deal (or potentially a little while after it), they also decided that it would be good if XF Tech could be directly represented by one of the students in a future class. I can’t say exactly why they wanted this to be the case, but maybe HPA and XF Tech were either looking for a good excuse to go public with their relationship, or they knew that something or someone relevant would come to pass through the school in ~13 years, and wanted a man on the inside. Therefore, HPA put out a pre-rigged Contest searching for the Ultimate Student, which was destined to be won by whoever the XF Tech CEO determined was the best candidate. The CEO chose Min, and spent 13 years coaxing her into the perfect grateful, insecure, and study-focused representative out there.

Whether it was their goal from the start or a new development that caught their eye, XF Tech took particular note of Teruko and her strange luck, and wanted to research it. Teruko, who was desperate for support, let them study her, and eventually came to trust that they had her best interests at heart. But, over time, they pushed it too far. As some sort of reaction to their scientific prodding, Teruko’s luck magically created a time loop in an attempt to prevent XF Tech from bothering her any further.

Cool fanfic, right? While I’m aware that there are a lot of holes and leaps in logic– and we’ll get to those– I do think there’s reason to believe that Teruko is at the epicenter of the time loop for one reason or another. As we were all made aware of at the very beginning of the series…

… ending the killing game is correlated to killing Teruko Tawaki. Therefore, this person at least believes that the end of the killing game is related to the end of Teruko’s life. So, if the time loop is also related to the killing game– which it is, as established by the APQ– then the end of Teruko’s life would also possibly cause the end of the time loop. To quote a wise wizard, it’s maaaagic. The theory that Teruko’s secret is “the killing game is all your fault” also fits here perfectly.

So, it’s not as big of a leap in logic as it might seem like on the surface, even if it’s still basically my audition for being the Ultimate Jumper. However, now that the basics of the theory were mostly established in the “What?” section, I think I have a bit more room to inject my own thoughts and theories in here. I can’t draw any conclusions without making some guesses, and I can’t assess what the hell is going on without any conclusions. Call what follows specifically “Accirax’s Time Loop Theory” if you think I’m starting to veer too far off track from what’s plausible. I promise I’m still going to try to use actual, textual evidence whenever I can, though.

At any rate, there are still a lot of holes. Most notably, why would a time loop that Teruko’s luck created contain a killing game in it? Was she already in a killing game when the time loop began, or did her luck create the killing game? We’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section, along with some other stuff.

When?

Before getting back to the question of why a killing game would happen in this time loop, I think it’s important to establish some of the basic facts that the “When?” section might imply. Such as, “what events occurred before the time loop started?,” and, “what events occurred after the time loop started?” That’s a funny question to ask with regards to time loops specifically, but there are still things we can piece together.

Firstly, we can be pretty confident that the canonical properties Trigger Happy Havoc, Goodbye Despair, Ultra Despair Girls, and End of Hope’s Peak happened before DRDT. (V3 is, as usual, so weird that I have no clue if DRDT will attempt to explain it as part of the canonical timeline or not.) The Tragedy was confirmed as canon to the DRDT universe by Veronika in Chapter 2 Episode 2, and Min/Mai in A History of Hope’s Peak.

If the Tragedy and Hope’s Peak Academy are canon, then I see no reason why those four games, which all relate to the Tragedy, wouldn’t be as well. There’s also the mysterious “Ms. Naegi” that’s listed in the credits of Literature Girl Insane, and Teruko’s reference to “a past killing game.”

Although the event Teruko mentions could be any killing game with Monokuma as its mascot, I would suspect that she is specifically mentioning the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game of THH here, as it was the first and the one that was widely broadcast. Notably, although Veronika knows a lot about the Tragedy and by all accounts should be super into the killing games, she doesn’t remember another killing game happening before. That leaves us with two basic options. 1) Teruko had access to secret knowledge about the killing games that the general public didn’t, or, 2) something about the creation of this killing game caused Veronika (and likely the other non-Terukos as well) to forget about the HPA killing game. I would lean towards the second, given that the broadcast of the HPA killing game and Junko’s involvement in it were such major historical events that I would really expect that society wouldn’t forget about them so easily.

Another huge piece of information comes from the Chapter 2 Part 1 Q&A.

From this question, we know that a person who is 80-ish years old was old enough to be alive during the Tragedy itself. In THH, Makoto’s orientation letter is dated to the release year of the game, 2010 (2014 for the English release), which means that the Tragedy probably started in 2011. We can approximate, then, that DRDT takes place sometime around 2090, give or take a few decades depending on how long the Tragedy lasted and at what point with regards to it Duke was born. Not super important to this theory, but it is interesting.

So, the Tragedy probably happened around 80 years before the time loop began. We also know that the school that Min, Mai, and Xander attend, which hosts the East Class, was probably founded ~27 years before the time loop began, because that trio is part of East Class 27. Interestingly, this means that the new American Hope’s Peak was founded ~50 years after the Tragedy. That’s a fairly long amount of time.

As for events that more directly preceded the time loop, I think that both Bonus Episodes would have happened before the killing game, as well as Teruko’s flashback about Mai in Chapter 1. Xander, Min, and Mai attended HPA before encountering the killing game/time loop, despite no one in DRDT remembering ever going to HPA. Rose says in the prologue that it’s been a year or two since the HPA entrance ceremony should have happened, which means that the students probably attended HPA for at least a year before the killing game started. The chalkboard in the classroom that Min and Mai sit in also advertises Spring Break, which, in American schools, is pretty close to the end of the typical school year. That’s more evidence that they spent a considerable amount of time attending HPA.

Now, for events that happened after the inception of the time loop. The only thing I think we know of for sure is the events of the DRDT killing game. That would be part of the time loop, infinitely recurring after the point at which the loop began. I’m also hesitantly going to call altDRDT a sequel instead of a prequel… but, uh, we’ll get more into my overall theories on that later.

Okay, now back to why a loop Teruko’s luck created would have had a killing game in it. I’ve come up with three theories, all of which are… dubious, at best.

Theory #1: The killing game came from Teruko’s subconscious. Teruko’s luck is a part of who she is, and therefore, any effects it may have are based on what Teruko knows and how she feels. Perhaps, just before the time loop began, Teruko learned about the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game, whether in class or through shadier sources. When her “magic” snapped and the time loop began, because the killing game was on her mind, it manifested before her. Basically, the time loop would operate much like a dream, where the things you learn in real life come back in surreal ways. I don’t like this one because it leans in really hard to the magic aspect. Although Danganronpa has always been science fiction, letting Teruko’s emotions create an entirely new magical realm seems like jumping the shark.

Theory #2: XF-Ture Tech wanted to test Teruko with a killing game. Their research into her and her luck is quite similar to that of Nagito or the Kamukura project, so why not test their findings in the same ways that Nagito and Hajime were tested? Things amidst this theory that make sense are XF-Ture Tech, a tech company, possibly creating MonoTV, and the prospect of Teruko’s friends dying in a killing game adding an extra kick to why her luck would step in and create a time loop out of desperation. Things that don’t make sense include how the hell XF-Ture Tech would manage to pull this off (especially if constrained by legality/friendship with HPA) and where the hell they would be now. That second question could be answered by, “it was Min,” I suppose, but the first is still off.

Theory #3: The killing game was introduced to contain Teruko. I’m not entirely sure how this would work, but, basically, something else would have triggered Teruko’s luck to start the loop, and then someone (Hope’s Peak, Mai, the Spurlings, who knows) would have introduced a killing game in there in hopes of having something happen. This idea was sort of spurred on by the note that Xander had to kill Teruko Tawaki. Let’s say that Teruko is a huge, powerful problem, much like Junko or Izuru. If you can find a way to breach the time loop she’s created to introduce a killing game, she has to die eventually, right? Victim after victim, blackened after blackened– if Teruko is trapped in an eternal killing game, it seems like at least one of them would have to randomly stumble into her dying. However, I then have to ask how and why the other DRDT characters wound up in this killing game. Them all agreeing to volunteer for this potentially kamikaze plan seems unrealistic given their personalities. So, were they just collateral damage of the original time loop, roped into this last-ditch effort plan? How would a seemingly closed off loop be “breached” to such a drastic extent, anyways?

I once again feel like I’m missing something here, but I also don’t think any of my previous assumptions were wrong. I just can’t understand why the killing game would have come to exist within this time loop. Maybe it has to do with the person who started the killing game?

Who?

Oh yeah, it’s time to talk about the mastermind again, baby. But, obviously, filtering it through the assumption that there is a time loop will change my overall assessments. Now, we have to look for someone with the means, motives, and thematic… fittingness(?) to be involved with Looping the class.

Let’s start with some options that seem so obviously incorrect that I don’t have anything to say. Why would Ace, Hu, Levi, or Nico be the one to have started a killing game within this time loop? Ace’s cowardice already made him seem unlikely, and making the danger zone neverending makes the premise all the more bizarre. You would have to reach pretty far to characterize Hu as the APQ speaker who claims to be incredibly bored and apathetic. Levi wants to change as a person, so inflicting a stagnant time loop seems counter to his goals. Nico… just doesn’t seem to have any aspect of their character line up with the premise of a time loop? Like, if Nico were the character you created to be the mastermind of a time loop killing game, what aspects of how they turned out would reflect that? In my opinion, there are no connections, which makes Nico not it.

Some more less likely options… Arei has some dialogue about people’s behaviors not changing, but especially given her (likely) death, I don’t think it’s enough to call her the mastermind. Given that David is alive, he fares better than Arei under the same scrutiny, but I still feel like the mastermind’s power in this context is more than the desperate, run-ragged David we’ve seen in the second Class Trial. He cares too much, in his own David way. I feel like Rose should be doing better given how highly I ranked her in my main mastermind post, but I’ve been trying to fit the Spurlings into this time loop thing, and I haven’t been able to manage anything. J is much the same, although the whole “TV show” argument still gives her some traction. Although Arturo is generally a smart, scientific kind of guy, being a plastic surgeon doesn’t seem to mesh with whatever science would be needed to make a scientific time loop.

And then there’s Whit. Look. I’m as tired of airing my grievances with Whit mastermind theory as you probably are of reading me air them. However, Whit definitely merits his own section due to one of the main pieces of Whit mastermind scripture (to my knowledge) directly tying the APQ to his candidacy. While I definitely respect and appreciate that aspect of this theory, I don’t buy it myself. By demodraws’ word, this theory is more of a “list of evidence.” The only items on that list that I see directly relate to the APQ are that 1) the Forever Dead character, who may be linked to the speaker, identifies as a boy, and that 2) the speaker expresses grief. Although, that second point is also linked to the belief that the mysterious quote at the beginning of Chapter 1 is said by the same person who said the APQ, which isn’t necessarily the case.

I certainly agree that Whit’s character is the most tied to the concepts of grief and idolizing the dead. However, there are many other characters who do the same. Charles mourns Elliot after remembering his existence, Arturo mourns Felicity whenever he’s confronted with the truth, Xander mourns his family and how he couldn’t do more. (Why do so many DRDT characters have dead family members?) Eden has mourned Min and Arei since their deaths. You can also make the argument that the APQ speaker is more so mourning who they became and how things used to be more than mourning or idolizing any dead compatriots. Rose mourns being shackled to the Spurlings, David mourns the loss of his career once his secret is out, Levi mourns never knowing the right thing to say around Ace. With so many griefheads running around, I don’t find Whit’s connection to the subject compelling enough to label him mastermind.

Then there’s the “boy” aspect. Obviously, Whit isn’t the only boy in DRDT either– as far as we know, Xander, Charles, Ace, Levi, Arturo, and David also identify as boys. However, I also don’t think that the Forever Dead character being a boy is a majorly important piece of evidence. Assuming that Forever Dead is autobiography-flavored fiction as opposed to a genuine biography, the gender of the character it’s describing feels like a detail that DRDTdev could have easily changed to make the parallel less obvious. Although, then you might ask, “why bother including the character’s gender at all, then?” In my opinion, Veronika talks for long enough that it would have been really hard to get through the entire monologue without ever establishing a set of pronouns for the protagonist. “It’s about a _____'' is also a pretty natural way to introduce a story to someone for the first time. Choosing the fairly inconsequential “boy” is a lot less revealing than if Veronika said something more targeted; such as, “it’s about a marriage counselor.” I can’t deny that Veronika talking about a boy could be an important clue, but hopefully I’ve explained why I’m not hinging my entire theory off of it.

Alright, now we’re on to people who I think could genuinely make sense as a time loop mastermind. I think it’s probably most fitting to start with Eden. Because, you know… clocks… time… making time… you can’t go back no matter how hard you try… it’s not a hard conclusion to draw. DRDT has many underlying mysteries, but as compared to something as mysterious as, say, Mai, the concept of a time loop is even further obscured. Making your mastermind the Ultimate Clockmaker is something that would seem totally harmless on the surface, but be a great twist when the truth of the time loop is revealed. The issue is… other than her talent, I don’t think Eden has much going for her here. I guess you could argue that, if the killing game time loop is meant to help Teruko in some way, Eden has been very dedicated to her goal of supporting others. However, whether that’s the case or not, it’s hard to make an argument that Eden doesn’t care about anything anymore.

Maybe if the APQ quote is said in the future, and this is evidence of Eden undergoing the change that the APQ speaker described…? Eden is a definite possibility, but given all this in addition to my other theories as to where her character is headed, I think it’s an unlikely one.

Next, Veronika. As the one who introduced us to Forever Dead, she definitely has some connection to this time loop nonsense. The question is, how strong can that connection get? The main thing that I like about Veronika being the time loop mastermind is how well her character seems to fit with the APQ speaker’s personality. Both of them face boredom as their greatest enemy, and the APQ listing terror and fear as the top two emotions they wish they could still feel would match really well with a Horror Fanatic. My biggest problem is my main issue with Veronika being the mastermind in general: it just feels too obvious. Having Veronika directly state, “I can’t stand boring things,” and having the APQ speaker directly state, “anything else is better than boredom” is a really, really clear connection between the two. Would DRDTdev really want to drop such a decisive clue so early into the story? I can’t be sure. But my gut leans “no.”

It’s kind of impossible to talk about the possibility of Xander or Min being the time loop mastermind separately, because they share so many of the same points. Under the assumption that XF-Ture Tech is behind the time loop somehow, both of them may have connections to it. Min’s is undeniable– she’s clearly told us that they’ve sponsored her, and she wears their paraphernalia– while Xander may have been interrogating their actions as part of Mai’s scheme and/or in the first scene with the bloody hands over the documents. Both of them would serve similar narrative roles as someone who Teruko once wanted to trust who then betrayed her. And, obviously, both of them would be characters who appeared to die in Chapter 1 who would then return to serve as the mastermind, which could be an out-of-universe parallel or an in-universe reference to how Junko portrayed herself in the Hope’s Peak Academy killing game. Using a time loop to bring your thought-to-be-dead mastermind back for Chapter 6 would be pretty sick, I have to say.

Similarly, both of their greatest flaws lie within the realm of characterization. Neither of them strike me as the particularly apathetic type– Xander still seems to care ferociously about doing what’s right, and Min sounded genuinely desperate as she pleaded for her life. It’s possible that they could have been acting, or some time-loop induced amnesia made them forget their true feelings, but either case would still be a major shift in character. If I had to pick one of them to be more likely, I’d probably go with Min? The speaker’s insistence that they know what’s up could match with Min’s scholarly attitude, and I like her increased connection to XF Tech as well as Teacher. However, I still feel that Xander would have the greater impact upon being brought back– Teruko grew closer to him than she did to Min, and other characters, such as David (if he’s still alive) would also likely have a greater reaction to Xander’s return– so for that reason, I kind of prefer him as well.

Despite the pros and cons of all fifteen other options, this theory is clearly the most straightforward if Teruko is the mastermind. You remove all elements of how someone would have to spring either the killing game or the time loop on Teruko, and allow her to make all of the plans herself. Whether it was fully intentional or not, “the killing game is all your fault” (italicization mine) would make the most sense in this scenario. Furthermore, Teruko definitely fits the attitude of the APQ. I don’t know when she would have said it– between loops, possibly?-- but I can totally imagine her outlining how she used to care, but constant suffering and betrayal caused her to corrode.

The real question here is just why she would have put herself in the killing game to begin with. My first thought was “go through a killing game an infinite number of times and somehow something will finally result in getting Teruko to die,” if Teruko wants to die. But, that sort of contradicts what probably-Xander had to say about “end the killing game or at least kill Teruko.” Because, if the killing game is intended to kill Teruko, then ending the killing game could mean Teruko doesn't die, not satisfying what's framed as the more important of the two goals. Maybe if he was just mistaken as to what the purpose of the game was…? Or, if the time loop leaned more on the magical side, maybe the loop itself is keeping Teruko in the killing game until she can learn to trust others, no matter how dire the consequences. These other Ultimates were looped in for… accuracy to Junko’s original, I suppose? Or, maybe Teruko threw them in as a form of punishment for their misdeeds.

Anyone who isn’t a part of a killing game, such as Elliot or Ryan, raises some questions about how the speaker could be “stuck in here” and communicating with those who are part of the time loop. The most obvious option in this category is Mai, simply due to being the most relevant to the plot. She’s heavily involved with the secrets hidden in the website’s code, just like the APQ, and we know from Teruko’s own quote that “some years ago, [Mai] was searching for someone named ‘Teruko Tawaki.’” We also don’t technically know what her Ultimate talent is (although I think it’s very likely to be Lucky Student), which leaves the door open for her talent to be something useful with regards to setting the time loop up. Even a second Lucky Student could create some sort of weird clash of the titans that resulted in a time loop.

A common argument against Mai being the mastermind is that she is, in all likelihood, dead. However, with a time loop in play, there’s the possibility of resurrection. It could even be the reason why Teruko (or whoever) created the time loop in the first place. However, even if it’s pretty likely that Mai could be involved in the conception of the time loop, I’m not sure if it would be in a way that made her the APQ speaker and/or the mastermind. For the former, it’s that same issue of not being in the killing game, and for the latter, I more so see someone else creating the killing game for her than her making it herself. Probably. I dunno, Mai is a mystery.

Given the criteria of “in a killing game,” it’s also possible that the APQ speaker could be one of the characters in the altDRDT cast, though presumably not Teacher. They would have the easiest path to talk to Teacher, as opposed to the regular DRDT cast, who may have more trouble accessing him. However, there’s basically no shot at anyone in the altDRDT cast being DRDT’s mastermind, other than maybe Teacher. None of those characters have appeared on DRDT’s main hub, its YouTube channel, at all. Suddenly unveiling one of those characters– who even the hardcore fans know very little about– as the mastermind would be pretty out of nowhere. So, to the extent that the mastermind was the one who set up the time loop, I don’t think that any of the altDRDT characters created the time loop.

I think that’s pretty much every viable time loop mastermind option. I don’t know if we really determined anything all too specific, but it’s nice to sort out where all our pieces lie. As I said, I think that Teruko is by far the most logical option under the assumption that the killing game and the time loop are connected in a way where they must have been created by the same person. However, there are definitely other possibilities if you allow yourself to think outside that box.

Why?

On to arguably the most important of the categories: why? It doesn’t matter how much logical sense a time loop would make in DRDT’s world if there’s no narrative reason for it to exist in the first place. How would adding a time loop to DRDT’s story improve its themes and messages?

Well, as I already discussed in the What? and Who? sections, many characters grapple with themes of an unchanging world. What better device to reflect that mentality than one that literally shows the same sequence repeating over and over again? The fantastical concept of a time loop could emphasize and heighten the mistrust that Teruko feels. Using the time loop in that way would assign a concrete obstacle to an internal struggle, much like how the killing game itself is a physical manifestation of the helplessness of despair. Writers often enjoy employing devices like these to have a more tangible end goal for the protagonist to notably vanquish. Knowing exactly what’s going on in Teruko’s mind at any given moment might be difficult, especially given DRDT’s format. But, if Teruko sends the time loop created by her own tragic expectations shattering to pieces, we’ll know she made progress.

Additionally, Danganronpa itself posed the question of why we as fans continue to be interested in the killing game formula after seeing it play out so many times. In v3, they framed the killing game as the 53rd in a series to further emphasize the repetitive nature of this ritual sacrifice. Putting DRDT in a time loop could accomplish a very similar goal. As Veronika theorized in Chapter 2 Episode 7, the killing game will only continue for as long as audiences are entertained by it. In a never ending time loop killing game, will fans always be able to find entertainment? What does that say about them…?

Having a killing game within a time loop is a unique premise, as far as I’m aware. I’ve never before seen a fangan that decided to incorporate that into its plot. (Although, that may be a symptom of fangans tending to fizzle out before the finish line.) Making a fangan stand out can be tricky, and although DRDT already has the advantage of being fully illustrated, partially voice acted, and shown in a video format, having a unique gimmick can be a point of inspiration and a sales pitch. Similarly, Ultimate Lucky Student is a talent often tackled, both by the canon games (twice) and by other fangans. If the time loop is related to Teruko’s luck, that would also be a memorable and creative interpretation of a commonplace talent.

As for how a time loop would actually impact the story as it is, the obstacle it creates would definitely raise the stakes high for a Chapter 6 Trial. Like, how the hell are they supposed to beat that? Reiterating what I said earlier, a time loop could also be a clever way to revive a character (or characters) who previously died. If one of the starting premises of DRDT was “what if I had a mastermind that appeared to die in ch1, only to strikingly return in the finale?”, a time loop could have been the method invented to make that happen.

So, in summary, yes, I think there is sufficient narrative support to justify the inclusion of a time loop in DRDT. Maybe I should’ve cleared this section out of the way earlier in the theory. Oh well, too late now. But, if I had the chance to start it all over again, maybe I could do things differently next time…! Or, maybe I’d wind up writing the same thing every time regardless…

Where?

It’s a little silly of me to co-opt the “Where?” section as basically a summary of how I think the time loop theory would best play out, but I have my reasons. “Where?” seeks to answer where the time loop originated, and who was in it when it started. Thus, with so much focus on how the time loop began, talking about the cause and result alongside that made sense to me. The full Accirax Time Loop Theory will be in blue below, with more discussion afterward to answer whether I believe in it or not. Closing Argument starts… now!

The Tragedy ended nearly 80 years ago, and the new American Hope’s Peak Academy was founded about 50 years after that. Some time between HPA’s founding and 13 years ago, an up-and-coming tech company– XF-Ture Tech– partnered with Hope’s Peak Academy to take a more scientific look at the origins of talent in young students, much like what happened in pre-Tragedy days. XF-Ture Tech already had their eyes on one promising youth, “XF,” who they prepared to send to the West Academy. To place a representative into the East Class, XF Tech encouraged Hope’s Peak Academy to host the Ultimate Contest, with the intention of rigging the exam to get their applicant of choice into the school. This wound up being Min Jeung, who was placed in East Class 27.

Whether because of XF Tech’s request or simply due to respect for the history of the Academy, Hope’s Peak also once again began admitting Ultimate Lucky Students into their program. Their two candidates for Class 27 were Teruko Tawaki, who was sent to the West Academy, and Mai Akasaki, who was sent to the East Academy. XF Tech was quite interested in both of the students, but particularly Teruko. The way that her bad luck affected not only herself, but others as well, was very reminiscent of Nagito Komaeda, a major historical figure in both the start and the end of the Tragedy. XF Tech told both Min and “XF” to look out for Teruko as best they could, making sure nothing would come to harm their new test subject, and prepared to begin experimenting on Teruko’s luck.

Meanwhile, in the East Class, Mai fit in swimmingly. She grew really close with all of her classmates, but particularly with Min and Xander. Mai had already begun searching for Teruko several years before they wound up being recruited at opposite Hope’s Peaks– possibly because of their shared connection to good and/or bad luck– so when she heard a bit more about Teruko from Min, her interest was piqued. Recruiting her favorite Rebel to the cause, Mai asked Xander to sneak around in Hope’s Peak Academy to learn more about what the connection between the Academy, XF-Ture Tech, and Teruko was.

What they learned in the documents was the reality of what was happening in the West Class: XF-Tech was intermittently running physical and mental tests on Teruko to determine exactly what the range and power of her curse-like abilities was. Could her raw Ultimate power rival that of someone like Nagito, or perhaps even Junko Enoshima? Throwing a few mediocre lives at that question would be well worth the answer, wouldn’t it…?

Using their social connections and financial power, XF-Ture Tech arranged for West Class 27 to be taken to a self-contained abandoned mall to begin their most dramatic test yet: seeing if Teruko’s luck would carry her through a killing game against other Ultimates, just as it could have for Nagito or Junko or as it did for Izuru Kamukura. The killing game commenced, and while Teruko might not have been a target from Day 1, at some point in the story, someone attempted to kill her. And… It worked.

What a disappointment. Was Teruko’s luck really so weak when push came to shove?

But then, something truly unexpected happened: the killing game began again. Unable to accept her death, Teruko’s luck engulfed the entire mall into a time loop, running the killing game over and over again until the results were satisfactory. The rest of the world moved forward in linear time as usual, but the mall was stuck in an infinite killing game. XF Tech, amazed and delighted, diverged all of their resources into the study of this phenomenon, protecting it closely.

Mai and Xander were horrified upon learning this, and knew that they had to do something to save West Class 27. Mai, Xander, and potentially some others ran over to the site of the test to see if they could break in, get further intel, change someone’s mind, or anything to get the killing game to stop. However, as they did, they were attacked by XF Tech’s security, resulting in Xander losing an eye… and Mai losing her life. At that moment, Xander vowed that, no matter what it took, he would end the killing game and save the rest of West 27… or, at the very least, kill Teruko to avenge Mai’s life.

Meanwhile, within the time loop, the deja vu (and possibly some comments from the XF Tech-controlled mascot?) began to make Teruko wise up to what was happening. While her original plan was to get along with everyone in the killing game, trusting them and being their hero, she found that every one of those routes led to death and personal tragedy/betrayal. Teruko learned that, if she stopped caring about others, she could at least cut down on the personal tragedy aspect.

Teacher, as a perceptive and intelligent soul, was the next to piece together that something about the killing game was unnatural based on Teruko’s behavior. In one loop, Teruko winds up saying the APQ to him, revealing her new attitude. Either Teruko or Teacher could fit the description of the Forever Dead boy with how their minds began to fracture.

Outside of the time loop, Xander formulated his new plan. When his village was eradicated, it was a case of the rich and powerful obliterating the little guy with their unmatched resources. To fight back, you have to become as big as your attackers. You can only defeat a time loop with a time loop. You can only save Ultimates by putting more Ultimates’ lives at risk.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to motivate the rest of East Class 27 to join Xander in his crusade. Although he himself may have been a love-or-hate figure amidst his classmates, everyone loved Mai, and wanted to help fulfill her dying wish. Plus, in theory, the plan shouldn’t risk any of their lives. Weaponizing the time loop killing game’s unending nature against it, the goal was to repeat the killing game as many times as it takes until Teruko dies as the first victim. Her luck has to fail her at some point– it’s a corrupt system; it can be broken, argues Xander– and at that point, they’ll simply end the killing game with no other casualties. To make it easier on everyone else, Xander even promised to be the one to make the first move against Teruko, every time. He left a note on him when the time loop started to always remind him.

Anyways, using some combination of Xander’s determination, Charles’ science, J and/or David’s money, Whit and/or David’s connections, and remaining vestiges of Mai’s luck (LGI “original” Color Theory pulling through???), East Class 27 managed to break the abandoned mall time loop. They pulled Teruko into their own killing game, “masterminded” by Xander, in which her luck would hopefully be less of an obstacle. The DRDT killing game we’ve seen thus far could be their first attempt or their thousandth, but whatever the case, the plan to get Teruko to die as the first victim hasn’t succeeded thus far. It’s especially hard to get it to work when Teruko has the lingering thought in the back of her mind that she can’t be killed… and when Min still has a vague memory that she’s supposed to keep Teruko out of danger.

Even though the altDRDT cast, West Class 27, escaped the time loop, they aren’t out of the killing game woods just yet. The East Class managed to catch them mid-killing game, after two Trials passed. But, due to the confusion of the time loop, none of them can remember what happened in that particular iteration of the game, or Teruko’s disappearance, which leaves them at only 11 participants. Quite the mysterious circumstance, indeed…

That’s the best I could come up with. Got some points of concern? Me too! Here are the ones I’m thinking of right now:

Would HPA (presumably headed by “Ms. Naegi”) really allow XF-Tech to do anything remotely close to what I described to Teruko?

How would XF-Ture Tech have known enough about Teruko’s luck when Teruko was 5 to recruit Min (and “XF”) to be in the correct classes at the correct time?

Is XF-Ture Tech really that important to the story?

Is Mai actually that close to Min and Xander specifically, or are we just biased because those are the two Bonus Episodes we’ve seen thus far?

Didn't Mai and Teruko have a more extensive connection than what was described? (Matching tattoos, phone charms)

Why would Teruko’s luck create a time loop specifically? Why wouldn't it come up with some other way to save her?

Why would the time loop only be constrained to the mall?

Would Xander ever be willing to come that close to sacrificing innocents’ lives for the plan?

Would the entire DRDT cast really be willing to risk their time, if nothing else, to enter a killing game just to "avenge" Mai?

What could they have actually done against Teruko’s luck to break the mall time loop?

How could they have guaranteed that another time loop would begin if they managed to steal Teruko?

Where did MonoTV come from?

Why would the students have themed the killing game around TV?

Why would they throw the embarrassing secrets motive into their killing game if it was only meant to kill Teruko/that “round” theoretically shouldn’t even happen?

Why would Xander not have written the kill Teruko Tawaki note to himself? (He probably didn’t based on the handwriting)

If not Teruko’s death, what marker would signal the loop point of the DRDT killing game? Whenever the killing game seems to end?

What motive would XF-Ture Tech have to (presumably) continue the altDRDT killing game after the time loop is broken and Teruko is gone?

Why does altDRDT have NG code bracelets?

I could probably come up with more, but these are all the major questions I could think of at the moment. While not a “question,” per se, another point of contention for some would be that this would make Xander the mastermind of DRDT. It’s not a huge point of contention for me, both because 1) an off-the-wall situation like this is exactly what I think Xander would need to properly capitalize off of any narrative setup he may have for being the mastermind, and 2) @/sentinel-kinjo made a really good point in the replies of my DRDT mastermind post that definitely had me questioning whether I should’ve put Xander (and Charles) higher.

Anyways, despite all this effort– or maybe because of it– I think I personally don’t really believe in the theory that DRDT is part of a time loop. Somewhat like the Arei dress-up theory, I feel like there are too many oddities currently left unanswered for the theory to be actually viable. Unlike the Arei dress-up theory, though, I think that this one has far more potential to become correct via us receiving more information that either fills in some of our plot holes or reroutes the plot to avoid some of the biggest grievances.

The only thing I really like from this theory is that the altDRDT cast is West Class 27, AKA Teruko’s class. That’s gonna be my new personal headcanon until proven otherwise.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed that the DRDT fandom has been feeling a little sleepy (Min reference) lately, so thank you, anon, for helping to keep me cooking on the series during this semi-down period. …Even if it took me, like, two months to actually finish. Thank you for your patience, as well.

And thank you to everyone for reading this far! I think my mastermind theory still wound up being longer than this (although it’s hard to tell with the pictures), but this one is still a doozy. Also, if you have anything to add on or argue against, please share your thoughts in the comments or a reblog! I’d love to hear others’ thoughts, especially given how loosely defined the time loop theory was. Whether you do or don’t, I hope you enjoyed. See you at the next inexplicably long analysis!

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