#danny thinks the way to break out of the story would be to remove the crown - thinking that's binding him to the world | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nerdpoe · 11 months

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TWINcognito mode Part 4 (Tim and Danny Pretend to be Twins AU) (is it still pretending if they genuinely consider each other as twins?)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, AO3

Danny had a bandage on his hand.

Tim stared at it, then his twin, then the hospital room around them, and finally at Jason.

“Jason what the fuck,” he breathed quietly, gesturing helplessly at the hospital patient on the bed.

“No, you’re what the fuck,” Jason hissed, shoving a finger in Tim’s chest, “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Well fuck you Replacement, I know where you keep your precious BatMobile and I’m not afraid to torch it.”

How the hell did Jason know where the secret BatMobile was?

Wait, not important.

“Danny, you good?” Tim asked, pushing Jason’s hand away and moving towards his probably slightly high twin, “Did he cut off any fingers?” Did Tim have to cut off any of Jason’s in return?

Because he’d do it. He’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.

Jason could stand to lose a few fingers.

Danny’s too-wide eyes gazed into his, and then the little shit started giggling nonstop.

“Oh yeah, they gave him morphine. Did it even though I told them that giving a meta morphine is a bad idea, but I think they thought he was you, so. They learned the hard way.”

There was energy dancing in arcs around Danny’s fingertips, and Tim was fairly certain he knew that the fake incident of blasting a hole in the wall had just become a real one.

“Tim?” Danny asked, reaching out and burning the lapel he’d managed to grab with the energy running unchecked through his hands.

Tim was so suing the hospital for this.

“Yes, Danny?” He sighed, delicately removing the sparking appendage from his clothes.

“Tim, I think I broke a wall.”

“That’s fine, they deserved it for not listening to your medical proxy.”

Tim heard Jason distantly give a flat “What”.

It was fine, a few seconds of typing and it’d look like Jason had always been a listed emergency contact and medical proxy. He could figure out how to explain that to Bruce later.

He’d also need one of Jason’s aliases.

“Everything is moving, and the ceiling is melting.”

Tim frowned. Usually when he saw shit like that it meant-

-Danny abruptly leaned forward and emptied his stomach on Tim’s shoes.

Tim squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the sound of Jason’s hysterical laughter.

He could also hear a few shutter clicks, god damn it, one of the vultures had trailed in after him.

"Jason, two mill to play bodyguard and handle the vulture behind me."

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Jason went after the paparazzi with far too much enthusiasm.

Tim listened to the distant sound of a bone breaking and agonized screams as he reached forward and rubbed Danny's back.

Danny whined, leaning into his stomach.

"Don't worry; I've got everything handled," Tim was already texting his team of lawyers in one group chat and the Wayne Industries PR team in another.

He'd take care of it; taking care of family was what he did best.

~~~~~~

The phone rang exactly twice before it was picked up.

“Bruce Wayne speaking,” Bruce Wayne answered, not really paying attention to his work phone as he focused on the blueprints to Black Masks newest HQ in front of him.

“Mr. Wayne, we understand that you have a good working relationship with us at the Daily Planet, for all that we’re from your sister city,” a nervous voice sounded on the other side, and Bruce was suddenly paying attention, “And we were wondering if you would be willing to have an interview concerning Tim Drake-Wayne’s hidden twin? The public has many questions, and you know that we’ll treat the story with the respect it des-”

“Danny doesn’t like reporters,” Bruce lied through his teeth; he had no idea what Danny did or did not like, and he would address the lack of press coverage later once he found out what was going on, “How did this get out?”

“Ah, well there may have been a slight incident at the local hospital, and it’s a little hard to hide a wall with a hole blown in it from a high meta.”

What.

“What hospital?”

The line went quiet.

“I…I’m feeling a bit like I’ve just ratted them out, sir.”

“I’m their father, it’s fine; what hospital?”

“Gotham General, sir. Mr. Daniel’s bodyguard broke a paparazzi’s legs as well, so…there’s also questions about using excessive force.”

Bruce allowed himself a moment to close his eyes and lament his quiet evening.

That was Jason. That was 100% Jason. This was absolutely something that had happened between the twins and Jason that they hadn’t wanted Bruce to know.

“I’ll get back to you on that interview,” Bruce said, hanging up without waiting for so much as a goodbye.

Without a word, he walked out of the BatCave and headed towards the garage, trying to occupy his mind to steer it away from imagining catastrophic injuries.

How unfortunate that his brain was insistent on catastrophizing something, and if it wasn’t allowed to imagine injuries, it was going to find something else.

Danny had been largely unknown to the press.

Gotham press Bruce could understand; they would understand the unspoken rule laid out by Janet and Jack to Not Talk About The Twin. But Metropolis news? They wouldn’t care at all.

There would have been reports on it. The Daily Planet would have called to ask for a story on property damage, not about the ‘hidden twin’.

There were other inconsistencies.

There were no pictures of Danny in the Manor, aside from the new one on the mantel that Alfred had managed to get the boy to sit still for. However, he was in the background of all of the photos he’d found of the Drake family online.

If it wasn’t for Barbara stating that she knew him, and for Tim’s easy familial interactions with him, Bruce would swear that Danny really hadn’t existed prior to-

…

Danny hadn’t existed.

He didn’t want to consider the possibility that Barbara lied, but if he did…

Tim enjoyed pranks. Danny was confirmed to have been captured by Ra’s. Danny had escaped. Tim had found Danny. More than likely, they had moved forward from there, and Tim was prone to becoming obsessively protective of family, and Danny was…

Ra’s had reached into a different dimension and grabbed that universe’s version of Tim. Except he hadn’t, because in that universe Tim had been born with an identical twin, and it would have been an easy mistake for someone not expecting that.

Tim and Barbara were trying their hardest to make sure that Danny had a place in this universe. They were trying their hardest to keep him.

Tim was absolutely not researching how to send Danny back; if he had been, he would have started refusing cases for the sake of research.

Bruce hauled himself into his car, started it, and took a moment to rest his forehead on the steering wheel.

He understood it, really. He did.

Danny fit into their family like a missing puzzle piece; he belonged with them.

But Danny was from a different dimension. He had to go home, no matter how much they wanted him to stay. His version of Bruce was probably tearing the laws of reality apart to get him back.

Bruce would do the same for any of his children, especially if it had been a kidnapping and not an accident.

Bruce sighed and slammed the car into reverse.

He didn’t have enough evidence, he would have to ask for further information.

And how he loathed admitting he did not know something.

In the meantime, he called the one person he would never have thought he’d have to ask for help.

He called John Constantine and told him, as Batman, that the Wayne family had a situation.

~~~~~~

John hated the rich.

Unless they were paying him, of course.

Which Bruce bloody Wayne would, if he wanted his help.

It had taken a bit of wandering, fending off hospital security, and walking past a smoking hole in a wall-fucking Gotham-before he’d managed to convince someone to just guide him to the room in question.

And because John was a snoop, and he knew he was, he stopped outside the door to listen in.

“-I know you’re from a different dimension, Danny, we just want to help you go back.”

“I don’t understand what I did wrong, why do you want to kill me?”

“Bruce what the fuck-”

“Old Man you’ve got it wrong-”

“John Constantine is on the way to pinpoint what Dimension you’re from. Danny, this hurts, I don’t want to do this, but you have to go back home.”

“But if you do that I’ll die!”

“Yeah Bruce he’ll-wait you’ll what? What?! Back the fuck up Old Man!”

“B, calm down. Your conclusion is inaccurate and you need to step back.”

“Danny, stop overreacting; your version of Bruce is probably very worried.”

Well this sounded like a lovely family conversation to walk into.

He opened the door without any fanfare and…yup. Rich people.

There was a revenant standing in front of an eldritch being waving an unused IV pole at Bruce Wayne while the CEO of Wayne Industries was trying to pull the old CEO away from the people in front of him.

Bruce Wayne was not moving.

“Right, so…I’m here to take a look at the…” John trailed off, finally getting a good look at the eldritch thing behind the revenant.

That was no kid.

That was an Ancient.

That was not just an Ancient.

That was the High King of the Infinite Realms, trapped in a mortal body and shackled to life.

This was not a God of Death, this was The God of Death; but tiny and human. Tiny, human, and for some unknown reason had chosen the Wayne family to live his life with.

John wasn’t going to pretend to know what went on in the mind of an Ancient Spirit turned God, but he did know how to take in what was in front of him.

The soul was seamlessly integrated into the body, only barely leaking out. There was a tether, presumably to the Infinite Realms, for the overflow of power that the mortal body could not handle. This looked like any other reincarnation, but with something more powerful than a normal soul.

Which meant that this was deliberate, and usually the reincarnated only held bare bone memories of their past life. If John actually did send the kid back to his home dimension, it was literally going to kill him. The only way for the tiny Royal in front of him to go back was through dying.

For all intents and purposes, this was just a kid. A kid acting as the eyes for a literal God.

And Bruce Wayne was about to royally fuck up said God’s judgment of their world.

“Wayne,” John whispered, eyes not leaving the Royal in front of him, “Wayne, we need to talk.”

“Ah, Mr. Constantine, you’re here. If you could-”

“Wayne,” John snapped, voice hoarse, “Get your bloody arse out of the bloody room right bloody now and listen to me!” by the end of his demand, John was not ashamed to admit that his voice had started hitting some very high notes.

Bruce Wayne’s eyes widened, and the fool finally acquiesced.

“Why is that guy always so gross?” He heard behind him as he closed the door.

He elected to ignore it in favor of setting the pompous rich arse in front of him straight.

“He isn’t lying; you send him back to his home dimension, he dies.”

Wayne looked stricken. Good. Now he had his attention.

“He’s a reincarnated soul from the Infinite Realms, and for whatever reason he decided that your family was the one he wanted to have. Why is he this old and a twin to someone who did not have a twin before? No idea. Not my business. But Wayne,” John walked forward, resting his hand on the man's chest before gripping his suit and yanking him down to eye level, “That kid is acting as the Eyes of a God. If you bugger this up, you bugger us up.”

John let the man go and walked away, throwing his business card over his shoulder.

“The JLD will keep in touch.”

~~~~~~

Tim had miscalculated.

Danny was still too high to be of any use.

Jason’s eyes were a luminescent green, so his cognitive faculties were essentially gone as well. Honestly it wasn’t a huge loss on his part, he doubted Jason would have had valuable input anyways.

His only saving grace was the occultist that had actually done something useful; he’d bought Tim time.

A quick text to Barbara that Bruce had catastrophized into the worst case scenario, again, and Tim got to work.

He stripped out of his suit jacket and pointed at Danny, catching Jason’s eyes.

“We’re switching places; help him undress and escort him out. Pay raise to-”

“You don’t have to pay me fucking money to make sure one of my brothers isn’t killed, Replacement,” Jason snarled, dropping the IV stand and turning to make quick work of Danny’s hoodie.

Danny tried to help, really, he did, but he couldn’t seem to find the coordination for it.

Regardless, in the three minutes it took for Constantine to lay into Bruce, he and Danny had managed to not only swap clothes, but to place an identical bandage on Tim’s hand.

Jason had only just managed to get Danny’s hair in the same style as Tim had when he’d walked in before they heard the door start to open again.

Jason took a half step back and placed himself squarely in front of the twins.

Tim was not surprised.

Jason's second worst nightmare, after all, was Bruce becoming a version of Willis he could not protect his siblings from.

From the look on Bruce’s face, he knew it, too.

Tim curled his hand around the batarang he’d hidden up his sleeve, fully prepared to do what he could to buy even more time for whoever Barbara had called as reinforcement to arrive.

But Tim didn’t get a chance to do that, because between one second and the next he was outside and being handed off to Kon by an only slightly winded Bart.

“Guys,” he started, feeling the migraine starting to build.

“It’s okay Danny we’ll break you out of Gotham and then Tim can come with you and then you can live with us forever because Speedsters are the best and-”

“Oracle said you’d been dosed with morphine, so I’m gonna have to carry you like Tim for a bit man. Sorry.”

“Guys-” Tim tried, but was manhandled into Kon’s arms.

“Don’t you worry about a thing Dantheman we’re gonna make sure you’re safe and then you can share your house with Kon because no one messes with Kon and you’ll be safe forever and-”

“You have the wrong twin, buffoons,” a young voice cut through, drawing their attention to the youngest Wayne.

Damian looked thoroughly unimpressed.

The look deepened when they heard the fire alarms start going off in the hospital that were more than likely, statistically speaking, courtesy of Jason.

“Come, Timothy; we must clean up the mess your poor planning has made,” the little demon brat ordered imperiously, turning on his heel and marching into the chaotic hospital.

Tim managed to wriggle out of Kon’s hold and patted his chest.

“Thanks, man,” he sighed, mentally preparing himself for the bullshit he was about to walk into.

Kon gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“I’ve decided that I’m gonna hang out in Gotham for a bit; just call my name if you need me, bro.”

Oh, Tim would.

He paused as he watched a very familiar motorcycle tear down the street.

In fact, Tim was tempted to call for Kon right that very moment.

“Timothy!”

…But he would have to face the consequences of his actions first.

@terzatheunderscorerima @darkbiscuitvoidstudent @akikkobara @reach-for-the-horizon @bitter-coffeecup @moodycow210 @kisatamao @thefantasmarex @fisher-with-the-morbs @jaguarthecat @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @moonshell25 @tundra1029 @hoarder-of-gender @depressed-bitchy-demon @kisatamao @countessdragon

#dcxdp #dpxdc #TWINcognito mode #tim and danny pretend to be twins au #phanfic

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five-rivers · 2 years

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Wishes on Your Mind

Any situation exposed to both ghosts and Danny’s parents immediately became unforgiveably stupid, no matter what it started out as. Vacation? Mental health crisis? Dinner out? PTA meeting? School dance? Political speech? Discussion on how to save the city from a ghost invasion? Chance encounter with a friend in the grocery story?

None of it could resist the sudden environmental drop in IQ.

If anyone asked, that was what Danny was going to blame the current situation on.

He crept around a display of soda cans (10% OFF!) while keeping one ear on the murmur of his mother’s conversation with Mrs. Foley. One of the new cashiers had just moved into town last week, and the grocery store was infested with wish-construct ghosts. Invisible wish-construct ghosts, because Desiree had convinced the poor ignorant, gullible cashier to wish them that way. None of the other shoppers had noticed.

On one hand, this was great. He finally knew where Desiree had been hiding out all week and what she’d been doing. On the other, it would be nice if he wasn’t the only one noticing the problem. Or if, at least, everyone was running away from the problem. Or if his mom didn’t know he was in the store.

Oh, to be a superhero in civilian identity creeping around a grocery store, trying not to break anything while fighting invisible nasties that were influencing the shopping habits of everyone who passed by. It sucked.

He sprinted, almost silently, after a thing that was animating grocery carts. He couldn’t blast it out while he was in human form - what if someone saw? - so he’d have to catch it when it moved between carts. This brought him back into range of the conversation.

“I just wish he’d say what he was thinking,” said Maddie.

Danny heard Desiree giggle and felt her magic settle over him like an enormous sticky cobweb. Oh, come on! That was just unfair! Not only did he have to hunt down Desiree and her minions, he’d have to do it while, what, having no brain mouth filter? Is that what? Was it too much to ask for a break?

His mother and Mrs. Foley turned to him with wide eyes.

“Oh, no, I said all that out loud, didn’t I? Gosh, I’m an idiot, and she’s definitely going to use this to make me think of wishing, make me think about wishing something, shut up, you idiot, you’re going to let something slip!” He backed away.

“Danny,” said his mother.

“No, no, no, absolutely not, she can’t know about Dani, or Cujo, or-- Desiree!”

Green mist curled between him and his mother, forming into the genie ghost. “You mentioned something about wishing for things? I can make that happen.”

Worst thing was, Danny did know, and it wasn’t like he’d never thought about things like that. Never thought to wish for-- Maybe this could be a way to get Desiree back into the Zone, he’d wished her way before, if he could only think of one-- Or allies, he could use some backup. Then again, he’d always wanted to-- He had to negate this wish if he wanted to get anything done--

Danny tripped and stumbled over words as thoughts flicked through his head, faster and faster. He bit his tongue several times. Desiree had started out looking amused, but now she seemed rather bored, even though she was dodging blaster shots from Maddie, who had taken cover behind a shelf of produce.

Honestly, Danny hated ghost fights. Especially ghost fights like these.

“Then why don’t you wish to stop?”

“Because obviously that would go against my--” He slammed his hand down over his mouth. It kept moving but the words were muffled. He had to come up with a way to keep this thing from making him do something that would reveal his secret! Wait! That was it! He removed his hand. “I wish I couldn’t do anything that would reveal my secret!”

In Danny’s defense, this situation involved both his parents and ghosts. He wasn’t immune from the idiocy either.

He felt the second wish settle over him, pulling some power from the first, but he also felt a great jolt, like getting hit with the Plasmius Maximus tear through him, and his awareness of ghost energy dropped to zero.

“Anything else you would like to wish for, dear? Perhaps some long held childhood dream? A present you never got for Christmas?”

About a dozen thoughts about ghosts and hunting and Phantom and his powers rattled through him, but since he couldn’t articulate any of those, what came out was, “I always wanted a puppy.”

Cujo poofed into Danny’s arms and gave him a big lick across his mouth. Bleh.

“Oh,” said Desiree, disappointed. “You know each other. I was hoping for a rampage.”

Ugh. Why couldn’t a nice ghost have Desiree’s powers? Like Cujo.

“What?” asked Desiree, alarmed.

“What?” asked Danny, confused. He was spewing so much nonsense he wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying. Were his thoughts always like this? It seemed really chaotic.

Then Desiree’s face softened into something almost… dopey? Her tongue lolled from her mouth and she… Licked him?

What?

“You aren’t eating my son, ghost!” shouted Maddie.

This was so embarrassing. Danny wished they were somewhere else right now. Which, considering that he said that out loud, caused space to warp around him, Desiree, and Cujo. They were deposited in the park. The blessedly empty park.

“Ha!” said Danny. “Your mistake! Now I can-- Oh, no, I can’t, can I crap, crap, crap, that was a stupid wish. I just had to say something that would--” Keep his ghost half out of reach. “I can’t even say it!”

Desiree barked at him. Danny froze.

“Wait. Cujo? Is that Cujo in there? Did my wish put you in Desiree’s body?”

“Idiot!” Danny jumped at Desiree’s voice emanating from Cujo’s body. “My powers are attached to my body! Of course the mutt is in there!”

“Ha!” said Danny. “Serves you right! Don’t go granting wishes all over the place like that if you don’t like it.”

“You think the dog is going to do any better? Wish me back!”

“No! You’ll just start trying to take over the town again, or turn my friends into ghosts, or erase my memory, or--”

Cujo, apparently deciding he wanted more of Danny’s attention, jumped him. When Cujo was a puppy, this was cute, a bit of a discipline issue, but cute. In the body of a fully grown and scantily clad ghost, however…

Suddenly, it was a lot less funny.

“Oh no, this is like Poindexter all over again. How do we fix this?” He wished Sam and Tucker were here. They always knew what to do about things.

Wait. Those were words coming out of his mouth and--

Sam and Tucker popped into place to either side of him with a puff of ectoplasmic smoke.

Sam pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth. “This had better be good,” she said.

“Nooooo,” said Tucker, dropping his game controller and falling to his knees. “My win streak!”

“It isn’t,” said Danny, “it’s horrible.” Cujo licked him. Again, as a dog, cute, as Desiree--

Sam dropped her toothbrush and activated her wrist ray, something dangerous in her eyes.

“Wait!” said Danny. “It isn’t what it looks like!”

“Then what is it?”

Danny spewed out the whole story, and then some. It took twice, maybe three times as long as it should have because not having a brain-mouth filter encouraged his brain to follow the weirdest tangents and it was also hard to explain some parts while not being able to talk about Phantom or being half ghost or any of their past fights with Desiree.

“Okay,” said Sam, as Danny continued narrating every stray thought that crossed his mind, which, unfortunately for him, included some thoughts about how Cujo-in-Desiree felt pushing against his arm, and, oh, that sure got him a glare. “I wish that all the wishes Danny made today were undone.”

Well, since Danny was still saying everything he was thinking, he was pretty sure it hadn’t worked.

“Of course it didn’t work! He’s a dog! You can’t make a wish that complex and expect him to understand.”

“Oh! I have an idea! What if I say, ‘I wish Desiree and Cujo would get their brains back in their heads.’ Do you think that would work? Oh, no, I said that out loud, too, I’m--”

There was a pop and more smoke - Desiree’s powers really had a lot of smoke effects, didn’t they? - and when it cleared, Desiree and Cujo had their heads back, sure, but they were also on the wrong bodies.

“Oh,” said Tucker. “That’s just messed up.”

“You will pay for this, Danny Phantom. Mark my words, you. Will. Pay.”

“That doesn’t sound like the words of someone who needs help, does it?” asked Sam, venomously.

“How about we get rid of Danny’s wishes before he makes things worse again, okay?”

Honestly, Danny didn’t know how he could make things worse. Unfortunately, his imagination was all too willing to supply some examples and in short order they were dealing with an earthquake, an alien invasion, and carnivorous daffodils.

“I wish Danny went back to normal!” screamed Tucker as he was beamed up into a spaceship.

‘Normal’ to Cujo evidently meant that Danny was in Phantom form, which was fine. He had control of his words again! He wasn’t stumbling over his thoughts because what he was saying distracted him! Victory!

The aliens were still there.

“I wish all the wishes Desiree and Cujo have granted in the last week went away without hurting anyone!”

When the smoke cleared, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were sitting in the middle of the park, Desiree looming angrily over them.

“You!” she said. “I am going to-- Why am I itchy? Why am I--? Oh my gosh, do I have fleas?”

“I wish you were back in the Ghost Zone!” said Sam, quickly, taking advantage of her distraction.

“For at least a week!” added Danny.

Desiree groaned. “Fine,” she said. “But this isn’t over, Phantom!” She melted into the air.

Cujo yipped happily and crawled into Danny’s lap.

“Let’s never speak of this again,” said Danny.

“Agreed,” said Sam. “But first we’re getting Cujo a flea collar. I know you let him sleep in your bed sometimes.”

#danny phantom #fic

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yellowocaballero · 1 year

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Is Dick Grayson a Good Person? Slade Wilson's Opinion Fails To Count.

“You realize that this frees you.”

“Gotham’s not a chain!” Dick snapped, before he even had the opportunity to control himself. “I put half my life into that city and I won’t abandon it just because everybody else in your stupid country has! It is a starving child, it is not a burden.”

Slade’s lip curled upwards. Dick wondered if he had fallen into a rhetorical trap. “Defensive. I was referring to your obligations towards the Batman.”

“Batman isn’t dead,” Dick said coldly. “You won’t get that lucky.”

“But you are far out of his reach.” Slade folded his arms on the table, eyes glinting. “As you said, there’s not much work you can do for him now. You’ve always found the task distasteful. The lying. Prioritizing Batman’s mission over the greater good. You can remove the mask you wear. However necessary the subterfuge was in the past, it’s hardly necessary now. You can do what you like. And you’ve never liked your job. You’re free.”

So I did that thing I always do when writing a bugfuck huge story and wrote a smaller story off it for fun. Normally I'd save this for much later, but this time I thought I'd be fun to post it before the main story and have it be a teaser. I think this very short slice of the universe must be really fun to read if you have no idea what the hell's going on!

I think by the end of it you can get a good idea of what's happening. This will be more difficult if you aren't familiar with certain Batman plotlines. This one requires some basic Teen Titans know-how to fully get, but I can offer a Cliff's Notes if requested.

Very short 5k mystery under the cut.

He was standing in the gift shop.

Just standing. He wasn’t scrolling on his phone or pretending to browse or doing anything that would keep him remotely invisible in the crowd of children. He stood in front of the back door to the gift shop that led into the main Tower building, hands in his pockets and aimlessly looking around. Zero fucking shame.

“Why didn’t he just call?” Gar hissed. “That’s why we have a phone. That is the purpose of phones! What’s his purpose? Annoying us to death?” He glanced back at Joey, who was looking thoughtfully at the screen. “Uh. No offense.”

“For the last time, please do not censor your words for my benefit,” Joey signed, eyes crinkling in faint amusement. “He’s a difficult person. Nightwing, I’ll go down and speak with him.”

Dick was too tired for this.

He hadn’t been sleeping well, or at all. Gigantic fucking surprise, that one. It was worrying Kori. She was looking at him now, with her eyebrows furrowed in that increasingly familiar way. She barely looked at him normally anymore.

For the five millionth time, Dick thought that he ought to break up with her. For five millionth time, he decided it wouldn’t be worth it. Maybe next time.

He adopted a Leaderly Thinking Pose anyway, rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip. It was his genuine body language while he was solving a problem on the ground as Nightwing, but he had to force it now. He really just wanted to stare blankly into space now. “If he wanted to speak to you, Joey, he would have randomly showed up on your balcony.”

“He also never wants to speak to you!” Danny piped up. Pantha flicked him on the temple. “Ow! Child abuse again!”

Vic’s eye twitched. “No horseplay in my security booth, guys.”

“Oh, but horseplay literally everywhere else is fine?” Donna asked archly.

Gar grinned. “Horseplay? You call that horseplay? I can show you -”

“Do it and you’re dead, little man!”

“But I could be a little horse! Just a little one! Shetland pony!”

Dick was way, way, way too tired for this.

“If he had actually wanted to speak with us, he’d just show up.” Dick resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Standing in our darn gift shop’s a message. A ‘come out and play’ thing. It’s a…”

“Power play,” Donna sighed. “The Slade Wilson special.”

“Which means he wants to talk to me,” Dick agreed. He stepped away from the console, waving the sweaty young adults out of his way as they tried to make room in the overstuffed security booth. “I��ll be back.”

An awkward silence fell over the assembled group. Dick forced his way back into the hallway, leaving the others to trip over their feet and follow after him, but the sound didn’t obscure Panthera whispering a question in Gar’s ear.

“Uh,” Gar said, furry green ear flicking, “I’ll tell you later, yeah?”

“Oh! I know this one! I got it!” Danny thrust his hand in the air, ignoring Panthera grabbed him by his collar and physically towing him along. “Slade Wilson kidnapped Nightwing from the circus when he was twelve and taught him how to be a super-badass bounty hunter mercenary! But then Nightwing was like - no way, Jose, no mercenary looks this good in Spandex. Lookit my toned butt. So Nightwing made a break for it and decided to use his ill-gained skills in pursuit of heroism and justice and making me clean my room -”

“So if I look inside your room, it’ll be clean?” Donna asked mildly, and Danny froze. “If I go in there right now, it’ll be sparkling? Just like you said it was? Because if you lied, I’ll have to take you off -”

“Give me ten!”

That successfully got rid of Danny. Panthera obviously had a billion more questions, but after Gar whispered something back she nodded and peeled down the hallway in the opposite direction. Dick finally made it to their cavernous living space, stuffed full of couches and empty soda cans and video game systems. The familiarity and safety didn’t make him feel any less claustrophobic.

The Tower had been his home since he was eighteen. He had never moved out or gotten his own place, choosing to live on site like their more vagrant members. Nowadays he spent most of his time at Kori’s place, to the point where he might as well be moved in already - but the Tower was still Nightwing’s home. The Titans were still Nightwing’s family.

“Love, please wait,” Kori said, and because it was her he stopped.

He turned around to see his friends in front of him, and realized for the first time that they all looked worried. Kori, Donna, Gar - old and familiar expressions on their faces.

“I really hate that guy,” Gar muttered, glaring at the floor as his tail lashed. “How does someone get worse the less evil they are?”

“Somebody may be a ‘good guy’ and a bad person. Or somebody may be a ‘bad guy’ and a good person. Evil or good - I believe it has little to do with your character.” Kori turned to Dick, and Dick forced himself to meet her eyes. “Nightwing, you do not have to meet with him.”

“Kori, he’s not going to leave until I -”

Kori grinned. Like Gar baring his teeth was a grin. “I would enjoy the opportunity to remove him myself.”

“There’s no need for violence.” As much as he loved to see it in Kori, he would like to avoid traumatizing schoolchildren. “God knows I’ve talked to him enough times, one more won’t kill me. It’s the fastest way to make him go away.”

“That’s not the point,” Donna said sharply, crossing her arms. “You shouldn’t have to be left alone with the man who kidnapped and abused you as a child.” Dick flinched hard. “We’re your family, Dick. Let us protect you from him.”

Her words made Dick sick. He let them see it. They’d misattribute the emotion. They’d attribute anything to anything they wanted. And it wouldn’t matter if Dick had never said a word. That wasn’t what they would remember.

“If I have to hear the word ‘apprentice’ from his gross yellow teeth one more time, I swear I’m going to turn into a horse and bite him.”

Kori turned to Donna. “Please let me kill him.”

“Dick already said no.”

“We can all outvote him.”

“Joey would make that kind of weird, Kori.”

“Joey will live.”

“And Slade won’t!” Gar said cheerfully.

There was something Dick didn’t know how to admit. Thankfully, he didn’t have to. “He didn’t kidnap me and he didn’t abuse me,” Dick said evenly. Frustration flashed in everybody, even Kori, but the denials were important. The denials wouldn’t make them forgive him, but they would keep him out of any potentially illegal waters. Dick knew the value of a technicality. “I wish you guys wouldn’t make those assumptions.”

“Assumptions are all we have!” Gar protested, throwing out his arms. “You still haven’t told us anything! Like, you don’t have to, really, but - all we have are the weird scraps you drop, and the picture is super worrying. Everything you have told us is scary as hell. If we’re misunderstanding, then why can’t you just -”

Scary? Scary? They’d said it a hundred times, and he’d never disagreed - out of context, the way everything slipped out, he knew what it looked like, but even Dick wasn’t perfect and even that was too much to say. They’d said it a hundred times and it had never bothered him before, but today - now -

“Thank you for worrying, Gar.” Dick smiled, warm and sincere. “But I can handle one old friend. I’ll be back soon.”

“Love, I don’t -”

Dick cut her off by kissing her, and he left to get changed with no more fanfare. There would be no need to go downstairs and talk with Slade, or to coordinate a meeting place. They knew each other too well for that.

He didn’t relax until he was out of the tower in his civvies, the clothes that felt almost alien on him. The suit had felt alien on him for weeks. Everything was alien on him. Everything was alien - even his home, even his family. His world, shifted irrevocably to the right. The United States of America, two million people short.

Dick piloted the boat back to the mainland in silence. The boat had a video camera in it too, so he did nothing but stare at the waves.

The reserved room was under the last name ‘House’. Ha, ha. Never let it be said the man didn’t have a sense of humor. Dick was proof enough of that.

The Japanese restaurant was upscale, but it was their regular haunt. Slade was in Japan for business frequently, Dick had spent a vaguely traumatic but extremely educational summer studying under a master there, and Jump’s very sizeable Japanese population had resulted in some authentic restaurants with private back rooms for business deals.

Slade was already waiting, which was a surprise. Maybe he already had gotten in his power plays for the day. Unlikely. Normally he liked to make Dick wait twenty minutes. Maybe he had picked today to be unusually kind and considerate. Even more unlikely.

Without looking up from his phone - undoubtedly working, the man never stopped - he said, “The sake’s poisoned.”

Dick glanced at the innocuous bottle on the table and the two stacked bowls next to it. “My enemy or yours?”

“Mine. Don’t worry, they don’t know you’re here. I’ll resolve this after we’re done here.” He put his phone face down on the table, looking up at Dick for the first time. “You look quite well. Funny.”

“Let me guess,” Dick said wryly, sliding into the seat across from him, “you’re about to congratulate me on my lying skills again?”

“I’m hardly effusive with praise.” Slade reached into his jacket and pulled out his own flask, taking a bowl and sloshing a dark amber liquid onto the porcelain. “And I thought the term was ‘performance’?”

“Performance is the word for you this morning.” Slade held out the bowl to Dick, who held up a hand. Slade shrugged - your loss. “Was embarrassing me in front of the entire team really necessary?”

“Was it fun?”

“Are you an asshole?”

“It was a favor,” Slade said archly. He tipped the bowl into his mouth before setting it aside. “Which is why you’re here. Because you recognize the favors you owe me.”

“And you recognize the blackmail I have on you,” Dick said sweetly. Slade’s mouth twitched backwards a little. “I think last time we established quite well that we are at a standstill, Slade. What did you call it - an impasse?”

“If we are at an impasse, then why did you come?” Slade twisted the cap back onto his flask. Dick was silent. “Joey well?”

“Very. Talia?”

“Unhappy.”

“Unsurprising.”

“She asked me to check in on you,” Slade said lightly. “See how you were doing.”

Dick snorted. “Is that why you came?”

“Yes.”

Dick stopped short.

Slade half-smiled. Point to him.

Then there was a knock on the door, and when the waiter walked in Dick expected to be asked for his order or given a menu. He wasn’t expecting the waiter to bring the entire meal, including Dick’s order. Mapo tofu extra spicy. His favorite. That explains the power play. If it wasn’t obvious, then it was hidden. No situation in which there wasn’t a power play. Fantastic.

“Okay,” Dick said sourly, picking up his spoon. “So why are you actually here?”

“Don’t worry about the check, son. It’s on me today.”

“You are so divorced.”

“And you stink of orphan. Let’s move on from the obvious.” To Dick’s shock, Slade pushed away his own bowl of tonkatsu ramen - a working class dish for the high class man - and folded his arms on the table. He gave Dick his full attention, so heavy it could squeeze the breath from him. He almost never did that. Not outside of a fight, anyway. “How are you doing?”

Dick ate his tofu.

“There’s nobody else you can speak to about this besides me.”

Barbara. Who was even more distraught than Dick, and who Dick had been focusing on supporting instead of dumping onto. Who still believed in the police. In her father.

Alfred. Who was suffering enough.

“I’m not stupid enough to bare my neck to you,” Dick said quietly.

Slade leaned back, crossing his arms. “Vulnerability? You were flayed open to me many years ago, Dick. I have seen parts of you that even you have not seen.” Dick snorted softly. “Like will always recognize like. What’s a few words of frustration between an apprentice and his old master?”

Dick put his spoon down. Dick breathed. In one. Out two. In one.

“You don’t have to hold your temper, Dick.”

“I shouldn’t have come.”

“You knew you had to come,” Slade pressed. “You aren’t perfect. Nobody can hold all of this within themselves. You came because you needed to talk to somebody, and I am the only person in the United States of America that you can be honest with.”

“It’s ridiculous of you to act as if a lie entitles you to honesty.”

“I’m just trying to do you a favor, Dick. I’m the only person left who wants to help you.”

Dick breathed.

The first unexpected thing of the night happened. Slade sighed, rubbing his forehead in an exact mirror of Joey’s expression from earlier that day. “I’m here when you’re ready.”

Then he picked up his chopsticks and began eating. Dick and Slade ate together in complete silence. Somehow it wasn’t even that awkward. The food was good, and if you were in a room with Slade the ideal environment was silence.

He wasn’t halfway through his meal when he noticed that his hand was trembling. Dick watched it, detached and half-interested. That didn’t normally happen. He wasn’t feeling much. Certainly nothing intense enough to make his hand shake like this.

Slade definitely saw it, but he politely didn’t say anything.

He was halfway through his meal when he noticed that his careful breathing had gone off the rails. His breaths were coming in too hard, too fast. He was lightheaded. He needed to get out of this room. This claustrophobic back room in a Japanese restaurant under the name House, a grim fucking parody of his real home and family, eviscerated and dead.

Dick dropped his spoon. “I should go.”

He didn’t stand up. Slade ate his noodles.

“You did this after Jason.” Exactly this. He had done the exact same thing, down to the same restaurant. Dick hadn’t even registered. He didn’t remember the month after Jason too well. “You - you sat me down and told me that I could talk to you about it. You did, didn’t you?”

“Goodness, Dick, I wasn’t hiding it.” Slade blew on his spoon. “I remember finding it interesting. You and Joey couldn’t be more different. When Grant died, Joey only - well. Of course Joey didn’t say much. But I remember he just lay there in that hospital bed. Just staring out the window. I didn’t really know what to do. Let his mother take care of it.” Big-ass fucking shock, that one. “You, however - you, I knew what to do with. And you look exactly the same now as you did back then. Do you know who you look like, Dick?”

Dick didn’t say anything.

“You look like a man angry enough to strangle the world.”

Dick bit his tongue.

Slade looked back down at his bowl, sipping his broth. “Tell me about it.”

Bruce would be so fucking disappointed in him. But it wasn’t as if Bruce could know.

“I’m not like you, Slade,” Dick said. He forced himself to keep staring at the man instead of looking at the woodgrain like he wanted. Do not forget who you’re speaking to. Don’t let him win. Was this letting him win? Were there some battles he wanted to lose? “But I’m not like them either. They’re honest people. Their lives have been messy, and they aren’t always nice, and sometimes they don’t always do the right thing. But they are honest people. They’re guarded, but none of them are pretending to be something they’re not.”

“Are you?” Slade asked mildly. “You’re a hero. There’s no doubt about that. I believed that was the only qualification for membership into that club. Certainly not talent.”

“Yeah, I’m a hero. I’m a good person. I’m a leader, I’m a boyfriend. A son and a brother.” He would always be a brother. Jason could be dead for fifty years and Dick would still be his fucking brother. And Tim… “But I’m a soldier too. At the end of the line I’m a soldier. Which is why I’m out here playing video games and eating ramen instead of where I’m needed.”

“Batman needed his spy?”

Dick winced. He hated that word. Accurate as it was. “The world needed Nightwing. That’s what he said. I’m not much good as a spy right now.”

“You were always a very good spy,” Slade said lightly. “I couldn’t even get Terra past you.”

God. Terra. Dick had almost forgotten about that. Maybe in self-defense. “Terra was a rank amateur and a little girl. You’re disgusting, by the way.” Slade shrugged. Dick didn’t know what part of leading a gullible teenage girl into believing that you might fall in love with her if she did everything you said warranted a shrug. “So unless you have any more Terras or Amanda Waller has any more ideas, Gotham needs me more than the Titans do.”

“And yet here you are,” Slade said. “A soldier following his final order. No wonder you’re distressed. The only thing keeping you with the Titans are orders you don’t want to follow.”

“I was raised family uber alles,” Dick said lightly. His hand wasn’t shaking anymore, so he carefully picked his spoon up and started tucking into the tofu again. “Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Are we done here?”

“Are we?”

“I’m two seconds away from that sake.”

“Don’t stop on my account.”

“Oh, you wish.”

“We’re both well aware that I prefer you alive, Dick.” Great, that old power play - you’re alive only by my will! Just because it was true doesn’t mean he should lord it over him. Everybody Dick knew was alive because he wanted them alive, it wasn’t really something to brag about. “You realize that this frees you.”

Slade’s lip curled upwards. Dick wondered if he had fallen into a rhetorical trap. “Defensive. I was referring to your obligations towards the Batman.”

“Batman isn’t dead,” Dick said coldly. “You won’t get that lucky.”

Dick’s hand clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. He turned his attention back to his breathing again. In one, out two. Slade watched, amused.

It all flashed through his mind. The news coverage. Bruce’s face in that D.C. hotel room. The gossiping, the smiles. The Titans. The scorn.

They had been sympathetic. They were good people. Danny said a lot of callous shit, obviously. That kid needed therapy badly. Donna had tsk’d over it, Kori had solemnly proclaimed that it was the decision of a weak leader.

“That place is so scary,” Gar had said, shivering. “Gotham bad guys are bad guys on steroids. I can’t imagine being trapped in a city full of them.”

“And they aren’t even letting us do anything about it!” Wally had announced. That was what had really galled him - Wally hated inactivity. “Is this really the end of it? It’s so unfair.”

“There was no other outcome,” Vic had said shortly. He was the ‘cold hard reality’ one. “That plague could have swept the US. Shitty how we aren’t even trying to make a vaccine, but quarantining the place is the only thing that kept everybody else safe.”

“But to just abandon it!” Kori had said. “It’s too unfair.”

“Yeah, it’s fucked.”

“Well,” Wally had said, “nothing to do.”

“Nothing we can do,” Donna said.

“Gotta say,” Gar said, “kinda glad it’s not my problem?”

“With you there,” Vic said.

Raven had said nothing. Dick didn’t remember what he had said. He only knew that she had stared at him the whole time, and that he had to eventually force himself not to care. Raven had his number. She knew what a liar he was. She never told anybody. She’d kept every secret so far - she’d keep this one too.

Everybody had jumped to conclusions. Nightwing never said a word about why he had the skills and drive he had, why he chose their strange and unsettled life. The first person they see who really seems to know him is Slade Motherfucking Wilson, who won’t stop going on about their fated master-apprentice destiny. Who wouldn’t assume that they had a history? And wasn’t that a pretty fantasy too convenient to destroy?

Dick hadn’t lied about that. Slade had. Completely out of his ass, with full abandon. Gleefully. Called it a favor to him. Dick could do without his favors. Sometimes Dick wondered if he believed his own lies.

Dick didn’t have to say it. Slade knew. Slade knew full well, and he had only said it to make Dick see it too.

The mission was worth it now. It was worth it. The lying, the masks, the betrayal, their fake history - it was worth it and more. He couldn’t imagine wanting to do anything else.

“You can say it, Dick.”

Dick dropped his spoon, letting his fists clench in his lap.

“I already know. You can say it.”

Dick’s teeth grit together.

“I want to hear you say it. Admit it, Dick.”

Maybe Dick had been kidnapped by this man one too many times. Maybe hearing that tone of voice, a tone he only used when he had Dick at his complete mercy, ground against his mind at just the right angle and produced a spark. Or maybe Dick was just weak without Bruce - weak, when he was alone in the world - and he just wanted to say it.

“I want them to pay for this.”

Slade was polite enough not to gloat. God only knew he’d worked hard enough over the past five years to try and squeeze something half as cold out of him. “And you have to stay undercover to do so. Even now, when it’ll be more difficult than ever.” Dick nodded. “Revenge, then. What will that look like?” Dick shrugged. “You haven’t figured it out yet? Unlike you.”

“Hard to figure out something you don’t like admitting,” Dick said lowly.

“Sounds like I’m doing you another favor, then.”

“Sounds like you need to watch your mouth.”

Slade barked a laugh, making Dick roll his eyes. “Let me guess - you’ll rather die than accept my help?” Dick flipped him off, and he laughed again. “So be it, then. That’s a pity. I would have liked to know what your revenge would look like.”

“I can do it on my own,” Dick snapped, a second before he realized what that sounded like. “Christ, Slade, I’m not taking revenge on the United States. That’s supervillain behavior. I’m just -”

“Fantasizing about it?” Slade asked archly. “Thinking, dreaming, wanting? Not doing? It’s unlike you. You’ve always taken what you wanted.”

“Are you seriously trying to convince me to go supervillain right now?”

“Just trying to help.”

“Your help’s sh - not welcome, thanks.”

A dim, sunken light shone in Slade’s eye, and Dick looked away. He hadn’t allowed Dick to curse at him for those long two months. Knowing that shit from so long ago still stuck probably got him off. Asshole. Bastard. Fucker.

“It’s here if you want it,” Slade said. “It’s always been here. Just because you’ve ungratefully rejected it, thrown it back in my face, doesn’t mean it’s no longer here. For what it’s worth, I think you’re more than capable of the revenge you seek. If you’re actually willing to take it.” Slade angled his head down, one watery blue eye piercing straight through Dick. “Are you willing?”

Dick couldn’t breathe.

“My little brother is twelve,” Dick whispered hoarsely, and for once in his life Slade fell silent. “He is a little boy. And he is trapped in that city fighting Bruce’s crusade. If it doesn’t kill him it’s going to break him. And I’ll have lost two brothers in two years. Two kids. Because there’s ‘nothing we can do’. Or because ‘there’s only criminals left in there anyway’. Because of the greater good. Because some asshole in charge decided my family wasn’t worth a couple of bucks. Again.” Dick’s breath was coming hard and fast, and it took all he had not to fall. “I almost killed the man who did it. Bruce had to pry me off him and rip the knife from my hands. I can’t kill the people who did this. I would not do it. I can’t kill everybody who isn’t lifting a finger to help. That’d be - that’d be everybody. And I wouldn’t want to hurt them either.

“I keep on trying to think of a way to make sure that they wouldn’t get away with it. That the people who trapped Tim and ground Jason into poverty experience the consequences of their actions. But I can’t think of it. I don’t know how.”

Short of air-dropping them into Gotham. But that would just be murder. What with the rampant plague and everything. On top of the earthquake. And the riots. Jesus.

“You can’t,” Slade said simply, and Dick didn’t know why the words were crushing. Maybe it was just hearing them from Slade, of all people. “Those people pressed a few buttons and took a few bribes and ruined millions of lives. They will never face ramifications for that. You cannot bring justice for Gotham. The best you have now is payback. The best you can do is revenge. Is that good enough for you, Dick?”

Dick was silent.

And Slade just shrugged. He pushed his bowl away - when had he finished it? - and stood up. He reached over the table and picked up the small poisoned sake bottle with two fingers, tilting it gently back and forth. He put his hand in his pocket, angling his arm back just enough to flash his concealed gun.

“The person who ordered me the poisoned sake is sitting in a business meeting with his fellow executives. They’ve stiffed me on a payment and are trying to get away with it. Of course, nobody stiffs me and walks away. My life exists on a permanently balanced system. Everything in my life is fair. You should give it a shot. It’s quite pleasant.”

“I have better things to do with my time,” Dick said cooly.

“Ah, yes. We all best return to our lives. And you to your friends.” Slade walked past him, pausing only to rest his hand on Dick’s shoulder and bend down. His breath was hot on Dick’s ear, and Dick found himself freezing still. Another ancient reaction, persistently clinging. “Word of advice, Dick. Don’t tip your hand to your friends just yet. Your fight will only grow more complex from here. You’ll need as many allies as you can.”

Dick turned to look at him. His skin crawled at the smile on Slade’s face, at that familiar bristly stubble. Thank god Joey was identical to his mother. “Every ally I have?”

“Every one.”

They stared at each other, heavy and sour, and for the first time in a long time -

“Then I guess I’ll need all the help I can get,” Dick said softly.

Slade straightened, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Attaboy. Now, if you excuse me. Wait until the gunshots stop to come out.”

“You’re always taking care of me, Slade.”

“I told you I would,” Slade said loftily. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“No,” Dick said, “we’ve never lied to each other.”

Dick stayed seated in that room long after Slade left. He stayed seated through the murmur of voices, the first screen. They’d need to find a new meeting point.

A hail of gunshots descended over the restaurant, far away and close, and Dick finally broke into tears. Nobody could hear them over the sound of the shots, and nobody could see him in here, and nobody had to know.

He cried as long as the gunshots lasted and no longer. After ten minutes, he wiped his face and exited the room. Better hurry home. It was getting late.

They’d be expecting him.

#man sounds like tim might be in some trouble! hope he's okay ha ha ha #well we'll never know!#my writing #batfam #dick grayson #slade wilson #teen titans #I'm almost done with this bugfuck huge story #and I'm kinda worried cuz I still have to post the MK thing after Steph too #uhh yall gonna have scheduled Caballero fic every week for. a while. lmfao

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threewaysdivided · 1 year

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Hi! I love your writing, I appreciate how much time and effort you put into it. It’s always worth it and makes rereading a pleasure!

For the ask game:

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

Awww, thank you! 💜

I know I've said it before but one of the biggest complements people can pay is telling me you're re-visiting Deathly Weapons (or any of my other work). I love stories that have re-read value and details which reward people who want to come back for a second visit or just for being attentive on the first pass. I really wanted to put some of that ethos into DW and it's been super flattering to hear people say its been worth their time, or to point out little things and bits of foreshadowing that I peppered through for them to find. To me, the point of storytelling isn't to "win" - it's to play a beautiful game, and I'm really happy to see people playing along. It's fun!

Now, to your questions:

(Fanfic Writer Ask Game)

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Since I write for two fandoms, let's do both:

So, with Danny Phantom the thing I've come to realise is that, as a story, it is objectively quite busted... but the way in which it is busted means that all those kind-of-broken pieces lean into each other. The show exists in a fandom-Goldilocks-zone balanced on a razor wire, and it's hard to remove or change any one of those interlinked elements without risking a chain reaction that would topple it right off. (For example: just changing the art-style could substantially change the visual impact of the ghosts, which could cause a major aesthetic tone-shift, which in turn could shift the story emphasis and how the jokes land, which would impact how the audience connects to the characters and so on. Simply trying to "ground" the show in a more internally consistent reality would mean acknowledging implications that the current tone has to ignore in order to not be horrifying.) This is one of the reason why I increasingly feel like a sequel, elseworld or spiritual-successor-type story would have a higher likelihood of succeeding than a direct reboot. If I had to make one simple change, I would want to surgically remove the episodes Livin' Large and Phantom Planet from the canon since to me they add very little by way of story/ character/ lore development and come at a huge opportunity cost in how they either shut down more interesting potential stories or require the characters to act against their established characterisation in frustrating ways. Alternatively I think I would have liked to have the later seasons animated in the looser, more squash-and-stretch-y style of the early episodes since that approach got more dynamic posing and expressive face-acting from the character designs.

For Young Justice, the one simple thing I would want to do - and you could probably see this coming - is just take the name Young Justice off the front of Invasion, Outsiders and Phantoms. I feel like that would make things less frustrating and more creatively honest. It's pretty well-accepted at this point that the "five year timeskip" (and substantial behind-the-scenes production-staff-change it served to mask) basically resulted in an entirely different show - and the thing which makes that new show so unsatisfying/ disappointing/ infuriating to so many people is how it frequently contradicts (and is often outright antithetical to) the themes, character motivations and character agency established by the original season. Plus, Season 1 makes a really poor foundation for that new show since - outside of a handful of reveals in the last 20-40 minutes - none of the setup it provides gets carried through, and the changes are so big that you can't reconcile them without fundamentally breaking things. To me, both entities would be better for the separation. People can like Invasion, Outsiders and Phantoms but we should let that story stand on its own strengths and merits rather than being judged by the standards, expectations and narrative promises of a show that it is clearly not interested in being. And we should let the people who were interested in what Young Justice Season 1 was potentially setting up have the possibility space to imagine where that original production team might have taken things had they been able to stay on. Plus, pour one out for the poor fans of the unrelated Young Justice Comics: it's challenging enough for two separate franchises to share a title/ fandom tag when both are reasonably stable but when one is secretly four increasingly noisy shows which have been forced to cohabit the same trenchcoat and at times seem to actively hate each other... that has to be a lot to deal with.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

Honestly, getting into storytelling and learning about writing has taught me a lot about myself in general but I think the biggest thing is an appreciation for the time and decision-making that goes into quality story-crafting. Sure, a creator or production team might not anticipate how the final product comes together or how the audience responds to it, but the little individual details don't get there by accident. Homestuck references in Bluey's background art, LoTR references in The Dragon Prince, Goldfinger and JoJo's reference in Young Justice Season 1, the Rothko painting being deliberately hung upside-down in Glass Onion... someone made those choices; put them there either to support the narrative or just to reward people who were paying attention with a funny in-joke. Set/background design, art design, character design, digital modelling, prop-creation, lighting, blocking and framing, panel composition, storyboarding, animation, acting and voice-acting, choreography, scoring, sound design, pre-production, writing, outlining, structural editing, polish editing, cinematic editing... all of it takes time and effort.

It makes it all the more impressive when you can tell that a creator or team recognizes that there is an end-user at the conclusion of this process. That they are making this thing for someone; that they're going to ask an audience to spend time on the thing that they're making, and that if it's going to take time to make anyway then they might as well go the extra mile - both because they care about the story and to reward to audience for that investment.

Ultimately what we're trading is time - little bits of our lives, back and forward - and recognizing that that is a gift in both directions is something really special. I think, "I'm glad I spent my time on this" is the core thing you want people to walk away feeling about your art (even if they don't say it in those words).

It's why I'm so flattered when people say they're re-reading Deathly Weapons. Your time is valuable, and I'm glad that the time I put into building this story makes it one that's worth yours.

#on writing #Young Justice #Danny Phantom #young justice: deathly weapons #myth-blossom's ask game #fanfic writer ask game #arbitrary-cherry #3WD Answers

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starlightshore · 2 years

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id love to see your AU's take on that episode where he separated his ghost half from his living half.

omg so i rewatched the episode in order to refresh myself. honestly, one of the best episodes of the show. wouldn't change much (other than update it with modern sensibilities, DP hasn't aged gracefully. As well consider how modern cartoons handle long-form story)

I've talked about this in other posts but to boil down what my AU's Danny's Halfa science: basically he's a fusion of infinite timelines that covers the 1 hour of the incident. You can sort it into 2 camps of infinity: one timeline where the portal accident happened and one where it didn't.

So Danny thinks he's gained super powers from the portal and that he's "a human with ghost abilities" and not a Real Ghost.

In reality, he's infinite versions of himself merged into one, who can shift into different "states" of those timeline selves. It's more complicated than that, but that's the simplest I can make what Danny is. In my AU it's referred to as "The Halfa Paradox" which honestly? a banger. i'm proud of that one.

Anyway the Fenton Ghost Catcher.

Since Danny isn't a human with Ghost DNA like he is in the show (and you could speculate all day on the true nature of whatever that means) I'm just going to focus on my AU's logic. Danny has ectoplasm in him, but it's fused into him by a time-stream that's fused together like glue. The catcher can't remove it without completely hitting the Halfa Paradox like a truck.

As you could guess, this has some Mixed Results.

To be clear: Halfa!Danny is one person. While the fusion's initial results are drastically different (literally life and death) it's only the course of one hour. the separate timelines that make up Danny are joined together and don't exist elsewhere... Danny is still just Danny. He's not an amalgamation of different voices and memories (aside from that one hour).

To split him into two, what you're really doing is splitting infinity into two different infinities and merging them into two people. Both of these two people still are functionally the same person with the same memories and personalities... is what I would say, if this was a clean break. I'm keeping the personality split that the show did. It's silly and when taken seriously, very thought provoking!

Fun Danny has the body of a Danny who never went into the portal, so no scars. Danny's personality is scrambled and, like how ghosts are defined by their perception and emotions, Danny's personality is changed to fit to how he views his "human half."

The danny pre-accident was aspiring to be an astronaut. A child prodigy just like the rest of his family. then Danny had to wrangle ghosts in secret and his grades plummeted like my mental health in 2020.

Danny is told "you're a slacker. you're rude, you're a bad kid." He's internalized that so severely, that's who he's become.

Likewise, Phantom has the ghost body of a Danny who did die. Both halves don't understand the situation and Danny's kinda having this crisis "oh god now i really AM a full ghost." (To visibly represent this, Phantom has a bigger scar while Fenton has none.)

The body itself doesn't have the "split" form that my AU's Danny has, so no black/white marks over the suit. Like in the show, Danny grabs a white sheet to be his cape -except now, he takes the time to sew a "D/P" symbol onto the suit. Cause he's a dork.

His hair has stayed the same length as his time of death, while Fenton's has grown out. A subtle way of showing Danny hasn't aged as ghost.

The dynamic of the two Dannys reflect the internalized split between Danny's alter egos.

^ probably paraphrased, but that's an actual back and forth from the episode! Phantom in the show quickly reasons "Okay, then we fuse back!" and then overshadows Fenton -not realizing it's overshadowing and not fusing. That'd probably still happen here but I ain't drawing all of that.

Anyway, assuming I ever get around to making my AU a fic, I'd imagine my writing style would be different from "one story within one episode" format the show had. So i won't go TOO into this as this would defs be on my list of episodes I'd cover.

If this was "what if Sam got in charge of a full reboot" I'd make this a story arc that lasted a few episodes at the very least, cause there's a lot you can explore with this situation!

I don't support underage drinking/smoking so that most defs DOES NOT happen, but don't tell me Fun Danny wouldn't attempt to. Kyle is 18 and is a stoner so he can smoke all he wants tho.

Happy 4/20.

Anyway, GOD imagine if Kyle and Wes were in the show for real in this ep. that'd be so funny. Fun Danny and Kyle are so similar -Danny wants nothing to do with ghost hunting and Kyle doesn't believe in ghosts. Perfect match for friendship.

Jazz is already thinking she's losing her mind in the canon episode so imagine WES' breakdown. poor guy, but hey. A Jazz and Wes team up would be funny as hell so I'm down for it.

They're all dumbass teenagers. Sam's activism is very performative and guilt-trippy -at this point they're 15. and tucker is still a twitch streamer -who's lack of updates has scaled back his follower base. This would make for two fun subplots where Danny enables each of his friend's goals -abusing his responsibilities and obsessing over each activity in an unhealthy degree. (because what else is he going to do? school work? hell no.)

#danny phantom #dp fanart #tucker foley #sam manson #dp au #fanart tag #death #canon typical death #ask to tag #420 #drugs mention #drugs

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archaeopter-ace · 3 years

Text

Ectober Day 26 - Autopsy

A Not-So Quiet Night at Cook County Morgue

Danny was in a state of panic. He’d been looking for his body for over three hours, and he couldn’t find it anywhere.

He was about to check the janitor’s closet in the science wing for the umpteenth time (he knew that’s where he’d left it; that was where he always left it when he had to go ghost during the school day), when Sidney Poindexter flew up to him looking incredibly guilty.

He leveled a flat stare at him. “Poindexter. You wouldn’t happen to know where my body is, do you?”

“Aha ha, funny story actually. See, I may have borrowed it, to visit my sister – she’s got grandkids now!”

“That’s nice.” Danny’s smile was anything but. “So where is my body now?”

“I, ah – now, don’t get mad! – but I might have lost my grip on it. Near her house. In Chicago.” Poindexter gulped and shrunk in on himself.

“Chicago!” Danny exploded. “You took my body for a joyride, without permission, and you left it in Chicago!?”

“Well, it’s not like you were using it at the time!”

“It’s still my body, which you knew when you took it! It’s my body, which is why I’m the only one who fits in it properly – no wonder you lost your grip on it, if you were sitting in it all the way to Chicago, that’s what, two hours away?”

“Ah, thereabouts, yeah. I am sorry.” He wrung his hands together.

“Sorry doesn’t get me my body back. C’mon, you’re coming with me to fix this mess.”

Poindexter backed away, shaking his head. “I can’t!” he wailed. “Why do you think I borrowed your body in the first place? I’m bound to Amity Park, to my locker. In a mortal body I can stretch that bond much further, but as soon as I fell out of it, I was snapped back here faster’n greased lightning!”

Danny threw up his hands in frustration. “Great! That’s just great. So I’m on my own. Please tell me you at least dropped my body off somewhere discrete?”

“Er…”

[line break]

By the time Danny found which city morgue his body had been brought to after being found smack-dab in the middle of the sidewalk, it was nearly 8 o’clock at night.

He was certain he’d found the right one this time – there was a faint pulling sensation, behind his breastbone, leading him down the underground hallway to a set of closed doors, locked electronically. He phased through.

Danny had never been in a morgue before, but if he’d ever given it consideration, he would have expected sinister dim lighting, unidentified stains, and pervasive cold.

Well, he got one out of three right. The morgue was cold.

It was also clean, brightly lit, and filled with polka music.

A shorter man with wild black hair, green scrubs, and… and bunny slippers was puttering around a body on a metal table, a body that Danny immediately recognized as his own. Yay.

He floated invisibly closer, and breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that his body was still just as he left it, not horrifically cut open. Well, nearly the same – it appeared that at some point his clothes had been removed. That was going to complicate things.

Truthfully, Danny was uncertain just how ‘dead’ his body was when he left it behind – clearly, it was dead enough to be taken to a morgue, and Sam and Tucker had confirmed that it didn’t have a pulse or heartbeat when he was outside it. But could it be killed? If his body was damaged, would he die?

Not willing to find out, Danny needed to distract the coroner somehow so he could get back in his body and make a run for it. If only he were able to carry his body in his arms and fly it out of here! Alas, physical contact would pull him right back inside, and cut off his connection to his powers in one fell swoop. He had maybe enough juice to phase through the doors as a human, but not nearly enough to maintain invisibility all the way back to street level, especially not after flying all the way to Chicago.

“You’d better not be another one of the weird ones.”

Danny jerked, backpedalling in the air, but the coroner seemed to be talking to himself, jotting down notes on his clipboard. He pulled a thermometer out of a place Danny resolutely refused to think about, checked the temperature, and swore.

“I really don’t need another weird one. Until Dresden comes swanning in here to prove me wrong, you’re just a normal body, yeah? Just a normal body with no discernable C.O.D., with a core temperature of 97.8. A body that, so far as I can tell, is perfectly healthy and alive, apart from the fact that it is actually dead.” He made another note on his clipboard.

“Oh who am I kidding, you’re definitely gonna be one of the weird ones.”

Huh. Feeling reckless and impulsive, Danny decided to drop his invisibility. “Hi. Can I have my body back?”

To his credit, the man regained his composure remarkably quickly. Danny waved, trying to look as harmless as possible. To his consternation, the man then completely ignored the ghost floating in front of him, frantically patting at his pockets until he’d produced a marker, which he immediately put to use drawing a circle around himself and the autopsy table.

Danny watched on, bemused – then alarmed, when the man picked up a clean scalpel to slice into his thumb and drip several drops of blood onto the circle. “Hey hey, what are you doing man?”

“Protective circle, so don’t even try it. You say this is your body?”

“Yeah, so I hope you don’t mind if I just grab it and go – whoa!” When he reached for it he was stopped by an invisible barrier that not even phasing could get through. He blinked at the culprit. “Do all coroners know magic?”

“I’m not a coroner; I’m a medical examiner. I actually went to med school. And I have no aptitude for magic. A friend of mine – a very strong, powerful friend, so you don’t want to mess with me – taught me how to make a protective circle. Keeps out spirits, specters, wraiths, and other non-corporeal forces of ill intent.”

“Right, well, I am definitely not a force of ill intent. I’m just… uh… an astral projection? Yeah! Totally normal astral-projection accident, happens all the time. I’m sure your magic friend could tell you all about them, later, after you let me get back into my body.”

The medical examiner scrutinzed Danny, who tried not to sweat. “Listen, kid. I want to believe you. But this is above my paygrade. How do I know you’re not going to use this body for some nefarious purpose? I can’t let you have it. Let me call my friend, he can sort this out.”

Danny pushed frantically at the barrier, trying to get to his body. Polka music continued to play incongruously in the background. Eventually, he had to admit defeat, and wait for the ‘friend’ to arrive.

And that’s how Danny Fenton made the acquaintence of Harry Dresden, professional wizard.

#ectober week 2021 #ectoberhaunt trick #ectoberhaunt 2021 #danny phantom #waldo butters #crossover #dresden files #corpse au #in the style of kurosaki ichigo

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darthfrodophantom · 2 years

Text

The Boy with the Metal Choker

Summary: Sam meets the seemingly normal Danny at a cafe while trying to avoid her ex. They fall in love and try to build a life together, but only one thing stands in the way of their happiness: the mysterious metal choker that Danny always wears and refuses to take off. Why does he refuse to remove it and why is everyone so cryptic about it?

My next phic phight submission! This is based on an old scary story I read and loved when I was a child. So now you get my Danny Phantom version of this old folk tale. See if you can recognize it!

Prompt: Danny sits at the bar alone, when Sam whispers in his ear. ‘I’m so sorry but can you kiss me, my Ex is here and I really don’t want to talk to him right now.’ (PR185) - for @xsailorsakurax

Prompt: Prosthetic Soul au. Danny dies and his parents use ectoplasm to heal his body. They create a poltergeist, which thinks it actually is Danny, as a prosthetic soul, so their son can live again. (PR064) - for @dp-marvel94

cw: dead Danny Fenton, implied character death, horror elements, Prosthetic Soul AU, Corpse AU (kinda), angst

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38425234

The story begins on a normal day, in a normal coffee shop, filled with seemingly normal people.

A dark-haired girl sat alone at a table in the center of a coffee shop. She listlessly stirred her coffee as she watched the other patrons. The girl liked to people-watch in the coffee shop. She liked to make up fantastical reasons for their mundane actions. The red-faced man furiously typing wasn’t trying to meet a deadline; he was in a hacking war against a terrorist to preserve national secrets. The three teenagers in the corner whispering to each other weren’t incurable gossips; they were witches casting spells on those who wronged them. The dark-haired boy sitting alone wasn’t just another bored college student like her; he was a dread pirate hiding behind a naive face waiting to whisk someone away into a life of adventure.

The girl thought he was cute.

Her gaze lingered on his haunting blue eyes too long. He noticed. She quickly looked back at her coffee. She tried to look anywhere but his table. She found relief when a new patron entered the coffee shop and she hoped he would provide a distraction. It was not the distraction she wanted. The tall patron with the white, spiked hair was her ex-boyfriend, and the girl panicked. She worked hard to break up with him, for he was clingy and not right for her, and she knew he would sit at her table if he saw her.

In her panic, the girl’s gaze was drawn back to the dark-haired boy alone at a table. An idea formed in her mind, but could she do it? The ex-boyfriend had finished ordering his coffee - she didn’t have much time. She picked up her coffee and her bag and quietly moved over to the boy’s table. He looked at her with curious eyes, and she interrupted any question he might have wanted to ask by leaning forward.

“I know you don’t know me,” she whispered in a rush, “but that’s my ex-boyfriend over there–no don’t look. Can we please pretend we’re dating? And when he turns around, can I kiss you?”

The girl knew she was asking for a lot. She probably wouldn’t do it if someone asked her. She could only hope the boy could hear her desperation.

“I…what?” the boy asked as he pulled back in shock. “You want me to…wait, am I being set up?”

She looked towards the coffee bar. She heard them call his name. He would be turning around soon. “It’s not a set up. Please.”

“I…okay,” the boy agreed.

Just in time, the girl leaned in to press her lips against his. His lips were chilly, but not unpleasantly so, and they tasted like coffee and citrus. She placed her hand on his to sell the act. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the ex-boyfriend walk past them and out of the shop. She broke the kiss and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she told him, and her smile was honest.

“Oh yeah uh, don’t mention it,” he replied as he ran a hand nervously through his spiked hair. She also found that cute.

That’s when she first noticed the choker. A thin metal band, no taller than an inch, encircled his neck. The light gray metal was etched with dark grooves running in a circuit board pattern. A bright green piece of metal stood out on the side of the band. The boy noticed her eyes linger on the choker, and he averted his gaze. She looked away as well.

“Let me buy you another coffee,” she offered. “Least I can do after that weird request.”

He looked unsure. Maybe she shouldn’t have stared at the choker for so long? Finally he spoke. “Uh yeah, sure. This one was pretty much gone anyway,” he tried to joke.

The girl nodded as she stood. “I’m Sam, by the way.”

“Danny,” the boy introduced.

She bought them both more coffee and sat down at his table again, and they started to talk. They found a similar interest in video games and music. Sam learned that Danny loved space. Danny learned that Sam loved fighting for the environment. Danny admitted he liked Sam’s laugh. Sam admitted she liked Danny’s smile. They spent longer in the coffee shop than either of them planned.

As they talked, the girl’s eyes were drawn to the choker. The part of her mind that spun up wild stories for normal things supplied her with unhelpful reasons for why he’d be wearing the choker. Finally she asked him about the metal choker, and he just shrugged.

“My parents told me to never take it off, so I won’t.”

She didn’t press him.

–

The girl named Sam and the boy named Danny started dating. They fell more and more in love with each passing day. They found more shared interests the more they learned about each other. Days grew to months, and their relationship grew strong. But still Sam wondered about the metal choker. Most times she realized she could ignore it, but sometimes it was all she could see. She noticed that when his neck moved, the choker moved, like it was attached to his neck and not just resting on it.

“We’ve been dating for awhile now,” she would ask. “Will you tell me why you wear that metal choker?”

Danny would shrug. “I’m not supposed to take it off, so I won’t.”

She always wanted to ask more about it, but she was so enamored with the thrill of new love that she let it go.

–

After a few months of dating, Sam asked Danny to move in with her. She left the oppressive home of her parents as soon as she could and lived in a modest apartment, but Danny still lived with his parents. His parents were never unkind to her, but she found them over-protective and cautious. She always got the impression they liked her as a person, but didn’t like that she was in a relationship with their son. They always seemed worried about something, but she couldn’t figure out what.

“But Danny, what about–” Sam overheard his mother protest once.

“We’ll figure it out. I want this Mom. What was the point of everything if I can’t live my life?” he asked her. Sam assumed he had to be talking about the choker.

It took a lot of work and a lot of convincing, but eventually a girl named Sam and a boy named Danny moved in together. They celebrated their first night with a party, and they invited their friends and Danny’s sister to the festivities. The sister kept a keen, though distant watch on Danny through the night, and it reminded Sam of the overprotective way his parents watched him.

That night when Danny crawled into bed, Sam noticed that he still wore the metal choker. She didn’t ask him about it that first night, because maybe he was too tired from the party to realize it was still on. But the next night he also wore the choker to bed. And the night after that. Sometimes in the dark of night, as she tried to fall asleep, she could swear she’d see it glow with an eerie green light out of the corner with her eye, but when she turned around it was gone.

One night, she couldn’t help but ask. “Danny, do you really sleep with that metal choker on every night?”

“Yeah,” he said matter of factly, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” she pressed further.

“Not really,” he replied. “I’m used to it by now. Do the cuffs on your ears bother you when you sleep? Besides, I’m not supposed to take it off, so I won’t.”

She really couldn’t counter that comparison, so she dropped it, but its constant presence made her uneasy.

–

The relationship between a girl named Sam and a boy named Danny blossomed as they lived together. Outside of the overprotective gaze of his parents, Sam got a feel for who Danny was at his core. She also noticed weird things around the house. Cold spots lingered in the apartment in places that Danny frequented. Her car radio never came in quite as clear when Danny was in the car with her. She mentioned it to Danny once, but he looked uncomfortable, so she dropped it. They were only mild inconveniences and curiosities and not worth upsetting him over.

But sometimes she would hear him gasp or grunt in pain, and his hand would shoot to his neck or his left forearm. His face would contort in pain and he’d screw his eyes shut.

“Danny, are you okay?” she asked once. “Can I help?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her with a dull voice. When he met her gaze, she could swear she saw a green sheen over his blue eyes. It disappeared as soon as she saw it, so it had to be a trick of the light. “It’s just carpal tunnel.”

“Are you sure it’s not the metal choker? Maybe if we–”

“No,” he interrupted her firmly. “That’s not it. I’m not supposed to take it off, so I won’t.”

She felt like he was lying, but he was clearly in pain and she knew she couldn’t help make him see sense when he was like this, so she didn’t press further.

–

After a couple years, the girl named Sam and the boy named Danny got married. Despite the frustrations surrounding the metal choker and the oddities that happened around him, Sam loved him, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He hadn’t made any advances about proposing, so she took it in her own hands and did it herself. He was shocked and hesitated, but eventually said yes. His parents weren’t happy, but in the end Danny made them come around.

The wedding was a beautiful ceremony filled with family and friends. Sam was a vision in her simple, elegant white dress, and Danny looked handsome in his black suit. But when they united for the beginning of the ceremony and Danny lowered her veil with a smile, Sam noticed the light catch on the metal choker under his suit collar. She tried to ignore the twinge of frustration at seeing it, because she didn’t know why she expected anything different, but she had hoped that maybe today would be the day he took it off.

She tried to ignore it. This was a happy day, and she wanted to focus on that happiness and their love. She forced herself to push it out of her mind and focus on their vows and the ceremony. They promised to love each other always and promised each other a life of happiness, and she meant it. Strange metal choker or not, she loved him, and she wanted to show him that love and celebrate it today.

But when the photographer pulled them aside to take their solo pictures, she just had to ask. “Are you going to wear that choker for our wedding pictures?”

“You can barely see it under the suit,” he dismissed.

“But of all days, couldn’t you take it off today?” she pleaded.

“I’m not supposed to take it off, so I won’t,” he parroted, almost on auto-pilot.

She was disappointed, but tried not to show it. Maybe she just had to accept that the metal choker was a part of him, and she’d just have to deal with it.

–

The girl named Sam and the boy named Danny lived a happy married life for years, and they filled their lives with many happy memories and lots of love. But still the mystery of the metal choker persisted between them. Sam had hoped that maybe within the trust of their marriage he would finally tell her about the reason for its existence, but he never did. She tried to stop asking, because it only irritated him, but she wanted to know. It sat there unanswered in her mind, and it bothered her, more than she wanted to admit.

If it had been something medical, like a prosthetic or a medical device, she would immediately push it out of her mind. Even if it was something ceremonial or important to him, she’d let it go. She just needed an answer, but she never received a satisfactory one.

As the years passed, Sam realized they were having difficulty conceiving. She went to a specialist, who informed her nothing was wrong on her end. She tried to ask Danny to get himself worked up so they could identify the source of the problem, but he refused. He always refused medical treatment. He said his parents made sure he was healthy, even though they were scientists and not medical providers. Danny said they just needed to keep trying.

Frustrated with Danny’s lack of interest in finding an answer, she did the only thing she could think of and went to the Doctors Fenton, his parents. The Doctors Fenton studied alternative energy sources (according to them) but outside of that she didn’t really know much about their science. She heard the word ‘ectoplasm’ once, but figured she’d just heard wrong. She’d seen a few of their inventions around their house, and they bore a resemblance to the choker around Danny’s neck. She knew they designed it, and she knew they knew more about it than they let on. She also knew it had to have something to do with their infertility. If Danny wouldn’t or couldn’t provide an answer, then maybe they would.

If Danny didn’t like being asked about the choker, the Doctors Fenton liked it even less. His mother was outwardly hostile and protective. His father looked guilty, but firmly shut down questions.

“It keeps Danny safe,” his mother told Sam.

“But safe from what?” Sam pressed.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” his father replied, “because he’s safe.”

“You need to stop asking about it,” his mother demanded.

Later that night, Sam and Danny had one of their biggest fights. Danny was furious Sam went behind his back and talked to his parents. Sam was furious Danny wouldn’t be open with her. They were both frustrated about the infertility and the problems it was bringing to light.

“Please don’t ask my parents about it again,” Danny requested, though it didn’t sound like a request.

“I only did it because you won’t be honest with me!” Sam yelled back.

“I’ve told you what I can!” he defended.

“No, you’ve told me what you want! Big difference!” she snapped.

“No. I have told you what I can,” he emphasized slowly. “I just need you to trust me on this.”

She had to leave the room. She had to take a walk to calm down. She didn’t know why she thought she would get answers from either of them, but she hoped she’d been in their lives long enough to deserve the truth.

–

The girl named Sam and the boy named Danny never spoke about that argument again, but it hung in the air between them. They got along, but there was a distance between them. From Sam’s perspective, the distance looked like the band of that metal choker.

She hated that damn choker. She hated all the secrets behind it. She hated all the lies. It was just high enough on his neck that she saw it all the time. When they slept, when they ate, when they were intimate, when they showered, when they did chores. That metal choker was always there and she didn’t know why. No one would tell her. She couldn’t look at him anymore without seeing it. She had started getting used to it and didn’t always see it, but that wasn’t the case anymore. And every time she saw it, she grew hot and angry and frustrated. It wasn’t even about the actual choker anymore, but it had turned into a symbol for all the lies and the secrecy behind it. It was the lack of trust.

One night in bed she tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep. She could swear that odd green light woke her up again, but when she looked at Danny it was gone. And there was that choker. For the first time in their five years together, she reached over and actually touched the choker. The metal felt surprisingly icy, but then again Danny always felt a little cold. She leaned over and slipped the tips of her fingers under the lip and pulled it away from his neck.

She gasped and backed up quickly across the bed. Sharp needles covered the inside lining of the choker. There were so many of them, almost like the surface of a cactus, or an iron maiden, and all of those spikes penetrated into Danny’s neck.

Danny heard her gasp and woke up. He turned to face her, eyes concerned, but his blue eyes looked slightly glassy and unfocused. His skin was pale. “Sam what’s wrong? What–” He reached a hand up to his neck and felt the choker askew on his neck. He pushed it into his neck again and Sam winced noticeably that he shoved those needles back into his neck again without flinching. The color returned to his face. His eyes cleared up, and she could swear she saw that green sheen over them again. A trickle of thick, green fluid slid out from the bottom of the choker and down his chest.

“Sam, what were you thinking?” he asked sharply.

“It’s stuck into your neck!” she cried out in panic.

“Sam you can’t–” he tried to explain away, but she shook her head.

“No! It’s stuck into your neck!” she repeated. “We have to get it off you!”

He looked panicked. “No! I’m not supposed to take it off! I know it looks bad, and I know you’re trying to help, but don’t. Sam, I’m begging you, please, don’t touch it again.”

She could see the absolute terror in his eyes. Suddenly pieces started falling into place, pieces that had always been so infuriatingly close to fitting together except she was missing the final clue. Words like “not supposed to” and “my parents told me” and “I’ve told you what I can” came flooding back to her. She remembered the seemingly random bouts of pain that seemed to originate from the choker, and how they increased the more time he spent living with her. She remembered how protective his parents always were of him, and how much control and involvement they seemed to have over his life. It all came to one terrifying realization:

It wasn’t a choker - it was a collar.

“Sam?” Danny asked, shaking her out of her thoughts. “Will you leave it alone?”

She nodded slowly. “You’re not supposed to take it off, so you won’t,” she parroted in a deadpan, but Danny seemed to accept it.

Maybe he couldn’t take it off, but she could. She could save him.

–

The girl named Sam had to be careful how she planned this. She didn’t know how much control the Doctors Fenton had over her husband, but she couldn’t mess this up. She saw Danny experience multiple instances of pain the days following her investigation into the collar. She tried to be supportive, but she knew Danny was in pain because his parents were punishing him for her stunt with the collar.

She started sleeping with her side table lamp on so she could spend many sleepless nights examining the collar. She knew better than to touch it - she didn’t know what kind of sensors they built into it - but she mapped it out visually. She noticed ports that she’d never seen before along the edge of the green piece of metal. One looked like a micro-USB port, but the other almost looked like a medical port. She thought she found a latch, hidden along the bottom edge of the collar along the back of his neck. If Danny was in the right sleeping position, she could pull the latch and pull it off and then he’d be free.

She waited for the right opportunity when finally she caught him lying half on his stomach and half on his side. She steeled her nerves, reached over to the source of all their marital pain and Danny’s physical pain, and pulled on the latch. It released with a hiss and emitted an eerie green light, the one she swore she’d seen time and time again out of the corner of her eye. Before anything more could happen she pulled as much of the collar away from his neck as she could.

Danny sat up in alarm. The collar clanked as it fell into his lap. Green ooze leaked out of each of the needles. Danny reached his hands around his neck. The same green fluid slid down his neck from each of the many puncture marks, but never any blood. His skin grew pale. Branching scars she’d never seen before traveled up from his left hand along his arm and shoulder. He turned to face her, his body moving so stiffly. He looked upon her with glassy, lifeless eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound ever came out.

His body collapsed, lifeless, onto the bed.

Sam screamed and rushed over to him. She pulled his hands away from his neck and despite the strange liquid, she placed a hand to his neck. No pulse. His neck was frigid, colder than his unnaturally chilly skin ever felt. She held a hand near his mouth, but she couldn’t feel a breath. “Danny!” she cried as she shook him. “Danny no!”

What happened? She was trying to save him! This was supposed to save him! He wasn’t supposed to be–

Dead.

She stopped as she saw a green light glow from within his chest, highlighting a vertical scar along his breastbone that hadn’t been there before. She backed away, unsure what was happening.

The entire room grew cold and the light flickered. A glowing shape emerged from his chest. A vaguely humanoid blob assembled in the air. Two bright green lights distinguished its eyes from the rest of its glowing, transparent form. It looked like a…it was a…

A ghost.

It looked from Danny’s body to its own body and back and forth again before it finally looked at Sam.

Sam, what did you do? The breathless sigh of its words echoed across her mind as a chill ran up her spine. I wasn’t supposed to take it off.

It flew out through the wall of their bedroom and into the night sky. She pulled herself out of her shocked stupor to run to the window, crying after the ghost as it flew out of sight. She called it Danny, but was it really Danny? Was Danny the corpse in her bed, or the ghost that flew off into the night?

She thought of so many possible explanations for that metal collar, but never this. Never that her husband had been a ghost sealed into a corpse.

Removing the collar was supposed to answer all her questions. It was supposed to save their marriage, save him. And now she was left with so many more questions. But one thing she knew for sure:

She never should have removed the choker.

A/N: So this is based on a story called “The Green Ribbon” from a book called In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, but as I was looking it up more, it’s actually a very common folk tale that can be traced back to the French Revolution. Another common name for the tale is The Girl with the Velvet Band/Ribbon/Choker. There are a lot of different versions, but they usually have the same feel: boy meets girl, girl wears something around her neck and refuses to answer why she wears it, and when she removes it she dies. The endings vary with the different versions: sometimes it’s removed too soon and sometimes she finally removes it on her deathbed.

Anyways, I tried to write it like a folk story to honor its roots, so I hope this little experiment worked!

#Danny Phantom #phic phight 2022 #Phic Phight #prosthetic soul au #meet cute #but then it goes wrong #angst #fanfiction #sam manson #danny fenton #dead danny fenton #based on a horror folk story #girl with the velvet band #the green ribbon #in a dark dark room and other scary stories

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dp-marvel94 · 3 years

Text

Fangs or No Fangs

For Phic Phight 2021. Jack and Maddie know that Danny is Phantom. They saw him transform and they knew they should talk about it with him. But...even after two weeks, that conversation feels impossible. And so Maddie has a plan: a trip to the planetarium to cheer Danny up, to finally see him smile, and to pave the way for the truth.

Word Count: 8,191

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: So this story is a bit of a mess of three prompts. I started with the first one and it veered into this. Part reveal fic. Part post-reveal family bonding (err....Jack and Maddie know and Danny knows that they knew but they haven't talked about it and no one's acting like they know so...?) Either way, it's all an unholy mix of fluff and angst.

Prompt by @amabsis : The Fenton’s notice that Danny isn’t smiling as much, so the only reasonable thing to do is take him out to cheer him up! What happens when they do manage to get him to smile, and they find out he has small fangs?

Prompt by @charcoalhawk: Maddie and Jack find out that their son is phantom and fully support him. Danny and Jazz however did not get that memo.

Prompt by @phan-pheeking-tastic : Post-Reveal Family Bonding

It had been two weeks since Maddie and her husband had found out what the portal had actually done to their son. Two weeks since they learned that their baby boy was a ghost. Two weeks since they saw their ghostly enemy, Phantom, turn into their son.

It was on a normal ghost hunt. They’d been following Phantom, for once not yelling their normal insults but stalking him silently. The pair turned around a corner, to find Phantom standing with his back to them, a ring of light around his waist. Maddie tensed, anticipating an attack. Then the ring passed over the ghost’s head and the woman gasped. Her heart just about stopped, staring at the figure in front of her.

The figure, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and now with black hair, turned around. His blue eyes widened in panicked fear.

“Danny?” Jack whispered in awe beside her.

The boy’s mouth fell open, body stiff with fear. Maddie blinked and the boy in front of them, their son, their Danny, disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two went home, numb with disbelief. Maddie thought it was a dream at first; she must have imagined it. Or this was Phantom playing a trick on them except…

Maddie knocked on her son’s bedroom door to check on him. “Danny?” The sound of feet pacing and heavy breathing came from behind the door. Then there was a sudden clatter, a yelp as if the boy had ran into something. The woman frowned. “Can I come in sweetie?”

“Just...just a second.” Danny called, voice echoing but unusually high with obvious nerves.

There was a flash of light, visible from under the door. Maddie paled, wheels turning in her head. Then seconds later, her son pulled open the door, opening it only wide enough to see his deathly pale face. “Yeah? What’s….” He coughed, forcing his voice into a more normal pitch. “What’s up?”

The mother stared into his wide eyes, biting her own lip. “Danny….” She hesitated, suddenly unsure. “Is there...do you want to...Is everything alright?”

The boy paled at the question, shaking slightly. “Yeah. Everything’s...everything’s fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

Maddie frowned. “Danny...are you sure-”

He cut her off, starting to push the door closed. “Yeah. Yep. It’s fine. I’ve...I’ve got homework. Seeyouinthemorningbye!” The teenager said the words so quickly, Maddie could hardly understand them. Then the door slammed in her face.

Dread dropped like a rock in the mother’s stomach. Shaking herself, the woman turned back and started down the stairs. She and Jack needed to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s true. Isn’t it?” Her husband said, as soon as he saw her weary face. “Danny’s...Danny’s Phantom. Our son…”

“Our son’s a ghost.” Maddie whispered. Danny’s panicked expression in the alley and just minutes before in his bedroom, flashed in her mind. “It must be true. All the evidence is there.”

How their equipment targeted their son. The injuries he tried to hide, to blame on bullies. Skipping class, the detentions, the missing assignments. Missing curfew, sneaking out. His constant exhaustion. Their equipment going missing, only to end up in Phantom’s hands. Their children’s fervent support of the ghost boy.

Danny was Phantom. He must be. They saw him change. They saw him as a ghost. Danny….he was a ghost, meaning...he was dead. And it was the portal. It must have been. The portal, their life’s work, the machine that he had said just gave him a little shock, must have killed him. Except….did it? It had been two years since then and Danny had grown. Maddie had hugged him since and he was warm. She’d felt his heartbeat. He seemed to be alive so….?

The parents didn’t know. Danny was a ghost...and yet he was not? Or he was still alive but had some kind of ghost powers?

Maddie put her head in her hands. “We should talk to Danny.”

“In the morning.” Jack yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. “I’m exhausted and Danny….” He looked down, guilty.

The mother sighed. “He must be tired too, if he’s not already asleep.” They had been talking for hours at this point, processing what they’d seen and hypothesizing. Both of them needed to lay down and calm their racing thoughts. So the pair went up to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie really had wanted to talk to Danny in the morning. But he’d dashed out without as much as a word to them. He did have school. They could wait and talk to him after, right?

Then after school, he raced up to his room with the excuse of homework before Maddie could even look at him. Soon after, he disappeared from his room and the mother saw a report about Phantom fighting the hunter ghost in the park. Guilt stabbed at her heart.

When he came home after curfew (and luckily uninjured), the woman didn’t have the heart to chastise him. And he looked so tired, so weary. He ran up the stairs, muttering an apology.

Talking to Danny the next morning turned into that afternoon again, turned into the next day, turned into waiting for the weekend. But then the boy was always over at his friends’ house or busy doing homework. He was nervous, flighty, skittish, and tense the brief times he was near his parents. And when he was, Danny wouldn’t look at them, wouldn’t talk to them, could hardly stand to be in the same room.

Maddie cursed herself. She knew they needed to have this conversation. She and Jack needed to talk to their son. So why couldn’t either seem to gather the courage? Why did the thought of talking about what the portal had actually done to their son, about how their work, their words, their actions, had affected him, make Maddie’s stomach roll? Why did it make her heart lodge in her throat, her lungs refuse to take in air? Why did it feel so insurmountable, like the guilt, the secrets would bury her alive?

Part of her wished that Danny would say something himself, that he would break the silence. Hell, she wished Jazz would call them out but no such luck. Instead a few days turned into a week, turned into two weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie sighed, looking down at her coffee. It made her insides squirm anxiously, thinking about all this. All that they’d done before they knew, her continued silence. The guilt was eating the woman up inside and Danny’s sober mood broke her heart. It had been so long since she’d seen him look anything but nervous and distrustful, since he’d been in the same room as them for more than five minutes. The mother’s shoulders fell. He looked so sad, so anxious; she’d given anything to see him smile again.

A soft yawn sounded beside her, causing the mother to look. The boy himself was swaying sleepily, standing at the counter. How had he gotten there without her noticing? He was so quiet, silent as a ghost. Maddie shook her head at the thought.

Then she frowned, letting out a short gasp. Danny’s had his hand through, literally intangibly, through the cupboard.

The boy turned, eyes widening; he suddenly looked very awake. He pulled his hand out, clutching a box of cereal. “Uh…. morning, Mom.” He paled, eyes widening.

Maddie’s frown deepened at that. “Good morning sweetie.” She eyed the coffee pot, trying to wipe the surprise off her face. “Do you want some coffee?”

“No.” Danny shook his head, biting his lip. “I’m good. I’ll just...uhh...bye.”

The mother held out a hand. “Danny. Wait.”

The boy didn’t respond, instead turning and practically sprinting away at almost inhuman speed. Maddie wanted to chastise him for running in the house. Instead, she put her head in her hands. Did Danny do things like that all this time? If he did, how the hell had they not noticed? They were really that bad parents, weren’t they?

Annoyance at herself flared at the thought as Maddie raised her head. She balled her fists. “We need to do something.” The woman looked at her husband. “We have to talk to Danny. Today. Actually….” She stood up, looking in the direction her son had gone.

“Wait Madds.” Jack interrupted. The mother looked down at where he was still seated. “We can’t just spring this on him.”

Maddie’s eyes twitched angrily. “Jack.”

“Just listen.” The man held up his hands. “How about we go out and do something together as a family? The Amity Park Science Center, they have a new planetarium show. Danny will love it. He’ll have a good time. He’ll get to relax and see that...see that we want to spend time with him.” The man worried his lip, his voice wavering with emotion. “I just want him to feel comfortable and safe talking to us, Maddie.”

Maddie’s expression softened and she sat down, grateful for husband’s insight. “You’re right.” She sighed. “Maybe doing something like a normal family will help him relax. And then...then we can talk to him when we get home tonight.”

With that, the parents agreed and informed both of the kids, earning wary but tentative agreement from both. Maddie frowned at that. The distrust stung but both Fenton parents had earned that distrust. They were ready to do what they could to fix that, starting with removing or deactivating all of the anti-ghost weapons in the GAV. They’d already moved all ghost hunting equipment into the basement and discussed dismantling some of the more dangerous-to-ghost equipment. But the ghosts, ones that their son had unbeknownst to them been combatting for the past few years, were still a very real threat to the town. They’d need to find a way to keep their weapons from being able to hurt him (Maddie’s heart ached at the thought) but that was for another time.

Now, Jack and Maddie were waiting downstairs for both kids to finish getting ready. Jazz walked down the stairs, a tight frown still on her face.

The girl raised her brow at the sight of her parents. “What are you wearing?”

Jack glanced at his wife and then down at himself. “Just jeans and a t-shirt, Jazzarincess.” He scratched at his neck, trying to look less uncomfortable than he was.

“But...you’re not in your jumpsuits?” The girl asked, still unsure.

Maddie shrugged. “We just wanted to wear something a little different, sweetie.” And a little more normal, the woman hoped she implied.

If Jazz understood the implication, she didn’t comment. Instead, she turned as Danny came bobbing down the stairs. The two shared knowingly looks, the boy’s eyebrow twitching as he noticed his parents’ clothes.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shifting nervously. “Where are we going?” He asked quietly.

“To the Amity Science Center.” Jack beamed. “They’ve got a new show at the planetarium. Doesn’t that sound exciting, son?”

For just a moment, interest sparked in Danny’s eyes at the word planetarium. Then the wary look was back. Maddie sighed. “Come on kids.” Hopefully, he would enjoy himself and this would in fact help him to loosen up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fifteen minute car ride to the Science Center was quiet and tense. Danny glanced anxiously around the GAV as if expecting weapons to activate and point at him. He flinched at every bump in the road. Jazz looked worriedly between her brother and her parents, her brow furrowed with thought. Honestly, Maddie wasn’t expecting much better but it still stung. Half-heartedly, she tried to idly chat with Jazz but the teen just looked all the more wary.

Soon enough, the family arrived at their destination. They quickly passed through the queue to pay and then entered the first room, a geology exhibit. The kids wander off, softly talking to each other while passively looking at the displays. Maddie could pick up the worried tones but walked away, deliberately not eavesdropping. They were probably wondering about why exactly their parents were being so ‘weirdly normal’ and taking them out for a family day. But after a minute, the pair drifted apart, Danny wandering to the back while Jazz looked at a large display on the left wall.

Maddie was reading about volcanoes when she spotted her son at the case to her right. His eyes roved over the display, widening at the words. His frown slowly ticked up. The mother raised a brow at his expression, feeling relief.

She then looked into the case wondering what had him relaxing. Oh, of course. These were the meteoroids. They even had one rock from the moon that had mystified Danny even since he was a little boy.

Danny’s eyes lit up at the exhibit, literally. For just a moment, neon green flashed in his eyes. His teeth flashed in a smile. Maddie let out a small relieved gasp at the sight.

It was then, Danny noticed her. His eyes widened and his head turned, hand automatically moving to cover his mouth.

The mother’s expression instantly fell and she wondered at the behavior. But she didn’t say anything, instead allowing Danny to wander off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring, slowly moving from exhibit to exhibit. To Maddie’s dismay, Danny was tense at first. She hadn’t seen him smile again since the meteors. His expression was uncharacteristically neutral. It’s not that he was bored (not that he’d even been bored on a trip here) but he was visibly anxious, not allowing himself to relax.

That eventually changed, as the group entered the heart of the museum, the dinosaur exhibit. Life-sized replicas of T rex, Triceratops, and Raptors loomed over them, faux rocks, plants, and wall murals simulating Earth when the dinosaurs walked on it. With the shifting lights, the occasional dinosaurian roars over the speakers, and the excitable little kids running around, it was lively. Danny and Jazz were huddled over a display of replica triceratops eggs while Maddie looked at a fossil of a primitive flowering plant.

“Oh Danny! Stand there. I want a picture.” Jazz’s voice came from behind her and the mother turned.

“No. Jazz. Come on.” Danny pouted.

“Please.” The girl begged.

After a moment, Danny huffed. “Fine.”

The boy moved to stand in front of the replica raptor what his sister had pointed out. He forced a closed lip smile, holding out two fingers in a peace sign. There was a flash of light from Jazz’s phone, leaving the other teen blinking. “Jazz.” He whined.

“Sorry.” She smiled, sheepishly. Then she held out her phone. “Now take my picture.”

Danny wrinkled his nose, obviously displeased but played along anyway as his sister came to stand beside the raptor. “You should stick your hand in its mouth and look like you're screaming.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, instead just smiling at the camera. That is, until a roar sounded from the speaker directly behind her. The girl shrieked in surprise at the noise, jolting forward and holding her hand over her heart.

Danny blinked in surprise before suddenly cackling with laughter and pointing at the now huffing girl. He snapped a few pictures, capturing her undignified face.

Meanwhile, Maddie beamed. Hearing her son laugh after so long was a beautiful sound. She walked forward, wanting to join the moment.

Then Danny spotted her. He blushed, covering his mouth with one hand before his chuckles quieted. His mother’s expression fell again. That was odd. This was the second time he’d covered his mouth once she’d seen him enjoying himself. She raised a brow as if to ask but Danny ignored the look.

Instead, he started leading Jazz away. “Come on. Let’s get some pictures in front of the T rex.”

Maddie turned, watching them walk away and noting the oddity. Jazz had been the one wanting pictures. The girl also wore a disappointed look as she softly said something to her brother, earning a frown from him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This continued as Danny seemed to enjoy the trip and grow more comfortable. Maddie would catch glimpses of him smiling at an exhibit or laughing at something his sister said. Then he would see her watching from a distance and cover his face. It was deeply bothersome. Did he not want his parents to see him enjoying himself?

By the time they were waiting for the doors of the planetarium to open for their show, Maddie’s stomach was flopping with anxiety over the behavior. Along the walls of the hallway leading to the theater was a display about the history of space travel. Ever since they'd first brought Danny here as a seven year old, this section had always brought her son such joy. He would smile and ramble, often even jumping up and down in eager anticipation for the doors of the planetarium to open.

Now, Danny was visibly trying to contain himself. Even as his wide eyes eagerly roved over the displays, his lips were forcefully pinched closed, almost as if the boy was exerting great effort to not smile. The display broke Maddie’s heart.

Then, the woman’s face set in determination. She wasn’t having this. They come here to cheer Danny up, for some parent-child bonding, so that’s what she would do. Maddie took a step forward, preparing to ask Danny what he was looking at. But then the doors to the planetarium opened.

Danny turned at the noise, meeting her eyes. His mother gave him a comforting smile. “Come sweetie. It’s time for the show.”

The boy nodded, giving her a closed mouth smile. He walked in front of her, into the theater and Jack and Jazz followed.

Maddie paused in front of a group of four seats. “How’s here, Danny?”

“Looks good.” The boy confirmed, sitting down.

Jazz sat to his left and after a moment’s hesitation, Maddie took a set to his right. Briefly, the boy tensed.

“Danny boy!” Jack’s enthusiastic exclamation cut through. “Are you excited?”

The boy blinked, turning. “For what?”

“For the show, dear.” Maddie chuckled.

“The show. Right.” Danny nodded. “It’s supposed to be about blackholes.” The corner of his lip turned up. “The poster looked awesome.” At that, the boy relaxed, letting out a breath.

Beside him, Maddie settled into her seat, relaxing as well. She hoped Danny would enjoy this. Soon, the lights dimmed, an image of the Milky Way appearing onto the dome in front of them.

“It’s starting.” The woman whispered happily to her son.

Danny perked up, his eyes widening at the sight. Music played through the speakers and the image shifted, the stars and clouds of the galaxy moving as if in a time lapses. “Wow.” The boy awed.

But the show was just getting started. Narration began playing through the speakers, the story of blackholes and their discovery. The life cycle of stars and their death. It was mesmerizing, the swirling images above and in front of them in the dark. It made Maddie’s lips part in a pleased smile, the beauty making the breath catch in her throat. Space really was incredible; the woman understood why her son loved it so. Thinking for her son….

Beside her, Maddie heard an excited gasp. She looked to the side, slowly taking in her son’s face. His eyes were wide, staring at the wall as the corner of his mouth turned though his lips didn’t part. He was clearly enamored with the program and therefore didn’t notice the mother’s observation at all. The woman smiled; he really was adorable when...he….was….

Maddie’s thoughts trailed off, her eyes widening. For a second, something flickered in Danny’s eyes before disappearing. The woman’s brow furrowed. A breath later, she saw it again. Ethereal green light flicker in his eyes, circling his iris before disappearing. Slowly, the boy’s lips parted. He blinked. The glow, the ghostly glow returned and Maddie’s jaw dropped. The light swirled like galaxies, overtaking his irises.

The mother stared. At the glowing eyes. Her son's glowing eyes. She recognized that shade of ghostly green. Phantom’s eyes. Maddie tried to shake away her surprise. She knew her son as Phantom. She did. She knew he was a ghost, or part ghost, or...she didn’t really know but….

Danny’s mouth parted into a grin. And Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. He was smiling. Danny was smiling. The ghostly light was swirling in his eyes, the light reflecting off his cheeks, his freckles. His freckles… they were glowy faintly and… shifting across his face, forming constellations. It was almost...beautiful. No, not almost. The boy’s smile widened, his teeth shining in the dark. He looked so happy and it was the most beautiful thing Maddie had seen in weeks.

All too soon, the planetarium show ended, the lights slowly turning on. Danny stayed looking forward for a bit as the ghostly light of his eyes dimmed. But he was still relaxed, smiling widely. At that sigh, Maddie finally noticed something. His teeth were...odd. On the top and bottom, his canines were unusually long and sharp, almost like….

The woman gasped, drawing her son’s attention. He paled, eyes widening in alarm.

Maddie pointed, quietly asking. “Danny? Are those-”

“No.” Danny cut her off, his mouth snapping shut. He covered his mouth with his hand as he rambled. “Of course not. Of course, I don’t have fangs. That’s ridiculous. Why would I have- Umph.” Jazz elbowing him cut off.

The woman frowned, opening her mouth to reply. But she had no idea what to say.

Luckily, Jack came to her rescue. He patted her knee. “Let’s go get some lunch, Madds.” His voice lowered. “And we can talk about…” He pointedly looked at Danny, letting the statement linger.

Maddie nodded in agreement. “Come on kids.”

She stood up and fronted. Danny looked pale and worried again. She offered him a comforting smile. At that, his eyebrow twitched but his anxious expression lingered. Then Jazz nudged him, before standing. “Come on Danny.” She offered her hand, pulled him out of his seat, and started walking out of the room, deliberately standing between her brother and her parents.

Disappointment rose in Maddie at that but she pushed it down. They would talk about all this soon enough but as for now… the woman’s stomach growled…. Getting food sounded like a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later, the family took their seats at a secluded table in the Center’s cafe. They’d bought overpriced sandwiches and now Danny was taking small, tentative bits of his meatball sub. Maddie looked down, picked up her reuben, and started eating. At the same time, Jack dug in and Jazz nibbled on her chicken salad.

There was silence for a long while, the buzz of the other patrons surrounding them. The woman wanted to make conversation, to ask what Danny had thought of the planetarium show. He’s enjoyed it, clearly. But Maddie wanted to hear him ramble excitedly about it. She wanted to see him smile again.

But Danny looked so tense now, so worried. His shoulders were hitched, almost all the way up to his ears and he was pointedly avoiding looking at his parents. The sight of her son's fangs and his face once he realized that she’d seen them flashed in her mind. She wanted to ask about those. When did he grow fangs? And why? It was because he was a ghost, wasn’t it? Many ghosts they’d seen did have fangs. But did Phantom? Maddie couldn’t remember seeing them before, not that she’d seen that version of her son up close often. Granted...she hadn’t seen him smile in either form for what felt like months. The woman’s heart fell.

Danny’s quiet voice broke through her thoughts. “Are you gonna ask?”

Maddie looked up, the corner of her lips twitching down at the sight. His shoulders hunched, eyes downcast. The mother reached forward, wanting to squeeze his hand comfortingly but hesisted. Instead, she offered him a caring smile. “Do they hurt?”

The boy looked at her, brow furrowing in confusion. “What?”

“When my wisdom teeth came in, I remember my gums and jaw being really sore.” The woman shook her head, focusing on the boy’s closed mouth. “I know it’s not the same thing but…. If they’re giving you problems, we can take you to the dentists.”

Danny frowned. “No. I don’t...I don’t need to go to the dentist.” He wrung his hands. “They don’t hurt or anything. Haven’t at all really.”

Jack raised a brow. “Even when they were growing in?”

The boy opened and closed his mouth before covering his face with his hand again. He glanced at his sister, worriedly. Jazz raised one brow, frowning deeply. She then looked at the parents briefly, her expression all the more confused.

Danny’s forehead wrinkled. After a long moment, he answered. “They... uhh… I just woke up one morning and...my teeth were like this?”

Maddie blinked in surprise, taking in the words. The fangs just showed up overnight? Well…maybe that was better than them slowly growing and causing the boy pain.

With that thought, the woman forced the confused expression off her face. “Can we see your teeth, Danny?” She gently asked.

The boy’s eyes widened and he vigorously shook his head.

Beside the mother, Jack’s expression softened. He reached forward, patting the boy’s arm with surprising gentleness. “It’s alright Danny-boy. You can show us.”

Danny didn’t flinch at the touch, instead looking thoughtfully between the two adults. Slowly he opened his mouth. There on display were his small fangs.

Maddie leaned forward, observing. Unlike last time, she wasn’t surprised. She’d known what to anticipate and to her shame, the woman had expected to feel discomfort or even disgust at the inhuman dentistry. But no such feelings arose. Instead her expression softened. She smiled authentically. “Aww sweetie.... They’re adorable.”

Danny blushed, gapping at the reaction. His embarrassed expression intensified as Jack replied.

“Ah come on Madds. You can’t call him cute.” The man grinned. “Our Danno’s fierce! And those fangs just make him look more badass.”

The boy blinked rapidly, like he could hardly believe what he was hearing, like the words just didn’t compute. Jazz looked equally confused.

Maddie waved the man off. “No one said he can’t be cute and fierce.” Her smile widened. “Our fierce little man.”

Danny facepalmed, whining. “Mom!”

The response was so normal, the typical reaction to a teenager being embarrassed by their parents in public. It made Maddie’s heart sing in relief, so much so, she started laughing. A moment later, Jack did as well.

The kids stared at the adults, both looking embarrassed and slightly tensed. But slowly, the pair relaxed, a soft smile crossing Jazz’s face. Danny’s lip parted as he snorted as well, shaking his head.

After a long moment, Maddie and Jack’s chuckling stopped and Danny’s smile faded. He eyed the adults, with crossed arms and a raised brow. “So...are you gonna ask why….?” He trailed off but Maddie knew what he was asking.

The parents looked at each other before Jack shrugged. “If your teeth aren’t bothering you and you’re happy with them, we don’t need to worry about it. Do we?”

“Um...I guess… but…” Danny still looked unsure, glancing between the two.

Maddie tried to comfort him. “You don’t have to tell us why, if you don’t want to. If you’re not ready.” Her expression was just serious, just forceful enough. Hopefully, he understood what she was really trying to say, what she was implying.

The boy uncrossed his arms, looking at her thoughtfully. “And...you’re okay with me having...having fangs?”

“Of course we are.” The woman’s expression softened. “We love you no matter what you look like.” It was odd wording for comforting her son about his strange teeth but that wasn’t what this was really about.

Something that might have been realization flashed in Danny’s eyes. He might just have understood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of their time at the museum was much more relaxing after that. The family talked more freely as they finished eating. After lunch, they finished exploring the museum exhibits and visited the aquarium portion of the center.

“Look! The shark feeding’s in ten minutes.” Danny pointed at the tank, his fangs poking just below his lips as he gave his parents a tentative smile. “Come on.”

He bounded forward, positioning himself near the front of the growing crowd. Maddie stood right behind him, the two chatting about the earlier planetarium show while waiting. The corner of Danny’s mouth gradually turned up as he got more involved in the conversation. Then he was actually smiling. For a second, his hand reflexively swung up to cover his mouth but then he lowered the appendage. He smiled unsurely but when Maddie made no comment, nor did her open expression change, he relaxed. Soon, the boy was talking animatedly and Maddie cherished every word.

Minutes later, the shark feeding and subsequent educational talk captured the mother and son’s attention. Or rather, it just managed to wholeheartedly capture Danny’s interest. Maddie’s eyes flickering between the tank, the volunteer answering questions, and her son’s happy face, small fangs included.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring. Danny cheered softly at the touch tank, once one of the stingrays finally paused long enough for him to touch it.

“Yes! Finally! See. That wasn’t so bad.” He talked to the animal, gently passing his fingers along the soft skin.

He smiled at Jazz cooing over the adorable poison dart frogs.

“Awww. I just want to pick it up. Cup the little guy in my hands. It’s so cute.” The girl leaned against the glass.

The boy chuckled. “Jazz. It’s a poison dart frog. You’d be deader than me in five minutes.”

The other teen huffed, blushing before she rolled her eyes teasingly.

Danny and Jack stopped in front of the jellyfish tank, their translucent bodies hovering behind the glass.

“Danno! Ghost jellyfish!” The man pointed excitedly.

The teen shook his head. “There’s no way that’s what they’re called.”

Jack thumped the sign. “Yes they are!” Danny blinked, reading the sign in disbelief. The man continued. “Imagine it son. Ghost jellyfish that came back as ghosts. Ghost ghost jellyfish!”

Danny laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that, the family explored the outdoor exhibits. Meerkats, Tortoises, Gibbons, Lemurs, Nile Crocodile, Red Pandas. The zoo’s star exhibits: the tigers and wolves. Yes, even the petting zoo.

They enjoyed all of it. Maddie asked the zookeeper's questions. Jazz took pictures. Jack peered through the glass with his normal boyish excitement. And Danny smiled.

Danny nudged his father. “Hey Dad. Can I have a dollar to feed the goats?”

“Sure kiddo.” Jack fished out his wallet and pulled out two bills. “For you and your sister.”

The boy nodded, handing the bills over to one of the employees and receiving two cups of feed. He handed one to Jazz and entered the enclosure. He smiled as the animals crowded up, eagerly sniffing at the cup.

“Alright. Alright. Here you go.” He grabbed a handful of pellets and held his hand out. An enthusiastic goat ate the food out of his hand. “Hey! Hey! That tickles!” The boy chuckled, scratching the animal on its head.

Maddie watched, enamored. Her son looked so happy, smiling so brightly.

“Oh, do you want some?” Danny asked, holding his feed-filled palm out to one of the sheep. The sheep licked the food out of his hand and he petted the curly wool.

True to what she had said, his little fangs were cute. And what’s more….

His eyes flickered towards Maddie’s face, noticing her attention. He didn’t stop smiling as he finished giving the goats, sheep, and donkey food and pets.

Ten minutes later, he turned over the empty cup. “That’s it guys. I’m out.”

The animals sniffed, wandering away as they seemed to realize they wouldn’t get any more food from the boy. That same enthusiastic goat persisted, nudging and licking Danny’s open hand. “I don’t have any more food for you.” He laughed. The goat bayed. “You can complain all you want. You’re not getting any more from me.” He petted the animal’s head anyway.

What’s more, seeing Danny enjoying himself and not turning away when Maddie noticed him smile, made the woman feel happy herself and hopeful. Spending time with the kids as a normal family did seem to get Danny and even Jazz in a better mood and more relaxed, like she and Jack had hoped. And Maddie found that she had enjoyed herself as well, despite the bumps. Yes, this was a day well spent and the mother wished it wouldn’t end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But all too soon, the Science Center closed and the family had to leave. They piled into the GAV and as Jack started driving them home, the reality of what they’d have to face, the conversation they’d need to have once they got home, struck Maddie. Her insides flopped with sudden nerves. They needed to talk about it. Danny’s accident and his ghostly abilities. His alter ego, Phantom. The ghost fighting and resulting injuries. All the secrets. Guilt sunk in her stomach like rock. There needed to be apologies. For her and Jack’s part in the accident. For the times they’d ranted about capturing Phantom at the dinner table. The insults. The times they chased him, they shot at him. Danny’s fear filled face when they’d seen him change in that alley flash in her mind. They had terrified him and -

“Can we uh….can we stop somewhere for dinner?” Danny’s nervous voice cut through her thoughts.

Maddie frowned, glancing back at him. He was pale and biting at his lip. The woman furrowed her brow wondering at the sudden change in mood. Maybe he had picked up on her own nervousness. She glanced at her husband. Jack was also quiet and uncharacteristically focused on the road.

“We can.” Her eyes flickered in front of them, spotting a Nasty Burger a few blocks away. “There’s Nast Burger right there.” She frowned. “Wait. That one doesn’t have a dining room. Is eating in the cat alright?”

“Sure, Madds.” Jack nodded and turned into the parking lot less than a minute later. He rolled down the window after pulling up to order.

“Welcome to the Nasty Burger.” Came a voice through the speaker. “What would you like?”

After some deliberation, Jack recited the orders and pulled forward. He paid and then received the bags of food which he handed to Maddie. He pulled away from the window and parked. The woman surveyed the meals and passed Jazz and Danny’s food to them in the back seat.

The family ate in near silence for a while. Music softly filtered through the radio and outside was the sound of traffic but inside the vehicle, no one spoke. Maddie’s mind swirled, going over possibilities for the upcoming conversation. Where to start. How to approach this. Should they apologize first? Hint that they know about Danny’s secret identity. Just come right out and say it? Really, they should have done that long before now. They knew that Danny was Phantom and he knew that they knew. They should have talked to him about this weeks ago but...why was this so hard? How hadn’t they noticed sooner? Why couldn’t she just-

A gasp sounded in the back seat. Maddie stiffened, looking back in time to see a blue mist exit Danny’s mouth. The mother’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t cold enough to...Wait...understanding hit her as the boy’s eyes flickered side to side. Something glowing and green flashed in front of the GAV and there was an echoing roar.

Maddie paled. In front of them in the parking lot was a giant ghostly beast. It was a mix between a bear and a cat, snarling and hissing fiercely. The ghost growled at some teenagers sitting at a picnic table near the ordering window and in response, the kids bolted away, screaming.

Behind her, Danny was fumbling with his seat belt. His eyes widened panickedly as he looked between the scene in front of them and his parents. “I uh...I need to….” His hands were shaking as he fumbled over his words.

The mother glanced between her son and the attacking ghost. Part of her screamed to move; it was her job as a ghost hunter to protect people but….

“Uh...I need to...I need to go to the bathroom?” Danny stood, his knees knocking together even as his eyes flickered from his mom to the spectral attacker.

Maddie’s heart fell; she knew what this was actually about. “Danny.” She said softly.

Jazz bit her lip, turning from her brother to parents. “Shouldn’t you get...get out there?”

“Jazz.” The mother frowned. “Danny.”

“We’ll be fine.” The girl’s pitch rose as she flopped a hand, forcibly casual.

“Yeah.” The boy took a step back, eyes still pinned on his mother. “We’ll be fine. You guys go deal with the ghost.” He motioned behind him, towards the GAV’s toilet. “And I’ll just be in-”

“Danny!” Maddie interrupted. She stood up and turned, standing in the gap between the driver’s and front passenger’s seat. “We know. Danny. We know that you’re Phantom.”

The boy paled, his eyes widening with shock. “What? That’s not-”

Maddie pointed through the front window, forcefully. “Go.”

Danny’s lip trembled. Fear flickered over his face and underneath it, hurt. The mother’s eyes widened at the reaction before it hit her. She’d said the wrong thing. She’d messed up. Why do she keep-

“Go deal with the ghost, son.” Beside her, Jack had turned. His normally booming voice was so gentle. “You can change. Go deal with the ghost and we’ll be here when you get back.”

The boy stared at the man, anxiously searching his face. He was still shaking slightly and...were his eyes watering? Maddie remained frozen, watching. She wanted to speak up, to offer him comfort and reassurance. But the words stayed locked in his throat.

Then there was a roar outside, a boom. Danny’s head turned and he sprinted. Maddie blinked, paling as he literally passed through the closed door. A second later, something flashed out the corner of her eye. Maddie turned, watching as Phantom….Danny flew out in front of the GAV, shooting an ectoblast at the other ghost. Her knees shaking, Maddie fell into her seat. The bear-cat growled and shot a fireball at the ghost boy.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat, her hand twitching over the door handle. They should go out there. She and Jack should be dealing with this. She reached for the holster on her belt. Her brow wrinkled as she found...nothing. Wait...she wasn’t in her hazmat suit. No belt, no holster, no ectogun. She frantically looked on the floor, before glancing behind her. There had to be something, someway to-

“Mom.” Jazz’s quiet voice came from behind her. “Danny will be fine. He knows what he’s doing.”

Yes. Maddie nodded, trying to agree. She had seen Phantom in action and he was competent. But...this was...this was Danny. Danny was out there fighting the ghost. Her heart rate increased. “No. We need to-”

Jack’s hand was on her arm. “No. We can’t, Maddie.” His voice wavered. “No guns. Not..not after we….”

The woman swallowed, understanding. No. No. They could go out there, wheedling guns, not after….Maddie shivered as the memory hit her. Pointing a bazooka at Phantom….Danny… his eyes wide with fear. Chasing him down while yelling insults. Danny...Danny, her son, even if glowing and floating with green eyes and fangs...Danny dodging their shots.

Maddie felt her breath quicken. No, they couldn’t go after the ghost in their current state. They shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t dream of, pointing any ectogun in Danny’s general direction. Not when they hadn’t made sure their weapons won’t target him, that they couldn’t hurt him. Not when…..Danny’s fearful face, just minutes ago...not when he might think they...they wanted to hurt him.

Another growl and a crash and the mother’s head suddenly whipped up, just in time to see a flash of blue light. Floating twenty feet in front of them was Danny, holding a thermos and pointing it at the other ghost. The bear-cat hissed as it was sucked in but seconds later, it disappeared.

Maddie let out a relieved sigh, as her son caped the thermos. Then the boy’s head turned, his eyes meeting hers through the window. His shoulders were raised, his wide eyes misty. His lip trembled and then he disappeared.

The woman gasped, reaching forward. “Danny. Come back.”

The boy didn’t reappear and Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand reached for the door again. She needed to find her son, to reassure him, to -

A knock sounded at the side door, across from where Jazz and Danny had been sitting. Maddie flinched, looking back. Another knock.

Maddie frowned, brow furrowing. “I don’t see...anything.” Nothing and no one was visible through the window but...that didn’t mean no one was there.

“Danny.” Jazz called, standing. Warrily, she glanced between her parents. She bit her lip. “Mom? Dad?”

“Danny’s….Danny’s invisible, on the other side of the door. Isn’t he?” Maddie asked.

The girl nodded. “I think so.”

“You can open the door for him, Jazz.” Jack sighed. He looked down guiltily.

Hesitantly, the teenage girl stepped forward. Her hand hovered over the handle before she pulled it open. “It’s okay, Danny.” She whispered. “You can come inside.”

There was no reply as Jazz stepped back. The hair on the back of Maddie’s neck raised as the temperature dipped. Her eyes widened as the door slide closed, seemingly by itself. Then there was the shaky sound of someone sighing. And finally….Danny reappeared.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. There he was. The ghost boy. Phantom. Danny. Her Danny...her son, floating in the mind of the GAV. He trembled nervously in the air, his misty green eyes flickering between the ghost hunters. He looked so scared and...something in Maddie broke.

The woman stood up, suddenly. Her hands started shaking, her eyes watering. “Danny.” Her voice shook.

“Mom?” His echoing voice questioned.

Maddie nodded, hesitantly approaching. “Yes, sweetie.” She reached forward, gently touching his arm even as he flinched. “I love you so much.”

Danny’s eyes watered, his voice trembling. “You...you really mean that? Really? Even though I’m…I’m...” He shook his head, unable to force more words out.

Tears started to blur her vision. “Oh, baby. Yes. Yes. I love you so much.” Her breath quickened, a sob threatening to escape. “We...we should have said something sooner.”

“No. I….I should have…told you. I should have...” Danny looked down, sniffling.

Maddie gently pulled the boy into her arms. “I...I should have reassured you.” Danny stiffened before relaxing into the hug. “I should have made you feel safe, like you could trust me with this.”

Footsteps sounded behind him. “Danny boy.” Jack squeezed in beside the two. “I am so sorry, son. I love you so much.” The man wrapped his arms around his son and wife.

With that, Danny finally started crying. A soft sob broke forth from his throat. “Mom. Dad.” He whined. “I just... I’ve been waiting...waiting for the other shoe to drop and you’d see. You’d finally say...say something and…. And...” He sobbed. “You’d see what a monster...what a freak..a freak I...I am…”

“No. Danny. No. You’re not...you’re not a monster. You’re..You’re my baby boy….You’re my baby, no matter what. I’m...I’m so sorry you ever...we ever made you think….” Maddie cried, squeezing him tighter as he cried. He was cold. So cold. But solid in her arms. She could feel the slight fluttering of his heart, pressed up against her own heart. And the ectoenergy swirling under his skin. That was new, something she’d never felt before. And she thanked the heavens that she hadn’t, that she’d never laid hands on Phantom when they hadn’t known the truth, that they had never landed a shot on him. Maddie choked through her sobs. “We messed up. We messed up so badly. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I need to do better.”

“Danny. I’m sorry.” Jack reassured, sniffling himself. “I’m so sorry too. I have so much to make up for. Me and your Mom...we...we will...we’ll make this up to you.”

Danny warbled. “Mom. Dad. I...I love you guys. I love you guys so much.”

The words pricked at Maddie’s heart as much as they uplifted her. All that they had done and he still said that. All the woman could find in herself to do right then was hold her son tighter.

For a second, the woman saw movement out of the corner to her eyes. A flash of red hair and...relief on Jazz’s face. The girl joined the group hug. “I love you little brother.”

Danny sniffled, nodding in acknowledgement even as he continued crying.

For a long moment, the family stayed huddled together. All of them were crying, trembling slightly with emotion. But through the sadness, another emotion broke through...relief. Danny sighed, the corner of his lip turning up slightly as his tears slowed.

Finally, the boy gently pulled out of their hold. He wiped his wet face. “You really...you really mean all that?” He looked between his parents. “You’re okay with….this?” He motioned up and down his body. “You’re okay that I’m a ghost? That I’m Phantom?”

Maddie offered him a watery smile. “Yes. I love you no matter what or who you are.” She placed one hand on his face and Danny’s lips parted just enough to see his fangs. “No matter what you look like, you’re my son.”

Dad nodded. “Fangs or no fangs. Ghost or human or….something inbetween.”

The woman glanced down, at the slow movement of his chest, the glow radiating from his body, the air below where he floated. “We don’t really understand this. But...I know I’d like to.”

For a moment, Danny looked worried. He floated back, away from Maddie’s hand.

Jack’s expression softened. “We want to know what life is like for you now. How we can help and support you.”

Maddie agreed. “We haven’t been there for you for a while but we’re here now.”

Danny nodded. “Okay….Okay...I think..I think I believe you.”

The parents looked at each other and Maddie’s stomach flopped. His tentativeness was understandable but still… it made her heart hurt. They’d lost much of Danny’s trust and would have to work to gain that trust back. They were fortunate he was willing to try rebuilding their relationship at all.

The mother sighed. “We do have a lot to talk about but….” She motioned around the crowded GAV. “We should go home first.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah.” With that, everyone stepped away, returning to their seats. The teenager glanced down at himself, blushing. “I’m still in...ghost form. I’ll just….” He bit his lip, closing his eyes.

Then a ring of white light, the same one that started all of this, formed around his waist. The light passed and Danny, now with black hair and blue eyes, gracefully touched down. He picked up his fast food bag and pulled out his half eaten burger. He took a bit before looking up at his parents, both of whom were standing and marveling at his recent transformation.

He smiled sheepishly. “Uhh...can we get milkshakes?”

Maddie blinked at the seeming random question. Beside her, Jack laughed. “Sure thing, Danno.” He walked to his seat and buckled. “What do you want? Peanut butter and bacon?”

Jazz wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ew. Why would you eat that?”

Meanwhile, Danny laughed. “Because it’s delicious.” He addressed Jack. “Yeah Dad. That sounds amazing.”

The man nodded. “Madds, what about you?”

The question drew the woman out of her observation. She returned to her seat, answering. “Mint Chocolate chip sounds good to me.”

“I’ll do strawberry cheesecake.” Jazz piped in.

“Okay. Peanut butter bacon, mint chip, strawberry cheesecake.” The man listed off. “And I’ll do...peanut butter banana.”

Jack repeated the list while he pulled back into the drive through line. And Maddie sighed, relieved. Finally addressing Danny’s secret had not gone as she’d planned. But…. she glanced to the back to see Danny and Jazz were eating and chatting with each other, looking as relieved as she was. It went well, all things considered. As she said, there was much to figure out. But...today they’d had a fun time as a family. They’d relaxed, they’d bonded, they’d finally seen Danny smile again, after months. And...the truth was out. Apologies were made. After the fear, mistrust, and anxiety, Danny and Jazz as well knew that she and Jack would fully support Danny, ghost powers and Phantom alter ego included.

Maddie looked back, meeting Danny’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He gave her a fanged smile. Yes, it felt like...everything would be okay

#Danny Phantom #Phic Phight 2021 #Phic Phight #My fic #identity reveal #Maddie Fenton #jack fenton #jazz fenton

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danny-chase · 2 years

Note

Wasn't the last laugh all about how even when the Joker was dying he decided he still wanted to kill people. Then Dick killed him and Bruce brought him back to spare the boys conscious. But the Joker still wants to kill people so it seemed like to the story Dick's feelings and status as a perfect hero who never kills is more important that the people we know the Joker is going to kill in the future.

Okay pause, hold, timeout. Sure that's an interpretation of the story but I think it's kind of a shallow one.

Let's remember what the inciting incident of Last Laugh was.

Joker: Last Laugh #1

So we have the inciting incident as this, Joker is told that he's dying. Spoilers, he isn't. The brain tumor was faked by this guy

Joker: Last Laugh #4

And who wouldn't? After all the pain and suffering, who wouldn't want to hurt the joker? Who wouldn't want to make him grieve, feel the same way he made so many others feel? So this man acted in hate.

And what happened?

The Joker got end of the life privileges, and was able to hang out with the Slab's general population. He started rampaging and killing on mass. Of course Joker is responsible for that. But even the joker who DC's pretty much deemed as a being of pure evil was able to be contained, if not for one small act of violence meant to cause him pain.

Now on the flip side we have Barbara and Dick debating throughout the issues. Barbara keeps asking the questions that a lot of us have when it comes to the joker, why they can't stand aside just this once, bringing up she'd feel safer if he were dead, how many lives they would save, etc. And Dick plays the "we aren't soldiers or cops" role, that it's not about revenge, how long would society accept killing heroes, etc. All these questions are raised, but the story doesn't really answer them. You're left to think and decide what you think would be right for yourself. In a way, Last Laugh asks a lot of the questions about the way the DC universe operates and how it would feel to live there.

Now Dick who's been anti kill Joker learns that Tim has "died" due to the Jokers violence. And to some extent, his change in demeanor is a reflection of how easier it is to compartmentalize and separate ourselves when the situation isn't personal. Dick's family has been hurt by the joker in the past and Tim "dying" reopens wounds the never really healed. In the past he's had a lot of friends and family die (Joey, Raven, Jason, Danny, at the least) and everytime he's gone back to trying to be as moral of a hero as possible. Now suddenly Barbara and Dick switch positions in their arguments. The crux of the argument is if one of them kills the Joker out of anger, the joker wins - that is what he wants, he wants to break the moral hero, it's been his goal all along.

Jokers goal is stated: "See, I was planning on having Batman kill me... suicide by super-hero, see? I'm dying anyway, right? So why not get a little blood on his cape in the process? But revenge once removed is sweeter. It'd really put a twist in his kevlar if one of his litter did the dirty deed." In issue #6.

In this, the jokers goal was to die. He thought he was going to die anyways, and he wanted to hurt Bruce as much as possible in the process. And he almost fails. There's a moment where Dick backs off, then Joker brings up Jason and Dick absolutely looses it and murders the joker in anger. And the joker wins

Joker: Last Laugh #6

The idea that Bruce brought the Joker back to spare Dick's feelings is pretty much a fanon invention. Iirc I've never seen any reference to that, Bruce's stated reason is "We don't do that. Not even to him."

Another thing is Dick isn't all that much affected by the decision to bring the joker back to life. He still sees himself as a murderer and in a later comic he has a discussion with Wally over what do do next. Even if the joker did get brought back, Dick counts it as a failure. And to some extent so does Bruce "Let him go, Robin. He has to face what he's done."

For Dick it's a story that deconstructs his morals and pushes him to the point of murder. For Barbara it's somewhat of a journey of her letting go (she spends a lot of time at the beginning obsessively watching him and by the end doesn't monitor him personally at all). And to me it's the story of the cycle of violence and how personal vengeance can go wrong.

Anyways I actually think the end of last laugh is the ending the joker deserves. He ends up in complete isolation, only tracked by heating sensors, which alert if anything goes wrong. There's no guards to manipulate, just him, in a little cell, wasting away for the rest of his natural life. Not going out with a bang, or because of hate, just left to die in obscurity with no one watching.

If dc had balls, this would have been the last we'd seen of him (minus flashbacks). Because let's be real, without an audience the joker is powerless

#the end #but you're open to your own interpretation of course i would recommend reading it though #alas dc sucks #last laugh #asks #anons #momo don't look #image in alt #idk how Barbara fans feel about her portrayal in this tbh because she'd already grown past her feelings of the joker iirc #so it feels like they took her back a bit to make the story work #I'd have to look closer at where in canon it falls #like time wise #dick grayson #barbara gordon #joker

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snackleggg · 3 years

Text

It wasn't hard, in that moment

~~~

Angsty one shot without a happy ending. Sometimes hate can blind you to the simplest things.

~~~

This couldn't be happening.

There was no way this was happening.

But the screen didn't change as Maddie and Jack Fenton stared at the news on their TV.

" -and with all this in mind the government has not only decided to revoke the Anti-ecto act but to also give ghosts and other ectoplasmic entities that fall under that category basic civil rights. The GIW and several other unethical ghost hunting organisations are being shut down as a result and the government will soon be moving onto the inspection of smaller groups and individuals that have shown excessive malice towards these beings-" The news reporter continued on but Maddie couldn't really listen to anything else they were saying.

She didn't think it would ever get this out of hand. At first it had been small things, the impressionable and naive children of Casper high supporting that menace Phantom. Then when word of ghosts being real spread to the rest of the world other groups supporting them and their rights as people started popping up.

Now the Anti-ecto laws were not only taken down but new laws protecting the scum were put up. How did this happen?

A growl escaped Maddie "Phantom".

Of course that evil menace had to be up to this. He and his ghost pals must have mind controlled government officials. Now Fenton works would undoubtedly be inspected and shut down considering the new Ectoplasmic Protection Act.

They had to work fast Maddie decided.

If they could destroy Phantom then whatever ghostly hold he had over the government would disappear and they would all come to their senses.

Maddie stood up and started stomping her way down the stairs. She didn't even notice Jack continuing to watch the news as they interviewed some ghosts on what they thought about the situation. She didn't even notice how Jazz was standing proudly at the top of the stairs or the suspicious look Jazz threw her way when she had left.

With her new urgency it wasn't hard for her to finish a project they had in the works for a while. Her and Jack had kept it top secret so that the scum couldn't somehow find out and destroy it like they did with some of their other brilliant inventions.

The Fenton Ghost Filter was about to get a test run on the local menace.

Unlike something like the Ghost Grabber or a Ghost Shield, the Ghost Filter didn't filter ghosts from an object or just force them away. It filtered them from existence. Separating all their ectoplasm down to the molecular bond, they would become nothing but air.

It wasn't hard to find the menace. He had just finished sucking another ghost into a Fenton Thermos, Maddie still couldn't figure out where he had got his hands on one. It wasn't hard to get his attention and expertly lie about her intentions, about seeing the news and understanding how wrong she had been, about how she wanted to speak to him and make a truce.

The words were bitter on her tongue and it took everything in her to keep her expression of friendliness up and not let any venom or disgust leak into her voice.

He was obviously still cautious when he approached her. He carried himself with the air of someone ready to bolt at the slightest sign of danger. Of course Maddie would never give him that chance.

The moment he was in close enough where she knew she wouldn't miss she pulled out her newest invention. She saw the moment he realised what she was about to do, the moment he realised she had lied and the moment he realised that even with his speed he wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

Maddie saw the fear in Phantom's acid green eyes.

She smiled.

She was proud to be the cause of that fear.

She pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down after Phantom collapsed. Not in the good way either.

It wasn't the same kind of slow as when she was about to shoot him, when she was savouring that moment, that victory.

At first it was caused by confusion.

Why hadn't he been torn apart instantly? Maybe she had gotten something wrong in her rush to finish it? Maybe a calculation had been off?

Then white rings appeared around Phantom's waist and travelled up his body.

She was tense. Was this a new power? A new attack? Thanks to those damn new laws it would be seen as self defense if he attacked her now.

Then when the rings of white light disappeared her son was left there on the ground. He was screaming.

Over the years Maddie had learned to ignore the screams of ghosts, they were all just ploys to gain her sympathy of the emotionless creatures. The screams of ghosts had become white noise to her, nothing more than a passing irritation.

But infront of her right now was not a ghost but her son. Her baby boy. He was screaming. He was in pain.

The mother in her wanted to run over to her boy right then and try and make him feel better, comfort him and make his pain stop.

The ghost hunter in her, the part of her that had been driving her every action up until that point, whispered in her ear how this was a trap. Phantom was trying to trick her like always, trying to gain her sympathy by making himself look like her son.

The two sides were at war, and so Maddie was frozen.

Then time seemed to snap back into gear, moving fast now like a rushing river.

Someone ran past her, towards Danny (Phantomphantomphantom). It took her a moment to realise it was Jazz. She was quickly followed by Danny's two friends, Sam and Tucker.

They were all panicking. All calling out to Danny, asking what was wrong, asking what happened and what they should do. Reassuring him that everything was going to be okay, though it sounded like they were trying to convince themselves just as much as they were trying to convince him.

The entire time Maddie could barely hear them over the screams, over her son's (Phantom's) screams.

Then it all stopped.

The screams cut off abruptly, like the plug being pulled from a TV.

Danny (Phantom that's Phantom it's Phantom) fell limp.

Sam was crying, Maddie had never seen her cry before. She was always such a strong girl.

Tucker seemed to be franctically looking for a plus, both on Danny's wrist and neck.

Jazz was-

Maddie felt like she had been slapped when she looked at Jazz.

Jazz was staring at her- no, glaring.

There was so much in that glare.

Jazz had always expressed a lot of emotion through her eyes, she could never really hide what she was feeling if you looked her in the eyes.

There was rage, and sadness and- what Maddie didn't want to admit looked like hatred. Unshed tears sat in the corners of her eyes as she glared at Maddie like she had just taken everything from her.

Then her eyes trailed back to Danny's (Phantom's) limp form.

He wasn't breathing. He was still, too still.

His eyes closed from when they had been screwed shut in pain.

Tucker was now also crying, he had stopping looking for a pulse.

Maddie felt bile rise to the back of her throat as she replayed the events in her head.

Maddie saw the fear in Phantom's acid green eyes. (She didn't need to try hard to imagine those same eyes as blue- sky blue like the day the baby in her arms opened his eyes and she swore to always protect him)

She smiled. (That's the last thing he saw, her smiling. Smiling because she was about to kill hurt him)

She was proud to be the cause of that fear. (She caused that fear. Her own baby was afraid of her, and she had been proud of that)

She pulled the trigger. (She pulled the trigger, she shot him, she hurt him, she killed him)

"Tragedy struck today as Amity park's local ghostly hero Phantom, whose identity was revealed to be Damiel Fenton, was killed by none other than Madeline Fenton. It has been a common fact in the town of Amity for many years that the adult Fentons have harboured a, at times, unreasonable hatred to ghostly entities. While not all the details are yet known, the broader strokes of the story are that after the government's public declaration of the Ectoplasmic Protection Act yesterday Madeline Fenton decided to act out to destroy Phantom who she and her husband had claimed to be a menace multiple times. Taking a, as of yet unidentified, weapon and lulling Phantom into a false sense of security around her before she shot him and subsequently killed him. When he died his identity was revealed to be that of her own son who, we are told, after an accident involving their prized invention, the ghost portal, became part ghost and took personal responsibility for making sure that Amity park was safe from those who wished to harm it. Madeline Fenton is being charged with first degree murder and there is currently much debate on whether Jasmine Fenton should be removed from Jack Fenton's custody-" The news reporter went on.

Jack couldn't focuse on the TV anymore. His sobs having grown too loud to be able to hear what was being said.

His wife was going to be sent to prison.

His daughter hated them both.

His son was dead.

His son had died nearly two years ago and they hadn't noticed. They hadn't questioned his strange behaviour, the falling grades, the breaking curfew. They hadn't seen their son when they looked at Phantom, hadn't recognised him.

Then his son died again, by their invention again.

He was a terrible father.

He was a terrible person.

#danny phantom #danny phantom fic #angst #hurt no comfort #danny fenton #Maddie Fenton #jack fenton #jazz fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #dp fic #my writing

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tytach · 3 years

Text

Phantom of the Office - The Ghost-Shield

Danny's gaze was fixated on the break room's vending machine, a frown etched on his face. He had been standing there for a few minutes now, completely oblivious to Kevin, who was awkwardly waiting for his turn behind him.

After an up-tenth wriggle of his hands, Kevin stepped forward, leveling with Danny.

"What's going on?"

"I can't decide between chips and a chocolate bar." Danny extended his hands, weighing the pros and cons. "On the one hand, I'm craving sugar. But on the other, I've been wanting to eat chips since yesterday."

"Why don't you take both? That's what I would do," Kevin supplied, helpfully.

The temp turned to the accountant and looked him straight in the eye.

"You're a very clever man, Kevin Malone," Danny praised, his hand diving into his pocket in search for change.

— — —

"Danny is sooooooo cool!" Kevin fanned to the camera. "The other day, he came to the office without shoes, and he had only one sock on. Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that?? Years."

Kevin smiled proudly.

"And the cool guy thinks I'm clever."

— — —

"Where were my shoes?" Danny repeated the question he was just asked, before shaking his head, his gaze avoiding the camera. "It’s a long story."

He looked up suddenly.

"Wait, did you just say that Kevin thinks I’m cool? Wow. I don’t know how I feel about that."

His face took on a genuinely confused expression.

"I really don’t."

— — —

Danny got up from the break room’s table, scrunching empty wrappers in his hands.

"Well, it was a pleasure talking with you, but I need to get back to work now."

He gestured a salute to Kevin and headed for the door, throwing his trash in the bin on the way.

However, Danny stopped right before crossing the threshold. He frowned, suspicion written all over his face. He studied the doorway and casually reached out a tentative hand, that he removed immediately with a hiss. He shook it as if he had been shocked by an invisible barrier.

"Are you alright?" Kevin asked, mouth half full of candy.

"Yeah…" Danny said slowly as he inspected his surroundings.

His eyes landed on something beyond the break room’s window.

"You know what? I think I still have a few minutes before my break is over." Danny articulated loudly as he slowly backed off to sit back at the table. "What were we talking about again?"

"My band Scrantonicity II! We’re playing on Friday night. Wanna come?"

"Er, sure."

On the other side of the window, poorly hiding behind interior plants, Dwight was observing Danny with a mischievous smile.

— — —

"This time I got him," Dwight gloated to the camera. "I bought the strongest ghost shield I could find and, last night, I waited until everyone went home and I installed it in the annexe. I calculated very precisely the radius of the ecto-repellant field so that it would start exactly at the door. After that, all I had to do was wait for Danny to take his break to activate it."

He crossed his arm triumphantly.

"It’s not as if he is actually stuck in the break room. He can always get out…" Dwight smiled victoriously, "by phasing through the other walls, thus proving to everyone that he is a ghost."

— — —

Dwight walked nonchalantly into the break room. He hovered next to the two men, who were deep in conversation, and had to harrumph a couple times before they finally turned their attention to him.

"Danny, Micheal would like to see you in his office."

"No he doesn’t," Danny assured him.

"Yes, he does," Dwight insisted. "He wants to see you now."

"Oh yes? What does he want to tell me about then?"

Dwight tried —and failed— to sound casual.

"Pfff, something about how crossbows are the superior weapons to hunt bears? I don’t know, I didn’t ask him."

Danny smirked.

"Yeaaaah, I think I’ll pass."

"Why don’t you want to go, Danny?" Dwight drawled, leaning over the table. "Does it have something to do with the door, maybe?"

"Why do you want me to go that bad, Dwight?"

"What’s wrong with the door?" Kevin interjected.

"It’s none of your business," Dwight brushed him aside.

Danny’s eyes widened.

"It was you!" He shouted, scandalized, pointing a dramatic finger at Dwight.

"Yes, it was me," the salesman bragged, before taunting him. "What are you gonna do about it, ghost? Come on, hurry up, Michael wants to see you."

Danny glared at him.

"Turn it off."

"Or what? Are you going to attack me with your ectoblasts? Or maybe you’ll haunt me till the end of my days? I’m not scared of you."

"What’s going on?" Kevin asked, completely lost.

Creed chose this moment to walk into the room, effectively interrupting the staring contest between the two men.

"Danny? Micheal wants to see you."

Danny blinked.

"Wait, that was real?"

———

"Dwight paid me five dollars to say that," Creed informed the camera, lifting up the bill he earned.

———

"Fine," Danny finally relented.

He walked by Dwight, giving him a tap in the back.

"Talk to you later, Dwight."

With that he exited the room through the door, unbothered. As if no shield were blocking his way.

Dwight’s jaw went slack.

"But that’s impossible…" he muttered.

— — —

When he went to check on the ghost-shield generator, he couldn’t deny that engine was still on.

A head appeared above the cubicle.

"Please, turn that off, Dwight. The sound is bothering us."

"Shut up, Toby."

———

"Guys, please tell me you recorded his face, I need to see this," Danny hiccuped.

"But the thing was legit though," he said once his laughter died down. "I grew up around ghost-shields —I know one when I see one, you know? That’s what gave me the idea. You didn’t really think it would work on me, right? I mean, come on. I’m human. Not half-ghost, or whatever he thinks I am.

"If I were half-ghost, it would require an even stronger shield than that, because the level of ectoplasm in my blood wouldn’t be as concentrated in my human form. Not that I would know about that. And not that such a shield does actually exist. Because ecto-scientists don’t know about half-ghosts. And also because half-ghost aren’t real.

"Yeah, I think I’ll shut up, now."

#Phantom of the Office #danny phantom #dp fanfic #the office fanfic #dp x the office au #the office #ficlet #ghost-shield #danny is a little shit #my fics #this is an open au #I'd love to see more contributions to it #This is un-betad please tell me if you see any obvious mistake

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epickendall · 2 years

Text

Halfa-Demon? part 9

For the next few days, Jazz was on a mission to discover what Danny had been hiding from everyone. So far, she comes up empty as she hasn't learned anything about Danny's job, and she tries to ask him questions.

FLASHBACK

Danny was eating some cereal at the kitchen table when Jazz came to the table. She asked Danny.

"So where is this job of yours?"

Danny responds, "Why?"

"Because I might swing by for a simple hi or maybe when mom wants me to give you something to eat."

"Jazz, my job is far out of town, and besides, I usually come back home at either lunch or dinner time."

"Okay, what does your job company do?"

"Alright with these questions?"

"I'm just curious about your job, that's all."

"Look, Jazz, my job is a bit odd, but it pays well. Now knock off with these questions; I'm trying to eat."

"Fine." She left Danny back to his cereal.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Jazz tried to turn to the internet to find anything that would match what Danny said about Danny's job, and she found three in Amity Park.

Online dating ghostwriter

Embalmer

Private Investigator

Those three jobs she couldn't see Danny was doing, especially online dating ghostwriters. With that, Jazz took a break from looking for Danny's job before she went insane; however, she does get her wish, but not in a way that both she and Danny wanted.

The next day, Jazz came home after her short tutoring of Dash in the library was cut short due to Dash's getting a detention because he tried to impress Jazz with his football skills but accidentally knocked down a bookcase. She opens the door to see a red creature with horns and a tail wearing a suit and jacket, getting into a portal in the living room. The creature notices Jazz. The two look at each other awkwardly and silently.

Jazz broke the silence and screamed.

The creature panics. "Jazz, calm down."

"How do you know the name? And why do I sound like my brother?"

Jazz tries to get to the door, but the creature was fast enough to block Jazz from the door.

"Look, Jazz, I'll tell you everything. You just need to relax," said the creature.

Jazz quickly ran and grabbed a lamp, "Don't make us this."

The creature raises an eyebrow, "Really a lamp?"

Jazz is knocked out before she can do anything by another creature wielding a blackjack. She falls to the ground.

"Really, Blitz!"

"What? It's obvious this was going nowhere."

Danny looks down at his sister and groans. "Great."

...

Danny doesn't know what to think in this situation. One his sisters had just found out his secret and was now knocked out on the living room couch, and the last was his coworker back in the house. Today was supposed to be an easy day.

"So what are we going to do now?" said Loona looking at Jazz

"I could..." Blitzo slowly pulls out his flint pistol.

Danny stops him, "No, we're not killing my sister Blitz."

"Hey, I was just suggesting it."

"Now, Blitz, because Danny's sister is a member of his family, she is also a member of our little family," Millie explained.

"Hm, you make a good point, Millie,"

"Besides, sir, I'm sure we can reason with Danny's sister," said Moxxie.

Loona looks down to see Jazz starting to wake up. "Guys, she's waking up."

Jazz wakes up to see Danny in his demon form and the rest of his co-workers.

"Wassup," said Blitzo.

Jazz was about to scream again, but Loona covered her mouth with "nope, not going to hear that again."

"Loona," said Danny, who then sighed. He transforms back to his human self, shocking Jazz. He says to her calmly, "Now, Jazz. She's going to remove her hand from your mouth, okay."

Loona did, and Jazz didn't scream but asked, "Danny, what's going on?"

"It's a long story about Jazz."

"Whelp might as well check the fridge for anything good to drink," said Blitzo.

Danny explains everything to Jazz, from the ghost portal to working for Blitzo.

"Let me get this straight. Somehow, mom and dad's ghost portal and a magical book made you into some type of halfa-demon, and you work with Blitz to kill people for clients who are in hell like assaiassns. "

"Actually, I don't kill people, but yeah."

"I want to say that all of this is a dream, and that I will wake up from it, but I know this isn't a dream,"

"Thank Satan because I don't want to sit here with someone who's in denial," said Blitzo, who was drinking a bottle of wine.

Jazz looks at Danny and says, "So does that mean you're dead?"

"No, I'm still alive, thankfully."

"Okay," Jazz looks around at Moxxie and Millie, "I didn't know your guys' names except for Blitz and Loona."

Millie introduces herself. "I'm Millie." She wraps her hand around Moxxie's shoulder, "This is my lovely husband, Moxxie,"

"Hello, nice to meet you," said Moxxie.

"I'm Loona," said Loona.

"Oh yeah, I recognize your voice. Now you're the secretary I talk to."

"Yep."

"Good, now we're done with this meet and greet shit Jazzy," said Blitzo.

"It's Jazz," she corrects him.

"Whatever, I'm going to need you to keep this secret to yourself, no one else, not even your fine ass mom."

"WHAT!" said both Danny and Jazz.

"Nothing, ignore that last part."

Loona mutters while holding the bridge of her nose, "dammit Blitz."

Moxxie chimes in, "Look, you have to keep this secret; we don't know what happens if anyone else in hell finds out about Danny."

"And it could mean bad news for everyone," said Millie.

Jazz sighs, "Alright, I'll keep this secret."

"Fucking A! Now that the shit is over, I do have questions for Jazz, "

"What's that?"

"Do you want a job?"

Jazz says flatly, "no."

At night, Jazz came by Danny's room to see him on the computer.

Jazz asked, "Danny, can you promise me one thing about your job?"

"What's that Jazz?" asked Danny.

"Promise me you won't get seriously hurt, okay."

"I promise Jazz,"

"I still can't believe that you are some sort of demon, ironically in a ghost hunting family."

"Yeah, it would sound like a stupid joke." Danny laughs a little.

"Also, please try to keep your boss away from our mother."

"I'll try my best."

#danny phantom #helluva boss

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themonsterblog · 3 years

Text

The Beast of Bray Road

Dating back to 1936, citizens of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, in Walworth county as well as Racine and Jefferson counties have been witnessing a beast.

Reported to be 6ft tall, with grey and brown fur, the Beast is said to have a wolf-like face, shiny yellow eyes, pointed ears, and run and walk on all fours or hind legs as well as kneel like a man. I am reticent to call it a werewolf as shapeshifters are rather outrageous even for the cryptozoology community, but that is the imagery that comes to mind.

The first reported sighting was in 1936. 30-something Mark Shackleman was the night watchman for the St Coletta School For Exceptional Children outside Jefferson. The school had extensive grounds that included wide, open fields that held several preserved Native American burial mounds. Crossing the fields one night when doing his rounds, Shackleman saw a shadow digging into one of the mounds, much like a canine would. The Beast then stood to six feet tall and looked at him, it’s large body covered in dark fur and smelled of rotting meet. Shackleman took a step back, startled, and the beast abruptly turned and ran off into the woods. Shackleman reported seeing it again the next night, but never again.

Due to some what conflicting descriptions of the beast, some cryptozoology enthusiasts believe the beast to be a misidentification of some other cryptid, such as “Eddy” or “The Bluff Monster,” a Bigfoot like creature in Wisconsin. Others suggest a Waheela, or “bear dog;” as well as a Shunka Warakin. Some have even suggested due to the similarities and proximity that The Beast Of Bray Road and The Michigan Dogman are the same animal.

The Beast has been reported to act aggressively, but not outright violent and hasn’t reported to have physically harmed anyone. It had also been reported to charge vehicles, even chase people, but breaking off the chase before catching anyone, suggesting the theory that some have that it is territorial or guarding something, which could also explain the reason that many sightings are concentrated on a 2 mile stretch of farm road.

In 1991, 18 year old, Doris Gibson, reported driving down Bray Road during a storm when she felt her tire hit something. Thinking she had hit a small animal, she got out of her car to investigate only to find nothing. She looked to the side of the road, saw the form of the Beast and rushed back to her car. As she sped away, she said the Beast jumped on the trunk of her car but slid off in the heavy rain.

In the fall of 1989, Lori Endrizzi was driving down Bray Road on her way home from her job as a bar manager, when she saw a hunched figure in the road eating road kill. She flipped on her high beams to see it clearer and realized that whatever it was, knelt like a man and held the carcass in its hands like it had human-like elbows. The creature then stood and started towards her vehicle that had stalled out as Lori panicked and struggled to get it to start. When the engine successfully rolled over, she floored it to her mother’s house. “I didn’t sleep that night very well,” she said in her interview with Monsters and Mysteries in America.

The town of Elkhorn has supposedly had so many sightings of the Beast from the 80’s and 90’s that the Elkhorn Animal Control is rumored to have a file on the creature. The vast uptick in sightings is what had the now defunct Walworth Week assign junior reporter, Linda Godfrey, to investigate and report on the sightings. Linda published her article “Tracking down ‘The Beast of Bray Road’” on December 29th, 1991 and would then go on to write “The Beast Of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin’s Werewolf” and become the foremost expert on the subject.

One story Godfrey tells regarding the Beast is about a group of boys heading home from sledding, that was told to her by a friend of her son’s that experienced it first-hand. On their way home, the boys saw a large furry creature drinking water from a creek, thinking that it was a dog, they decided to go pet it. When they approached the creature, it stood, snarled, and took chase after the boys, breaking off after they cleared the tree line. Which, while terrifying, is in line with many reports.

Steve Krueger has told a consistent story on both Monster Quest and Monsters and Mysteries in America. Myself being a natural skeptic, once recognizing him on M&M from Monster Quest, made sure to track down his MQ episode, initially thinking that I could rule him out as a credible eye witness if his story changed. It hadn’t in the 4 years between episode airings, which lent more to his credibility in my eyes, albeit the story being more sensational on M&M due to the nature of that show. In November 2006, Krueger, a DNR worker had removed a the carcass of an 85lb doe from a road in Holy Hill, Wisconsin. As Krueger sat in the cab of his truck filling out the required paper work for the removal, he felt his truck shake, thinking it was simply the wind, he ignored it. A second harder shake caught his attention and he looked out the back window of his truck to see a shadowy figure standing at the tailgate of his truck. Krueger shined his flashlight through the back window to get a better look and saw a 6ft tall animal with a wolf-like face, reaching into the bed for the deer carcass he had just removed from the road. Startled, Krueger threw the truck in drive and sped away allowing the Beast to drag the doe off the back of his truck.

Wolf Biologist Peggy Callahan believes all of these sightings can be explained as simple misidentification. “People could definitely misidentify a wolf jumping up on its hind legs,” she tells Monster Quest, in a 2010 interview. Callahan believes that folklore and superstition combined with misidentification has created the tale of the Beast and influenced sightings. “As for the traditional werewolf, I’m going to tell you it doesn’t exist.”

Linda Godfrey on the other hand, does not believe this is a simple case of misidentification and advocates for witnesses saying “I really believe that all of these witnesses have seen what they say they saw. [...] Anybody who drives around much in Wisconsin has seen so many deer, and so many bear, and these other creatures that they would have a hard time mistaking something like that for a completely unknown animal.”

Sightings over the years have dwindled in frequency but recent sightings have been reported to MyRacineCounty.com with Danny Morgan’s January 2018 account of seeing the Beast while driving home from Lake Geneva, accompanied with the cell phone photo that heads this post; and Ron Rice’s 2020 account of seeing the Beast in the town of Lyons while delivering fertilizer.

If you are interested in learning more about upright, Wolf-like hominids, I highly recommend sifting through Linda Godfreys blog at Lindagodfrey.com. She has compiled sightings on there since 2009, but has been inactive since May of 2020.

Sources:

Milwaukeemag.com

Legendsofamerica.com

Lindagodfrey.com

MyRacineCounty.com

History Channel’s Monster Quest

Travel Channel’s Monsters and Mysteries in America

Cryptidz.fandom.com

#cryptid #beast of Bray road #Linda Godfrey #monster quest #monster #werewolf #werewolves #cryptozoolologist #cryptids #cryptozoology #Elkhorn Wisconsin #Wisconsin #Bray road #Racine #Walworth #north American cryptid #humanoid cryptid

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movedto-erodasghosts · 3 years

Text

the Holiday | timothée chalamet

chapter one: The Prince and the Pauper. (prince.)

↳ read Iris’ version here and a little bit of Timmy (Tom Holland fic)

I’ve had so much fun working on this Christmas series, hopefully people enjoy! This series will have 2 fics in 1, so there will be two story lines. I will be writing this Timmy version and @peeterparkr will be writing a Tom Holland version. This series is based off of the movie the Holiday, where two women with recently broken hearts decided to switch their homes over the holiday. Both of our fics will be reader insert, but for the sake of less confusion when writing about Nancy’s character I will use “Iris” and when she is writing mine she will use “Sophia”. Both fics are connected! read @peeterparkr‘s version to get the whole story!

story summary: Two women troubled with guy-problems, one who’s in love with love and one who doesn’t believe in it are both suffering from a broken heart, with little reasoning and nothing left to lose, they swap homes in each other's countries for the holidays, where they’ll meet a local guy who will probably change their destiny.

chapter summary: the heartbreak of an apathetic lover.

pairing: timothée chalamet x y/n

warnings: mentions of cheating

word count: ~7.1k

a/n: you do not have to read both, but it does make for the best experience to! please don’t feel pressured though :)

masterlist

Love was something that seemed so simple and straightforward. How could it not be? There were set guidelines for everything, rules to follow in any event. There were rules for love, rules for relationships too. Rules that were simply that, rules. Relationships didn’t have to be complicated, so long as the rules were followed. And it wasn’t like there were many rules, or that they were even complicated in themselves. Really, the biggest and most important rule was to simply not cheat, that's all. How hard could that be?

What are you supposed to do when rules are broken though? Sure, there are rules to follow if those rules are broken, but they never seemed to be rules you would need to know. So where did this put you now?

It didn’t feel so straightforward anymore though, it felt more like a whirlpool just washing away at you. Love might’ve been more complicated than you thought. Was it worth the complications? Honestly, you couldn’t say. Things never seemed to be too terribly complicated for you, it was simple enough to make most decisions. You found that people often made things far more complicated than what seemed necessary, too many feelings attached. Why did things need to have so many strings attached? Why couldn’t people just realize what was best and move on?

Then again, you were even sure you knew what was best anymore. It had seemed that you found love, that all the rules were being followed. Things seemed to be so simple, so orderly. So why did he have to go and break the rules? And what did that make everything mean?

Maybe love wasn’t even real. How could it be? If it was, why did Danny ever do that? It was a direct violation of the most basic rule, and it was just downright cruel.

Love, if it existed, wasn’t supposed to hurt. It was supposed to be supporting one another, working with each other to make life simpler. Love was meant to be just taking your partner in, sharing your interests with each other. It was removing stress and worry off the other’s shoulders.

What love wasn’t, was going behind one another’s backs. Betraying all of what you built. Love wasn’t breaking each other's hearts, and it was not breaking the rules.

Love also wasn’t meant to be a distraction, and yet you were letting it whisk your thoughts away all morning. How could you not? You couldn’t stop yourself from this non stop wondering if it was true. Had Danny really cheated on you? And if so, why? How did he expect you to react? Well, that you knew the answer to.

“Come on, y/n. What was I supposed to do? She’s new to the job, she needed some help from someone.”

“So, so what? She needed help getting laid?” You scoffed, “Don’t play that card on me. It’s not like there is much to figure out about a receptionist job.”

“I didn’t sleep with her, I swear.” It was completely unconvincing.

“On my life?”

“What?”

“Do you swear on my life?” You repeated. “If you’re so sure that you didn’t do it, swear on my life.”

You could see as his brain scrambled for answers, he was stuck in a corner.

“Y/n, come on. I’m not going to do that, I won’t swear on your life. That’s ridiculous.”

You rolled your eyes, “It’s not, it’s simple. If you could just do it then this would be over.”

“You’re being irrational.”

“I am not!” You tossed a pillow at him, “You broke the rule! You slept with her, and for what? Just so you could gaslight me about it?”

“I’m not gaslighting y—

“Oh, of course you aren’t.” You marched over to the closet, taking all of his things out. “Unbelievable, Danny. All you had to do was not cheat. It was that simple.”

“What’re you doing?” He watched you tossing everything on the bed. “Hey, don’t do this. C’mon, we can talk about this. We can work it out, right?”

“No!” You threw the last shirt. “No, Danny, we can’t. You had to go and throw it all away. You wanted her so bad, and well now you can have her.”

“It wasn’t even her! I mean, really. I just… can’t take it with you anymore. It’s always something, you know.” He sat on the bed, folding his things up as he expected them to be put back.

“Always something? Really? What does that mean?”

“Don’t act like you don’t see it. You can’t talk, you’re too busy with work. You can’t have dinner, you’re busy at the shop. You can’t just tell me how you feel instead of beating around the bush, your emotions are too sensitive to talk about apparently.”

You started walking away, “I’m not taking this from you.”

“Oh, of course not! That’s another thing,” he followed after, “it’s always about you. It’s about your schedule, your needs, your damn rules. It’d be a true miracle for me to have any input.”

“So that’s why you decided to sleep with her? Because you couldn’t work up the nerve to tell me you needed some alone time with me?” You turned around, arms crossed. “You know how much I care about the shop, and you should know that a lot of work goes into running it.”

“Maybe I just got tired of this never ending schedule built around your world.” Danny shrugged, “Was it really so bad of me to want some attention on me for once? I mean, come on!”

“It was horrible of you to break the ru—“ you stopped yourself, there was no way he would be winning the argument. “I just can’t believe you expect me to be okay with you cheating on me. You’re talking about it like, like I was supposed to expect this to be coming? Like I don’t have the right to be monumentally pissed at you right now?”

“You’re always at that damn bookstore,” he lamely fought. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not like we can’t work through this.”

But what made him think you wanted to work through it? Really, that was the last thing you wanted at the moment. And it wasn’t like he even deserved that much from you. He broke the rules.

He broke them, and blamed you for it. You couldn’t even see what you had done wrong, it didn’t make sense. Yes, you worked a lot, but being a shop owner is demanding. It requires a lot from you. Danny always tried convincing you to share the workload with Tom, who had been working in your shop from nearly the start. You completely trusted Tom, and yet there was this part of you that couldn’t just let him do that out of worry that things just wouldn’t be the same if it was him instead of you.

Even if you worked too much, that was no reason for Danny to do what he had done. It just didn’t make sense. Why were you even letting it eat away at you? That was the kind of thing you would typically consider to be a waste of time, so you were unsure as to why you were so caught up in it now.

“Y/n, hey,” Tom poked your side. “You okay? You’ve been putting the books up the wrong way.”

“Hmm?” You glanced at him before looking back to the books in front of you. “Shit…”

You hadn’t even noticed, not a single one of them.

He chuckled, reaching out to help you fix them. “You seem lost in the clouds today.”

“I know, sorry. It’s just… Danny and I had a fight last night and this morning. I guess I’m just trying to figure that out.”

His brows furrowed, “What was the fight about?”

You stacked up the books and let out a long and heavy sigh. Running a hand down your face, you chuckled, “He fucked his receptionist.”

Simple, straightforward.

“Oh wow,” Tom’s eyes widened. “Umm… did he…” he cleared his throat, “did he confess?”

“Indirectly.” You shook your head, “He blamed me for it. Said he needed some attention, and that I fail to give it to him. He told me I spend too much time here, and that I make everything about myself.” You started shoving the books back into place, Tom handing you a new one each time.

“So he thinks he’s justified?”

“Completely, and he expected me to just move on from it and maintain our relationship. I mean, how the hell do I just move on from that?” You looked at Tom.

He shrugged, pointing to the shelf, “Still not put up right.”

Looking over, you noticed they weren’t. Some books were placed upside down, or even backwards. It wasn’t like you to mess up something so minor or to get that lost in your own thoughts.

“Fuck…” you started taking them out again.

“Let me,” he stepped over, taking the books from your hands. “Go on about Danny, though.”

He didn’t need to tell you twice, “He’s made it all complicated. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I could’ve sworn to you a week ago that we loved one another. You know, we just… we seemed to work so well together. He didn’t seem to mind my busy schedule, it’s like that came out of nowhere. I just thought he was more understanding.”

“So he’s upset the balance?”

“More than that, he’s thrown me completely off trail. He broke the rule, Tom!” Your voice was louder than you realized, for once you had forgotten you were even in your shop.

“It sounds to me like he’s not worth the worry,” He put the last book in. “Don’t let him eat away at you like this, it’s not like you.”

“Exactly, so why does it bother me so much?” You pulled yourself up onto the counter.

“Well… you loved him. You’ve been together for so long—”

“We were together,” you corrected. “I kicked him out this morning.”

“Right, sorry.” He started placing clearance stickers on some books, “You were together for a long time, and it’s still so fresh to you.”

“That’s the thing, we were together for so long, and yet he still did that.” You jumped down, beginning to put away more books. “I just… I want to shake him off, pretend he never happened.”

It would be much easier to just ignore him, even if you knew it wouldn’t actually solve anything. Maybe it could, though. If he was never a part of your life, you would’ve never felt this pain.

“It’s just not so simple to move on from love like that. I wish it were, believe me, but it’s just not.”

“How could’ve that been love, though? I mean, isn’t love supposed to be this grand thing? Where you meet ‘the one’ and you care for one another deeply. You do whatever you can to help each other, to be there.” You scoffed, “There is nothing like that that exists.”

“Ouch,” Tom rested a hand over his heart, “does our friendship mean nothing to you? Would I not do those things for you?”

“It’s a completely different context, and I’ve known you for most of my life.”

“Okay, okay… but you shouldn’t just give up love because of this one bad experience. You know, I’m sure there are loads of other opportunities out there for you to see better examples of love.”

“Oh yeah? And how do you suggest I would find such ‘love’?” You raised a brow, he sounded so childish.

“I don’t know… I just think that love can happen anywhere, at any time. It’s not something that needs to be planned or to follow some schedule. It just… happens.” Tom smiled softly, “And love shouldn’t hurt, no, but sometimes it does. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the pain. Don’t get me wrong, Danny’s absolutely not worth the pain himself. But I don’t want your image of love to be ruined from just one guy.”

Tom was right about one thing, Danny wasn’t worth the pain. But that pain wasn’t love, and your relationship with Danny apparently wasn’t either.

“It’s a fantasy, Tom.” You turned away, “I mean, maybe some people find love, but it has to be rare. Most people probably just settle out of being tired of looking.” You felt that was true. “Love doesn’t just come waltzing through the door.”

“Well, no,” he sighed. “But that doesn’t mean love isn’t out there. It has to be, you know? And finding love is just that much more precious, because it’s so much harder to come by, if that’s what you believe.”

It sounded like a fairytale to you, how could he believe in such a thing? Maybe he was right that love existed, but it wasn’t like everyone was finding it. In your mind, there was simply no way it could be as common as Tom seemed to believe.

“Aren’t you just the love expert, what with your relationship with Destiny?” You teased.

His relationship with Destiny didn’t seem to be one of love to you, not that it was really any of your business. You worried for Tom and didn’t want him to end up in the same boat as you, though you hadn’t seen it coming before. Destiny just seemed so disinterested in him, which you hated for him. You never really said that to him, as you felt that would be completely overstepping. Still, you had hinted the thought at him, because you felt like you couldn’t just let it happen. She seemed like trouble.

Maybe your experience with Danny only gave you a better ability to see when someone was going to hurt someone in a relationship. That, or you just didn’t like her from the beginning, as Tom claims. Destiny seemed nice enough but you weren’t sure how much she cared for him. That was between them, though.

“I’m not an expert,” Tom denied. “I just think that you could find love again.”

“I don’t think I ever really did, and I’m not sure that I ever want to. It seems to be more of a waste of time than anything else.” You were so set on that idea.

Tom couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to believe in love, what was to hate about it? He understood that you were likely trying to process countless emotions, but there was something about how you pictured love that he could never fully understand. Your version of love seemed to be somewhat more of a business transaction rather than what he believed.

“So, how are you going to magically get over this?” He straightened up his pile of books.

“I should just… leave. Get away from here.” You started to fix a random display, “It’s what I need, a break. From him, from this, from everything.”

“You? Take a break?” He laughed, “Right, sure. Y/n, it would be a true miracle for you to take a break.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You snapped.

You knew exactly what he meant. Anyone who talked to you for more than ten minutes knew what that meant, that didn’t mean you weren’t mad at him for pointing it out. Work was important to you, and you spent a lot of time in your shop. It took more to run it than people realized. Danny never understood.

“I just…” he shifted his gaze to his feet. “I just mean that… you’re a hard worker. A very… very hard worker.”

“Which is why I deserve a break!” You made your way back to the counter.

“You do deserve one,” he assured you. “I just meant it’s unlike you. But, you had planned to go on holiday with Danny, hadn’t you? You could still go.”

“Oh god,” you groaned. “I forgot about that. We were meant to come up with an entire plan for it, we had already put my flat up on Airbnb.” You were mentally beating yourself up for that one, suppose you’d have to take it down later. “We hadn’t even figured out where we wanted to go, we were so caught up in work. Well,” you scoffed, “I was caught up in work, and he was distracted with his receptionist.”

Tom offered a sympathetic smile, “You could still go on holiday. You said you wanted to just forget about it and that would be the perfect opportunity.”

He made a good point. It did seem to be the obvious answer to your problem. You could get away, clear your mind of Danny completely, and come back to move on with your life smoothly. Danny didn’t have to be a complication anymore, he didn’t even have to be a thought. Yet, at the same time, there was a part of you that felt like it wasn’t the best idea to just run away from your problems. But was it really running away?

“No one has reached out about the flat anyway,” you stated quietly. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea. Maybe that’s my sign to stay?” But were you even one to believe in signs? “I don’t know. I think I’ll just go to bed, do you mind locking up? You’ve got the keys, right?”

He jangled them in your direction, “Yep. See you tomorrow.”

You gave him a wave before making your way up to your house, just above your shop. Going on holiday seemed to be what you needed. Like he said, the perfect opportunity. It wasn’t like you though, he was right about that too. Maybe what you really needed was to create a new routine for yourself, one without Danny. To create a life for yourself where there was one less thing to focus on.

Opening your laptop, you went to check on your Airbnb account. No one had reached out still, which only pushed your thoughts more towards staying. After all, it was a possible sign to stay.

It felt ridiculous, to think anything like that was a sign. You didn’t listen to signs, you listened to facts, to what was right in front of you. The truth of it was that no one had reached out, you needed to just remove your home from the sight and continue on with your typical life. So you did, staring blankly at the screen after.

What was your typical life now? Were you supposed to just move on? If that was what you were really meant to do, you didn’t know if you could. You couldn’t lie, deep down you knew it hurt, and maybe that’s why you wanted to leave. But leaving would really do you no good, even if it was what you wanted to do. Instead, you would do what? Ignore them in a different way? Pretend it never happened, that Danny never existed.

Yes, that is what you would do. He didn’t deserve more of your time to be spent on him, he deserved to be forgotten. You didn’t know how you really could forget, especially as you sat surrounded by a life you built with him. How many trinkets around your living room were his? How many things did you get because that was what he wanted for his home? The pile of CDs in the corner were his own taste in music, most of which you could never really get into. Suddenly, everything around you felt wrong, like it wasn’t even your home at all.

Maybe you needed that holiday after all. You weren’t really sure what to do. Where would you go? Would you be able to leave the shop to Tom? Would it even really be worth the trip? What if it only stirred up some new form of emotions? You couldn’t go.

Your account popped up with a notification, someone was actually reaching out to you.

A woman named Iris messaged, “Hey, I was interested in your house! I don’t know if someone else rented it but I thought it was worth the shot. Is it still available? I’m sorry if it’s not. I just really liked your place! It’s okay if it’s not! Sorry! Thank you!”

Could be another sign, you thought. It still wasn’t something you really believed in though.

“Oh, sorry! I was renting it because I was planning to go on holiday with my boyfriend but plans changed. We broke up recently so I won’t be going anymore.” It was a fair enough explanation, though you weren’t sure that a stranger cared to know the reasoning.

“Oh, I’m sorry! why did you break up with him?” Or maybe she did care.

Another message came through quickly after the other. She felt as if she had overstepped, “I’m sorry you don’t have to answer that. I don’t know why I asked.”

You hadn’t really minded, a part of you wanted to completely vent to her. It wasn’t like you would ever meet her, so why did it really matter? Keeping to yourself was the wiser option, though, and it wasn’t like you had much to say about the situation.

“No, don’t worry! I guess it’s pretty complicated but long story short, he cheated on me.” Simple enough.

Iris’ reply caught you off guard, “Men are trash.”

She was right. Men are trash, and not worth anyone’s time. No use in crying over spilled milk, yet here you were with a shattered heart being held together by Paw Patrol band-aids.

“To say the least” you laughed to yourself.

God, were you really letting yourself sit in that pain? Furthermore, were you really letting yourself vent to a stranger on Airbnb of all things? You weren’t being yourself, not really. Not that you had been for a majority of the day though. Everything seemed off.

“I’m really sorry, I know how it feels. I was actually looking at your place to escape from a man myself. The love of my life, Chad, just got engaged.” An Iris fell in love with a Chad?

You couldn’t help but laugh again, at least someone else was going through some similar pain. His name was Chad, falling for a Chad was pain in itself. A part of you wanted to know more about Iris’ situation.

“Chad?” you wrote back.

“I know. It’s my fault for falling in love with a Chad. Lives up to his stupid name.” Though you had never spoken to this woman, you could hear the regret in her voice.

At least you hadn’t ended up with a Chad, but you weren’t sure that Danny was much better. “Well, I’m sorry that ‘Chad’ had to be the love of your life. It sounds like we both need to get away.”

You really had needed to get away, that was something you now knew.

“Definitely, but I’m gonna keep looking. I need to be at least 500 miles away from him.” She replied.

You couldn’t believe what you were about to say, and a part of you hoped that she would just sort of brush you off. Another part of you was hoping that she would reach out further. It did seem like a possibility, since she had reached out after it was removed.

“Maybe we could work something out?” You figured if you could at least commit to renting out your place that you would then commit to taking a holiday.

“Let’s switch lives like in The Parent Trap, although we’re not twins we’d be switching breakup lives.” You thought it could just be a joke, but it also seemed like an intriguing idea.

“Sounds interesting! Where are you from?” You asked, a bit hopeful.

This was not much like yourself, it seemed like such a crazy idea. You hadn’t traveled in a long time, and even then you had never traveled alone. Suddenly, it was all you could think of doing. It would mean escape, a new setting and a chance to give yourself a fresh start. You just hoped she lived far, far away.

She replied, “Astoria, Oregon. Pretty boring compared to London I guess.”

You gave it a quick Google, just to get an idea of what it was like. You hadn’t heard of it before, and it would put a pretty good distance between yourself and Danny. It was far, small, and unknown. The only things you really cared about.

“Not at all! All I care is that it’s far from here.” It was the perfect distance, really.

“Me too.” She replied.

You hesitated, unsure of what you were about to ask. “So, should we switch?”

“You’re serious? My place is nothing like yours.” So it was great then? Maybe the polar opposite of your current situation.

“Surely it’s not too horrible.”

“I have a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room. That's it. And I’m not near a romantic location like yours. I do have a dog, though.” She was only making it more and more appealing to you. You wanted to leave the “romance” and you couldn’t imagine why she would want to run towards it.

“That’s perfect, I want far away from romance.” You had, really. You were never a big fan of the romance part of it all anyway, it seemed overrated at this point.

“Well, this is your chance.”

You paused to think, was this really the choice you wanted to make? You had been thinking about it all day, but having it suddenly becoming a reality was different, overwhelming almost.

“Can I ask you one thing?” It was the most important question you had.

After a brief pause she responded, “Sure.”

“Are there any men in your town?”

“Honestly? Zero.”

So it really was turning out to be the perfect escape. “When can I come?”

“Tomorrow too soon?” She seemed just as eager as you to get away.

You considered it, would it be an irrational decision? You knew that if you declined you would likely never really break away. Besides, Iris seemed to need it just as much as you did, if not more because of Chad.

“Tomorrow’s perfect actually.” Had you really just sent that?

Apparently you had, as she replied, “wait wait wait but like are you for real?”

Maybe? “Absolutely, or would it be too crazy?”

It was completely insane, but you were going for it. Like you had said, you would likely never have to talk to this person again, why not make yourself seem crazy?

“It is but I’m down for it, but like, okay do you want pics of my home or something so you don’t think I’m a creepy old man who might kidnap you?” Not the response you were expecting.

Still, you decided to roll with it. “Umm, yes actually :) that would be great”

“Okay, wait, want my phone number so we’re not talking over air bnb?” she asked.

You nodded gently to yourself, “Yes, I feel like that might be better.”

It felt strange to be doing such a thing. You were talking to a complete stranger, from a completely different country, about switching homes. And switching the next day, no less.

You weren’t really sure how, but your conversation had somehow managed to become more personal as it went on. After texting for a bit longer, and seeing pictures of her house, you both had decided to give each other a call over facetime. It was nice, kind of, in it’s own strange way, to be talking to Iris about it all. Sure, she seemed to have more faith in love than you did, but she still could understand where you were coming from to at least some extent.

So, yes, maybe you were ranting to a complete stranger about how your boyfriend had cheated on you. To be fair, she was also ranting to you about how the “love of her life” just got engaged to someone else. He seemed like a dick, truly. It made you wonder why either of you were letting men like Chad and Danny hurt the both of you, and they still were hurting you, really. It didn’t seem fair. If there was such a thing as love, why did you have to love them?

Iris seemed to have a tender heart. She spoke so delicately about love, and you swore she seemed to still want it even after what she had just gone through. You couldn’t imagine, you wanted to run from love. You wanted to leave it behind and forget that it was ever a thing. Yet Iris seemed to want to hold it close, and to possibly find it again. It was interesting to you, how differently the both of you viewed it.

The call had been going for what felt like hours, and you seemed to be learning more about Iris than you had ever truly known about Danny. She was a writer, and surely a lovely one at that. Apparently, Chad took advantage of that, though, among other things. He seemed to only care about Iris to the extent that she was there at his own convenience. Your heart broke more, you thought, but this time for Iris. Because, no, you didn’t believe in love. But she did.

Iris had this idea of love that you couldn’t understand. It seemed too fake, like it was pulled out of a movie or book. Iris thought that love was complex, that it could be found and more than once. Her idea of love seemed so far from your own, and you couldn’t picture why. Why would she still believe in something like love after what happened with Chad?

Really, it didn’t matter much. Maybe it was your vastly different views, but talking with each other seemed so easy. It was almost as if you were just talking to an old friend.

“So how long were you with him?” Iris asked.

“About four years.” It was a waste of four years. “What about you? How long have you loved Chad?”

You couldn’t help but poke fun at his name. Chad.

“Oh god it does sound super stupid,” she groaned. “But… Three stupid and miserable years, it’s a low point.”

You chuckled, “No, it’s not stupid. But, I can imagine how it would be a low point.”

“But like you told me—He blamed it on you?”

“He did.” You let your head rest in your hand, “He said I worked too much, and that I didn’t give him enough attention.”

Iris rolled her eyes, once again tired of Danny, a man she had never even met. “Fuck him, honestly, you’re successful bet he was intimidated by your success.”

“Hmm, I doubt it. He just seemed… bored of me.” You reached for your glass of wine, “I mean, he was right about one thing. I do spend most of my time at work, but that doesn’t give him any right to do that.”

She sat on her couch, wine in hand. “No. it doesn’t. Why—Why are men—Like—No, never mind that’s my question,” she pursed her lips jokingly, “why are men?”

You laughed, “Why are men indeed.” You couldn’t help but grin, “More specifically, why is Chad?”

“Ugh, don’t even mention him.” Iris let her head fall back, “He’s an asshole, can you imagine just a week ago he wanted to sleep with me?”

Chad was an asshole, and so his name fit him well. It was still hard, almost impossible, to see what she ever saw in him. Iris seemed so soft, and kind. You could tell that, sadly, Chad had really hurt her.

You spoke truthfully, “What I really have trouble understanding is why you ever wanted to sleep with him. Maybe his personality, but he seems like such a wad.”

She paused to consider, and it then left you in your own thoughts about it. A Chad was never deserving of an Iris, so you couldn’t help but wonder why. You figured, though, that she was like you with Danny. She likely didn’t know that Chad was a jerk, how could’ve she? Though the signs seemed obvious to you, you weren’t the one living that experience.

“Look—I—I believe in love at first sight and I don’t know, I guess—I saw the fantasy, you know?” She seemed to be lost in thought almost, like it was just coming out in full truth. “Thought we could—I don’t know, he was charming.” Aren’t they always? “I guess I wanted that, you know the whole love story, and he made me believe he could give it to me and then he just never—He only wanted sex and I fell in love. Pathetic right?”

You didn’t think it was pathetic at all. If anything, it was sweet. She truly seemed to believe that love existed, and if that was the case then she was speaking from a place of vulnerability.

“No, I don’t think it’s pathetic…” you took a breath in, “I think… well, I’ve come to the conclusion that love isn’t worth any cost. Not really, especially since it doesn’t even seem real.” And it didn’t, how could it? “Love makes people get their hopes up. It makes us… give too much of ourselves to other people, when we don’t even know what our future with them looks like.” And that was what you thought of it. Love was a chore, a fairytale, a loss. “But I don’t think it’s pathetic that you wanted to believe in something that only seems to come from fairytales, I just think that’s what most people do.”

“Love is worth it, though.” You likely seemed heartless to Iris. “It’s men who are the problem.”

That was something you could agree on. “Suppose you got me there…”

“But you like really don’t believe in love?” she wondered. “Then why were you with Danny? Didn’t you love him?”

Well, Danny. Your relationship with Danny seemed like love, but you weren’t so sure anymore. It couldn’t have been love if it only led to him cheating on you, no. Love wasn’t meant to have those sorts of complications.

“You know, I thought I loved him, and I thought he loved me.” You stared blankly, “But, I guess he just… didn’t. And it just made me realize that, even if love is real, it comes so rarely that I don't believe I would ever find it.” Which hurt a bit to say out loud. “I just don’t think most people do.” Your eyes flickered back to Iris, “Why have you put so much into it if you were hurt?”

“I think… I dunno, love isn’t a one time thing.” She sounded like Tom, which wasn’t necessarily bad. “I think the problem is I suffered from unrequited love, but I think I… I dunno, I think we get chances, not me though,” she scoffed and you offered a small smile, “but it’s… I don’t know, I think I’ve always read about love and I’ve always wanted that, and love is complicated, that’s it, I don’t think you can easily-I mean I do believe in a sort of thing like love at first sight but I mean, I believe in second chances, but like not for everyone. I guess I… I think there is such a thing as love I’m just… super unlucky and maybe that sweet fantasy of any Julia Roberts’ romcom isn’t for me, I’m destined to be a side character who gets no… attention.”

It was disheartening to hear her saying that. You didn’t believe in things like that, and you were normally so quick to fight Tom about it, but it just hurt to hear her talking about it. Iris believed in this full on Shakesperian love, so hearing her say something so somber was odd. You thought it couldn’t be true, because she seemed to be the main character, really. Her disheveled hair, multitude of snacks, and her glass of wine. While it may not be the “picture perfect” main character, it was a real one. That was exactly what you pictured when it came to a main character, so what made her think otherwise?

“Oh, come on Iris, that’s not true.” You sat up in your bed, “I mean, if you do come here then you’ll have plenty of opportunity to live a Julia Roberts movie. People seem to find this place so thrilling… I don’t seem to know much about love, or to really be the one to talk to about it, though…” You paused, this conversation was starting to sound too familiar. “You know, you should talk to my friend, Tom, if you come. I think you’d get along well, he gushes on about love all the time.”

She really might make good friends with him, they seemed to hold some similar beliefs.

“It is thrilling. I mean, it’s near Notting Hill,” you could hear the excitement in her voice, “I just need Hugh Grant and that’s it but…” Yeah, but. It was another thing that was out of reach. “You might come here and hate on love with my brother, he hates everything related to it.”

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to hear that yet another man hated everything related to love. It wasn’t that you thought all men did, but it did seem to be something you noticed in quite a few. And, honestly, you didn’t blame them. You were right there with them.

“Really?” You smiled, “He sounds better than most men already.”

Iris let out a laugh, “He’s not.” Big surprise.

“Aren’t siblings meant to support one another?” You asked.

She scoffed, “You’d think that. But no, he’s a man.” That was a fair point. “I don’t know who’s worse men who hate love or men who pretend to love love. Your friend is probably the second one.”

You knew what she was saying. You had been with a man that pretended to love love, sort of at least. And Tom, well, he was nothing like Danny at all.

“No, I don’t think so,” You shook your head. “He seems to really believe in it, maybe more than you.” Though you weren’t sure how he could more than her. “He’s really sweet, typically… I mean, he is a man so he has his days,” you joked.

“Oh,” she closed her eyes, “so… Right, right, but you don’t believe in love and…” whatever she was saying, you didn’t understand. “Right, right, Perfect setup, see?” What did that mean? “This town is perfect for you, nothing that has to do with romance. It’s a great way to get away from everything romance.”

You were a bit confused by her reaction, but decided to shake it off. “Then I can’t wait to go, really. I mean, it seems perfect for you here, too. You can surround yourself with things to remember the ‘fantasy’ of love again,” because that’s what it was, a fantasy. “So, are we really switching tomorrow?”

The question of the night. It still didn’t seem real, like you were just going to wake up the next day and your life would go back to normal, or whatever the new normal was going to become. Yet here you were, planning to swap houses with a… stranger?

“You think there are any flights?” Iris questioned.

“I’m sure there have to be some,” you shrugged. “Should we check?”

“Definitely.”

“Wonderful.” More like terrifying. “How long are we doing this for?”

Another thing to worry about. Overall, it wasn’t that you had this sense of panic. You felt more excited than anything if you were being honest, but a part of you recognized how irresponsible this entire situation was. Nevertheless, you pulled your laptop closer to you.

“Uh, depends, holidays are coming soon…” she made another good point. “So, even though I have no interest in spending Christmas here, what’s your idea?”

You wanted to get away. You didn’t have much family, nor did you want to gain pity from them about Danny. The entire point of leaving was to escape the basic thought of him. Tom typically had takeout with you and Danny on Christmas Eve, but that was something you could do in the states on your own if you wanted.

“Nothing is really keeping me here for it, honestly,” you said plainly.

“I’m just-- you’re okay with dogs, right?” She adjusted her camera to put a small pug in the frame. “Because little Tommy here is going to miss me.”

You smiled brightly at the puppy, “I’d love to take care of… did you say…” you held in a laugh, it was a bit funny considering, “L-little Tommy?”

“Yeah, his name is Tom.” Iris came back into frame, “He’s the only male that matters.”

“Oh, I love that.” You grinned, “I would love to trade Tom’s with you.”

She chuckled, “As long as I don’t have to feed that one.”

“I do hope that you don’t have to, he seems somewhat capable of caring for himself,” you joked. “Oh, by the way. He’ll be running my shop for me while I’m away, sometimes he stays later for work so if you hear him downstairs don’t worry.”

You had nearly forgotten to even mention that, would’ve been quite the surprise. And, you had also nearly forgotten that you would have to eventually tell Tom about this situation. Which would happen pretty soon, if you were to leave so soon. He’d surely think you were crazy.

“I probably won’t notice, honestly…” she looked off camera, “Okay so here’s a flight, can you believe there’s actually one for tomorrow?”

You scrolled around, “I found one too, shockingly enough…” Suddenly, it was real again. It was back and forth between the reality of it, and just the idea. “Are we really going through with this?”

It was a crazy plan. There wasn’t even an actual plan in place, not really.

“I think we are.” Iris sounded just as nervous you did, which was comforting in some way.

The feeling of excitement for a new beginning was what you were trying to stay focused on.

Still, you were a bit hesitant. “Well, alright then…”

“On three then….”

Were you really going through with this? It was completely crazy. When you were talking to Tom before about needing a break, this wasn’t exactly what you imagined. You seemed so nervous, and yet you continued to go through with it. You figured that it must’ve been what you truly needed.

“One…” were you really counting down?

“Two…” that was a yes, apparently.

“Three!”

It was too late to go back. You bought the ticket, it was happening. You were officially going to the States for holiday, and at Christmas no less. A part of you felt this wave of relief, while another part of you was still feeling very conflicted. But it was done, that was it. You just swapped houses with a complete stranger.

read iris’ version here

next chapter

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