#Vlad worked so hard to get his body healthy again after the accident

[little-pondhead]

I love her a normal amount.

[five-rivers]

Interview with a Ghost (part 5: Buried)

(PART 1) (PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4)

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"What?" said Captain Jones, as Collins and Paterson finished explaining their understanding of the situation to him. "What? What?"

"That was my reaction, too," said Paterson. "Just, you know, internally."

Jones waved one hand, the other supporting his forehead.

"Er, sir?" said Collins, leaning forward, trying to catch the captain's eye. "How should we, you know, proceed on this? I don't think there's any precedent."

The captain bit back a groan. "No, there isn't. He was insistent that the Fentons, his parents, didn't do anything to him?"

"Yeah."

"But it still can't be- can't be healthy for a ghost or- or whatever he is to be there," said Jones. This was making his head hurt. "They have weapons, and even if it was an accident, he died and they- No one noticed!"

"That is pretty messed up," agreed Paterson.

"That's got to be child neglect, at least, right? Negligent homicide?"

Collins nodded. "We can't really charge them with that, though, can we? Not without revealing he's a ghost and getting the GIW and whoever stole the body coming down on us."

"That could just be something Phantom's saying, though," said Paterson. "We don't know if it's true or not."

"It felt true," said Collins. "He sounded like he was actually scared."

"But can we just let a kid- two kids, with his sister- be in a situation like that? Even if one of them is dead. Especially if one of them is dead. Or whatever Fenton, Phantom, whatever, is claiming to be."

"He didn't really claim to be anything, really," said Collins.

"Look, I already have a headache as it is. What it comes down to is, I don't want a kid to be living under the same roof as people who regularly and publicly shoot at him."

"So, what do we do?" asked Collins. "He doesn't want to leave, and I don't think we can make him, physically."

"No, we can't. But does he know that?"

"I think he's aware of his laser murder powers," said Paterson.

"He kept coming to talk to you, though," said Jones. He massaged the bridge of his nose. "There's something here..." Suddenly, it all came together. He clapped his hands. "He wants to keep his secret from the public, right? That's our leverage."

"Leverage?" asked Collins, dubiously. "Captain... he is still a teenager."

"I know, I know, but hear me out. We tell him, he has to let his parents know, and his parents, they have to make their house safe for him. If they're reasonable, they'll do it. If not, we can get them for, I don't know, going crazy and thinking their kid is a ghost, or having weapons all over their home. Obviously, he isn't. That's the position we'd maintain." Jones took a deep breath. "No need to expose him publicly, and, as long as he isn't, he'll have to act like he's human, right? If he wants to maintain the illusion?"

"I guess that would work," said Collins. "But... do we have to get child protective services involved? I don't see that going well."

"Not if everyone is reasonable," said Jones, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Hold up," said Paterson. "Doesn't this hinge on getting him to, you know, tell his parents?"

"Weapons. Home. Around children. And- We'll agree to bury the rest. Tear up documents. Hide everything. Cover for him. We already know what killed him. What's the point of bringing it into the light?"

Collins and Paterson both nodded slowly. "I'll call him," said Collins.

There was a knock on the door. The three glanced at each other.

"Come in," said the captain.

One of the officers stuck her head in. "Sir?" she said. "The mayor is here to see you."

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Danny would have been at home, plotting with Jazz about how to get his body back, but, no, Skulker had to show up, again. He should have wrecked his suit instead of just sucking him into the thermos last night.

"Hah! Ghost child!" shouted Skulker. "Today I will have your pelt! I have new-!"

Danny screamed in frustration, the harmonics of his voice almost touching a ghostly wail. "Can you leave off about my pelt for like five seconds?" demanded Danny, attacking more aggressively than was his usual wont. One of Skulker's arms flew off his body, clattering on the tiles of a nearby roof. "Didn't you have enough of that, helping Vlad steal my corpse yesterday?" There, after days of dancing around the word, he had finally said it.

"Wait, your what?" asked Skulker, pirouetting awkwardly to avoid another barrage of ectoblasts.

"My. Corpse!" screamed Danny. "You helped him steal my corpse!"

"You don't have a corpse, you're still alive!"

"Shut up!" It was a good thing they were so far up. Even at the volumes they were speaking, they wouldn't be overheard. "You don't know anything! I'm half dead, so I have half a corpse, and I had to bury it, and then the police found it, and you helped Vlad��steal it!" Danny was basically in tears at this point, hands clenching the metal of Skulker's chest so hard it buckled and warped, holding the unfortunate ghost above his head.

A number of complicated emotions passed over Skulker's face. "Uh," he said. "Time out?"

"What?" snarled Danny. He was more than ready to rip Skulker apart.

"Your body, whatever there is of it, did Plasmius really take it?"

"He basically gloated about it to my friends," said Danny.

Skulker's face twisted up, the metal plates it consisted of glinting in the sunlight. "Disturbing the remains of another ghost is... distasteful, at best." He shifted, obviously trying to get out of Danny's grip. Danny held on, tighter. "Let me go," he said. "I'll spread the word. There won't be a ghost in the Zone who'll work for Plasmius after this."

Danny sniffed. "I want it back," he said.

"Of course you do," said Skulker, nervously. "Just- let me go, alright, ghost child?" He paused. "Phantom?"

Danny relaxed his grip. Before Skulker could recover, he whipped out the thermos and sucked the other ghost in.

"I'll let you go," he grumbled. "Right into the Ghost Zone."

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Jones did not like Mayor Masters. A complete outsider, a stranger to Amity Park, the man had somehow wormed his way into the mayor's office. Jones had always suspected bribery, but had no evidence.

This visit of his... it was suspicious. Incredibly suspicious. The timing felt rotten. Masters had barely set foot inside the station before this.

Well, the timing and the questions he was asking. Jones was glad he had told everyone to deflect questions about the body and Phantom beforehand, no matter who was asking.

Jones fixed a grin onto his face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Masters," he said. "We can't discuss ongoing investigations."

"I think," said Masters, "that, as mayor, I am exempt from that rule. I am, after all, your boss."

"That's true," said Jones, "but this case is especially sensitive, and everyone is a suspect."

"I can't possibly be," said Masters. "I didn't even live here two years ago. I believe you are dancing around the subject, sir. Let us not have our personal feelings get in the way of things, hm?"

This bastard- There was no way he should have known that particular detail. Not without suborning the ME or her assistant.

Or stealing the records. The initial reports had gone missing with the body, and the computer system had been hacked.

Jones pressed his teeth together so hard they ached. He could feel them grinding inside his head.

"Why don't I give you an overview of what we know so far?" he asked, voice as sweet as he could stand to make it. "We'll start with Cameron over here. He's the head of our cult division, and a real wizard with computers."

If anyone could drive the man off, it was Cameron.

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"I didn't think babypop even had a corpse," said Ember, crossing his arms. "Are you sure he isn't just delusional?"

"He could be," said Skulker, "but that's not the point. He believes it. Do you really want to be dealing with him as a restless spirit?"

"Oh, god, no. He's already such a spoilsport. Can you imagine?" The blue flame her hair was drawn back into shuddered.

"I don't have to imagine," said Skulker. "He tore my arm off."

"He always tears your arms off," said Ember, dismissively.

"He's only going to get worse though," said Skulker, "if it really is his body. If Plasmius is doing anything to it. That anxiety. A person's body should be taken care of properly, not messed about with."

"Hey!" said Technus, who was on the other side of the room, fixing Skulker's mechanical body. "I donated MY body to SCIENCE! I'm perfectly fine."

"Yeah," said Ember. "Some people would disagree with that, but the thing is you chose to do that. Those're the rites you wanted."

"Do you think I, the great TECHNUS, master of all things technological and-"

"No, actually, I don't think you knew," said Ember.

"Ohhhhh! I'll alter all your auxiliary cables, you little-!"

"Can we get back on topic?" asked Skulker, his high-pitched voice cutting above the argument. "We need to get Phantom's body back! Otherwise he'll be completely unbearable!"

The ghosts looked at each other. "Agreed," they said.

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Danny leaned over Tucker's shoulder. "Are you sure?" he said.

"Positive," said Tucker. "Sorry, man, but Vlad's super secret super villain stuff isn't online. Your body isn't mentioned at all. Nothing is. His internet enabled stuff is all pretty bland, compared to what we know he's doing. I mean, some of it is kind of sketchy, but it just isn't the same level."

"Anything we can blackmail him with?" asked Sam.

"Not really. We can't exactly say how we got it, after all, so he'd have plausible deniability."

Danny groaned. The groan turned into a long plume of blue mist. Danny growled. "Whoever is interrupting this time-"

"Whoa, calm down, man," said Tucker. "This is pretty normal."

Danny's phone began to ring. If this was those detective he was going to-

It was Jazz. "What?" he asked.

"The ecto-exodus alarm is going off," said Jazz. "Where are you?"

"Tucker's," said Danny. "I'm going to check it out."

"Be safe. Mom and Dad are out there with blasters, and they've notified the GIW."

"Noted," said Danny. He hung up, then turned to Sam and Tucker. "This is a big one, apparently. You might want to stay in."

"Good luck with that," said Tucker, pulling a ecto-rifle from beneath his desk. "I've been wanting to try this baby out."

"Please don't name it," said Sam.

"I think I will!" said Tucker.

"Just don't shoot if we're not fighting, okay? They might not be here to cause trouble. Don't give me that look, I'm trying out some optimism."

Before his friends could say anything about that, he flew up through the roof. From there, he had no problem picking out the crowd of ghosts who had just passed by.

Skulker was leading them. Danny scowled, and flew forward to intercept them, too angry to process whether or not confronting a group of ghosts that large was wise.

"Hey!" he shouted. "I thought you said you'd leave!"

"Chill, babypop!" shouted Ember. "You're a cold core, aren't you? We're here to get your body back."

That brought Danny up short. "Wait, really?"

The other ghosts, largely the rabble of the Wastes, the region of the Ghost Zone right outside the Fenton portal, gave a ragged sort of cheer.

"Yeah. And trash Plasmius's crap."

"Oh," said Danny, taken aback. "He has a ghost shield around his mansion, you know. A human shield, too, before you say I can get past that."

Poindexter floated up, over the mass of the crowd. "He can't keep them up all the time, can he?" he asked adjusting his glasses.

"No, I guess he can't. One sec." He pulled out his phone. "Hey, Tucker, can you find out where Vlad is right now?"

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"... and these are the cults that believe ghosts are divine messengers, there's a lot of variety in them, too," Cameron was saying, pointing eagerly at his computer screen.

"Excuse me," said Vlad. "But I don't see how this is relevant. At all. To anything."

"Oh, it's very important," said Collins, nodding sagely. "We got some of our best leads in this case from the cults."

Cameron beamed.

"I am myself quite familiar with the local cults," said Vlad. "If they become relevant, I'm sure I can come back to-"

"No, no, Mr. Mayor," said Paterson, "you won't understand without context."

"I-"

Several dozen ghosts suddenly entered through the roof. Everyone dove for cover.

"Hiya, grave robbers!" shouted a ghost with fiery blue hair. Ember McClain. "Or one grave robber in particular."

Actually, come to think of it, she'd masqueraded as a human for a while, too. Collins was going to have a crisis about how easily ghosts could blend in with humans at some point in the near future. Not today, but before the end of the week. He'd need to talk to a shrink. Preferably one who wasn't a ghost.

Oddly, the ghosts weren't attacking.

The sound of Mayor Masters clearing his throat issued from behind a sizable desk. "What are you here for?" he asked.

"You know, grave robber. We've got a bone to pick with you, until you give back what you took."

A few feet away from Collins, Jones inhaled deeply. He stood up. Collins resisted the urge to drag him back down.

"We don't have Phantom's body," said Jones, "if that's what you're here for."

"We know," said Ember. "That's what this's about. We know who took it, and we don't want to deal with Phantom while he's freaking out over some jerk having his body. So. We're giving an ultimatum-"

"Hey, guys," said Phantom's voice. "I found the shield deactivation button. It was in his car, next to his garage door opener."

"Oh, cool. You trash his car?"

"Nah, I let these little gremlin dudes do it. They looked like they were having fun."

"Whatever, babypop. Let's go get your body!"

As quickly as they came, the ghosts were gone.

Mayor Masters swore, and started for the door.

"Hold up," said Jones, putting a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"To call some competent ghost hunters, since those menaces are clearly after my belongings!"

"Nuh uh," said Jones. "We've got some questions for you."

"Yeah," said Collins, "like why you seem to think that they're going to your house, when they could have been talking about anyone."

"Wow!" said Cameron, smiling. "That was exciting! I'm glad I was livestreaming, like you told me to, Paterson!"

"Well," said Vlad. He paused. "I need to call my lawyer."

"Better make sure they're a competent one," mocked Jones.

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Collins was surprised when Phantom materialized in the middle of the room with a long, dark plastic body bag in his arms. So were most people. Across the room, next to the coffee machine, one of his more caffeine-addicted coworkers do a spit take, and Jones burst out of his office in an avalanche of paperwork.

"I want a burial," said Phantom, finally. "A real one, this time."

Silence.

"I think I can arrange that," said Captain Jones.

[fandomness--randomness]

Izuku x Shy Reader! The reader is one of the many people rooting for Izuku while watching the sports festival. After seeing him in the sports festival he inspired her to work harder to become a hero and even stole her heart. When she runs into the boy she was cheering on, while hanging out at the beach with her friends, she wants to tell him so many things but can’t say them. So she sticks with staring at him with heart eyes until her friends decide to give her a shove in the right direction.

omg this was so cute I could not resist!!!!! I love this so much omg. Also, the reader’ and their quirk is s personalityhighkey based off an oc of mine so I’m doing a lil self-indulgence here lmao. Also I lowkey want to make a part 2 to this

Ever since that day, you pledged to work harder. What day would that be? The sports festival of course! When you saw his bright green hues full of hope and determination and kindness all at the same time while fighting his opponents, you found a new motivation.

You had always wanted to be a hero, even before your quirk appeared! And when it did you were ecstatic. However, your mother wasn’t so much. Your father had left you and your family to pursue his hero career, only to die in a terrible accident at the height of his career.

Since then, your mother had hated heroes. She knew that they did good, but at the same time, she would not interact with them at all. And she would not let you interact with them.

It was a bit of a sad childhood, but your hopes of being a hero continued to grow exponentially throughout the years. When your younger sister and brothers were born, you vowed to protect them no matter what.

So you trained behind your mother’s back. For years you would go to the gym and train every day. And when the time came for the UA entrance exam, you told her the truth. When you left that day, she as fuming.

By the time you came back, she had packed your bags and put them on the porch outside the house.

You were lucky enough to find an old lady who let you take the smallest apartment in the building she owned in exchange for your work. So when your UA acceptance letter came in, you knew that doing all of that work behind your mother’s back and leaving your family was the right choice, even if it hurt.

But after being in class 1B for a couple months, you couldn’t help but see everyone as if they were on a whole other level. Even though you trained so hard and trained just as much as everyone else, you couldn’t improve.

You began to lose hope. You began to lose confidence. You were even thinking about dropping out after the sports festival. But after seeing his fights, you knew that you had to keep fighting.

He gave you the inspiration and motivation to keep going ahead with your dreams. He reignited the fire in your heart and you would be forever thankful for that.

But the more you trained, the more you thought of him, the more you saw him in the halls or even on the damn news, the more you fell head over heels for him even though you had never talked to him.

So when the UA summer camp was attacked, instead of running away, you chose to fight with Midoriya Izuku on your mind. At the time you were with Tetsu and Kendou. When they chose to go after the source of the gas, you followed the fires.

It was possibly the worst thing you could’ve done.

You got burned that day. Badly. Your shoulder sustained 3rd-degree burns and would be permanently scarred and a portion of your hair was burned.

But a the same time… you didn’t regret doing it. You were able to get two unconscious girls out of the way of danger, scooping them up with your hair. Afterall, your quirk gave you the ability to control your hair, so you might as well use it to protect those around you.

You were let out of the hospital the morning after, your friends from 1B waiting for you. To see their happy and healthy faces made you happy. And you realized just how great it was to be a hero.

——-

“Are you ready for today’s training (Y/N)-chan?” Kendou asked, tying her mask with precise expertise.

You nodded quietly, pulling your costume over your form. A simple black bodysuit and a headpiece that supported your neck and head. It was simple and pretty much unimpressive.

You couldn’t help the sigh that left you as you looked at your figure in the mirror of the locker room.

“What’s wrong (Y/N)-san?” Ibara asked.

You shook your head. “Nothing…I just think I should redo my costume soon. It’s too…bland.”

“Now don’t say that!” Pony exclaimed, jumping on your back. “I think it fits you really well! It’s simple but also very cool! In America, people would say it’s on fleek.” Pony explained with a wink.

You couldn’t help the giggle that left your lips. “Maybe you’re right Pony.”

The girls left the locker room soon after that, the group of 8 making their way to gym gamma. Kendo glanced at your left shoulder, which was bare due to the arms of your costume being temporarily modified for your burn. Although it was completely healed and only the scar was left, you liked having your arms exposed. It gave you a bit more of a unique look and not a Black Widow from Avengers look.

“How’s your scar?” Kendou asked.

“It’s okay.” You said, your voice dropping. “At first I was self-conscious about it, but now I see it as a reminder of my journey to be a hero…so I don’t mind it being on display.” You gave Kendou a wide smile, which she returned.

As you walked into Gym Gamma with the rest of class 1B, you were more than surprised to see class 1A. Your eyes scanned the group of 20 students.”

“Looking for your little crush?” Pony teased, pulling you out of your thoughts.

Your cheeks turned a bright pink as you whirled around to face her. Behind her were Yui and Setsuna, their smirks as apparent as Pony’s sparkly eyes. “W-what?! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” You exclaimed.

Sestuna smirked at you, her eyes full of mischief. “As if! You’ve been obsessed with the Mi-”

“Tokage do I need to put you on house arrest?” Vlad king suddenly said in his loud and booming voice that made you jump, even though his threat was aimed at Sestuna and not at you.

“Sorry Sensei.” The green haired girl said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

You listened to Aizawa explained the exercise to the classes, how we would be fighting one on one with another person from the other class. You couldn’t help the anxiety coursing through your veins as the first pair went through.

“Class 1A is so experienced and good! How can I even put up a fight against any of them?” You thought as Pony and Tokoyami fought. Pony put up a really good fight but in the end, Tokoyami was a bit too strong.

The class continued like this, the heroes in training fighting against each other. Some 1B students even won their battles! but the amount of 1A students winning theirs made you worry.

Sooner than you would’ve liked, all your classmates had already gone leaving only you and the monster of class 1A. Bakugou Katsuki.

“You got this!” Kendou cheered, giving you a pat on your back. You smiled back at her before turning and starting for the arena. However, you were stopped as a foot came down to your trailing hair.

You yelped in pain and looked back. Monoma was the one standing on a chunk of your hair, but he was looking away from you. “Go kick his butt for me.” He said nonchalantly. You smiled and nodded, knowing that this was his way of showing how much he was supporting you. “And learn to pick up your hair for Christ’s sake.” He ordered, stepping off your locks.

Your cheeks turned a bright red in embarrassment but used your quirk to bring your hair up to your shoulders. Your hair was longer than anyone could ever imagine and looked like a huge obstacle in hero work, but it was necessary for your quirk. Afterall, with your quirk, you could control your hair like it was a separate limb, but you couldn’t grow it at will. So it only reached out as long as your hair was- 10 feet and counting.

You stood on the opposite end of the fighting arena, your hair at rest. The second Aizawa yelled out “go”, you charged forward, aiming to grab Bakugou’s legs and swing him out of bounds.

However, he was faster and stronger due to his explosion quirk. He got to you quicker than you expected and sent you flying across the stage with a well-placed explosion to your stomach, but he didn’t knock you out.

Taking a stand from where you stood, you let your hair launch forward, two large chunks striking around him like whips while another two strands attempted to grab at his ankles.

But he was just too good.

Using his explosions he warded off your attacks before launching forward, aiming for your left side, where the chunk of hair in front was still recovering from the burning it took that summer.

He knew it was your weak spot and he was going after it.

Fear overtook you and as your fight or flight response kicked in, you made your choice.

You fled into yourself.

Retracting your hair, you made a shield around yourself before using small bits of your hair and having them stick out of the small ball you made around you so ward off Bakugou.

You flinched as you felt explosions rock through your body over and over again. If you didn’t think of a plan quickly, you’d lose. You couldn’t do that. No, you didn’t want to, especially with both classes watching.

Especially with…

Midoriya watching.

In a single second, you unraveled your barrier, letting your hair swirl around like a crazy hurricane. You internally cheered as a chunk wrapped around Bakugou’s torso. Running past him, you turned and started to throw him out of bounds, only to have him dig his feet into the ground and use the momentum to through you out of bounds.

You groaned as you tumbled across the concrete. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes. The fight didn’t even last 5 minutes.

You gripped at the loose dirt that sat overtop the concrete in an effort to keep your emotions under control.

“Hey, do you need some help getting up?” A gentle voice asked.

You swore your heart stopped. You knew that voice. I mean, how could you forget? Looking up, you were eye to eye with Midoriya Izuku. His hand was outstretched to you.

You nodded slowly and took his hand, letting him practically pull you up himself.

“That was a really good fight you know,” Midoriya said, letting go of your hand.

“What?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. “I didn’t even last 5 minutes and my attack just got turned against me. It was a terrible fight.” You shook your head.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel bet-”

“I’m not lying. It was really good! Your quirk is really unique and has so many possible uses!” Midoriya exclaimed, motioning to your (h/c) locks.

You looked between your hair and Midoriya in shock. “Really?”

“Ye-”

“Midoriya please hold off on the geeking out until after class.” Aizawa cut off.

You turned, suddenly remembering that a whole two classes were still in here with you and Midoriya. “Ah! I’m sorry Aizawa-sensei!” As you turned to go back to your own class, a hand clamped down on your wrist.

Looking back your (e/c) met with Midoriya’s green hues. “Can we meet up after class? I’d love to get to know more about your quirk and fighting style.”

You couldn’t help the rosy pink that coated your cheeks at his statement. He wanted to get to know you? Boring old you? You nodded quickly.

“That sounds really nice.”

[flightyrock]

Ectober Day 2: Fangs

Summary: Vlad begins his morning routine, only for familiar dark thoughts to interrupt him as usual.

Warnings:  Minor injury, minor blood, unhealthy emotional state, depression, isolationism, loneliness, mild body horror (like so mild I question mentioning it)

Word Count: ~1400

Notes are at the end!  Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Vlad felt consciousness return with a groan, reluctant to start the day, just knowing by some accursed instinct that it was far too late to retreat back into the peaceful darkness. He rolled over, prying his eyes open, only to wince at the digital green display that read 5:25, a full five minutes before the device would force him to awareness with its familiar and brutal assault on his eardrums.

Curses.

There was nothing worse than waking up before an alarm.  It always felt as if some mysterious force was getting one over on him in the most passive aggressive manner possible.  The idea was laughable, of course, but he couldn’t deny that he was always bitter about being cheated out of the precious minutes of sleep.  But he was awake now, so he might as well make the best of it.

He rolled to the edge of his firm mattress, throwing his legs over the side with more force than necessary. He indulged in a minute of luxurious stretching, wincing mentally of the cracks and pops that seemed to grow in number by the day, before finally slipping into his house shoes and lumbering into the spacious master bathroom.

Cool marble caressed his palms as he gripped the edge of the double vanity, a piece he had chosen in a rare display of optimism.  Fat lot of good that did him.

It’s too early to start this again.

So he didn’t, making a conscious effort to shove the torrent of bitter thoughts to a far corner of his mind to peruse later, choosing instead to run a hand through thick, painfully straight locks that lightly brushed his shoulder blades, admiring the snow-white color in his spotless silver mirror.

Or tried to, thwarted by the thick mats that had developed as retribution for falling asleep before allowing it to dry after his shower the night before.

He sighed, long-sufferingly, and resigned himself to the tedious task of untangling the mess, tucking the strands behind his right ear to begin.  Only to feel a small thrill rush through his lower stomach as his hand brushed a firm, pointy segment of cartilage.

He smiled, taking a moment to feel the tips of his ears with both hands, enjoying the strange, giddy feeling that still went through him twenty years after the accident that produced the distinctive shapes.  Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, but he treasured his snow white hair and unnaturally pointy ears that carried over into his human form when he was alone and at ease.  It reminded him of a fantasy he’d had as a child, where he dreamed he was a forest elf, going on grand adventures in alternate, medieval universes.

He chuckled indulgently, smiling to himself as he recalled a much simpler time in his life, inadvertently exposing a slightly more unsettling change to his human self that filled him with base horror when he first discovered it.

Elongated to a degree that even Jack Fenton would find suspicious, Vlad’s canines now tapered to severe points, honed to a dangerously sharp degree.  He inserted the tip of his right index finger to lightly tug at his bottom lip, exposing his equally deadly under bite.

Fangs.

Once upon a time, he’d see something similar in movies and chuckle to himself at the absurdity of the hallmark feature of a cheesy horror monster that sucked the blood from unsuspecting victims, usually attractive young ladies or idiotic teenagers.

But these weren’t the cheap plastic mockeries that children shoved in their faces and drooled around on Halloween.  

Oh no.  These were the mark of a predator, a sharp-eyed creature of the night engineered to subdue prey with elegant efficiency.

He used to stare at himself in the mirror with horror at that one detail that prevented him from forgetting for even a moment that he was no longer human.  It took him ages to break the habit of gnawing his lips when anxious.  The first time he tried that with his new teeth still made him shudder in revulsion. He still occasionally tasted the coppery tang of blood when he’d forget for a moment and revert to old comforts.

Forget that he was no longer human.  But he wasn’t fully ghost either, as they were quick to establish and kindly reminded him with every interaction, the infantile slur of halfa on their slimy lips.  He didn’t belong in the ghost zone.  He didn’t belong on earth.  He really didn’t belong anywhere.

The isolation hit him hard, as it did every morning at his unnecessary double vanity and every night when he was able to hold off the insomnia long enough to settle into his too-large bed.  All alone.  

After the accident, it wasn’t his newfound abilities themselves that wore his sanity thin.  It was the lack of human contact in his months of quarantine.  His body ached in a very physical way for warmth and weight only a human body could provide.  He longed to feel Jack’s heavy hand resting on his shoulder, or Maddie’s slender arms wrapped around his chest in a hug.  Never conscious of such interactions before, he now regretting his ignorant dismissal of casual human contact, wondering how many opportunities he had missed.  How many times he took the simple gift of companionship for granted.

By the time he was stable enough to rejoin the world, he was devastated to realize it had moved on without him.  His two best friends had eloped without his knowledge, and moved out of state, like he meant nothing to them.  He hadn’t seen any of his other friends in over a year, and was alarmed to find he no longer knew how to make new ones.  More than his newfound abilities to hide in plain sight and walk through walls, this feeling of nonexistence made him feel like nothing but an insignificant ghost of his former self, forgotten by a cruel world after his untimely demise.

Somewhere along the way, he had lost that essential instinct that allowed him to form meaningful connections with other people.  Maybe he never had it in the first place.  Maybe he was made to be forgotten, to fade away.  Maybe he was meant to be alone.

But that was fine.  He could work with this.  He would work with this, embrace this power like the phenom he was.  The universe had given him a great gift, and he would make sure nobody ever forgot his name again.  Vlad Masters, the name of a man who would be the greatest there ever was, would be burned irrevocably into the fabric of both worlds.  So what if he couldn’t relate to people.  That was to be expected because they were beneath him. They didn’t deserve his affection. He was fundamentally better than those swine in human clothing that pretended to care about anyone other than themselves because he had to power to make it to the top.  He would make his fate his own, and anyone that got in his way would learn the truth of his superiority for themselves in the most painful way possible.

Vlad was jolted out of this mental spiral by a sharp pain in his lower lip and the tang of copper.  Shocked, he brought a finger to his lips and idly stared at the crimson streak.  Old habits, old comforts.  His fangs used to disturb him, keep him on edge.  Now they served as a reminder of his convictions.

He faced the mirror head-on, staring deeply into his blue eyes while bracing himself with a firm grip on the counter’s edge as he forced his supernatural features into compliance. A human mask stared back, features again rounded to conform to the delicate sensibilities of the masses.  It was time to shove his sentimentality to the side once more.  He could afford no weakness in this endless pursuit of his goals.  And he had to continue this pursuit without fail, as his goals were all that he had left, the only distraction that prevented him from examining himself too closely, from acknowledging the true volume of darkness that was slowly suffocating him.

For he knew that left to its own devices, the darkness would break him.

If it hadn’t already.

A/N:  Vlad is my favorite character to write.  This is just one of my many ideas about his motivations for behaving as he does.  I am a firm believer that Vlad is not “evil,” and it was truly a shame that the writers for the show chose to dumb him down to that degree.  It was demeaning and missed the opportunity to teach kids that growth and redemption is possible for anyone, and that maybe you shouldn’t yell at that jerk who mouthed off to you at the grocery store, because you have no idea what series of events led to them acting that way.  Most people don’t act like jerks because it brings them joy.  Keyword: most. 

That being said, Vlad absolutely has problems, and is absolutely not excused for his actions.  Having a crappy life is not an excuse to hurt others.  His coping mechanisms are in no way healthy.  But they are necessary until he can find a healthier way to cope, and are even rational with all the garbage he’s been put through in his life.  The ugly truth is that most people would react like Vlad did in this situation.  Even Danny couldn’t cope when his support system was taken away.

Just some food for thought.  Please feel free to leave a comment; I’m still pretty new to creative writing and value any feedback.  Thanks for reading!

[liveshaunted-moved]

Headcanon Dump ; Danny

danny suffers from depression and has for a long while, it has at times gone under the radar. but, jazz has picked up on it a few times, and tired to talk to him but he brushes it off.

there are canon scenes where this happens to when he’s hitting rock bottom phantom planet, identity crisis. most times when it’s hitting him hard, it is usually paired with his huge sense of body dysphoria.

danny has always been a insecure person with very low self esteem.

i know most of the fanom apparently doesn’t take phantom planet into canon, but i will. except for danny exposing himself as the ghost kid to the WHOLE world. that is limited to his parents & anyone who knows danny and figures it out ( so basically kids in school may figure it out ). i’ll keep most of it, it’s just everyone character arc doesn’t finish there because a lot of character arc’s weren’t complete, and dark!danny barely got his arc which is why i’m making it a verse.

also, this means that, danny fully hates vlad from then. because vlad shamed him, embarrassed him in something that had made him feel so comfortable, to the point where he was risking his life by going into the ghost portal once again, where it could have instead of removing the ghost part, KILLED HIM. vlad made danny feel like he couldn’t be a ghost anymore, that he wasn’t worthy of being a ghost. this didn’t help him and in all honestly worsened his state of dysphoria.

being a ghost was a part of danny, it made him feel good about himself  - even when the city hated him, he still protected it, but vlad took that away from him.

danny did not reveal himself to the world, instead his parents didn’t confront him about it until everyone got home. simply because he can’t stand the full spotlight on him. a little part, he is okay with, but his wholeself, he couldn’t. i’m okay with some dp muses figuring it out, they just never saw him reveal himself in front of the world.

his ghost form, whether he does it consciously or subconsciously, becomes the image that he wants to portray, as do 90% of the other ghost. skulker chooses to use an armoured suit, and a lot of ghost have been shown to be able to shapeshift / change their appearance, danny is no different. he just doesn’t realise it.

this is also part of why he wasn’t easily found out to be the phantom. his ghost self was a bit taller then his human form, he had a bit more muscle. a lot wasn’t much change, but enough to make him look different to the way his human self was being seen.

his parents didn’t care what he wore, so him going to the boy section when he was younger and picking out the clothes from there, didn’t matter to them. because they themselves aren’t always gender confirming, nor are other family members, so they didn’t care what hair cut danny wanted, or what he wanted to wear so long as he was happy with himself.

‘you’re not you anymore’ one of the reasons why danny starts to think that sam loves phantom more then fenton. because now he’s back to himself, how he was the accident, so, does that mean she would have never dated him if he never had the accident?

danny as a little kid had a spaceship shaped bed.

danny HATES the word halfa, it doesn’t sit right with him, he prefers ghost boy over it, anything other then halfa

danny wasn’t always getting d’s, he had an average of C’s & B’s but the ghost hunting and his mental health did start taking his toll on him, which effected his school work

danny had been shown to have once been very close to his sister and mother, but somewhere as he grew older, they lost it somewhere. and i think it started to happen more around when he was questioning his gender identity. he put the distance subconsciously there. because his mother and sister are happy with themselves being female and he wasn’t, and on a level, he didn’t want to hurt them with it.

he didn’t mean to lose how close he was with them, it just, happened - and as he get’s older and they now know of his being a ghost, because that also set a bit of the distance in them too, he’s working on being as close as they once were, and getting closer to his father too.

ghost portals can not be activated by humans, no matter what. this is why vlad got blasted with ectoacne, and the fact that jack had used diet soda instead. it wasn’t natural.

so, when danny walked into the semi malfunctioning ghost portal that his parents made he died. simple. he died, the ghost portal was activated upon his death, but it had happened all so quickly and sam and tucker had pulled him out, thinking he was dead until his body started changing. he was dead, but his ghost - it hadn’t formed completely as his friends started to try and revive him. reviving danny near the ghost portal from death is what had happened as they had stopped until they saw shallow breathing.

Danny can speak fluent Korean, and most of everyone else doesn’t really know this, or just tends to forget he can if they do.

Korean is a language spoken in his house

danny is the founder and president of ‘dani protection squad’, along side the ‘fuck vlad masters/plamuis club’

as well as gender dysphoria, danny suffers from body dysphoria. it was very bad when he was going from ghost form to ‘human’ form when he first became phantom. because his phantom form what he ideal form, one he was trying to achieve while he is human, but not quite reaching it.

danny still has a streak of white in his hair, it never actually truly goes away - and it is acutally an indication of his life force, if it get’s bigger - he’s getting closer to the final blow.  - and, it reverses when in ‘ghost’ form.

cujo the ghost dog? yeah, that’s danny’s pet. i don’t make the rules, hell. he doesn’t either. cujo just shows up, wailing his tail with a ball and drops it right at danny’s feet, in both ghost and human form. he makes for a great guard dog

danny runs an ‘i hate vlad masters’ blog, with his stories of everything vlad has done as both human and ghost, but leaving out the ghost part. some people think it’s a troll account because some people won’t believe that that vlad tried to kill a fourteen year old, or hire a fourteen year old to kill someone

knowing danny is trans is something he only tells certain people once he got to high school, those who knew him from middle school and go to the same high school as him may know because that is when he came out. his family, sam and tucker know.

his ghost enemies DO NOT KNOW! the ONLY ghost enemy that will EVER know is his evil self, that’s it. no, he will never tell vlad, vlad has no right to know.

danny can, and at times gets pain that will randomly dart up his arm and most of the time he’ll hide it away but it’s there - and at other times, it feels like he can’t even move it, or that it’s there and he has no movement in it, not even something to cause pain

danny has a few white binders and a black space binder. though he loves the black space binder, most of his shirts are light / white, so he doesn’t wear it often, but he does on days he wants to give himself a special only he knows pick me up, he often pairs it with a dark shirt, or in the winter is when he wears it the most

danny after his ‘accident’ spent a lot of time on bed rest to rest his lungs and heart, to make sure they’re at a healthy level for him to start wearing his binder again.

the accident had happened in the school holiday’s, so it had given him a bit of safety knowing he didn’t have to go out without his binder on. but still, that didn’t stop his dysphoria.

these stresses plus the new found powers, are part of why he found it hard to get control over his powers as they were acting up because his mind and body were stressing.

danny starts to skate in his spare time, it’s something to plant himself and make him feel human. it is also the one thing he does completely human, and refuses to use his powers to learn it