#and then Danny becomes Dan afterwards

[iammyowncryptid]

Most dpxdc fics say that in the alternate timeline where Danny becomes Dan, Dan is ridiculously overpowered killed the entire JL. The problem is that idea only works if you ignore Batman entirely. Batman has a contingency plan for everyone. You could say that Dan caught him off gaurd, but tbh that’s kinda boring.

The only universes where someone managed to kill Batman, he was either killed by another Batman or by one of his children. Other Batman’s managed to kill him bc it’s a Batman v Batman battle and they’re evenly matched. For the other universes? Batman wasn’t fighting back all the ways he could.

Because here’s the thing about Batman: he has contingency plans upon contingency plans for Superman, for his rogues, for the entire JL. Superman goes evil in about 50% of the universes he’s in, and even with his friends he isn’t willing to let sentiment get in the way of saving the world from a potential threat.

But for his family? Batman doesn’t make contingency plans for his family. Even when he arguably should, even in universes where it leads to his death, Batman never makes a single contingency plan for any of his children.

What I’m saying is this, the only universe where Dan could successfully kill Batman is a universe where Dan is Bruce’s son.

And that, my friends, is a far more interesting story to tell.

[starry-bi-sky]

Danyal Al Ghul: Incorrect Quotes and Miscellaneous Thoughts

Incorrect quotes-style snippets specifically for my danyal al ghul au here (which i really need to come up with a unique au name for atp). Because I thought it'd be funny. And also some miscellaneous headcanons thrown into the mix. Some context for the au: - Danyal is 5 years older than Damian (so 10 and 15) - Danny faked his death when he was 10. Talia knows and helped him with it. - Jazz, Sam, and Tucker do not know he's an ex-assassin.

-------- Snippet 1

Danny, dryly tapping his temple: I have, as the Americans say, irreparable psychological damage, right here.

Jazz, an older sibling first and foremost: well, it's good that you're self-aware.

-------- Snippet 2

Danny, aged 10, in the American foster planning to just age out of the system: *emanating Bad Vibes. Pure, Little Orphan Tom Riddle Energy*

Jazz, aged 12, coming in to adopt a new sibling with her parents: Him. This is my brother now :)

Danny: ...what

--------

Lilo and Stitch is Danny's favorite Disney movie. He watched it when he was 11 with Jazz when she was attempting to connect with him, and by this point Danny was becoming receptive to her efforts. They had a movie marathon in the living room one night.

Safe to say? It resonated with his little 11 year old heart strongly, and he related very strongly with both Nani and Stitch. He got unexpectedly emotional and hid in his room for the rest of the night. Jazz felt really bad, but it had the intended (but kinda unexpected) effect of him trying to be nicer to her afterwards.

-------- Snippet 3

Dash, aged 12, causing trouble again and getting intercepted by Danny: *scaling up a desk* AHHHHH! GET YOUR LITTLE FREAK, FOLEY!

Tucker: Hey! Danny is not a freak!

Dash: GET HIM TO BACK OFF

Tucker, was the kid Dash was messing with: ....whats in it for me

-------- Snippet 4

Danny, saying some questionably immoral shit: What. Why are you looking at me like that.

Tucker: Bro. I mean this as kindly as possible; what the fuck?

Sam: yeah, I'm with Tuck on this one.

-------- Snippet 5

Danny, ranting about Vlad: if it weren't for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered him

Sam, painting his nails black: I'm pretty sure you'd slaughter him regardless of the laws of the land -- and quit moving, you're gonna mess me up.

Tucker: we've literally seen you debate yourself about this, Dan

Danny: ...you are correct, but it is the principle of things.

-------- Snippet 6

Vlad: I have experience my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you say. I could train you, teach you everything I know! And all you have to do is renounce that idiot adoptive father of yours.

Danny, was already contemplating committing a Violence: ....

Danny, internally: I'm going to stab him *turns into Phantom*

--------

Funny contrast I realized between Danyal and Vlad that iirc I haven't pointed out yet is that imo, Danyal doesn't rely on his powers nearly half as much as canon Danny does. He falls back instinctually on his League training, and thus sometimes forgets to use his powers in battle. This was prevalent especially early on when he was still getting used to the whole 'halfa' thing.

He incorporates them more often after a year, but still for the most part relies on his own physical hand-to-hand combat. He trusts those skills much more than he does his powers. I'm not sure where he is on a technical level compared to canon, but just to stay safe I'll say he's similar in power skill as canon Danny. Perhaps a little more finessed than him because his League training would probably have him trying to figure out his powers as soon as possible.

But in summary? Danny is strong in hand-to-hand combat, weak in powerset.

Meanwhile Vlad is the opposite. I can't recall if he even knows hand-to-hand in canon, but it makes total sense to me that Vlad Masters wouldn't because he's so confident in his monetary influence and ghost abilities that he sees no need for it.

And he's kinda got some merit behind it. He's very powerful and has 20 years of experience to experiment and fine tune his powers. He's got bite to follow up his bark. He's perfected long-range combat and his ability to phase through walls makes it impossible to corner him, but if you can manage it, then one good hit could probably knock him on his ass.

So in summary, Vlad is strong in powerset, weak in hand-to-hand combat.

And it casts a good contrast between the two of them in that regard. Danny, as a fellow halfa, can follow Vlad when he phases through walls and is fast enough to land a hit on him. His league training as an assassin, albeit rusty, is still deep ingrained enough in him that he can hold up as a rather veritable threat against Vlad without needing his powers.

But Vlad can force Danny to use his powers more often through use of his own. The duplication is the first thing to come to mind: Danny's fast enough to dispel them on his own without powers, and smart enough that he could figure out who the real one is if given a few minute. But that's not always efficient enough.

Good foils for each other that way. Also Vlad's Plasmius design mimics Ra's juuust enough that he looks like Ra's knockoff loser second cousin no one talks about, which only fuels Danny's hatred.

-------- Snippet 7

Danny, ranting about Vlad for the first time: --and it's only made worse by the fact that the little ingrate resembles a cheap knock-off of my grandfather!--

Sam, choking on her water: he what--

Tucker, doing a spittake: HE DOES?

[icarus-star]

I need more Dan content. So can you please do a sub Danny Cooper x dom female reader with a mommy kink and overstimulating. There is literally no Dan content on this app and I really love your writing. Also you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.

good boy | danny cooper <3

a/n: hello, dear anon! sorry if i got this out a bit late, ive been a little busy. i really like this concept, so i hope i did well :3

@spookyorchid

18+ content ahead, pure and absolute filth!!please don't read unless your comfortable with that!!

the way he would whine and call you mommy is like no other..

you giving him a hand job or having a vibrater up against the tip of his cock after making him cum four times already, there are tears streaming down his face and he's probably drooling a bunch too :P

"ah- mommy! fuck.. please-! i-i'm gonna- ah!!"

he's just so loud!

but if you need your sweet boy to be quiet, you can always shove two of your fingers in his mouth and have him suck on them :3

or if your riding him, have him suck on your tits! he would love to do that for you, plus he wouldn't be thinking straight anyways, so he'd do anything in the moment

you make him cum so many times that at some point, his orgasms are almost completely dry, other than the tears running down his face

wipe away the tears for him, tell him he's doing such a good job for you, then give him one more good orgasm <3

and he squirms and moves around so much! he will not stop moving around, his cock is just so sensitive because of how you've been treating him

not that he's complaining about it

aww and tie him up!!

have his hands tied together with a silk ribbon, so gently, but so very tightly

oh, and he whimpers so loudly at you kissing his delicate cock

and the way he'll become so hard so quickly from just the right praise!! ^_^

all you have to do is call him your good baby boy for cumming so much for you and leave a couple kisses in between his thighs

how about you sit on his face while he has a cock ring on?

he'll lick your clit and eat you out, making you cum while he's so close to cumming again, he'll wanna start sobbing :(

but by the end of everything, his hair is all disheveled, he's sweaty and his breathing is all over the place as he's looking up at you, just wanting a moment to calm himself down

please let this sweet boy get the rest he deserves, he'll be so so sleepy afterwards <3

a/n: hehe, im pretty proud of this one actually 🤭 i was rewatching intruders while writing this, to help get my brain flowing... ahhhgg he's such a mess

[stealingyourbones]

Idk that much about the DCU, but Booster Gold being from the 25th century,,, what if he’s from the future timeline where TUE Dark-Dan happened? Like yeah he was born four centuries afterwards, humanity has rebuilt itself and life moved on, but he would def have learned about the Days of Dark in school/gone to the Red Huntress Memorial Museum and all that before he got the harebrained idea to time travel before the time line split. The JL’s first contact with Phantom is just Booster Gold in the back going through all stages of ‘nope’ and ‘I didn’t sign up for this’ and ‘why did I not think this through.’ I think this works with any other time traveler in the league as well, and I can see them kinda football-huddling like ‘how are we gonna deal with this???’

Ooooooo. I like this a LOT. I’d say that it might make more sense for Bart Allen to be from the Dan timeline. Bart seeing Phantom and his face just going white as chalk and having to break it to Danny that his future self in his timeline was a part of what fully fuckin destroyed his future planet.

For Booster, nothing really bad was happening on his world. He simply just was a janitor at the hall of heroes and stole some equipment to fake being a superhero to get money and fame. He eventually becomes a sorta time cop helping bad events from even happening in the timeline. Having the world rebuild itself from Dan’s destruction is a very neat and interesting idea. Going “ok that happened. Here’s what happened after” instead of focusing on the time of the immediate fallout.

Booster seeing Danny and not at all hiding his panic and freaking the hell out on how to stop Danny’s eventual destruction of the Earth? That’s some good shit right there.

[ectoplasmic-entity]

I’m surprised & happy to find this blog, here’s a Dark Danny x reader(gender neutral) request. Dan and reader somehow become friends, start to fall for each other but Dan tries to deny his feelings. However when the reader is taken hostage by ghost hunters hunting dark danny and threaten to kill them if he doesn’t surrender dark Danny feels something he hasn’t felt in a long time; fear, not for himself, but for the reader. After he somehow saves them he realizes how much the reader means to him

And it's my pleasure to serve  (シ_ _)シ

I'll be honest though, this request brought up the challenge of keeping Dan's character balanced between having some elements of his canon traits and having more grounded traits.

Anon, when you read this fic, I'd really like to know what you think of it (✿´꒳`)ﾉ°

Genre: Romance + Strangers-to-Friends-to-Lovers

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: Two non-graphic off screen deaths

Words: 4.3k+

The first time the two of you met was…unconventional.

You are among the masses that fear him. Huddling with faceless people under ghost-proof domes. Uncertainty is thick in the air and fear permeates the dusty atmosphere. A continuous sway of the unpredictability of fight-or-flight.

Any mention of his name is equivalent to the Bogeyman. It’s spoken in whispers, spat as a curse, or simply no mention at all. The one who bears the name in question is rather unpredictable.

It was during one of his sweeps that you hide within some still intact structures. The glow of the ghost shield warbles and groans. It flickers between blue and grey. On its last legs like that of an ancient beast. Not once has the shield generators have had a hiccup for over 10 years.

But as all things do, they wear and decay with age.

You steady your breathing in spite of your accelerating heart rate. You are near the edge of the city, which has already been levelled. In a brief moment of calm, you exhale softly in relief.

A shockwave of abnormal, spectral energy rumbles through you. The structure you hide within rattles as its very foundations fight to remain upright. You wonder if you may need to run, despite that there isn’t much cover out in the open.

The rumbles reverberate through you. They are strangely low in sound, yet there’s a trace of an echo. Adrenaline surges up your legs, your mind internally yells for you to run.

You turn on the spot. Your body jitters in trepidation as you scan the landscape for danger. You don’t see much from behind the corner of the structure. All you see is a lonely stream of wind blowing dust across the ruins, the haze of smoke blots out what little sunlight there is.

Smoke. The foul smell is thick and rife with the ashen misery of death. It assaults your nose and throat, it forces you to cough it out to clear it.

Amidst your little fit, you nearly miss the flash of black and white. Your coughs quiet down now that you are no longer focused on it irritating your throat. You suck in your breath in spite of the fact that you may choke to death.

High above in the sky. You’d only seen brief glimpses of him. Never close enough or crystal clear to see. Much like everyone else, though, you do know what he looks like-through word of mouth.

It was seeing the real deal that would make those words truer.

For a minute or two, you allow your eyes to linger. The sense of danger slips from your mind the longer you stare at a mythological figure that seemed so far from you. You wonder how much details you would remember afterwards.

A broad, muscular physique is the first thing that catches your eye. Complimented with energy that glows green and crackles. It mesmerizes you how one can have so much power alone.

A bright green flash floods and stings your vision. It’s a few minutes before you regain your senses, the ringing echoes incessantly in your head. The eye straining green fades to a faint haze, you look up to the sky again. He’s still there, unmoving, and an unnatural sensation rolls off in waves.

Overwhelming, but you stand up against it. You aren’t about to let any obstacles, supernatural or not, from obstructing your fascination. So many spoke of him like some mythological figure, in a way, you can see it. On the other hand, he was merely one ghost with a domineering will.

Your eyes linger far longer than one would let them. You take note of the stark contrast of the black and white suit. It’s oddly symbolic in the context that he’s dangerous and humans stand no chance against him despite their efforts. From an angle, you can just barely make out the DP emblem square on his chest. It seems familiar to you. You’re sure you’ve seen it before – a lifetime ago.

Upwards to his face. You inexplicably feel shy upon gazing at what little you could see of his face. Pale green skin and fiery white hair jumps out at you. It’s an unusual colour combination of black and white.

Deep red eyes stare down at you, pinning you on the spot. You can’t look away; the penetrating gaze seems to command every move you make.

A quick, pained gasp comes out of you. Your heart skips a beat. You held your breath for too long. You stumble backwards, he’s staring at you.

Adrenaline rushes through you again, you barely acknowledge the fight-or-flight alarms in your head. Your body twitches, unsure whether you should start running and hope. Or wait and see what he does next.

He moves towards you. His tense posture and fisted hands indicate he’s wary. Perhaps undecided whether he should deal with you or not.

Then he perks up, his head turns in the other direction at whatever distracts him. He only gives a brief glimpse back at you before he flies away. All you see is a billowing cape that obscures him from your sight.

A long and loud exhale blows out of your mouth. Your heart still races, but it’s calmer now. Your breath breaks down into shakes, mystified that you’re still alive and standing.

That…Phantom lets you live. He had the opportunity to blast you away and he didn’t take it. It was a far cry from how he usually acts. What made him stop?

---

Dan knows you’re watching him. Especially after that day. He still questions what went through his mind, that he…let you go.

He tries to convince himself that he was distracted. That you, a mere human, just…

Didn’t run.

Were it any other human, they would’ve been nothing but ash in the wind by now. Except you. You stood straight up and stared right at Dan in defiance. That little fact continues to jump out at him.

It annoys Dan…and intrigues him all the same, to say the least.

It didn’t occur to him right away, but the thought of you never left his mind. Every time he came to Amity Park, his eyes would peer around in search of you. There may not be many humans left, after dealing with them for so long, they all started to look the same to him. Something about you sticks out to Dan.

Perhaps that you seem to be braver, if not foolhardy, but braver than most ever would be.

You are difficult to find, of course. You tend to hide whenever Dan comes around. At first, he considers, maybe you aren’t as brave as he makes you out to be. Except that you never run, even when he finds you. You always stare at him with a mix of apprehension and awe.

Dan grins in amusement, humans are such fickle little creatures. In one minute, they unite together. Then in the next, they suddenly scatter to the winds. And there is always one, singular, poor little human who’s lost.

Time passes, it grows into a sort of routine between the two of you. It goes unspoken, there is an air of understanding. It’s a waiting game, to see how long it takes for you to start running. Or when Dan finally gets bored with you.

Except it never happens. You both meet at the exact same time most days, when the sun sinks below the horizon. In the exact same rusty and jagged ruins that inspire danger. It was so…simple. Yet few, if not none, would ever suspect it.

At first, both of you take the time to study each other. Notice little quirks that one wouldn’t notice unless they actually bother to look closer. Certain physical details that you both find endearing.

Like how you take notice that Dan seems calm. At least, calm when the situation calls for it. Compared to how you usually see him, it was like you’re seeing two different people. It does cross your mind if what you’re seeing is just scratching the surface level of who Dan really was.

You hastily push the thoughts away. You can’t possibly be that invested in him, right? Your reasoning comes off as unconvincing when those thoughts come around…repeatedly.

Likewise, Dan finds you rather cute for a human. With your childish sense of awe that has him grinning to himself in amusement. In a way, it reminds him of himself.

His thoughts stop abruptly, his focus zeroes in on the fact that you remind him a bit too much. A haunting figure encroaches on the edge of Dan’s mind. A part of him that died and, at the same time, never really left.

Dan inhales deeply to control his reaction. He honestly did wonder if you would ever become dangerous to him. It seems quite ridiculous, that you somehow manage to incite such an internal reaction…

He sighs quietly, his fingers press into the bridge of his nose. Great. You aren’t just a bit annoying, and intriguing, but also…invigorating.

Dan slowly lets a grin appear. His hand covers half of his face to hide what he’s feeling. He supposes, as long as you can entertain him, he doesn’t mind keeping you around.

The longer you keep up with these ‘secret’ meetings, the more you realize you look forward to them. To…seeing Dan.

Dan shares the same sentiment of these meetings. That seeing you is an enjoyable quiet amidst a raging storm.

It was one of these meetings that sealed the deal for him. That you’re a friend of sorts…and perhaps something more. It’s a persistent feeling that he quashes down any chance he gets.

Who’d want someone like him? Let alone you?

--- 

You hide within the ruins for your near daily meetup with Dan. You try to calm the giddy feeling that swirls around in your chest in anticipation once he finds you.

You wait. And wait.

You frown on confusion. Dan should be here by now, on the prowl. It was already dark enough that you’d have a hard time seeing him.

After some time passes, a seed of doubt pokes at you. It’s not like you can tell Dan what to do. He may have simply opted not to come today.

Before your thoughts can bring your mood down more, they’re interrupted by a distant rumble. You barely have time to react when another, more powerful rumble causes you to lose your balance.

You fall with an uncomfortable thud on the ground. You quickly forget your predicament as multiple blasts of green light colour the dreary sky a toxic green. They mix with pink-purple lights, crossing over each other.

Two figures zip around in the sky, one you barely recognize as Dan. The black and white combo turns into a confusing amalgamation. You can hardly make out a red suit and a hoverboard.

The lights fly back and forth with a haphazard sense of direction. Small and powerful explosions of a colourful variety dot the landscape.

You’re so distracted by the spectacle that you fail to notice the warning signs. Bits and pieces of debris fall around you, dust is upset from wherever it settles. A faint groan here, a disturbing creak there.

You realize what’s happening when a large piece of a steel beam lands with a thunderous crash near you. Your head sharply snaps up in horror, your eyes fixate on the sharp, rusty pieces of steel falling towards you. Your breath sucks in, and you seem stuck on the spot.

An echoing, clanging crash jolts you out of your stupor. Your heart thunders in your chest, a rush of energy surges through you. There’s no time to think as you scramble away, just mere seconds before a particularly sharp piece of metal impales the very spot you sat on.

Shaky breaths huff and puff out of you, your heart pounds loudly in your ears. An eerie groan of metal promises certain doom cues you in that you need to get out. The aged structure teeters dangerously over you.

The sound of glass shattering has you pump your legs into action, no time to think on it as you would waste precious seconds of life. The cold-hot sensation of adrenaline fills your throat, your heart picks up the pace. The soles of your shoes slam painfully on the ground as you make a rush for the nearest opening.

Outside, Dan twists and expertly manoeuvres his body to avoid the onslaught. He grins as pink-purple lights pass him, then turns intangible with a casual expression. Oh, how his adversaries get upset when they realize they can no longer touch him. Just like Valerie passing through him, Dan doesn’t as much as even twitch.

She’s quick, and ruthless to a fault.

But not good enough.

Dan careens around with his hand in a fist, becoming nothing more than a dark blur. A painful, resounding crack fills his ears as his fist makes contact with the back of Valerie’s head. She doesn’t even have enough time to utter a single sound before the blow knocks her off of her hoverboard.

He watches with apathy and maybe a smidgen of amusement as Valerie falls down to the roof of a nearby building. Her prone form slides roughly on the surface, unlikely to be conscious again for some time.

Turning away without as much as a glimpse, Dan has a sneering smirk on his face. His eyes shine malignantly. Valerie keeps him on his toes, entertaining, so to speak. He doesn’t have any qualms about killing her, oh not at all, but not for a long time coming.

His musing comes to a halt at the sound of crashing. Crunching. Splintering.

Dan veers around, somewhat caught off guard. He instantly gets a face full of thick dust. Holding an arm to his face to shield himself, the billowing cloud of dust tells him all he needs to know.

Now that he thinks about it…where are you?

His question soon gets an answer when he spots something. Within the dark depths of the collapsing ruins, Dan makes out a shape. A human, familiar, silhouette. You. What perturbs him more is that he can hear a faint thump.

A repetitive, deep sound that attempts to fill his cold body with warmth.

Your heartbeat. Why can he hear your heartbeat?

No matter now. You have very little probability of escaping the collapse unscathed. At best, you may become a cripple for life. At worst, you’re dead under all that debris. Crushed.

Unless…Dan’s thought falters.

Unless…

Dan gets to you first. He growls softly in trepidation. He internally fights himself, it wasn’t the morality of it. More so that he doesn’t necessarily go out of his way to save someone. It’d be a lot more merciful to kill them, if he doesn’t toy with them first, of course.

But if you do die, Dan isn’t sure what to think of it. Loneliness perhaps, he’s used to it. It’s not like he sought out others for company. He…just happened on you by chance. He would miss these meetings, you’re one of the more enjoyable things in this world, Dan has to admit – believe it or not.

Without thinking, Dan zips down low to the ground. Clouds of dust and microscopic particles of debris bite at his face. A deafening roar blasts his eardrums, his vision becomes dark as the cloud grows and thickens.

Shattering. Crashing. Crunching.

Dan cares little for the surrounding chaos. Flying directly into a collapsing building perhaps wasn’t his best idea. His thoughts drone on as he wraps his arms around something, hopefully you. And also, hopefully, though he doubts it, that they remain standing. His form goes transparent.

Time passes. Neither you nor Dan move a muscle. It long since becomes quiet, the ruins are even more ruinous.

A faint thumping sound makes it known to Dan. He can hear it more clearly, and…closer. Dan slowly opens his eyes, red pierces through the darkness and up to the sky. A rare night sky full of stars greets him. Downwards, and…

Oh. That’s why he hears it, you press right up to him. Your arms wrap tightly around him, clinging onto him as if your life depends on it. And your face is hidden in his chest. Your heart beats against his body.

Finally, you slowly and shakily look up. Your eyes shift around anxiously, wondering if you’re really still alive. Well, you’re clearly breathing and can still hear your heart thumping. Oddly enough, you feel like you’re pressed up against something, or someone.

You gaze up further and stiffen in shock. Dan is looking right down at you, like literally looking down at you. You notice at this point that he has his arms around you. Almost like he’s...protecting you.

You grin awkwardly at him; your face heats up. “Face to face at last, huh?”

Dan grumbles quietly and rolls his eyes. He pretends he doesn’t notice the lump that forms in his throat, or that his insides flutter.

---

After that incident, the two of you form a stronger friendship. Dan is standoffish, and displays behaviours that you don’t quite understand. It still intrigues you, you feel like he is hiding his ‘true self’.

Dan remains at a short distance, sometimes, he never leaves your line of sight. You stop hiding from him as well. Maybe you’re afraid that in one blink, either one of you will be gone. It’s an unpleasant feeling.

You don’t vocalize it, of course. Dan doesn’t either, maybe he feels the same as you do.

You’d have no idea just how right you are.

Dan is more cautious now, though he uses the word loosely. The old structure nearly collapsing on top of you is a stark reminder of human fragility. As a matter of fact, mortality as well. It brings up old memories that Dan buries deep within his mind. It’s been so long he forgot they were still there.

‘Invading’ Amity Park becomes less of a reason, and more of an excuse to get away from prying eyes. To see you, make certain that you’re still there the next time he comes around.

The two of you haven’t spoken much to each other yet. At the same time, you feel you already know each other just from your actions and body language alone. Even then, the two of you are still learning about each other.

Days pass. Then weeks.

The two of you settle into a routine. Sometimes you bring a book, or a story from what happens throughout your daily life, other times you sit in a comfortable silence.

Dan thinks you don’t notice, but you clearly do, with a smile to boot, and a shy blush. While he remains standoffish, he can’t help being curious. There are times when he’s looking over your shoulder to see what you have in your hands, even if he doesn’t garner much interest in it. Other times, he can be seen sitting or floating near you as you talk away. 

He always seems to edge closer to you when it’s quiet.

You honestly couldn’t ask for more. This is the kind of life you desire if Earth wasn’t such a barren wasteland.

Dan supposes he doesn’t have much more to ask, either. It’s…nice. He feels content.

One day, though, you fail to show up. Dan finds it very uncharacteristic of you – you almost always arrive on time. At first, he thinks maybe you have something that’s holding you up. Even so, you would’ve left him some kind of message.

He decides to wait, he’s certain you’ll show up.

But as night falls, Dan begins to get the impression that something’s wrong. He’s inexplicably hyper vigilant, he feels a sense of danger in his gut. Dan’s ghost core accelerates, and he hears the ectoblood pound in his ears.

Shadows of the night surround him, his senses on high alert. There’s something out there.

Dan decides to leave his post, go on a little hunt. Right off the bat, he can tell that the presence is human, otherwise his ghost sense would’ve gone off. If they’re human, chances are they’re hiding within the wreckage. Too bad, Dan knows all the little tricks humans have tried to pull on him over the years.

He flies down to the ground, he can do this on foot. Walking through the ruins, Dan holds a hand up and it glows a bright green. Spectral energy concentrates in his hand to create a ‘light’ to show the way.

Dan doesn’t get very far before he comes across a pair of humans. At least, he assumes they’re human, with the odd armour they have on. It oddly reminds Dan of ghost hunting technology. Maybe that’s what they are. Ghost hunters who take upon the challenge to try to take him down once and for all.

As if they ever succeed, Dan scoffs at them with a smirk.

One points a gun at him to appear threatening. How frightening. Dan’s smirk morphs into a fanged grin.

The second, however, to Dan’s surprise, moves to pull you from behind him. Your hands are bound and tape covers your mouth. You have the beginnings of bruising all around your body, small cuts dot your face.

The second hunter pulls out a gun, a human one, and presses it against the side of your head. You shake around in terror, your eyes widen and are out of focus.

Dan’s mind goes out of focus, it zeroes in only on you. Your heart…he can hear your heart thundering. A sound that pounds his ears the longer you remain in danger. Dan snarls silently, he bares his fangs for all to see.

“Phantom,” the first hunter draws Dan’s attention. “Your life for theirs…”

The gun cocks quietly. The click reverberates loudly in the tense silence.

“Or your friend here dies.”

Dan leans forward, his hands in tight fists and heavy breaths come out of his mouth. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Simple as that, surrender to us quietly, or we’ll have a big mess to clean up.”

The sound of your heart rate accelerates even faster. The rhythm pounds itself into Dan’s mind, making sure he’s well aware of it. It beats against his skull. A deep sensation rises up within him, unsettling Dan.

Shivers go down his body, the hairs on the back of his neck stand right up. Dan’s breath quickens. It’s been such a long time. He was sure he’d never feel it again.

The chill of fear seeps into Dan. Not for himself, but rather for you. He can’t keep his thoughts straight, neither can he focus. Not while you’re actively being threatened.

The hunter continues to yap away, seemingly not aware of the signs of Dan’s rising anger. Nor does the hunter notice that Dan seems to relax for a moment, then nothing more.

Your heart pounds more and more painfully against your chest. You squirm in your captor’s grip with no success. You can feel it deep in your bones, there’s something behind you. Something-

Right next to you, you watch in silent horror as the ghost hunter who was too distracted to realize the danger he was in, is pulled into the darkness behind him. You snap your head away, eyes shut tight when the sounds start.

Sickly, blood curling sounds that you’re sure you’ll never forget. Just as quickly as it starts, it becomes a deadly quiet.

The second hunter is stiff with fright, anxiously glancing around while the gun wavers in his grip. Out of nowhere, a hand grabs the hunter’s wrist in an iron grip. The painful pressure forces him to drop the weapon. The hand then jerks him away, forcing him to let you go.

You stand stiffly on the spot. Not daring to move as similar sounds started up again, louder and closer this time. The second hunter manages to yell out before it’s quickly cut off, a sickening quiet takes his place.

Footsteps. Your head snaps up in terror.

You barely relax once you realize it’s Dan. You remain still even as he tears away the bindings from your hands and the tape from your mouth. You shudder and take in a huge breath of fresh air. You don’t dare look behind you, the sounds were more than enough to tell you what happened.

A hand waves in your face.

“You ok…?” Dan asks you awkwardly.

You snap back to reality, you look down at your shaky hands.

“I…didn’t think I’d end up in a scenario like this,” you say in a quivering voice.

You flinch a little as Dan comes closer, and one of his hands slowly rises up to your face. You feel him take your chin and tilt your head up. Your eyes meet in a new light.

“I hate to sound sappy here, but, I didn’t know how much I…enjoyed you. Your company, I mean…” Dan mutters out, his ears turn downwards, and you swear you see the faintest of a blush on his face.

“What are you trying to say?” You prompt him, your hand holds his.

“I think I enjoy you…more than just a friend,” Dan says with his eyes averting.

It stuns you, that Dan feels that way about you. Your stomach flips and your heart skips a beat, Dan’s eyes cast down as if he heard it. Wordlessly, your hands move up to hold Dan’s face, as his hands hold your face.

Slowly, you lean forward. Carefully keeping an eye on him as you gently press your forehead to his. Dan frowns at first, then he quickly relaxes. He exhales softly.

Before you know it, you feel a set of lips press against yours, your nerves burst with emotion. You hear Dan whisper.

“I’d like to enjoy you for as long as I can.”

[callmewrinkles3]

would you maybe ever something about pregnant!em with her hormones acting up and she genuinely feels panicked about being a mum and Dan has to calm her down?

Hope this answers your question😌

August 2023

The very last thing that Em expected to see when she checked her little used old email account was to see one from her mother. Everyone important knew her new email address, she only checked it when she needed to make sure a subscription didn’t need to be updated. The subject line Question stared at her in black and white. She should have just left it unopened. Deleted it unread from the mother who hadn’t even attended her wedding. But instead she opened it and regretted it immediately.

She knew the sensation of chills running down her spine would take an age to disappear. The fear that took over her body that her baby - the daughter she’d just learned she was carrying - would ever see an email from her and feel this way. The panic was overwhelming, Em lifting the laptop with one hand to bring it into the bedroom where Dan was packing his things to go back to London while her other hand was clutching her bump.

Are you seriously pregnant?

That was the only thing that the email said. Four words. No hello, no how are you. No “you’ve been married for four months publicly how has it been?”. One question. It was enough to make her want to cry.

Between the quick trip back to Perth for Dan’s birthday, the Silverstone chaos, the tire testing and everything that happened afterwards, Em had nearly forgotten that they’d announced her pregnancy. The news about Daniel Ricciardo becoming a dad was buried quickly thanks to him racing for Red Bull and then going back to the grid full time. Em was grateful about it, the attention drawn firmly away from her and their baby. But now that her husband was racing again and with everything that it implied, plus flying back to Perth from Italy to spend her birthday with their family and overseeing the house renovations she’d nearly forgotten that the world knew she was pregnant. She’d definitely forgotten that the world included her parents. So many people had congratulated them about their parenthood, but the last thing she’d expected was her parents to find out. But now they knew and she was terrified. The last thing she wanted was for them to ever be near Lulu.

“Emmy?” Dan’s voice silenced some of the panic.

“They know. Danny they know. They know I’m pregnant and they know it all and they didn’t even ask how I am just if I’m really pregnant and they don’t get to know Lulu.” He pulled her in for a cuddle, his hands firmly on her bump as he helped her breathe deeply.

“In-two-three-four, out-two-three-four. That’s it, Baby. Keep breathing. You’re going to be such a good mum to our Lulu. Luna Grace is going to be the most loved little girl in the world, because she’s gonna know how much her mum and dad want her. They don’t get to meet her. Ever.”

“You mean it?” Em hated the tears in her voice. Hated how she couldn’t keep herself calm because of her mother.

“I promised you that day in the hotel. I promised that I wasn’t going to let them hurt my family again. That’s you and Lulu and anyone else we’re lucky enough to meet. I promise. You don’t need to worry about it. They don’t get anywhere near you ever.”

She held onto her husband, curled up on his lap as Lulu kicked against his hand.

“I can feel her!” Dan kissed her cheek, holding on tightly. “I can feel her. She knows we’re not going to let them hurt her. Same way I won’t let them hurt you either.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, Emmy.”

[rainbow-beanie]

Had the sudden realization that these two art pieces have been done for well over a few months at least, and have just been collecting dust until I found them and freshened them up.

Context: so as many people in the phandon know, the events of the ultimate enemy was very traumatic for poor Danny, and afterwards (and even before) he swore that he would never become like Dan. So what would happen if, as Danny gets older and his powers get stronger, he begins looking a little more like him, pale blue skin and pointy ears in his ghost form. Even if he’s still himself this fact still TERRIFIES him, cause he thinks that even if he ended up saving the future, he’s still gonna end up like him, (which is not true, but Danny’s not thinking logically here) and so overwhelmed by all this he begins to panic, this causing his powers to go haywire to the point that bitter cold air begins to surround him (think terra from the original teen titans) and covering everything close by in frost. It’s only until he hears the voice of his sister that he finally snaps out of it.

[safetycar-restart]

Shels I can’t stop thinking about domming Daniel with Lewis because Lewis would DEFINITELY be able to manhandle Daniel and throw him around like a rag doll… maybe it’s not even planned- you’re scening with lil subby baby Danny and Lewis is domming him with you, you climb onto the bed whilst Lewis is making out with Daniel, Lewis then decides- to save time because Dan is already verging on the edge of subspace where coordination becomes impossible- decides to pick Daniel up and just throw him onto the bed….. and Dan’s brain just completely malfunctions because wow that was just……. Of course you and Lewis notice his reaction and when you asked him if he liked that, he flushes red but nods eagerly. Safe to say manhandling is something you incorporate regularly, whether it’s holding him down, pushing him around, or straight up throwing him like a sack of potatoes…

Also, when Dan realised that both you and Lewis can pick him up without too much struggle (albeit Lewis slightly more than you….) he’s never walking anywhere again… all he has to do is flash those puppy dog eyes at either of you and raise his arms, and suddenly he’s being carried around like the princess he is -🐬

Ok I swear I answered this yesterday? But sometimes tumblr does this fun thing where it mistakes the post button for the delete button but doesn’t inform me of this so I wrote this and it simply floated into the atmosphere.

So uh... round two! Because this ask is so fucking good it’s worthy of me rewriting my answer. I went into SO much background detail cause I’m kinda obsessed so the rewrite is now an essay. Have fun.

I think it might start with you and Lewis together? And Daniel is just.... absolutely obsessed with you both. You’re the most attractive couple he’s ever seen. And he’s determined to get at least one threesome.

So naturally his plan is to be utterly insufferable for as long as need be until one of you backs him up against a wall and kisses him breathless.

You and Lewis had talked about it, because Daniel was anything but subtle. And you both agreed that yeah, yeah a threesome with Daniel is not an opportunity either of you can pass up.

So that’s how it starts. Daniel is kinda just a fuck buddy that gets welcomed into your bed whenever he wants (which is to say, every race weekend that he sees you’re at the track with Lewis, he will magically turn up at your hotel room with two packs of condoms and neither you nor Lewis ever find out how he knows the hotel room).

People tend to assume that Daniel is dominant, and maybe that’s true for his other sexual partners. But with you and Lewis, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Daniel would like one thing and one thing only: to be absolutely wrecked. He would like to be a pretty fuck toy and have no thoughts whatsoever. You and Lewis are already a power couple, someone needs to be the pretty arm Candy who gets fucked every night and Daniel is more than happy to fulfil that role.

To be honest I don’t think the d/s aspect would be very intricate, at least not at first. Daniel would like to be fucked silly, he would like to not have to think, he would like to be allowed to fall into subspace and know he’s going to be looked after afterwards.

He had spent enough time with you and Lewis when he was trying to get in your pants to know that you and Lewis would take good care of him. That’s all he really wants.

So manhandling? Incredible. He loses his little mind the first time.

Sometimes, I think Daniel wants to be fucked so badly thst he loses all coordination and common sense, just bends himself over the nearest surface, shakes his little ass to try and prove his point.

You’re more than happy to grab the strap and fuck him wherever. Lewis, however, is more of a traditionalist in that sense. He wants to fuck Daniel on the bed. And only the bed.

Which leads to many times where you’ve found them making out in the hallways on the way to the bedroom, because Daniel got impatient and wanted a kiss now.

One time, you’re watching them attempt to get to the bedroom without tripping over each other, you’re on the bed, watching as they stumble down the passage when Lewis seems to get too impatient and just.... picks Daniel up and carries him to the bed.

He throws Daniel onto the bed, right into your arms and you can see how shocked Daniel is.

You ask him if he’s okay, scared that Lewis might have overstepped. But Daniel just nods and smiles, clearly very happy with the situation.

And then it just... becomes a thing.

You and Lewis manhandle Daniel all the time, just moving around all the time and Daniel couldn’t be happier. He is truly living his best, horny life.

[llpodcast]

(Literary License Podcast)

Batman: The Animated Series

 See No Evil  

 Lloyd "Eddie" Ventrix is on the verge of losing his daughter, Kimberly (Elisabeth Moss), to his ex-wife, Helen, due to his past as a con artist. Determined not to lose Kimberly, Ventrix dons a suit, stolen from where he used to work while on parole, which grants the user invisibility but also becomes highly toxic and drives him insane. He poses as Kimberly's imaginary friend, Mojo, and planning to abduct her from her mother, while in a crime spree as an invisible robber. Batman must solve the mystery crimes and stop Ventrix, despite the fact that he cannot even see him.

 Beware the Gray Ghost

 Simon Trent, an actor best known for his past role as "The Gray Ghost", is on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to his declining career. To save himself, he sells off all of his Gray Ghost merchandise. Immediately afterwards, a series of bombings related to the old show begin to occur. Batman, having himself been inspired partly by the show to become the crimefighter he now is, goes to Trent for help, and they team up to put an end to the crimes, and also revive Trent's career.

 Prophecy of Doom 

 Batman investigates a cult, called the Brotherhood, founded by the "mystic" Nostromos, after hearing about a number of stories from his colleagues about his ability to predict the future. Batman finds out that Nostromos is actually a con artist who was rigging near-fatal accidents to gain the confidence of Gotham's upper class citizens, and he must expose this ruse before it is too late.

 Joker’s Favor

 After a man named Charlie Collins curses at the Joker on the road for offensive driving, the Clown Prince of Crime corners him and intimidates him into doing him a "small favor". Two years pass, and the Joker finally decides how to use Charlie: to sneak a bomb into the Peregrinator's Club, where Commissioner Gordon is to give a speech at an award ceremony. Charlie, who merely has to open the door, is sceptical at first, but for the sake of his family, he reluctantly decides to obey.

 We are joined by Mark Krawczyk, Host of The Spoiler Room podcast.  You can follow his show or himself by going to the following websites:

 https://www.specialmarkproductions.com

https://anchor.fm/spoilerroompodcast

https://twitter.com/SpecialMarkPro

https://www.instagram.com/SpecialMarkProd

https://www.tiktok.com/@specialmarkproductions

  Opening Credits; Introduction (1.29); Amazing Design Advertisement (32.25); Episode One See No Evil (33.37); Episode Two: Beware the Grey Ghost (47.24); Episode Three:  Prophecy of Doom (1:20.20); Episode Four: Joker’s Favor (1:45.57); Favourite and Least Favourite Character (2:34.15);Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (2:51.43); Closing Credits (2:54.37)

 Opening Credits– Batman Animated Theme by Danny Elfman.  Copyright 1992 Warner Music 

 Closing Credits:  My Hero by The Foo Fighters. Taken from the album The Color and The Shape.  Copyright 1997 Roswell – Capitol Records.

​

Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 

 All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.

 All songs available through Amazon Music.

[redrobin-detective]

Side Effects of ghost powers

Hey all! I’m writing a DP fic called Side Effects exploring the physical and later mental/emotional impact of Danny initially getting his ghost powers. As an ICU stepdown nurse for 3 years, I wanted to view Danny’s accident through a slightly more realistic, medical lens. 

Note: I had to fudge a good amount because Danny really should have fucking died and there’s no getting around that.

I do recommend you read the fic first before reading this as there’s some spoilers. Or if you don’t care you can read on. So! The two factors we are looking at regarding the accident are: ecto-contamination secondary to electrocution. 

Electrocution

I was forced to downplay a lot of the severe symptoms of electrocution because, again, a bad enough shock will kill someone. My hand-wavey explanation is simply that the portal didn’t activate at a deadly voltage so he got a good shock but not enough to be fatal. I guess.

Muscle weakness/spasms: intermittent muscle spasms are common from shocks, muscles being activated by electricity and reacting to the lingering impulses. Danny’s is transient but quite annoying for a time. But his muscles are gonna be weak and achy af for days if not weeks after from the massive contractions caused by the shock and the after effects. Sensory issues: lots of things can cause nerve damage, including electrocution so Danny is experiencing some pretty severe neuropathy primarily manifesting with numbness and tingling throughout his body. His entire skin and peripheral nervous system got fried so while its mostly numb it’s also super sensitive for a bit of time causing massive pain and discomfort from your body tingling like a thousand bee stings. It’s worst in the hours after the accident but is something that never quite really goes back to normal both from the electrocution and his ghost half taking over and generally dulling his sense of touch.

Hearing/Vision loss: Like skin/nerves, your sensory organs in your eyes and ears would be affected by such a severe and allover electric shock. Danny has some blurred and occasionally double vision from his eyes not properly receiving/understanding input. Hearing loss is common following electricity given how delicate the inner ear is but I just give Danny some nasty tinnitus (ear ringing) for a bit. This inner ear problem also massively throws off his balance when he’s trying to move post accident. These factors are exacerbated by the ecto-contamination and mostly fade in the days following the accident before going away as his superhuman healing kicks in.

Heart Arrhythmia: an irregular heartbeat caused by the electrical impulses that control basal heartrate not coordinating they they should for a variety of reasons, in this case, massive electric shock. Danny would be somewhat aware of it, its not exactly painful exactly but you can just feel that your heart isn’t beating right. Secondary side effects are dizziness, chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath. This resolves almost entirely when Danny stabilizes

Cognitive issues: Danny got his brains a little scrambled in addition to his molecules being rearranged. The first third of the story Danny is very clearly NOT thinking straight and Tucker/Sam should not have left him alone. Shocks can cause things like irrational emotional behaviors from hormone release along with memory loss and depression. He constantly waxes and wanes in mood and opinions on what to do in the story and never comes to a true decision that, damn lucky for him, worked out on its own.

Ecto-Contamination

Alright so Danny got massively shocked, sucks right but people live through that all the time. Ecto-contamination is more tricky (not only cause its made up and I had to think about what symptoms it would theoretically produce) but because the effects are more life threatening. It’s also irreversible, once he was contaminated it was only something that could be survived not cured. 

So I theorized that Danny got shocked by the accident and was slowly dying of ecto-contamination and was pretty much clinically dead for a brief moment there, the death was enough for the large quantity of ectoplasm in him to immediately coalesce into a ghost (Phantom). So Danny was mostly dead but not quite, I’ve coded and brought back enough people to know it can be reversed somewhat. Danny becomes Phantom but the sudden stable formation of the ectoplasm into what its supposed to be, a ghost, caused his body to stop fighting the ectoplasm as a foreign invader and become part of the self. His core finished forming in his chest and his body started back up again, his ghost safely nestled in his once again living body as he slowly comes to grips with his actual death experience. 

Nausea/Vomiting: I likened the idea of ecto-contamination to radiation poisoning, something that is essentially the antithesis to life. One of the first symptoms of radiation is n/v which is also why it’s one of the first overt symptoms Danny has. He was heavily electrocuted/irradiated and his body wants to expunge it all. As for the ectoplasm/blood he vomits, that’s the next section. 

Gastrointestinal (GI) Bleed: So I was a little mean here. When one vomits up blood (or in this case ectoplasm/blood mix) it has to come from somewhere and a lot of the times it’s a GI Bleed. These are nasty, they need to be either cauterized or surgically repaired not to mention replenishing the blood lost. Fanon says that ectoplasm is at least mildly corrosive to humans so it is here, as it’s bonding to him, it’s literally eating him very slowly from the inside out which is causing a great deal of his internal pain. It’s not enough to be immediately life threatening but would kill him eventually. He developed some nasty bleeding ulcers in his stomach which let in blood and ectoplasm which were expunged. Danny’s core formed overnight and began healing the damage it had previously been causing but Dan is still gonna be vomiting excess blood/ectoplasm not to mention having black, tarry stools for at least a few days afterwards.

Hypothermia/Tremors: Hypothermia is when the body hits 95F/35C which Danny is just above at the start of the chapter. Danny initially starts shaking really bad (rigors) but as his body temperature cools further his shaking slows and eventually stops, a sure sign that the body is rapidly losing the fight to hypothermia and will likely die soon without immediate intervention. This is caused not only by the ectoplasm but his ice core shakily starting to form inside of him. Once he fully turns half ghost his hypothermia doesn’t change but it just no longer negatively affects him (I say Danny hovers naturally around 96-95F/35-33C getting much colder as Phantom at baseline. His body still can be damaged by going too cold but that’s a whole other post.) 

Incoherency/Hallucinations: I mentioned in the electrocution section that Danny is more than a little addled and the contamination didn’t help in that regard. Not only is he not thinking clearly but he’s also getting a little delirious and seeing things. Common hallucinations I see are: someone in the room watching you, things crawling on the walls, creeping shadows, you’re in the wrong place. I think its a solid 50/50 as far as Danny straight up hallucinating but also becoming more aware of natural ectoplasm that hangs around in the atmosphere. (And before anyone asks, yes Clockwork did come and visit, Danny just doesn’t remember)

Pain: Being electrocuted, irradiated, being dissolved slowly on the inside is enough to cause massive amounts of pain. Danny is 14, he doesn’t understand true pain and probably underestimated how much it would hurt. Once it got bad, it was almost paralyzing so it got to the point where even when he wanted to call for help, he couldn’t move or think past the horrible pain of his every molecule slowly dying and rearranging itself.

Weakness/Fatigue: I don’t really have anything much to add for this section that hasn’t been said in the others. Just the combination of all of the above meant Danny is so incredibly weak and fatigued, this will be problematic in the days and weeks following the accident as his body heals from the stress put on it. Poor boy was probably just getting past the worst of his symptoms by the time of the Lunch lady attack one month in.

Ghost instinct: Going off the medical rant for a minute to go into another aspect of the contamination present in the story, the idea of ectoplasm adding inherent ghostiness to Danny. Its common fanon that all ghosts (through ectoplasm) have their own unique code and language that is just omnipresent and instinctive. Such a massive, body altering dose of ectoplasm saw those things start to leech into Danny even before he became half ghost. The biggest is his fear of being seen, majority of ghosts are completely invisible and don’t want to be seen by the living. As Danny’s suffering and literally dying, he can’t bring himself to confess to his loved ones for very understandable reasons but also this ghostly instinct in the back of his head telling him to hide and get away. Other instincts are a strong attraction to the portal/Ghost Zone, lowkey being able to sense living people around him and a bit of an emotional dampener when Phantom. 

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Only Communists Have Beards

Post-Trump Era, Part 4

12/26/2021

Stephen Jay Morris

©Scientific Morality

When my age was in the single digits, I used to listen to adults speak to one another. Sometimes, I understood what they were saying; other times, it was like hearing a foreign language. Oh, they were mostly complaining about this and that; after all, that was a typical American trait. This was in the late 50’s and early 60’s. America had an unspoken dress code. “Be nice and clean, and dress neat. Show the world how prosperous the USA is.” That’s how it was. Occasionally, I would catch overused jokes or slang, one of which was, “Don’t take any wooden nickels!” There were so many. Another time I heard, “Only Communists have beards.” What does thatmean?

Let’s talk about facial hair on men. Some men are insecure about their masculinity, so they try really hard to appear “macho.” When around other men, they speak in low pitched tones. When they are with their mothers, their voices become high pitched and infantile. Nowadays, men who are insecure about their masculinity grow facial hair to compensate. In the 80’s, beards were popular in the gay community. Some say it was to mock heterosexuals—that was not true; it was to celebrate masculinity. In the late 70’s, there was a gay singing group called, “The Village People.” They wore costumes that venerated male gender roles, like the construction worker, the cowboy, the cop, the Marine, the biker, the Indian chief, among other male gender stereotypes. Machismo is an aphrodisiac among homosexual males. A majority of straight males think gays are all drag queens. Let meremind you that “truth” is not a left wing value! It is a fucking requirement!! The religious Right have become alarmists, so they tell their male flock that the Left wants to castrate them. When you frighten a man, he will not join your cult. He will become what you hate.

Masculinity is created by a biochemical hormone. It gives a male his masculine traits, not God. The chemical formula is C19 H28 02. Look it up.

All right, so much for this portion about beards.

Now, what do beards represent or symbolize? Certainly not masculinity. Jesus had a beard. Jesus said in Proverbs 17:5 “Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.” A woke Socialist? Santa Claus has a beard. Santa gives out free presents and wears a red suit. Communist? Maybe the religious Right should read their own bible. It was the ancient Romans who started this shaving-ritual-until-the-end-of-time for men. The rich Romans shaved to show the poor Romans that when it came to cleanliness, the rich were superior. It would be decades before poor men started to shave. After all, beards are itchy and hold the sweat against your face. I know; I had a beard in the 80’s. Afterward, I shaved it off, and I’ve felt much better ever since.

Over the years, a beard came to symbolize nonconformity and rebellion. It also represented intellectuals and scientists. Communists wore beards because that represented rebellion. Che Guevara, the Communist revolutionary, wore a beard because he didn’t have to shave. Karl Marx wore a beard because he wanted to look like an intellectual; plus he was too lazy to shave. The Communist manifesto didn’t write itself; you know!

I notice Conservatives are now sporting beards. Only in America! One is U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas. He not only wears a beard, but he has an eye patch, to boot! I wish the ghost of Barry Goldwater would haunt Danny and grab him by the scruff of his neck and say, “SHAVE OFF THAT COMMIE BEARD OR PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE!”

Now that is conservative correctness!

[darks-ink]

Commission for @kaiofficialdp, featuring Dan and their OC Kai. Thank you Tumblr for eating the linebreak, please don’t do it again when I go to post this please

---

Kai slowed his already casual flight as his eye caught on a speck of sharply contrasting white and black. Neither of those colors were rare in the wastelands around Amity Park, but together? Together, they were most commonly found on Dan.

He steered towards the speck. And, as he had expected, found Dan. The ghost was sitting on the edge of some ruins that Kai didn’t care to identify. Dan’s posture, slumped forward and leaning his elbows on his knees, with his face down-turned, suggested that he was moping.

Or so Kai thought, at least, until he came closer. Now he could more clearly see the set of Dan’s shoulders, the tenseness in his muscles, the emotional flickering of his hair. Even with his face hidden from Kai, it was clear that Dan wasn’t just moping. No, he was genuinely distressed.

Well, he can’t let that lie, can he? If something was serious enough to distress Dan, maybe Kai could help.

Touching down on the same crumbling ruins as Dan was sitting on, Kai landed almost silently, bar the quiet patter of debris stirred by his boots. Dan didn’t respond in the least, but this was not particularly surprising, as very little in the wastelands was a threat to him.

“Dan,” Kai greeted him, crouching down next to Dan. He only got a grunt in response.

“You look…” Kai paused, digging for the right word, “…troubled. You look troubled, Dan.”

A black gloved hand flapped vaguely in his direction. “It’s nothing,” Dan hissed back, but it felt dispassionate, without heat.

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” Kai countered, narrowing his eyes. “Tell me what happened. Was it Valerie? Something in Amity?”

Dan snarled, his lip curling, then shook his head. Remained quiet.

Kai sighed, placed his own gloved hands on the edge of the ruins, and kicked his feet out in front of him, sitting down next to Dan. The dust would doubtlessly stain his black coat, but that was easy enough to fix later.

“What can I do to help?” he prodded, since Dan still hadn’t answered his prior question. What could possibly stop that ghost from answering?

Dan just sighed, deeply and heavily, before flapping his hand at Kai again. “Go away.”

Now that was just weirdly out of character for Dan. Kai wavered for a moment before setting his shoulders and, unable to meet Dan’s eye, settled for staring at him earnestly. “No. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing,” Dan said, after a long pause. “Nothing new.”

Kai clenched his jaw, but Dan still didn’t look up at him, and likely didn’t even realize. “So it’s something old?” He wasn’t sure what to do with that information. If something had just happened, he could help, could maybe fix it or something. But something in the past? That had never bothered Dan before.

Or had he just kept it hidden from Kai?

Dan sniffed, twisting his head towards Kai, finally. His red eyes were narrowed, his mouth drawn in a grimace, fangs glinting in the low light. “You’re still not leaving?”

“I wanted to help,” Kai countered, shifting slightly to sit more comfortably. “And that’s still true. If it’s something in the past I probably can’t change it, but talking about it might help.”

He got a skeptical snort in return for that. “It happened a decade ago,” Dan said, faux casually. “I highly doubt that you could change that.”

Well, fair enough. “Talk about it, then,” Kai insisted. Even if he wasn’t the best at emotional stuff, he could at least sit down and listen. That alone might help some.

“It’s stupid.” Dan grunted, as if displeased with himself. “It happened so long ago. What’s the point of all this if I’m feeling emotional about it now?”

“Sometimes it takes a little time for something to settle in,” Kai offered, but it felt silly even to himself. That usually meant hours, or perhaps days. He couldn’t imagine it taking years, but, well, he wasn’t exactly an expert, was he?

Dan snorted, clearly just as convinced as Kai himself was.

“I thought I had gotten away from it all,” Dan finally said, voice so soft it was almost a whisper. “I had pushed it all away, gone through all that just to get away from this stuff. And now…” He made a sharp, derisive noise. “Now this.”

Kai cast around for the right words to use, to comfort his partner. “You can’t heal from the past just by ignoring it,” he finally settled on, fiddling with his fingers and wondering if touching Dan would help. “Tell me, Dan. Let me help.”

“All the stuff that happened years ago finally caught up to me,” Dan said, his black-clad fingers combing through his flaming hair. “Everything that I pushed away, that I thought I’d gotten over… It’s finally hitting me.”

Dan shook his head suddenly, jerkily, then snarled, “It’s hitting me again.”

---

It was stupid, was all it was. After all he’d done to separate his weak, pathetic human side, to get rid of those hindering emotions, they just came back? Absolutely ridiculous. What was the point of becoming an all-powering full ghost if he could still be haunted by his memories, by emotions he had left behind a long time ago?

Just obscene. That’s what it really was. Horrifically stupid. He was supposed to be beyond this! He had moved past it all years ago, when he split his human side away and merged with Vlad’s ghost instead. So why did it come back now? Why was he suddenly overwhelmed by events that transpired a decade ago?

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the fireball that took out the Nasty Burger, and his loved ones with it. Every moment of silence was filled with the phantoms of their screams, the pressing silence that followed the explosion.

Whenever he approached Amity, his eyes were inevitably drawn back to the place where it had all happened, to the charred place that, to this day, remained untouched by Amity’s survivors.

To the statues that rested in front of it. The permanent marks of his friends, his family. Set in stone, forever the same. Unchanged and unchanging.

He made a sharp noise, aware of Kai watching him. Keen vermilion eyes were set on him, impossible to dismiss. Despite his earlier attempts at getting his partner to leave him alone, Kai insisted on being here.

Well, if he wanted to hear it so badly, why not?

“A decade ago, my family and my friends died,” Dan said, his voice low and rough. He stared ahead of himself, not meeting Kai’s eyes. “My father, my mother. My elder sister. My two closest…” He scoffed, harshly, then corrected, “My only friends.”

Kai didn’t speak, so Dan continued on. “They were at the Nasty Burger, all five of them, because of me. Do you know how much extremely flammable and explosive material they keep there?” A sharp humorless cackle. “Let me tell you, they had a lot of it! And most of it not particularly ghost-proof either! So if a ghost fight ever happened there, like for example, if amazingly heroic Danny Phantom shot a few ecto-blasts while chasing a ghost…”

Dan snapped his fingers. “Whoosh, just like that. Just one spark, and then everything goes. Like a big chain of fire and explosions.”

They sat in silence for a moment, as Dan’s mind relentlessly replayed his memories of that day. Sometimes he wished he could reach into his core and just rip out those pesky thoughts, the recordings of the whole chain of events. Why would he ever need that information, anyway? It had happened. It had led to this, to the here and now. That was all he needed to know, wasn’t it? What good was it for him to remember all of it to such a degree? To get caught up in emotions over it?

No good, that was the answer. It was absolutely pointless. If anything, it was actively harmful, a distraction and a bother.

“It’s not your fault that Nasty Burger didn’t properly secure their material,” Kai pointed out, finally, breaking Dan out of his chain of thoughts. “If they possessed material that so easily caught on fire when exposed to ecto-rays, they should have guarded it better, especially in a town such as Amity Park.”

Dan scoffed, unconvinced. “Yeah, right. The other ghost didn’t fire any rays. It was only me, and only because I was so focused on chasing ‘em. If I had held off until we were away from the restaurant, from the people… Or if I had behaved better, and none of them had come to the Nasty Burger in the first place!”

He forcibly snapped his mouth shut, teeth loudly clacking. What on Earth was he doing? Spilling emotional garbage all over his partner? Ugh. Bad enough that he was feeling these dumb emotions that he should’ve been over, but now he was spewing them at Kai as well? What was next, telling Valerie? Yikes.

“There’s no point in blaming yourself,” Kai told him, posture stiff, clearly uncomfortable with the task of making Dan feel better. “Perhaps you could have prevented it, but you can’t take the entire blame for it. And you have learned from it, haven’t you? It was a mistake, but one you won’t make again.”

“Hard to repeat it when I only had the one family to get killed,” Dan scoffed, shaking his head.

“You have me,” Kai pointed out, raising a challenging eyebrow at Dan. “Or do I not count as a loved one?”

Dan hummed at that. Well, Kai wasn’t wrong, was he? Instead of acknowledging that, however, Dan changed the topic entirely. “It’s not like I can repeat what happened afterwards, anyway. Hard to split off my ghost half when I am already full ghost.”

Kai made an agreeing sound at that. “And even if you could, where would you find a second half to stabilize yourself with?”

“Hm.” Looking back, it was rather stupid of Vlad to not have considered that. Dan hadn’t even needed to overpower the older half-ghost, as the element of surprise had been enough, both to split Vlad and to merge with the separated ghost half. “Once was enough.”

“Are you feeling better, then?” Kai leaned forward to catch Dan’s eye, but he looked away. “Now that you’ve talked?”

Dan harrumphed, unwilling to admit that it had helped at least a little. He still felt terrible, still felt haunted by the past, but… talking about it had eased the strain some. “I could’ve managed,” he retorted instead.

Kai caught his eye, staring at him intently, like he was trying to find the words to tell Dan in Dan’s own eyes. Clearly Kai didn’t know what he was doing either, struggling to find the right things to say, to find a way to comfort Dan. “You’re allowed to miss them, you know?” Kai settled on. “Even if you’ve been around so long without them, there’s nothing wrong with missing them. Acknowledging it, being willing to process the pain instead of shoving it away, that might help.”

“Oh, how would you know?” Dan dismissed with a flap of his hand. “I’ve been fine so far, and I’ll be fine for longer.”

“Will you?” Kai countered, leaning back slightly. “What do you want me to tell you instead, then? That at least your parents and friends aren’t suffering? That they would be proud of how strong you’ve become?” Kai scoffed. “That you’re better off without them holding you back?”

Dan huffed, squinting at his partner. “You’re not the type to tell me things you don’t sincerely believe.”

“Fine.” Kai shifted suddenly, standing up next to Dan. With a few short movements he dusted off his black jacket, then with a jerk, offered his gloved hand to Dan. “Come on. Moping around here clearly isn’t going to fix it.”

“And what do you plan to do instead?” Dan asked, raising an eyebrow but already extending his own hand to grasp Kai’s.

“I’m sure we could find something to do that would make you feel better,” Kai said, pulling Dan up. “Shall we?”

Dan looked at the navy fingers tangled with his own. “Yes,” he agreed. “Let’s.”

[duckapus]

Danny Phantom Ghost Origin Categorization

First, for the sake of my sanity I’ll be limiting this to things shown or said on the show. Widely accepted fanon and wiki knowledge unfortunately do not count, and as usual Butch gets no say.

The categories are as follows: Confirmed Dead, which is self-explanatory; Presumed Dead, since most of the ghosts don’t have defined backstories; Naturally Formed, which were made from the Ghost Zone’s ectoplasm without any spirit attached; Artificial, which is also self-explanatory except for a minor detail that I’ll bring up when it becomes relevant; Concepts, which are the physical manifestation of a particular idea or natural force; and Other, for ghosts that I don’t have enough context to put in the other categories. And also Boxed Lunch. Boxed Lunch is weird.

With all that said, let’s begin.

Confirmed Dead

Desiree (died of old age, trauma of broken heart created ghost form) 

Sidney Poindexter (suicide)

The Dairy King (cause of death unknown, confirmed due to picture of his living form in Vlad’s mansion)

Cujo the Ghost Dog (euthanized, the only ghost known to have changed his obsession)

The Lunch Lady (cause of death unknown, confirmed due to her knowledge of Casper High’s cafeteria menu and room layout marking her as having either worked or learned there in the past)

The Flying Dutchman (cause unknown, likely drowning via shipwreck, yes I know he’s a Spongebob character but due to the Nicktoons games he and Danny have technically met, confirmed due to admitting it outright)

Danny Phantom (electrocuted by ghost portal, instantaneous, only half)

Vlad Plasmius (electrocuted by ghost portal, succumbed to wounds in hospital long afterwards, only half)

Half-ghost Jack Fenton (electrocuted by ghost portal, succumbed to wounds in hospital long afterwards, only half, exists in alternate timeline)

Hotep RA (cause unknown, confirmed due to originally serving Tucker’s ancestor/former self, Pharaoh Duulaman)

Presumed Dead

Ember McLain (likely burned to death, fears being forgotten)

The Box Ghost (likely crushed by rectangular containers, considers them powerful weapons)

Penelope Spectra (cause unknown, lives off the misery of others, masquerades as a living human)

Nicolai Technus (probably electrocution, might actually be the Concept Ghost of technology though it’s unlikely)

Youngblood (cause unknown, dislike of and inability to be seen by adults may imply neglect)

Walker and his men (likely law enforcement who fell in the line of duty)

Lydia (cause unknown, loyal to crime lord Freakshow the Ringmaster for reasons unknown)

Elastica (cause unknown, trapped under Freakshow’s control for an indeterminate amount of time)

Goliath (cause unknown, trapped under Freakshow’s control for an indeterminate amount of time)

Green Kid (cause unknown, trapped under Freakshow’s control for an indeterminate amount of time)

Ghost Writer (cause unknown, might actually be Concept Ghost of literature)

Jonny 13 and Kitty (cause unknown, likely a motorcycle accident)

Baby Face Boyle (cause unknown)

Klemper (cause unknown, very lonely)

Some background ghosts

The Kingdom of Aragon (specifically its people)

Naturally Formed

Ectopi

Other ghost animals

Blob Ghosts

Some background ghosts (look at the happy green ghost that shows up sometimes and tell me that he doesn’t look sort of like an advanced ectopus)

Skulker (it just seems that way)

Artificial

Ecto Food (Jack Fenton is making carnivorous green macaroni and cheese and will continue to make carnivorous green macaroni and cheese unless we stop him)

Danny Clones (created by Vlad using Danny’s ghost form DNA, unstable)

Dani Phantom (created by Vlad using Danny’s ghost and human form DNA, stabilized by failed prototype of ghost weakening serum created by Jack Fenton)

Shadow (an extension of Jonny 13’s power, has a will of its own)

Lydia’s tattoos (extensions of Lydia’s power)

Sleepwalkers (extensions of Nocturne’s power, I think)

Nightmerica, Femalien and Terminatra (created by Desiree due to Sam Manson unintentionally “wishing” to hurt Paulina Sanchez)

Sayonara Pussycat (created by Desiree due to Paulina wishing to be as popular as the character, extracted from host by Danny Phantom)

Tucker Phantom (created by Desiree due to Tucker wishing for ghost powers, extracted from host by the Fenton Ghost Catcher)

Dan Plasmius (created by combining Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius after splitting them from their human halves in an alternate timeline, exists in the current timeline due to complicated Time Stuff)

Freakshow (created via the Reality Gauntlet, existed for all of a few minutes)

And now we get into that other part I mentioned. Basically, if something has the ghostly aura (that white outline we all love so much) without being directly affected by a ghost, I register that as the thing having its own ectoplasmic field, and thus technically a ghost itself. The Fenton Exo-suit’s Phantom form doesn’t count, since it only has the aura if a ghost is piloting it. This is mostly just so I can add more things to the list, honestly

Red Huntress 2.0 (created via a combination of the Red Huntress 1.0 suit and Technus’s power, you can pry this idea from my cold dead ectoplasmicly charged hands) (note: this does not make Valerie a ghost, just her suit)

Skulker’s Body (created by Skulker; a robotic suit of armor infused with his ectoplasmic signature; motor functions, sensors, physical projectiles and flight system do not require ectoplasm to function)

Car-Puter (remote controlled robot created by Technus, I know it’s from Phantom Planet but it was really cool guys)

The Sphinx (I think. Maybe. It seemed that way at least)

The Flying Dutchman’s Ship (an echo of his original, currently wrecked ship)

Youngblood’s Ship (possibly an extention of his power, I’m not sure, fueled by manual labor)

Jonny’s Motorcycle (the thing can fly)

Concepts

Clockwork and the Observants (spirits of Time)

Pandora and her kingdom (spirits of Greek Mythology)

Undergrowth (spirit of Vegetation)

Vortex (spirit of Weather and Natural Disasters)

Pariah Dark (the Ghost King, not actually a Concept Ghost but very similar)

Fright Knight (spirit of Fear in general and Halloween in particular, right-hand man of whoever wields the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage, usually Pariah Dark)

Nocturne (spirit of Dreams, far less powerful than the other concept ghosts without aid)

Other

Frostbite and the Yetis of the Far Frozen

Wulf (seriously, he’s cool, but Esperanto-speaking Wolf-man doesn’t exactly give me much to work off of)

Monster Cat

The Behemoth

Vlad’s Vulture Lackeys

Ember’s Band

Poindexter’s Classmates (are they extensions of Poindexter’s power turned inwards or just the ghost versions of themselves, just as consumed by what happened to him as he is?)

Pariah Dark’s Skeleton Army

Youngblood’s Skeleton Crew, especially the Parrot

Bertrand

Amorpho (shapeshifters in general, since I can’t fall back on my Warp Core theory during this)

Boxed Lunch (oh, very much Boxed Lunch)

Most of the background ghosts, especially the butcher with an eyeball for a head

Edit: Can’t believe I forgot the title. I should’ve just gone to bed.

[gokailyger84]

For a Polybomb prompt what about each of the boys are having a bad day, one after the other, so the other 2 get together to comfort the one having a bad day.

Dan let out an audible groan.  His headfalling back onto the couch cushion.  

His laptop had just died on him whilehe was working on his vocal layering tracks.

It was the third timetoday and from the looks of it, his laptop wasn’t coming back on again.  

Great.  

Now he had to go and bother one of hisfriends to see if they could figure out what was wrong before hecalled a technician.

As if his day needed to be any worsethan it already was.

He ended up arriving late to work becausehe forgot to set his alarm, having become used to having someone inbed with him to wake him up but it was one of the few nights thathe had slept alone and just forgot.

Grumping had ended up being a mess, hismind all over the place, unable to focus and missing cues from Arin and not providing anyentertaining commentary.  They had to scrap a handful of episodes.  

That made Dan feel awful, no matter howoften Arin assured him that it was okay.

Now he couldn’t make any progress on hismusic.

It was frustrating.

“Danny?”  

Dan opened his eyes and sat up to seeBrian and Arin standing before him.  

Brian handed him a mug of, what Danassumed to be tea, judging from the smell.

After taking it, Briansat down next to him, pressing into his side.  

Arin then picked up the dead laptop offof his lap and set it at the end of the couch, taking a seat on hisother side.

“You okay?”  Arin asked in aworried tone.

Dan let out a sigh before taking a sipfrom the mug.  He closed his eyes briefly, letting the warmth andtaste flow through him.  

Looking back up, he glanced at both ofhis boyfriends.  

“Been better.”  He said, answeringArin’s question.

“Wanna talk about it?”  Brianasked, placing an arm around Dan’s shoulders and gently pulling onhis curls.

Dan took another sip, thinking it over. He wasn’t one to voice complaints but that was because hedidn’t usually have anyone willing to listen.  

Arin and Brian were big oncommunication, especially between the three of them.

What withthe three of them having such a unique relationship.  

“It’s just…like everything seems tobe going wrong today and I’m over it.”  Dan said, tone full of exasperation.  

After listening to Dan recount his day,Arin leaned over, kissing him on the cheek.

He took Dan’s hand intohis own, lacing there fingers together.  

“That really sucks, dude.”  

Dan couldn’t help but grin, as Briansnorted at Arin’s words.

They may now have an intimaterelationship with each other, but not much else had changed for them.

“How about Arin and I come and spendthe weekend at your place?  Take a break.”  

Dan looked at him, still thinking ofall the things he needed to do.  Not just him, but Brian and Arintoo.

“Is that alright?  I mean for youguys too and your families?”

Arin shrugged.  

“We’re all pretty busy but I thing weneed to do this.  At least before we reach burnout.  Suzy won’tmind.  She’s already said, I don’t spend enough time with you guys.”

“My wife will be out of town with thekid, so I’m good.”  Brian added.

Dan’s expression brightened.  

An entire weekend with his boyfriends. No work.  No pressure.  Just the three of them being together.

He was feeling better already.  

Sure not everything was solved but hecould worry about that later.  

For now he just wanted to spend timewith his two favorite people.

——————————————————————

Arin groaned, turning over.  

He let out a yelp as he suddenly foundhimself falling and landing roughly on the carpeted floor.  

“Fuck!” He swore, slowly sitting upand rubbing his now sore shoulder.

Blinking several times, Arin lookedaround, taking in his surroundings.  

He was alone in Dan’s room.  

The digital clock on the nightstand, hethankfully missed hitting, showed it was past noon.

Turning to his side, Arin winced,feeling a twinge in his lower back, as he reached for a pair ofdiscarded boxers in the corner.

He was relieved to see that they werehis.  He’d never get into a pair of Dan’s and Brian’s did fit butweren’t comfortable.

Pulling the garment on, Arin’s minddrifted.

Last night had been a bit rough forhim.  

He, Dan and Brian had really went atit.

Riding Dan for what felt like hours andhaving Brian fuck him afterwards, might’ve been a bit too much, toosoon.

He and his boyfriends hadn’t had muchalone time lately.  Which had made them somewhat overzealous in theiraffection towards each other.  

Especially, after Dan had had such abad day.  

Arin had been ready for any andeverything.  

Dinner, movies and sex with hisboyfriends had filled a craving Arin didn’t even realized he had.

Now he was paying for it.  

Using the bed for leverage, Arin pulledhimself up to his feet, gritting his teeth through the pain.  

Looking down at the bed, he brieflywondered how in the hell he fell out of it.  

Dan’s bed easily fit allthree of them with plenty of space left.  

Shrugging, Arin immediately regrettedthe movement, reminded of his tender shoulder.

He’d need to take something.  

Walking into the attached bathroom,Arin turned on the shower and pulled a bottle of generic painreliever from the medicine cabinet.  

Popping a couple of pills, he undressedand began to enter the shower.  

Dan and Brian were probably downstairspreparing lunch or something.

Arin suddenly cried out in shock as thewater hit him. 

It was freezing.  

“Goddammit.”  He muttered.  

Normally, he didn’t mind cold showersbut today was not one of those days.  He waited a few moments, hopingit would heat up but it never did.

Something must have been wrong with Dan’s water heater.

Arin clenched his teeth and steppedback under the spray.  Goosebumps instantly spreading on his skin ashe quickly washed himself and shampooed his hair, shivering theentire time.  

This was not his day.

Sometime later, Arin found himselfgroaning, staring at the scene before him.  

Dan and Brian had decided to take himto Disneyland, seeing how upset he was with the start of his day.  

It was the off season and they shouldhave had the park to themselves but wouldn’t you know, that everyelementary school seemed to decide to have a field trip at the sametime.  

There were kids everywhere.  Even Danlooked nervous and Brian seemed annoyed.  

Well, might as well make the most ofit. 

Arin grabbed both their hands and tugged them in the directionof the more adult rides.  

He was going to have fun no matterwhat.

Something in the universe was out to get him.  Arin was sure of it.

Turned out, most of the adult rides wereunder maintenance.  

“Sorry, Arin.”  Dan said, rubbinghis hand in small circles along Arin’s back.  

They were sitting on a bench together,people watching since there wasn’t too much else to do. 

Arin wasbent forward, leaning on his knees, staring hard at the ground.  

The day seemed to just keep gettingworse and it was killing his mood.  

Arin hated this.  

He just wanted to have a nice relaxingtime with his boyfriends.  Was that really too much to ask?

“Maybe we can go to Universal?” Dan offered, trying to cheer his partner up.  

Arin appreciated the effort but he waspretty much done.  

Sitting up, he offered Dan a smallsmile.  

“Don’t worry about it.  This day ispretty much a bust.”  

Dan nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, guess it was your turn for abad day, huh?”  He said with a smile.  

Arin’s smile widened, feeling his moodstarting to improve.

“Probably.  Your angst cloud musthave drifted over to me.”  

Dan gasped in an exaggerated way.  

“How dare you blame me for yourmisfortune.  I bring nothing but joy to your life and you know it.”

Arin laughed, leaning over, nudging hisshoulder into Dan.

“Keep telling yourself that, brah.”

“Glad to see you’re in a better mood.”

Arin turned to see Brian approachingthem, holding two dole whip floats and a small bag of churros.  

He handed them the floats and took aseat beside Arin.  

“Thanks for getting these, Bri.” Dan said, digging into the ice cream treat.  

Arin nodded.  

“Yeah, thanks.  The lines for thesecan be brutal.”  

Brian smiled, biting into a churro.  

“Anything to make your day even alittle better.”

Arin’s eyes softened, feeling his heartwarming.  

He leaned over, kissing Brian on thelips.  He then pulled back, smiling and licking the cinnamon from thechurro off of his mouth.

“I appreciate it.”

———————————————————————-

“What the fuck!”  

Brian angrily slammed his hands downon the steering wheel.  

He leaned his head back against theheadrest, taking slow breaths.  

Getting angry wasn’t going to helpanything.  So, he had a flat tire.  It wasn’t the end of the world.

Just another notch in Brian’s turn fora bad day.  

Arin and Dan had joked about Brianbeing next and he had laughed along with them, knowing the chanceswere extremely low.  

But here he was.  

Granted it had taken a couple of daysto happen but it still happened and Brian was more than annoyed.

He had woken up on the wrong side ofthe bed.  Not in a bad mood, persay but feeling off.  

The smallest things were irritatinghim, though.  

Coco crapping in the house.  Being outof his favorite coffee.  Traffic backed up due to an accident.  Toomuch noise and movement in the office.  Somehow being overlooked forthe lunch food run.  

Dan and Arin had shared their mealswith him, while Greg had apologized profusely for forgetting to askhim.  

Now heading home, his tire went flat. He was lucky he managed to cross over three lanes and get off thehighway.  

Brian pulled out his phone and calledroad assistance, since he didn’t have a spare.  Something he’d beenmeaning to get for a while now.

After giving the operator his locationand insurance information he hung up and texted Dan and Arin. Letting them know what was going on.  

Dan said he’d wait with him, since hewas already headed in Brian’s direction, leaving work.  Arin livedin the opposite direction but insisted on meeting them at Brian’shome.  

Brian went along with it all.  Hedidn’t want to bother his boyfriends but it was nice to have theirattention and care.  Especially, with the continued souring of hismood and day.

Twenty minutes passed before Danarrived, pulling up behind him.  Getting out of the car, Brianwalked into his open arms, burying his face in Dan’s chest, wrappinghis arms around his waist.  

Dan kissed the top of his head.

“Hey, it’s okay, man.  Just a flat.” He said.

Brian didn’t reply.  

Unlike Arin and Dan, Brian didn’talways voice his problems.  Hypocritical of himself, seeing as hegreatly encouraged Arin and Dan to do so.  

Brian pulled back, feeling his phonegoing off in his pocket.

Looking down at his phone and seeinghis wife’s name on the screen, made him feel a bit better.  She and his daughterwere supposed to return tomorrow.

“Hello?”

Dan stood beside him as they leanedagainst Dan’s car.  He waited as Brian listened to the other end ofthe phone, his smile slowly fading and his expression becomingincreasingly upset.

“Okay.”  Brian said, his eyesclosing and his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose.  

“Alright.  Yeah.  Love you, too. Bye.”  

Brian put the phone back into hispocket and sighed heavily.  Dan moved closer, taking Brian’s hand inhis own.  

“Everything alright?”  He asked.

Shaking his head, Brian leaned over,pressing into Dan’s side.  

“Their flight was delayed.  Blizzardor something. They have to stay for another week.”  

“Oh, man.  I’m sorry.  That sucks.” Dan said, pulling Brian into a hug.

“Yeah.  It does.”  He murmured, notbothering to return the hug.

A truck then pulled up behind Dan’scar.  Brian pulled out of Dan’s arms.

“That’s the assistant.  I’ll beback.”  

Dan watched him walk over to the manand lead him to his SUV, showing him the flat tire.  

After a few more seconds, Dan pulledout his phone and called Arin.

“Hello?”  

“Hey, Arin. Where are you right now?”

“At Brian’s.  Waiting on you guys. Everything good?”

Dan ran a hand through his hair,letting out a breath.

“Nah, man.  Brian’s having a badday.”

Arin let out a chuckle.  

“So, it’s his turn, huh?”  

“Yeah, I guess.  Better not say thatto him, though.”  

“Hmph, as if I would.  I’m sure it’dmake things worse.”  

“Totally.  Listen, you think youcould get dinner started for us?”

“You mean, Operation cheer Brianup?”

Dan smiled.  

“Sometimes it’s scary, how well youknow me.”

Arin laughed.  

“I’d be a terrible boyfriend andpartner if I didn’t.  But yeah, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Thanks, Ar.  We’ll see you in a bit. Love you.”

“Love you, too.  Tell Brian I lovehim.”

“Alright.  Bye.”

Dan put his phone away and looked up tosee Brian walking back towards him.  

“How is it?”  

Brian shrugged, returning to hisposition beside Dan.  

“He says it’s going to be aboutfifteen more minutes.”

“Well, I have some good news foryou.”  

Brian raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?  What is it?”

Dan smiled.

“I just got off the phone with Arin. He says he loves you, by the way.  Tonight is going to be yournight.”

“Is it now?”  Brian asked, hislips starting to curl up at the corners.  

“After the shitty day you’ve had, wethink you deserve a little TLC from your favorite guys.”

Brian smirked, his eyes shining withmischief.  

“Favorite guys?  Who might they be?”

Dan laughed, leaning down and gentlybutting his head against Brian’s.

“Shut the fuck up, dude.  You don’twant us to pamper you?”

Brian laughed.  

“No, I appreciate it.  After the day I’ve had,I could use something nice to look forward to.  A night with myboyfriends sounds really good.”

“Just good?”  

Brian rolled his eyes, smiling up athis partner.  

“Don’t push it, Danny.”

“Alright, Mr. Wec/ht.  You’re good togo.”  The man called out, walking towards them.

After signing some paperwork, Brianand Dan watched the truck drive off.  

Dan looked down at Brian.  

“Ready?”  

“Yeah, let’s go.  Best not keep Arinwaiting.”

Dan then cupped his cheek and leaneddown, capturing Brian’s lips in a kiss.

“Mmm, can’t wait to get you loose andrelaxed.”  Dan said, without thinking.

Brian smiled against his lips.  

“Those are usually my words.  Butlet’s see what you can do.”  

Dan pulled back, his face bright red. He shoved Brian towards his car.

“Oh my god, Brian!  You know what Imeant.  You fuck.”

“Or you fuck.”  Brian said with alaugh, walking towards his car.

Dan shook his head, climbing into hisown vehicle.  

Maybe they would change things up abit.  

[theinventorofstraightedges-blog]

Doctor Sleep (2019, dir. Mike Flanagan) REVIEW

It was the upcoming release of this film which impelled me to read Doctor Sleep, bumping it up to read immediately after my rereading of The Shining, and so I went into the film with a relatively fresh (maybe 2 weeks) experience of the source material.

The trailers for the film looked to be promising, though I had not seen anything of director Mike Flanagan’s previous work (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game), and so I went into the film with a great sense of expectation: this was going to be a Good Film. And so, I bought my ticket and went to see it; first showing, opening day.

The opening of the film serves perfectly to draw the viewer in, with a real sense of dread at the True Knot preying on children. The slow, creeping dread as the camera repeatedly pans from Rose the Hat and the child to reveal more and more members of the Knot standing there, silently, watching is patent King tension building, all leading to when they fall upon the child. In those first few scenes, I felt the same clammy terror I felt reading about the Knot in the early pages in King’s novel.

Even before seeing the film I was intrigued by the nature of it, yes, it is an adaptation of the eponymous 2013 novel, which is a sequel to King’s The Shining (1977), it is also a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of 1980, which notably diverged from the source material. And so, in the film, it was interesting to see the changes the film made, both to agree with Kubrick’s interpretation, and also to give it its own identity. These changes are evident to see even from the very start for someone who has read the book: the Knot are noticeably smaller on the screen than they are in the novel. At first I was unsure as to why this would be done, but it serves the dual purposes of getting rid of largely useless named characters in the book (I liked the sense of community they had in the book and how individual they are, but they ultimately serve no plot purpose), and to also emphasise the hunger and desperation the True Knot feel as they hunt for steam across America.

I was intrigued by how the film would treat the scenes with Dick Hallorann (this time played by Carl Lumbly) in Florida, who in the Kubrick film (played by Scatman Crothers), is killed by Jack with his axe. By having him appear as a vision from the shining when he presents Danny with, it makes his appearance as one later to warn Dan about the danger the True Knot poses for Abra natural. The film’s adherence to a narrative which coheres with Kubrick’s is extremely laudable, especially with the ending, but more on that later.

As mentioned above, the True Knot is noticeably smaller, a change which I am happy with, and is a precedent to further character changes which come part and parcel with any adaptation of a book, especially a King one. These other character changes I was less than happy about. Concetta Reynolds receives only a passing mention as someone who serves in the film only as a plot device to get Abra’s mother out of the house, when in the book she is a tenacious and loveable character who factors heavily into the book’s ending. The removal of the character of Casey Kingsley who in the book functions as Dan’s AA mentor, means in the film his role is filled by Doctor John Dalton (Bruce Greenwood), which means that John Dalton’s role in the film must be taken up by Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis), who is now a tattooed youngish man, thus keeping Dalton out of the action he partakes in in the book. The whole thing feels slightly stilted in its handling, if I’m being honest, because it entirely messes with the great camaraderie and sense of community fostered between them in the book. This, then, feeds into one of the larger problems I had with the film: the deaths.

At the end of the book, all of our protagonists survive and the True Knot are vanquished – it is a well-won happy ending, everyone deserves it, most of all Danny. In the film, however, Abra’s father, David (Zackary Momoh) is killed and Snakebite Andi compels Billy to blow his brains out, while Doctor John – in his new Casey Kingsley role – is nowhere to be seen. While I realise that it builds up the tension and action of the film, to me it felt like it had partly overwritten one of the core messages for the book: that hope does exist for everyone, and that good will eventually triumph in the face of unspeakable evils. Am I griping a bit? Yes, but it was something that bothered me largely during the film.

The last change between source material and onscreen adaptation that irked me was only a minor detail, but while reading it I was deeply touched by it, and was disappointed by it not appearing onscreen. In the book, Dan is saved from danger by some supernatural force shoving one of his enemies out of the way, and Dan and Abra acknowledge that it was neither of them. Afterwards it is revealed to us that it was the spirit of Jack Torrance who did this, looking out for the son he could not protect while he was alive. It is a thoroughly heartfelt and touching moment redemptive of his character, which shows the goodness in Jack that we see trying to escape from the Overlook’s control near the end of King’s The Shining.

I simply loved everything else about the film. All of the actors, from Ewan McGregor as Dan, all the way down to Kyleigh Curran as Abra, turn in high quality performances that make you really empathise with them, and their plights, even Rebecca Ferguson’s Rose the Hat, and Zahn McClarnon’s Crow Daddy. I was especially captivated by McGregor’s performance as the alcoholic Dan at the start of the film. The desperation and sadness etched into his face truly was a sight to behold. The removal of the extraneous members of the True Knot also help in creating a tighter narrative, as, like all of King’s work, it is largely character driven.

Another admirable thing about Doctor Sleep was its aversion to jumpscares – instead choosing to increase dread through the slow build-up of tension, with the discordant bells striking throughout in the background, adding to the unease. As well as this, I was horrified (in the best possible way) by the effects for when Abra traps Rose’s hand in the filing cabinet and she has to tear it out. The effects for this were gruesomely realistic and had me wincing away from the screen in the theatre. And the scene with the baseball kid -Oh Man – it’s one thing reading the scene on paper, something which was harrowing in itself, but actually hearing Jacob Tremblay scream and scream as Bradley Trevor is uncomfortably heart-wrenching and horrifying: terrific stuff. It also doesn’t go without saying that the horror is increased by the reproduction of scenes from Kubrick’s interpretation of the Shining, with all of the actors giving it their all to fill the gargantuan shoes of such a classic horror flick.

(Also, the casting of the same actor, Henry Thomas, as BOTH the recreated bartender Lloyd and Jack Torrance (played respectively by Joe Turkel and Jack Nicholson in The Shining), I thought, was a genius move, which further serves to show us the how the Overlook preyed on Jack’s own psyche to seduce him in The Shining)

And now, the ending. I know it has become almost the norm to bash Stephen King’s endings, and I had problem’s with the ending to Andy Muschietti’s IT: Chapter Two, which came out only this September, I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the ending of Doctor Sleep. While it annoyed me slightly that Dan had perished in the Overlook, I recognised that as unimportant compared to the beauty of the ending. It does what no one ever thought possible: it reconciles King with Kubrick. By giving the original ending to The Shining, where the adult male Torrance goes down to the Boiler room and lets it explode to save someone they care about heals the split between these two which have been at loggerheads for so long. It also is in keeping with one of King’s most pervasive narrative devices, the cyclical narrative, while also still promulgating one of the novel’s key themes: the ties that bind the Torrances, and other people together, this idea that is espoused in the novel by Dick Hallorann himself of there always being someone to pass the torch onto. And we can see this at the end, too, when Abra goes into the bathroom to deal with the ghostly Mrs Massey, directly paralleling the movie’s opening scene with Danny.

Overall, Doctor Sleep, is a thoroughly enjoyable film, with a distinctive visual and narrative style which captures the spirit of King’s novel, while also paying respect to what has come before it. Well worth the price of admission.

My rating: 8.5/10

[phantomphangphucker]

The Bindings Of Time - Chapter 3. Time Confines Us All, Even Time Itself - PhannieMay - Day 13 Confined and Day 22 Memories

Summary: Danny gains and losses bindings

—return to the present—

“Um, Danny? Sweetie?”, Maddie pulls Danny out of his head, a head that is much more overfilled than it used to be, as he starts paying attention to her again. “Sorry just thinking, adjusting perceptions and what not”, judging by his mom’s expression that didn’t make much sense. He could just look back to see what they were talking about but it would be more natural, to a regular human or ghost, to not. Though Danny is finding it a little odd to not have instant access to the information. Just like with his ice, being in his human form seems to dampen his time powers and make them not so automatic. He actually has to forcibly look through time instead of his mind just doing it on its own as soon as the thought occurs to him. Effectively giving him a break from it, which is probably good for his, still partly human and thus totally not meant to handle this, psyche. 

Blinking a bit, as he realises she never asked why he was gone so long. Sure he’d leave for hours at a time but not two full days, which was probably going to happen a lot now. Having time powers makes time feel a bit irrelevant, even if he literally can’t lose track of it, it’s more like he can ignore its passing or lack there of. A lot easier to be grounded in the now as a human though, makes the loss of his mentor feel closer though.  “Um, sorry for being gone for so long”, rubbing his neck, “can’t say I like making you cry. Not my intention though, I didn’t know how long I’d be”. She’s looking at him a bit more confused, sighing worriedly, “you know me well, but I still feel like I’m playing catch-up with you”. Shaking her head at him which just makes him feel a bit guilty, as she keeps talking, “I don’t want to push you, since you’re obviously not in the best of spirits; even if I do want to know”. Danny nods, he can’t claim to be surprised. Both his parents have been that way since he was about sixteen. Two years of hiding and lying took its toll, but the past year of honestly had helped. Even if there still was so very much and now a whole lot more.  “Well, it wasn’t anything bad or dangerous and I sort of knew what was happening”, pausing to check that talking about this won’t mess with anything, he can’t rely on ClockWork to be hyper-vigilant and pop up if he’s about to fuck up anymore. No, now he’s got to be even more hyper-vigilant, about pretty well everything. Tilting his head as he flips through scenarios, trying to just glaze lightly over so he doesn’t know literally everything anyone’s about to say to avoid coming off like an unnatural ass. ClockWork may have basked in that but he wasn’t about to pull that on his own family.  Once he’s content this won’t fuck things up and knowing that yeah, putting off the topic of ClockWork is a bad idea, even if he’s still mourning him. Blinking a bit as he realises he’s going to have to “come out” as the master of time at some point to the entire Ghost Zone, that or he could be a sneaky bastard. He prefers option two at least in the beginning, continuing to speak now, “it’s the new job”, flicking his fingers at the thermos but not actually touching it, “babysitting this jerk isn’t the job, he just comes with the territory”.  “So you took someone’s old job? A ghost related job or a job a ghost did? And a super evil ghost in a Fenton thermos came with? Can’t say I like that anymore than before”, deciding he prefers biting the bullet over dragging things out, like always. Danny clears his throat, “more like inherited it, I’ve been apprenticed for it since I as about 15 and he picked me out well before I was even born. And it’s a job done by a ghost, now a halfa”. Rubbing his neck a bit sheepishly, “technically this evil son of a- was my problem and responsibility first, he just became the other guy’s responsibility because he helped, basically cheated for, me”, smirking a little as he finishes, “and now everything’s come full circle, like the hands on a clock”.  Danny can tell she’s a bit more shocked and not exactly pleased, “why would you get apprenticed for a ghost job? None the less be an apprentice to a ghost?! The rest I don’t get at all”. Watching his mom for a second, who looks more confused than understanding, before sighing sadly, “he saved my life, in more ways than one. If he hadn’t cheat time itself for me, I would have been destroyed. Likewise, I saved him, in me he found what he’d been waiting for since the beginning, someone to exist with him and free him”. Looking off at a wall aching with slowly fading sadness and loss, which just makes his cores lingering ache more noticeable, “I got continued existence and he got fulfilment and long earned rest. Free from the confines of the job, of eternity and time”.  Rubbing his chest as he feels Maddie poke him, “sweetie you’re rambling a bit. I’m glad he saved you but it seems like you’re constantly in a state of near destruction. And I think I need to know what this job actually is, what kind of jobs do ghosts even have?”.  “Um mom, we already went over me being indestructible now. Matured core and all that. He didn’t save me from near destruction, he saved me from guaranteed absolute destruction. Me surviving was impossible, that’s why I say he cheated. This thermos and who’s inside wouldn’t even exist if he hadn’t cheated. Saving me meant also saving the most powerful and evil ghost to ever exist”, knowing full well the conclusion his mom’s going to jump to here, “and no, I know he didn’t do it to save the evil ghost instead of me. And as for the job, it’s complicated. Overwhelmingly so, but this job is how he was able to cheat at all”.  He can tell she doesn’t really believe him on the whole, ClockWork did it to save him, thing. Knowing that she’ll think he feels that way because he’s so ghost friendly, which it’s a damn good thing he is. Sighing, and tapping on the thermos, “the reason I was going to be destroyed was to destroy the ghost confined in here. Because if I stopped existing before that stupid C.A.T. test, then he would never have existed at all. This ghost destroyed nearly all of humanity and most ghosts. Laid waste to every human city and ghost lair. Eventually, he would have destroyed everything and everyone. He’s perfectly capable of still doing that, hence why he can not be allowed out”.  “How-how? That, makes no sense? A ghost? A ghost could be that dangerous? Why is his existence, tied to, yours?”, frowning a little as he watches her eye the thermos clearly a bit freaked. Turning his head away from her, “because, because he’s me. Me as a full ghost after getting my humanity torn out”, grimacing hard as he talks, “you want a ghost devoid of emotions or good, he’s it. His name is Dan, Dan Phantom”.  “Bullshit”, Danny jerks from that response and promptly decides he probably should have checked the future a bit better, apparently. Maddie shakes her head harshly, “you don’t have a bad bone in your body. You’re good”.  “Well yeah I’m good, hence the whole he's me minus all humanity and horrendously traumatised after you all got killed in a massive explosion right in front of him. Not to mention getting experimented on afterwards by an utter frootloop”, shaking his head because he did feel a bit sorry for Dan, especially after seeing what Vlad actually did to him. “That me had it more than just bad, pretty well every awful thing that could happen to him, did. People don’t survive that and stay good, especially when they literally lack humanity”. Maddie meets his eyes looking a bit haunted as he finishes, “simply put, Dan snapped, becoming completely callous; a psychopath with zero traces of any morals”. Patting her hand, “but that was before my core stabilised. Dan was able to snap like that because his humanity was torn out before his core stabilised, making him already inherently unstable as a full ghost. My humanity can’t even be torn out now. So I can’t become him, not anymore”.  “I, good. That’s good. What are you, going to...do.....With him?”, Danny still doesn’t really know, “well, I can’t leave him prolongedly unguarded, that’s why he’s here. Can’t carry him with me like this either, far too dangerous. And my room isn’t exactly closed off from all others without permission”. Frowning at the thermos, “really I need some way were no one but me has any form of access to him or the thermos but is also near me frequently”.  “Well um, what’d the other guy do? Why would he retire if you, or him, didn’t have a plan”, Danny winces a bit at her saying “retire”, but ignores it for now, “he lived in a section of the Zone that is literally closed off from all others without permission. Technically it’s my home now too but I’m not going to move to the Zone. Obviously”.  Danny raises an eyebrow at Maddie who clearly has an idea, tilting his head to the side knowing damn well he needs to know if this idea is a massive fuck up or not. Sighing as there are about three different kinds of inventions she could be thinking of and that she’s going to blurt out the one that’s a damn bad idea. Talking just as she goes to open her mouth, “no, no building some melting device. I don’t even need to be able to look to know just how many ways that could go horribly. The blue containment shrinking sphere is your better idea”. Tapping his chin as an idea hits him, “could even fashion that into a necklace or bracelet if need be”. Sam was already going to eye him about the pinky ring so a Dan bracelet wouldn’t be too much further weirdness.  While Maddie shakes her head and looks slightly frazzled, “did, did you just...read my mind? Danny what?”. Danny rubs his neck sheepishly, “no, it’s part of the job. I could tell you had some idea so I had to make sure that whatever the idea was wouldn’t result in a bad outcome”. He’s going to have to pull this on his parents a lot, the stuff they create can flat-out go against physics sometimes. He really wouldn’t put it past them to mess with time on accident.  “So you saw the future? What? What is this job even?”, Danny blinks realising he hadn’t actually told her earlier. But also not really wanting to yet, “I’d uh, rather deal with the Dan problem first. Kind of urgent and I know building stuff takes a while”. Maddie stares at him incredulously but sighs, knowing damn well that pushing Danny won’t actually get you answers; just diversions and lies.  Danny can tell she’s a bit annoyed as she waves for him to follow her to the lab, glaring at the thermos before grabbing it and following her.

—two days later—

Jack comes upstairs from the lab cupping what looks like a fragile hallow ice bubble, but Danny already knows it’s by no means fragile, heck he’d have a hard time destroying it. Maintaining a blank expression as he catches it from his dad, “can’t say I entirely get what you need it for son, but! It’s all complete! Another Fenton works creation in the bag!”. Danny can’t help but smile a little bit, he liked seeing his dad happy and it’s pretty obvious to anyone really, that his dad took inspiration from Danny’s ice for this creation. Danny’s slight smile turns into a smirk at the thought of how this was a bit ironic. Dan couldn’t use ice powers because of his unstable core, this was practically a bit mocking.  Smiling at his dad as he hands Danny a bowl of cereal, before sitting down. “So Danny-boy, Mads tells me you’ve got some future sight thing now?”, Danny chokes on his cereal faintly, for being able to know everything and see the future he sure is getting caught off guard often. Which is keeping him from coming off as completely weird to his family though, Sam and Tucker will know somethings up pretty quick though. Tucker’s practically got a six sense for when Danny’s become stronger or has some new power.  Clearing his throat, “uh, yeah”, raising an eyebrow at his mom as she walks in. Obviously, she didn’t hear Jack though as she just looks confused, until his dad starts talking again anyway, “so...how does it work? Can you just see to any point? Is it random?! You still learning to control it? How’d you get this one? Your other powers are all general ghost powers, ice core powers or you unique one; is this another unique?”. Danny can’t help but chuckle at his excitable father but his mom speaks before he gets a chance to properly respond, “yes I told him, sweetie, we’re family”. Danny smiles at her warmly, he can’t really blame her for making a point that secret keeping isn’t a Fenton thing, “yeah it’s fine”, turning to his dad, and electing to just ask like a normal damn person instead of probing the past, “it’s a bit complicated dad. Did mom tell you I got a ghost job now?”. Jack nods excitedly, “yeah! Said you took over a ghosts job! But I was assuming you wanted both of us to hear about that rather than just explaining it to us separately”. Danny mentally facepalms, realising he could have easily used that excuse on mom and clearly mom didn’t even think about that herself, as she blinks and nods.  Danny rubs at his neck but he’s definitely feeling better about everything now so he supposes he’s up for talking about it now. The ghosts giving him a break and both physical and mental reminders of ClockWork make it a lot easier. Being in ghost form even more so, even if he’s utterly omniscient in ghost form now. Plus it’s honestly weird not knowing everything on the drop of a hat as a human now, way too easy to instantly be used to something like that, “that wasn’t the reason for my lack of explaining earlier. I just wasn’t up for talking about it yet”.  “And now?”, like always his mom’s more concerned about him than interested in learning something new. Which does really make him happy, “I’m better. Still miss him though”. Rubbing his neck again as he can tell he’s promptly confused both of them, “mom, he didn’t retire. He faded, that’s the word for when a ghost dies”. Jack does look a bit sad, mostly cause it’s clear to him that his son is. While Maddie looks a bit more upset, having been made aware, at least a little bit, how close Danny was to this particular ghost. “Oh sweetie, I’m sorry. You said he was your mentor, so I’m guessing he was kind of like a parent to you?”, Jack blinks before going wide-eyed as Danny nods. Danny fiddles with his fingers a bit, rubbing at the ring as he responds, “you guys are my human family, human parents. ClockWork was my ghost family, ghost parent. Not sure if that makes any sense”.  Jack nods curtly, “makes sense you’d have a ghost close to you in that way, need family on both sides I imagine”. Danny nods, his dad’s always been the one more readily accepting of things, while his mom looks a bit more sad, “so in the same way you followed us in our jobs, be it in a different way, you did the same with him”. Danny a blinks a bit and smiles, “kind of yeah. But what ClockWork did, what I do now; is a lot more important. There’s a reason it comes with an oath to put the job before everything and person, including yourself, at any cost. For ClockWork that cost was solitude and immortality until a suitable successor”, Danny can’t help but frown, ClockWork played it off well but it was clear to him how worn and lonely he really was. Sighing, “ghosts aren’t meant to stick around forever so doing so isn’t exactly, good”.  Jack chokes on his fudge mildly while Maddie just looks worried, “you seem happy and willing about the job part but he basically cursed you with immortality? That hardly seems good or fair. That cost is extreme too, what if you had to kill someone for this job?”. Jack only nods as he rubs his throat while Danny sits up straight, not about to let his mentor or his, and now Danny’s, job be insulted; even unintentionally. Though also not showing any displeasure, “it’s different with me and he knew that, that’s why he took me on”, locking eyes with his mom, “have you really thought about what it means? When I said my human and ghost halves protect and heal each other in an unending loop?”. Shaking his head a bit, “my human cannot die, my ghost can not fade. I was immortal from the moment my core fully stabilised, I can’t become anymore immortal and there will be no successor after me. So it’s a forever kind of thing��. Rubbing his neck a bit, “as for the killing thing, technically ClockWork was required to destroy me but he cheated. So there are loopholes if need be, but he also knew there would be a positive outcome to his cheating”. Staring right at both of them, “if I was required to destroy someone and there was no possible future where not destroying them was the better option, then yes. Yes, I would. The only way that would even be required, is if not destroying them would result in complete destruction, of the world or of time itself”.  “Danny that’s kind of insane. Immortality? If you can handle it then why couldn’t he? Just different personalities or is it because you’re a halfa?”. Danny tilts his head checking timelines again because anything big or biggish secret wise, could have messed up consequences. Giving a smirk and curt nod as everything checks out, which his parents just look confused and worried over. “It’s a halfa thing yes. You see, ClockWork is, was, one of the very first ghosts; an ancient. And yes he was created for this job but he was still a regular ghost. The immortality was because of the job given not caused by his very nature. No full ghost or full human is meant to exist forever so it was confining and taxing”, finishing off his cereal before continuing, “whereas halfas are, by our very nature, immortal. We’re meant for it, so it’s not such a burden”.  “Son, this job sounds extreme, like it’s a burden itself? What could possibly be a job that strips someone, even a ghost, of mortality?”, Danny can feel that Jack’s actually a bit impressed by his son obviously doing something important. He can also tell his dad’s worried, smiling softly to make it clear he’s fine, “it is a burden, but I was already burdened, so what’s another on the list. Being the hero and protector is a burden, my power is a burden, just being a halfa alone is a burden”. Snickering a bit to himself, because he always got a kick out of his old masters name, “as for the job, to say it’s extreme is putting it mildly. ClockWork’s name is a pun in a sense, the job is to protect the timestream. Make sure nothing happens to destroy time”. Danny has to restrain himself from laughing at their confusion as they talk at once.  “Time can be destroyed?” “How are you even supposed to protect a plane of reality?” It probably says a lot that Danny never even questioned that when he found out about ClockWork, it just seemed rather obvious. Danny shrugs a bit, “time paradoxes, temporal shifts, universal destruction, planetary destruction would destroy time for earth and Zone so that too. I’ve nearly destroyed it myself twice, it’s not that hard”, rubbing his neck and looking around a bit, “well ok, wasn’t that hard for an overly reckless and overpowered teenager”.  “As for the how, that’s pretty simple. Watch the future for issues and get rid of or avoid that issue”, shrugging again, “also bound to get job requests from the Observants sometimes, to deal with things that are just destructively bad but not necessarily destructive to time. But they wouldn’t go to ClockWork, or me for that matter, unless they felt they had no other choice. Seeing as how both of us have, or had, a tendency to go against their wishes and pretty well all laws”, snickering into his hand, “not to mention the puns”.  Jack shakes his head, “wow Danny-boy. So you must be able to see any point in the future then?”, tapping his chin, “how would a job give you a whole new power though? Does the position just awaken something? Or is there some kind of device? Like an invention!”.  If someone built a device like that Danny bets he’d have to destroy that for sure, having two people with time powers was asking for trouble. Sitting upright again, because explaining this was going to be confusing for sure and low key freak them out some, “none of the above. I inherited ClockWork’s time powers. You see, there are these things call core fusion crystals, they can basically fuse a core type into another ghosts preexisting core; only if their core doesn’t reject it though. So my core isn’t just an ice core anymore, it’s ice and time”, fondly patting at his chest, it was a bit like having a little of ClockWork literally part of him. Which in a sense was the case, the fusion crystal would have had to be formed by ClockWork from his cores energy. Seeing as he was the only one with a time core, obviously. He wants a better name for it though, even if what he’s got currently is amusing, “time freeze core because puns. Though cold clock core is also pretty amusing”. Tapping his chin, “not to mention, triple C and pays a bit of homage”, now he wants to go with that instead but mutters as he’s shaking his head, “little off track though”.  “Anyway, calling it a new power is kind of misleading. The person holding the job position is called the Master of Time for a reason”, Danny lets Jack interrupt just to avoid overwhelming his parents because time power is grade A an overwhelming thing to think about someone having. Danny’s honestly still a little thrown that it’s not that overwhelming to have, he’s pretty well instantly used to it still.  “I’m not sure I follow son. Master just means you watch over it right? Which is pretty wild and a bit awesome already”, Maddie nods with her husband while Danny feels a bit bad for them. Adjusting a little, “I watch over it, yes, but it’s more than that. Master means time is functionally mine. As in, control over it. I can make time stop, reverse, speed up, slow down”, rolling his hand in the air with intentional nonchalance, “teleport myself or others through time, make portals in and out of the Zone”.  Maddie blinks rapidly while Jack stutters a bit, “you can, stop...time? Like, all of it?”. Danny nods, trying to make this sound less extreme “as much of it as I want, so all of it sure”. Smirking a little, “the way ClockWork explained it to me when we first met, and I tried to fight him, which wasn’t smart”, air-quoting “You see, for me, time goes backward and forward” end air quoting, shaking his head, “after that he insulted me for being 14 and smashed my face into a bell, repeatedly. All around a pretty great guy”. Now his parents look pretty unimpressed so he holds his hands up a bit, “he had reasons, always does. Or did. He did that to make it pretty well clear fighting him was not exactly possible and to get me to jump through a time portal, bunch of stuff really. Saving your guy’s lives makes up for pretty well everything anyway”. Chuckling a little bit, “besides everyone close to me has attacked or tried to kill me anyways. Basically a right of passage at this point”. Pausing for a bit, it’s a bit amusing that the people he’s closest too are technically the most dangerous to him. “Anyway, sidetracked again”. Maddie raises her eyebrows, “what more could there possibly be to this? This power, you’re practically a god”. Danny winces a bit, he knew a few viewed ClockWork that way which of course meant he’d get the same treatment, “that would depend on what you mean by practically. I’ve been worshiped as a god, or saviour, by an entire clan of ghosts since I was almost 15”.  Jack laughs, “wow, that is sure something, but I think Mads means power wise not how you’re viewed”. Maddie nods, though looking a little startled, “confined to immortality, time control; compared to that, the worshiping is more funny than anything sweetie”. Obviously, his parents underestimate personality and others opinion of you when it comes to the whole “god” thing.  The Observants are scary powerful and have so much control but no ghost would worship or even consider them close to being gods. They didn’t act the part and no one really liked them. Whereas, ClockWork was a guider and always collected. While Phantom was a protector and helper. And both of them were enigmas that confused other ghosts. But Danny knew he was viewed a lot more on equal footing with other ghosts than ClockWork was. That might just change now though.  “Eh, I find it both funny and embarrassing. But there are other aspects to the time thing, yes. I’m sort of excluded from time in a sense. So ageing is kind of optional, I could reverse age if I wanted to. ClockWork near constantly shifted between child, adult and old man. Glad I don’t do that automatically, that might be a little too weird. Could if I wanted to though”, shifting and remembering how his mom saw this as a bit of a curse, “so if anything what ClockWork’s fading gave me, was a gift. Saving me from ageing, as power over time frees me from times effects. Unlike other halfas, I will not grow old, and being eternally old would be far more of a curse than being confined to the burden of keeping time”.  Maddie blinks at him so Danny smiles at her reassuringly, she sighs, “you’re not wrong there sweetie. Though I did assume not ageing was inherent to immortality”.  “Wish it was”, fiddling with his fingers, “but while the time control is major power it’s, uh, got nothing on the other main aspect”. Tilting his head to again check time-streams and futures, because damnit he will not mess this up, he’d be straight up embarrassed and crushed if he messed up so early. Sure he could likely reverse any fuck ups but still. Plus the Observants would notice, and while he doesn’t care for them, it’s best he makes it clear this job is rightfully his. Jack obviously thinks his son’s stalling though, “well, I don’t think it could be all that much more shocking Danny-boy. You know we’re fine with your powers, just have to adjust is all”.  Danny returns Jack’s smile after a beat, turning his head to his mom, “Uh you should throw out that cabbage. It’s gonna eat the rest of the tomato soup otherwise”. She looks confused for a bit, which is understandable since the soup hasn’t even been put in the fridge yet. Jack actually gets it pretty quick though, “right! Future sight! Well, thanks then. Why that though?”. Danny’s not really sure what Jack means, since mind reading is not something he can do. Maddie tosses out the, very clearly starting to become contaminated, cabbage as Danny talks, “the other main bit has to do with the future sight. See, it’s not that I can see the future, but rather that I can see everything. Every single possible future, every single area of the present and all of the past. Omniscient, all-knowing. Technically omnipresent as well, since I can know what’s happening everywhere and teleport to anywhere as I please”. Rubbing his neck a bit and looking around, “nice thing about being in human form though, it doesn’t happen automatically. Also a bit annoying though”. Maybe there was an inherent feeling of attentive watchfulness tired to time powers, or it could just be his heroic need to protect and be a vigilant guard.  “You’re, you, that’s universal knowledge you’re talking about”.  Danny nods, “yes, when I’m human I have to actually intentionally do it but while ghost, well, I’m constantly aware of everything”. Which does carry a bit of a voyeuristic creepiness to it, knowing everything about everyone was beyond invasive but he needed to know. Besides, it’s not like he’ll do anything too mischievous with his new knowledge. Mr. Lancer is going to be so confused though.  “That sounds awful actually, completely overwhelming. How are you even able to handle that?”, Danny can’t blame anyone for feeling that way, that kind of power is so incomprehensible to everyone else that just trying to imagine it would be headache inducing.  “Yeah, that’s kind of why I was gone for two days, the sudden onslaught of well, everything, knocked me out cold for a solid day at least. Gave my brain the time it needed to adjust. But it’s kind of impossible to not be used to it, because of the future sight I automatically knew how to use the new powers; feels like I’ve had them for eons really”. Jack is clearly a bit confused, “you’re not even that old though? I guess time powers are just really strange”. Danny nods, really everything about him is strange, “in a sense I’ve been here mentally since the beginning of time. I’ve seen every action anyone’s ever taken. And I can or could see every action anyone’s ever going to. ClockWork was even giving me random bits of advice out loud back in the Bronze Age. So mentally I’m not really an 18-year-old anymore. I’m well, old man time”.  Maddie rubs her temples a bit, “that feels almost painful to imagine. But you’re still our son, and younger than us”. Danny smiles a bit, “well, of course. Just weirder, it’s hard to not be rather confusing to people when you exist outside of time but have it in a more literal sense. I exist in a completely different state than all other life and death. And that state isn’t really comprehendible unless you’re in it. You experience life in the present, while I experience it in the past, present, future and none of them all at once. Young, middle-aged, old, ageless”, Danny shrugs and decides to shut up as his parents squint at him with furrowed eyebrows.  “Yeah, I’m not sure we can make sense of that sweetie. I think your personality has changed some”, Danny knows she’s got more to say, watching as she taps her chin, “so wait, this ClockWork guy knew you would take his place and view him in the past? All the way back then? What?”. Obviously, she doesn’t find that as funny, or comforting, as Danny does, “he knew from the moment time and him came into existence, but it’s more like he knew I was a possible future. Him and now I, don’t just see one future, but every single possible one. Can tell which is the most likely and could manipulate things to get the most desirable outcome”. Leaning back a bit, “that’s why it’s so important that the Master Of Time is self-sacrificial. Perfectly content to damn themselves to do what’s best or needed. In a way that’s what ClockWork did, if he wanted to stay around all he would have had to do was not offer to take me on as his apprentice. He faded because he was no longer needed as the Master Of Time. But he took me on anyway because that was what was best, he was never meant to be the real Master Of Time. But rather a guardian of the position and guide for when the true one arrive, me”. Chuckling as he knows he damn well sounds like him a bit here.  “I’m not sure how to even react to that, so he basically destroyed himself, knowing full what it would destroy him”, Danny nods at his mom but tilts his hand back and forth in the air, “yeah, but it was also for his benefit too. Like I said, he wasn’t meant for the confines of immortality and he was worn down by it. No one else knew him well enough to tell though”.  Everyone’s quiet for a while before Jack, a little less excited than he’d normally be, asks, “so... powers! Demonstration?”. Danny can’t help but chuckle, remembering full well how startling time stopping, then suddenly having something around your neck and being able to be aware of the stopped time, was. Nodding at his dad, already knowing this was perfectly fine to do, plus there’s no way he wasn’t going to have some fun, “yeah, I could find millions of different ways to explain how I am now, mentally, and it still wouldn’t really make sense. So sure, little explanation first though. Time powers are a bit funny, obviously. Anything beyond the awareness stuff needs to be channelled through a time staff. So I guess don’t be too startled by the sudden appearance of a giant stick”. At their nods Danny sticks his left arm and hand out, with his staff appearing directly in his hand; and even if he knew they’d be startled he still laughs, amused.  Rubbing the staff with his thumb fondly as Jack claps his hands together excitedly and Maddie eyes it impressed, “that is very clearly yours”.  “Yeah, ClockWork made it before he faded. It’s very similar to his”, pointing at the DP, “his had a CW instead. So I’m not the only one who paraded around with my own initials”. Sighing and missing the guy a bit, “we really had a lot in common”.  “Did he make tons of jokes too?”, Danny knows full well his dad’s trying to relate and encourage happy thoughts, which yeah of course thinking about a good joke is going to do that. Smirking, “he literally had a grandfather clock in his chest, three watches on each arm, and a pocket watch. His name is even a time joke. When he wanted the Observants to leave he’d always tell them to “observe the door”, which I also do but he started it. He is, was, not as bad as I am but pretty darn close”. It’ll probably be a while before he stops flubbing up current tense and past tense, doesn’t help that he can literally see ClockWork whenever and get random ass advice. At least it was way less confusing now, which obviously meant Danny was more confusing to others than before. Which yes, is amusing.  Maddie snickers a bit, “no wonder you got along, encouraged each other apparently”, Danny can’t really blame her for looking to change the subject and his very noticeable staff was distracting, “so how do you even stop time? That sounds like it has to be complicated, the staff doesn’t look complicated though”.  Danny can’t help but tilt his head back and laugh, “naw, simple as the push of a button and a catchphrase, also courtesy of ClockWork”. Jack mutters into his hand, “sweet ghosties, they even both have silly catchphrases”. Danny smirks, “and all this is why the Observants can’t stand either us, we’re both completely insufferable to them”. Glancing amused at his staff before speaking, making sure to push the button just a bit after his words would hit their ears, purely so they could hear the catchphrase, “time out”.  Pulling out two of his time medallions and slipping one over his mom first, knowing his dad would have the more amusing reaction. Maddie looks around confused and jumps sideways, yanking her hands to her chest, “did you teleport or som-”. Danny nods his chin out towards dad which causes Maddie to cut herself off as she sees he’s not moving. Turning her head back to Danny gaping, as Danny chuckles, “times been out for a good five minutes now. Just in the house though”. Maddie turns her head back to Jack, noticing there’s something around her neck this time. Grabbing at it while Danny pipes up, “ah ah ah, if you take my medallion off you won’t be immune to time anymore”. Danny moves around his mom, eyeing her amused as she checks out the medallion. Slipping one over his dad’s neck as she talks, “you’re symbol sure is on everything”.  Jack jerks and flails a bit, “what the?!”. Unlike Maddie, he notices the weight of the medallion near instantly, “Oh?!”. Tilting his head at Danny who’s snickering, “what’s with the jewellery? And oh! Times stopped isn’t it!”. Danny nods with a hand over his smirking mouth, “it’s a time medallion dad and they make you immune to meddlings with time”. Tilting his head back to his mom, “ClockWork’s had his CW on them, so the DP is expected”. Danny smiles softly as his dad looks over the medallion with awe and almost childish joy, he kind of feels like the oldest one here. Which he guesses is true, mentally anyway.  His mom walks around to face him and he knows the quizzical look is about his eyes, “sweetie, your eyes are purple and glowing purple”. Danny knowingly turns his head to his dad before Jack even has a chance to bound over, “Oh! Like when you use your ice powers! So blue for ice and purple for time?”. Danny nods, having ClockWork’s purple already feels more comforting than saddening. Smiling a little sadly still, “yeah, no surprise really. ClockWork was pretty purple all over”. Tilting his head as his ghost sense goes off, chuckling at the image of the Box Ghost getting chased off by one, apparently, pissed off guy with a fly swatter. Maddie of course notices, “who is it? Trouble? And also, you’ve been tilting your head like that a lot”. Danny blinks a bit and yeah he has done that every time hasn’t he? While human anyways, well, having a tell could be rather useful. Let people know he’s not just ignoring them or stalling, just checking something out. Chuckling again at the Box Ghost’s dismay, “it’s just Boxy, times truce is still standing so he was just here to say high but gave up. Might have a slight grudge against fly swatters for a bit”. He can’t help but smirk at his parents' mild confusion, “and the head tilt is a bit of a tell, I guess. I’m checking time stuff. Futures or just what’s going on elsewhere”.  “Well, no wonder you’d stop speaking then! And times truce?”, Maddie nods at her husband but raises her eyebrow at Danny, “why are you doing it so much though?”.  “As a Ghost it’s constant. And we’ve been talking about bigger more important things, saying the wrong thing or at the wrong point could mess with things”, to Danny this just makes sense and seems almost obvious. And it did well before being the Master Of Time, likely has something to do with all the time he spent around ClockWork and the apprentice work. Sighing and closing his eyes a bit mournfully, “times truce is the name given to the truce that’s been called in wake of ClockWork’s fading. That’s why there have been no ghosts for around a week, the truce extends to Amity because I’m here. My closeness with him was well known”.  “Oh, sorry, again”, Danny nods softly at his mom. He gets that she doesn’t really know what to say, they’re not exactly familiar with how this stuff is handled, “I’ll be fine. There isn’t normally this big of a deal when a ghost fades. Ghost don’t grieve like humans do, ghosts fading is sort of just ignored normally. But ClockWork’s impact was far-reaching and everyone was affected by him. So an afterdeath ceremony was in order, meaning a truce as well”, Danny’s still a bit unimpressed with the Observants. He’d think they’d stick around just to not rub people the wrong way, it’s like they wanted to be viewed with disdain and contempt.  His dad has a hint of excitement to him, though clearly not exactly happy, “Oh? New ghost tradition, so what’s that?”. Maddie smiles awkwardly, and tries for a joke, “ghost celebrities, huh?”.  Rubbing over his ring again, “more like respected than celebrated, and it’s a funeral, dad. Minus speeches or flowers, but add in offerings; equal to what the ghost felt they gained or took from the faded one”. Danny can tell his dad is torn between excitement of new knowledge and feeling dejected, funerals weren’t exactly something to be excited over. Walking over and swinging his staff in time with his steps, talking as he pats his dad on the shoulder reassuringly, “yeah it’s not a happy thing, of course. It was good to have though”.  Both of them nod while Jack eyes the staff a bit, “on a happier note, instantly makes you seem more powerful and mature. Sure will add to the effect Phantom just has on people. Won’t it be a pain to carry in fights though?”. Maddie nods, “doesn’t seem like the most practical thing”. Danny’s not even sure what to think of that, of course the staff has an air of power, his power was in it. Plus it was a weapon in a sense and weapons just make people look powerful and dangerous. Least he hasn’t whipped out a scythe, which really ClockWork only had and used to be dramatic. “Uh, stopping time is very practical; for me anyway. Need the staff for that but I don’t have to carry it around as Phantom. It’s simply here when I want it to be, regardless of form”. This seems rather obvious to him but he does chuckle at the mental image of someone literally being forced to carry what’s effectively a giant fancy stick, constantly.  Smiling softly, “but I’m guessing you want to see how this all looks on Phantom. Besides, the staff isn’t the only change, I carry twelve medallions around my waist in little clocks for one”. His mom chuckles but nods, clearly happy for the different subject, “are you actually guessing or do you already know? And there’s a lot of clock imagery with this”.  “I don’t know everything constantly while human and I can’t read minds, so guessing is accurate, consider it a. educated guess. And tell me about it, it’s much to my amusement though”, jokes were jokes even if they were a bit on the nose. At least they were used to him transforming now but they’ll be caught off guard this time.  Smirking a little as he lets his white rings wash over him with purple ones forming to make his cloak. He does find it a bit funny that his Time Master stuff gets its own unique little transformation rings. Feeling the hood settle in just behind his ears, which did make how pointy and longer they were stand out a bit. Least it kept his white hair easily visible.  Jack actually jumps a little and Maddie covers gasps with her hand, at least she didn’t start having a coughing fit like one of the other possibilities though, “yeah, like I said, there have been changes”. Rubbing the gear clasp, “ClockWork made the cloak for me back when I first started apprenticing under him. It’s part of my form now and he had a similar purple one”. Shrugging exaggeratedly, “hood was rarely up as an apprentice though, seems pretty content to stay up now”.  Jack walks up and touches the cloak, again filled with childish wonder, “oh! It’s soft!”. Danny laughs and tilts his head back a little, “it’s royal velvet and plush, ClockWork’s way of being extra. Got silver stitching too. His was silk and satin”. Maddie mutters, “well that’s one way of showing off high status. Definitely excessive”. Danny nods amused, “excessive done with complete nonchalance, absurdity becomes mundane when you’ve seen it all and fades to nothing when time’s functionally ineffective on you”. Snickering a little, “kind of like how putty making farting sounds is highly amusing to children but disregardable to adults”.  Maddie looks a bit baffled and Danny shrugs as she talks, “yeah your personality has changed”. And how could it not really? He wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable person before and know he was basically THE most knowledgable person. Being in Phantom form didn’t exactly help in that regard, “I’ve always been a bit of an eccentric mess, now I’m just an eccentric mess with all of time in me and at my whim. Be impossible not to change some”, really changing is something he knows damn well at this point, “I changed when I became Phantom as well. Power and responsibility changes people, this is just more noticeable to you as it seems instantaneous. For me, it's been eons of eternity”.  Both of them nod obviously not really able to wrap their heads around that, though Danny fully expected that. And at this point, Danny figures he really shouldn’t just suspend the house in time forever, technically he could but this is bound to be weird enough for his family already. Quietly muttering, “time in”, because he will carry that on, while his mom talks, “seems more noticeable while you’re a ghost and this is going to take some getting u-”, she cuts herself off as she blinks at Jack’s time medallion free chest. Then raising her eyebrow at Danny, who snickers faintly, “time’s going again. And don’t worry about not really noticing, I’m the only one who’s supposed to easily notice time being messed with. Yes I knew you were going to ask about that and yes you guys are just going to have get used to me being more odd than usual as-well as just knowing things”, holding up a finger somewhat playfully as he continues, “but just because I know doesn’t mean I’ll point it out or give you an answer to something. ClockWork was big on riddles and intentional confusion for a lot of reasons, somethings really should be known only by time and it’s master”. Jack is clearly disappointed but hopefully, this will keep him from pushing answers out of Danny. His dad’s a bit more pushy about things, but his mom’s the one to sigh and speak, “can’t say I like more secrets and lying Danny. But I know you have a point”.  Running his free right hand through his hair, “I know, but then again, I know everything”. This motion gets Jack to focus on Danny’s hourglasses, grabbing at his hands animatedly and lifting them up and down to watch the sand? move. Danny wheezes a bit as his dad looks rather giddy, “it’s so detailed! Like real sand!”. Now Maddie’s over inspecting it too, “is there even a point to these?”. “Does there really need to be? Purpose is relative anyway. But the flow of sand is affected by the state of time around me. Flows slower if times slowed, faster if it’s sped up, and doesn’t flow at all while times stopped”, Danny smirks, “like a time sense”. Danny leaves out that he can make the sand spill out his fingertips endlessly. Freezing, unfreezing, slowing or speeding time on whatever it’s spilled on. And he’s got a feeling it will work effectively even on things outside of time. Raising an eyebrow as he gets an idea and eyes the crystal-like sphere on the table, “hey dad, I’m going to make a bit of an addition to the little containment device. Cool?”. Danny’s not some ass that doesn’t ask first, even if he already knows the answer. “But of course Danny-boy! Haven’t got the faintest idea what but I’m always interested!”, both them let go of his hands and Maddie goes to make lunch though she does eye him curiously. Danny can’t help but shake his head a little, the passing of time was a bit weird feeling now. Being unaffected by it and able to fully ignore it, or be acutely aware of it; seemed to result in him either being hyper aware or “losing track” of it. Even more so when it simultaneously feels like barely seconds have passed and like it’s been centuries, since he ate breakfasted or since the Observants, begrudgingly, gave their blessings.  Sitting down after sending away his staff and changing to his ghostly tail, which like always now, makes him feel less overflowing with power. Rolling the sphere back and forth between his hands and descretly seeping sand inside it as he does. Eventually holding it up and giving it a shake, making the sand swirl and float around in the gravity nullified insides. Maddie raises an eyebrow, “how’d that even get inside there?”.  “That would be telling, wouldn’t it?”, Maddie sighs, slightly humoured though, as she plates everyone’s food.

Danny has to catch his plate as him changing back to Fenton startles her, seconds before Sam and Tucker both barge in, startling her even more. Putting her hand on her chest and gapping at Danny’s friends, “your hands' work don’t they?”. Danny snickers as Tucker makes a show of actually checking that he does indeed have hands while Sam walks up to Danny, “what is the entire Zone sulking or something? Cause we’re getting kinda paranoid over here”. Danny rubs his neck guiltily, he probably should have mentioned the times truce to them but he was a bit distracted at the time and securing Dan was more vital than a hangout session. “More like truce than sulking. But it’s fair to say moods aren’t exactly high. And everyone is a bit confused as to wondering just how close me and ClockWork are, were”, Sam grimaces a bit at his slip up while Tucker leans against the table, “could have used to know about the truce dude. Makes sense though, really should have seen that coming”, shoving Danny on the shoulder, “he’d be glad to still be confusing the heck out of people though”. Danny’s absolutely positive of that, “one thing I certainly didn’t see coming was Walker straight up saluting me, full body military style”. Sam mouths, “damn”.  While Maddie tilts her head with a question on her lips, Danny tilts his head back and just answers her; both to decrease his friends' future confusion and cause it a little, “no not yet. No ghosties have a clue either”. His mom’s looks like a mixture of being impressed and judgmental. Danny shrugs exaggeratedly, “to say I’ve been a bit, preoccupied, would be an understatement, yeah?”. Maddie nods before offering his, rather lost, friends some food. Turning back to his friends, “I’ll explain but you got here in time so feel like flipping off Dan’s thermos before I shove it inside of a snow globe?”. Jack snorts loudly at his friends startled jerking and Sam smacking him, “what the hell?! It makes sense but seriously, Danny?”. Tucker just eyeballs the little sphere before stuffing his face. Danny shrugs defensively, “like I said, been busy. Bunch of shits happened this week, some you know some you don’t. But yeah Dan’s my issue to sort out now and can’t just go leaving him unattended in the clock tower”.  “Yup! Me and Mads made a super tough shrinking containment! Still kind of hard to believe though”, Jack scratches at his head and Danny’s pretty well sure neither of them are ever really going to believe he’s capable of anything remotely close to what Dan did. The confidence, though misplaced, is nice. Tucker mutters through a mouth full, “and what’s the point of the sand?”. Maddie just points at Danny, who smirks slightly, “just a touch of time is all”. Sam pinches her nose and snorts, “you’re awful. Both of you”.  “Birds of a feather, flock together”, Danny’s muttering just earns him a confused glare from Sam. Shaking her head at him, “so how long’s the truce for and could we, or more so you, deal with that thing sooner rather than later”. Danny nods rolling the sphere around a little, “it’ll be overcome tomorrow, but I doubt there’ll be much in the way of issues. Boxy already showed but he wasn’t looking to cause shit”, snickering, “he got shit though”. Tucker shakes his head, obviously amused but Jack slaps his hand on the table making everyone but Danny jump, pointing at the sphere as he talks, “that's right! I don’t think I really need to tell you how it works but, I will anyway. Like absorbing goo! Just push it down on the thermos and voila!”. Danny chuckles into his hand and tilts his head, making sure that now really is the best time for this. Frowning a bit as it’s clear the time dust/sand still needs to settle in a bit. Some of it seeping into the cracks and making a mini explosion isn’t exactly favourable. He could do without the thermos becoming even more damaged. Catching Sam’s raises an eyebrow, poking the sphere as he talks, “time sand is taking its sweet time”.  “What’s it even supposed to do, dude?”, Danny watches amused and mildly weirded out as Tucker sniffs at the sphere. Shaking his head, “you’re still the weird one. And time stuff, duh”. Tucker rolls his eyes at him while Sam's eyebrows raise even more and she pulls down the collar of his shirt, even without future sight and universal knowledge Danny wouldn’t be surprised that she’s the first to notice. His parents have been more than distracted and Tucker is a bit of a blind fool, plus you really could only see a bit of one of the notches peaking out of his shirt.   Sam looks both impressed and sad while his mom speaks a little judgingly, “a tattoo? Really Danny?”. Danny rolls his eyes, “not really”. Sam snorts so Danny tilts his head to her, “no really, it’s not really”. Now Tucker’s wheezing, “dude, you really are awful”.  “Well, if it’s not a tattoo then what is it? If that’s even what you’re saying”, his mom is clearly still unimpressed. In a way it is a tattoo, better called a marking, stamp, symbol, or imprint though. “Times mark? I didn’t go out and get tatted”.  Sam seems to be commenting more on Maddie’s and Jack’s slightly shocked but understanding nods, “ok? This is new. Since when are your parents getting something and we aren’t?”.  “I’ve been explaining to them all morning, needed to fill them in on ClockWork and things just flowed from there”, Tucker nods, readily accepting this. But Danny’s pretty used to Sam not exactly liking being out of the loop, “you couldn’t text us?”. Danny glares at her humorously, “it’s not some simple thing besides, it wasn’t the time”. Sam groans and looks to Maddie, “has he been making time puns all day?”. Danny’s smiles softly, because he pretty well has been, but the topics made them not really jokes. It’s both nice and a bit sad that time jokes are going to be his thing now; and not just when his mentor was around or the subject. Maddie shrugs, “time and ClockWork have been the subject since everyone got up so maybe?”. Tucker squints at Danny, “ok? How the hell do you talk about one guy for hours? I know you have a weird thing with or for or whatever, him but that seems excessive”. Pretty well everyone glares at Tucker a judgingly.  Sam crosses her arms at him, “Tucker, you can be an insensitive arse, you know that?”. Danny’s content to let them give Tucker shit as he takes the chance to check in with time again. Danny can’t help but start snickering as now’s definitely a good time to be a little shit and it’s best to just get on with life, or half-life in his case, at this point. Nearly all of the other ghosts were totally fine by now, they’d sure be in for a shock eventually though. Sam snaps him out of his head, “now what’s that face for and what’s so funny?”. Danny actually starts laughing now, cause he’s got a plan to enact. Smirking after he stops laughing, “oh a lot of things. It’ll make sense in time”. Smirking devilishly as he starts talking in time with his gothic friend.  “How are you weirder?”, Sam/Danny. “Danny, what the fuck?”, Sam/Danny. Sam just glares at him now as he’s grinning like an idiot and Tucker starts wheezing. Danny flicks his eyes at Tucker as he starts speaking in time with him as his dad puts his head down and laughs into the table. “So what? Mind reader now dude?”, Tucker/Danny. Tucker squints his eyes at Danny, as both of them quickly say, “tater tots and a football eating rabbit”. This is enough to make Maddie laugh too even if Danny can tell she’s a bit weirded out. Danny waves his hand lazily at them, “ok so obviously weird shit has happened recently”. Sam mouths “what the fuck”, before turning to Danny and actually talking, “how the hell? Pretty sure you shouldn’t still be getting new powers at this point”. Tucker starts laughing a bit hard, “I think, think it’s more likely Time pants put him up to som-“, Tucker cuts himself off and blinks a bit, “oh, OH! Holy shit...dude, what, fuck, how? Should that even be...be possible?”. Danny chuckles into his hand, “what can I say, time works in mysterious ways; and ClockWork works in even more mysterious ways”. “Pretty sure you’re the mysterious one here”, Sam is squinting and Tucker is gaping at him. “Exactly, like I said, time’s mysterious”, Danny knows that’s a bit blunt but he really couldn’t resist, besides time is him in a sense. One with, or whatever bullshit, time actualisation with the self. Though yeah the idea of fully realising time in every facet is pretty out there, true but sort of incomprehensible to regular folks. And even if his friends and family were all straight up strange, they were still regular humans really. Sam stares him down, “I call bullshit”. While his dad mouths, “wow”, before shaking his head and talking, “it took us hours to get where he was going, he actually just plain told us. You two just figured it out by a few odd comments”. Danny nods and smiles a little because really, his friends are so used to his bullshit and they’ve met ClockWork; so it’s really not surprising they’d put together the pieces. Tucker finally closes his mouth but promptly opens it back up, “well Mr. F, we’ve seen some crazy things and already knew about the time apprentice thing. Probably should have figured really”. Danny shrugs loosely, “hey, it took an Observant actually handing me a time medallion to figure that out myself”, grumbling more to himself, “still not impressed not even one of them stuck around to pay their pound. Phantom knows they owed him”. Sam crosses her arms and glares at Danny, “wow those guys are jerks but I still call bullshit. ClockWork’s job literally requires his powers so how the heck would you ge-”, Sam facepalming cuts her off. Dragging her hand down her face and pointing at his chest, “core fusion?”. Danny nods while Tucker cringes, “dude damn, ow. Dude tell me you at least had a choice in this because damn”. Sam glares hard at both the boys, “they damn well better have! I will shred them if they forced this”.  Maddie’s eyes go wide as Danny knows she never even considered that he hadn’t had a choice, putting his hands up to pacify everyone, “they may be jerks but that would be a bit much even for them. Besides, they would rather pick pretty much anyone else, they kind of hate my shit and think I’m way overpowered, remember? Heck! They felt the need to point that out, twice”, turning his head back to his mom, “I knew what I was getting into, so don’t worry”. At his mom’s curt nod Danny turns back to his friends, looking to Tucker, “but yeah, ow’s right. But I’m fond as ever”. Both them give him a strong nod, Sam pointing at his chest, “did the look change though”. Tucker nods a little excitedly, “right! New core so?”. Tucker tilts his head a bit, “what even is your core type now?”. Danny chuckles, “it’s got a bit of a glitchy look now but that’s it and I’m still debating between time freeze and cold clock”. Tucker coughs a bit but then points aggressively at Danny, “dude! Cold clock!”. Sam nods, clearly agreeing, “makes more sense. Least that way you’re calling both aspects by the slightly incorrect name. And shirt”. Maddie just looks confused at this point and his parents haven’t actually seen his scarring. But it’s fine now, he knows. As he’s pulling off his shirt he hears his mom ask a bit worriedly, “sweetie? What does Tucker mean by ow?”. Tossing his shirt across a chair and keeping his chest facing his friends. Tucker whistles and Sam raises her eyebrows a bit judgingly, “what? You didn’t even explain that core fusion is extremely painful? That’s like one of the first things to mention”. That gets Maddie to walk around to face him, clearly unimpressed but sidetracked instantly by his chest. Putting her hand over her gaping mouth, “oh my god”. Which gets Jack to come around too, Danny explains before either can jump to their conclusions and worries, “human body plus core equals scarring. I’ve had it since the accident, it’s just different looking now because my cores changed”. Rubbing his chest, “and yeah hurt like hell. Easily the second most painful thing I’ve experienced”. Tucker nods with a frown but pats him on the shoulder, “guessing you’re still achy and shit?”.  “What, so you’ve been a bit in pain for days?”, Danny nods at his dad with an apologetic look. Shrugging a little, “there’s nothing to really be done, so there’s no case to make a big deal of”. He knows his parents don’t really like how good with pain he is but it is what it is. And as of now, the discomfort was hardly even noticeable; didn’t even qualify as pain.  Turning his head to eyeball the sphere and tilting his head as he checks things, catching his mom mutter, “I hope you don’t do that to spy on people”. Sam and Tucker are obviously confused but Danny smirks, glad the sphere is all settled now. Turning his head back to his friends, “guess I have a bit of a tell. Tilt my head when I’m checking time”, glancing to his mom, “it’s impossible for me not to spy, that’s like half the point. But I’m not doing it just to know what people are up to in a creepy way”.  Tucker tilts his head, “wow so you actually have to check in all the time? Damn that must be annoying, why the heck wouldn’t you just get notified or whatever when something’s afoot”. Even Danny has to admit that would be way more convenient but in a sense he would still check in lots, checking up is just right. He needs to and rather wants to, “comes naturally, but yeah slightly annoying and irksome to actually have to intentionally check instead of it just happening on its own constantly. My human form is a bit confining in that sense”.  “Dude what? Constantly? So what you just constantly see the future while all Phantom? That sounds like a headache and way more “confining” or whatever. Like your heads trapped in the time stream or whatever”, Tucker shakes his head, “man if that’s what ClockWork dealt with all the time, no wonder he was confusing and a little too weird”. Danny points his finger at Tucker, “hey, I resent that. ClockWork was the perfect amount of weird for me”. Danny can’t help but sigh wistfully as he shrugs, “and Tuck it’s more like everything, not just futures. And it’s more like I’m trapping time than the other way around. Existing behind my eyes and hands, to be toyed with as I please. Sure, being outside of the confines of time begets immortality but I was already in that state. And sure yeah there’s the whole confined to guard over time, the responsibility of it, but...”, Danny mutters quickly into his hand with a smirk, “time’s my bitch”. Danny can’t help but smile fondly reminded of the first time ClockWork said that. He still can’t believe he actually managed to get him drunk, replacing chess pieces with shot glasses was hilarious and who the hell was Danny going to do that with now. Cause for all of ClockWork’s high and mighty demeanour he was damn chill, could easily say he was a little shit. Even if Danny was way more of a little shit, snickering because man was he ever going to drive the Observants nutty. And not even intentionally so, though he’ll do it intentionally as well.  Danny smirks a bit with his chin resting in his hand as his friends share a confused and judgemental look, he feels a bit distant from them right now. In a sense he is, everyone around him is confined inside a glass case of time and he’s standing, or floating, outside of it. They can see what’s in their own case but he sees every case if he so chooses. And of course they can see him, if he’s around them and their time’s moving along normally; but he can’t join any of them really. Same as they can’t truly step out of their glass cases and join him. Even if they came to exist outside of time and the time stream, that wouldn’t give them access to time’s core; to time’s true nature, the entirety of it and all that it contains. Time owns everything, life and death, every action or inaction, every choice and consequence. Shaking his head at how that really does make it oh so clear that he functionally owns everything himself then, time confines everything and time is him.  Tucker pulls him out of his mental musings, “yeah, you’re weirder. If you start getting all philosophical riddler on us, I will hit you and mock you, aggressively. Dealing with that once was enough”. Maddie raises an eyebrow, “once? Who are we talking about?”. Sam shakes her head at Danny before looking to Maddie, “ClockWork, we’ve really only been around him once, maybe twice. He was a solitary guy”. Danny nods, “had to be, that’s how he made himself an objective viewer. I’m just objective by nature, though inclined to sympathies”. Looking to his mom somewhat sadly, “I’m really the only one who knew him remotely well. Even most ghosts only knowingly met him a few times at best”, snickering a little, “on the other hand, everyone knows me”.  Danny picks up the containment sphere and tilts his head backwards to look at the ceiling, before pointing at it and sending his intangibility telekinetically to the ceiling; phasing and floating the thermos down to him. Tucker slaps his leg excitedly, “dude! When’d you master that?”. Danny raises an eyebrow at him, “uh, the same time as I mastered literally everything else? Universal knowledge, absolute self-mastery, actualisation, yadda yadda”.  Sam’s more concerned with the thermos than Danny’s powers, which is pretty usual. Tucker’s always been the one more excited over Danny’s abilities and of course both of them are more worried about tolerating his new weirdness than him being weird. Unlike the entire Fenton family, his friends really were quite selfish; though wonderfully loyal and protective to a fault. Sam walks over and pokes at the thermos before shivering a little, Danny doesn’t blame her at all cause it bothered him too. Sure a large part of why is because he can’t see Dan’s future, something being outside of time, of its and thus his confines, was just wrong and definitely induces a bit of paranoia. Which really just gives him an excuse to check the timestream again, Tucker mutters at him in the process, “sudden onset habit much. But yeah, even I’d want to check literally everything before even considering doing something with Dan”. It’s pretty easy for everyone to agree there and Sam pipes up as Danny promptly shoves the containment device over the thermos, “does it seriously take that little time to check every possible future or whatever?”.  “Sam, Dan and his thermos exist outside of time. He’s pretty well the one thing I can’t see or check. I’m just inferring possible problems based on relative futures. And I’m not exactly looking very far forwards”, he can clearly see the mild disbelief on her face, “and considering it took just a bit over one day to get the entire timestream downloaded into my head, how long or not something takes sort of doesn’t apply to me. I could spend hours on something and have it seem like seconds to others”. “Uh, shouldn’t you have to do the whole time out, time in, thing for that to happen?”, Tucker’s watching Danny roll around the sphere as he talks rather than looking at Danny’s face. “I could do it that way sure, no one would know after all. But it’s more that time doesn’t affect me like it does everyone else. Hours, minutes, seconds, centuries, all kind of just exist simultaneously and also don’t exist at all. Around and within me”, shrugging and shrinking down the sphere to half the size of a marble, “don’t try to make sense of it, you won’t be able to. One of those, you can’t understand unless you experience and know it, sort of things”. Tucker groans, “talk about confusing”. Danny laughs and gives him a cocky smirk, “would you rather I give diversions and prophetics? Welcome to why ClockWork never really answered people’s questions. The Master Of Time is an inherently confusion inducing title to hold”. Tucker just mutters, “Phantom no”, while Danny pulls out some small purple rope and starts knotting it around the tiny sphere. Sam catches on pretty well instantly, “Uh, is it such a great idea to make him into jewellery? What with all the fighting?”.  “Even I’d have a hard time actually destroying this thing. So it’s fine and much better than just leaving him around in my room. Plus the string’s a bit like an extra layer of confinement”, sure it’s probably going overboard at this point but it’s pretty well reasonable and he’s sure wearing a freakishly powerful and dangerous ghost as jewellery would both insult Dan and befuddle to Observants. If they even had mouths they’d be gaping at the absurdity of this. Snickering to himself, “this is the most unassuming weapon of mass destruction ever”. Tucker smirks, “limitless evil”, Tucker and Danny talk at the same time finger-gunning at each other, “itty bitty living space”. Danny chuckles, “or death space really”. Sam shakes her head, “a borderline bomb with the trappings and confines of a freaking bracelet. You’re a joke”.  “One that’s perfectly timed and dead on arrival” “You’re awful”   “Ghoulishly ghastly”, Danny grins slightly, “devilishly problematic”. Everyone shakes their heads at his antics, though Danny knows they’re all happy since it shows he’s doing ok; or at least, ok enough.

Tucker points at Danny with a rare show of seriousness, while Danny ties the rope around his left wrist, “you better make sure Dan stays trapped in there though, cause man, I’d rather hundreds of rounds of chess over him”. Danny can’t help but snort at that, “I’m weird, not nuts and I could oblige you there. Sure I could never beat ClockWork, obviously. But I’d wager to say I did pretty good”.  “Ok, not only do you have an unfair advantage at, well, everything. But still, don’t get why you’d put yourself through that”, Tucker shivers a little bit and yeah Danny’s fondness for ClockWork is really all that made chess actually enjoyable. But it was one of the things they just sort of did together, so he’s quite content to make it a bit of a past time. Maybe he’ll be a really confusing mess and start to speed play against himself. ClockWork gifting him a rotating chess board makes a lot more sense now. Rolling his eyes at Tucker, “I’m not going to know their every move, while human anyway. So it would still be fair”.  “I’d be curious to see, me and Mads play checkers and chess fairly often ourselves”, both Sam and Tucker glance at his parents incredulously. Even Danny understands that finding out that the excitable, and sometimes a bit foolish, Fenton parents play chess, is more than a little surprising. Chuckling a little, “well chess can be pretty boring to watch, even speed plays aren’t that great to sit around watching”.  Danny’s a bit surprised when both his friends wave him off, Sam straight up clears off the table while Tucker rolls his eyes at Danny, “dude, chess is a ClockWork thing. Which is exactly the kind of thing to do now”. Sam smirks, “yeah make new memories with the old sort of thing”, now she just looks a bit sheepish and guilty, “besides, we never did let you show us that board you were so excited about getting from him”.  “Well alright then, I’m quite content to spend what’s left of the day confusing you with the fact that I don’t suck at chess. Didn’t need to clear the table though”, Danny elects to go fetch it like a normal human person, while they all look slightly confused, as he walks with a small smile and hands in his pants pockets, up the stairs.  Smiling fondly at the smooth purple oak wood, with black tourmaline and howlite tiles. Stacked on top of, honestly gravity-defying, spinnable and tiltable dark grey, with black, green and blue, Ruin Marble circles and squares. With the last square sitting on top of a piece of black stained RedWood, etched with daffodils. Compacting the neck and base into the table top before carrying it down.  Danny smirks as Sam shakes her head, “does everything have to be purple?”. Placing the chess board down on the ground because seeing their shock at this thing folding out was too good to resist. Turning the little silver dial and covering up his snickering mouth while they watch the circles and squares fold out. Eyeing his mom as she pokes at it, “how is this even stable? And again this is extravagant”.  Everything with ClockWork was a bit extra, which was all well and good for Danny since Danny was the same way really. “Funny enough Marble symbolises stability and structure. And this is Ruin Marble specifically, symbolising mastery of knowledge, thought and self-control”. Tapping on the base with his foot, “black RedWood for eternal death, daffodils for eternal life and rebirth”. Poking the actual board, “purple for time and oak for strength. The tiles are black tourmaline, for protection and spiritual connection with earth and zone, and howlite, for calming and selflessness”. Chuckling to himself, “howlite’s also a sleep stone which I think is just ClockWork’s way of poking fun at my horrendous sleep schedule”.  Tucker groans, “oh and let me guess the chess pieces have some meaning too? Did he ever do anything without some deeper meaning or message”. Danny can’t help but snicker, pulling out the pieces; which outside of the lower half being either purple velvet or black velvet and the tops all being white gold, were pretty normal.  Shaking a black one at Tucker, “pretty sure he was incapable of not being deep. White gold for eternity, indestructibility and a sacred bond between two people. Velvet is power and high status”. Danny really thinks ClockWork just likes velvet rather than having some deep reason for going with that, or it’s cause Danny’s cloak is velvet.   Maddie sighs as she fiddles with one of the pieces, “I feel kind of bad knowing you were this close to someone I never got to meet or even hear about, until now”. And Danny does feel a little bad about not telling her, but ClockWork is, was, complicated and hard to explain. Smiling softly at her, “he was a solitary guy, humans only meet him if they absolutely have too really. But if it’s anything, he knew you both well, like he knew everyone well, and knew you’d feel this way now. He understood, and would tell you not to dwell or feel bad”. “If he knew then couldn’t he have just shown up once instead of us never meeting him?”, Danny can tell she’s not impressed. Setting up the board as he replies, “because it wasn’t something that absolutely needed to be done. Being The Master Of Time means objectivity, while he had a soft spot for me, he really shouldn’t have been doing things just to make others lives easier. Including my own”. Danny knows that means he really shouldn’t be using future knowledge to improve his or others lives, and he doesn’t intend to. It just so happens that most things that improve his life are either necessary or the better option. Though that would depend on someone’s opinion on “improve”.  Danny smiles a little as his mom gets on the opposite side of the board from him but clearly she’s still unimpressed. He knows she would have picked up that if ClockWork shouldn’t have then neither should he. “So what? Even if you know something bad’s going to happen to us or someone else, you have to just let it? Unless it’ll hurt time?”, Danny wishes this didn’t sound as bad as it does but he knows she’d rather unpleasant truths over lies. Sighing a little, “yes, in some situations I might even have to encourage it or make sure it does happen. ClockWork did that to me with the Dan thing. Dan existed because I got the test answers, I got the test answers because ClockWork sent a ghost form the future to fight me”. Sure it was pretty likely Danny was going to get those answers anyway but it would have been in a different way, which probably would have been bad.  All four of them look a bit bummed now, Maddie sighs as they start the game, “I can’t say I like that”. Danny only nods, he gets it. Of course she doesn’t, why would she? But responsibility is responsibility and if he starts meddling just to make peoples lives better, including his own, that would be a nasty spiral and could only end badly. It’ll hurt when, eventually, everyone around him finally runs out their clocks but that’s natural, for humans and ghosts, and it’s not like he’ll forget any of them.  Danny spends most of the matches pondering on the trappings and confines of his immortality and time that will run out for everyone else.  End.