#but I prefer that Danny CHOOSES to be a hero

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

An interesting thing I’ve noticed about the difference between Fanon!Danny and Canon!Danny is, well… Obsession

Obsessions aren’t canon, but are REALLY popular fanon—as such, they’re both really flexible and very rigid. Danny, for instance, usually has Protection as his Obsession. He HAS to protect people, to save them—he MUST be the hero.

My personal feelings and headcanons on Obsessions aside, there’s kind of… a difference, here, in what I’d say Canon!Danny’s Obsession would be.

See, while we do see Danny struggle in his hero role, learning how to use his powers and Do Good, we don’t… really see him be Obsessed with it. He doesn’t particularly scheme ways to be a hero, he doesn’t go especially out of his way to find trouble—he does do patrols, if I remember correctly, but that wasn’t really shown until later in the show, I think? He certainly doesn’t START that way. And sure, he lets other things suffer to do his heroic work, but in that situation—where he’s almost literally the only one who CAN? Realistically, what choice does he have?

But you know, we DO see him scheme and go out of his way for one particular thing.

Being an (almost) average teen.

Throughout the series, we see Danny struggle not so much in being a hero, but being a normal kid. He struggles, sure, with balancing the hero act—but he doesn’t really start out wanting to be a hero. Even when he uses his powers for cool things, they’re usually just things I think we’d all do, if we had said powers. And they’re often one-offs—if I could physically be in a video game instead of playing it normal, I really don’t think you’d ever see me play any other way. And while he does eventually do patrols, if I remember correctly, it isn’t until later. Right from the start, he’s more worried about being seen as a freak than anything else. He does heroic acts, sure, and he even chooses to do them, which I find far more compelling than ‘because his ghost half has to’. But at the end of the day, he just wants to be Danny.

He adjusts to his new self, sure, but it’s kind of slow. He objects to his powers fairly often. He’ll definitely help, don’t get me wrong—he’s still the Danny we all know and love! Average kid or not, he still does have those heroic traits, and will help out the town, even when the entire town is against him. But, if I’m remembering the show correctly, his problem has never really been accepting that he’s NOT a hero, that he’s just a teenager—it’s often been accepting that he IS one, regardless of everything else.

He’s half a ghost, and he’s half a boy. In Spectra’s paraphrased words, “A creepy kid with creepy powers.”

Heck, even with as useful as his powers ARE, he has tried to get rid of them MULTIPLE TIMES.

Fanon!Danny’s Obsession is usually Protection. Sometimes Space, or Love, or Family, or just Being A Hero… but usually? Protection.

Canon!Danny’s Obsession? Normalcy.

He just wants to be a kid.

[halfagone]

Oooh, good point! I think I’d prefer to go for a mix of two and three. An experienced Danny who’s super sick of the hero life, but he’s still pretty experience and maybe even harbors resent for the league since they never helped him out. I kinda have a thing for stories about Danny having issues with the league, lol. What do you think?

This is in continuation to this post.

From what I've seen you're not alone with that preference/niche! lol I've even read some Miraculous Ladybug x DC crossover with a similar concept, back when I used to read fics for MLB (it's been a while since I last read fanfic for MLB though). I know I did play around with the concept for down the rabbit hole (goes the throne). However, something that's very tricky to balance is making sure Danny doesn't come off as... self-centered, I guess the right word would be?

Because yes, it's understandable that Danny would be upset that no one tried to help him if they did reach out. At the same time, you have to consider the possibility of censorship thanks to the GIW (which is a popular headcanon) or that Vlad used Desiree to make a wish that would shield the town for his machinations and schemes (which is another headcanon I've seen used before). Danny can be upset at first but if he finds out that their attempts for contact literally could not connect, then it would be unreasonable for Danny to keep harboring that resentment when they're here now because they found out. That implies that had they known back then they would have tried something too, but they are not meant to be omniscient, no matter how hard Bruce might try to be.

Plus... the JL already have a lot of responsibilities. Most if not all these heroes have a base of operations- an entire city to take care of. And yes, so does Danny, but they can't just drop everything and come to his rescue, especially if the problem is much more extensive than just closing the portal. (Which Danny could technically do at any given time, but chooses not to.) But let's not talk about that. And there's also all the off-world missions they're in charge of or participate in. And many heroes have their day jobs and civilian lives to maintain, and plenty of these heroes have kids! Things are complicated!

But complex situations make things all the more interesting, do they not? ;3

Let's play around with that, shall we?

---

"Are you really a ghost?" Bart asks Phantom in curiosity. Is it just 'Phantom' or is it 'The Phantom' because the latter sounds much more mysterious, but is that trade-marked by-

"You think too fast," Phantom grumbles under his breath as he zips around a burning piece of rubble. He hardly bats an eye at it, just watches it fly past and then freezes it, effectively putting out the flames. The rubble slides innocently across the blacktop, falling alongside all the other pieces he's already frozen over.

Phantom's hardly even trying. It's so not crash.

"You're not like any ghost I've ever seen before," Secret agrees with a small frown. She doesn't distrust Phantom necessarily, but her own curiosity is hard to fight down.

Phantom's lips twist with amusement. "I could say the same to you actually." The group collectively watch as Phantom's legs twist and disappear into a wispy tail, the ghost curling it around as if to hug himself.

"What kind of Casper..." Kon overhears Tim mutter to himself. It's a good thing he doesn't have a piece of paper, else he'd be taking rapid fire notes. A computer would've done in a jiffy, of course, but it's not like they had access to one of those in a blown out city street like this.

"I've never heard about you before," Cassie comments with pinched brows. She doesn't look happy about it.

And for what it's worth, Phantom doesn't either.

"You wouldn't," Phantom drawls. There's no mirth in his voice. He turns back to the villain of the day, hands sparking as he zaps the machine so thoroughly that sparks fly and the metal audibly creaks.

Kon shivers at the display. He's not afraid, not really, but he's still uneasy... He knows that Captain Marvel is one of those heroes on par with Superman, and right now, watching Phantom wield his lightning, Kon's starting to see why.

The group shuffle around uncomfortably as Phantom sucks up the villain into a soup thermos? Now that's not something you see every day.

"What's that do?" Tim, ever perceptive, prods Phantom for answers.

"It contains ghosts, spectral entities, the works," Phantom replies curtly, capping the thermos with practiced ease. Ease that spoke of experience. "You kids alright?"

"Dude, you're barely four years older than some of us," Anita deadpans with an unimpressed look. "You don't get to call us 'kids'."

Phantom lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "Sorry, y'all are still babies to me." He points at Kon. "You've gotta be, what, not even six months old?"

Kon prickles at the remark. "That's none of your business." He knows he's not that old chronologically, but that doesn't make him an infant. He'd appreciate some respect about it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Danny replies and it sounds sincere? But most of them don't take too kindly to him anyways. He just gives bad vibes is all. "Where are your mentors? I feel like there should be at least one of them around to supervise."

"We can take care of ourselves," Tim insists, crossing his arms over his chest. Uh oh, he's hurt Timmy's feelings. That's never a good sign.

"You're kids, you shouldn't have to," Phantom sneers slightly, snidely more like.

"Like you did?" Secret asks tentatively. Phantom's hair visibly floats up, picked up by an inexplicable wind. His eyes glow a shade brighter. It's eerie. It's uncomfortable.

Phantom's face might be impassive, but he still remains an open book.

"Yeah, something like that," Phantom murmurs, his tone unreadable. "I hope you can take care of yourselves. One day you might be the only ones that do."

With that ominous warning, Phantom disappears. Here one minute, gone the next. Like a true ghost.

"I vote we call him 'Casper the Unfriendly Ghost'," Bart announces out of the blue. "Raise your hand if you agree?"

At once, every single member raises their hand.

"Motion passed."

[pinkbarbiebandaids]

another dc x dp prompt

We've all joked about Danny's magical girl transformation at least once, but what if he genuinely was a "magical girl"? like the portal was powered purely by magic and when it turned on with Danny inside it just gave him ghost like abilities, maybe even with a magical artifact (like the miraculous). he gets a cute little outfit and everything and is extremely embarrassed by it at first but it grows on him eventually.

I'm thinking Pariah is the big bad here, just really channeling that hawkmoth energy, and I realize I'm making more miraculous ladybug references then dc ones lol- ANYWAY, the dc aspect comes in when Constantine lands himself in Walker's prison for, idk his soul tax evasion, around the same time Danny is staging a prison break to hang with Wulf. this could also work with Jason, who probably got sucked into the GZ by complete accident and immediately started causing problems on purpose and got arrested by a ghost cop 💀. Danny, not recognizing them and getting very off Vibes, takes them with.

when the dust has settled and the two become friends, Danny asks where they need to be at that moment, which is when they (Jason or Constantine) remember they had been fighting with the JL and they should probably head back lol. so Danny opens a portal, preferably in the middle of the watchtower in clear view of all heroes present, probably with his magic artifact that I'm unironically imagining as a Star Butterfly like wand, and personally escorts whoever you choose, back to ensure their safety, unintentionally putting himself on the JL's radar.

[qianqiancandyjar]

Ninjavember 2023!

Here's completed version with a bunch of explaining below each picture! Just scroll down if you don't want to see me blabbering. (I tried to go short as much as possible)

(I have a lot of AUs and headcanons that only exist in my head and my sketchbooks. Forgive me for wanting to spill them out.)

Day 2: Randy was listening to music with earphones so he didn't know Theresa was sitting next to him. Imagine how embarrassed he would get when he knows.

Day 8: Tech-Ninja AU. It's about machinist Randy being set up by Mcfist for murdering the town hero Ninja with his invention, the Tech-Ninja armor. Then the spirit of the destroyed Nomicon travelled to his armor and become an AI, choosing him to be the next Ninja. So Randy accepted it and was determined to make up for what he caused, when nobody except Howard, the boss of Weinerman industries, trusted him.

Day 10: Apocalypse AU. It's about Randy lost the battle at the end of season 2 and became the prisoner of the Sorcerer. The Nomicon was handed to Howard before that, and they later recruited survivors to form a resistance against the Sorcerer. Then Randy was stanked, but instead of turning into a monster, he was brainwashed and given the power of creating his own red and black stank. And- You know what will happen. (Inspired by the Darkness of Randy Cunningham)

Day 13: Elemental trial AU. You can say it's my take on what will happen in season 3. The Carp god was under the cover of a random carpfish as Norisville mascot. After a series of events it was awaken and gave Randy the power of Ice Rage.

Day 14: I think there's more than just the blood of First Ninja's brothers, since nobody knows how to destank people at the beginning...

Day 17: The Warrior might have been living or sleeping there, waiting for some ninjas to wake him up or consult him about his forbidden arts. (Ha, It's kinda like Eclipsa in Star vs. the forces of Evil)

Day 18: Or it can be called the New Generation AU. In the future, Randy took the place of Messager as well as the Ninja Guardian, while Brent became the new Sword Smith and Sorceress became their main villain. I am not really good at designing OCs so there's no next ninja yet.

However, I read a fanfic of another fandom in the form of CYOA, and it gave me new idea: just let the reader be the next ninja, it will be fun, too. (Also, this AU was inspired by an RC9GN fanfic titled from the past to the future, where future Randy became Ninja Guardian. But I couldn't find it on fanfiction.net any more. Has anyone read it? I didn't dream about it, right?)

Day 19: During that time I got even crazier after I read Enter the Nomicon. It's hard to believe I had a crazy period of shipping Randicon, even for myself. Especially weird for me since I now have a completely different view about Nomicon (peek at my Yokai Ninja AU comics). Time really can change a person, wow.

Day 21: Yes, a whole page just for this headcanon. I used the screenshots in the show because it's too hard to draw. The barrier thing is kinda like the one that held Bill's power in the range of Gravity Falls.

Day 23: Danny: the Walking Air-Conditioner. Inspired by a chapter of Secret Quartet. Danny phased his hand through the scarf. Just imagine your friend put a cold hand inside your scarf in winter. *shiver*

Day 25: Besides Ninja vine ball, there are also spike ball, gas ball, sonic ball, rainbow illusion ball, tear ball and so on. I just pick the most common one from my ninja balls headcanons to put in here.

Day 27: You may see I prefer using numbers to refer episodes, because that's how I track and rewatch them. To be more specific, I list some keywords here: NomiRandy, First Ninja, Debbie, Tengu. As fellow RC9GN Fans I'm sure you get it.

Day 30: It's a half-baked AU thing. The flowers I tried to draw are rosemary?

Wow! I actually finished all the prompts! Thank you for holding the big event! @evilspiritweek

(I don't mind sharing more details about my AUs or headcanons. *wink*)

[terrestrialnoob]

Thinking about "Masters of All Time"

Rant Incoming, But...

Danny goes back in time to save Vlad from the portal accident that turned him into Plasmius. Maddie falls in love with Vlad after he saves her from the same portal accident, Jack gets ecto-acne and turns evil, and in the new timeline, Jack's a pathetic lonely man-child, Vlad and Maddie are married, though he has forced her to give up ghost hunting. Then Maddie divorces Vlad the moment Jack reenters her life.

Like, what?

Why would Vlad, unharmed by the ghost portal incident and without a grudge against ghost hunting, force his wife to give it up? Was he literally just there to get with Maddie with no interest in ghosts at all himself (I don't put it past any collage guy, but, literally zero interest)?

Why would Maddie wait until Jack came back to divorce Vlad if she hated being married to him that much?

Jack does literally nothing in 20 years?

Like, the whole issue with Vlad in the main timeline is that he doesn't consider Maddie a person who made her own choice in who she married, but the text of "Masters of All Time" states that Maddie and Jack are soulmates destined to be in love and get married no matter what; she still doesn't have an actual choice, it's fate, it's destiny. And I don't buy it.

Maddie is not a person here, she's an accessory specifically for Jack. She can't choose who she wants to be with; nothing anyone can do, up to and including altering the timeline, can change that she's meant to be Jack's Wife, and that's that.

Vlad is inherently evil, irredeemable, and incapable of growing or changing. Whether he gets what he wants or not, whether he's a super-powered petty villain or a dairy farmer, whether he has a family or not, he will always be evil.

Jack is so incompetent, such a man-child, that in two decades he can't 1) cleanup after himself, 2) recreate a portal he helped create in the first place, 3) get a job or do anything to even try to make money, 4) try more than once to be a ghost hero. He's so helpless, it's offensive, and leaves me wondering how he isn't full-dead without someone taking care of him.

They're The Villain, The Wife, and The Idiot, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that. And it's just fuckin' sad.

If I had my way, "Masters of All Time" could be used as a jumping off point for a Vlad Redemption.

Vlad and Maddie fall in love, and actually, you know, love each other. Vlad is in the Ghost Hunters Club because he likes ghost hunting, and it just so happens that his crush is there, or he followed his crush into it, and because she liked it, grew to enjoy it, if not ghost hunting directly, then Maddie's love of it.

They'd bring out the worst in each other. Both Vlad and Maddie are ruthless in getting what they want. If they were really together and a ghost hunting team the way Jack and Maddie are - oh, they'd destroy the Ghost Zone. Imagine if Danny changed the past and it wasn't just his life that was ruined, but the entire world is flooded in ghosts and monsters and creatures that belong in the Ghost Zone, but there's no Zone anymore. The only thing at stake in the original episode is... when Jazz and Danny are born? Because Jack and Maddie get back together and if the timeline continued as normal from there (which why wouldn't it?), and Jack is already halfa, then Danny could have been born halfa, and that is already way more interesting a timeline. Danny wouldn't be friends with Sam and Tucker, but they'd still exist and not die from ecto-acne, fair trade I think.

And also, Jack should have been either just as evil as original Vlad or, what I prefer, a good guy who does his best to do good but isn't quite competent enough to effect actual change. He should have tried to be a ghost hero for a little while before giving up and start trying to build up a team to help defend against ghosts, especially after the destruction of the Ghost Zone.

The think the one thing Jack should have over Vlad is Friend Making. I know in canon Jack is too stupid to not be an asshole to everyone, and Maddie is the only person who puts up with it (even his kids don't like him most of the time). But what he should be is Where Danny and Jazz get their sense of morality. My personal version of Jack Fenton should always be trying to do the right thing. He hunts ghosts because ghosts are evil. He supports Vlad because that's what good friends do. He protects his wife and kids, because that's what good husbands do. Everything he does should be a rational conclusion of "what is the most good thing to do in this situation". Even if it's a bad outcome, like destroy an innocent ghost, he got to that bad outcome for the right reasons. He can be easily manipulated, sure, but he's not completely bankrupt like in canon. And so, the reason original timeline Maddie didn't destroy the Ghost Zone isn't because Jack is a bumbling idiot holding back her ruthless genius, but because he distracts her with "Large-scale Protection Projects", like Coordinating Neighborhood Ghost Watches, Ghost-Safety Outreach,and making sure his best friend Vlad becomes mayor so that they can make better City Wide Emergency Ghost Invasion Plans. Jack is the guy who will forgive anything in canon (even if he needs bribing with food), so he should also be the guy who cares even when he doesn't have the power to change things.

Danny should see these facts in stark relief. Vlad is extremely loving and supportive of his wife and therefore, vitally, redeemable. Maddie is unrestrained genius and prejudice. And Jack is pathetic, sure, but still trying his best and not giving up despite the shitty situation he's in. And take that lesson, along with the contaminate information, back with him.

Not only does it up the stakes of from the original version of "Masters of All Time", but it also makes Jack, Maddie, and Vlad into actual characters and not just archetype props in Danny's life.

[consistentsquash]

5 meta recs!

Some meta recs because we have lots of interesting/relevant meta.

1. Fiction Works 1/2: Different Strokes for Different Folks and Fiction Works 2/2: Storytelling, not Teaching or Preaching by @danpuff-ao3

The two posts are totally worth reading/framing on the wall/preserving in The Library of Congress. It's essentially Fandom 101. Also Life 101. But it's something a lot of folks forget. Danni goes incredibly incisive in the two posts. She looks at the basic problems and zooms out to look at what's the real point of creating a story? What are the limits? What does it mean to feel something is problematic? It's a super uncomfortable read because it's talking about things with more clarity/detail than just the normal vague words we are used to seeing on proship posts. Love, love, love these two essays. <3

Right off the bat, I feel the need to clarify that I understand there are portrayals in fiction that can be troublesome, and sensitivity readers are a boon. However, even here there seems to be too firm a hold on what “should be.” This does not take into account that everyone is different.

People accept this in a vague sort of way. “Dave likes football, and Carrie likes soccer.” This goes beyond people having different favorite colors, or different skin tones. We are all born with different bodies, different genes. We are all born into different circumstances, and are raised differently. We are all molded into different people, and have different preferences, and choose different life paths.

What people also fail to take into account is: the world is a big, crazy place. All sorts of things are possible. How probable they are is another question, but “probable” matters less than “possible.”

 

2. Don't Quit Your Day Job, AI by @squibstress

AI!!!! So I have been following a lot of AI news about how it's going to replace actors, designers and other creative jobs. Also a lot of fandom posts about fanfic/fanart created by AI getting posted on AO3 and also about authors/artists locking their works because AI is using them to improve. Squibstress did an investigation for what I really, really cared about.

So, okay. We know AI is already writing copy and fiction, but the real question, the important question, is: Can it write fanfic?

To find out, your intrepid reporter made an account on ChatGPT and gave the bot two simple fanfiction prompts.

Love, love, love.

[. . .] I use way too many smirks and rolled eyes in my Minerva/Severus fic.

That's how Minerva/Severus works! I need smirks and rolled eyes in my Snagonagall!! Definitely going to stick to Squibstress and Jane Austen for my reading diet for now. Sorry, AI <3

  3. Laughing, Crying, Killing Myself by eldritcher

Fandom has like two big problems now. Ok that's really simplifying things. But AI and antis. Eldritcher has a lot of super clear insights about fandom and why some type of cults/mobs happen here. We definitely know this but it's the type of message which is good to repeat a lot. Cult stuff is scary.

So many who came to fandom and similar creative spheres in the last decade have only known belonging in cliques that are one turn away from becoming mobs. They haven't had the chance to explore discomfort in creation that goes against the norms of their clique, because it endangers belonging and often endangers more than merely belonging because of how dependent they are on the validation of the group what with little support available elsewhere outside. It is tempting to think these mobs are only prevalent in circles that are against shipping or slash or kink or anything seen as transgressive by some consensus, but that's harmfully reductive. Ostracisation via pitch-forks are as present in the bastions of those who ship the most transgressive ships as they are in the bastions of those who don't. The mob is a weapon and all factions have learned by now how to weaponise it to vanish those they don't like.  

4. Heroes, Villains, and Blorbos by @danpuff-ao3

I kind of gave up on reading convincing Marauder group characterizations in Snape centric fics and convincing Snape characterizations in Marauder centric fics esp with the more recent fanon takes. But omg. I love those characters/potential. Danni's essay really, really goes into the reason why some characterizations don't work for me because she is spot on about identifying what makes those characters tick. Including their flaws. Flawed characters are sexy because they are human. Our fandom really really doesn't get that point about these characters a lot of times.

None of them were perfect. All of them had potential.

So much of their promise died in the war. They were all so damn young, and so deeply impacted. They all made grave mistakes. They all achieved great feats.

But what draws me to them all above all else is the horrible humanity of them. All of their virtues, and especially all of their flaws.

5. What is good writing anyway? by @danpuff-ao3

At this point I'm rambling, but the point is: how can any of us really judge what good writing is? Even if we can, how do we recommend what is "good" in a way that is fair, or in a way that will be well-received? But most of all, I sort of want people to think beyond the popular view of what is "good" because what is "good" doesn't matter so much as how much you enjoy it, and how it touches you and your life.

Really not sorry for triplereccing danni's essays. I read them in a binge this week and that got me inspired to do a meta post. So! Everybody needs to read them because they are really getting at the heart of a lot of fandom things we can identify with. This essay especially was so personal for me because of why I got into reccing. The fics I normally saw recced didn't work for me. Totally not a fault of the fics/recs. But I wanted to rec fics I loved. I feel those fics are definitely worth reccing because they made a big difference to me beyond just good writing by some definition. But also this is a really good read for authors who feel they are not good enough/comparing to other authors/feeling imposter syndrome. The readers that love your fics are really in love with those fics. For those readers your fics are the best fics in the world. Like Danni says because what is "good" doesn't matter so much as how much you enjoy it, and how it touches you and your life.

[picturejasper20]

Favorite DTVA antagonist and why?

DTVA shows have all good antagonists for most of the part. It's quite difficult for me to choose one. I would like to talk about Obake from Big Hero 6 the series since he isn't mentioned much.

Obake is the main antagonist from Season 1. He acts as a foil for Hiro Hamada and has a complex relationship with him. He represents what Hiro would be if he didn't think about the consequences of taking science to the extremes. If Hiro didn't have a moral system to guide him. Obake does experiments and uses science without having any moral code. He doesn't care if he hurts other people as long as he can get what he wants to prove. I think part of him thinks what he is doing is good. Part of his plan involved ¨creating¨ a better city based on his image. He believes that ¨science shouldn't have limits¨. This lack of morality comes from an accident that affected one area of the brain that helps people distinguish what it is good and evil. On one hand, it's a very interesting concept. On the other hand, i prefer him to have this ideas he has without having to have this condition? It feels more genuine for his character. Obake is strategic, cold, manipulative and he is always one step ahead of the main characters. I don't think that Disney TVA shows do this type of villain this often? Sure Belos and Andrias have a manipulative vibe to them. It's just not nearly as close as what Obake does to trick the heroes. In terms of his relationship with Hiro, he has an obsession with Hiro turning into a pupil of his. He wants the two of them to work together since Hiro is a kid prodigy like he was when he was younger. It's a bit like Vlad Plamius obsession with Danny in Danny Phantom, except this one would be more ¨Master-Pupil¨ dynamic.

He is a great villain. Its kind of sad that he perished at the end of Season 1. He was interesting. The other villains that followed for Season 2 were good. It's that they kinda fell behind in comparison to Obake.

[princeescaluswords]

McCall hunter Anon. I understand exactly what you mean when it comes to AUs that change the open and dynamic for everything. However I argue that the reason I myself don't like them too much is because folks that do such things don't think about the butterfly effect one has on everything else that comes next.

I love your take on it and yes the Argents backstory would be the same however you've given me a question I never thought to ask "why wasn't Scott trained?" I have my own answer for why Melissa gave up the life. But I never thought to ask about Scott and the answer would be he was the opposite of Kate. And on the spot idea would be that Scott was too pure. In a world of boys will be boys Scott idolized and took after his mom with he wanted to take care of people he wanted to take care of everybody even his hyperactive friend styles he took care of when injuries came. He mimicked his mom and her attitude when she was studying for her medical degree. And, Melissa looks at Scott and says I don't want to take taint this. As far as we know, as according to the Argents, females were leaders and men were soldiers. And, if he doesn't fit the roles of either then why not make him something different; a healer.

Using your thoughts a dynamic that I now want to explore is Deaton. If Mel has the backstory that she has then that would mean she knows who Deaton is. What if Scott's whole Outlook on life to help everyone and job came from a change of heart hunter and a heartbroken emissary? Such a thoughts, both minds and yours, I feel wouldn't change the story but it would change\depend the dynamic of a few people.

For me, I always prefer the simple answers. When it comes to "why wasn't Scott trained the way canon Allison was?," Occam's Razor suggests that regardless of what type of Hunter the McCall's would be, Scott's asthma would be an obstacle. Unless you want to make the McCall parents as bad as Gerard, they're not going to ignore the fact that it would not be very good if a hunter has an asthma attack in the woods in the middle of the night. I'm sure that there are other roles an asthmatic Scott could play in a McCall Hunter AU, of course, but it remains a valid possible reason for him not being trained.

I want to push back on any description of Scott as pure. I don't think you meant it in the way it's usually taken, but it is still a dangerous idea to me. Canon Scott is not so much different than any other teenager in the show: Stiles, Jackson, Danny, Lydia, Isaac, Boyd, Erica, etc. He's ambitious to make first line, to make something happen in a life he sees as 'sitting on the sidelines'; while he falls in love with Allison, he is definitely lustful; he is resentful of his father's absence. Melissa may have encouraged him to be compassionate and courageous, but he's not inherently better than any of his peers. When it comes down to it, he's the heroic protagonist because he makes better choices according to his own judgment.

"Purity" as a trait in fiction appears as often and can be as damaging as "destiny"; they become shorthand for "the hero is the hero because he was always meant to be the hero and thus has an advantage in being better." Which means, of course, that those who aren't heroes were never meant to be the heroes, and thus somehow have a disadvantage. I feel this is what leads parts of the fandom to dislike Scott because they, wrongly, feel that his role as heroic protagonist means their favorite character is supposed to be seen as inherently bad. (For many, this offends their racism.) This isn't true. Scott not only could have chosen wrong but he sometimes did choose wrong. He's the hero because, in the critical moments, he decides to do the right thing. For example, he had every reason to listen to Stiles and abandon Derek to his fate in Formality (1x11), but he didn't. He needed to save Allison, and no matter that Derek had just betrayed him to Peter and just tried to kill Jackson, Scott believed that Derek was the type of person who would help him.

But pushing back against "purity" also means I have to look at Scott's relationship with his mother. I don't think we're supposed to take Melissa as some sort of perfect parent. She's not portrayed as such. She's never shown as uncaring about Scott, but she is significantly detached from his life, even during Season 1, in a way that no other parent (aside from Corey's) is indicated as being. I feel this is a function of class and narrative necessity, considering how much her work is empathized. Fandom makes a joke about Melissa doing everything at the hospital, but I don't think we're supposed to dismiss it. Melissa always being at work isn't laughed off by the narrative and that makes her distant. Unlike the Sheriff for example, she has no idea that the sacrificial ritual is causing her son any problems. She misses Scott's uncharacteristic aggression toward Isaac and is confused by Scott's lack of control in Anchors (3x13). And what's more telling is that even after these situations -- she never follows up. This never changes. The scene at the start of Creatures of the Night (5x01) demonstrates this. Scott isn't "pure" because Melissa is always there for him; he makes good decisions despite Melissa being involuntarily neglectful.

I push back on this because of the way parts of the fandom try to insinuate that Scott didn't earn the True Alpha status or even something like a positive relationship with his friends. Or that he was given special treatment instead of the bullshit he was put through. It would have been very easy and justified for Canon Scott to have actually hated Derek enough to leave him to his well-deserved fate, and very easy and justified for Canon Scott to have let the Knowledgeable Adults have their way and execute Void Stiles, and very easy and justified to spend the ten episodes after Status Asthmaticus (5x10) waiting for himself to heal and let other people deal with the Doctors, the Beast, and Theo. But he didn't. And it's that choice, not any inherent quality, that makes him the heroic protagonist.

[mysterious-prophetess]

My own **personal** thoughts on “Phantom Planet.”

As a fandom vet, I will state outright that I watched the whole run of Danny Phantom as it aired because I was actually in the target age group AND I was  the same age as Danny when the show premiered (well a few months younger actually since it premiered in April and my 14th birthday wasn’t until September).

Suffice to say, this show is something I’ve always loved.

I can remember being a bit disappointed with “Phantom Planet” because

A) this was the end of a show that I thought needed more seasons and

B) it felt so off and rushed.

Then again, with Season 3′s dip in quality, that was a common feeling for me.

I remember not liking the “reveal his ID to the world bit” but I was easily distracted by the fact Danny and Sam got together (I might be a non-shipper as an adult, but as a teen, I shipped Danny and Sam pretty hardcore).

I feel like I personally prefer to ignore “Phantom Planet” because (to me) it feels like a narrative dead end and just doesn’t match the better parts of the show.

Now, can Danny being outed a hero be narratively interesting? Yeah. The Fantastic Four proved that long ago.

It’s just something that I never thought was a good idea, or if it was a thing, it needed to be handled with the narrative weight such a shake up deserved vs the sort of “so, that happened, we all cheered, hooray!”

Remember, these are my feelings and those indicate that it might have been better for Danny’s parents to find out, but not the whole planet.

There’s just a lot of crap they shoved in that felt out of place. The other big episodes—”Reign Storm,” “Reality Trip,” and “The Ultimate Enemy,” all felt far more integrated to the show. Mostly because the threats there were ghosts or ghost artifacts and had call backs/connections to the main series.

My thoughts are a mess and all over the place, but I am now many years removed from that initial watching of the Series Finale, so bear with me to a degree.

Basically, I guess I ultimately choose to ignore “Phantom Planet” (and enjoy fan works that also do so) because it just didn’t work as a series finale for me and the show (and characters) deserved so. much. better.

[omori-aus-archive]

Omori: Marvel Knights/Midnight Suns AU

Okay. So I'm in a Marvel kick atm, thus I decided to make this AU prompt. Also, this is an AU for my OC too, so Erika will have a major role.

Setup

So, this starts off similar to how I wrote Erika in her bio. However, after the accident, Erika desperately attempts to find ways to bring Mari back and repair her family.

She has been able to communicate with her, but chooses not to tell Sunny, due to concerns regarding on how he'll react. That said, he finds out anyway in secret.

Erika, Mari, and Sunny are completely unaware that demonic forces are watching them. A demon appears before Erika, promising to teach her a ritual to give her exactly what she wants, at the cost of her becoming a Spirit of Vengeance.

Erika chooses to take the risk, having reached several dead ends in a row.

Two years after the accident, Erika finally has a ritual to bring Mari home. She performs it, willingly becoming a Spirit of Vengeance to save Mari...and Mari returns to life as if she never died....

...Only for the reunion to be short-lived as Sunny's taken from the two sisters.

One month later, Erika teaches Mari the same ritual, only for it to fail, forcing Mari to share Erika's curse.

This ultimately leads into them becoming heavily depressed, which only fuels their anger and hatred towards Hell, sparking desires for revenge against it.

GHOST RIDERS/SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE

Erika

The oldest sibling of her, Mari, and Sunny. Takes Johnny Blaze's role. Became a Ghost Rider in an attempt to resurrect Mari. She succeeded, but at the cost of Sunny, which kickstarted her path of vengeance. Mari becoming a Ghost Rider only added fuel to the fire, as Mare now shares Erika's curse.

Erika solely blames herself for everything, thinking that she should've been home on the day of the accident, believing she could have prevented it entirely.

Is a biker for BACA. Personality is similar to what I wrote for her in her bio, with some Johnny Blaze in there.

Mari

Died in an accident similar to canon. Believed in Erika's attempts to bring her home, only to be heartbroken at the loss of Sunny. After her resurrection, Mari begged Erika to teach her the ritual that made her a Ghost Rider in an attempt to save Sunny. Unlike Erika's attempt though, it failed, due to her having died once before.

Mari now shares Erika's curse. She solely blames herself for what's happened.

Biker-in-training. Personality is similar to her Ghost/Resurrected Mari and H/O AU counterparts I made.

Unlike Erika, Mari is far more noble. Erika is a pure antihero, though she is respectful sometimes.

She is kinda inspired by Danny Ketch’s role as the Ghost Rider, but not much, if at all. Admittedly, I feel hesitant about giving her his role, given how writers like to make Danny a temporary villain sometimes for no real reason.

HALF-DEMONS/VAMPIRES

Hero

The more demonic of the brothers and the most morally-grey member of the group. He is conflicted between what he SHOULD do and what he WANTS to do. He believes that Erika is to blame for Sunny's demise and Mari's curse, which Kel is understandably angry about, as is Mari.

As such, he will be in conflict with Erika if Kel and Mari are not around. Of course, he won't succeed in his efforts, due to Erika being far stronger than him.

Kel

The more vampiric of the brothers. He struggles with his vampire instincts during full moons, super moons, and blue moons, so he has to sneak into a blood bank in order to keep himself in check. The last thing he wants is to be something he's not. He supports Erika and Mari's quest, albeit indirectly.

He doesn't want to get involved in their chaos to the point where he'd only get in their way. Is frustrated by this and Hero's morally-grey path, which has sparked some bad blood between the brothers.

MUTANTS/MAGES

Aubrey

The Mutant of the group. She's a combination of Magik (yes, this is an actual X-Men character) and Wolverine. She has some knowledge and capabilities in sorcery, but prefers brute force and her claws. She is similar to canon, but has some Logan in her. She couldn't bring herself to resurrect Sunny, believing that she'd fail regardless.

She doesn't blame anyone but the unfairness of the universe in general. To her, life is unfair to everyone and if it weren't unfair, terrible things would never happen to anyone.

Basil

Basil serves as the Doctor Strange of this AU. He is more or less similar to most HIKKI/OMARI-type AU versions of him, but he is less resentful in general. He's just sad at how powerless he feels, which is why he picked up sorcery. He tried many times to bring back Sunny on his own...and failed every time.

Here, Basil blames no one but his own powerlessness.

About Sunny....

So, I honestly don't know what I wanna do for Sunny. I know I want him to have a major role, but I don't know what characters he'd fit with.

Currently, the idea is that he'll be brought back, but under the influence of someone else....

Whether that be Dracula bringing him back to become essentially Morbius, Khonshu bringing him back to become his Moon Knight, or Sunny being resurrected to become a Ghost Rider by the forces of Hell.

Still up in the air atm.

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

I feel like this is a problem with a lot of morally questionable characters in fiction (referring back to the ask about abusive Maddie and Jack). You get this character who is deep down a good person, or at least is trying to do good but does bad things. On the one hand, yeah they need to be called out for their actions and I don't want excuse them, but it's just so exhausting seeing this complex (or at least potentially) character reduced to a mustache twirling villain with no redeeming qualities. I want to see the real Jack and Maddie get called out and have to struggle on the road for redemption. I wanna see them comprehend all the wrong they did and break down (that sounds a but sadistic but you get what I mean).

there is absolutely somewhat of a problem in fandom cultures of whittling complex characters down to simplistic tropes, and definitely with morally questionable characters either being labelled as 'precious snowflakes who must be protected' or 'evil incarnate' when canonically they are actually neither

morally grey characters are some of my favourites because nobody in this world is perfectly good or perfectly bad, everyone lives in the grey somewhere, everyone has at least some good AND bad qualities, morality is a spectrum after all, and characters that toe the line right down the middle are absolutely fascinating to me

because depending on circumstances sometimes you want them to redeem themselves and sometimes you want them to go apeshit

one of my absolute favourite tropes is the 'redeemed villain becomes weird antisocial friend' trope, I love that, give it to me, I will eat it up

another favourite is 'villain turned anti-hero that you aren't 100% certain aren't still up to something, but they seem to be on your side at the moment and you actually really need their help' that one is SUPER fun

another favourite of mine is 'hero who has been treated like shit their whole life fucking snaps and goes absolutely feral' that is some GOOD fucking soup

I think a lot of the time when people get really intense about liking or hating a character it's because they've gotten personally invested, sometimes they project their own issues onto these characters

maybe they really identify with a morally grey character and that's why they decided to defend that character to their last breath because they feel like they are defending themselves

alternatively a lot of people will project their own trauma onto certain characters that remind them of their abusers (which can often be the case with morally grey parent characters) and so will be completely intolerant to anyone who tries to defend these characters in any way

but if you can avoid pushing your own issues onto other people's interpretations, then there really isn't an issue with how you choose to perceive these characters

if you want to whittle a character down to a simplistic base personality because it brings you joy or some kind of catharsis then hey go ahead and have fun 👍✨ that is your right and you should enjoy yourself

but I won't pretend there isn't an issue in many fandoms (especially big ones) where these sort of characterisations reign supreme to the point of people being harassed as 'apologists' for looking at a commonly perceived 'evil' character and trying to find some nuance

personally, I'm not a fan of Danny being a perfect precious bean, I want this boy to have faults and flaws, I also like seeing Vlad showing some redeeming qualities, it makes things interesting

and my personal preference for stories is that they are interesting

but some people just want tooth rotting fluff or just want to talk absolute smack about a character they don't like, and that's also fine if that's what you like

there are definitely exceptions to the rule, and there are certain tropes I cannot tolerate and will block people who use them, but I'm also aware that I have my own trauma that impacts my decisions, I have no intention of personally harassing anyone who writes things I find detestable, but I also have no intention of interacting with them and that's also okay

it just always comes back to live and let live, and not always making assumptions about a person's personal morality because of how they choose to write a character, and if you can't help but make those assumptions, block them and move on

[halfagone]

What would Danny do for work?

I have a quick question to my fellow Danny Phantom fans... When you imagine Danny picking a career/job, what do you headcanon for him? And this is if he can't- for whatever reason- be an astronaut. This is a hypothetical question, it's not- like, going to affect any of my stories in the future or anything *chuckles nervously*

For me, it's always depended on the headcanon I choose for any particular story/AU. But that gets complicated when I have multiple headcanons that could offer opportunities for him.

For example:

Astrophysicist/Aerospace Engineer - He can't be an astronaut, but that doesn't mean he can't still do some kind of work that involves his love for space.

Engineer - In a similar vein, he could be a regular engineer. Especially if he takes after his dad, Jack, more and maybe even creates his own prototypes and inventions.

In a subset to engineer, in my story weekend wonders, Danny is majoring in biomedical engineering. This is because in this AU, the accident gave him chronic pain, and that's how he gained an interest in this field. This could also work great if he gets attention from the Justice League in a DP x DC crossover, or the Avengers in a DP x Marvel crossover; Danny could just as easily work with heroes who have disabilities or chronic pain from many decades of work as heroes. It helps that he personal experience with the same struggles, after all.

Translator - If you headcanon that Danny can understand a lot of languages (or maybe even them all) due to ghost speak, then Danny could totally use this to his advantage with work. Plus!! This offers many different avenues that could be used to your advantage. Want Danny to be connected to the UN in some way before debuting as Ghost King? Have him be a translator that works there. Want Danny to be busy often with his royal responsibilities/ghost fighting? Have him be a translator; he can work remotely or stay self-employed/on contracts.

Teacher - Danny doesn't have great experience with educational staff, so I could imagine him going into this field of work due to nothing but spite. And! He could teach ectobiology, or just ghosts in general. He could do so many topics: Biology, government, history, hell he could do a whole semester on how physics work in the Ghost Zone.

Blacksmith/Ironsmith - Okay, this one is more self-indulgent, but imagine if Pandora teaches him how to fight with a sword and then he gets obsessed with the sword itself that he wants to make one that's perfectly suited for him and this just dominos into going full-blown into this field. (Trade skills are still important, and sadly, don't get as much attention even when they can usually offer fairly decent pay without the thousands of dollars worth in student debt.)

Writer/Author - If you wanted him to be more artistic, he could be a freelance author/novelist or something similar. I feel like being an author would be one of the better choices for him because, again, if you were writing a story where Danny would be busy with a lot of other responsibilities, then he could largely work on his own schedule. Plus! I can totally imagine him hanging out in Long Now with Clockwork when his head is just full of ideas for a story but he wouldn't have the time to write it otherwise. So he kind of uses Long Now to get that time, but he can promise it's for a good cause, stop laughing, Clockwork!

Actor - I really love the concept of Danny being an actor, just for the laughs if nothing else. While this could be a pain if Danny does actually get famous, since that's a lot of media he would probably prefer not to deal with, the concept alone offers a great deal of shenanigans. And... if he does get a good movie deal, he could very well be set for life afterwards. He could be one of those one-hit wonders in television or something.

If anyone has other possibilities, feel free to add! My head is constantly spinning with even more ideas, I might just add some myself.

[dani-halfa]

Danny Fenton appreciation post

Danny as protagonist is a very interesting character. He's a complex teenager with both virtues and flaws. Throughout the series he learns how to control his powers and the responsibility that comes with having them.

On the surface, Danny is your average teenager: He likes hanging out with his friends, wants to fit in, likes to have some fun every once in a while and is a bit impulsive.

One defining characteristic of Danny is how he's struggles with his own insecurities. He's not very popular at school and is often the target of bullying, specially from Dash who frecuently teases him in the series.

One of the reasons Danny is considered "weird" by his classmates is because of his parents: They are ghosts hunters. They sometimes embarrass Danny in front of his peers without meaning to. This has lead him to have a few arguments with his dad like it was shown in 'A million dollar ghost'.

His own insecurities sometimes cause problems with his friends as well. For example, in "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" he left his friends behind to hang out with the 'popular kids', who didn´t care too much abou him.

Danny dumps on himself many times during the series, in 'My Brother's keeper' he describes himself as a "screw up" and believes he's loser:

"Great, he (the ghost) got away again. Another ringing endorsement for the town screw-up." (Blaming himself for not being able to catch the ghost)

He also has a complicated relationship with his ghost half. He thinks he's a freak of nature because of his ghost powers.

Spectra: "What are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?"

Danny: "Both! Uh...neither! I don't know."

Spectra: "You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy! Who cares for a thing like you?"

He's usually very afraid of people finding out about his secret identity as a ghost. Since ghosts are seen are evil in Amity Park he's scared that they would not accept him or would try to hunting him.

One of his deepest fears is his parents finding out about his secret and trying to run experiments on him. He knows that his parents will "accept him no matter what" but he still can't help being scared everytime he hears them talking about dissecting ghosts.

'Identity crisis', while a funny episode, it's very important for understanding Danny.

In this episode Danny separates his superhero ghost half from his human half. In one scene we get this exchange between ghost Danny and human Danny:

Ghost Danny: "And that's the sort of irresponsible attitude that makes you such a disappointment to our family".

Human Danny: Uh.. hello. Not our family. My family. You're the full time superhero, remember?

Keep in mind that they are both part of Danny's personality which means:

1) He thinks he's a "disappointment" to his own family.

2) He sees Phantom, his ghost half, as a different person. He thinks that 'he' doesn't belong to his family. This must come from the fact that his own parents don't know about his ghost identity and thus, Danny doesn't consider Phantom a Fenton until his parents accept him for who he is.

When it comes to be the hero, Danny thinks it's job to protect Amity Park,even though no one asked him to carry the burden of such heavy task.

He sometimes blames himself for things that are out of his control or weren't his fault to begin with. He thinks that its his responsibility to fight evil ghosts from harming any humans.

A few episodes focus on him learning how to use his powers with responsibility and not taking advantage of others. 'Reign Storm' is mainly about him choosing to use his powers to stop the Ghost King instead of using them to get back to people he doesn't like.

Danny:"All of my enemies. Everything I thought I could handle, but couldn't."

Tucker:"Dude, you can't blame yourself for this. It's not your fault."

Danny:"Maybe not. But it is my responsibility."

Danny really cares about his family and friends. He would do everything he can to protect them from getting hurt. In the episode '13' it was shown that he´s very over protective of her sister Jazz, as there was a ghost who was trying to trick her into falling in love with him.

Aside from learning to overcome his insecurities and becoming more responsible, overtime Danny learns that not every ghosts is completely evil and some of them can be friendly.

A good example of this is when he meets Cujo in 'Shades of Gray' and helps him with finding his toy that he lost when he was alive. In 'Public Enemies' he befriends Wulf, after freeing him from Walker, who was keeping him prisioner.

It's worth of pointing out that Danny knows there are times to talk and times to fight. At the start of the series he usually prefers using his fists first before asking questions but as he matures, he starts to see when it's better to solve conflicts when fighting is not necessary.

Another flaw he has its that he's a bit short tempered. He often lets he temper get the worst of him, which makes him have arguments with his friends and not think things straight. But,to be fair, his life is a bit difficult: having to fight ghosts at night, getting late for school, being bullied and not knowing how to manage his time must be exhausting for a teenager. It's not suprising he's bit moody in some episodes.

For my last note i think it's important to talk about talk about his rivalry with Vlad Plasmius as their relationship in the series is quite interesting.

In a way, Vlad exists to remind Danny of everything he shouldn't be. Vlad prefers to use his ghost powers for his personal gain. He cares very little about how his actions affect others. He sees people as their pawns. He usually manipulates them into doing what he wants.

Vlad sometimes likes teasing Danny about how they very alike, and in part, that's a bit true, they are both half ghosts who gained their powers after an lab accident. They are unique, since there are barely more halfas outside them.

Danny has shown to be manipulative when it comes to dealing with him. He knows that Vlad is very emotionally vunerable since he is desperate for Danny to become his ¨son¨. He takes advantage of this to trick Vlad and beat him in his own mind games.

In conclusion: Danny is complex character who grows into a confident superhero overcoming his own insecurities and flaws. He may not be perfect, nevertheless he cares about family and friends and it´s always going to be there to protect Amity Park.

[thepapergirlandthespiegelman]

Might stop reading Worm.

Content warning: bugs/insects/arachnids and related horror, body horror mention, miscellaneous violence mention, sexual violence/assault mention

My thoughts on the first ten arcs of Worm. (contains spoilers)

So, I finally got around to reading Worm. It was kinda big when I was in high school, and I still know some people who are/were into it, so I thought it was time that I gave it a serious shot. I did actually try to read it in high school once, but I couldn’t get into it and stopped reading after the first chapter. I tried to be a little more persistent this time to give it a fair evaluation.

When I started reading Worm this time around, I kind of just breezed past the warning at the beginning (“This story isn’t intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Worm a pass.”) I don’t consider myself someone who really gets triggered by media. I think it’s important to talk about stuff, including fucked-up stuff. It’s uncomfortable, but that discomfort is part of the point. I think it probably should bother you to read about terrible things, even fictional ones, given that those fictional atrocities almost always have real-world counterparts.

I think I vastly underestimated the amount of fucked-up-ness that is in Worm. When I read that warning, I thought, “Okay, this story’s probably dealing with some dark themes, and there might be some particular scenes that are really disturbing.” After reading the first ten arcs, though, I feel it’s more accurate to say that fucked-up-ness is Worm. It is the core of the story, and there is really very little else.

So it’s not that any particular thing that happened in the story triggered an immediate, strong, psychologically-damaging reaction in me, but as I continued reading, I began to notice that not only was I not enjoying myself, I was actually finding it subtly unpleasant. When I read about something bad happening, I get hit with a small dose of negative emotion. As it turns out, that adds up over time, especially when there aren’t any positive scenes to balance out the negative stuff. Without me even noticing for a long time, Worm was making me unhappy.

Here’s what I did like about Worm:

Impressive world-building - Wildbow is exceptional at inventing different locations, groups, and individual actors and thus creating a detailed ecosystem of capes and civilians.

Lots of characters, lots of superpowers - Directly related to the previous point, Worm contains a lot of characters...arguably too many characters. I generally prefer stories that focus on a smaller number of characters in order to give each character more room for development, but I appreciate Wildbow’s talent for coming up with vivid, if simplistic, characterizations. There are also some really interesting superpowers and interesting takes on common powers.

Inventive use of Taylor’s superpower - Taylor is always coming up with new uses for her power: having black widow spiders spin silk for her suit, using her bugs are a sixth sense to keep track of her enemies and environment, using venomous bugs to take hostages, covering her body in bugs as a disguise, coating her bugs’ stingers in capsaicin for extra punch, using human-shaped swarms to fake out her enemies...The list goes on and on, and I really appreciate how Wildbow took this oft-overlooked superpower to the next level.

Danny Hebert - The only character in the story who I can say I genuinely like. Danny Hebert is a union organizer whose pet project is getting the ferry up and running again so that there can be more interaction between the poorer and wealthier parts of Brockton Bay. I also loved the scene where he supports Taylor in the “mediation” with her bullies and their parents at school. Even if he was impotent, unable to protect her, I could tell he was on her side. His one screw-up is when he locks Taylor in the living room and tries to force her to talk to him, but it definitely makes sense with his character (a little bit of a pushover) and the story (Taylor was shutting him out and seemed to be putting herself in danger) that he would end up letting Taylor’s grandma convince him to take a forceful approach. Don’t get me wrong, locking up your kid is a horrible thing to do (I should know, my parents did it to me, and it fucked me up), but I still ended up feeling bad for him when Taylor just up and disappeared. She didn’t even call her dad to let him know that she was still alive after Leviathan! I mean, on the one hand, I do actually appreciate that she started making an effort to protect her father from the dangers of her cape life, something that I was kind of appalled to see that she never even considered before. But damn, did I feel bad for Danny.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

Way too much fucked-up shit happening - Name an atrocity, Worm’s probably got it. The plot is mostly just terrible thing after terrible thing and reveals of how terrible all of the characters are, with many terrible things that aren’t directly treated in the plot peppered in along the way.

Lots of capes, no heroes - This is one of those themes that sounds deep on paper but is really just cynical and fatalistic. Even if all the capes are corrupted by power (or by the toxic power dynamics between capes), what about civilians? Where’s the thoughtful therapist or the brave fire-fighter? Danny Hebert is one notable exception to the “Everyone is terrible” rule, but we don’t see all that much of him. Other than him, the only person I can think of who could possibly fit this “civilian hero” role is Aisha’s social worker, who I don’t think even has a name.

All superpowers are evil - This is arguably just a rephrasing of the previous point, but I think it’s important to mention. Worm contains so many superpowers, but it seems like they’re all being put to evil purposes. Panacea, the superheroine with healing powers (really just dominion over health and illness of the human body in general), makes some really despicable threats (e.g. giving someone cancer with a touch, or giving someone a disorder that will only manifest at an unknown time in the future, leaving them to anguish over their fate). Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing inherently wrong with writing a character using this type of power for evil ends. There’s a lot of interesting stuff to explore there, and I actually love that Panacea is a character that acknowledges the burden of having a healing power, feeling unable to take any time for yourself while simultaneously growing to resent those you feel obligated to help. My issue is not with Panacea but with the fact that literally every superpower in the story is painted in a negative light. It just feels absurd to suggest that, for example, someone like Gallant couldn’t use his power (carefully and thoughtfully and with consent) to heal people with emotional trauma. Superpowers in Worm are only for violence and conflict and crime, and I just don’t understand that. Again, the rogues form a token exception, but we rarely actually see them, and one of the first rogues we meet, Canary, is immediately subject to harsh and unjust punishment and never heard from again.

A misguided focus on only certain types of crime/violence - Worm deals with gang violence, robberies, and general chaos-inducing terrorism. It focuses on crimes perpetuated by working-class individuals and small to medium size illicit groups. There’s some commentary on state-sanctioned violence in terms of the corruption of the Protectorate and Dragon’s worries of having to obey a despot should one take over the government, but it’s not exactly framed in a way that highlights the struggles of the average person; the focus is almost entirely on capes. Worm doesn’t discuss things like wage theft, illegal rent hikes, or, dare I say it, the inherent violence of capitalism, which, while less flashy, are important problems with far-reaching consequences. It’s weird, and honestly kind of unrealistic, that there’s not a single anarcho-communist cape. Whether you agree with that kind of politics or not, it’s still a glaring omission if the setting of the story is trying to emulate real life. Again, Danny Hebert’s role as a union organizer and interest in restoring the ferry and reintegrating the city pay token attention to some of these ideas, but the vast majority of the story is unconcerned with addressing the source of, or solutions to, poverty and crime in Brockton Bay and the wider world of Worm.

So those are my thoughts. There’s a part of me that still thinks, “But so many people like this so much! Maybe it’ll get better!” I have a really strong drive to understand why others like the things that they do, to be able to share in their appreciation. But from what I’ve seen in a couple memes I happened upon, things are getting worse, not better for the world of Worm. And even if things start to resolve at some point, I’m not sure it would be great for my mental health to continue reading up to that point.

The breaking point for me, if you’re curious, was when a main character was just casually revealed to be a serial rapist. That wasn’t even the point of the chapter, it was just kind of thrown out there as an extremely-not-fun fact. So I was still reeling from that reveal while also experiencing all of the atrocities said character was committing in the moment, and after that was when I realized, “Hey, maybe this is not the kind of content I should be reading.” It even took reading a few more chapters into Arc 11 for it to really sink in, but I had this weird revelation of like, I get to choose which fictional worlds I spend my time in, and the world of Worm isn’t one I relish.

If you do enjoy Worm, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on what makes it appealing to you.

[matchupwithshy]

Hi, it's nice to meet you I'm Shy.

I'm the creator of this blog

I do matchups, Short Stories and Headcanons.

If you want a matchup, please Write out a nickname, preferred pronouns, and a bit about yourself.

(Example: Hey I'm shy I'm a female that is 22 years old and pansexual, I have two cats and love reading.)

If you want a short story or a headcanon please choose from the list of fandoms and ask politely, I will try my best to write one for you if I have the time.

Please remember to read my list of rules. Other than that, please enjoy my blog!

(Warning any NSFW Stories will not be on this blog and not on my other one @shythegreenskeleton

If you want Nsfw it will be on @shortstoriesbyshy )

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List of Fandoms I Will do matchups for.

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Undertale

Naruto

Black Butler

Creepypasta

Hitman Reborn

Ouran highschool host club

Harry potter

Inuyasha

Your boyfriend

Lord of the Rings

Five Nights at Freddy's / Security Breach

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List of fandoms I will do Short Stories or headcanons for SFW

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Undertale

Creepypasta

Your boyfriend

My hero academia

Inuyasha

Danny Phantom

Five Nights at Freddy's

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Rules *Please Follow them*

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I do not write noncon or gore, I don't mind writing about yandere characters but I will not write them touching someone without permission or killing others. I will never write about suicide or joke about it so please don't ask.

I do not write about minors in sexual situations please only ask for adults. I don't mind writing platonic stories or two characters dating each other but no NSFW.

Please don't be rude to me or anyone that is requesting something. I will block you if you're being a jerk.

If the ask is not safe for work or has cursing/violence/blood there will be a warning in the tags.

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I will be trying to make a complete list of characters for each fandom that I knew the best and will write for.

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Undertale (And multiverse)- Sans, Papyrus, Gaster, Muffet, Grillby

Black Butler - Grell, Sebastian

Naruto- Gara, Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten

Creepypasta- Jeff the killer, Ben, Eyeless Jack, Masky, Toby, Hoodie, Laughing jack, Jason the toymaker, Slenderman, Jane the killer

Hitman Reborn- Fon, Skull, Lal Mirch, Viper, Reborn, Xanus

Ouran highschool host club- Takashi, Kyoya, Mori, Honey

Harry Potter- Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange

Inuyasha- Kagome, Sesshomaru, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Narku

Your Boyfriend- Peter, Tk, Don, Lucy, Sarah

My hero Academia - Aizawa Shouta/Erasrehead, Yagi Toshinori/All might, Yamada Hizashi/Present Mic, Midoraya Izuku/Deku, Takami Kaigo/Hawks

Danny Phantom - Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Vlad Masters, Danny Fenton, Jazmine Fenton, Valerie Grey, Dan Phantom, ClockWork

Five Nights at Freddy (SB)- Freddy, Foxy, Chica, Bonnie, Monty, Moondrop, Vanny, Sundrop, DJ/Music Man

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Please stay safe out there and have a good day! 💚🖤💚🖤

[nebulize-my-mind]

So I'm kind of bored and have nothing to post, so I figured I'd throw up the old fanfic I wrote before I had a Tumblr. This post is going to be very long, so enjoy =)

All links go to AO3, though all stories are also available on Fanfiction.net if you prefer. The exception is the last link, which takes you to a story I only have up on Fanfiction.net (though I plan on changing that eventually).

How To Summon A Halfa (Without A Ouija Board) by Asey_the_Ghost (AO3) / LuckyNumeralThirteen (Fanfiction.net)

Rating: G

Fandoms: Danny Phantom

Characters: Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley

Relationships: Gen

Tags: Summoning, Summoning Circles, Cereal, How Do I Tag, 30 Minute Fic, Cross-Posted On Fanfction.net, Short One Shot

Published: January 15, 2021 (originally published Halloween 2020 on fanfiction.net)

Words: 467

Chapters: 1 (oneshot)

Summary: The title says it all

No Students Out of Bed by Asey_the_Ghost (AO3) / LuckyNumeralThirteen (Fanfiction.net)

Rating: G

Fandoms: Harry Potter

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew

Relationships: Gen

Tags: Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Minerva McGonagall is Done, boys being ridiculous, Rules What Rules, I Just Figured Out How To Tag, What am I doing, Cross-Posted on Fanfiction.net

Published: January 24, 2021 (originally published October 12, 2019 on fanfiction.net)

Words: 675

Chapters: 1 (oneshot)

Summary: In their defense, they just wanted a little fun...

What A Lovely View by Asey_the_Ghost (AO3) / LuckyNumeralThirteen (Fanfiction.net)

Rating: G

Fandoms: Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume's Book of Friends), Fukigen na Mononokean (The Morose Mononokean)

Characters: Natsume Takashi, Ashiya Hanae, Fuzzy (Fukigen na Mononokean)

Relationships: Gen, Ashiya Hanae & Fuzzy, Ashiya Hanae & Natsume Takashi

Tags: International Fanworks Day 2021, Songfic, kind of, Chance Meetings, First Meetings, Crossover, One Shot, Cross-Posted on Fanfiction.net

Published: February 15, 2021

Words: 1,219

Chapters: 1 (oneshot)

Summary: Sometimes the universe just decides you're not allowed to be lonely.

AKA, Ashiya Hanae likes to make new friends.

(Technically a songfic, uses the lyrics to the Japanese children's song "Toryanse")

Rating: T (Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death)

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia)

Characters: Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters (briefly), Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko

Relationships: Other/Not Listed

Tags: Canonical Character Death, Episode: s02e08-09 The Ultimate Enemy, Ultimate Enemy timeline, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dimension Travel, Time Travel, technically, Blood and Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, will update tags as I go, Slow To Update, Work in Progress, no schedule, Rating May Change, Cross-Posted on Fanfiction.net

Published: May 1, 2021 (originally posted October 10, 2020 on fanfiction.net)

Words: 1,131

Chapters: 1/?

Summary: He lost everything in the explosion. Then he lost himself.

Please read this note before considering the next fic

Note: The Magic In Those Eyes is a fic I've been working on for years, but hasn't been updated in a very long time. I do intend to finish it. Because I've been working on it for so long, there's a lot of parts that I would write differently now than I would back then. There's even some parts I'm embarrassed by and one in particular I wrote with very limited knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community at the time. I've learned and grown a lot since then but I'm owning my mistakes. If you choose to read, thanks, but please cut past-me some slack?

The Magic In Those Eyes by LuckyNumeralThirteen

Rating: T

Fandoms: Spider-Man + Harry Potter Crossover (also includes MCU Avengers, Spider-Man is a mix of canons and headcanons)

Characters: Peter P./Spider-Man, Harry P. (also includes all characters from the first Avengers movie)

Relationships: Not listed

Categories: Adventure, Hurt/Comfort

Published: January 22, 2019

Updated: March 15, 2020

Words: 90,420 (includes A/N's)

Chapters: 36/?

Summary: Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-man. Two heroes, two separate universes. But when Harry is tired of the constant betrayal and misery that is his life, he strikes a deal with Death and the two come together to help… wait, are those the Avengers? (Includes animal/human transfiguration, severe diversions from canon, and LGTBQ stuffs, such as slash)

Lucky's Fair Warning: There's a lot of very long rambling author's notes. The entire Avengers movie has been written into this story with virtually no changes to the plot. The fic is very trope-ridden and cliche at times. And there are LGBTQ+ themes that are handled poorly at one point but with no bad intentions, simply a lack of knowledge that has since been corrected. I may eventually get around to rewriting it, but I'm trying to finish the fic before I go back and make any changes to it.