#danny and nick: same hat!

[phanboyo]

The thing about being a fanfiction writer is that sometimes you find yourself researching proto-germanic civilizations and the characteristics of sarcophagi in the new dynasty of Ancient Egypt instead of paying attention in Chemisty cause you want to figure out how the lore would fit together for a crossover you may or may not write this century.

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - How Not To Resurrect A Half Demon Lord

@lexiepiper @Ghostfox_fuyu

Being both an adventurer AND technically a monster wasn’t exactly the best mix to avoid fights, so it’s a good thing Danny actually LIKED fighting even if he couldn’t exactly ‘go hard’ against humans to avoid, you know, KILLING THEM. Other adventurers though? Yeah they didn’t exactly enjoy fighting what they thought was a weirdly powerful dungeon spawn.

Danny runs, skidding across the ground on his claws, the scrapping sound is loud but nowhere near the volume of the explosion happening right behind him. His tail nearly gets nicked! He’s not happy, not one bit. “WOULD YOU STOP THAT!”.

The mage with a frankly obscenely large hat damn near growls at him, which hey, growling was Danny’s thing. “Silence! Foul demon!”.

For fucks sake! Like yes, he gets that he looks like a demon. He gets that. But could people please just stop assuming that he belonged to whatever dungeon he and they happened to be in? This place was a goddamn lava dungeon, he was an ice demon with a black and white theme! Use your brain! Why would a fucking ice demon be in a lava dungeon!

Which, to be fair, him going into a lava dungeon wasn’t exactly smart or using his own brain; but Sam and Tuck thought this one would get them some sick ass gear so off they went. Of course they wound up getting separated, and of course Danny wound up running into other adventurers with the same idea as his party, and of course they mistook him for a dungeon beast. That’s his classic luck right there, everybody!

Ramming one set of claws into the wall and climbing up the hot rock as fast as he can, channeling some ice to his palms to avoid burning himself, it also was making some super cool-looking mist sizzle off of the rock so that was a neat bonus.

The adventurers trying to annihilate him seem to agree, the dude in black armour muttering to another mage with super orange hair, “hey if I equip ice gauntlets you think I could do that, it looks cool as Hell”. The mage whacks him over the head, ha!

Danny snorts to himself, jumping on to a ceiling stalactite of solid hot magma, ow ow ow ow ow, stupid ice core, stupid Tuck and Sam dragging him into a lava dungeon, stupid him for jumping onto solid magma, stupid stupid stupid. Ugh. But Danny does what Danny typically does when presented with pain, quips, shouting down, “why don’t you give up if you keep misting me!”. Ha! Good one, self. Ow.

The armoured guy chuckles, “I love it when monsters have a sense of humour, makes it so much more fun”, and hurls a goddamn spear at him. Nice, Danny can do spears and show off a little.

Danny launches himself down, grabbing the spear in between his teeth, fangs making it easy to keep the spear in there, and uses the spear head stabbing into the ground below to allow him to basically land going face down before gripping the shaft with his hands and spinning himself into an upright position. Him yanking it out of the ground and spinning it dramatically, grinning meanly, “oh I love free gifts, how’d you know it was my birthday?”, it’s totally not, he’s just being an asshole.

Big hat mage scowling at armoured guy quickly, “nice going, Salient”, then glaring back at Danny. Okay so armoured guy is named Salient, weird but okay. She shoots a fire last at Danny, Danny bats it away with the spear head snickering all the while. Then the other mage hits him with a holy-blast, because of course she does, and sends him into a wall.

He absolutely dropped the spear. Damn. He wanted to add that to his collection, which sure was definitely something he wasn’t doing before the whole resurrection gone wrong crap happened and he some how wound up getting his human souls wires crossed with Hell itself. A fuck up of hellish proportions.

Him shaking off the burn and sizzle from the holy power, at least still being kinda human and alive would stop that shit from outright smiting him, just burned and hurt like a motherfucker. The biggest annoyance his holy sensitivity usually caused him was not being able to use holy based healing potions… which were the cheapest kind aka the kind his party usually used to buy. Demonic based healing potions were the shit for him though, especially since he never had to worry about them debuffing or cursing him.

Orange hair mage huffs, “damn it, that didn’t do it”, scowling, “this place has some seriously strong demons, we might have use a hearth stone if it keeps up like this”.

Danny sticks his hands out to the side, tail twitching, “or maybe! Think a little and realise I’m not from this freaking dungeon!”.

“As if we’d believe a snake tongued demon!”.

Okay that’s just rude! It took him a very long time to learn how to talk with a forked tongue and he had to put up with a lot of mocking from Tuck! He sticks his tongue out at the group before having to climb up a wall again to avoid some thunder bolts from big hat mage and an arch of fire from Salient’s sword. At least he’d learned not to throw solid objects that Danny could grab, progress; progress for them and not him specifically. A very unfortunate specific.

Danny sending out a bit of icy flames that glowed black with his demonic energy to destroy another flame arch from Salient while moving sideways across the wall, he hates this dungeon it’s too fucking hot, goddamn. Zipping up to the ceiling and smacking his claws and palms on it, sending out a powerful wave of pure cold to force the ceiling to start snowing, which of course turns into very hot burning rain by the time it gets down to ground level. The party starts screaming and ducking for cover, that was surprisingly more effective than he expected and he absolutely had not intended to basically rain down boiling demonic water on them. Oops. He figured the snow would melt but not to the point of becoming boiling hot! How much energy was his core expending just to keep him fucking cool in this goddamn hellscape?!?

Danny skittering his way across the ceiling and in-between a gap between a stalactite and the dungeon ceiling, shouting a quick, “not trying to boil ya! Sorry!”. As he goes. Maybe they’ll be too busy hiding to realise where he’s tucked himself away. That would be nice, real nice.

“What kind of demon says sorry!”.

Don’t quip back, don’t quip back, don’t quip back. He’s trying to hide and quiping will fuck that up… “MY SORRY DEMONIC ASS!”, ah goddamn it, why does he do this to himself? Unsurprisingly the stalactite his hiding above gets fucking shot at by a holy bullet. That’s… that’s not great. Those sucked to get hit by and he’d one hundred percent need to be resurrected again if that shit hits his core enough times. But hey! Maybe that would un-demon him! Stupid plan, but hey! At least it is a plan! Plus that did not work when he accidentally fell into a pit of pure holy water. That had been the worst.

The stalactite gets shot at again, this time piercing through it and skimming his shoulder; him making his lip bleed by biting down to avoid yelping. Still hissing out a, “bloody hell”, though, because he could never just shut the fuck up could he? Also, he is officially panting, because it is too fucking hot here and his breath is making a bunch of mist aka giving away his spot more than his stupid quip did. Fuck him entirely.

He’s got three options:

One: start killing adventures like a proper full demon.

Two: overheat and pass out, possibly falling into hard ground or a pool of lava only to be descended upon by adventurers who would definitely hit unconscious him with a holy attack.

Three: leave his hiding spot and start looking for cooler areas while avoiding getting hit or doing any major hitting.

Four: use a hearth stone to teleport out of the dungeon, seems like the obvious choice right? Except when Danny’s half demon ass did that he wound up in Hell every time and Sam and Tuck would have to go through the hassle of getting him back out of there. That crap always resulted in them having to track down yet another ice dungeon and use forbidden demon summoning magic. Meanwhile he’d go throwing hands with demons for however long it took his friends to get him. Not ideal.

Then it turns out that there’s actually a fifth option, a wall blowing up and sending his bullet hole riddled stalactite crashing down towards the ground and exploding in hot semi solid magma. OW! Danny sputtering and shaking himself off aggressively, “oh fuck! Bloody hell! Me damn fuck it! Stupid fucking lava dungeon! Stupid fucking adventurers! Where’s my teammates when I me damn need them!”.

“Shit since when do goddamn demons team up! We need to hurry this up!”.

Then there’s a very loud thump, Danny squinting his fucking burning eyes up at the noise, fuck yeah! It’s Tuck! Nice! The guy’s landed directly on top of the orange haired mage, pointing his fricken lightning cross bow right in her face. The Salient guy getting hurled into a wall by vines seconds later, and a few more seconds and said vines are on fire and brunt to a crisp.

The big hat mage jumping back from the newbies assaulting her group, “great, how many different kinds of demonic vermin does this dungeon have!”, her creating an explosion with electricity to make something of a smoke screen for her to grab Salient out of the hole in the wall the guy made.

But! BUT! That puts their backs to Danny, and Danny might object to killing people but he did not object to bruising them up some. Meaning he launches himself at them, grabbing the back of both of their necks, and slams them into the ground; using his tail to tie their ankles all together. He also grabs the hat mages hat with his teeth and eats the fucking thing as a probably insane looking show of superiority.

Tuck, not looking at Danny and still staring violently down at orange hair mage, “you good, Danny-man?”.

Danny growling, “I’m annoyed, burnt, and vaguely considered making y'all haul me outta hell again for dragging me to this shit ass place”.

Sam walking calmly through the destroyed wall and into where they all are, “honestly I hate this place too. My plant magic is completely useless and I wrecked my helm”.

Danny snorting, “ha! Serves you right!”, he gets elbowed in the chin by Salient for being distracted. But well, an elbow, even armoured, isn’t gonna do much to Danny, so he just growls down at the man while said elbow is being pressed up into his chin.

Tuck snorts at the scene, “I’d stop that, Danny’s an obsidian rank combat warrior”. The mage beneath him scowling, “that is a demon spawn or are you fucking blind?”.

Danny takes offence to that, demon wise he was on par with a demon lord! Not a freaking basic hell spawn! “Excuse you!”. But Tuck laughs at Danny’s expense, “that’s what you get for never fighting back, moron”. Danny sticks his tongue out at the guy.

Sam shaking her head as she walks over to Danny, “seriously, if they attacked you first who cares if you hurt them”, grabbing the unconscious ex-hat mage out from Danny’s grasp, shit he hadn’t actually realized he’d knocked her out. Whoops. Sam pointing a finger at Salient, whose elbow is still pressed into Danny’s chin, “you wouldn’t be holding your own for shit if Danny took you seriously”.

“Pfft, I could take him”.

The orange hair mage snapping, “are you serious right now?! You are literally being pinned down you idiot!”.

Danny nodding, “glad we’re on the same page on that”; rolling his shoulders as he can feel some of the burning healing itself, he’d be healing a hell of a lot faster if he wasn’t in this damn hot lava dungeon though.

Tuck rolling his eyes before staring down at the orange hair mage, “look. Danny’s an adventure, he literally has a license on him right now. The only reason he’s in this dungeon is ‘cause we heard there was some bomb ass equipment in here, same as you guys probably”.

Sam laughing a bit meanly as she gives the ex-gay mage a healing potion since Danny probably gave her a concussion, “Danny’s not a ‘hell spawn’ he’s a fucked up resurrection spell gone wrong”.

Salient snorting, “prove it! And how the Hell did that happen?”. Danny snickers, “hell happened”; Tuck moving his crossbow out of orange hair mages face specifically to shoot Danny with it.

“Ow! You jerk!”.

Unfortunately orange hair takes that opportunity to blast Tuck nearly point blank in the stomach with a holy blast, sending him smashing up into the ceiling. Oh Hell fucking no, attacking Danny was one thing, he was a demon-looking mother fucker and could take hits like a champ; attacking his friends was a whole ass nother matter. At least Sam catches Tuck with some vines as he starts falling down from the ceiling and Tuck wasn’t knocked out by the attack.

Still though. Danny is none too impressed. And he refuses to tolerate a repeat of that, so just as the orange haired friend hurting asshat gets herself up off of the ground Danny lets himself loose more than a little bit. Limbs extending, spines pulling up out of his upper back and shoulders, second set of kudu horns extending out, ribs cracking and expanding through and over his torso skin to settle into a bigger form, that stupid gharial crocodile skull boiling and forming out of and off of his head; him all but shoving orange hair back into the ground and pinning her there with a single hand. Slamming the other hand down near her face, using a foot to keep the Salient guy pinned. Danny snarling, snout opening right over the mages face, “shoot at me all you want but you don’t get to hurt what’s mine”.

Tuck’s shaking off all that holy power, grumbling about stupid trigger happy adventurers as if he wasn’t one himself and stomps over to fucking shoot orange hair in the face with some sand; her unable to do anything about it because of Danny.

Salient muttering, “holy fucking shit, goddamn”. While Sam stops over to him, Sam smacking Danny’s ankle, “give over your license, you demonic horror”. Danny huffing out an icy breath in orange hairs face, moving his tail to use the many little quill hair spines on it to grab out his license from his torso inside his ribs, slipping it into her hands, “thank you”, she shoves the license in the probable warriors face, “see? Adventurer. You really think Clementine would approve him without goddamn checking him and his bullshit out?”.

He grunts from under Danny’s foot, “fair ‘nough. You tryin’ to crush me here?”.

Danny huffing another icy breath, “maybe”. Sam smacks his ankle again so Danny, with a shrug, lifts up his foot and lets the guy up. Danny thinks some mild crushing is totally deserved in this case, even if that was maybe influenced by these guys hurting his friends and making him feel all possessive and shit. Demon crap could be so annoying; being in this hot ass place only making it more annoying.

Salient rolls over and sits up, rolling his shoulders, “ow yeah, definitely not a spawn, damn”, eyeing himself over, “aw man, you cracked my shoulder pad. License doesn’t look fake though so”, looking up at Danny, “bad ass ability though”.

Danny tilts his skull head at the guy before looking back down to orange hair, “you gonna keep trying to annihilate me?”.

“You’re a demon”.

“And?”, lifting the hand that isn’t pinning her and waving it around dismissively, “it’s only a by half thing anyway”.

Tuck chuckling down at her, “need I point out that Danny could absolutely just crush you right now? Yeah, okay, so he’s sorta a demon, and sorta dead and not dead, but he’s not confined to a dungeon or Hell and he’s an adventurer. adventurers run into weird shit all the time, it’s not his fault he is the weird shit”. The girl glares but sighs, clearly giving up, so Danny basically forces himself to compact, puffing icy steam everywhere. Tuck grinning, “so dramatic”.

Danny pointing a normal standard human length clawed finger in the guys face, “hey, if there’s one thing I do well, besides confusing people and myself, it is dramatics”; if he was gonna be stuck as some weird dead but not dead, from the afterlife Hell but not from Hell, then he can be an overdramatic asshole about it.

Orange hair gets up immediately and moves over to the still unconscious ex-hat mage, muttering, “good, they didn’t poison her or anything. Damn demon worshipers”. Oh for fucks sake, was it really that hard to understand that he was a good guy and just a weird but typical adventurer? Ugh. Plus! He’s definitely a higher rank than her, so rude.

Salient standing up and shaking himself off, shouting at his teammate, “Lily good?”; nice, Danny’s got another name.

Orange hair sighs, “yeah. They didn’t do anything to her besides knock her out”. Oh everyone’s a critic.

Danny rolling his eyes and huffing, “you say that like you guys weren’t trying to fucking destroy me. Again, you gonna keep doing that shit? ‘Cause I’m positive all three of us outrank you guys, we just don’t exactly want to start having to fucking kill people just because people keep thinking I’m a me damned dungeon monster”.

Sam shaking her head and moving to be over by Tuck and Danny, “at least they didn’t think you were the dungeon boss this time”.

“Oh Hell that had been such a pain”.

Salient chuckles and looks at him, “you make a lot of ‘Hell’ comments and shit”.

Danny shrugging with a smirk, “hey if I’ve gotta be slightly, vaguely, hell bound then I might as well take the piss outta it”.

Orange hair glaring at Salient, “seriously? You’re making friendly with it now?”.

Danny pouts, “hey, rude much”. While Sam and Tuck laugh at him meanly.

Salient shoves her, “chill, aren’t adventurers supposed to at least try to get along. At least he’s not another psycho paladin who's just using his god as an excuse to commit way too much murder”.

Danny’s entire little party nodding, “yeah fuck paladins”. Earning them a scowl from orange hair, “we all know why you demon-lovers wouldn’t like paladins”.

Then Lily groans a little, sitting up and holding her head, “well at least I’m alive”.

Danny snorting, “yeah I have a thing against committing murder”.

“That is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard a demon say”.

Danny pouts at her. He gets that demons have a terrible rap, an earned terrible rap, but cut a guy some slack will ya? It would be so nice if he could shapeshift to look fully human, he bets that in some other universe he definitely could and he is jealous of that version of him. Stupid fucker probably got all the super sneaky useful abilities. Like being able to turn invisible or something, that would have been so useful today. Ugh.

Lily looking to her party members, “so care to explain what’s going on here?”.

“Demon dude is a legit adventurer, licensed and everything”.

Orange hair just grumbles incomprehensibly.

Sam crossing her arms at the three, “I’m Sam, platinum rank herbalist and green mage. The one with the crossbow is Tucker, silver rank earth mage and gear smith. And the half demon, that you are to stop attacking, is Danny, obsidian rank combat warrior as already mentioned; he’s also a weapons smith and death magic apprentice. Yes he’s a resurrection spell gone wrong, he did it to himself somehow, but people screw up spells all the time so whatever”.

Danny shrugging, “I mean, typically they don’t screw up so impressively they fuck up half their genetic species but yeah”; Sam swats him one, expertly avoiding the horns.

Salient snorts, “you’re a death magic apprentice and you made your self half dead? WOW you suck”.

“Hey!”, Danny puts a hand to his chest, “technically it’s useful, this way I can actually go to one of the death planes now without slowly dying”.

Lily shakes her head disbelievingly, “ridiculous and inane”, gesturing at herself, “Lily, steel rank lightning high mage”, gesturing at Salient, “Salient, silver rank knight”, gesturing at orange hair, “Gemine, iron rank white mage and apprentice priestess”. Tilting her head, “why is an obsidian with a platinum and a silver? He’s three and four ranks above you two respectively?”.

Danny waves her off immediately, “eh, I was gold before the demon shit fucked my shit up. And I am the leader so it’s not that odd”. Sam nodding, “if anything it’s weirder that an iron is travelling with a silver”.

Gemine scowling, muttering to herself, “of course the demon is the leader, disgusting”. Lily cuffs her over the head, making the girl pout. Lily nodding, “demons are more powerful than the living so I suppose that is logical, and a lower rank priestess will best any higher rank warrior”, glancing around, “where’s my hat?”.

Sam and Tuck stare at Danny judgingly, him rubbing his neck, “I ate it?”; it was a heat of the moment thing okay! He makes really dumb decision when he’s put on the spot!

Salient nodding with a smirk, “yeah, it was pretty weird”.

Danny pouting, “I’m not paying you back for it”, twitching, “and can we get the fuck out of this hot ass place already?”, looking at Sam and Tuck, “if you found nothing good I’m gonna be so annoyed”. Sam rolling her eyes and digging in her bag, pulling out a little unassigned demon core. Yum! Him brightening up immediately, “oh nice! This was so worth getting shot by holy bullets!”.

“Danny!”.

“Dude what!”.

Danny grabbing the core and biting into it, much to the disgust of his unwitting onlookers, “eh it was just a shoulder nick and I am literally covered in lava and holy light burns so that’s kinda not what I’m focused on”. Basically dumping the demonic energy down his gullet with a happy purr.

Salient pulling a face, “wow that is disgusting, awesome”. Lily sighs tiredly before gesturing at Danny’s party, “so are we good to just go our separate ways?”. Danny’s down for that, his burns were healing much better now even if he was still hot as hell.

Sam crossing her arms, “depends on if you’re going to keep harassing Danny”; Danny’s just content to lick his chops in demonic satisfaction. Gemine pouting, “I won’t be able to vanquish him so fine, I won’t”.

Danny giving her a thumbs up, “that’s the spirit, now let’s get the hell outta this furnace before my core decides I deserve to over heat”. Sam and Tuck roll their eyes at him and laugh, Tuck patting his shoulder as they all turn to wander off to the exit. The other party of adventurers awkwardly heading deeper into the dungeon.

Danny stretching a little, going all demon always made him feel like his bones were all fucked up and needed a stretching, “so find anything else?”.

“Lightning bolt in a bottle”.

“Bone dagger. Lots of bone daggers”.

“Oh and a whole ass dragon hide, it’s in the dimensional pocket”.

“We did put all the random gem stones in there too right”.

“Uh…”.

“Damn it, Tucker”.

Danny laughs to himself, shaking his head. This day was some bullshit but at least they didn’t leave empty handed, and wasn’t finding treasure and getting to throw fist-a-cuffs the whole point of being an adventurer? Even if he’d rather be beating up dungeon monsters than constantly having to duke it out with other adventurers.

---

Of course they don’t even make it a full day before running into the very same party. At least this time they’re at the adventurers guild so there’s no way he’s gonna get attacked again.

Gemine blinking at Danny, “so you actually can leave the dungeon”.

Danny rolling his eyes, “yeah it’s almost like I was telling the truth or something”. Hell, he seldom lied about shit, people just thought it was all too ridiculous to be true.

Lily looks to the desk lady, quirking an eyebrow then gesturing at the demon in the room. Juhe blinking and smiling, understanding quickly, “yes the demon is welcome here, yes he’s an adventurer, no you’re not allowed to vanquish him, and no he’s not mind controlling anyone”.

Salient chuckles, putting a hand on his hip, “wow it sounds like this happens a lot”. Tuck shaking his head, “you have no idea”; before Sam goes up to make their report to the guild master. Technically Danny’s supposed to do that, being the leader and all, but head office had a barrier around it and they refused to take it down just for Danny’s sorry ass, meaning compromises were made.

Danny nodding at the guy, “anytime we go into a dungeon and run into a party that hasn’t met me before, it turns into a fight”, rubbing his neck, “which has earned me the title of adventurers bane since I keep basically having to beat down adventurers until they give up”.

Juhe nodding, “and he helps out the enforcers sometimes, since he can be quite the intimidating presence”.

“Boo, having a demonic aura isn’t my fault, and if just a simple demonic aura is enough to scare someone they probably shouldn’t be an adventurer”.

“You forget most adventurers do gathering quests and less dangerous dungeons”.

“Pah!”.

“You also forget that your demonic aura is that of a demon lord not a simple spawn or lesser demon”.

Danny’s only response to that is a pout.

Lily had been about to go up and make her own report, one foot stopping in midair, “that one is… a demon lord?”, and looks very concerned at Danny. While Salient grins to himself, “sweet, I got to fight a demon lord. Man that’s cool”.

Danny blinks, shrugging, “I was a wee bit miffed about suddenly being very literally in hell one time, not the time I fucked my resurrection up, and went demon killing happy. Two might have been demon lords and one was definitely a death god”.

All three look at him in shock, horror, or looking just plan impressed in Salient’s case. Lily shaking her head, “alright, you very well could have annihilated us”.

Johe glancing at some paperwork, “you three are silver, steel, and iron? Yes, you would not have stood a chance if taken seriously by him. He’s officially listed as obsidian, but he’s closer to iridium, which still stands as our highest class”.

Danny blushing, “aw shucks”.

“Don’t you ‘aw shucks’ me, if you’re that flattered then stop leaving your tail quills in the lobby wall”.

“Hey! It has a mind of its own”.

“It’s still attached to you, ain’t it?”.

Danny pouts at her, tail twitching near the ground, he’s half tempted to stab the wall with it just to be petty. He did petty very very well after all.

Lily shakes herself before finally going up to give her report; Danny absolutely hearing Sam whisper a threat at her, “Danny’s a lot nicer than the rest of us, don’t pull that shit with him again or else I won’t hesitate using a mind vine to make you break your party members”, as they pass in the stairway. He makes a point to roll his eyes disappointedly at her when she makes it down fully.

His friends were great but so over protective and possessive of him, it was nice but also a pain. She rolls her eyes right back at him as the three of them head out, waving bye to Salient and Gamine as more of a form of pleasantries than genuine fond fair-wells or whatever. They ain’t friends and weren’t gonna suddenly become them, something Danny was frankly fully uninterested in. He had his Sam and Tuck and was definitely not interested in sharing them.

End.

Prompts: Fantasy/rpg setting. Danny died, but the resurrection spell went wrong, and now he’s trapped as something not quite dead but not fully alive either. Not that he’d ever let that stop him from becoming an adventurer, even if he does get mistaken as a resident dungeon monster by other adventuring parties every now and then… Demon!au

[sixminutestoriesblog]

the yule cat

For most of us with cats, the worst thing we worry about come Christmastime is keeping them from utterly trashing our Christmas trees.

Iceland however has a whole other thing to be worried about when it comes to cats and Christmas.

To quote the title of an article by Danny Lewis in the Smithsonian Magazine (because it is far too perfect to not):

Each Christmas, Iceland’s Yule Cat Takes Fashion Policing to the Extreme

So, what is the Yule Cat and why is he in critiquing Iceland's Christmas clothes?

Freyja's cats aren't the only felines in town. The Yule Cat, the Jólakötturinn, also known as the Christmas Cat, is a gigantic cat the size of a house that roams the darkness of Iceland in the nights leading up to Christmas eve, peering with glowing eyes in through windows. What is he looking for? The Yule Cat is checking everyone's Christmas presents. Not for cans of tuna or kitty snacks. Oh no, the Yule Cat is looking to see who hasn't gotten any new clothes wrapped up and waiting for them.

No new clothes?

The Yule Cat will hunt the unfortunate victim down and tear them apart before eating them. (in other, gentler tales, he simple eats their Christmas 'portion' of dinner)

Still, seems a bit extreme a response to grandma forgetting to knit you yet another one of those hats with the pom-poms on top, doesn't it?

Still, that's the deal. Adults and children alike better be grateful for those packs of new underwear under the tree. Those socks are going to do more than keep their feet warm - those socks are going to save their life!

So, we've got to ask ourselves - why would new clothes be so important that folklore would come up with a monster enforcing them? Is it all a ploy just to make sure Johannes is grateful when he gets that ugly sweater instead of the toy train he was gunning for when he unwraps his presents?

Well, like most things in folklore, if you go back far enough, things get blurry. The first written mention we have of the Yule Cat is in a collection of folklore gathered by Jon Árnason in 1862. In it, the Yule Cat gets exactly one paragraph and a footnote. The footnote is the important part. It mentions a colloquial phrase of the time: "to dress the cat". 'To dress the cat' means to wear the same clothes over and over again, the idea being that cats don't change their 'clothes'.

There was also a tradition that household servants and farm workers that helped turn the season's wool into yarn would receive new clothes as a reward for their work. Those who didn't - didn't get new clothes. You can see how the Yule Cat would come in handy as motivation in this case. It also worked as a motivator for children to finish their chores in the same way, with good children getting rewarded with clothes and bad children being left as fair game for the Cat.

In 1932, Jóhannes úr Kötlum published a collection of poems centered around Christmas and one of his poems featured the Yule Cat. The Yule Cat's popularity soared and the monster soon found itself lumped in together with other Christmastime monsters from the book, becoming the pet of the evil troll, Gryla and ridden by one of her mischievous Yule Lad sons, tiny Stufur.

But wait - let's go back a bit further before we wrap this up. Because there's been some speculation that the Christmas Cat isn't just about new clothes. We need to go back, back to early St. Nick stories, when it wasn't so much Santa and his elves and reindeer. When St. Nick was, as so many winter myths are, only part of the story. Because you can't have good without evil, generosity without greed or light without darkness. Santa Claus doesn't come without Krampus in his shadow. Reward doesn't come without the threat of punishment. Krampus is only one Christmas monster but almost every region had their own version of a dark something lurking in Santa's footsteps. Perhaps, so the theory goes, the Yule Cat was once just such a creature, back when stories were still new at Christmas time and winters crept long and cold in the nights of the snow covered lands. For every saint, there must be a devil.

Which brings us to today. Because there are no stories about the Yule Cat skipping a meal because the child's parents were too poor to afford to buy new clothes.

Maybe the best way we can celebrate the Yule Cat stories today is by making sure no children ever have to think of him as anything more than a shadow that peers in their window - and then passes by.

[sydsaint]

Angelo Parker my beloved 💜

Summary: The reader is Daniel Garcia's sister. She is on a mission on Halloween night to finally get Angelo to notice her.

"Come on, Danny. At least try and look a little excited to be here." You frown at your little brother sulking at your side.

A sour look remains on Daniel's face. "This is dumb, Y/N. Remind me how old you are again?" He asks in a judgy tone.

"You flip around on a stage in your underwear in front of thousands of people for a living, Danny. So let's not get into who's the mature one here." You remind him with a grin. "And since when do you not like parties?" You add.

"Hey, I like partying as much as the next guy," Daniel replies. "This ain't nothing like that. This is a stupid costume party." He quips.

"Oh, get over it, Daniel." You roll your eyes. "You don't have to come you know?" You remind him. "You could always sit alone at the hotel and sulk all night with some booze and cheap candy."

Daniel grumbles to himself but knows that you are right. And when your boss and CEO of the company that's given you everything asks you to come to his costume party for Halloween. You go, regardless of if you want to or not.

Tony Khan's costume party is later tonight, so you've dragged Daniel out to shop for a couple of things you need for your outfit. And to find Daniel something to wear as well.

"Remind me what we're looking for, again?" Daniel asks you after you've been wandering around the mall for a while.

You pursue the racks and racks of various Halloween accessories in front of you. "I still need a lasso and badge to finish the outfit." You answer your brother. "I'm going as a wild-west sheriff, remember?" You remind him matter-of-factly.

"Right," Daniel grumbles. "So original."

"Oh, screw off, Danny." You roll your eyes. "Hangman offered to lend me one of his hats and I couldn't resist. Plus, I heard from Matt that Angelo has a thing for cowgirls."

Daniel scrunches his nose at the mention of his mentors in such a way. "Ew, Y/N, don't even start." He scolds you.

"Not my fault that your mentor is hot, Daniel." You shrug with a grin at the disgusted look on your brother's face. "If all goes right tonight, I'm gonna be playing cowgirl with Angelo Parker in more ways than one." You add.

Daniel gags and hurries off before you can bombard him with more horrid details on how you plan on seducing one of his friends and mentors.

You eventually find what you're looking for and head back to the hotel after Daniel manages to find a costume that he doesn't hate.

You spend the next couple of hours getting ready for the party before you head out with Daniel. Your sheriff look is complete with badge, lasso, hat, boots, daisy dukes, and shirt with a few buttons loose. Because if you're not dressing skimpy on Halloween. Are you really even celebrating the holiday right?

"Well well well, yeehaw cowgirl." Hangman runs into you on the way into the building. "Tha hat looks great on you, Y/N. I love the outfit." He compliments you.

"Thanks, Adam." You thank him with a grin. "The hat is a perfect fit. And I love your Powerpuff girl costume. Where are the other two?"

Adam chuckles and nods behind him. "Matt and Nick will be here any minute." He informs you.

You laugh at the thought of what Matt and Nick's costumes look like and head inside for the party. You weave through the crowd of your colleagues all dressed up in various outfits. Your favorite one is Orange Cassidy dressed up as Danhausen and vice versa.

"Woah there, sheriff." Matt Menard runs into you first. "I see that you took my advice on a costume for tonight." He greets you.

You giggle and nod, glancing around for Angelo at the same time. "Yep, thanks for that, Matt." You thank him. "Speaking of Angelo, where is your other half?" You ask him.

"I left him over by the bar." Matt gestures to the other side of the room. "He's dressed as a chip n dale's dancer." He informs you.

"Oh really, now?" You raise a brow at this interesting development. "Well then, I should be off." You go to dismiss yourself. "I've got a Chip n Dales show that I absolutely don't want to miss." You giggle and walk off.

"You go knock 'em dead, sweetheart." Matt chuckles and sends you on your way. "I'll make sure and keep your brother busy for you." He adds as you walk off.

You expertly weave through the crowd like a woman on a mission. It's easy to spot Angelo's broad and bare shoulders sitting at the bar so you walk up behind him.

"Stick 'em up, cowboy." You jam your fingers gently into Angelo's back.

You feel Angelo tense up at your touch as he swivels around in his chair. "Hmm? Oh, hello cowgirl!" His eyes widen a bit when he sees you.

"That's sheriff to you, mister." You reply with a fake look of seriousness. "And you sir, are definitely breaking all kinds of decency laws with that outfit." You toy with him a bit.

"Oh am I now, babydoll?" Angelo chuckles. "Because I don't think that I have ever met a sheriff wearing shorts quite that short." He grins at you with a sly smile.

You giggle and lean in next to Parker as close as you can get at the crowded bar. "That so?" You challenge him. "I'd watch your tone, sir. Or I might have to take you in for questioning."

"We talkn' a one-on-one interrogation here?" Angelo replies, clearly having fun with your little game.

"Just you and me, cowboy." You grin. "And this here lasso ain't seen any action all night." You tap the prop lasso fixed to your side.

A staring contest ensues and it's like all of the noise of the party fades away. It's just you and Angelo there for a moment.

"Well come on then cowgirl." Angelo grabs your hand and pulls you away from the bar. "Let's see if you know how to ride a bronco like a real cowgirl." He teases you.

"Yeehaw!" You laugh and swing your hat around as you're dragged off.

On the other side of the room, Daniel sees you being dragged off by Angelo and gags again. "Great." He grumbles. "Now I can't even go back to my hotel room tonight." He complains.

"You can bunk with me for the night" Matt pats him on the back. "I got a feeling that Angelo's gonna be busy all night." He chuckles, earning another groan from Daniel.

[falloutstasis]

200 years of crying and the words creep up inside

At this point, Nick and Nora didn't care about the no ghoul rule that Diamond City had. Hell, they were even lucky that Mayor McDonough was dead when he tried to escape justice from shooting Danny a while ago. He wouldn't have let Phoebe in Diamond City for sure.

Phoebe was safely curled and carried by Nick, sleeping in his arms, having Nora's black coat covered her entire body. The hoodie that Phoebe was mostly covering her face. Nobody has paid no mind to the three and they quietly went into the Valentine Detective Agency in the dead of morning, where the sun is just an hour away from rising.

"Made it." Nora whispered, closing the door behind her after seeing Nick enter with Phoebe inside.

Of course, Ellie wasn't here, because she was in her own home in Diamond City right now, sleeping.

Nick, oh so carefully, placed Phoebe on his bed that was upstairs and left the black coat on her as her blanket, tucking her in just a bit.

He left the upstairs room and returned to his desk. He plopped down on his chair and tucked his hat over his face, letting out a big intake.

"I can't believe this." Nora whispered. Nora knew Nick had a child because he showed her the same picture he held in his coat, but she never thought she actually find her. After 200 years?

"You and me both." Nick responded, he lifted his hat just a bit so his eyes were in view. "God, she must have been through so much..."

Nora couldn't even think or fathom what Phoebe went through. But she felt relief in the fact that now Nick and Phoebe were reunited back together. That brought a smile to her face.

"I'm glad you and your daughter are together now."

He laughed just a little, looking at the left over paper work on the desk. "My daughter. Right."

There was a slight pause between Nora and Nick. Nick didn't mean to come off that way. He felt like that was original Nick's daughter. Not Nick the Synth's daughter.

"What if she doesn't want to accept me as her father?" After all, he just meet her yesterday.

That question broke Nora's heart. "Nick, she just called you dad. That should be more than enough, right?"

"I don't know, Nora. I just...I have his face and his voice. Of course, she's going to have that reaction."

"Hey." Nora scooted her chair next to Nick's, then she put her hand on Nick's shoulder. "At least give this a chance. If things don't work out between the two of you, then when she's older-"

Nora had stopped, realizing what she was saying. "Well, technically, she is older, but the point being is that is still the same little girl before the bombs dropped. That's the least you can do for her, Nick. Don't give up on her."

From upstairs, Phoebe had her eyes open during their entire conversation. Through the 200 years she shouldn't have lived in the first place, she had been through some hardships. Made a friend that passed away, been kicked out of a town, been called names because she was a ghoul...200 years of staring at the world for a long, long time. It wasn't until recently that she finally got the chance to kill Eddie Winters. She didn't think it will lead her to her father's...her father...

She turned with her back facing the bed and staring up at the ceiling with all the emotional pain she still had.

She had no idea how the hell she was still alive.

[tumbling-darkling]

The boy who lived and the professor that didn’t (for the most part)

AO3

During Harry's second year at Hogwarts, a strange and unexpected man starts teaching his Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

(A Danny Phantom X Harry Potter crossover)

Chapter 1

Harry took a seat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, glancing over to Ron who sat beside him and then scanning the classroom for their new DA professor. He already met the man in Diagon Alley, blonde and very much interested in only himself. Harry shivered as he remembered being pushed towards him as people took pictures of the famous wizard and the boy who lived.

At least it wasn’t worse than a head of the dark lord growing out of the back of the professor's neck.

Well- Harry did thumb through some of the textbooks before classes started. He absolutely agreed with Hermione who was very vocal about the books- they didn’t actually seem to teach anything. Just spoke about the ‘many adventures of Gilderoy Lockhart’.

Maybe this will just end up being an easy class.

The door slammed open 15 minutes past the start of class, startling the students as they swiveled their heads to look at the newcomer, expecting Gilderoy Lockhart.

Instead a tall man with a slim frame and hunched posture strode into the room. He had messy black hair pulled in a very horrible and tangled loose bun with the remaining dreads lazily dangling at the man's shoulders, his chin and cheeks covered in unshaven stubble. His robe was creased and torn, his hat loosely hanging from his hand and his sleeves pushed almost all the way up his arms. What really caught people’s attention was those eyes. Unnaturally clear and bright icy blue, so blue that even in the bright light they seemed to slightly glow.

He quickly pulled down his sleeves as he walked past the students towards the front of the room, grumbling slightly under his breath about something Harry couldn’t catch. He tossed the hat aside, muttering more loudly about how ‘wizard hats are so stupid and impractical I’m not wearing that garbage’ before he turned towards the class.

“My name is Fenton- er Professor Fenton I guess. Since I’ll be teaching you about…” he glanced down at the podium he stood in front of, crouching a little as if looking for something before straightening back up. “Defense… Against the… Dark… Arts,” he said slowly and not very confidently. Then he whispered again to himself but just loud enough for some students to pick up, “they see me fight one god damn ghost and suddenly I’m an expert on all dark magic entities? I think I’ll fight Dumbledore after this.” He straightened a little, eyes looking over the classes.

Harry did not like those eyes lingering on him for half a second longer than the others. He didn’t like this professor looking at him at all.

Something just didn’t feel right.

“Alright, any questions?”

A hand immediately went up, and Harry knew exactly who it belonged to.

“Uh- yes miss-?”

“Hermione Granger. Wasn’t our professor supposed to be Gilderoy Lockhart?”

“Yeah- that guy. He’s a phoney.”

The class went silent before someone yelled out, “WHAT?”

“Guy went around, found Wizards and Witches that did cool things, made them forget it then took all the credit. Tried to take my credit and I hit him a little too hard. Now I’m here taking his place. It’s all over the news, you know. You can read the exaggerated details in there. Anything else?”

The same hand went up.

Professor Fenton sighed, “yes?”

“Why were you 15 minutes late? Shouldn’t professors be on time? And why do you look like you crawled out of the forbidden forest.”

“I fought a ghost. Then got lost,” Fenton deadpanned.

The class went silent.

Fenton then turned around, “well if that’s all, let’s get started with something I know a lot about. What do you already know about Ghosts?”

-

-

-

“You’re seriously more afraid of Professor Fenton than Professor Snape?” Hermione asked Ron. “He’s not even mean! Sure he’s grumpy but he doesn’t beat down every question I ask him! He even seems to be glad I’m asking questions! Unlike Professor Snape who just treats us like idiots for not knowing something.”

“Sure- he’s not mean or cruel but… he just freaks me out. Like how he just stares sometimes at empty walls! Or how the room temperature always drops the moment he seems to take a single step into the room! I can’t even hear his footsteps when he walks! He’s bloody freaky is what he is!”

“Well I for one am glad he’s our Professor! Imagine having a phony for a professor! Though he talks a lot about ghosts. Ghosts can’t cause people harm. At most they give a little scare but it’s not like they could cause terrible damage.”

“What about those ectoplasm based ones he was talking about? The solid ones?” Harry asked.

“Rare and unlikely. Ectoplasm doesn’t form in the magical world, Harry! The stuff that leaks through and hangs in the air is only enough to allow ghosts like Nick or Myrtle to hang around in harmless ways.”

“But he said he fought a ghost before he arrived in class! And he looked really beat up!”

“He said he got lost too! Maybe he just stumbled across a guard dog like Fluffy and made up something about ghosts!”

“What if it’s like the last professor though? What if he’s looking for another secret object in Hogwarts walls?” Harry hissed softly, “Ron is right that he just has a sense of oddness about him! I just don’t trust him!”

“Harry, you’re just paranoid from last year. Professor Fenton is normal. Now pick up your pace, we’re going to be late for our next class!”

-

-

-

Professor Fenton glanced down at Harry, then back at Professor McGonagall, “he has what with me?”

“Detention. You see, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley caused a bit of a fuss by driving a flying car in plain sight of several muggles, and risked exposing the magical world. As such, his punishment has been detention. I trust you can find some fitting work for him to do as he reflects on his actions?”

Fenton crosses his arms, his mouth tightening slightly into a grimace as his fingers slightly tapped his own arms. “This won’t be every night, will it?” He asked.

“No, we will be switching supervisors for a few weeks but you may also need to supervise Mr. Weasley sometime before then.”

Fenron let out a sigh of defeat, “well- alright. I’ll take care of it then.”

Professor McGonagall gave a curt nod before turning stiffly and walking off. Professor Fenton scratched at the back of his neck as he watched her walk off, then glanced down at Harry, those eyes seeming to search him for… something. Then that stern look relaxed into a lopsided grin, “So you were the one that made that stuck up ministry trip over their hats and scramble around in blind panic! I say, hats off to you young Potter!” He laughed.

Harry blinked in confusion at the shift in mood, then Fenton patted him on the back, “hey, no need to look so freaked out! I’m not gonna bite ya!” He began walking forward, and it took Harry an extra second to realize that the professor was moving and he should follow. “Oh, wait you probably are a little freaked out, huh? I guess my mood could have been a bit better this morning, I was just a little flabbergasted today. I was kinda rushed into this position, you know.” He shrugged, his hands shoved into his cloak’s pockets. He didn’t really walk like any of the other Hogwarts professors. He had this relaxed saunter, like he was more of a visiting relative than a staff member. “Say, let’s say your ‘punishment’ will just be helping me bring some books from the library to my quarters. There’s a lot I need to run through and a single trip would make all the difference.”

Harry nodded, finding it hard to keep up with the man's long strides. “So… you don’t like the ministry of magic?” Harry asked.

Professor Fenton huffed in annoyance, “not one bit. They are almost worse than observants!” Harry had no idea what those were. Another level of magic government? “They try to control every little thing. Don’t expose magic to the normal world. Don’t use magic to make technology without permission. Don’t use magic to save muggle children if people are watching.” His said in a mocking tone, “they have so many rules that are outdated or stupid. Never trust a government, kid! Especially a magical one!”

“What are… observants?”

Fenton glanced down at Harry, “oh those stuck up jerks? They are like the government of the ghost realm. Really annoying. Unlike the Ministry of Magic, they actually know how to find me!” He laughed.

“Ghosts have governments?”

“Oh yeah! They have more of a monarchy, the observants are like hermit wizards that only step in when they believe the world is in peril. Meanwhile the rest falls on the shoulders of the Ghost King.”

Harry frowned, “I’ve never read about that in the textbooks. Hermione says that ghosts are just harmless beings formed from souls that aren’t ready to leave the mortal realm.”

“Well she’s half right. There’s different kinds of ghosts, like Sir Nicolas and the Bloody Baron. They are more like echoes. Souls that cling desperately to this world but didn’t have enough ectoplasm to become a fully solid ectoplasmic being. They won’t leave for the infinite realms until they are ready, though many believe they are trapped here forever. More solid ghosts form in a similar way but are exposed to more ectoplasm, but rarely show up because natural portals to the infinite realms are sparse and in between. Well until about a decade ago.”

“Infinite Realms? Natural Portals?” Harry felt like his head was going to explode.

“Well, there should be some books about that in the muggle section.. Though some wizards would say it’s all garbage because muggles discovered and studied it. Just look up my name under the author and you should find some.”

“Oh… wait- did you write them? Is that why you know so much about ghosts?”

Professor Fenton barked out a loud laugh, doubling over as he clutched his sides, “Ah! No! No, I didn’t write them! My parents did!” He cackled. “Ah, yeah but I did learn from them. And a bit of field work. Tell Miss Granger to check them out too, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having something to read. She reminds me of my sister in that way.” He stopped in front of the library doors, “Aha! I knew we would find this place eventually!”

Harry looked at Professor Fenton in bewilderment, “you didn’t know where we were going?!”

Fenton shook his head and shot him another grin, “nope! I’ve been constantly getting lost in these dumb halls. This place constantly moves and I absolutely hate it. Even the Infinite Realms make more sense than this castle!”

Harry stuttered, “If the infinite realms is where ghosts go, isn’t that like… the afterlife? You’ve been to the afterlife?”

Professor Fenton lazily shrugged and opened the doors to the library, “yes and no. It’s all complicated. I’ll tell you a different time.”

Harry stood there for a few more seconds as his brain tried to catch up with the information, and once he managed to close his mouth he chased after the Professor.

-

-

-

Harry glanced around the Professors room as he followed after him, arms filled with books that seemed to suspiciously be only about the Dark Arts. He’d never been to a professor's living quarters, at most he had been in some offices. Even so, it was not at all what he imagined a wizard's living quarters would look like.

First off, there seemed to be technology. He recognized a coffee machine on a low table, but it wasn’t plugged into anything. There was an odd box that looked like a slightly smaller television, it’s screen black and wires sticking out of it attached to a rectangular box with a lot of buttons on top of it and a small round device. There was also a radio, and a huge telescope leaning out the largest window. As Harry looked, he began to notice spaceships literally in every corner of the room. Different kinds as well, some would even move and blast off. The most amazing part was the roof of his room. It was almost exactly like the great hall as it rose into dark nothingness, but the stars were MUCH brighter and all the constellations had been traced out, some brighter than others. For someone who knew a lot about ghosts, he seemed to really like space. Then there were also some odd things thrown around, like a very weird looking thermos. Or a metal… boomerang?

“Just place them over here, Harry!” Fenton called as he dropped his pile of books onto a couch in the corner. Harry did as he was told, placing the books down a little more gently than the professor did.

“Professor… how did you get these things to work? Technology usually… explodes around magic,” Harry asked.

“Oh! Well it’s because I power them myself!” Professor Fenton chirped. “They don’t work the same way as regular technology. Again, I recommend checking out some of the notes in the Fentons books, they have a lot of stuff that works in the magical realm.”

“Why would you need it though? Doesn’t magic make up for a lot of technology?” Harry asked.

“Ah, but that’s where you are wrong you see! There is nothing in the magical world that is equivalent to the coffee machine!”

Harry blinked, “... what.”

“It’s a very important machine, Harry. You will depend greatly on it once you need to stay up for an entire week. But! It seems our time together has come to an end. Thanks for your help, Harry, and if McGonagall asks, tell her I made you scrub toilets or something,” he winked.

Harry grinned back, heading towards the doorway to go find Ron and Hermione. He closed the door behind and the moment it clicked shut, he saw a flash appear from under the door.

He paused slightly, but shrugged. Maybe a comet passed by on the enchanted roof of his room. He then headed down the halls to find his friends.

-

-

-

“Not normally invited?” Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, “Ghosts throw death day parties like birthday parties, but rarely do they ever invite living people!”

“I see, so Sir Nick really wanted us to be there,” Harry pondered as the trio entered the party area. He immediately was hit with an awful stench, nearly gagging before he had to swallow it as Sir Nicholas noticed their arrival and approached swiftly with the widest smile they had ever seen on his face.

“Harry! Ron! Hermione! You all made it! Oh this brings such joy to my cold, dead heart!”

“Glad to see you as well, Sir Nick,” Harry struggled not to gag on the smell.

“Say, why do ghosts even celebrate the day they died? Isn’t that… like a very traumatic experience you would rather not remember?” Ron somehow managed to ask.

“Well, ghosts like to celebrate it to commodirate a start to a new chapter of our afterlife!” He paused, glancing across the room for a split second, “most ghosts that is, and the death day isn’t to remind us of our death. It more serves to encourage us to look forward! No one really wants to remember how we died. Never a pretty picture.”

Harry followed Nicholas’s gaze for the split second glance, then noticed a ghost he had never seen before. He ignored the smell (they would have to ask about that later) and nudged Hermione, pointing at the ghost, “hey Hermione, have you ever seen that ghost around the castle before? I don’t remember seeing him from last year…”

The ghost in question seemed so much stranger than the rest, he had a brighter glow, where he should have had legs, merged into what seemed to be a ghostly tail, drifting lazily like caught in a breeze. Long hair whiter than snow itself drifted around like caught underwater, and bits that weren’t drifting were braided neatly and lost in the rest of it as it constantly moved. The ghost had purple skin, pointed ears, green freckles dotting his cheeks and long sharp fangs showing as he laughed at another ghost's joke. He dressed like a medieval lord, wearing a delicately detailed black and white tunic tucked into a braided belt circling his waist, his ghostly tail completely black. Thick white leather gloves covered both his hands as he waved them around while he spoke. A white cape hung off his shoulders, but when the cape occasionally drifted to show the inside, it was like the ghost had taken the night sky and attached it to the garment. Thick fur wrapped around his shoulders and long and sharp horns that looked like ice circled his head like a crown.

Toxic green eyes that had irises that seemed to swirl around the pupil glanced at the trio and Harry suddenly felt very very small.

“I… don’t know. I haven’t even heard of any ghost that looked like him before,” Hermione seemed like she was at a loss, probably scouting through her thoughts and memories for any trace or mention of the unfamiliar ghost.

Sir Nicholas cut in, “oh! That may be because King Phantom doesn’t live in this castle! He’s mainly only here to visit for the year!”

Ron gapped, “... did you say… king? Was he a king before he died?”

Sir Nicholas frowned, “no, of course not! He’s the king of all ghosts! King of the infinite realms! The one who defeated Pariah Dark in single combat barely a year after he died! The youngest and most beloved king we ghosts have had in such a very long time.”

“There’s a king of ghosts? And that’s him?” Harry asked.

“That’s what I just said, my dear boy. Keep up!”

“I don’t want to seem rude, Sir Nicholas but… why is he here?” Hermione gasped, “if he really is such a powerful and imposing figure, doesn’t he have a lot of duties to fulfil?”

“Well, he told us he was technically here on business but that it requires time and an investigation that could take a few months. So he could visit and celebrate with us from time to time! He’s a very relaxed man, I assure you. Here let me introduce you all to him! My Liege! I have some friends you absolutely must meet!”

The King looked over and smiled widely, “friends, you say?” His voice echoed more than the other ghosts, seeming to carry across the room as he spoke. He then blinked in surprise and turned to Nick, “Sir Nicholas… you realize these three are still amongst the living?”

“Why of course! Harry is the Boy Who Lived! The first to survive the death spell!” Sir Nicholas said quite proudly.

The King drifted down towards the three, causing Ron to slightly flinch at his approach, his hands clasped together as worry seemed to etch on his face, “well, most ghosts don’t have a very good sense of smell or taste, right? Which is why we have all the rotting food out?”

“Yes?” Sir Nicholas still didn’t seem to catch on.

King Phantom held out his hand, producing clothing hanger clips made purely of ice, “The living can still very much smell and taste, and I don’t think it’s exactly the smell of roses and lavender.”

Sir Nicholas blinked, “oh. Oh! Oh Harry and friends, I apologize for forgetting such a detail!”

Harry, Ron and Hermione all graciously accept the clips, pinning them on their noses to escape the horrid smell. Then Hermione turned towards the Ghost King with a glint in her eyes, “wait- how did you do that? Ghosts aren’t this solid- and they definitely can’t use magic!”

Phantom chuckled, drifting back into the air as he pointed to the crown of ice horns on his head, “Well first off, I’m the king so I get some bonuses. As well as not all ghosts work the same. You should try listening to that Dark Arts professor of yours when he talks about ghosts. He’s quite knowledgeable about all things not living.”

“But- but years of documentation and research-!” Hermione tried to argue before the King tutted.

“Information is constantly changing and growing, something that seems pretty constant could change in seconds and turn your whole world upside down. Not to mention, many different types of ghosts like myself only became more common recently. Before, most of us were confined to the infinite realms, only ghosts like Sir Nicholas forming for many centuries and the different kinds rarely slipped out.”

“Well-, what changed?” Hermione challenged.

King Phantom sported a playful grin, “I d̶͙͉̓̓i̷̢̩̬̘̟̽ę̴̘̲̹̤͌̊d̸̢̳̞̄.”

He then turned and left the three on that note as he went to join other ghosts at the party.

“What does he mean by that?” Hermione huffed.

“He’s got an odd sense of humour, that’s for sure,” Sir Nicholas laughed.

-

-

-

Harry couldn’t stop his glare that shot towards Professor Snape as he accused Harry of petrifying Mrs. Norris and writing the bloody message that stained the wall. Before he could snap back at him that he did not do any of this, Professor Fenton seemed to almost step out of thin air to his defense.

“Mr. Potter was with me all night, he did not do this,” his voice laced with a chilling venom. Was he… lying for him?

Snape tilted his chin up, attempting to look down on Fenton who was no longer hunched, and instead stood tall at his full height. It was quite difficult to do as it turned out, Fenton towered over every other Professor in the area. “And who, pray tell, are you?” Snape seemed to almost spit.

A sinister grin spread across the tall Professor's features as he stepped in front of Harry, leaning menacingly over the shorter wizard and blocking his view of the student, “Professor Fenton, the professor of the Dark Arts. Accusing a second year of such a powerful spell isn’t a very wise take, now is it Professor Snape?” Fenton basically spat his name.

Snape glared back, “you would be surprised what Potter is capable of, especially the trouble he gets himself in.”

“How about you try not pinning the blame on a 12 year old child?”

“That is enough out of both of you,” Dumbledore stepped in. “We all know Harry was not responsible for this, as Professor Fenton’s defence is true. We have a healthy patch of mandrake roots that will cure Mrs. Norris of her petrification, and students will resume their classes while the professors investigate the issue. Now you three will return to your dorms for the rest of the night.”

Harry hesitated before he headed back towards the dorms, but didn’t fail to notice how Professor Fenton’s eyes flashed toxic green, or the wink sent in his direction.

[sothischickshe]

9: Are there any fics you’d love to see but don’t want to write yourself? What are they?

i love this question SO much! <3 ty for asking!!

so i yelled a lil abt it before, but!! additionally:

1. post-canon: ruby breaks up with both beth and stan, and comes up with a plan to get annie out all by herself (or maybe ben n sara help?! they seem smart!), and then ruby and annie move somewhere really nice together with their kids!!! optionally also: diane tuts some sense into stan, and they both join the commune a bit later? also! annie and ruby grab beth's kids and marcus + rhea and nancy + dakota too!!! beth and rio are allowed to visit but!!! only at the same time as dean bc everyone else prefers one lump of suffering rather than eking it out.

2. turner faked his own death and has been on holiday with his bf this whole time having fun.

3. immediately post canon: ruby realises that getting dean hopped up on sugar and convincing him to beat vance to (near?) death solves a lot of problems, actually.

4. au: rio & lucy are in the same birdwatching club, and lucy knows beth from work or crafting or w/e, and she cupids them together. also maybe she's (a?) literal cupid?

5. beth runs kevin out of town and/or throws him off a bridge. (maybe annie/nancy endgame?)

6. rhea keeps teaming up with beth and then rio and then beth and then rio and so on and so on and can't really keep up with what's going on, and eventually beth and rio realise and get mad at her, and then she gets way madder back at both of them bc it is in fact their own fault. maybe she yells so loud they're literally blown off the planet?

7. beth and rio have a disgruntled grumpy sex life bc they both desperately want to be bossed around & have their hair yanked and it's super not working out. don't/resolve however you want.

8. stan realises he and beth are literally romantic rivals.

9. high school au in which beth and rio are both staff. and also literally high.

10. adult marcus + jane ~parent trap elderly beth and rio into a relationship

11. beth goes to revenge shoot mick in the shoulder. he convinces her she's pregnant with his kid. either true and/or plausible cos they DID hook up, or completely implausible bc they didnt, but he still manages to convince her.

12. beth and rio get married for some convoluted crime reason and are forced to co-habit to sell it and it's AWFUL

13. brio plumber au

14. rio/ruby enemies to lovers

15. rosa IS actually the boss. in fact she's no one's grandmother, maybe she kidnaps children and manipulates them into a life of crime??? nick's flashback manipulation was actually rosa's uber-manipulation. maybe beth/rosa endgame?

16. rio is in no way the boss, he's mick's idiot protégé and poss so drunk he hasn't noticed that fact. aggressively canon compliant.

17. rhyming names comedy pair ups (series?)!!! mick and nick can't tell which of them rio is mumbling at/about?! gene and dean meet fighting over a coffee order at starbucks?! ben and ken discover they're related?! annie and danny get matching tattoos?!

18. beth and rio have weird chair sex after the 'we can get away with anything now' or w/e abrupt ep ending. bonus: it's not very good, which ~explains much of their subsequent behaviour.

19. hipster hatted barman/dylan

20. literally anything from nick's assistant's pov

21. reader insert fic where dean's monologuing abt his weird sex dreams abt rio at y/n while you're trapped & forced to listen to him. bonus: ao3 skin which removes any nav away from the page.

22. annie/ruby/stan/mick (any combo, or any individual) feed an oblivious beth and rio weeded food bc they're annoying. shenanigans ensue? bonus: beth and rio are locked in a cupboard for containment reasons & forgotten about & then they die.

23. beth/crazy cat lady enemies to lovers.

24. arranged marriage brio au where they're both instantly repulsed by the other and aggressively try to wriggle out of this situation. eventually discover they have basically the same unpleasant personality and are VERY into the sitch, and probs get rudely angry @ whomever has kindly done something to help them wriggle out of said sitch. also they're in their 50s.

25. beth/rhea/hot coach

26. after beth goes to rio's family dinner thing, she feels compelled to invite rio to family dinner back (i guess this is an au where ppl have manners lol) with dean + the kids. it's extremely awkward fgfgf.

27. canon compliant: actually it was beth who put out the hit on turner.

28. immediately pre-canon, rhea finally breaks up with rio & this explains ~a lot.

29. s2 canon divergence where beth explains at least some of what happened with boomer / rio has the sense to ask some fucking sensible follow up questions to ‘throwing the wrong jacket away’ rather than simply pouting. rio IMMEDIATELY asks for marry pat’s phone number. maybe beth/mp endgame though?

30. jt develops better musical taste.

31. annie + angela fall in love. kevin is never heard from again.

32. when beth fobs judith off in s3 by telling her she got a promotion + they can afford help now, judith doesnt immediately buy it and keeps sniffing round, and she runs into mick a few times who’s on babysitting beth duty. beth convinces judith that mick is the nanny, and mick somewhat grudgingly goes along with it. presumably mick/judith endgame.

33. dean/his brief young car salesman boss from s2 enemies to lovers. 

34. that time dean claimed his shirt was covered in exploded hot sauce? no, that was dog blood. he’s a serial pet murderer. explains the cursed boland family pet sitch in detail.

35. literally anything from the pov of rio’s neighbour’s tiny gf. presumably mostly fascinated with architecture, but maybe she occasionally notices ppl too?

fanfiction asks, but this is clearly the best question of all time

[prettyoddfever]

Ryan’s & Spencer’s early band bios

Here are their earlier bios! I think these are Pet Salamander bios, but there’s a chance they were from the start of The Summer League. I only saved the files as “old.” And I might still have Brent’s somewhere but I really doubt I would’ve hung onto that... and I can pretty much guarantee that I never saved Trevor’s ha sorry.

RYAN ROSS

Name and what you do in the band: Ryan/guitar/vocals

Birthdate: 8/30/86

Favorite bands: blink, bottom line,fall out boy,new found glory, rufio, the starting line, homegrown, NOFX, taking back Sunday, name taken

Favorite food: anything Chinese, taco bell

Hobbies: playing Tony Hawk

Things we like: playing shows

Favorite tv show: everybody loves raymond

Favorite movie: Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore

Stuff im scared of: homeless people who ask me for money, spiders, girls

Favorite clothing company: made, FSAS, role model

Favorite color: black

Equipment: Tom Delonge signature strat, Squier stagemaster ssh with Seymour Duncan invader humbucker. CRATE gx-900H Excalibur halfstack

Favorite musicians: Clark Domae and Scott Sellers of rufio, Chad Gilbert, Blake Means, Ryan Edwards of name taken, Tom Delonge from blink-182 and Mike Golla of the starting line.

Favorite actor/actress: Adam Sandler, Tom Green, Andy Dick

Favorite albums:  blink-182- "Dude Ranch" bottom line- " In and Out of Luck" Fall Out Boy- " Take This to Your Grave" New Found Glory- " Sticks and Stones" Rufio "Perhaps, I suppose" The starting line "Say it like you mean it" 

Favorite quote: "you laugh at me because im different, but I laugh at you because your all the same."

Whats your nick name in the band and how did you get it: smeagle- Spencer and Brent think I look like that guy from lord of the rings.

How would you describe your bandmates: Spencer- funny but he likes to be really really serious. Brent- a good dude, good friend good butt. Trevor- weird but I love him

Who is the hottest celebrity: Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne

SPENCER SMITH

Name and what you do in the band: Spencer, I play drums

Birthdate: September 2,1987

Favorite bands: blink-182, new found glory, the starting line, simple plan, name taken, taking back sunday, midtown, rufio, bottomline, good charolette, senses fail

Favorite food: cheese burgers, chicken fingers, and Chinese food

Hobbies: T.V., internet, going to movies 

Favorite TV show: Jamie Kennedy experiment, Real World, Food 911, The Osbournes

Favorite movies: American Pie, Road Trip, Happy Gilmore, Liar Liar, Meet The Parents, Big Daddy

Stuff im scared of: bugs

Favorite clothing company: Atticus, Famous Stars and Straps, Audxio, Made, Hurley 

Favorite color: black

Equipment: Inversion Drumworks drums-12x8, 14x12 , 16x14 toms, 6x14 snare, 22x18 bass, Zildjian cymbals- A custom hi-hats,16" and 17" crash, and an A series ride, Tama Iron Cobra pedal, Remo heads, Zildjian sticks

Favorite musicians: Travis Barker, Cyrus Bolooki, Danny Valencia

Favorite actor/actress: Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Tom Green, Jack Black

Favorite albums: "Dude Ranch"- Blink-182 "Sticks and Stones" - NFG "Say it like you mean it" - The Starting Line "no pads, no helmets, just balls" - Simple Plan "The Young and the Hopeless" - Good Charlotte "Perhaps I Suppose"- Rufio "living well is the best revenge" - Midtown "Tell all your friends" - Taking Back Sunday

Favorite quote: "I love delivering orgasm's to the masses"- Tom Delonge

Whats your nick name in the band and how did you get it: Dad-Brent started calling me that because I always give well thought out advice to him and Ryan.

How would you describe your bandmates: Ryan is really funny, really skinny and really scared of spiders. Brent is really funny but tries to act more hardcore than he really is. Trevor is kinda weird, funny and good at rock climbing.

Who is the hottest celebrity: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilara and Hillary duff (lizzie mcguire)

(look at their love for Fall Out Boy & The Starting Line... I love that P!ATD toured with both of those bands on the 2005 Nintendo Fusion Tour right when AFYCSO was released).

[creativeskullcreations]

HTaHHQ Episode 2: The Return (part 2)

And here's the end of Episode Two: The Return! Next episode will be out... later. Whenever I figure out what it's gonna be. XD

I mean, I do kinda have a plan, it's just a really loose one. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and Outside 12 will be up on schedule.

The room beyond was an odd combination of sewing room and bedroom. Half made hand puppet toys placed on stands, large pieces of fabric, and even a tangle of yarn were littered around. In the center was a small table with a chair, and what looked like a fresh baked pie sitting on top. Beside the pie was a plate with a single slice of pie sitting on it, and Stacy could see where it had been cut out of the bigger part.

Scout was also on the table, looking quite sulky about it. Daisy "stood" across from the chair, whispering something at the small Puppet. Stacy cleared her throat and both them looked up at her. "Ah, there you are Sugar. Go on and sit down, I made you some pie."

Stacy sat, feeling stiff and tense, clenching her right fist before before taking off her left hand glove. She picked the fork up and examined the pie carefully. The pie filling wasn't red, at least, so she could give the Puppet that. Daisy kept staring, so she took a small bite of the treat.

'Huh. Apple.' The girl noted as sh chewed, ignoring the far too happy look on Daisy's face. "It's good." She muttered, not looking at the puppet, who clapped her hands together.

"Excellent!" She grinned. "Now, about that favor..."

'Oh boy, here we go.' Stacy knew what happened when adults wanted "favors", that it was usually chores, or helping younger brothers with something. And, living puppet or not, Daisy was an adult, which meant a chore.

"Yeah?" She asked, wanting to just get it over with, and hoping it would be an easy one. If it was too difficult, she felt that at least she didn't have to do it. After all, Lydia had told her she didn't have to help the Puppets.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed by now that some little Hand Puppets," she sent the small Puppet a motherly glare, "like to sneak out of their room during the day."

"You want me to play babysitter." Stacy deduced. Mary had actually sad the same line once about Danny. Daisy blinked in surprise, having had a whole speech prepared.

"Er, well, yes." She stumbled. "If you wouldn't mind, that is. Since Scout somehow keeps finding her way to where ever you are, I figured it would just be easier if you kept an eye on her from the beginning."

"Yeah. I can do that." A glance down showed Scout staring up at the girl, a wide, undisguised grin on her face. "Shouldn't be too much harder than watching Danny. At least Scout will be able to hear if I call her."

"Oh, thank you so much Sugar!" She seemed genuinely happy, which startled the girl. Maybe Scout getting out was a bigger problem than she'd thought?

"Uh, no problem?" She didn't know what to say, and leaned away just a little. She glanced at the door, wondering if she should try and make an escape. Daisy noticed and, thankfully, misinterpreted what she wanted.

"Oh, you must be thirsty! Let me get you some iced tea!" Daisy turned to get some, but Stacy quickly stopped her.

"Uh, no thanks? I don't need it!" She hated tea, iced or not. "Besides, I should probably be getting back to work. Uuuuuh, I thought I heard, uh, yelling, earlier." She pulled her glove back on and stood up.

"Oh that was just Riley, dear. She gets like that sometimes." Daisy looked only a little annoyed, more like a mother mentioning how her child won't put laundry away, rather than talking about a Puppet verbally abusing two grown men. It was a little off putting to the girl

"Great..." Stacy was so glad she wasn't working directly for the Puppets. Or rather, only working directly for Daisy, as of right now. She always liked her better than the other two, anyways, even with her explosive temper. Heck, she even found the anger funny sometimes. Still, she gathered Scout in her arms, then paused.

"What's wrong Honey?" Daisy asked from where she was putting plastic wrap over the pie. She placed it in a small picnic basket.

"Uh, we came here through the vents..." Stacy admitted sheepishly. "I don't know how to get back..." She refused to look at the Puppet.

"Oh that's no problem at all! I'll show you the way. You'll need to know anyways, since you'll be back here again..."

Daisy wheeled her way down the hall, showing Stacy to the... elevators? Somehow, and Stacy was unsure of exactly how, they had climbed up to a second floor of the studio, where all the Puppets apparently lived. Although according to Daisy, there was also a few storage rooms and offices, as well as Riley's apparently very real lab.

"But it's perfectly safe." Daisy assured the girl as they rode back down to the studio. "At least, she said it is..."

Somehow, that did not make Stacy feel better.

But they quickly reached the bottom, and as they stepped out of the open doors Lydia approached, staring at a clipboard. She glanced briefly at them as she passed by.

"Oh good. You found her." She said, reading through whatever was on the board. "I knew you would. You always seem to."

"Sure did Sugar. Sorry it took so long, we had some pie and Stacy agreed to do something for me." Daisy told the woman, who motioned for the two to follow them.

"What sort of..." Lydia trailed off as she looked back at the girl, quickly spotting Scout, who waved at her with a cheerful grin. Lydia gave a small wave back, giving Daisy a Look. "Uh, I see."

"I'm glad." Daisy replied, wheeling up alongside the coordinator. She peered at the clipboard, having to raise her stand  a little to see. "Now, where are we on the schedule?"

"Well..."

While the two adults talked, Stacy watched them from behind, still holding Scout.  'I guess Daisy isn't really that bad. She certainly seems nicer than Riley, anyways.' She scoffed quietly, and Scout looked up at her.

"Hey." The Puppet whispered. "Think you can sneak me home in that big bag of yours?"

"What? No! I'm not going to do that!" Stacy whispered back. "I'll get in deep shiitake if I do!"

"Awww, c'mon! Mom said you had to watch me!" She insisted, and Stacy glared a little.

"Yeah, you and the others." Okay, technically she hadn't said to watch the others, but it felt implied. And hey, if it meant she didn't have to sweep again, she was sure she could watch a few kids for a shift or two.

"Then bring them too!" Scout grinned, and Stacy suppressed a groan.

"Okay fine! But not tonight! It'll have to be later, when my parents aren't home."

Scout beamed, and Stacy considered the matter done with. She could easily ask Mary later about when they'd be gone, under the pretense of a movie night with Danny. That movie night would just also include five Hand Puppets, but nobody else needed to know that. And, with any luck, Daisy would be glad to have a night off from them too.

At least, Stacy hoped she would.

---------

"So that's where the girl went, then? And you were going to tell us about this.... when?" Mortimer asked, anger just barely disguised. The work day was now over with, and even Lydia had long since gone home. Daisy had then put her children to bed, leaving the wooden Puppets alone in their kitchen.

"Right now Sugar." Daisy shot back from where she was pulling a ham out of the oven. She put it on the stove and turned, hands on her hips. "I could hardly abandon the girl up here to come update you, now could I?"

"Hmmph." He ignored the logic as he refocused on his paperwork while Riley muttered beside him.

"Why do you get to talk to her? I don't get to talk to her." She muttered, arms crossed as she glared at some unseen thing. Nick paused from his own preparations of dinner to sigh heavily.

"You don't get to talk to her because you terrify children, Riley." He told her, smirking at the offended gasp she gave in response. She didn't really, but her loudness and erratic ways weren't as amusing to the older kids as they were to the younger ones. And so, despite liking working with the older crowd more, she struggled to relate to them.

"I do not!" She hissed. She looked like she might slap him before Mortimer forced himself between them.

"And that's quite enough of that!" He ordered. "Stop it now, or I'll beat you both with my hat!"

"That was truly terrible." Daisy quipped as she sliced the ham. "But no, Riley, I get to talk to Stacy, because I'm not a screeching harpy."

"I do not screech!" Riley screeched. Nick lost it, bending over and wheezing with laughter. Mortimer gave both him and Daisy a disapproving glare.

"I will end you!" Riley hissed out, and if looks could kill, the artist would be splinters. But Mortimer grabbed her by the arms and forced her to her spot at the table.

"Enough with the insults you two. Honestly, I expected better of all of you." He scolded as Nick finally got a hold of himself and helped Daisy place the food on the table. They sat down, and Daisy started serving up the food. Once that was done, the country belle took a deep breath and looked the scientist in the eye.

"I am sorry, Honey." And she really did look sorry, enough that Riley softened her glare a little. "But we need to go slow with this one. Something terrible has given her an awful fright from what I've heard."

"Hmm, Mary did mention that something had happened during the last Holiday Season." Nick mentioned, not looking up from his plate, where he'd sculpted his potatoes into an image of himself. "Some sort of wild animal attack, from what I could make out."

Riley sighed. "I wish you two would stop your eavesdropping! Honestly, it's really rather appalling." She stabbed into her ham, not even bothering to pretend to eat. Not that she saw much point in such an act anyways. She was long past the point of being fascinated with her own body's functions, and even those of humans.

"However you learned it, please do not repeat it." The magician insisted, rubbing his temples. "Spreading rumors is not something I wish to deal with." He also was ignoring his food, paperwork spread out in front of him instead. There was too much to be done for him to take a break, even if he did make the effort to be present. "But enough of all of that. Daisy, obviously, must have a plan to enact."

"Oh you bet I do, Sugar." She grinned. "I've already managed to convince Stacy to watch Scout whenever she breaks out. They already seem pretty attached to each other, even though they've only met once before." She grinned just a little wider. "And, Scout herself has already agreed to help with the next part of my plan."

"Which is?" Nick asked, impatient. He really hated when she decided to be coy. It annoyed him and made him wish she'd just get to the point.

"You'll see. It'll work out better if you aren't expecting it." She smirked, before delicately taking a bite of mashed potatoes. "And great work on the taters, Nicky. You did even better than last time."

Nick grumbled, but couldn't keep the smile off his face at the compliment. If there was one way to get on his good side, it was by ego stroking. It was true both on and off the show.

Daisy only hoped Stacy knew that little tidbit. It would make Phase Two go so much smoother if she did.

[evonymus]

Deadly Premonition 2

Everything I write here is just my opinion. I don't try to represent someone else's  thoughts and feelings. I fully understand that tastes differ and things I dislike may be enjoyed by others and vice versa. By writing this I don't try to attack anyone who has different opinion about the game. This text will have spoilers, so don’t read it if you haven’t beaten the game yet. It’s a lot of rambling that is not really structurized or anything, just a big collection of thoughts. Strong language is used.

Gameplay-wise the game seemed pretty meh. I fully realize it may feel very different if you actually play it instead of watching, the feeling of completion, getting stuff done and all that sorta thing. Still, the majority of game seems like a shit-ton of donkey work. Side missions are a very mixed bag. Sometimes they feel like the ones in the 1st game when you need to talk to someone or get an item for them, those ones are ok. However, there's a lot of grinding which you'd expect from an mmorpg, nor a murder mystery. As for the main missions, this is where one of my biggest problems with the game comes in. The first game was all about investigation. Go to the case-related place and investigate it, examine the corpse, talk to witnesses, follow your new lead and so on. It felt like a real investigation. Sure, York did rely on supernatural to solve it, but it was like twice in the entire game (fishing the docs from the waterfall thanks to the cup and going to Harry because the newspaper told him to. I don't count FK in the coffee since it's not much of a clue, just foreshadowing). He only used it because with Nick getting arrested he had no other clues what to do next. It sure felt a bit weird but...understandable? In the 2nd game, however, there's no real investigation going on. All York does is just blindly following oracles and hope that something good will come out of it and there will be progress. And there is because MAGIC! We used to be a competent FBI agent, now it turns out we're only successful because MAGIC! Zach even blatantly admits he has left FBI because he doesn’t get MAGIC HINTS anymore. For me it's a massive let-down. Also, since there's little logical reasoning behind many main missions, they feel super-meh as well. Oh, hey, it's an important person, can't wait to meet and question them! Waaaait-wait-wait-wait, you've got a collectathon in front of you that makes no sense in general but still will move your investigation forward because MAGIC! (Yes, I'm stil bitter and angry as fuck at those stupid drums that do nothing). The thing is, I totally understand why the developers felt it was perfectly normal to make the game this way. The reason behind it is called LOL WACKY. DP gained fame as being a bizarre and wacky game, which to my mind is pretty unfair. It had its moments, sure, but that's what's made it special - just the right balance of "sane" and "insane". Unfortunately, due to its reputation the developers got the wrong message and stopped bothering to make things coherent. "Who cares if something doesn't make sense, it's WACKY and that's exactly what fans want!" Big fat nope. I don't mind a bit of silliness in games, however this game goes far beyond "a bit". The same goes for the characters. Sorry, LOL ZANY characters, another DP1 (not really) staple. DP2 doesn't have as many really quirky people as the 1st game does but man they felt forced and annoying, from their overall shticks to speech patterns. There are characters from DP1 I dislike, but I dislike them for being dicks in general. DP2 characters though I hate from the bottom of my heart for how goddamn irritating they are. I'm sorry, maybe I got old or something, but I really don't think that a concept of a guy refusing to wear clothes is funny. He feels forced as fuck. Just as the guy who has adopted several personas just for lulz (I might be wrong on David, perhaps it is stated in the game that he really has split personality. It won't change anything much though). People in DP1 felt like real people, someone you could meet in real life. Sure, you can meet a guy wearing nothing but his boots, briefs and a hat irl as well, but somehow I doubt it'll be a pleasant acquaintance or, at least, won’t make you question his mental state. Also, don't even get me started on Simon. I literally hated every second of him on the screen. Cartoonish characters were my biggest concern after D4 and boy I was right to worry about that. Also, you don't get to really know people, especially the important ones, so when stuff happens, it barely has any effect on you. Remember how DP1 made you stick with all the main cast for pretty much the entirety of the game, so they felt like family and the end-game literally torn your soul apart? DP2 doesn't even try to get close to that, except for Patricia, but the emotional impact of the ending is nowhere near. The way people talk in the game is atrocious. It often feels like an amateur play written by someone overestimating their writing abilities way too often (talk with Lena in the bar is a good example of what I mean here). Which is a darn shame since there's nothing like that in the 1st game where pretty much all the dialogues were coherent. When thoughts like "That sounds dumb", "That makes no sense" and “That’s not how people talk” are swirling in your mind almost non-stop, that's not a good sign. The directing also seemed to degrade a bit. While there were some scenes in the original, that raised eyebrows and concerns, this game feels more like something of Spy Fiction era. Someone please inform Swery that making someone to look at the rotating screen for too long doesn't make them think "Oh, that's neat!", it makes them wanna puke. There are two little parts that I remember really well: 1) the shot of Patti's mouth when she's tempted to touch a red tree that goes for like 15 seconds while she's making strange noises; 2) That moment when Zach is dreaming about Kaysen, specifically, when he starts screaming and shooting. That frame starts with Zach already screaming and honestly it made me giggle with how silly it looks. Certainly that was not the intended player's reaction. This whole part might seem like nit-picking, but it really rubbed me the wrong way.

As for the plot, Le Carre part felt so-so and rushed with main missions mostly being a flop and major characters dropping like flies. Rest in peace, *character_name, we hardly knew ye. (Also, what the fucking FUCK was that part with an alligator tearing off Danny's hand? If that was a red herring, that was the dumbest fucking red herring I've seen in my entire goddamn life).  Also, as a side-note, let me make a little confession here: I'm fucking dumb. I'm dumb as a rock. I can never guess anything, being oblivious to obvious things. Still, I suspected Avery from the very beginning due to his heights and as soon as Lena said the drug changes people's physical properties I was convinced he had been involved. Welp, guess what. Sadly, solving this little riddle has brought me no joy. The ending though... Honestly, I don't even want to give any sort of analysis to it. Just thinking about it makes me mad. All I can say is that it was one of the dumbest, most melodramatic, crappy anime-esque endings I've ever seen. And trust me, I've seen some shit, I've beaten MGS4. I could never expect that someone who has wrote DP1 could write something as ridiculous as that. It was so dumb it wasn’t even funny. "Everything was very bad but then FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC happened and everyone lived happily ever after BECAUSE MAGIC!" That's how fanfiction is written. That’s some AU shit a desperate fan could cobble together. I am fully aware there's a lot of people who are really into this exact sort of stuff. As for me, it makes my skin crawl so fucking much it has probably reached Spain by now.  All in all, DP2 is a terrible disappointment. The only real up-side of it is that it has reminded me how good the first game was.

[theartoflovingthomashunt]

Giving Back

[All Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer Masterlists] [Red Carpet Diaries]

Characters: Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer (OC); Danny (Open Heart)

Book: Red Carpet Diaries; Post-Book 3

Rating: General/Fluffy holiday 

Synopsis: Alex and Thomas visit a hospital to spread some holiday cheer for Saint Nicholas Day.

– – –

“...and that’s the story of Saint Nicholas!” As Alex closed the book, the children clapped excitedly. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Hunt, for joining us today,” Danny, a nurse in the pediatric ward offered. “What do we say, boys and girls?”

“Thank you!” The children cheered in unison. 

“You’re very welcome,” Alex smiled. “Now, don’t forget to leave your shoes out tonight so Saint Nicholas can leave you a special treat!”

Thomas pressed a kiss to Alex’s temple as the last child left the room. “Have I mentioned how amazing you are lately?” 

“All I did was read a book to some wonderful children. There was nothing spectacular about that,” Alex shook her head in disagreement. “Anyone could do the same.”

“Maybe they could, but they didn’t. You did,” Thomas argued. “Plus, you’re not just anyone… you’re you! You have the biggest heart of anyone I know!”

“Thank you again, Mrs. Hunt!” Danny came over. “We appreciate you taking the time to visit with the children. They definitely had been looking forward to it!”

“Please, call me Alex, and it was my pleasure,” Alex admitted. “Thomas and I will be back tonight to hand out the candy and the cozy hats and scarves we got for all the children.”

“We can hand them out for you if you would like?” Danny offered. “I’m sure you’re both very busy.” 

“We would like to do it ourselves, if its all the same to you,” Thomas insisted. 

Alex took his hand in hers. “It’s meant a lot to be able to come and bring these kids some joy during the holidays. We want to see it through to the end.”

“We truly appreciate your generosity, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt. We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done!” Danny reiterated. “Having you here has been an absolute joy for the children and, if I’m being honest, myself as well… I’m a big fan. The Secret of Ninradell is such an incredible book and how you brought it to life… it was a work of art.”

“That’s so kind of you to say. Thank you so much!” Alex beamed with delight. “The Secret of Ninradell was definitely a labor of love. I couldn’t be prouder of how it came out. But, I take little credit for it. It would be nothing without Marianne’s book to inspire the whole story!”

“As always, dear, you are being too modest,” Thomas asserted. 

“Agreed,” Danny added. “You’re vision can clearly be seen throughout the film. It captured the story in a new way that made it relevant again…. I hate to be that person, but do you think we could take a picture? I just moved here from Boston not long ago, and have a friend who would be so jealous that I got to spend the afternoon with you!”

Alex laughed softly moving closer to Danny. “Of course! I’m always happy to oblige a fellow Ninradell fan!”

Danny took out his phone and snapped a selfie with Alex. “Thank you! And, thank you again for helping with the children.”

“Anytime. And, hey, if you ever want to start them on Ninradell I know a certain someone who would love to come back and share her favorite story with them,” Alex winked. “Thank you for having us, we will be back later this evening to bring the presents for the children.”

“I will make sure their shoes are ready for Saint Nick!” Danny replied. 

“Thanks! Maybe we’ll see you later! If not, happy holidays!” Alex responded.

----

A/N: I was going to give OH characters a cameo but I couldn’t really justify transferring any doctors from Boston to L.A. so I chose to just move Danny since it makes more sense for a nurse to be in the scene, AND he is a fan of The Secret of Ninradell

*** Also, by moving Danny to LA when I did, I headcanon he was not in Boston at the time of the attack on the senator and therefore did not die! 

Thomas tags:   @alleksa16 ​ ,  @the-soot-sprite ​  , @hopelessromantic1352 ​    ,     @mfackenthal ​, @flyawayboo ​   ,  @lilyofchoices ​   , @twin-skltns ​   , @ab1901 ​     ,   @riseandshinelittleblossom ​ , @alj4890 ​   ,  @thearianam   , @choicesdecemberchallenge   ,  @choicesbyjade   ,  @jlpplays1-41daysofcheerchallenge

[irisnsc]

I find it very odd that there were no interviews at all for Ryan and/or Danny for Robert’s exit sl.  This was a huge thing and yet ... nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.

On Lorraine, we had Laura Norton/Kerry talking about the factory fire and Nick Miles/Jimmy on the child abuse claims.  Natalie/Jurell were both on Lorraine and This Morning talking about the affair sl.  Sandra Marvin/Jessie and Gaynor Faye/Megan were on Loose Women talking about their exits.

No disrespect to them but their sl’s and exit are not in the same sphere as Robert’s exit sl.  Robron had a montage for his final scene for f’s sake! 

Maybe Ryan doesn’t want any fuss.  Maybe this is another Robert erasure from ED.  Maybe .... hmmm  *puts on tin hat and clown hat  

[cultfought]

 drabble: CHRISTMAS MAGIC ; this is a little drabble set before the events of fc5. i really wanted to explore a little bit of joey’s relationship with her partner, danny, before he’s killed, as well as write some unapologetic holiday fluff. hope you enjoy !!

“ho, ho, ho -- merry christmas!” she can hear him all the way from the other side of the bar. deputy daniel barrett, always so effortlessly the center of attention. the annual spread eagle christmas celebration is in full swing -- gary fairgrave is behind the bar, making sure the hands of the hope county residents are never empty. his daughter, mary may, is casing the room, in charge of empty bottles, effortlessly dodging the attempts of hurk jr. to get her under the mistletoe. then there’s pastor jerome, on his third beer, excitedly discussing his plans for the next morning’s christmas sermon with a politely smiling grace armstrong. nick and kim rye are fumbling around in the far corner with their conjoined monstrosity of a christmas sweater -- while sheriff whitehorse does his best not to laugh at their antics. a slight rumble and loud noise from outside gives away whatever ‘event’ sharky boshaw’s working on out back.

it’s a HOPE COUNTY CHRISTMAS EVE like any other -- perfect in all of it’s imperfections. deputy joey hudson is more than content to watch everyone in their holiday bliss with her beer in hand. danny, just like every year, is dressed up like santa claus -- stuffed belly, beard and all. it’s his TRADITION to dress up as the man himself and take up a post in the middle of the bar, sitting in a big, red chair. he stays completely in character as the residents of hope county, in their incresingly drunken states, plop down in his lap to tell him what is it they want for christmas. staci’s there now -- perched on his knee and excitedly telling him everything he wants for the upcoming holiday.

“. . . and i want a PUPPY!” joey hears him finish, watching as danny lifts staci’s elf hat from his head, ruffling his hair like he’s a child. it’s heartwarming, to say the least, to watch danny spread his holiday cheer amongst the people of hope county. . . especially when she knows he’ll do his best, with her help of course, to make sure everyone gets what they want. just last year a drunken nick rye had confessed to danny ( after setting his wife free from their sweater monstrosity for a bathroom break ) that he found a gorgeous necklace for kim -- but he couldn’t afford it. so, of course, danny did what any christmas miracle worker would do. . . he hired nick for flying lessons so he could make the remainder of the money to get kim her gift. a glance over to kim would show she’s wearing the necklace, just as she does EVERY SINGLE DAY. joey’s a lucky woman, and she knows it, especially as she watches danny interact effortlessly with everyone who comes over to him. he’s a good man -- maybe the best man she’s ever met -- and she can’t quite believe he looks at her the way he does. once, he was her mentor. . . but now? danny barrett is her WORLD. he catches her looking at him, and joey immediately deflects her gaze to the ceiling, studying the worn wood as he stands. soon enough, he’s at her side, even though she isn’t looking at him, his hand on the small of her back. “ho, ho, ho. . .” he leans in, murmuring in her ear. “danny, please --” joey counters, rolling her eyes, already aware of where this leads. “what do you want for christmas. . .”  “don’t you dare--” “little girl?” her immediate response is to press her palm against his cheek, shoving him away from her. although it isn’t violent, and much more playful in nature, her point is clear. “yeah, i heard it when i said it. . . kinda gross, right?” danny laughs, grinning at her. “kinda? you called me a little girl, danny.” joey raises an eyebrow, finally looking his way. “yeah, point taken. but still, i noticed you haven’t come to see santa yet. . .” “you would be correct,” “jo, everyone is supposed to see santa. how else is he supposed to know what you want for christmas?” he punctuates his sentence with a little flick to the reindeer antlers perched atop her head. they’re HIS IDEA -- danny loves christmas more than just about anything else. and he was so excited this year to present joey with a pair of antlers and staci with a red and green striped elf hat. now, joey wouldn’t have chosen to wear the antlers all on her own. . . but she actually finds them kind of cute and festive. not that she’d ADMIT THAT to danny. “well i’ve already told my boyfriend that i don’t want anything for christmas. maybe he can tell santa.” joey points out. “oh believe me, he has. and both your boyfriend and santa think you’re LYING.” “i mean it, danny. i really don’t want anything. i’m good. just. . . doing the christmas thing with everyone is enough,” she sighs, finishing off her beer, “i don’t need presents to be happy.” “no one needs presents -- they want presents. . .” danny begins, before reaching for her hand. before joey has any idea what he’s doing, he’s pulling her out of her seat, dragging her to his santa chair in the middle of the room. “no, danny, i am not -- not in front of everyone. . .” she protests in a low voice. but he’s steadfast, pulling her towards the chair. “everyone sits in santa’s lap, jo, that’s the rule.”  danny drops back into the chair, his hands on joey’s hips as he tugs her into his lap. she stumbles a little, before perching on his knee -- if only a little stiffly. danny tugs her a little closer, one arm around her waist and his free hand resting on her knee. it’s more COMFORTABLE than she wants to admit. “this is stupid.” “bah humbug,” danny teases. “shut up.” instead of continuing to bug her, though, he just lets her sit, coaxing her to rest her side against his chest. it’s actually relaxing, especially as his gloved hand rubs up and down her back. joey decides she likes this much better than where she want before. she can still observe, watching the party wind down as the hours drag on. . . but she doesn’t have to do it alone. it’s one of the things she LOVES about danny. . . he’s always happy being the center of attention, being the brightest spot in the room. but he knows that joey isn’t. . . and sometimes his need to be close to her overrides his need to be in the middle of it all. eventually staci pulls a chair over too, bringing danny and joey another beer. he’s going on and on about how much he really does want that damn puppy, and he hopes santa’s going to be good to him this year. . . and joey lives for the way his face lights up when he talks. the three of them laugh together, recalling memories of the past year, sharing hopes for the next. . . it’s heartwarming to see how much staci’s grown as a deputy, and joey can’t help but feel so excited for his future in that moment. and for her own as well.  it strikes her, huddled in the middle of their local bar on christmas eve, that she’s HAPPY. happier than she’s ever been before. . . and she never wants this feeling to go away. it’s another hour or so before the fairgraves close up shop, bidding everyone good night. the residents of hope county spill out into the snow covered landscape of fall’s end, their laughter filling the silent night. the three deputies pile into danny’s truck, and they drop staci off first -- and danny and staci hug about four times before they actually leave -- before driving home themselves. once they arrive to their little blue farmhouse, danny’s quick to help joey out of the truck, even if she rolls her eyes at him. once through the front door, joey almost pays no mind to anything, until danny grabs her by the hand, pulling her back. “what are you doing. . .?” “look up.” she does as she’s instructed, only to find a small sprig of mistletoe hanging proudly above their heads. honestly, she shouldn’t be as SURPRISED as she is. “when did you have time to do that? i’ve been with you all day. . .” “you don’t believe in christmas magic, joey?” she rolls her eyes, but tugs danny in for a kiss, santa beard and all. her arms wrap around his neck, his around her waist as they kiss in their doorway, not a care in the world. like a scene from a movie, just as they break apart, it starts to snow. ”see? christmas magic.” danny grins down at her. this might just be, joey thinks, the best christmas she’s ever had. ------ christmas isn’t the same two years later. she’d much rather be at the annual hope county christmas shindig, and she’s fairly sure staci would too. . . but neither of them feel very festive today, even if staci is wearing his elf hat, and joey’s in her reindeer antlers. she’s clutching a bright red santa hat in her hands, fingers gripping the fuzzy fabric with almost too much force.  a graveyard is the last place anyone wants to spend their holidays. DANIEL BARRETT BELOVED HOPE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY BELOVED SON, BROTHER, FRIEND they stare at the grave for a long moment, a pitiful monument to the man who was so full of life and love. a permanent stone reminder of what has been taken from them. eventually, staci sits on the blanket they’ve laid in the snow, shifting a small cooler tin between himself and joey. joey sits beside him, opening two beers -- one for her, one for staci. it still seems strange not to open a third. they sit in silence most of the night -- the wounds are still too raw to discuss openly. it doesn’t feel right to spend christmas without their santa claus. . . but it would feel even worse to leave danny alone on christmas. even though they both know he’s not really here. this grave is a poor excuse for the man it memorializes. after a few hours, it’s too cold for them to keep sitting outside, and staci packs up their effects in favor for a night spent inside on his couch. joey hesitates as he turns to head back to her car. “you comin’, jo?” “uh yeah. just. . . i need a moment.” staci gets the hint, and leaves her be with a little pat to her shoulder. she waits for a moment, listening to the crunch of staci’s boots in the snow, until she knows she’s alone. reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a little sprig of mistletoe -- the very same that hung over their door that very first christmas they spent together. she runs her gloved fingers over the leaves, before leaning down, to place the mistletoe in front of danny’s grave. “it’s. . . it’s really hard to believe in christmas magic, danny. but i’m trying. i promise you, i’m trying.” tears jump to her eyes, and she presses her fingers to the corner of her eyes. sucking in a breath, she turns her back on his grave, heading back to her car, to staci. she isn’t even a few steps away before it starts to snow. joey stops, chin tilting up to look at the gentle flakes falling from the sky. even now, she can’t help but smile. maybe there was something to this christmas magic thing after all.

[beaumontbash]

Hey guys! Thank you so much for participating in my previous survey. Here’s the second part where you can vote for the characters who were in the top 5 of each category. Also, some categories have more than five because some answers had the same amount of votes.

I’ll list some of my favourite answers under the read more!

Cutest Couple:

Rourke x Death

ES Gang x Happiness

Best Face Claim:

Lucky Luciano- Maxwell Beaumont

Coconut Head- Lula Jacobs

Anyone that matches a character’s canon ethnicity

Chace Crawford- All the white boys

Danny DeVito- Jake McKenzie

Best Dressed:

Diamond Rich MCs

The Freshman MC when you have money

Best Smile:

Cetus

Not Nick Peralta

RCD Horse

Cutest Couple That Never Was:

ILITW Gang x Actually caring for MC’s death

MC x Hats

Most Likely to Drop their Phone in the Toilet:

Markus von Groot and he’d make it inspiration for his next film

Most Gullible:

Cast of Tender Nothings

Me for thinking sacrificing myself in ILITW would be worth it

Most Likely to Star in their own Reality Show:

Mayor Green

Most Likely to be Instagram Famous:

The Royal Romance Corgi

[harveyb-wabbit92]

DMC: Innocent souls 1

The following is a non profit fan based story, Devil May Cry belongs to Capcom. please support the official release.

I gain no profit from this nor do I own anything other then OCs and whatever sprouts from my imagination. Thanks for reading!

Gaila whimpered as her stomach growled, her dull lavender eyes scanned the empty streets as she sat huddled behind a bakery waiting for the staff to throw away the unsold bread jumped hearing the backdoor.

The white haired child flinched as she hid farther behind the trashcans, it was Marco the bakery owner taking out the trash this time not his wife...Who was a sweet old lady, who secretly left lunch bags for Gaila knowing the that this was probably the only meal the little girl would have for a while...Marco however.

Gaila remembered the last time he caught her stealing from the dumpster. he grabbed her arm called her a dirty mutt and other names and threatened to report her to the cops if he ever saw her again...and she'd be damned if she was going back to that hell hole!

The eight year old noticed the old mans limp and felt a sliver of guilt when she recalled Bruno biting Marco's ankle to get the old man off her, however another rumble from her tummy soon flushed that feeling out. Gaila stood dead still as Marco took the garbage bag and threw in the dumpster; cussing about him being to old for this crap. The eight year old slowly stood up careful not to make a sound when a can dropped from the trash cans she was hiding behind. she threw her hand over her mouth so not to gasp. Marco whipped his head in the direction the sound came from.

"Whose there?!"

"If it's the same little bitch who bit me, good luck eating tonight!"

Marco scanned the alley waiting when a cat jump from where he thought the noise came from, with a dismissive grunt he reached into he pocket and took out a pad lock and chain. Gaila could only wince as she watch her dinner get locked away. she felt her eyes tear up as Marco walked back into his shop and turn off the lights. Soon the alley was in complete darkness And Gaila was left hungry. and wondering how a sweet old lady like Francesca got stuck with a cold hearted man like Marco... as Bruno nuzzled the little girl from inside her worn out hoodie.

The soccer ball sized demon frowned feeling he was letting Sparda down, as he could only watch his deceased master's grandchild live like this; suddenly a smell a cheesy garlicky smell... Bruno's ball like body shifted and looked outside the mouth of the alley. He saw a very lost looking teenager, sitting on his scooter squinting at his note pad; while the kid was busy Bruno jumped out of Gaila's hoodie and stealthily made his way over to the scooter.

The teen had gotten off to use a pay-phone, while Bruno opened the pizza box strapped behind it, the demi-devil arm switched to his knight form opened the pizza box; grabbed a few slices, and quietly closed it before silently running back to his young mistress. Gaila nearly had a heart attack when Bruno ran off, her eyes tried to see where he had gone when a large black figure with lighting bolt like eyes stared down at her the girl frowned "Bruno! where-" she was cut off by him handing her three slices of pizza still warm...

Bruno then went back to his smaller form and settled back into Gaila's hoodie as the eight year old greedily chowed down only slowing when she picked the olives off, she tried to give Bruno the last slice. but, he refused settling for the crusts and discarded olives, and with that the two were on their way out into night.

Meanwhile

Dante was pissed! that not only was the kid late with his pizza! there were three missing slices and there were olives on it! He contemplated whether he should complain to Romano. but, considering they'll bring up his tab...he begrudgingly let it go.

The next morning... Nero's pov in third person.

Nero slightly bobbed his head to the music coming from his earbud, while he waited for the light to change, It wasn't like he was in a rush or anything; as he took his sweet time getting to Devil may Cry, when the sound of a little kids giggling got his attention. the teen turned and saw a group kids oohing and awing at a little white haired girl in ratty clothes, who was bouncing a black and red soccer ball? he hummed thinking nothing of it, till out of his peripheral... when the girl stretched the ball out like silly putty and it bounced back into it's original shape. That's when Nero noticed the tail,rabbit like ears and the red lighting bolt shaped eyes staring at him...A demon!

The teen felt his stomach tighten "Hey you!" Nero yelled at the girl who jumped five feet in the air, Her purple eyes found his blue ones, in a flash she was off running, "wait" Nero shouted as he tried to follow, but a bus sped passed him blocking his path! When the bus was gone so was the girl. He went over to where she was standing and asked the kids about her they of course; scattered the second he looked at them, Nero scratched the back of his head looked down and saw a hat? he recognized it the girl was wearing it before she ran off he sighed picking it up:looks like he and Dante finally got a job.

Later...

"Yo, old man! you awake?" Nero said slamming the door open "I am now..." Dante moaned from under his magazine ignoring the old man jab he yawned and sat himself up gave Nero a tired glance which quickly turned to concern when he noticed how shaken up the younger male was. "what happen? Your girlfriend dump ya?" Dante joked trying to get a rise out of the teen who just glared at him.

"All have you know we're doing fine."

"Then the hell's got you all spooked?"

"I saw demon at the park on the way here...at least i think it was?"

"YOU THINK?! there's is no "you think" in this business kid! either it was or it wasn't...what did it look like?"

Nero gave Dante the run down, and jumped when Dante's energy changed "And you just let her run off with it?!" the elder hunter growled as Nero backed off "It's not like I meant to!" the teen argued as Dante calmed himself; grabbing his coat and weapons Nero gave him a wide birth just as Morrison arrived the old man could sense the tension the second he stepped out of his car. "What happen?" the old man asked as Nero awkwardly scratched his head "I s-sort of messed up." he repeated what happened on his way over.

Morrison eyes widened the child's description before pulling out a photo "Is this her?" Nero's eyes widened at the girl's photo. "Yeah! that's her!" Dante curiously looked over Morrison's shoulder, he could already tell this child wasn't completely human, which made the situation even more dire.

"Her name is Gaila Maxwell age 8; her social worker reported her missing three days ago, but, she been missing longer then that." Dante's eyes narrowed as he took in the kids features a weird feeling curdle in his stomach, he shrugged it off as Nero held the girl's hat out for Dante.

He could already smell the demon's stench on along with the girl's Morrison and Nero took the low ground while Dante took high, he was at the same park Nero had last seen the kid, when a slightly different aroma got his attention; it was sweet, mixed with grave soil and sage... "She gone to the hills." A voice said causing to look up at the trees when he noticed her,a woman with golden yellow eyes and raven hair lazily watching him from a large tree.*Who the hell is this?* Dante mentally screamed as his eyes drank in her appearance and frankly he was liking what he was seeing.

She was totally his type! she wore a plum scarf that faded into a sky blue, a nice rack that was safe and snug in black and yellow bikini top, with tight denim shorts with black g-string hugging her hips and shredded stockings. Dante gave her a sly smirk before shaking his head remembering what he was there for.

"Sorry what?"

"The little girl you're looking for... I saw her run off into woods towards the hills."

"Oh, yeah thanks..."

"just call me Ripple, it was good seeing you again Danny."

Ripple said jumping from her perch and calmly walking away, Dante just nodded and took off in the direction Ripple pointed out to him when a thought occurred "Wait how-..." the ravenette was already gone.*why does she know that nickname?!* There was only one girl who ever called him that... but, she *It's in the past, Dante focus on finding the kid.* with that Dante continued his job.

Meanwhile

Gaila was in a very bad situation after that boy had yelled at her this morning, she thought he was one of Marco's employees there to report her to police and that met social services knew where she was! so, she ran only she didn't know the area well enough, to realize there was something worst out here, then some cranky old man and it was hunting her...

"hurry up Bruno..." the little girl muttered rubbing her arms Bruno had gone ahead to find a way out of this forest; he said he'd come back for her when he found the exit. the white haired child sighed leaning against a fallen log as she waited for her friends return, when a sudden pinch stung her arm she looked down and saw blood leaking down her arm along with with a hole in her sweater she hissed in pain and confusion when had that happen? maybe she caught her arm on something?

Then it occurred to her, she had been standing still, in a clearing! with nothing sharp that could've pos- Gaila ducked and rolled just as a sickle came flying out of the shadows missing her head by a hair! but, managed to nicked her cheek. the eight year old yelped as tears welled in her eyes, she looked up in the direction the sickle came from. her stomach felt like a block of ice as these ragged twitchy deformed monsters emerged from the darkness. one of the monsters sniffed the air and let out a giddy giggle and he pointed at her "Blood of Sparda!?" it exclaimed as the monstrous horde approached the little girl, Gaila could only shut her eyes wait for the end.

Only nothing happened...Gaila's purple eyes looked up and gasped seeing a large demon standing in front of her and pile of bloody ash at it's feet; the rest of the creatures seemed to hesitate as they observed this newcomer, it's chest and eyes were a blazing orange, it's face was very human looking. Gaila assume it was male because of it's stubble like spikes on it's chin and large broad frame that it was made of black scales and red armor resembling a long red trench-coat.

Unknown to the girl, Dante was observing her too... And He was pissed right the fuck off! with every scratch and cut he saw on her tiny body. He calmly leaned down gently pulled a twig out of her white hair as he examined her cheek and arm, his face contorted into a snarl as primal growl rumbled from his throat.

He silently picked Gaila up and held her close to him as his enraged gaze landed on horde the demons responsible for her injuries and they could sense his killing intent; a few fled while they could. But, the few brave ones that stayed? Yeah...they Barely registered what had happened hit them; before Rebellion had pierced trough their rotted bodies like paper. "Damn you son of Sparda! you can't protect her forever!" one shrieked before rebellion tore it's body in half soon into dust.

Dante turned to the left over demons who shivered under his gaze "Boo." he hissed the demons flinched and took off into the night when he was sure they were gone, Dante de-triggered and calmly turned his attention at the little girl in his arms. Who was gawking at him, if he was her position he do the same, the half-demon smirked "Hey..." she blinked "hi..." she shyly whispered back Dante felt his heart flutter, before a twig snap caused Dante to whipped his head in it's direction he aimed ivory at the intruder only for the girl to grab his wrist "No, stop! that's Bruno! he's my friend!" she begged as Dante stared at her baffled.

"He's not your friend kid, he's a demon."

"Bruno's different he protects me."

"well, he's done a good job proving that today!"

"Please don't...hurt him..."

The child begged Dante was conflicted here he had a kid who was bleeding out and small soccer ball shivering under his gaze, the hunter growled holstering his gun, "Fine! but, if he I find out he was just a lure to get you out here-" he turned to the small demon with a looked that set a car on fire "I'll pop em' like a balloon" he hissed the demon squeaked and nodded before bouncing after the white haired man.

=============================================== This is set in a AU where Dante met Nero four years before DMC4 and is fostering/mentoring him.

ages

Dante 34

Nero 15

Gaila 8

Lady 29

Trish unknown

Patty 10

Morrison 47

[thotyssey]

One of New York busiest, most in-demand and outspoken nightlifers, David Serrano made his name giving us life from the DJ booth… and these days, he’s officially capturing our lives in the photo studio.

Thotyssey: Hey David! So, how has Crazy Covid Summer been treating you?

David Serrano: It’s been interesting. I got Covid early in March, so I was able to get passed it quickly. Unfortunately, with the bars closed, I haven’t been working much… but I am not wasting this time. I’ve been really focused on leveling up my photography skills.

Glad you’re feeling better! I did see you just released a whole bunch of gorgeous pics of some of our famous queens. Are these shots you took a long time ago that you’ve finally been able to get to, or are have you been arranging new shoots during this downtime?

A little bit of both. I’ve been able to do several shoots during lockdown, and have several lined up. But I’ve also been going into the archive and pulling out some of my favorites that may have not had a chance to shine yet. Definitely using this time to be as creative as possible.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

[All photos by David Serrano]

Do you think you have a favorite subject yet, as far as the people you’ve shot?

I love people with over the top looks. Pretty is fine, but it can be a bit boring. Anyone that pushes the envelope with their aesthetic is what I gravitate towards. I recently released a shot of Androgyny that I love, with her giant red Mohawk. It’s very punk. I like that. I also love anyone that can just let go in front of the camera and go big. They’re not worried about looking foolish or pretty. And I love shooting dancers, ’cause they know how to move. I shot FiFi DuBois, and we had some really dynamic shots.

You’ve been doing nightlife photography for a few years, but for a long time you were better known in NYC as a DJ. I think it’s really just been the past few years that you really stepped up as an in-demand photographer. Was that intentional, or did it just kinda happen that way?

It was purposeful, for sure. I’m definitely interested in moving in that direction with my career. I’m 43 now, and I’m wanting to work more outside the clubs… but still staying within my nightlife community, like my work on The X Change Rate with Monet. I’ve spun the big clubs, and that was fun when I was younger. But as I get older, my priorities are changing. I prefer to work more shows now, and work more closely with the nightlife artists… so these are steps that I am making to expand my skill sets.

Before we talk more about Now, we should visit Then! Where are you from originally, and how did you begin as a creative person while growing up?

Okay, that’s a long story! I was born in Port Jefferson, Long Island, but moved to upstate NY right outside Woodbury Commons when I was three. I lived there ’til 10th grade, and then moved to South Carolina for a year and a half. Then I finished high school in a small town outside Orlando, Florida. My dad had retired while I was in high school, so we moved and I ended up going to three high schools.

I knew I wanted to do something creative since I was a child because my mom told me, “do something you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” So I gravitated towards the arts. It was always between music and film. I actually started college as a film major at UCF, but ended up switching my major my last semester to music production, which is what my degree is in.

When I turned 28, I moved back to NYC to pursue a career in music as a singer / songwriter. I released a song with Junior Vasquez called “Not Again,” aptly named ’cause it was the only song we did together. I made no money from it, so I decided to pivot and got into DJing instead. I loved it, and that became my career. I also started working in graphic design, which then led back to film. And here we are today… full circle moment.

Was it Junior who taught you how to DJ?

Um, no… LOL. Actually, I consider my DJ parents to be Xavier and Corey Craig. They helped me a lot, and gave me advice when I first began. My first gig was filling in for Xavier at Barracuda, which became my first residency in 2007. And as of March, I was still there.

As far as bars and big parties in the realm of nightlife go, what have been some of your favorite memories and highlights of the past decade-plus for you?

I enjoyed my time at Stage 48 spinning upstairs in the pop room, along with my time at XL working “Hot Mess” with Lady Bunny and Bianca Del Rio. I also loved working Drag Brunch at the Highline Ballroom, and of course the multiple Glam Awards I’ve spun. Those are just a few that stand out. There have been so many. I’ve been very lucky.

I always wondered… what would happen if you won a Glam while you were DJing the awards show? Would you play your own music intro and run up and accept, or just, like, wave from the DJ booth?

I’d have them toss it to me, LOL! Or I’d walk in an awkward silence. Fortunately, it probably won’t ever be an issue.

We’ll see you up there soon enough!

In what huge ways has the nightlife biz changed since you started out?

Social media has definitely impacted nightlife, for sure. People don’t need to go out to the bars and clubs to meet other gay people. Plus, because the world is more open and the LGBT + community is more accepted, the crowds have become more mixed and smaller. Drag has exploded after almost dying out because of Drag Race, and drag has become more mainstream… and has moved from only being hidden away in the underground scene. This is why I’ve felt it necessary to evolve myself. Otherwise you get left behind.

It’s true, within nightlife there is a clear path for drag performers (that fit certain criteria, like being cis men) to elevate, but that path is not so clear for everyone else in the biz right now.

Speaking of social media… you have a very unfiltered presence there, lol! Whether you’re discussing politics (you’re a very progressive Bernie man), pop culture or even nightlife drama, you often say exactly what’s on your mind. Today that’s almost like a death sentence (or at least an entirely stressful situation), with all the canceling happening. Do you care what people think about your social media posts?

I am a native New Yorker, and Hispanic to boot. We don’t hold back our opinions. Couple that with the fact that I’m older and come from a generation that wasn’t coddled or given participation trophies for everything, and my personality can easily trigger overly-sensitive types. I don’t like those people and don’t want to be around them anyway, so speaking my mind keeps them at bay. I have no interest in giving them any power.

People that are in my circle know me, and don’t have any issues with me. I’m actually easy to work with, and very chill. But I don’t have time to baby anyone, or give a platform to anyone talking nonsense or creating problems when none exist.

Actually, what are your thoughts about nightlife folks (promoters, DJs, performers, venue owners) who did those large, undistanced and unmasked parties during lockdown, particularly in those first months?

We all have to be careful and responsible… but I understand people needing to earn a living. If you’re being irresponsible and not wearing masks in public indoor spaces, then you’re asking for trouble. But at the same time, we need to be pragmatic and not Mask Nazis. If someone is outside without a mask and minding their own business, leave them alone. If they’re inside a public place, feel free to say something. As for the public parties packed with no masks, that’s not smart… but we know who these people are. They’re not usually known for their good decision making skills.

[Photo: Maxim]

Lol! Tell us a bit about The X Change Rate, Monet X Change’s fun talk show care of the BUILD Series that airs on YouTube and is filmed for a live studio audience (pre-Covid, of course). She’s had some amazing guests, and naturally she’s a great hostess herself! You’re the house DJ there, naturally.

Monet is great–super sweet to work with, and I was gagged when she reached out to me and asked me to be a part of her show. The crew is amazing, and it’s really inspiring and humbling to work in such a professional environment.

Hopefully you’ll both be back in the studio soon!

I sure hope so.

It must be old hat at this point–but still cool–to have seen so many queens you’ve worked with over the years get cast and do well on Drag Race.

Yes, it’s so surreal to see so many of my friends make it on the world stage. It’s inspiring… but also hard to reconcile. To me, they’re just my friends. To their fans, they’re superstars. It’s weird, but very cool.

So it’s almost impossible to answer this question nowadays, but what else is coming up?

I’m currently in the process of creating some amazing images with Danny Logan, formerly known as Dallas Dubois. He’s become an amazing costume designer since leaving drag years ago. He’s gone on to work in television and film, and is doing very well for himself. We have some incredible, politically charged and poignant concepts in the works… so look out for them.

That should be amazing! And finally: there was a lot of new music this summer. Did anything stand out as your favorite song or album for you?

You have no idea. There have been SOOOO many great songs. I am really into the 80’s synth pop sound, that has made a huge splash on the scene this year: from The Weeknd to Gaga, Dua Lipa, and Miley. They’re all killing it. Right now, I’m loving Miley’s newest song “Midnight Sky.” She’s serving major Stevie Nicks vibes, and I am here for it. Not to mention the video is giving me major visual inspiration for my shoots!

Thanks, David!

Check Thotyssey’s calendar for DJ David Serrano’s upcoming appearances, and follow him on Facebook, Instagram (also one for his photography), Twitter and YouTube. All photos care of David Serrano unless otherwise labeled.

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On Point With: David Serrano One of New York busiest, most in-demand and outspoken nightlifers, David Serrano made his name giving us life from the DJ booth...