#set before the start of the Dan-Timeline

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 25 - "Do I look like I knew that?"

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: -

A/N: Edit - adjusted the last bit a little after rereading this during my break, so that it makes grammatically more sense...

There was no warning. The moment the Waynes had stepped into the main hall of this Gala they had not been prepared for what had been about to happen. The only sign they had gotten was Damian tensing for a split second before the youngest of them booked it across the hall.

Tim and Bruce instantly attempted damage control, distracting all the high society people that had noticed it, while Dick and Jason followed their youngest. Cass had already escaped the gala to the roof before they had set their first foot into the main hall.

But again, nothing could have prepared them for what was happening.

Damian not only had seen something that caused him to sprint across the room no, their Demon Brat had gone a step further and just tackled the kid of someone else over and was now wrestling with the other boy! Holding one of the daggers they must have missed to the other boy's neck.

Surprisingly, the other kid held himself pretty well against Damian. Jason and Dick spent a good five minutes just staring when they had found their youngest, only starting to move again when Vlad Master demanded answers from his child. The apparent guardian of the kid that was currently attempting to get a choke hold on Damian before getting flipped over the shoulder, the boy flipped mid air, landing on his feet.

Before Damian could lung at the other boy again Dick grabbed him, his arm wounding around Damians chest as he held onto his youngest brother that sent quite an impressive death glare towards the other kid that just returned the glare, not with the same intensity but clearly peeved had having gotten attacked out of nowhere.

"Daniel! Explain this instant! You promised me, one gala without a ruckus!" Master was clearly not amused, hopefully Bruce had some sort of peace offering ready. Not that the man needed it, Dick thought, remembering some of the reports he had seen the man on.

The boy, Daniel, turned his glare towards his guardian. "It's not my fault this time! HE attacked me first!" Jason snorted, clearly having heard out of that statement alone that Masters apparently also had a feral kid that attacked someone at a gala before.

"This is no excuse. I know you are still grieving but you can not attack my business partner's children. Wasn't it enough that you broke Andrews Mayors nose last week?"

"He deserved it, he hit a girl in a perverted way."

"Justin Gracer?"

"Made fun of my late parents' profession."

"Daniel."

"Fruitloop."

Dick watched how Masters pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly not happy with his charge. By now Damian seemed to have calmed down too from whatever idea he had gotten into his head. He was still glaring at the other kid but at least it appeared he wasn't going to attack anymore when he hissed at Dick to let go of him. He still kept a hand on his shoulder just in case.

"I am so sorry Mr. Master. It wasn't Daniel that started it. Damian, come on apologies." Dick cut in, causing the other two to pay attention and fully face them. That's when he noticed it. Daniel looked a whole lot like Damian. The older siblings shared a glance before Jason left to get the others, Tim and Bruce were still stuck doing damage control but it should only be a matter of time. What was the best way to bring it up to ask subtitle questions without appearing suspicious?

Dick was just about a question before Daniel apparently beat him to it. "Fruitloop, you did not attempt to clone me did you?"

"Little Badger, why would I do that? I already have guardianship over you."

Dick felt like he was missing something here but he also felt Daniam's shoulder tense below his hand. So that was why he had attacked. Damian thought another clone appeared. He really hoped what Masters and his Charge seid were just some ill timed joke. Otherwise the implications would be very worrisome.

"Mom and Dad didn't keep some other family relations secret did they?" Daniel then asked and Masters looked at them contemplatively. "Well Jack was estranged from the rest of his family while Maddie only had her sister Alicia and as far as I am aware you and Jasmine were their only children."

"Mr. Masters if you don't mind, would it be alright to do a DNA testing? You said Daniel's father was estranged from his family? It would be good to find out now if there is a relation." Dick ignored the glare Damian was sending him now, but this was his best excuse to get the others DNA to test if the other boy was really a clone or not. If he was then the League of Assassins must have done some serious brainwashing, and memory manipulation. This would also be the first clone of Damian that actually had a consciousness of his own.

"Doesn't explain why he attacked me…" he heard the other boy mutter as Master stared at them with narrowed eyes for a while before giving the boy by his side a contemplating look.

"Daniel has lost his family and friends in an incident recently. It would be good if we found any family he could connect with or help with his grief." The man then finally said after a moment before handing Dick a business card with a number to connect them before leading his boy away, leaving the gala for all they knew.

A week later and after a lot of discussion in their Family. The Waynes and Masters meet for the DNA testing. Though the moment Masters and his charge met Bruce both froze, Bruce in his Brucie act blinked innocently at them and asked if anything was wrong.

"Fruitloop…"

"Don't be ridiculous Daniel. I never would have attempted what you appear to be implying."

The boy pointed in at Bruce as he faced his guardian. "Look at him and tell me they don't look alike! He is like a more fit version of Dad! Like he hadn't eaten a single one of mom fudges in years! You have to have an explanation for that!"

"And how would I do that?"

"I don't know! You're the fruitloop one that had cloning equipment in the basement! Who did you buy it from? Some old fruitloop? The one you bought it from, did they try to - i don't know - clone a celebrity for themselves! The papers you had with it clearly stated that it had been used successfully once. It was a second hand bought with super old technology when I demanded you destroy the stuff!"

"Daniel, do I look like I knew that? I never looked in these papers you speak of! I just bought it as a backup plan, that I never needed a little badger! Besides the only one I would have ever attempted to clone with that time frame would have been your mother! I didn't even know your father before college! "

"Why would you buy something without looking into the papers and instruction manuals you get with it?!"

"There was no need for! Why did you even look into that when you had me destroy it anyway?!"

The Waynes looked back and forth between Masters and his charge. The more these two continued to argue the more a sinking feeling started to form in everyone present. It was Tim though that voiced everyone's thoughts as he leaned over to Bruce whispering only one question. "Are we sure there never has been an attempt of someone trying to clone you? It sounds like there had been one, years ago…"

[hyperfixatinator]

I have a DP x DC AU brainworm about Danny and Tim being long lost siblings (twins or otherwise).

Because both of them have faced evil future versions of themselves who've almost ended the world in some way through altering time. If Clockwork had been watching Danny's world-ending timelines, then who's to say he wouldn't keep tabs on Tim's as well?

Imagine that the brothers had to be temporarily separated at a young age to ensure a peaceful future. Danny had to be in Amity Park to gain his ghost powers and become the new Ghost King. Meanwhile, Tim had to stay in Gothem to become the new Robin, something he'd have been less likely to do if Danny stayed in his life.

However, their separation was only supposed to be temporary. What if both Dan and Future Tim were from futures where they never reunited as teens? Heck, what if both of them were from the SAME future?

The Nasty Burger explosion happened, Danny killed Vlad and absorbed his soul, and became Dan. Dan grew too powerful for the GIW to handle anymore, so the government tried reaching out to the Justice League. But oops! Future Tim already killed off and tore down that whole organization, meaning the world no longer had it's protectors to stop this new foe.

Though they were strangers, the future brothers unwittingly collaborated in sealing the world's fate.

Back to the present, the Observants wanted Clockwork to get rid of Danny and also Tim before that timeline came to pass. What they didn't understand was Clockwork's plan.

See, the Infinite Realms needed a new monarch to replace Pariah Dark, but not just anyone would do. In timelines outside of Dan's future, the U.S government would've started a war with the Infinite Realms anyway. One that would guarantee Earth's destruction and offset the balance of other realms near it.

The war is set to start in Amity Park, but the information blackout is preventing it's citizens from getting outside help. Mid-to-late teen Danny can't bring down the Anti Ecto Acts alone. He'd be struggling to keep the Realms beings from invading his home as it is. And the government's iron grip on the city makes it nearly impossible for news to get out to the masses.

Danny being the brother of a vigilante detective across the country is another story.

Batman's mentorship would give Tim the training needed to eventually track down his lost sibling. And through Red Robin's connections to the Justice League, Danny could get help overturning the Anti Ecto Acts while he keeps declarations of war at bay on his end. Danny and Tim's combined efforts could be what's keeping the world at peace instead of ending it.

Long story short: Clockwork kills two birds with one stone by uniting a pair of long lost brothers through the prevention of an interdimensional war.

[petite-phthora]

So about that dinner…

[DP x DC fic]

[Love at first... murder? - part 2]

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Part 1

Ao3

---

Danny lets out a long groan as he enters his apartment.

He’s dead tired— hehe, ‘dead’ tired— due to an exhausting schoolday and having been unable to fall back asleep last night after what happened.

So sure, he might have started having a panic attack when he got back to his apartment when what he had just done had finally fully sunken in.

And he might have spiraled even more, even going as far as to try and trap himself in a Fenton thermos, thinking he was back on the path to becoming Dan.

Luckily for him, a green sticky note, left by his favorite unnecessarily cryptic mentor, appeared.

It let him know that he is no more on the path to becoming Dan than prior to the incident and that the actions he had taken that night, while vexatious, were necessary for the betterment of the timeline.

Whatever that means.

By the time he had come to terms with his actions enough to stop spiraling and remember that he has school soon. He checked the time, noticing that he only had a few minutes left until his next class started.

Which meant he had to sprint to his classes and start the day off already tired and emotionally drained. He hadn’t even been able to at least get a coffee beforehand. And so he spent the rest of the day fighting to stay awake during his lessons, sporting eye bags big enough to carry the weight of his sins.

Danny glances at the space-themed clock on the wall that Jazz had gotten him as a housewarming gift. 6 pm. He should probably get started on dinner.

Deciding to go with something simple, as he simply does not have the energy for anything fancy right now, Danny opens the cupboard and grabs the first thing he sees: a box of mac n cheese. Danny rubs his eyes and squints at the box, trying to read the instructions when he gets interrupted by a knock.

…

On his window.

…

Danny turns around to see Red Hood at his window, outside of his 3rd-floor apartment. He pauses before shrugging it off. Stranger things have happened. He sets the box down and makes his way over to the window. He opens the window once he reaches it, only to come face to face with a bouquet of sweet peas, the colors ranging from white and pink to lavender.

Oh, those are his favorite.

He gingerly takes the flowers before looking over the top of the bouquet at the person who handed them to him. Ah, yes. The crime lord. Who had seen him commit murder.

Danny stares at him, debating on whether he should ask him what he’s doing here or thank him for the flowers. Red Hood speaks up before Danny can make a decision.

“So about that dinner… ” He trails off, tone laced with hope and a slight nervousness.

“Right.” Danny nods with understanding, despite not having a clue what Red Hood was talking about, his joke the night before having slipped from his mind.

“I’ve got the entire night planned out for us. First, we’ll have dinner at Pete’s. They recently rebuilt and they have this amazing cannoli, you have to try it sometime.

“And then after dinner, we’ll go to the Gotham Observatory—“

Danny, not even questioning how the crime lord found out where he lives and that he loves space, cuts him off in excitement.

“Wait! Isn’t that the one with the crystal powered telescope?”

Red Hood nods and holds out a hand to him expectantly.

Danny stares at the hand for a moment before shrugging, setting the flowers down on a table, and taking the offered hand. He lets Red Hood lead him out of his own window.

Once Red Hood has helped him down to the ground and led him to his motorcycle, it dawns on Danny he’s going on a date(?) with a known crime lord— or wasn’t it former crime lord now?

Well, who was Danny to refuse a trip to the observatory and some good cannoli?

Who knows, he might even get a new boyfriend out of it.

---

Red Hood takes his helmet off and sets it down on the table between them so he can eat.

Danny tries not to stare too much but damn, he’s handsome, even if he’s still wearing the mask.

Danny takes a bite of his food to try and distract himself, idly noting that ohhh, this is some good spaghetti. He'll have to try the cannoli if it's as good as their pasta.

Red Hood is the one to start the conversation.

“Hey, so, since we didn’t get to talk more last night, I still wanted to thank you for your service to the city”

“My what?”

“I’ve been wanting to kill that insane clown for years now.” Red Hood continues.

“And while I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get to end his miserable existence myself, I’m so glad he’s finally gone. So, thank you” he says, looking Danny right in the eye with an earnest expression.

Feeling a mix of flustered at the heavy gaze that’s on him, and confused by the other’s words, Danny stammers out a bewildered “You’re… welcome?”

Red Hood nods at him before continuing.

“And you don’t have to worry about others finding out if you don’t want them to. I ain’t a snitch, and I’ll try to keep the Bats off your back the best I can.”

Danny gives him a nod in gratitude.

“Though honestly, I’d doubt you’d have to deal with much trouble even if people did know it was you who got rid of him.

“The Joker has done a lot of horrid shit and caused a lot of grief for Gotham over the years. He’s had it coming for a long time now, so don’t even feel too bad about it. It might even become a local holiday when his death comes out!”

However, something Red Hood had said stood out to Danny. He stiffens before blurting something out in a tone that sounded even more panicked than when he accidentally killed the clown.

“THAT CLOWN I PUNCHED WAS THE JOKER?!”

[pokelolmc]

The Ultimate Enemy is a Disappointment (and How I'd Fix It) (Part 3)

Happy holidays, everyone! Welcome to part three of my analysis on The Ultimate Enemy. If you want to check out the previous parts, you can start at part 2.5 and go backwards. After this, there's only two...maybe 2.5....more to go! To make up for the long waffle on why the "Dan is a fusion" plotline doesn't work, this one's relatively shorter.

(Part 2.5), Part 3, (Part 4)

This one is about the issues with the episode's time travel. To be honest, I couldn't find much to say about it logistically because it was so vague/poorly defined. I have more to say about the time-travelling characters and their decision-making, which will be part four.

Problems with the Time Travel:

The events leading to Dan’s timeline only happen in the episode because of the very time travel used (in an attempt) to prevent them

The episode never actually shows us how Danny’s tragedy started in the alternate timeline itself, outside of Vlad’s flashback of what happened at his castle. But that was the very end of the chain of dominoes that led to Dan. However, we do get to see the alleged events leading up to that play out in the main timeline (before Clockwork saves Danny’s loved ones)—as part of the episode’s plot. The only problem is, the way it happens in the main timeline was only possible because of time travel.

(Clockwork is literally the only reason this happened)

In the main timeline, Danny’s alleged cheating—the first major event in the alternate timeline—only happened because Clockwork set it up. He wanted to give Danny a “moral test” of some sort. And it only happened, logistically, because he sent Boxed Lunch back into the past to attack Danny.

Then he sent back Skulktech, which facilitated the trio hitching a ride to his tower and getting access to the alternate future. Which facilitated Dan realising that his creation was in jeopardy and coming back into the past to cheat in Danny’s place.

The second major event, the Nasty Burger explosion, also only happened because of time travel. Arguably, in order for Danny to go to Vlad (assuming he went un-coerced/of his own choice), everyone that was there had to die. At least one survivor would’ve enough to change his fate.

If he still had Jazz, for example—they could’ve been moved into an orphanage or with Aunt Alicia or some sort of temporary care but (hopefully) still at least had each other. Sam and/or Tucker surviving would’ve given Danny social support and an external voice of reason against going to Vlad. At least one of his parents surviving…that’s a no-brainer—he doesn’t leave their care.

But in the episode, Danny’s parents and Lancer were only at the Nasty Burger because Dan time travelled back and cheated on the CAT in Danny’s place. Sam and Tucker were only there because of their own time travel (they learned of their deaths in the future, and came to the NB to warn everyone), and Jazz because of Dan’s (she came to warn everyone “Danny” was an impostor).

The episode makes these events specific consequences of time travel. There’s no indicator of whether Danny would’ve come up with cheating on the CAT/getting the answers without Clockwork’s prompting, or just given up and flunked the test in frustration (and Danny failing the test couldn’t have led to the parent-teacher meeting at the NB because the results wouldn’t have been out yet). While you could argue Sam and Tucker have reason to be at the Nasty Burger without Dan (because they hang out there regularly), Jazz doesn’t really have one…unless I guess she wanted in on the parent-teacher conference…? Why?

But even then, the newspaper article in the alternate timeline implied that Danny, his loved ones and Lancer were the only ones caught in the explosion (they died and Danny was the “sole survivor”). So that means no one else was at the Nasty Burger.

The explosion happened on a school day, in the afternoon/evening after school, with all of them having a different reason to be there and there was no one else at the restaurant? Not even any staff?

In that case, it’d have to be closed…but it was only closed in the main timeline because of the smaller explosion from the Boxed Lunch fight. And if another previous Nasty Sauce incident somehow closed it early in the alternate timeline, that means Sam and Tucker had no reason to be at the Nasty Burger for the explosion. Why go hang out when it’s closed?

I guess we just have to assume there was some other offscreen reason that they happened in the alternate timeline, with little prompting or explanation…but I still argue that if Danny cheated of his own volition in the alternate timeline, then Clockwork shouldn’t have given Danny the answers in the main one—and the "what could've been" in the alternate timeline would’ve been the better/more compelling story to tell. And Danny’s loved ones lining up for the explosion just feels…it feels like it’s busted there. Without the time travel seen in the main timeline, it just couldn’t happen the way the episode said it did. But the episode can’t be a time loop (where the time travel happened in the alternate timeline) because it would’ve been broken at the end.

Unfortunately, I don't have any real ideas on what to do about this except for my now-repeated insistence of Danny steals the answers of his own volition and gets to finish cheating. And there's probably some way to change the circumstances of the explosion/whatever kills Danny's loved ones so everyone has a reason to be there without time travel.

2. The Boo-merang shouldn’t be able to reach Danny in the alternate future because it didn’t time travel. It could even potentially risk a time paradox.

The Boo-merang takes Jazz’s message from the present-day events of the episode (main timeline) to Danny in the Ghost Zone of alternate future, without using any time travel. Instead, it simply waits the long way around. It seems clever and creative at first glance, but it doesn’t actually make sense.

The Boo-merang’s ten-year wait to reach Danny runs simultaneously to the school day, the CAT and the final fight at the Nasty Burger, which differ from the events that led to Dan’s birth. By the time the Boo-merang had only been in the Ghost Zone for a few hours, Danny’s loved ones would’ve been saved and the future it was headed to would’ve been/become non-existent. Reaching Danny’s destination in Dan’s timeline would’ve been impossible. He never would’ve gotten the letter.

How it’d affect the timeline/events of the episode if Danny didn’t get Jazz’s letter…well…it depends. All Jazz’s letter did was remind him of Vlad, so it’s still possible he could’ve figured it out on his own if given more time. Jazz’s letter not arriving would just remove the guarantee that Danny found Vlad. Assuming that he could’ve eventually thought of Vlad on his own, or found someone in the GZ to help him remove the Time Medallion, there’s still a chance he could get back to the past without Jazz’s letter, Vlad or the Ghost Gauntlets. But that leaves a problem:

Without Vlad, he never would’ve heard about Dan’s backstory. He’d have watched his loved ones die (or been sent back to the past by Dan, in the aftermath of their deaths) and been liable to follow the path to Dan’s existence (not knowing that he had to avoid going to Vlad and the fusion). However, that would’ve created the alternate future, resulting in the Boo-merang’s destination in the future existing in the main timeline, and being able to reach Danny just by waiting. Danny would’ve then found his way to Vlad, and resulted in an eventual victory over Dan (and avoiding the alternate future) as per the episode’s ending (making the Boo-merang unable to reach its destination again). This creates a time paradox.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. It was what the writers set up the Boo-merang for (outside of outing Dan to Jazz because it doesn't react to his ectosignature) and it feels like they were really trying to be clever. I feel like you'd have to give Jazz some other role in the story. Maybe Dan brought a Time Medallion back as his only way of accessing the past (stolen from Sam/Tucker, instead of canon where he seems to just open a portal to the past??) and she gets a hold of it? I don't know I'm just spitballing here.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Friends To Lovers + Smut/PWP Masterlist

7 Minutes In Heaven - interrupted-by-fireworks

Summary: Dan and Phil have to play 7 Minutes in Heaven at a party.

A Koi pond, love, sex, and all the crap that comes with it (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: Dan can't sleep, but Phil can. Dan thinks too much. What happens after the tour?

A Sleepless Night With Dan (ao3) - cockwhoredan

Summary: Dan and Phil live together, and they’re just friends. One night Dan can’t sleep. Naturally, he decides to give Phil a blowjob.

Break Me Down (ao3) - gayestever

Summary: The tour bus breaks down and Dan and Phil struggle to find a hotel room- or at least one that has two beds.

Can't Help The Itch To Touch- To Kiss (ao3) - thescienceofphan

Summary: Phil is deaf and Dan is a manwhore. When people see them together, they worry about Phil’s emotional well being and shame on Dan for targeting a deaf boy, but it’s not like that. Not at all.

Craving Control (ao3) - starwatersong

Summary: Phil is intrigued by the hypnotist at the YouTuber Summit in 2016 and finds himself oddly fascinated by hypnotism. Is Dan helping him find one for a video for Phil’s benefit… or Dan’s? Some timeline mixing where Phil’s fortune telling video takes place in an earlier time. They’re living in London apartment #1 in this story.

drop your heart I'll save it for you (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Tenderness isn't part of the deal, nor are soft words, or feelings, or kisses that don't lead to fucking. It's not what Dan asked for, and it's certainly not why someone would choose to fuck their friend slash flatmate slash colleague who they absolutely don’t have any feelings for.

How do you Sleep? (When you Lie to Me.) (ao3) - CactiPhan

Summary: Dan is about to be married to his longtime boyfriend Henry, but plans change when he walks in on him cheating on Dan. The only person he can run back to is his best friend, who he was blind not to see was perfect for him.

If You Don't Love Me, Pretend (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: All his life, Dan has wanted to have the chance to be a parent someday. He would be the best parent that ever existed, he was sure of it. Fostering might not be the most traditional way on the road to parenting, but Dan's dead set on doing it anyway. But, well, it would be easier with a co-parent, right?

the bed-sharing, fake relationship, friends-to-lovers, parent fic i was desperate to read; when i shouted into the void and was met with silence, i decided i'd do it myself

No They're Not (ao3) - bandhoez9194

Summary: Against Phil's better judgement, Dan goes to a small house party with friends. He had been assured by both Dan and the party host that there would be no alcohol after all.

Unfortunately, someone else has a change of plans and gets Dan drunk anyway. Which makes him start talking about buttholes and storage places.

When Phil picks him up though, things get soft, steamy, and bendy, just like the spaghetti he left on the stove.

Very sexy, very smutty, very random, very cute. Also, drunk Dan so who doesn't like that?

Read It and Weep (ao3) - phansomedevil

Summary: Dan's feelings toward Phil are nothing but platonic, or so he thinks before stumbling upon some actually decent phanfiction and falling face-first into the abyss.

Something New (ao3) - benotafraidofwriting

Summary: Dan wants Phil's help when trying something new, but can Phil keep his feelings for his best friend at bay?

stuck on you (ao3) - watergator

Summary: dan finds himself in a rather awkward predicament and phil ends up having to helping him

The Parent Project (ao3) - ATEEZpresent (orphan_account)

Summary: Dan and Phil get paired to take care of a realistic baby doll for a few days. Feelings arise.

The Sun, The Snow, And Everything In Between - chocolatesaucelester

Summary: A lot can happen in the span of one year, or a cycle of four seasons, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds. In that common amount of time Phil met Dan at bonfire night in the fall and over the course of a year, realizes he found a person he would’ve never guessed he’d found that night.

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they’ve always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Unspoken Rules (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: They have rules.

1. They don't kiss 2. They don't talk about it 3. They aren't exclusive 4. They don't get attached 5. It's over when the tour is

As long as they abide by the rules, no one gets hurt. Simple, right?

Want (ao3) - yoidnp

Summary: It was a rare night alone in a hotel room away from the confines of the tour bus. Dan and Phil discover a few things about each other.

Watching You, Watching Me (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Dan accidentally discovers his best friend and roommate pleasuring himself in the early hours of the morning and can't look away. In fact, he can't keep his hands off of himself. Phil is surprised by Dan's reaction, and two best friends make long-time confessions.

[five-rivers]

Fractal

This is set in the Mortified-verse

.

Patterns repeated themselves.  That is why they were called patterns.  Two things derived from the same source tended to share similarities, though the method of derivation might be totally different. So it must be with shadows and Phantoms, one group cast, the other, copied. 

Yes, technically speaking the lair, Refuge, which the shadows were part of belonged equally to all seven Phantoms, but Danny had existed the longest, had been awake the longest, had the most memories, not counting a certain someone who was ignoring the lair with an intensity that could likely make plants wilt.  

(Danny, when he thought about Dan and Refuge in the same moment, thought about the fate of Harmony in that timeline.  Had it survived, unknown to Dan, or–?)

The personalities of the other Phantoms were starting to come through, most obviously in the creation of Replica, who was more Ellie's shadow than Danny's, but, to an outside observer, those changes were small, and could easily be dismissed as Danny wanting to accommodate his siblings. Fractal was not an outside observer.  He could cite exactly who was influencing what at any given time.  

All that to say Fractal was definitely a creation of Danny’s, a facet of his needs.  He had been made, largely, to act as a non-threatening interface between the lair and any visitors.  

All this to say that, despite the above facts, Fractal felt that he and Dmitri had a lot in common.  

They were both somewhat more bookish than Danny presented himself, they were both shy, they were both in a position that required them to interact frequently with others, anyway, they both had eye issues, and they both were on the verge of developing an enmity with the current organizational system of Refuge's library.

Before the shadows were made, the lair had sorted books, and other objects, autonomously. That was not to say the sorting wasn't still autonomous.  The shadows were part of Refuge, no matter how easy it was for outsiders to forget that.  Sending a shadow to move things was, however, a different process than the one it had employed before.  

It was easier, but, with shadows also being called to do other things so frequently, it also took longer.  Thus, the library was arranged in the same way it had been since Danny first became aware of it.  By color.  

This was a terrible way to arrange anything except, perhaps, art supplies.  Fractal, who had been assigned most of Refuge's sorting problems, hadn't gotten the chance to deal with it yet.  

He had been watching Dmitri flit up and down the rows of bookshelves for about five seconds.  He’d been aware of his frustration for much longer.  

Steeling himself, Fractal stepped forward–

Right onto the hem of his pants–

Causing him to, once again, plant his face on the floor.  It was even the same place!  Was there something about this one particular aisle?  This bookshelf?  The act of stepping out into the open?  Was he cursed or something?  When would he have been cursed?  How?  Why?  Who?

“Um,” said Dmitri.  “Are you alright?”

“Yes!” said Fractal.  He sat up.  “Yes.  I am fine.  Are you fine?”

“Yes?” squeaked Dmitri, floating far above Fractal.  

“Do you need help finding anything?” pressed Fractal, tapping his fingers together.  “Perhaps a book?”

Wisps had started to come down out of the leafy trees that grew from the tops of the bookshelves…  Or, from another perspective, the trees whose trunks the bookshelves were carved from.  They liked it here, but ever since the wisps as a group had gotten scolded for making Danny incredibly high, they were a little wary of getting close.  Which was too bad, really, but in ghost form Dmitri was almost the same size as them, so it was maybe just a bit…  

Fractal wouldn’t call it funny, but he was quite sure most of the other Phantoms would.  Either that or cute.

Dmitri glared at them, making them chime sadly, and dropped lower.  

“I’m trying to find books about places,” he mumbled.  “About countries and cities and things.”

“Ah,” said Fractal.  “We do have several like that.”

“But I can’t find them.  I can’t figure out what the order of this is!”  He waved a tiny hand at the shelves. 

“There really isn’t one, I’m afraid,” said Fractal, folding his hands in front of him.  “They’re arranged by color.”

“Oh, no,” groaned Dmitri.  “By color?”

“I can help you find them, though.  May I ask what this is for?”

“Don’t you know?” asked Dmitri, tilting his head to one side.  

“I can guess,” said Fractal.  “But Refuge as a whole is still somewhat more aligned with Danny, and we’ll always be more in tune with subconscious needs than conscious desires.”

Dmitri fidgeted.  “Dad - Sojourn - said he wanted to take me on a trip once we’re done regularizing relations with the US, and that I should pick out the places to go, but I don’t know any places.”

Fractal, already cataloging the atlases and travelogs held in the library, nodded.  “You’ll mostly want places in the Realms, then,” he said.  “At least until we start reaching out to the other countries on Earth.”

“Yes,” said Dmitri.  “That would be good.

“Okay,” said Fractal.  “I think I’ve found a few books that will be useful to you.”  He started to walk away confidently, then remembered his earlier spill and changed his gait to something more cautious.  The first book wasn’t far away, and then the next one was…  and so many atlases were blue of some variety…

“Does it ever bother you?” asked Dmitri.  

“Does what bother me?” asked Fractal.  He slid another book from the shelf, and passed it off to a wisp that was trying to make itself useful.  

“That you can’t leave.  That you’re stuck here.”

“I can understand that it would bother you,” said Fractal, pausing, “but why would it bother me?”

“Because you’re not really just a shadow, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I picked some things up from Danny.  You’re based on us physically, too, which means you have a brain, so…  Doesn’t that make you a person, too?”

“Hm.  Maybe.  But even if I do have a brain, it’s function is to be an extension of yours.  And,” he added, “I have no intention of pursuing any individuality I might possess.  I am a portion of a pattern that is self-similar to the larger, more complete version.  That is all.”

“A fractal.”

“I did name myself.”  Fractal started walking again.  Atlases, atlases…

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t.  It doesn’t bother me.”  He smiled.  “After all, I get to travel with you.  Let’s find the rest of your books.”

[auteurdefeu]

Can I ask to hear some of the thoughts about the crackship polycule

Alright, so. Welcome. This is gonna be a doozy. I will do my best to explain the timeline @turtlelover59 and I came up with and keep it PG-13 because it is A Lot at times. This started off as an idea about Fix&Pasha being FWB with Hunch, who is in an open relationship with Dan, and then it spiraled from there.

(I headcanon Dan as gender-fluid but will be using they/them pronouns in reference to them for this :p)

> Pre-Canon, Hunch and Pasha had feelings for each other in the countless times they crossed paths at work, but they never acted on it, putting their work first. Hunch always asked for her input on his cases when he could because she was so much smarter than her shitty desk job seemed to account for. He was truly fascinated by her, but he never found out her story until much Later.

> Hank made a point of mentioning that The Fix worked for several people at the table of PIs so I’m choosing to believe he was hired on occasion by Hunch, who took up a few important cases that needed someone eliminated. We all know Hunch’s track record in fights, so,,, he calls up someone capable, and their interactions were limited to that.

> Canon Shit Happens, Hunch realizes his feelings for Dan and helps to set up Pasha and Fix before he eventually gets with Dan. Around this time, Fix and Hunch also start getting closer, as a “friendship therapy” sorta thing, talking about their experiences on opposite sides of the law

> Dan learns about Hunch’s former crush on Pasha and teases him about it, encouraging him to follow through on it if she was open to it. Similarly, Pasha and Fix discuss their lack of romantic experiences before getting together and upon mentioning how she used to have feelings for Hunch, Fix gets curious heh. After much discussion, they propose having a few no-strings-attached Meetings to Try New Things (you can guess what I mean) and it’s absolutely fine, things are going well

> Surprise, strings are attached. Pasha and Hunch finally start to develop the relationship they were too scared to try all that time ago, and it’s around that time that Dan is invited to join a few of their Meetings, not wanting them to feel left out. Hunch is beginning to realize just how much he likes The Fix, while Fix is having a time-period-typical crisis about liking Men, and the fact that the last time he liked a man (M. Bition) his feelings were used and manipulated to get a job done

> Communication is hard especially for men so they just don’t talk about it until Hunch gets himself into trouble because of course he does. It's not until after they have him patched up and stable again that one of the Wayward Interests (their name is Skipper, a pirate interest, they'll be relevant later) tells Hunch how scared Fix was. Hunch had no idea Fix could be scared of anything, let alone for him, but they finally talk and realize just how much they mean to each other and make things official between them

> After the last bad injury, Hunch starts using his walking cane! (yes I'm projecting chronic pain onto him) He's had it for a while but was too stubborn to use it and thought people might view him as less capable because of it, but he does need it. His partners actively encourage the use of it once discovering he needs it (and tell him he's very handsome with it<3) and Fix goes as far as to get him a fancy one so he feels more inclined to use it. This means so much to me.

> Uncle Hunch and Auncle (genderfluid aunt-uncle) Fucks. Hunch gets along with all the kids, utterly adores them. He puts on little cloud-puppet shows for them, always having some sugar-coated stories of cases to tell. Dan always pretends to hate them, calling them little shits or rapscallions, but they love playing with them, chasing them and spinning them around, making them laugh. Skipper, the pirate interest, quickly becomes their favorite because the kid keeps challenging them to fight and is incredibly cocky and adventurous. Their stubbornness is perhaps a bit too similar to Hunch.

> While Hunch and Fix are developing their relationship, Pasha and Dan find themselves with more time together. Dan helps out with the kids as much as they insist they don’t like them, but could also be found helping around the kitchen (Fix and Hunch are banned. Hunch gets distracted and mixed together horrible things and then the appliances are all just too small for Fix so he breaks them). Not only that, but Dan’s into fashion and likes helping Pasha find outfits… especially for an upcoming Nondescript Fancy Party. While Fix and Hunch are playing catch-up in their relationship, Dan and Pasha dance the night away tonight and Dan realizes their feelings might be more than just Sexual Attraction.

> Dan and Pasha, as pleasure and passion, aren’t exactly sure what they are but there’s something there. They’ll figure it out in time… as far as they’re concerned, they’ve got all the time in the world. It would be absolutely terrible if something awful were to happen to The Four that deeply traumatized them and set them back from any advancements in their relationships because they had to be more concerned with processing their own shit first.

It gets way darker from there so I’ll leave it with that vague ominous mention. Somewhere in the mess of events, Hunch and Dan get engaged as well, and eventually unofficially adopt Skipper. Their jobs aren’t exactly kid-friendly and they’re both workaholics so they wouldn’t be able to fully accommodate having a kid but in their many visits to the orphanage, Skipper started calling them mama (Dan) and papa (Hunch, of course). To throw in some more fun things while we’re here, Anna has a sort of maternal relationship with Hunch, very much a tired mother making sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid. I’m all about those found family vibes if you couldn’t tell. Hunch also gets a little stray cat! This is not important at all, I just love cats.

Just a. a glimpse at the few things that I am leaving out for the sake of my sanity and the sanity of those who made it thus far in reading. The unmentioned timeline includes, but is not limited to, a near death experience, a brutal murder, extreme manipulation and child endangerment. It got REAAAAL bad and it keeps getting worse unfortunately. I adore these four but for some reason they can’t ever be happy… but! I’m writing something perhaps a bit more hopeful for ao3 to spread my silly gay agenda.

[asjjohnson]

Part 4 of my poll adventure fic. Links: the beginning, part 2, part 3.

Hmm... I think I'll split this part up and add an extra poll. I'll have another post/poll Saturday.

I added a Read More thing but there is a poll under there, okay?

---

Vlad's eyes moved back and forth across Dan's face, his mouth open slightly in a stunned expression.

And then Vlad knelt before him. "My boy, what's happened to you?"

Dan didn't know what to think. He closely watched Vlad with suspicion and anger and uncertainty.

Rather than vocally deny Vlad's endearment, he focused what energy he had on recovery. The electric shock had left behind locked up nerves and muscles, like the first time around, and the sooner he could absorb the lingering electricity and heal the minor damage, the sooner he could move.

"I saw you yesterday— But you were locked away before yesterday... But why? And why would Clockwork—" Vlad scanned his face again, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Of course... You're from the future. ...Oh. You'll follow in my footsteps?"

Vlad raised the small device in his hand, again pushing a button. Dan tensed—another shock already?

"Forget the plan," Vlad said as the collar instead clicked and fell off. "Tell me everything. I want to know all—"

Vlad cut off as Dan, grinning, locked the collar around his neck. "What?!"

Dan grabbed the small device from Vlad's hand. With a glance, he saw which button was which, and pushed the one to activate the collar.

Vlad screamed and collapsed to the floor. Then he lay still, other than ragged breaths and an occasional unconscious twitch. He stared up at Dan with an expression of surprise and betrayed sadness.

Dan stood and looked down at him. "That's your problem—you don't follow through with your plans."

Dan opened and closed a fist, and focused ectoplasm into his hand, trying to judge how much power he currently had at his disposal. "You're a coward. Easily swayed by human emotions." He looked back to Vlad. "Your heart has ruled you for decades, but did you ever act on it when you had a chance? Ask her out?" Dan sneered in disgust. "No. You were too afraid."

Vlad continued to stare with that pathetic expression.

"You wanted revenge on Jack Fenton. But you never did it. Always sending weak ghosts in your stead, always thinking up fallible plans—as though you couldn't bring yourself to kill him with your own hands.

"You want power, you want to rule the ghost zone and the human world. But you don't want to do the work yourself. You run into a little speed bump, and what do you do? Give up. Relinquish all responsibility."

Dan glared at Vlad, feeling his eyes glow brighter with his increasing anger. "You give up on everything. You can't even do one thing right!"

After Vlad had repeatedly tried to gain him as a son, he'd gone to Vlad willingly—but Vlad couldn't handle it. Vlad couldn't deal with it. Vlad had to take the easy way out. The shortcut. Vlad couldn't stick with it. Vlad couldn't live with him as he'd been.

Dan said calmly, "You're a coward, Vladimir Masters. A coward shackled by his weak human emotions."

And then Dan rocketed into the air. He swung his arms, sending a wave of ectoplasm toward the ceiling and walls, the house caving in as he punched through the roof.

He could finish what he started.

He would've broken out of that thermos himself, eventually. Just like he had eventually broken through Valerie's shield.

He didn't give up once setting his mind to something. He didn't let emotion change his mind.

He was Vlad's antithesis—his opposite. His mirror image.

Dan hovered in the sky for a moment, realizing he wasn't in Wisconsin.

That was why he hadn't recognized the room he'd been in—it hadn't been part of Vlad's castle.

He was in Amity Park.

---

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(if you want on the list, specifically ask to be alerted for updates in a tag or comment)

[itsgoghtime]

Sweet Gingerbread Man

Words : 3643

CW: fluff. reader is sick with the flu. Ray being the purest being on the planet, slightly inaccurate timeline references. to indirectly quote Dan Aykroyd, “Ray is boyfriend material”

"We have..." Ray let go of my hand and looked at his watch. "Oh, about 30 minutes before the gingerbread is completely cooled for the second floor and we can start working with the first floor, because the candy windows will be set by then too." He took my hand back in his.

"And we have the regular ginger cookies to decorate, because we both know the house will be eaten if we don't make other cookies."

I smiled, looking towards the infamous ice skating rink.

"You know, we should go ice skating here sometime. I think you'd enjoy it." Ray offered, laughing at the incredulous look I gave him.

"Ray, dearest one, I've never been ice skating. I would be absolutely awful."

"Everyone is awful at first, dear. Besides, I'm not fantastic either." He looked towards the skate rental stand, and before I knew it, we were sitting on a bench just within the rink, putting said skates on.

"I still don't think this is a good idea."

"I know. But it will be fun!" Ray stood, taking my hands in his as we put our shoes in a cubby and started on the ice.

It was just as hard as I had assumed it would be, but with Ray's arm around me and with his coaching, I didn't feel as nervous.

"It's okay to look at your feet for a little bit, but you have to remember to look forward so you don't run into things. The footwork is like roller skating."

"Ray, I was never good at roller skating either."

He chuckled, kissing the top of my head. "I know. But you're doing great!"

Just like some cliche Christmas movie, it began to snow. We did a few more laps as I gained confidence, and then decided it was time to go home and work on the gingerbread house Ray had been poring over for about a week already.

We made it to the bench we had started at, and soon a woman and her probably 6 year old came and sat next to us. The child was obviously miserable with a cold, but begged her mom to stay.

Within seconds, the child sneezed. Right on me. The mom was apologetic, and I assured her it wasn't a big deal.

Ray and I put our shoes back on, and right before we exited the skating rink, he stopped.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to say something, when I looked up at him.

"Hey, look." He pointed upwards at the arch, and I laughed. "Mistletoe."

"Dr. Stantz, you are such a hopeless romantic." I pulled him down by his scarf and kissed him, and we continued our walk to the Ecto-1 to drive home.

-------------------------------------- Back in the kitchen, with the cut gingerbread laying out on the counter and the frosting on the table with the first pieces, Ray was in his element.

Granted, I had spent countless hours making the dough and baking the dough, but Ray had a complete blueprint of this gingerbread house - with exact measurements (courtesy of his college degrees in architecture and engineering) so I gave him the liberty of cutting it all out and assembling it. In the end, it was going to look just like Hook and Ladder 8, and I had never seen him so excited about a gingerbread house.

He felt bad that he was inept at basic kitchen functions, but I reassured him I enjoyed doing it - as long as I had my dishes buddy, which he promised I would have.

"How are the windows going, love?" He called from the table, glasses on and focused on holding the corner together until the frosting set.

I looked at the candy thermometer, waiting a moment to respond with, "It's coming right along. Remind me what color you wanted them?"

"I think with just a tint of yellow so the lights glow through, don't you think?"

I hummed a yes, and pulled the boiling pot off the stove to add the drop of food coloring, and then to pour just enough into each cut out window to fill it. Of course, Ray had measured these windows and pieces to perfection, so I didn't have to worry about it leaking to the back of the piece and gluing itself to the parchment.

After cleaning the pan, because it's easier to clean while it's hot molten sugar still, I made my way over to Ray, kissing the top of his head.

"How's it looking so far? Look like home yet?" He asked, not moving a centimeter to keep his pieces straight.

"It looks great. What can I do to help?"

"If you can push my glasses up just a little bit that would be great, and..." I did as he requested, and he let go of the wall as the timer on the table went off, and pulled me into his lap. "You can be right here."

"Okay, but that's not doing anything."

"You don't have to. I mean, you can help me hold pieces, but until the windows are done drying, and until the first floor is assembled, you don't have anything to do." His smirk sent me into laughing fits.

"Alright, Stantz. I can sit and look pretty, I get it."

He kissed my nose, and began to put the next wall up.

We got the first floor done, Ray put in his lighting system he had made specifically for this house from the lab, and we furnished it, beginning to work on executing the plan for the second floor when we realized it was after two in the morning.

I yawned from the seat I had taken adjacent to his, and he chuckled. "Time for bed?"

Nodding, I took his outstretched hand and we snuggled up in bed, both passed out within ten minutes.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, in fact, I woke up in an empty bed - nothing new, I was sure Ray was already in the kitchen working on the house. I went to sit up, and felt a head rush, and a lot of pressure in my sinuses.

I couldn't quite figure out why I was feeling this way, but remembered the kid the day before, and then the slight pressure in my lungs that had been present last evening.

Fully sitting up, I sighed. I didn't want to get sick over Christmas - it was not only my favorite holiday, but also Ray's favorite time of year. He loved doing all the typical holiday things, and if I was sick, I couldn't go out and do them with him.

I went into the kitchen, and there Ray was, at the table as I had suspected. I smiled, going to get a glass of water to hopefully calm the pressure down a little bit.

"You're not feeling well, are you?" Ray asked. I hadn't even said anything.

"I mean..." I stopped myself, my voice incredibly dulled by my sinuses, and I coughed a bit, the sharp sensation hitting my lungs as I struggled to catch my breath.

Ray stood from his position, coming to gently take my chin into one of his hands.

"Now, my love, I can practically hear you overthinking this. You feel bad because we won't be able to go and do everything we usually do. But I need you to know it's okay, I'm not upset - you're my top priority. So let's get you feeling better, then we can look at doing something after, hm?" He wiped away the stray tear, and pulled me into his arms.

"You want to help me finish the house?" He mumbled into my hair.

I nodded, and after he had made me eat some toast (that's one thing I can make without completely screwing it up, Ray reminded me) and giving me some medicine while he took some extra vitamins, I took my place in his lap, sometimes just leaning into his neck and closing my eyes to alleviate the pressure in my head.

But he did finish the second and third floor, and we did decorate the house together, even if I wasn't doing as much as I usually would. It did end up being really cute, and Ray left it in its traditional spot as the table centerpiece.

"I think the Spenglers should be back from Christmas dinner shopping sometime soon." He kissed my forehead, putting his arms around me. I smiled. My cousin Charlotte and I had begun work for the Ghostbusters a few years back. She and Egon began dating a couple years into our arrangement, and they had encouraged Ray and I to go out. The rest, of course, was history, as they were married, and Ray and I had been officially dating for 4 years.

Ray's voice brought me back to reality a few moments later.

"You can skip out on movie night if you're not feeling up to it."

I shook my head. "No, I think I'll try and be awake and present for that. I'll keep my distance, of course. Don't want to get them sick. I think I need a nap before then though."

Ray led me back into bed, and set an alarm on his watch as he pulled me into his chest.

"You don't have to stay with me - I'm afraid I'll give you whatever illness this is."

"Hey love, I know you don't like being by yourself. I'll keep up on vitamins right along with you. Let's get you better, okay?"

I nodded, snuggling closer and passing out within minutes.

Ray left me about an hour in, to go and let the Spenglers know what was going on. They were both very understanding, as usual, and even opted to make soup for the evening.

Around an hour after that, Ray came back in the room, gently stroking my hair to wake me up without completely startling me.

I began to stir from my sleep, smiling gently at Ray as much as I could, now conscious and aware of how sick I felt again.

"You ready to eat something again, dearest? We have soup for you." I nodded slowly, but before I could get up and out of bed myself, Ray had picked me up into his arms and was carrying me to the couch. I nuzzled into his neck, and he gently set me down before going to retrieve the bowls.

"(Y/N), how are you feeling?" Egon asked from the opposite side of the couch, his arm draped over Charlotte's shoulders.

"Like the floor of a taxicab. Thank you for the soup though, I appreciate it more than you know." I held back a cough as Ray brought my unfinished glass of juice from earlier. It soothed my throat, and Ray put a blanket over the two of us, with the bowls of soup on the TV tray.

The movie began, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to finish my soup and that it alleviated my sore throat significantly. About halfway through the movie, I fell asleep on Ray's shoulder, and he chuckled.

What felt like an eternity passed, and I woke up in bed. I realized Ray had not woken up yet, but he always had a sense of when I was awake, and soon was stirring from his sleep too.

His eyes soon met mine, and he smiled. "Merry Christmas, beautiful."

"Merry Christmas, Ray."

"How are you feeling today?"

I gave myself a moment to think about how I was feeling, and nodded slightly, letting some of the pressure out of my lungs with a slightly suppressed cough. "Beginning to feel better."

"You know what will make you feel better?" Ray practically jumped out of bed at this, running to the dresser. He pulled out a package for me, holding something else behind his back.

I sat up, and took the wrapping off this present, and smiled. It was a classic ugly Christmas sweater I had mentioned offhandedly to Ray that I wanted, and here it was.

"I love it, thank you Ray." I kissed his cheek.

His smile only grew as he pulled out from behind his back, a matching sweater.

He wanted to match with me.

I took his face in my hands, touching our foreheads together. "I love you to the moon and back, Dr. Stantz. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He kissed my nose, and helped me pull the sweater over my head.

"Is it everything you wanted?" He asked, pulling his own sweater over his head.

I smiled, pulling my hands inside the cuffs of the sleeves. "I love it, Ray."

"You don't mind matching with me, do you?"

I smiled, taking his hand in mine. "Raymond. I am ecstatic to be matching with you."

His grin widened more than I had even thought possible.

It was around ten, but we spent till close to noon talking on the edge of the bed as I tried to convince myself to get up and going. Closer to noon, I stood up, getting a slight vertigo rush as Ray caught me with his arm.

"Woah, where do you think you're going?"

"There are things to be done - food to be made, presents to be handed out and..."

"Spengler and Spengler have that taken care of. You're alright, you need to rest today." I smiled at the Muppet Christmas Carol reference from the night before.

I made myself decently presentable, and Ray took me to the couch and started more Christmas movies.

"Egon, you're sure that..."

"(Y/N), I am 97 percent positive that we have everything covered. You need to rest and get back to full health."

"Egon, can you stir the pot on the stove for me?" The voice behind him asked.

"Yes, dear."

Ray and I watched them for a moment from the couch, as Egon placed the most tender of kisses to the top of his wife's head, brushing fingertips as he went to go stir whatever was on the stove.

"I knew they'd get together. I just knew it." Ray whispered.

I lightly tapped his arm, resting my cheek against his bicep. "They're the ones that got us together, Ray."

He chuckled, putting his hand on my arm. "You're absolutely freezing."

"I hadn't really noticed, but now that you say it..." I was very conscious of how cold I was in the moment, even just under the blanket, and how my nose was practically frozen and how tingly my toes were.

Before I could say anything, Ray was already adjusting, pulling me into his lap, tucking my feet under his thigh and taking the blanket to trap all the heat in.

"Any better?" He asked.

One thing about Ray I had always appreciated was how warm he always was. It not only was his entire personality, but he was a physically warm person. Literally always warm. I could think on one hand, times where Ray hadn't been warm, and it's because he was sick. But he wasn't sick now, and his warmth radiated like a heated blanket.

"Much better, Ray. Thank you." I leaned into his neck, where I put my nose that was so cold.

"Could've warned me on that one." He chuckled, pulling me just a little closer as the movie continued to play.

"I feel awful for not being able to help."

"It's alright, my love. Spengler and Spengler have it covered, we just want you to feel better."

From the kitchen, surprisingly enough from both of them, came the slightest ghost noise to imitate the Marley and Marley song. It sent the room into laughing fits, lifting my mood significantly about the whole situation.

"Ray, I don't know how you decided to come up with that, but there's this story..." Egon began.

Charlotte cleared her throat, and Egon smirked, turning away and letting that conversation topic go.

We spent the next few hours watching Christmas movies, snuggling on the couch as the Spenglers made Christmas dinner. I promised to make it up somehow, to which everyone gave me the most loving rolling of eyes I had experienced.

Winston showed up first, with his assigned stuffing. He said hello, and made his way into the kitchen to help with last minute set up.

Peter and Dana, with Oscar - soon came through the door too. Peter held the pie and the classic Jello that he took to any important event. They greeted us as they came in, and put their things in the lineup.

Dinner officially began, and after everyone had gone through, Ray left me on the couch to go get us food.

The television still had Christmas movies quietly playing, and I chuckled quietly at whatever scene was on. The sitting peanut gallery watched Ray's reaction, how he softened and how his eyes twinkled as he looked in my direction. The conversation at the table turned as soon as Ray made his way back to me.

"Egon, I have a very simple question for you, and I'm looking for an answer." Peter whispered.

Egon hummed, already preparing himself for what he knew was coming.

"Is Ray ever going to marry that girl? I mean, come on. Look at 'em!"

As if on cue, they all slightly turned to look at us, as I caught Ray looking at me, and he kissed my forehead.

Peter looked back at Egon expectantly, and Egon did nothing more than raise his eyebrows and slightly shrug his shoulders, trying to hide a smirk.

"I knew it!" Peter practically slammed his hand on the table, startling Ray.

"You knew what? What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing, Ray. Egon is just confessing things to us."

*a few hours later*

The plates were abandoned, and paying attention to anything was abandoned as I began to doze off. Ray had me nestled between his legs, head on his chest as I slept, and people began to leave. He had chosen the perfect blanket - large enough to cover us both comfortably, but one that wasn't too warm and trapped the temperature we created together.

I couldn't breathe normally - as my nose was still stuffed, so I breathed out of my mouth and drooled ever so slightly onto the rag he had put there, which just endeared Ray even more than was already possible as he pulled me closer.

"Nice to see you guys, have a good night." Winston whispered as he left the room.

"I hope she feels better soon, we've been so worried about her!" Dana also whispered, as Ray gently ran his fingers through my hair.

"She'll be alright - she's a fighter, this one."

"I hope we can say the same of you, Ray." Peter chimed in, pointing to his ring finger, making Ray blush. He chuckled a little, putting his hand on Rays shoulder. "I'm just saying, we want an invitation to the wedding."

"You can bet you'll be one of the first - and only invites." Ray smiled, kissing my forehead. "She wouldn't want it any other way."

They smiled, finished their goodbyes and gently shut the door behind them.

"I was tempted to spill my guts for you Ray, but I care about you doing it how you want way too much to just tell anyone."

"Thanks, Egie - I appreciate it."

Egon took Charlottes hand, and told Ray they were going to be headed to bed.

"We'll be close behind ya. Don't want to wake her up quite yet."

We laid there for at least another ten minutes. Ray reflected on the Christmases we had spent together over the last four years, smiling through each one of them, then beginning to remember his Christmases before. The Christmases at college, the fights with his two siblings because he got more in the will than they did because he was the favorite child - being separated from them and even with their hatred towards him, still wishing they could spend a little time together. Maybe mend the relationships to something of a more congenial nature.

Ray remembered the Christmases with his parents - and thought on them with fondness. He wondered if they were looking down on us now, proud of what Ray had accomplished - proud of him for finding someone like me - that took such good care of him the same way he had always cared for other people.

I stirred in my sleep, slowly stretching and opening my eyes as much as they'd allow. I wiped the stray tears on Rays cheeks, and he held me just a little closer.

"Thank you for being my family." Was all he said, and I kissed his cheek.

"Anything for you, Raymond. Anything."

He smiled, taking a deep breath. "I still really like our matching sweaters."

I chuckled, coughing just a little at the end - improvement is improvement. "I do too, Ray. We should match more often." This made him chuckle, so I continued. "Maybe someday I can convince you to let me wear one of your suits at the same time - we can be Stantz and Stantz."

Ray thanked the heavens that I could not see his blush that crept up his face. Venkman's and Spengler's remarks floated freely between his ears as the blush continued, and he smiled.

"I think I'd like that."

I hummed, and he kissed the top of my head.

"And now, I think it is time to snuggle up and go to sleep, don't you think?" He whispered into my hair.

"Whatever you say, sweet cheeks."

He blushed again, chuckling, and picked me up into his arms to carry me to bed.

Ray couldn't have been happier with how Christmas turned out this year.

But next year brought him more excitement to think about - our first Christmas as the Stantzes.

That would have to wait - but for me, he was willing.

[zahri-melitor]

Batman Reborn: let's break it down.

So I read eight ongoing Reborn titles: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, Red Robin, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Streets of Gotham and Azrael.

Detective Comics: this was the unexpected standout of the set. 'Tec quite often does good family stories, but it got a massive boost by most of its Reborn run being made up of two things: Rucka's Batwoman run and Snyder's The Black Mirror. These are both very, very worthwhile longform stories. It also supported an excellent backup with the Question & Huntress teamup.

Streets of Gotham: aka Dini does his thing. Streets was exactly what I expected from a Bat anthology book written by Dini. Dini's very good at balancing big casts, and the first half of this run was Dini at his best - lots of walk on characters, complex plots, the only really good Damian Wayne characterisation going prior to Bruce's resurrection, and a lot of fun. Andreyko's Manhunter backup was also fantastic. The second half then devolved into interminable Hush storytelling, which I ALSO expect from Dini at this point, and the Two-Face backup simply wasn't as good. It was still enjoyable! But the non-Hush stories were better.

Batman: now here was a title all over the place. It just rotated through SO MANY hands. Personally my favourite stories were: #703, where for one shining moment we got an issue that managed to have Dick, Tim and Damian on page together, in costume, working together (Thank you, Fabian Nicieza); and the Judgment on Gotham crossover that finished out the plot of Azrael. Both were exactly what I enjoy seeing - stories using their supporting cast well. Other than that, you had the Jeremiah Arkham plot, the Kitrina Falcone plots (oh Kitrina), Riddler going back off the rails (I somehow missed where he decided to flip back to being a bad guy instead of a detective), and Two-Face being betrayed by Gilda. There was just so much going on here, and unfortunately it wasn't focused enough on what was going on for Dick.

Azrael: because sometimes you need a tragedy! Azrael was fun. Overtly religious and leaning into Christian theology in places (and Dan Brown plotlines in others), the entire premise of the book was "Watch Michael Lane have a breakdown as he is corrupted by the Suit of Sorrows" and that is exactly what we got. I liked FabNic's plots better than Jim Hine's, but they both pulled off some fun storytelling (I burst out laughing at times. Like when Crusader revealed The Bees). I'm glad it got the crossover to finish out the storyline. The Order of Purity are very bad news, even for a breakaway sect of the Order of St Dumas.

Batman & Robin: oh. Where do I start. This run is, above all, a lot of lost potential. I found Morrison's writing in this particularly painful and a struggle to get through due to their refusal to keep track of what was going on in any other title, and just everything about the way Damian and Alfred in particular were written. I was also particularly aggravated by the timeline inconsistency that B&R #10-16 by any realistic read come AFTER RR #12 (given the resurrection timeline running ahead of all the other titles), but there was no acknowledgment of this fact in the text, and parts of it contradicted that read...this is what an editor should be keeping smoothed out for such a big event (the Return of Bruce Wayne).

Once Morrison left things improved, but realistically it just turned into three separate writers writing three separate stories that didn't really mesh at all. Cornell's story was just more demonisation of Vicky Vale, Winick's story was just Winick writing a Jason story rather than anything about the two title characters, and Tomasi's story was the only one where I actually enjoyed Batman & Robin as a title... only to be let down by the artist clearly never having seen a reference picture of Rebecca or Aaron Langstrom before. You had a villain construct angel wings. On Aaron Langstrom. AARON. LANGSTROM. He's a toddler who is permanently a Man-Bat. He can already fly. The opening movie night though in Tomasi's story was extremely Tomasi and everything my heart wanted.

Birds of Prey: I enjoyed the storytelling in this, though parts of it were very clearly Gail Simone on board. Since I enjoy Simone, I didn't mind that, but for instance the entire plot revolving around rescuing Sin was very much a 'take that' for Sin being written out. I also quite enjoyed the Death of Oracle plot even if I have certain objections to Cass being left off the list (and boggling at the logistics of Wendy and Damian also being left off). Oracle got herself a new Tower!

I have to say though, I cannot imagine how this run would read if you were not already deeply familiar with Simone's first run on Birds of Prey, because she spent so much time picking up dropped plot threads and playing them out.

Andreyko's double issue to finish the book off was actually more of a tie off to his Manhunter backup plot than a Birds of Prey finishing-up plot, which makes sense as it's Andreyko, but it was a little unexpected in that the proper finale of the series was actually #13, not #15.

Batgirl: hmmmm. Yeah, this was probably the weakest written of all 8 and also the book that's aged the fastest. What I think it was successful in doing: look, I loved the Barbara and Wendy plot. That worked really well and was unfortunately the only points in the story that felt like Barbara was fully in character. I also think it was successful in being Stephanie's story. In fact, it felt like Steph was telling it to me. And in the process, eliding over her own mistakes and boosting up how much she was getting praised for her actions. It reminded me a LOT of Cassie Sandsmark's origin story telling in Young Justice Secret Files and Origins - where the main character is telling me her version of events. I actually kind of wish we hadn't got any of Barbara's thought bubbles around Steph, because when they were, they were pretty un-Barbaraish.

Look, there was some fun storytelling here. It was a light and fluffy title. But I don't think it ever fully succeeded in rehabilitating Steph as a usable character for the wider community, because the book so blatantly refused to grapple with Steph's previous actions. Things that other characters had done to Steph and things Editorial had done to Steph? Yes. Things Steph herself did? No.

Red Robin: I loved that this was one of the few titles explicitly committed to trying to keep on top of everything was happening in all of the other books. I enjoyed Yost's run more than Nicieza's, but FabNic also had some great stuff (the Ünternet issue is understandably popular for a reason). Tam, Pru and Lonnie all played off Tim in interesting ways. I actually enjoyed Tim having his little, deserved, breakdown. He spends most of the title at the outer limits of his smugness, using it to conceal his gaps in self-confidence, and while I enjoy Tim being a brat in that manner, this is another title that is just so very informed by pre-existing history that you need to know that Tim is both not quite himself right now, and WHY that is. He was settling back into himself by the end of the book.

I am extremely sad this got cut off where it did, because it was so, so obviously working its way into trying to find a new identity for Tim and move him into adulthood... and then got cut off at the knees, sending Tim into a tailspin holding pattern for a decade that they've only JUST been able to extract him from.

[twh-news]

Is There A World For ‘Loki’ Beyond Season 2? EP Kevin Wright Sheds Light

Warning: the following interview contains spoilers about tonight’s first episode of season 2 of Loki

After Loki’s amiga Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) opted to kill He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) spurring multiple nefarious versions of the newbie villain across several timelines, Loki was sent back to where it all started: the bureaucratic, office grind of the TVA — but a very different one; one where his new best friend Mobius (Owen Wilson) doesn’t recognize him. Out of touch with his soulmate, Loki is trying to find his way back to her. However, like Chicken Little, he’s trying to tell everybody that the sky is falling; that Kang the Conqueror is coming their way. We talk with Marvel executive and Loki season 2 EP Kevin Wright, who is with the series from start to finish, script to post, about the daunting task of living up to what was a spectacular season one.

EP and director Kate Herron left some big shoes to fill on Loki season one and I was shocked when she told Deadline she would not be returning for season 2. What went on there?

Kevin Wright: Throughout season one, I was constantly teasing her with, ‘Hey, when we come back for season two,’ and she said she made it very clear through shooting, she’s like, ‘This one’s it’ and I think it was purely from the…She really put everything into it, and look, COVID was right in the middle of shooting.

So, it was an even longer commitment than she had initially even signed up for, and while that was happening and while we were shut down, she was editing, and we were working together through that. I think she felt like she really put her heart and soul into it, and she wanted to be able to hand the storytelling reins over to other filmmakers, and her fingerprints are certainly on it, and she was somebody that, when we first met her, knew she was fully aligned with what we wanted to make.

So she departs, who do you go to from there? The new directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead? Were they driving the ship on season 2?

KW: There was a little bit of downtime. Before they even came on, (EP & star) Tom (Hiddleston) and I kind of recalibrated. Figured out what we wanted this new season to be. We spent a lot of time developing that. Eric Martin had come on roughly around additional photography on season one as our season two kind of lead writer, and so, the three of us just starting building out story.

And there was a long stretch of just writers’ room, developing these scripts, figuring out what it was going to be, while we figured out where we would go in the directing front. Pretty early on, we knew we were going to bump up (production designer) Kasra Farahani to direct, as well. He was with us in the writers’ room, so he had already taken on a big creative role there and had so much to do with the world-building in season one. (VFX Supervisor) Dan DeLeeuw even kind of came on fairly early just because he was with us in that post-production process of season one. And he’s such a storied brain, we brought him in, but yeah, we needed that captain. I had met with Justin and Aaron. I brought them into the studio before season one. We had met generally. I really liked them for Loki. We had already brought on Kate, and so we passed them off to another project, which ended up not working out, either, and then they ended up becoming Moon Knight.

So, they were guys who were in our system, that we liked and had been in the periphery of Loki, and while they were doing additional photography for Moon Knight, I recruited Kevin Feige, the big guns, to go in there and visit them on set and say, ‘Hey, we want you to take the reins of Loki and come in on that.’ So, it was like a meandering process, but it had felt like they were eventually going to come on and work on this.

Loki season one is perfect television in the Mr. Robot sense of the word. Coming off season one, what were the challenges? You’ve established this great world, great villain in Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains – was it a high bar to jump?

KW: Yes. Incredibly high bar. Partially, though, one of the biggest challenges was, early on, Tom and I just talking about not only was season one good, and then people liked it, which is not a given. We had a really great time making it, and it was a crazy time in the world, but it was, like, a really exciting, happy process for everybody involved, and coming back for a season two did feel a little bit like, well, how do we capture that lightning in a bottle again?

And so, we had a lot of conversations about we can’t just come back and try to play the hits and do what we did in season one, because even if we recapture it and do that again, it won’t be fulfilling, and I think there was a sense of we built something really cool, and the audience went along with it. It was big sci-fi weird stuff, and if they have bought it, it felt like we had a lot of, then, freedom to go further and deeper with these characters and not fast-forward. Like, it had this great cliffhanger.

Let’s pick up in that: what is the drama and the stakes of what is happening with Loki in the TVA with Sylvie? And I think anything that could be scary about picking up in a new season like this goes away when everybody just starts going, what is right for these characters? We’re not trying to build some bigger Marvel arc. We’re not trying to do this. If we’re true to these characters, we will deliver on what people liked about season one, and we can build the world out and dive deeper into these characters and their drama.

So, tonight we see that there’s cacophony. Loki returns to the TVA, Mobius forgets him. Sylvie’s lost. However, the TVA was destroyed in season one, and we come back to place where it’s still in existence. Was this just the best place to start with the mishegoss of timelines?

KW: I think, for us, the exciting thing then was, in that chaos of multiverse, to be able to play with those first few minutes of season two, being loose footing for Loki, trying to make sense of what is happening. Is this a different TVA, which shouldn’t make sense, because it’s outside of time? So, it’s not like it’s a different reality. Is this ours? Why don’t they remember him then?

And I think it just gave us a groundwork. We wanted to come in and not do the same thing in season two. We had a high bar that we wanted to hit, and a cyclical story structure is hard to do. Eric, our writer, even said, I think we can pull this off, but it’s going to be messy for a while, while we figure it out. That opening allowed us the tools and the groundwork to start telling this time-looping narrative, and it was sort of the mechanism to kind of get this whole thing rolling. That just gave us a lot of character drama.

Now Sylvie – we see her for a minute toward the end of episode one. That’s Loki looking into the future…

KW: Yeah. So, in the context of that, he’s been slipping in the past and to the present, and in that moment, he has slipped into the future, and so, he is seeing something in Sylvie that has yet to happen for him on his personal timeline, that will loop back around again.

Does Loki season 2 like other Marvel series bridge to another big movie in the near future? Clearly, the next Avengers: Kang Dynasty, but are there others?

KW: Nothing that I could say in the near future. The implications will ripple into other projects, though, certainly, and the TVA is an organization that will continue to have stories to tell, which is one of the exciting things about it to us.

Is there an arc here? Do you guys have, like, a five-season plan, a three-season plan, or do you take it season by season?

KW: We take it season by season, and there are certainly things that Tom and I and other casts have talked about of where we see this going, and I know there’s some excitement for that internally, but just from a storytelling standpoint, I think we always conceived of seasons 1 and 2 as a whole. That these are two chapters of the same book, and that season two is finishing that book, and there are other stories to be told there, but I think they would be new books, if that’s not too coy.

Are we going to be just as shocked as we were at the end of season one? I mean, season one was jaw-dropping.

I hope so, but what I will say is it’s not a cliffhanger. We want to be able to deliver real fulfillment in what we’re doing, but I do think it’ll be exciting and unexpected and everything people like about this show.

[callipraxia]

[Well, this was supposed to be my big NWHS/ATOTS review...but I literally made it three minutes in before I got on an epic tangent and now I desperately want to write about and read up on stuff related to the tangent. I haven't desperately wanted to write something for quite some time, now, so the review proper will have to wait - as for now, enjoy ten observations on the first three minutes?]

Whew. Here we go. NWHS/ATOTS, planning to watch it straight through, let's go. It's gonna be intense, but we/I can do it. Probably.

Not What He Seems

Aaand now Stan's irradiated his forehead. No way this could ever have terrible consequences. He's better at lab safety than Ford, sure, but that's...reeeealllly not saying much. However, since Ford, Fiddleford, and Stan should probably have all had much worse side effects from constant improper handling of radioactive materials...maybe it's something about Gravity Falls' weirdness that shields them, or it's just not quite as dangerous in this world?

2. "Minor gravitational anomalies." Ford, that...feels like a bit of an understatement? Ok, so, I expect you could have written down "Stan, do not do the thing, it will make the house fly to Oz and destroy half the town. Yes, Stan, I'm specifically talking to you. Don't do it." and it would not have made any difference, but...'minor' is a relative term....

3. I am kind of impressed with Fiddleford managing to sleep, all things considered. Though who knows how long he's been awake, working on the laptop? I would give ten pretties to know what he knows at this point, though.

5. If I hadn't already done an AU stemming from NWHS, I...might be tempted, now that I think about it, to see what I could come up with in response to "what if Fiddleford had been awake when the laptop indicated the device had just become active?"

6. Ooh, is that a picture of a very young Caryn and Filbrick that the twins run under, after they pass the end table and just before Mabel stops in front of the random door she found? It looks...kinda like them, but also kinda pilgrim-y? But the woman's hairstyle is better suited perhaps for a very young Caryn, timeline-wise, and the pictures are more silhouettes than anything, and the male figure wears its hat very low.

7. Also, wow, does the Shack have a lot of doors or what? Manly Dan definitely should have picked different trees to build the Shack from...that, or the reality-breaker in the basement has started affecting geometry slowly upstairs over the decades. Which is also not a bad idea, I guess.

8. "I am the god of destruction!" More like a significant priestess at best, honestly, Mabel - no shade on you, of course, but when you've got the likes of Stanford "let's punch a hole in reality!" Pines, Stanley "danger, blah-blah-blah, can it, Poindexter!" Pines, Fiddleford "homicidal pterodactyl-bot I made when my wife left me" McGucket, and Bill running around in your setting...the competition is pretty intense, y'know?

9. Though I do wonder now if Mabel ever thought about that line again...if she remembered saying that, say, during the period where it looked more and more like the world might end...or that they might all get arrested...or after she heard that keeping the Portal open did not fix her family...maybe even when she handed "Blendin" the Rift, seeking a perfect endless summer....

10. "Plenty of summer left." "Enjoy it while you can, Stan." Stan really did think the kids might well never forgive him for lying to them all this time, and that's even if he got the real Stanford back alive. If he hadn't...if he hadn't, then he was confronted with the possibility of both the kids cutting him off and not even having the satisfaction of success to cling to. Or anything to cling to, unless you count loads of new guilt, now that he has seeming confirmation that he's responsible for Ford's death. I...do not see that ending well, really.

And yet, he took that chance. He could have decided "it's been so long that the odds of success are very low, and these kids are definitely alive and not too irradiated yet. I could just let this go. Settle for what I've got instead of endangering it for a one-in-a-million shot at getting back what I've lost." But he didn't, even though he was aware of how thoroughly failure really was an option. He was gambling everything at once, with no reserves to get him out of town if the dice landed the wrong way - willing, essentially, to burn the world (certainly his own world, but possibly, y'know...the world) for one person, for no better reason than his own feelings about that person and/or what had happened to that person. And I suspect this is at the root of what I find so interesting about him as a character. There's a reason, after all, why characters like this feature in so much of what's considered Literature, folks. [And here there were tangents; while I'm sure I will one day figure out what the character limit for tumblr posts is, I don't have enough hours in today to do it with]

[cboffshore]

So what direction is OSSAS going in with the next installment, now that we've seen Nya power struggle with Nadakhan via seagulls and chess? 👀

I'm going to answer this one under the cut just in case someone who sees this hasn't read it yet (in which case: GO! that is a prerequisite for this course! get outta here! and leave me comments, dammit!), but I know that doesn't include you. You've been enrolled in the honors course.

The big thing right now is that plans are super fluid. I'm in the very loose brainstorm stage, which means I wake up at 3 am, jot something bizarre down in my ideas server, and then interpret in the morning and hope it works. Everything I'm about to say is subject to change, but with that being said, here's what #5 looks like now.

Timeline: We're jumping straight to episode 64, post-wedding. This is one of the few things that are pretty much non-negotiable. We know the buildup, the sword handoff, Nya's manipulation - I don't need to rehash that. Dan and Kevin did that for us. Instead, I've got the mother of all blank spaces to fill once Delara takes up residence in Nya's body.

Remember that line in IICT(OSC) where Nadakhan tells Nya he thinks that her being unconscious for the rest of her life would probably be preferable to having to endure his presence? Whether or not making sure she's comfortable is a genuine desire of his (spoiler: it's not. the possession is just him shoving her to the back of the storage closet so he doesn't have to deal with her shit. who'da thunk it?"), he's going to fuck it up, bad. This is partially because I've determined and highlighted that he is shit at checking his own work (source: the fact that anyone remembers Skybound at all, especially the floating temple! and I know there's that line in the ceremony, but that never happened, so, like... HUH????) and partially because, if I made it actually work as intended, #5 would just be like those Twilight chapters where Meyer represents a bunch of months with blank pages. (I've never read Twilight, but I've heard great things about that technique. It's not something I can get away with.) In other words: boring. I've always believed strongly in the importance of the Idiot Ball in any story, and this is no exception. Nadakhan once again has plenty of hands free to catch it.

Which, of course, means Nya's gotta be conscious for this, and as is par for the OSSAS course, pissed. Nadakhan's actually right that being unconscious would be an upgrade in this case (too obtuse to realize that and realize what a self-dig that is, yeesh). So: we've got a pissed off soul bouncing around while Delara takes her body for a test drive. That's a workable setting. What are we going to do with that?

WE ARE NOT going to insinuate any spicy activity between Delara and Nadakhan. This is also non-negotiable. I've seen that a handful of times in fics that bother to even acknowledge what's going on with Nya (and I can count those on, like, two fingers), and it's big-time DISGUSTANG. I don't think one can both rail against Nadakhan being a creep and then endorse those versions of the story... I'll move on before my ears start shooting out steam.

First off: you know my stance on SA in Skybound stuff. I'm sure as hell not writing it. Second, I genuinely don't think that's on Nadakhan's mind, and to act like it is cheapens his character. For my sake and his, I'm trying to work from the interpretation that he is both of the following:

This specific tattoo - that is, too enamored with the fact that holy shit he pulled it off to do anything but marvel while that goofy love theme from The LEGO Movie plays and everyone's hair does the slow-mo romantic swivel:

2. Too tied up in his own self-doubt to really give a shit about that. The single most frustrating and interesting sequence in the finale to me is the part where he badgers Delara about if she forgives and/or still loves him for what he's done. He can barely believe she's here, let alone that she forgives him! I'm not a fan of the idea that he can balance that shock and disbelief with Enthusiastic Adult Activities. I'm also hoping to keep going with that brief angle I mentioned where Nadakhan's got two names for that face now, and I don't think that could reconcile very well. Nope, sorry, dude! Pathetic Wet Chihuahua time for you. Nonexistent pants stay on. Nobody needs to see your legs.

Nya's had enough shit happen to her - even by my relatively clean standards! I'm not doing that. Also, I don't know how much I want to rehash the death scene, although maybe I'll change my mind and continue the trend of building on the glimpses from Small Cuts.

Here are some options for what I might do (again, all subject to change, just some general ideas I've tossed around):

Let Nya witness not quite the beginning of the possession. Wakes up five minutes in, realizes what's happening... major introspection opportunity, really. And you know I love introspection.

Have Nya give Delara a migraine just because. Like, an actual migraine, or maybe just a nasty thunderclap headache. If Nya can't operate her body solo, nobody can. This could also be her causing other types of chaos - maybe she tightens Delara's grip on Nadakhan's hook and he flinches. Because of the chess aftermath, of course. Or some such chaos - little tweaks, like she's reaching in from the backseat and futzing with the radio and the AC and the hand brake.

Pull Nya's soul out of her body entirely and just let her wander around and witness different parts of the finale. Maybe she's on the deck when Flintlocke gets his aim back. Maybe she's the reason that loose locker with the venom in it turns up - maybe she drags it out after Clancee stashes it to help the team find it faster. Maybe the only reason Jay manages to pick her up is because Nya bum-rushes Delara, shoves her out of the driver's seat, and then stops in her tracks just long enough to let Jay yeet her across the lawn. (Remember: the scream sound effect they use in that scene is Nya's!)

But who's to say, really?

Thanks for the ask!

[quietbluejay]

Know No Fear 1

so! it's gonna be fun rereading this now that i have a lot more knowledge about what on earth is going on so as i think i mentioned originally this one is written in a much more experimental style, sometimes it worked! A lot of the time…it didn't but i do remember this one being very much a "disaster movie" type of thing and also partially found footage maybe? I'm not going to post as much about it since it's, well, not as brainworm inducing but this is some very fun horror in the opening

it goes into a bit of detail about their deaths in a successfully horrifying way and I like it, I really feel like this whole sequence does a great job of setting the tone for the book which is, this very kind of organized way of looking at the world that Guilliman and the Ultramarines have, the regular kind of disaster and evaluation etc and then also there's these horrible unknowable things (daemons) that have invaded this world as part of the disaster

so, something i find funny is that consistently the Ultramarines are shooketh because the idea of Space Marines fighting each other is inconceivable to them "the idea is nonsense" "there is no tactical precedent" this is a repeated element and meanwhile over in A Thousand Sons, the SW and the TS are like thiiiis close to attacking each other the whole time and iirc there is some violence done lol not to mention the uh historical precedent of purging two legions

OWO MY BLORBO IS HERE

Iax mention oh hey in 10k years it's gonna turn into a battle ground!

ow that hurts because in the Horus-centric books we start to see him trying to move beyond this and thinking independently and perhaps…becoming a better person and then he gets stabbed by evil knife

skldfsdhkjfl ONE PARAGRAPH used the word "bastard"…let me count 5 times dan abnett: i need to swear but i'm not allowed to use the word "fuck" dan abnett: bastard can be used as an adjective right? this has to be read to be believed

wait i missed the last one SIX "bastard"s

okay these were fine but like the entire first 20% of the book (iirc) had scenes that ended with this kind of thing and it kind of got to the point of "okay, when is this actually gonna start" i'll see if it holds up better than it did in my memory i will say i do like how Abnett does try to get in a lot of views on the ground level, with ordinary people's POVs but also I remember being like GET TO THE POINT especially in the sample for Prospero Burns

i mean framing a war of conquest as "a necessary step taken for survival" sure is an absolute wonder of propaganda but also, really, how was the emperor planning on getting rid of them lmao

me, looking at Guilliman and sniffing you are so naive but like did guilliman look at how the space marines are created, like, at all???

who looks at that and thinks "ah yes they will pivot to do non violence things" i didn't really fully realize the extent of this when i originally read this also man imagine this guilliman waking up in the 41st millenium like "lol. lmao" and then there's his entire attitude of "the emperor doesn't make mistakes, im sure thing clear flaw actually had a purpose"

even the ultramarines are kind of like "we love you but you're being overly optimistic here"

me looking at the timeline like ???? was literally NO ONE from the loyalist side able to get through to Guilliman?? and this is before the Ruinstorm, the whole book is about how the Ruinstorm happened there's something like at least a full year between Istvaan V and Calth and Dorn and Terra knew about Horus before then because the Eisenstein got through and then over in Scars we got him (Dorn) repeatedly spamming Jaghatai with messages to make sure at least one got through

…man, i didn't get it the first time, but i'm eyes emoji that guilliman has under the table freedom of religion in ultramar Old Person Oll Persson is openly a Catheric and goes to a chapel with some of his neighbours and the worst he gets is some of his other neighbours in the area laughing at him (edited) and the chapel isn't a secret or anything hm. you know, logically, given that the nascent imperial faith is able to create miracles you'd think there'd have been more miracles popping up in the face of the great crusade you're trying to stamp out religions. that's literally the kind of situation that creates martyrs.

also, you're telling me there were zero societies doing daemon worship that decided to summon them in the course of the conquest? well they could try to push it under the rug like the whole samus incident but it's not so much the effect on the space marines and imperium I'm thinking about, but on the people being conquered. You have your miracles or your daemon summoning, or whatever, you have tangible, visible proof that your faith is real the iterators with their dollar store arguments are going to find it extremely difficult to make a real dent in that

once again, when examined, the imperium having as much cohesion as it does in canon, makes absolutely zero sense

I respect that Warhammer40k is 100% aesthetic first, making sense second, but also I think you COULD very much keep the aesthetic while still having things make more sense like having a whole bunch of different empires and independent entities you could up the despair by having everyone embroiled in wars with each other as much as they're fighting Chaos

or people who genuinely think Chaos is the better of two evils to ally with against the Imperium i think also this would work really well for guilliman's return because he totally would see it as a priority to reconquer all the worlds from the great crusade

oh hey look at that it's the future doctrine of the imperium

and that's his take on it

you know, given the codex and reverence with which guilliman's writings are held you know i'm pretty sure he is the base for 40k imperial doctrine he's appalled by it but at its root, it's this he keeps walking the exact same steps as the emperor his primary objection is "you're making the wrong sacrifices" and he is unable to step out of the paradigm just like the emperor nothing he builds will outlast him, and also depends on him making the correct decision 100% of the time

oh boy it's time for the guilliman description

i just really love the line "like a good sword is handsome"

i feel like at some point i should read one of the space wolf books because i cannot get a straight answer about Russ and I don't actually trust anyone's reading comprehension here it's also fun how Guilliman is an unreliable narrator w.r.t. the nature/personality of his brothers haha

like this bit here

ah oof the next paragraph is pain after reading dark imperium, given all the bits that are like "for all his other talents guilliman is, at his base, a sword"

also people actually laugh at his jokes in the Heresy-era rip future!Guilliman

sjkdfhsd I love how when the chapter masters raise their eyebrows at him because he's going to handle Thiel's reprimand he's like "ok yes i know i'm micromanaging but i've already had several meetings that could have been emails with Erebus and I'm going to have to deal with him in PERSON and micromanaging is my stress relief okay" the chapter masters, all being familiar with erebus, agree that this is fair, lmao

"hur dur space marines competing and clashing is all part of the emperor's vision, his sons will always stop things before they go too far"

also i love how they refer to Monarchia and reframe it as a "humiliation" rather than, you know, a war crime it's a humiliation to lorgar and the word bearers what? the people living in there? i don't know her our ultramarine who is friends with a word bearer is like "it clearly bothered Guilliman to be used as an instrument of humiliation" but still. Even Guilliman who is the "good one" is very much an aristocrat the only way Monarchia matters is as a humiliation to the people that matter

rip Luciel though

ahhhhh delicious delicious dramatic irony IT SURE WILL, HUH

(I'm not going to post as much about this one, I said, like a liar)

[qqueenofhades]

Sorry if this is a bit of an overly specific question, but I was reading your latest Sandman fics and got a bit inspired- what advice would you give for writing a story with both a nonlinear timeline and a highly unreliable narrator, each kinda caused by the other. Like, how would you write it in a way that works with a character who does not know what the fuck is going on with anything because he's a master at lying to himself, and have a timeline that jumps around, but still easy to follow and that makes sense? I hope this isn't an overly confusing way of wording the question, I can clarify if you need. Thanks!!

Nonlinear Narrative and Unreliable Narrator, my beloved(s). My first and overall piece of advice would be to remember that it still has to be a coherent story that the reader can follow, even if you later plan to pull the rug out from them in regard to whatever is really going on. It depends on how many time jumps you have, if you start at a climax and then flash back to various other times (think the "this is me, you're probably wondering how I got myself into this situation" opening, where you open in the middle of the conflict and then rewind to before it happened, and then jump back and forth between the flashbacks and the present), and whether this is also split between multiple POVs. You don't have to signpost everything, but you should give your reader some clue to figure out which timeline each chapter and/or section is taking place in. For example, maybe you could write the flashbacks in past tense and the present-time narrative in present tense, or otherwise play around with style.

You should also think about why you want the story to be nonlinear, and how you're going to use it to build suspense. I.e. right now I'm reading The Terror by Dan Simmons, which effectively switches between timelines (past/present) and characters in order to build tension and suspense about what's going to happen, even though it's based on a true story and we know overall how it ends up. If, as you note, the unreliable narrator is causing the nonlinear narrative and vice versa, why is that? Christopher Nolan's films usually play with this conceit to some degree, such as Memento, where the protagonist has short-term memory loss and has to reconstruct what happened via solving clues left by his past self, or Tenet, where the film is literally going backward and forward in two timelines at once.

Of course, you don't need to get this complicated, but it does help to think about how you're going to structure the story and what is happening in each timeline. For example in OMM, Dream's captivity by Burgess is the present-time narrative, while we simultaneously flash back to how he and Hob first got together and then how things went wrong. Therefore, even in a "Hob rescues Dream" fic where you know essentially what's going to happen, that allows me to build suspense and create more points of canon divergence. It's also a good way to build your reader up to a cliffhanger in one timeline and then cut back to the other one, especially if you're leaving clues in each narrative that will help solve the overall progression of the story and/or any plot hooks or mysteries you're setting up.

As for unreliable narrator: first, you need to decide HOW they are unreliable. Are they telling things to the best of their ability, but there's some reason that even they don't consciously know about as to why that's not the truth, or are they intentionally (or even maliciously) deceiving the reader? In your case, i.e. with a narrator who is constantly lying to himself, what is he lying about and how does that manifest in the story? Is he narrating basic empirical events correctly but lying about plot points, emotional beats, interactions with other characters, etc? It's especially sneaky if your narrator is telling the truth about some things but not about others, as that will keep your audience guessing. As noted, you need to establish (to yourself, and then slowly reveal it to the reader) why the narrator isn't a good judge of whatever is really going on, and if that's because they genuinely don't know any better (why?) or because they're being a dick.

On that note: you have to give your reader the ability to slowly become aware of the narrator's unreliability, and to leave other clues in the story pointing at what's really going on. I don't want to spoil/point out exactly what's going on in TUSS, but people have already picked up some of the clues pointing at the fact that what Hob thinks to be the case is not necessarily what has happened (or is happening right now). You can't write an entire book/fic of one thing happening, and then in the last few lines be like PSYCH it was totally this other thing that was never hinted at or foreshadowed at all. (Think the Game of Thrones Bad Ending strategy, where they're so focused on outwitting the audience that they basically just make up shit that had nothing to do with the entire story they were telling beforehand, and/or suddenly dropped major plot points or did a hatchet job on them.) Even if your reader is mystified on the first go-round and doesn't totally get it until the Big Reveal where everything clicks into place, they have to be able to re-read it with the ending in mind and go "ohhh, I see that now, I see what's coming, I SEE YOU, TINY CLUE."

Basically: the story has to be coherent even if it's playing with/subverting the traditional narrative structure, it has to have separate timelines that tie into/reference each other and effectively build suspense, it has to have a narrator who's unreliable but an author (you) who knows what's going on and how to reveal that to your reader in stages, and it has to have an overall way to do/synthesize that without either excessively signposting or being too vague and confusing. Ahem. Hopefully that is helpful?