#yes it will be a continuous story

[nin-twst]

Yu and the Three Mers - Part 1

Part 1 - Floyd - As Yu tries to find some peace at the Mostro Lounge, a bored eel barges in and whisks her away. At least she was able to finish her work before she was taken...

A/N: Happy MerMay! I've always wanted to do something but I never had the right motivation... Now I have the Octotrio! There will be a total of three parts (I think that's pretty obvious,,,) so be on the look out!

for the title, I tried to make a "mer" pun out of musketeers but it wasn't working so i gave up and just left it as is lmao

**fyi, the yu in this (the one from my main fic) is afab and agender, so they don't really care about what people identify them as. so just some context for stuff that happens later: everyone thinks yu is a guy because of the way they act, but yu tends to refer to themselves as female. in all honesty, they just don't care**

have fun <3

“Shrimpy~!” Floyd pounced, landing square on her back. “Let’s go have some fun!”

Yu looked up from her assignment. She was currently finishing up translating an essay from Sam in the Mostro Lounge, wanting to escape the distractions that were the first-years. As much as she loved them, they had no concept of self-control, and they never notice when her stress levels are getting too high to deal with their level of energy. Instead of lashing out at them, she secludes herself in different spots, spending much needed time to herself as she cooled down.

Floyd continued to lean his body weight on her as she kept silent. “C’mon, Shrimpy~! We gotta hurry before Azul comes and yells at us again!”

“Us?” Yu raised an eyebrow, going back to her work so she could at least try and finish it before the ell dragged her off to who knows where. “Why would he yell at the both of us? I’m a paying customer right now, you know.”

He pouted. “Ah, who knows what goes on in that octopus brain of his! He’s always so strict and mean. Now hurry up and get up so we can go! Hurry!”

She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead, she just poked his shoulder. “I can’t get up with this giant eel weighing me down.”

His eyes lit up and he grabbed her from the waist, hauling her body over his shoulder. “Finally!”

From her position, she caught Jade’s attention. Once they made eye contact, she shouted, “Watch my stuff for me, please!”

The other eel simply nodded his head, waving at her as she was pulled away from her planned peaceful afternoon.

<🦈>-~*~-<🦐>-~*~-<🍄>-~*~-<🐙>

They wandered around the campus aimlessly, Floyd occasionally picking a fight with passing students. Yu just looked the other way. Wow, look at these flowers on the side of the path! How pretty! Maybe she could pick some to give to Jade later as thanks for watching her stuff. Nah, he probably wouldn’t want these. Maybe she can check Sam’s shop for some mushrooms?

“Shrimpy, I’m done! Let’s go!”

Yu turned back around, ignoring the mess of bodies on the floor. Catching up with the eel, she took out a napkin, tapping his shoulder. “Lean down for a bit. You got some stuff on your face.”

“Hm?” Despite his mischievous expression, he complied, leaning down so Yu could reach his face. 

There wasn’t much blood, but it was enough to cause some concern, especially on someone like Floyd. Once clean, she patted his head. “Alright, we can go now.”

Floyd hummed, taking her hand in his and swung their arms as they continued to amble around the campus. As they wandered, a sudden idea popped into her head.

“Hey Floyd,” Yu questioned. “How about visiting the beach?”

“The beach?!” He exclaimed. “Is Shrimpy going to swim with me?”

She shrugged. “If you want. I’ve never swam in the ocean before, though.”

“I’ll teach you!” His expression suddenly dropped. “Oh. We can’t go.”

“Hm?”

“We need the Headmaster’s approval to leave campus.”

“Oh,” Yu smirked. “I can deal with that. Do you wanna go?”

Floyd just returned her smirk. “What is Shrimpy up to now, hm~?”

<🦈>-~*~-<🦐>-~*~-<🍄>-~*~-<🐙>

“No,” Crowley crossed his arms.

“You’ve let me go before,” Yu mirrored his actions. “It’s only the beach.”

He pointed a finger at her companion, who stood just outside the door. “He just beat up a bunch of freshmen! Why didn’t you stop him??”

“The flowers caught my attention.”

“For ten minutes?!”

She glared at him. “Yeah, like how it’s taking half a year to give me the reward you promised me after dealing with Savanaclaw.”

That silenced Crowley. Even with his mask, one could tell that he was sweating. 

“Fine,” he sighed. “Just come back before midnight.”

<🦈>-~*~-<🦐>-~*~-<🍄>-~*~-<🐙>

It’s been a while since she’s been to the ocean, even in her old world. The salty breeze passed through her hair as she took in the setting sun in front of her. She wished she brought the ghost camera with her; what kind of images would it project? If it was just her and her mind, she could disassociate to the sound of the waves for a long time.

If.

Sadly, she wasn’t alone, and said person wasn’t one to leave her alone. 

Floyd grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the water. “Let’s go for a swim! I borrowed this potion from Azul so we can go under the water for a long time!”

“Borrow?” How do you borrow a potion? It’s not like you can give it back…

Oh.

“Whatever!” He shoved the opening of the bottle into her mouth. “Drink so we can swim together!”

Drinking the stolen goods, Yu took off her shirt and wrapped her phone in it, leaving it slightly hidden in the sand in case someone came by. It didn’t seem like this beach got much traffic, but it was better to be safe than sorry. 

“Woah,” Floyd commented. “Is this why you didn’t swim with your friends?”

“Hm?” Yu glanced down at her chest. She had asked Sam for some swimming clothes, but all he could get was a wetsuit.  “Oh. No, I just had stuff to do.”

He giggled, circling around her to give her a hug. “Wah~... So Shrimpy’s been a girl this whole time, huh?”

“I guess. It doesn’t really matter to me.” She pinched the hand that was squeezing her breast. “Hey. You probably shouldn’t do that. That’s called sexual harassment.”

He tilted his head. “Huh? But I thought you said it doesn’t matter.”

“To me, yeah.” She let his wandering hands rest on her waist. “I don’t really care about my gender or whatever, but other girls do. You should be careful if you want to squeeze them. It would be like… squeezing their tails?”

It seemed the improvised comparison worked, his eyebrows scrunching in disgust. “Oh, ew. Okay, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

In no time, Yu was dragged into the water, pulled far from the shore by the fast eel. It took a while for her to adjust, but the moment she opened her eyes, she left behind any regrets she had about this trip. At first, she was just going along with Floyd and his antics so he didn't direct his frustration at her. She’s seen many kids act like him back in her old world, and she knew each kid needed to be dealt with differently. Yu hadn’t been around Floyd long enough, so she hadn’t learned how to deal with his mood swings yet. Picking fights with the other students, being too touchy, ignoring everyone else’s responsibilities to do whatever he wants… She turned a blind eye to his actions. (It helped that the freshmen were talking shit about her, he tends to show he cares through his actions, and it was about time for a break from all the work she had been doing. Sitting down for five hours straight was probably not good on her spine.)

She feels a little bad for ignoring him, but what could she do? She needed to focus on Azul and his impending doom, so the tweels got pushed to the side for their boss’s sake. Now that that was all done and taken care of, Yu had been avoiding the Lounge because, to be completely honest, she didn’t have the energy to deal with the two of them. If anything, she’s glad that Floyd is the one bothering her, since he’s a lot easier to read than his brother. 

“Hello~?” A finger repeatedly tapped her forehead, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Anyone in there?”

“Oh, sorry.” She rubbed the spot where she was poked. “What did you say?”

He hummed, circling around Yu. “Nothing~. You were making a funny face earlier, but now I’m bored. Wanna race?”

She scoffed. “Uh- no? I’m definitely going to get lost if you swim ahead of me. How far out are we, anyways?”

The eel just shrugged, lacing their fingers together as he resumed pulling her along to wherever he was going. They probably weren’t that far from shore, right? They’ve only been in the water for…

“Hey, Floyd. How long have we been swimming?”

Instead of answering, a smile started to grow on his face.

“Floyd? You do know that this potion doesn’t last-”

“Why should I tell you? We can just stay here until-”

Yu held up a hand, expression becoming serious. “Name your price. What do I have to do in order for you to swim us back to the beach so I don’t die?”

“Hm…” He had let go of her arm and was now circling her again. “I dunno. What are you gonna give me?”

“If I ever cook with Jade again I can give you a mushroom-free dish.”

“Hm…”

“And make Azul’s extra mushroom-y.”

“Deal!”

Yu knew the eel was holding back when they first got into the water, but nothing could ever prepare her for the speed at which Floyd swam at. It took no time at all to get back to shore so they could resurface. With how fast they were going, Yu wondered how far out they actually were. (According to all of her math knowledge, pretty far, but there was no need to process that knowledge right now.)

As she waited for Floyd to gain his legs again, she checked her phone. It was definitely darker than when they first went under, but Yu could never instinctively tell based on just the sky. It was about three when they left… Take away five… Carry the two…

“How long was that potion supposed to last again?”

Floyd brushed off his pants as he stood up, his potion finally taking effect. “Um… I think Azul said those ones were five hours.”

Five… 

“Holy shit I almost died.” There was one minute left until they hit the five hour mark. “Floyd, what the hell? Do you want me to die?”

“That would make things interesting, wouldn’t it?” He smiled at her, his sharp teeth showing.

Instead of answering, she picked up her stuff and swiftly left, heading towards the mirror back to Night Raven College. Floyd just laughed, chasing after her. “What’s wrong, Shrimpy? Wait up!”

“No thanks!” Yu threw over her shoulder. “I don’t want to die today!”

“Eh~? You wouldn’t have died! I had an extra potion with me!”

“You were an eel! You had no pockets!”

“Oh right. Whoops!”

As Yu passed through the mirror, she briefly turned back, a soft smile dancing on her lips. It seemed that Floyd was in a better mood. She could tell that something was bothering him earlier, but she didn’t think they were close enough where she could pry.

“Caught ya!” Floyd picked her up on the other side of the mirror with a twirl. “Where’s my little shrimp running off to? You owe me dinner, remember?”

Yu didn’t even try to struggle out of his grip. “Dinner?”

“Eh?” He pouted. “We made a deal and all! Man, maybe this is why Azul writes down all his contracts…”

“Oh.” She didn’t expect him to cash that in this early. “I didn’t know you wanted to do it today.”

He just smiled, walking towards the Octavinelle dorms. “C’mon, I’m starving!”

Yu huffed, ruffling his hair as she let herself get thrown over the eel’s shoulder. “Okay, okay. I need to get my stuff, anyways.”

[celestialrealms]

Barbatos outside of the main story: I have only ever let Diavolo even remotely close to me, and he's the most important person in my life who I am completely devoted to... but I love MC and they are becoming an equal and comparable presence in my life. I want to show the sides of myself I keep hidden from anyone else to them, and for them to feel comfortable enough to do the same in return.

The fandom for some reason:

[dykealloy]

ripple effect legacy // my tears are becoming a sea, M83

[escelia]

DP x DC PROMPT/FIC

Gotham Portal

(If you get the notif for this post like 2 days ago, no you didn't! I wasn't done yet! You were imagining things!)

Where the story takes place in Gotham instead of Amity Park, the Fentons having moved before the construction and testing of the Ghost portal due to the high saturation of ectoplasm in Gotham. So, Danny's accident ALSO happens in Gotham, except he has no support system at all.

Enter the Bats stage left!

Danny couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. His parents had uprooted their whole life to move to Gotham. They said they'd need all the ambient ectoplasm there for when they built their portal. Jazz had been thrilled! After all, Arkham was a shining beacon of mentally ill people, and Jazz was like a psychology moth to a flame; it would be the perfect place for her internship after college.

His parents had wasted no time assembling the portal from their blueprints in the basement of the run-down apartment building they'd bought outright just on the edge of Crime Alley, complete with the Ops Center parked right on top. They'd gutted the place and completely redone it before they moved in. (Danny had no idea when they accomplished that. Maybe they'd been planning it for a while and only thought to tell their children two weeks before moving day.) He was genuinely surprised the local vigilantes hadn't stopped by yet to ask questions.

But anyway, back to how he was royally screwed! He'd just wanted a cool picture for Sam and Tucker now that he'd moved away. His parents weren't home (they'd gone back to the hardware store after their last test), Jazz had stayed after school to try and butter up her new teachers by running a study group, and he'd been alone. He'd even followed all the safety precautions his parents had told him about! He'd put on the hazmat suit and tried not to touch anything. But he'd tripped.

Through the whirling of green and the static buzzing in his ears, he remembered screaming, though he hadn't recognized it as his own. Every nerve in his body was on fire, and he just wanted it to stop. Stop, please stop, why won't someone save me, please!

He woke up to the smell of burning flesh, but he woke up. He was okay! Disoriented, a little disgusted by the smell and throat a little raw, but okay!

At least he'd thought so at first.

He'd begun to... change colors? And float, he floated sometimes, too. But the most irritating of all was that he would go through things. Forks and glasses slipping, quite literally, right through his fingers.

He hadn't told his parents. He'd been fine, after all. A little shaken up, but they'd been so excited he'd gotten the portal to work, who was he to put a damper on the mood when he was fine?

That brought him to now, staring at the mirror in the school bathroom in horror. He'd fought his first real ghost that morning around breakfast. He'd kept it together fairly well, in his opinion. Got through three whole classes before making an excuse to the teacher, slipping off into the blessedly empty restroom.

He'd been getting better and better at controlling his form, and he transformed in front of the mirror, taking stock of his appearance.

Odd colored hair: check.

Bright glowing eyes: check.

Floaty hair: check.

Could walk through walls, disappear, and fly: check.

He raised his finger to his pulse point and felt... nothing.

"I died," he whispered to himself in shock. "I... died," he repeated, this time in despair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian Wayne was not usually one to keep tabs on his classmates. They weren't his friends, therefore he saw no point. However, the new kid, Daniel Fenton, had begun to act strange.

When Daniel Fenton enrolled in Gotham Academy it hadn't been anything special. He'd started the year a little last due to his family moving, but families moved for all sorts of reasons. He hadn't tried to immediately make friends with Damian like so many others had, much to his relief. But he hadn't tried to make friends with anyone else, either. Maybe he liked to be alone? It really wasn't his business.

But then the boy started getting skittish and clumsy. Clumsier than he had been when he started school. He'd developed a miniscule tremor in his left hand, so he'd probably sustained an injury. He began dropping things in Chemistry. So often, in fact, that he'd been banned from doing practical labs and was instead assigned extra book work.

If Damian had been anyone else, if he hadn't been raised by assassins or had his night work as Robin, he wouldn't have noticed. He wouldn't have followed Fenton to the bathroom under the guise of needing to see the school nurse for a headache. Perhaps if he were anyone else, Fenton might have noticed him following.

There was an alarming flash of light as Damian peered carefully around the corner. Fenton had changed forms. Something had happened to him.

"I died," he heard him say. Damian thought he was being dramatic until he watched him raise his fingers to his pulse point. His glowing eyes dilated in panic, and he repeated himself. He watched as his classmate, looking fragile and lost, curled in on himself floating in the air, and sobbed.

Damian didn't confront him that day. He watched, waited, and researched. He found the research of Dr's Fenton on ghosts and ectoplasm, most of which he was skeptical of up until actual ghosts started to torment them during patrols.

Ghosts were real, it appeared.

He also concluded that their findings on ectoplasmic entities being non-sentient and inherently malevolent was incorrect, having met the ghost of a little girl caught up in a rouge attack that killed her and her family.

Damian watched Daniel Fenton for about a week while he ditched class in a poorly hidden effort to fight and contain the ghosts that he and his family were having such a hard time dealing with. His father was even nearly considering contacting John Constantine, which was never his ideal solution. Damian had been rolling an idea around in his head for a while and he decided now would be the time to bring it up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner at the manor was more of a full table than Damian had expected. Not everyone was there, Jason's relationship with them was still a bit strained, so he was not in attendance, and neither was Stephanie. But Duke was home, and Dick was actually there early for patrol later. Tim was there, and so was Cass, so almost everyone.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat politely. "Father, I wish to recruit a new member."

The chatter around the room came to a halt, the clatter of silverware ceasing.

"What exactly do you mean, chum?" Bruce asked carefully.

"I have a classmate I believe would be a valuable asset in light of our trouble with ghosts recently. However, he has no training or support, so I'm asking for your assistance."

"Did... demon brat make a friend?" Tim asked bewildered and a little bit terrified.

"Tt. No, I've never even spoken to him." Damian rolled his eyes. "My classmate, Daniel Fenton, transferred to Gotham Academy about a month ago and started acting strange soon after. He came to school with a tremor and a Lichtenberg figure you can just barely see starting on his left hand and traveling up his arm. I believed he'd been in an accident, and my suspicions were proven when I saw him use meta abilities to ditch class and fight a ghost in the courtyard of the school. From my observations, they are newly acquired, but he has decent instincts and an inclination toward heroism. I believe it would be safer for everyone involved if we approached him first."

"What?" Tim muttered. Dick was smiling gently at him, though, as if he were doing something he was proud of.

"Do his parents know?" Duke asked. Damian scoffed.

"I highly doubt it."

"Wait, Fenton as in the ectobiologists?" Bruce asked. The ex-assassin nodded.

"And considering their research is not reflected in our own interactions with ghosts thus far, I do not believe we should tell them."

"Not safe?" Cass signed. Her brother shook his head.

"The abilities I've observed resemble that of a ghost. He even has an alternate ghostly form."

The implication that they'd be endangering him hung heavy in the air. They'd all seen the Fentons' research. It mostly consisted of theoretical analysis and blatant biases with a long list of proposed experiments they'd run if they ever caught one. They'd all agreed that the Fenton ghost hunters were not a viable option for their ghost problem, especially after seeing how they drove, which in itself nearly put them on the Bat's rogue list.

"We've been meaning to investigate the Fentons properly anyways," Dick pointed out.

Bruce attempted to massage a headache out of his temples. The stuff his kids stumbled into, really. But Damian was right. If his classmate was a new meta with no support, it was only a matter of time before the rogues zeroed in on him, and since his family lived there, he couldn't tell the kid to leave.

"I'm not saying yes just yet, but talk to him. Find out any more that you can."

"Of course, Father."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny finally felt like he was getting the hang of his ghost powers. He was pleasantly surprised, and also mildly horrified, that his parents' inventions actually worked on the ghosts he was now beginning to fight regularly. His favorite was by far the thermos, which did no ghost mutilating whatsoever.

He discovered he had a ghost sense and enhanced hearing and vision, which was cool and all, but now he could hear all the shitty things his classmates said about him behind his back. Which, rude! He didn't even talk to them, what did they have to be shitty about?

He also noticed that one of them, Damian Wayne, had been watching him. From what Danny had heard, Damian was the richest kid in school, a Wayne. Son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, to be exact. And his attitude reflected that. His standoffish, holier than thou rich guy attitude made Dash and Paulina look like they lived below the poverty line. Apparently, he generally didn't talk to anyone at school unless it pertained to class, so Danny saw no point in introducing himself.

That made it extra weird that Damian was following him.

It was right after lunch when a hiccup had a cold breath tumbling from his lips. He raised his hand and asked his teacher if he could use the restroom. He made his way to the bathroom on the other side of the building this time, hoping it would be too out of the way for Damian to follow. But soft rustling of his classmate's school uniform gave him away, no matter how imperceptible his footsteps were.

When he entered the restroom, he made his way to the sink instead, splashing some cold water on his face as Damian walked in behind him loudly as if announcing his presence.

"I know what you've been doing," he said confidently, crossing his arms and standing in front of the door so Danny couldn't leave.

"Oh, hey! Damian, right? I'm in most of your classes, but I don't think I've ever introduced myself. I'm-"

"Daniel Fenton, I know. You've been fighting ghosts." Damian had to give him at least a little credit; he'd become a great actor over the last week. Though, that probably had a lot to do with the fact that he probably didn't feel safe at home anymore.

"My parents are ghost hunters, but I don't think shooting a ghost in the face with a lipstick laser then running for my life counts as 'fighting ghosts'."

"Tt. You are lying."

"Dude, what are-?" Danny cut himself off when his words came with another misty breath. Crap! He'd taken too long!

The ghost of the day, an ugly, mutated, bird looking thing with claws at the ends of its wings and a full set of dangerous, pointed teeth, phased through the door behind Damian, poised to strike.

Without warning, Danny grabbed Damian's wrist and whipped him out of the way, throwing himself between the two. A green shield formed in front of him just as the bird slashed at them with one of its wings.

"Well, that's new," he said startled as the bird geared up for another attack.

Danny groaned at his miserable luck before throwing caution to the wind and transforming. He'd just have to force friendship upon one Damian Wayne in an attempt to keep him from telling anyone about his whole magical girl transformation. He tried to activate his shield again, but when nothing happened, he was flung across the room into the wall. God, this was embarrassing.

The next time the ghost tried to attack him, Damian yanked him aside in a dodge and bolted out of the bathroom with Danny in tow. He was dragged through the winding halls to one of the side exits of the school. In costume or not, Damian's priority was luring the ghost away from the other students.

"Hey, so uh, you won't say anything about this," he gestured wildly to himself, "will you?"

"Tt. Of course not, but I believe you have more important concerns at the moment."

“Right!” Danny patted at the sides of his hazmat suit. “Crap, I left my thermos in my locker!” He dodged another attack and retaliated with an ectoblast, trying to keep the ghost's attention off of Damian as much as possible.

"Your lunch? Really?" Damian shouted. Dang, Danny must have been doing a decent job if Damian had the spare time and attention to be exasperated with him.

"No! It's a containment device! Besides, ghosts are basically soup anyway!"

"Distract it," Damian instructed, "I'll retrieve the device." The boy took off. Danny had to wonder how he even knew where his locker was. The ghost tried to follow him, but Danny shot another blast at it.

"Hey ugly, auditioning to be one of Gotham's Birds? Sorry, but you don't really look the part." He had no idea if the creature could even understand him, but the way it turned to him and lunged again suggested it had done the trick. This time, his shield did work!

Danny could have cried tears of joy at finally having some consistency with it. The next few minutes of the fight felt like an eternity while he dodged and shot ectoblasts at it. The creature wasn't really that strong, and it didn't seem to have super dangerous abilities like some of the other ghosts he'd fought like Skulker or Technus. It ended up being a great opportunity to practice his new shield ability, actually. But he knew the longer he took, the more danger his classmates would be in.

The bird ghost slammed into his shield with a particularly vicious strike, slamming him into the ground and creating a small crater.

"Note to self, remember intangibility," Danny groaned.

In that moment he noticed a door opening on the school building. It was Damian! He was finally back with thermos in hand! Unfortunately, the other ghost noticed too.

"Oh no you don't!" Danny yelled, latching onto one of its feet as it tried to fly toward his classmate. He dug his fingers in hard and sunk into the ground partway to anchor himself.

"Big green button by the lid then the button immediately below it!"

Damian wasted no time popping the lid open and sucking the ghost into the device, the lid closing with a quiet pop. He had to admit, though the design was questionable, it was sturdy, light, and very clearly effective. He wondered if he could get away with sneaking off with this one to have drake examine later.

"That was some incredible timing, thanks." The ghostly form of his classmate floated over to him, taking the thermos from his hand. Damian did not pout.

"We should probably get out of here before the Fenton's show up." He could already hear the screech of tires and his dad's voice over the megaphone tearing through the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't worry honey, we'll catch that nasty ghost boy next time," Jack Fenton comforted his wife. True to form, the Fenton's had arrived to the scene late, and most of the damage to the school yard had been from their vehicle crashing into things upon their arrival. Parents had been called and classes ended for the day, which was how one Bruce Wayne found himself at Gotham Academy trying to help the teachers talk the two down from storming and searching the school.

His son was standing off to the side with one of his classmates. Dark hair, bright blue eyes, lanky frame; Bruce could have mistaken the child for one of his own, but looking between the hulking man in front of him and the kid standing next to Damian, the resemblance was obvious. That had to be Daniel Fenton, the meta his son had told him about. Which meant he'd been the one to deal with the ghost before anyone else had gotten there. The classmate Damian had suggested they recruit for his safety.

"Danno, did you see where that spook went? When I get my hands on him, I'll rip him apart molecule by molecule for even thinking of attacking your school!" Bruce saw Daniel's breath hitch with fear.

"Sorry, no. I was coming back from the bathroom when I saw him fighting another ghost through the window. I was scared so I hid," he lied, gripping his left wrist while he spoke.

Bruce was impressed. The boy's fear was real, and he used that to his advantage to really sell the lie to his parents. His heart ached for him. He couldn't imagine seeing any of his boys looking at him like that, with such fear and distrust.

"That's okay sweetie, we'll get him next time. We're just happy you're alright. Let's get you home," his mother comforted, though Bruce knew it wasn't very comforting at all.

"Yeah, we'll teach you to use the Fenton Bazooka," well that was horrifying, "that way next time you can just blast him!" Danny wanted literally anything else.

"Actually," Damian interrupted politely. "We were assigned a project in class earlier on the history of Gotham. As Daniel is relatively new to town, I offered to assist him with the assignment. Father, would it be acceptable for him to join us for dinner?"

Bruce would have been incredibly surprised his son was inviting someone over for dinner if he didn't see exactly what he was doing. Daniel wasn't safe at home. And he clearly wasn't comfortable with the way his parents spoke of the 'ghost boy'. If his defeated expression was anything to go by, it hadn't been the first time they'd said something like that, nor would it be the last.

"What do you think, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? We'd love if Daniel could join us for dinner."

"Please, call us Maddie and Jack. That sounds wonderful Mr..."

"Wayne. Bruce Wayne, I'm Damian's father," he introduced. If the two recognized the name, they didn't show it. It worked out rather well in his favor.

"Mr. Wayne. If its not too much trouble, that would be wonderful. It's about time he made a new friend, he's been sulking since the move. Now, we have a ghost to catch!" Maddie planted a kiss on Danny's forehead, leaning her blaster on her shoulder as her and her husband made their way back to the homemade assault vehicle parked haphazardly on the lawn of the school.

"Be sure to call us if you plan on staying the night! We'll let Jazz know she doesn't have to worry about dinner for you! We love you, have fun sweetie!"

"Are they always like that?" Damian asked after the two had pulled away. How had those two even gotten their driver's license? It was truly abysmal, he dreaded the thought of anyone getting into a vehicle with them. And then there was the speed in which they'd dumped their son into their laps, even suggesting they'd be okay with him not coming home that night.

"They mean well, but yeah," Danny replied, heaving a sad and defeated sigh. "Thank you, by the way. For inviting me over, even if you didn't mean it. They can be a bit much."

"Clearly," Damian mused back.

Bruce watched the two interact and felt pride well up in his chest. Meeting the Fenton parents just once was enough to convince him that their son needed help, maybe even their daughter too. That Damian had taken the initiative to bring this to his attention, that he had stood up for Danny and offered his home as a sanctuary for him, made him so incredibly proud as a father. He wasn't as prickly with Danny the way he was with other people, even his own siblings. That was a very good thing indeed, considering it was looking more and more likely this would end with another adoption.

Maybe Clark was right, he did have an adoption problem.

[tasteofthedivine93]

The Beauty of the Beast - Messmer x F!Reader - Elden Ring Fic - Part 1

TasteOfTheDivine // Masterlist

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57094387/chapters/145208599 Fic Rating: Explicit🌶️🌶️ (Chapter: Teen) Category: F/M Fandom: Elden Ring // Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erd Tree Relationships: Messmer x F!Reader // Messmer the Impaler x F!Reader Warnings: None Words: 952

MASTERLIST // -> Part 2

You're lost on your travels in the Shadow Realm. Rain causes your cart to get stuck in the mud, wheels not moving an inch. Your Torrent Steed is tired from the journey.

You untie him from the cart, abandoning your only possessions, you whistle your steed away for rest and head into the forest for shelter. You walk as much as your legs can carry you. Till the forest edge unveils a large castle in the distance. The blackened stone looking like charcoal, a large staircase darkens from greystone to black towards the front doors.

You walk warily up the stairs and knock on the door to no answer, instead you push your way inside without invitation or greeting. The night's cold air was making your bones shiver, you needed shelter.

The walls inside are lined with candles and paintings, before you a grand staircase. You call out hello, but to no reply, but you shiver - unsure from the cold or from another presence watching you.

You look around the foyer, till a shadow at the top of the stairs catches your attention. You swear you hear a hiss echo through the empty chambers. You call out 'wait' after the suspicious shadow.

You head upstairs, down a corridor, large wooden doors carved with snakes line the walls, sconces with red candles drip to the floor, windows covered by thick red velvet drapes.

You call out again, no reply.

Another shadow catches your attention down what you assume is the Western Wing. You walk down the hall to the end where a large door opens a crack, light glistening out of the door.

You pause for a moment, holding your breath, but as if in a serpent's trance you pull open the large door with a grunt, hinges creak and groan.

Inside, you see a bedroom, however destroyed, scorch marks line the walls, cracked and broken mirror shards glimmer like water, bed linen covered in burn holes, rugs frayed and black. You gasp at the sight.

You tenderly step into the room as if it was still aflame, looking around for any sign of life. Instead you catch a portrait on the wall, half burnt away, but you see a young man with vibrant red hair and a piercing golden eye. Behind the man a red snake fills the frame. The lower section of the portrait is charred and torn as if struck by the lightning.

You step closer, mesmerised by the painting, trying to look closer at the face shredded by burns.

Then out of the corner of your eye, you spot a small table near an open window, the curtains dancing gently in the breeze. On the table floats a crimson flame, flickering gently. As if it was beckoning you, your feet involuntarily begin to walk towards the blaze.

As if possessed, you feel your hand rise from your side and out of your moth eaten cloak. You slowly reach towards the flame, a sinister call hissing in your mind to touch.

You feel no heat but instead you feel cold as a shadow engulfs you, your eyes snap away from the flame to see a monster in the shape of man, skin greying, wrapped in a red cloak, thin long hair flowing down to his shoulders and surrounded by 2 large snakes who hiss at you.

You step back in horror, falling onto your backside as you try and crawl away. Letting out a gasp of fear.

"Mongrel, intruder." A bellowing voice vibrates in your chest. "Wherefore has't thee cometh here?"

You open your mouth, dry as stone and attempt to shutter out your apologies. You continue to crawl backwards on your hands and feet, instead the man, monster, steps around the table and follows you, keeping you in shadow.

"Doth thee not realise what thee couldst has't done?!" He growls at you. The snakes around him grow and slither in the air towards you. Their green eyes never leaving yours.

You again apologise and ask "Who are you?" The snakes stop mere inches from you.

"The master of thine castle." He replies, still deep. "Where thee has't in mine own domain trespassed"

You turn your head away from the monster and begin to sob. You tell him you got lost in the woods and needed shelter, you didn't mean to trespass. You plead with him to spare you.

The snakes hiss at the man as if communicating with him, who responds with hums of agreement. (The snake simply informs that this person could be the one to break the curse, maybe they should stay.)

The monsters shoulders sink at your tears and plea. The snakes retract back behind him and he knees down in front of you. His face comes more into view and you look up at him threw wet lashes. You notice the same golden eye at the painting, glowing like a star against the velvet night sky.

He was no monster at all, but the same man from the portrait, just older. You study him as you wipe away your tears.

"Art thee lone?" He asks, but this time is voice was softer. You nod.

"Thee can stayeth here if thou desires, take shelter for as longeth as thee need" He holds out his hand to you, fingers decorated with golden rings.

You hesitate at first, eyes flickering between his stretched out hand and his newly illuminated soft features. You nod and reach out, his long fingers wrap delicately around your shivering hand. He helps you to stand. You stare up at him, who looks down at you smiling, still holding your hand. You feel a small bloom of warmth in your chest. 

(credits of gifs in description)

[lee-hakhyun]

Just as Kim Dokja strived to keep all of <Kim Dokja’s Company>, <Kim Dokja’s Company> also had no other choice but to search for all of Kim Dokja. “As you said, we may eventually fail.” Even if their choice led them down a path in which they would never be free. Even if their story continued infinitely for just that one person. If it’s for Kim Dokja, “If that’s so, then we will continue to fail. That is how we will honor Kim Dokja.” They will be the ‘characters’ of this story until the end of time, for eternity.

chapter 670 episode 21. kim dokja (6)

[flying-cat]

People don't want character redemption they want a revenge plot from a story that was never supposed to be about revenge

[1driedpersimmon]

Continuing from this: X

A little drama for my own entertainment

[jamiethebeeart]

The Fate of the Dead

(Go to the end for prompt source and ao3 link) Chapter 1:

Sam was able to see the future. 

“A gift” her grandfather whispered on his deathbed.

“A curse,” her mother sneered. 

“Hope,” her grandmother said. 

“Witch” her playmates said. 

One move to a rinky dink town later and even though her parents didn’t say anything, Sam understood – keep quiet, say nothing, and everything would be fine.

-

While the first few years of Sam’s life were a whirlwind of activities, fancy parties, and frilly, fashionable dresses, the next few years were quiet.  Living in a small town where no one knew who the Mansons were, was an adjustment.  Sam, even at her young age, could pick up on the quiet resentment from her parents.  The sidelong looks at the TV over news of celebrity parties, the glance over at Sam when reading the Socialites section of the newspaper, and the way that they frowned when Sam started talking about her visions.  By the time Sam entered 1st grade, she stopped mentioning them to anyone, family or otherwise.  Why would her parents care about the sight of blood on the playground, or the car crash on the interstate?  They couldn’t stop it, and Sam couldn’t either – not without knowing information like “where” or “why” or the most important of all – “when”. 

-

Walking into the 2nd grade hallway, she found her teacher waving students in that they recognized from open night into the classroom.  As Sam approached, the teacher brightened, “Hello Samantha!  Walk right in, there’s a seating chart at the front of the classroom.  Please find your seat and sit down.  Class will start soon.”  Nodding, Sam walked into the classroom and saw a large easel with sticky notes plastered to it.  Each one was arranged into groups like the desks behind her.  She located her seat, turned around, and almost ran into a boy with black hair.

“DANNY!”  A woman slid to a halt, bumping the classroom teacher a little as she caught herself on the door post.  A backpack held up in one hand and breathing hard, like she’d ran to the school.  After a moment, she looked up, “Danny, you forgot your backpack.”

The black haired boy turned around, “Oh!  Thanks Mommy!” he grinned as he ran back to her. 

Sam stopped, shocked – not because of the almost run in, but because that boy looked like a younger version of the one she saw in one of her oldest visions.  The only recurring one she’d ever had.  As the boy shooed his mother off and turned around to head back to the easel, Sam woodenly headed to her seat, refusing to look up from the floor.  Swinging the straps of her bag over the back of her seat, she smoothed her skirt, and sat down.  She blinked a few times, fighting back tears.  Not all of Sam’s visions were unpleasant, but the ones that were, tended to be rather extreme – this particular one included.  She had almost convinced herself it was a recurring nightmare rather than a true vision, but there was no way she could have imagined those screams.  She breathed in and out to calm herself like her mother showed her, fists clenched under her desk, hidden, like her father.  As the thunk of a backpack landed on the desk next to her, she shook her head a little and looked up.  “I’m Sam,” she introduced herself to the boy next to her.  A hand stuck out in his direction.

“Tucker,” the boy grinned, as he shook her hand.

By the end of recess later that day, Danny was sporting a bloody nose, Tucker was on the ground, and Sam stood in front of them, glaring at the blonde kid who started it all.

“Step aside, if you know what’s good for you!” the kid said, trying to stand up tall, chest puffed out.

“You can’t hit a girl!” Danny yelled around the hand clutching his nose.

“Yeah!  That’s, like, super mean!”  Tucker said as he started to stand.

“I might!” was the response.

Sam glared harder, “You can try.”

“Move!” Dash screamed.

“No!” Sam screamed back.

“Over here!  There’s some little kids fighting!”  An older student was yelling across the playground, motioning for a teacher’s assistant on recess duty to come over.

By the end of the day, Dash was suspended and Sam had made two lifelong friends.

-

“But Saaaaaam,” Danny whined, “why do we have to go the long way to the park?”

“Yea, Saaaam whyyy, my feet already hurt from PE today,” Tucker said, a few steps behind the other two.

“Because I said so,” Sam rolled her eyes.  “It’s nice out today - why wouldn’t we take advantage of it?”

Danny slowed down to settle beside Tucker and stage whispered, “I think this is payback for painting the inside of her locker pink.”

“No.”  Tucker solemnly said.  “She’s just trying to kill us.”

Danny nodded, “Aaah, that makes sense.  Do you think she’ll at least pay our funeral expenses?”

Tucker snorted, “She should at least pay for our coffin lining.  I’m thinking light blue.  Sam, what do you think?  Light blue?  Or should you do green for me?”

Sam rolled her eyes and turned around to walk backwards to talk to them, “I think you two are melodramatic and insufferable.”

The boys laughed at her, seeing the uptick of her mouth.  They walked a little faster.  Sam turned back around right before Tucker slung an arm around her shoulders as they fell in step with her. “So, a bottom of the line white?” Tucker asked.

Danny gasped, “And here I thought Sam wasn’t like those, quote, ‘basic bitches’.”  The boys cackled as Sam shrugged Tucker’s arm off with a huff.

“First – I called them shallow.  Second, I would at least spring for a black lining.  If I can’t convince you two to go goth in life, I’ll have to make it happen in death.”  Sam held her head up in mock snootiness before side eyeing Danny and laughing at his grimace.  They made it to the park walking past the people walking dogs and others playing with young kids to the far end.  The trees started to get dense and the park area slowly transitioned into proper woods.  They could hear birds quieting down as they pushed aside branches and went through some bushes.  A slight breeze pushed through their group as they came upon the dry creek.  Stepping on the large stones in the creek bed, they made their way across to a fallen tree on the other side.  Tucker and Danny let out twin groans of relief at being able to plop down.  Sam made a face at their antics and took the seat in between them.

“So,” Sam started.  She refused to look at either one.

The chirping of the birds started up again.  Danny shifted his foot around at the dirt under his shoe, looking up at the sky.  Tucker took off his glasses to clean them off on his shirt.  After putting them back on, Tucker raised an eyebrow, “So?”

Sam laughed sheepishly, “I forgot.”

“What?!” Danny blurted out, taking his eyes off the clouds to look at her.

“Yea! What?! You’re the one who wanted to take us out here today!” Tucker added on.

“We could be at home playing DOOMED, ignoring our homework, instead of out here, tired, overheated, and ignoring our homework,” Danny said.

“That’s it then, I guess I’ll have to take out my homework and have you help me.”  Tucker paused hopefully.  “Unless you suddenly remember?”

Sam furrowed her eyebrows, looking down, “No.  Let’s do our homework.”  She unzipped her spider backpack to pull out her binder.

Danny looked behind Sam’s back at Tucker mouthing, “Are you serious?!?”

Tucker widened his eyes, shrugging and shaking his head towards Sam, “Sorry?!?!”.

Sam sat up with her binder and pencil, cutting their silent back and forth short.  “Alright.  Is it going to be English or History?"  She looked at Tucker, down at his untouched backpack, and then back up.  “Seriously?”  A signature Sam frown was gifted upon him.  “You were the one to suggest this.  Hurry up.  As soon as I’m done, I’m leaving you two behind in the woods.”  At the thought of having to walk back by themselves, Danny and Tucker scrambled to get their backpacks open and homework out.  Sam smiled a little.  As much as she loved these moments, she was already mourning their end.

Prompt: You can see visions of the future, but you learned long ago to keep them to yourself. Now, you have to speak up or risk losing everything you love. Source: https://prowritingaid.com/fiction-writing-prompts

The Fate of the Dead - Chapter 1 - J_Bee - Danny Phantom [Archive of Our Own]

[yasmeensh]

Finally got to paint something a little more proper for my project. Paleolithic kids see a dragon come down from the sky 🐉

a few more doodles of my OCs Tam Kujo below >>

drew this one in the span of three days during class time :p. A few lines here and there while I wait for the prof to set up the slides and start the class. Kept going until I felt like not adding anymore.

two more

[divaatrait]

Making Moves 📦

Lopez successfully finished his internships and has started his residency at White Willow Memorial Hospital. With a secure salary, he was able to lease one half of the newest Landgraab-owned development. And it seems that he's preparing a surprise for when his long-distance girlfriend, Darcy, comes to visit...

[absolutely-normal-about-x]

A Pacifist’s Fury and Grief

The one of the things, I absolutely love about the Iwamoto manga, is the demostration of X’s grief and Fury in the wars.

This Fury was first shown to us in the final chapters of the X3 Manga

Keep that in mind he never acted like this in the final chapters in the X1 and X2 Mangas. The way he acts like this shows that he’s at his limit. It doesn’t show it that often but fuck I love how it demonstrates, that he is not okay and how he views himself. How much he wants sigma dead so the wars can stop. He stopped him so the world is saved and everything is restoring itself so things are going to be okay!

Then the Replaforce mess happens and well…during a mission Blizzard Buffalo against Ice Walrus. Sacrificing himself to save X and look what happened…

His friend died cause he was weak and helpless to stop walrus.

His mind and his heart where damaged convincing himself that…he needs to be stronger to stop this madness (Hi double for that speech 💥💥) going on a Rampage of grief and Fury. Going on a war path of destruction

Enter the ultimate armor and if anyone read the manga knows what happens next…

X was lost in the war that he nearly lost himself because of that grief and fury. To the point that he aims his weapon at Zero, his best friend. How his heart was so wounded from the battles that he nearly forgot who he was…thankfully he was reminded of his heart by General gently embracing him and sacrificing himself.

Allowing himself to let go of his hatred and rage, and attempted to be better, embracing the blast. Cause of his heart that ultimate armor purifies it self.

The Moral of the lesson here kids is to never invoke the Pacifist Fury.

Aka don’t piss of X or murk his loved ones.

[katzenkarussell]

Der Nesträuber

The nest robber - this was such a fun piece to make :) A bit of a "What if" situation

[annmariethrush]

slow burns, especially REALLY slow slow burns, are the inverse of porn without plot.

I just read a fanfic that contains more words than the entirety of the Hunger games trilogy combined with only a single instance of sex between the love interests. The amount of plot that I have endured to make it to the porn is downright comical if you frame it that way.

[bonefall]

grr pregnancy and birth is such an ick for me that i genuinely cannot comprehend how the erins thought that bright stream was a good idea. ugh. like its so gross that its too awful to even be like, a good decision to darken the story WHAT ARE THESE WRITERS ON

sorry. i hate dotc can you tell.

The obsession with birth and biological parentage in DOTC borders on pathological at times, it's almost fascinating. I'm actually not icked out by the topic of pregnancy but...

Like, it is the logical conclusion of their awful mindset in DOTC. If only your biomother and your biofather have a Super Special and Meaningful connection to you to the point of just, inexplicable, innate knowing, then of course it doesn't fucking matter if you were raised by those people or not, or even BORN in the first place. It's inherent to your very genetics.

Clear Sky's Fetus Children were magically close to him at their very conception, just like how Tom means more to Turtle Tail's children than the man who actually raises them. The bond between a bioparent and biochild isn't "formed," it's just this natural thing that you're built with.

It's the antithesis of 'found family.' The COMPLETE opposite. It's womb magic.

And it's used for Clear Sky's man pain. Like. To be very frank. All of this is for the narrative purpose of making him sad. Bright Stream dies this gruesome and horrific death and takes his unborn children with her to set up a "reason" for him to abandon his next son. He's "too scared" to lose another family. And then he loses Storm too and it man pains him into dramatically announcing "I cannot BEAR to ever be so sad ever again oouugh. I will now hit anyone who is mean to me."

Gray Wing "sees through this" to recognize the sad boy and beloved brother under it all, the "goodness" he had all along while he was beating and slaughtering innocent people because he was So Scared.

This is why I don't shut up about the idea of Clear Sky's "Redemption Arc" being the crap axis upon which the shittiness of the arc spins. EVERY. SINGLE. BAD CHOICE relates back in some way to trying to keep him "redeemable." Even the infamous Angel Fetus Children scene, during Gray Wing's fucking DEATH, exists to reward Clear Sky after all of his ""growth""

So like to answer the question; The writers were on Clear Sky Fartsniff. A very powerful drug, lmao.

[asdeadasasquirrel]

Me @ all the people who told me they’re warming up to the idea of radiorose as an actual ship because I drew Rosie dying of flower tuberculosis