#you will never convince me danny is cis

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Pride Headcanons

It’s June 1, y’all which means I can write about my silly little blorbos being under the rainbow all I want! Not that the headcanons were somehow different before hahaha but anyway!

I’m going to be using the Secret Quartet because I can- and honestly they are my biggest comfort and hyperfixation right now, so why wouldn’t I write with them?

Danny Phantom;

👻 Danny is trans. I mean look at him- but no, this just fits with his character. Honestly I could talk about this in a completely separate post but genuinely he would be FtM

👻 In canon, he seems to prefer women more than men, but Danny is somewhere in the non-het umbrella. He gives me pan vibes, like it’s genuinely the last thing he cares about and it’s more about chemistry than anything else

👻 Danny’s parents are 100% supportive if he ever chose to come out. There is no homophobia in this household, you cannot convince me otherwise

👻 Overall, Amity Park is accepting. In no universe would they ever turn someone away for being not-cishet

👻 Danny used to bind using ace bandages and completely forget he was wearing them- based on an old comic I found, I like to imagine that if Vlad were to find out, he would immediately pay for Danny to at least have a comfortable binder. You also cannot tell me he wouldn’t try to offer paying for Danny’s bottom surgery (with a price of course)

👻 None of the ghosts would ever deadname Danny. Ever. Not even Dash would-

👻 Much like Danny, Jazz is definitely non-het; she’s bisexual- gender is the least of her concerns when it canes to romance, but she also seems to be a bit more sapphic leaning. I said what I said /lh

👻 Danny would never forget someone’s preferred name. He makes it an entire point to remember them and use it correctly- let alone pronouns

American Dragon: Jake Long;

🐲 Jake is cis- i don’t see him as being anything other than cisgender unfortunately but he’s an ally and I will stand by this until I disappear from this earth-

🐲 He doesn’t really care for labels and will never use them, but Jake isn’t exactly heterosexual. Gender is the last thing on his mind when he’s dating, but he’s only really dated Rose so I think he’s ever so slightly confused at the moment on his preferences

🐲 Jake would attend Pride. 100%

🐲 If Jake ever came out to his family, they would 100% be understanding- they’re many things but assholes isn’t one of them. They would likely sit him down and make sure to know how to most make him feel comfortable but other than that, neither Jonathan nor Susan would ever make Jake unhappy

I honestly don’t have as many headcanons for American Dragon, but- this is the best I could come up with!

Miraculous Ladybug;

🐞 Marinette is more than likely cisgender- she’s still an ally; that would never change. She makes sure to protect trans folk and everyone in between

🐞 I like to think Marinette doesn’t care for labels, and just dates depending on personality and compatibility than attempting to assess it on gender

🐞 She would never forget someone’s pronouns or preferred name. Sometimes there are accidental slip-ups because, well- it’s Marinette with ADHD (I will talk neurodivergent headcanons in a separate post) but she always apologizes if she messes up!

🐞 Marinette has attended Pride events as both her civilian persona and heroine identity to help support those who need it- this is canon now

🐈‍⬛ Adrien is trans. This is not up for negotiation (/lh). There is just something about him that screams trans

🐈‍⬛ He has no idea if he likes men, women, both or anything in between. Adrien is a little bit sheltered, give him time he’ll come around

🐈‍⬛ Honestly, Adrien would be an ally first before realizing he’s trans or non-het. He would be allowed to attend Pride events because Gabriel isn’t that much of a horrible person- at least not with Pride. Gabriel is not the type, in this essay I will-

🐈‍⬛ Adrien finds being Chat Noir completely freeing- it’s almost like binding in a way,

🐈‍⬛ Adrien was given his first binder buy Nino. He eventually received a second one from Marinette, and he cherishes both dearly- but sometimes he forgets to take them off

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja;

🧣Randy is trans-coded. I can’t explain why, but there is no way that boy is cis- (Howard likely knew before he did, I was there obviously. I was uh, Randy’s coat /lh)

🧣He’s unlabeled when it comes to sexuality and romantic orientation. Randy doesn’t know because he has only ever crushed on girls so far but he also keeps smiling like an idiot at Howard and gets ridiculously flustered. He doesn’t know what to make of it-

🧣Randy has never attended a Pride event- at least not yet. He hopes to one day

🧣Randy binds- he does use a binder as Howard actually bought one for him as a birthday present; before that he used to wear ace bandages which wasn’t ideal in the slightest but he was dealing with horrible dysphoria at the time and didn’t want to accept he was only a kid

🧣Being the Ninja somehow helps him cope with his dysphoria

🥷 Finja- is he cishet? Hahahah no, absolutely not. Cis? Maybe. Heterosexual? This man gives asexual vibes! This is canon now ~ a fellow ace

🥷 I don’t think Finja would have used labels in his youth. Especially if it wasn’t entirely the norm back then but if he were in present times- he might’ve, though I think he would just vibe

🥷 Finja honestly might be on the aromantic spectrum, but more so demiromantic or grayaromantic than not dating at all!

🥷 Oh you can bet Finja would be completely accepting of Randy being trans

(author’s cut: more will be written for Finja later! I simply have words stuck in my brain that won’t fully come out!)

📕Nomicon - or “Nomi” - is agender! They do not associate themself with a gender and use literally any pronoun- including neopronouns

📕Nomi would be completely accepting of gender and sexuality- and anything in between- they are completely supportive of Randy coming out

📕Nomi is however, asexual! I do think Nomi would be aroace but you can headcanon whatever you want- though when you’re a centuries old sentient book, well, things change

📕If Nomi was human, they would 100% be attending Pride- this is not up for debate. They would

📕Nomi is fiercely protective of Randy- in my human AU’s, it is 100% guaranteed anyone who displayed transphobia or any other form of bigotry toward him would immediately be roundhouse kicked in the face

📕Human! Nomi would give zero fucks and decide to wear dresses- but honestly, they wear outfits that reference the book version of herself. They wear whatever the hell they want, do not care in the slightest

Additional Headcanons;

Howard doesn’t openly seem to care about Pride because he’s a stubborn little shit, but everyone knows better than to mess with Randy- because those who do are met with a fiercely protective, homosexual totally-cis Howard Weinerman

Whatever the fuck McFist and Viceroy have going on isn’t straight-

McFist would host Pride themed events specifically during June and seemingly forget about it for the rest of the year- does he do this to be homophobic? Nope! He just genuinely doesn’t flaunt being not straight that he also isn’t aware of

Viceroy is bi. This is not up for negotiation

Mort is straight but completely supports his children in whatever they want to do with their life

Sam Manson is completely unlabeled. She doesn’t care

Tucker? You can’t tell me that boy is cis

Alya makes blogs in support of Pride and does make them year-round because she is an ally and I will stand by this until the day I cease to exist (which is never)

Gabriel does do Pride events but much like McFist, he doesn’t them 24/7 or year-round- the only difference is I’m pretty sure Gabriel’s cishet

I can’t think of anything else tbh! Enjoy the mess that is these headcanons-

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Thanks @howmanyholesinswisscheese for the tag hehe. Any writers that follow me pleaseee join along I'm so excited to hear about your OCs??

Rules: Pick an OC and post a song you relate to them, an image that represents them in some way (aesthetic, picrew, art etc) and a quote of dialogue or narration from them. Totally feel free to expand and explain!

My OC is Avi Reddy, they're sixteen and your resident himbo (gn) jock and bisexual disaster who is stupidly in love with their frenemy Rian.

They're very hot-tempered and have negative common sense, but they're fiercely kind and creative and would kill for their friends. This is the song that relates to them and their journey of coming out as non-binary and bi.

They wouldn't want me to, but I also associate this song and its sheer dumbass energy with them. I'm sorry guys, this is an underrated masterpiece and Avi absolutely listens to it on loop in their free time, whatever they may say to the contrary.

Sorry. Take the pic, this is quite literally them:

Anyway, quote/narration time, take the reins, Avi:

There’s something so addictive about firsts, isn’t there? A new notebook, a full pen, moving house, changing schools, a fresh start. I think it’s because we’re convinced that we can change the ending only by changing the beginning, not by changing the middle.

And here's Avi pretending to be cis...

I shrugged awkwardly. Agh, conversations. “No, we shouldn’t,” I said, because I hadn’t slept well the previous night and was slightly panicking about class. “We should bottle it all up until we start a war. It’s the manly thing to do, I’ve read.” Zakir snorted. “There’s an instruction booklet?” “Of course there is. I read it every day and night.” Because I’ve got no idea how this is supposed to work. I didn’t say that. I grinned at him. “Guess what it’s called?” “What?” “The man-ual.” “Do not speak,” Zakir said. “Ever again.” “That’s a high de-man-d, but maybe I can man-age.”

Final, just to round it off:

I’ve spent too long trying to make sense of things. It’s occurred to me that maybe the madness lies not in the chaos, but in trying to unravel it, not in the illusion but in trying to see through it, not in the mess but in trying to understand it. I’m speaking generally and definitely not about one specific imbecile, though how is it that some people just make you want to hit them with a brick?

Yes, Avi was talking about Rian in that last one. The two of them share one braincell, and it's never with Avi.

Join in y'all :") Idk any writers specifically but anyone!

[hvrbingers]

[ dylan o’brien | cis man | he/him | thirty-one ] ——   welcome to grimrose, jesse hart. it’s cool that you’re here, you know. haven’t you heard of the history of this place… anyway, how’s being a newcomer who has been in town for a year, especially since you spend most of your days as a bartender at hangman’s bar? also, not that it’s a bad thing, of course, but i’ve heard people say you can be a little impulsive more than you are protective… but that’s just coming from people who are bored here, i promise. to me, you remind me of my own worst enemy by lit and living your life in the fast lane, not knowing how to slow down but being forced to, being thrust into fatherhood but never having a father yourself, and trying to convince yourself that you’re someone worth loving. hope to see you around, jess.

full name — jesse hart nickname(s) — jess name meaning — god’s gift age — thirty-one date of birth — march 26th place of birth — chicago, illinois   current location — grimrose, new hampshire gender — cis-man pronouns — he/him sexual orientation — bisexual religion — atheist occupation — bartender, hangman’s education level  — emt training family — william hart, alice hart  finances — could be better spoken languages — english, some spanish voiceclaim — dylan o’brien

inspos: jess mariano ( gilmore girls ), lip gallagher ( shameless ), evan buckley ( specifically s1, 911 ), alex karev ( greys anatomy ), patrick verona ( 10 things i hate about you ), diego hargreeves ( umbrella academy ), max mayfield ( stranger things ), faith lehane ( buffy the vampire slayer ) 

tws: foster home mentions, self destructive tendencies, death of close friends

if you were to ask jesse about his upbringing he wouldn’t know what to tell you or where to start, it was chaos, which is why he clung to chaos as an adult. he was bumping from foster family to foster family until he met daniel eighth grade going into ninth. the two were thick as thieves, couldn’t find one without the other, and eventually jess had found himself integrated with daniel’s family, them officially fostering him when he was fifteen until he turned eighteen. though high school would come with a lot complicated ups and downs, a lost boy not knowing where he fit in the world, danny often being the one to try and smooth out his chaos. jess thinks that maybe he relied on the other too much to get him out of trouble, but the love that danny’s family had was enormous for him and they never gave up on him.

they moved to chicago when they graduated, danny went on to university and jesse jumped from job to job until he decided to finally start getting serious about his future even if he couldn’t see one for himself. for someone who thrived on chaos it only seemed right that he would eventually become an emt. long were the hours of jesse crashing at danny’s university dorm room his first year until they finally moved into their first apartment danny’s sophomore year. for a while things were good–jess was good at his job. for a boy that seemed like he destroyed people’s lives when he was in the system due to his inability to trust them, he was finally doing something good with his hands. 

there were times in his early adulthood when he would begin the search for his parents, it was always such a big era of mystery of never knowing who they were other than names that he had been given, it was a black hole in his life that he tried to fill with various strings of bad relationships and late nights. eventually his good streak would come to an end and he’d find himself out of the job that he had been doing so good at, quitting without giving anyone a real reason as to why. danny had never asked, but had encouraged him that if he ever needed someone that he knew that he would be there. 

but danny’s life was progressing and jesse was self destructive in the way where he felt like he wasn’t doing him any good–but danny still never gave up on him. eventually danny would find his partner, and the family of two became a family of three, and then the family of three would become the family of four with camilia. the two had definitely tried to set them up, though unknown as to why, but it ended because honestly jess was in no position to romance someone or be with someone during the time. jess would get back on track with his life ( again ), and he was going steady with his job as an emt, and danny and his partner would eventually get married, they hung around chicago for a bit before eventually they let jess know that they were planning on moving to grimrose, a vacation spot that they have loved and wanted to start a family of their own there. 

it was going fine, until jess got a phone call about their death. jess can’t remember that much from that night, just that there was glaring distance. jess had gotten the first flight he could out there to retrieve iris, their daughter, who barely got to know her parents. jess immediately quit his job and moved into their house with camilia as it was their last wish in their will. 

he got a job at hangman’s, he couldn’t see himself going back to the old life, trying to fit in this strange town with a child that now was his own. 

in many ways, jesse has reverted back to who he used to be, his self destructive tendencies are prevalent, but it’s hard when you have a child, and even harder to be a father when you didn’t have one yourself, but he loves that little girl, he’s just so bad at showing it.

headcanons: 

personality wise he’s a little reclusive though he didn’t used to be, but if you get enough liquid encouragement in him little parts of his old self peek out 

truly is sucking so bad at being a dad but he really is trying his best, he’s actually terrified when she starts fully talking because of being called dad because that’s what he will be to her. finds it really unfair that danny won’t ever get to be called that since he wanted a family for so long. 

danny’s parents were good people but were a bit distant growing up and that’s why they formed the family that they did and why it sucks so much now that danny and his partner are gone to see what a beautiful kid they created 

was a good emt, really cared about the job but also truly cannot go back to it because he’s got this set pattern of what his life was and what it is now and doesn’t want to mix the two because he’s stubborn and also. grief. 

not much of a believer of the folklore surrounding grimrose but he knew that danny was so he hopes that maybe the magic of the place will make itself known to him. 

[seddair]

https://www.tumblr.com/thestupidhelmet/745487670410723328/send-me-a-character-and-ill-do-this

Mindy Lahiri

For the post I just reblogged:

Sexuality headcanon: I’m usually rather vanilla when it comes to sexuality headcanons, but you could convince me that Mindy is bi. That episode where Nicey Nash guest starred had me 👀

Gender Headcanon: Cis female

A ship I have with said character: Danny/Mindy, one of my first real OTPs lol

A BROTP I have with said character: Her dynamic with Peter and Morgan were really fun, so I’d say them

A NOTP I have with said character: Jeremy/Mindy and Josh/Mindy (by far her worst boyfriend imo, he SUCKED)

A random headcanon: I don’t really do headcanons for the most part? Sorry, not a real fun answer here

General opinion: I loved Mindy! She wasn’t just a strong girlboss, never-could-do-any-wrong type of character. She was messy! She was into “girly” things and was overly self-involved! She was interesting! We could use more main characters like Mindy in sitcoms tbh.

[randomhuman45]

Dannymay 2022- Day 17 Promise

Danny remembered the day his mother made her first promise to him. At 8 years old Danny walked up to him Mom pulling on her hazmat suit nervously shaking with tears falling down his face staining his cheeks.

"M-Mommy?" His voice quivered as his eyes stared down at his little pink shoes and frilly socks.

"What's wrong baby?" Maddie dropped down to her knees and lifted his head up to let their eyes meet. "You can tell me sweetie." Her voice was sweet as honey and full of concern as her thumbs tried to wipe away his tears off his cheeks only for them to be replaced.

"I can't have pigtails anymore." He whispered before wrapping his arms around her neck as tears turned into sobs.

"Do you want braids then? Or to have your hair down? What do you want?" Maddie didn't know why her daughter was so upset over pigtails but would support her no matter what.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Danny shouted shaking his head into his mother's neck.

"Okay, okay," Maddie said trying to calm her heartbroken child down. "What do you want?"

"I, I want my hair short. And," Danny paused trying to catch his breath and figure out how he wanted to say it, "I don't want dresses, don't wanna be Danielle anymore. Can, can I be Danny with a y? Please?"

"Oh baby!" Maddie grabbed her baby and hugged them as tight as possible without hurting them. "Are, are you saying that you're a boy? Or something else? What, do you need?"

"I-I'm a boy. I think, but I think so. I want to be." Danny stuttered out now nervous and panicking. "Is that okay?"

"Of course baby!" Maddie assured, "I promise no matter what, and I mean that, NO. MATTER. WHAT. I will always love you! I promise!"

"Okay, thank you Mommy! I love you!"

"Of course!"

-----

Danny remembered the first time his father did too. He was trying to hide his growing chest with bandages when his father burst into his room.

"Danny boy! Guess- Oh!" Jack quickly turned around trying to give his son privacy. He full heatedly supported his son and made it a point to make sure his son was treated like a son after he came out.

"Ahh! Dad, umm, uhhh. I, I think I need help." Danny huffed out both embarrassed and completely done with these bandages not working and giving him incredible aches and pains.

"You, you do? Is it like, uhhh, puberty issues? I got sock puppets for that!" Jack piped up like a eager puppy. "Wait right here and I can get the sock puppet box!"

"No! No, no, no, no. I don't need- it not about that. Well, sort of but, no, I don't need the sock puppets!" He stuttered out completely flustered at this point.

"Well, umm, what do you need then son?"

"Umm, well, you see, errr well not see see, but. I'm twelve and my chest is kinda..."

"Oh. Oh! And you don't want or like that?"

"Yeah, so umm I was trying to tape, uhh well use tape to make it not look like, uhhh, that but..."

"It's not working out like you planned?"

"Yeah," Danny sighed out.

"Don't worry son! I may know a thing or two about things not working out on the first try but you know what the best part of being a Fenton man is?" Jack pipped up.

"Ummm, eating fudge?" Danny joked with a smirk.

"Oh that's definitely a part of the gig, but the best part is that when we fail, we get back up and try again! Fenton tech doesn't always work the first round but me and your mom always try again and again to get it working to protect you kiddos!"

"So, what do we do with, uhh," Danny gestured to his now covered chest.

"Well, we can search up some options! See what's out there on that internet to see can help you out!"

"Hey, umm, thanks Dad. You know for, all of this, and umm, helping me out."

"Of course son! I promise just say the word and I'll come to your rescue! I promise I'll always help you, no matter what!"

----------

Maybe Danny should have kept it a secret. Maybe he could have kept it to himself like a secret identity. But his parents promised they would love him no matter what. They promised to always help him no matter what. But when he told them about the portal incident and his ability to turn into weird ghost version of himself, he thought they would love him. He thought they would help him. That's what they promised they would do. No matter what they said. No matter what they promised.

But after begging for them to let him go as he was restrained against a lab table, after crying out for it to stop as their experiments tore him apart, after pleading for food and water he realized that they wouldn't keep their promises. He should have never trusted something as trivial as a promise.

[featherfur]

I posted 3,134 times in 2021

237 posts created (8%)

2897 posts reblogged (92%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 12.2 posts.

I added 707 tags in 2021

#the untamed - 166 posts

#mdzs - 155 posts

#jiang cheng - 137 posts

#wei wuxian - 74 posts

#jiang sect - 36 posts

#tgcf - 32 posts

#jin ling - 31 posts

#lan wangji - 30 posts

#danny complains - 25 posts

#tian guan ci fu - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#like yeah they’ll be polite because they won’t shame jc but they’re also going to make it clear they’re no ally and they’ll watch the other

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

HONESTLY Jin Ling being like *eyeroll* “yeah well your personality caused these problems UNCLE” and Jiang Cheng’s only response being *glare* *mutter* is a HIGHLY UNDERRATED INTERACTION. That’s how you know they are so comfortable and familiar with each other! That is the interaction of two people who know each other’s flaws and still love each other! And I love them.

These two heckle each other so much out of love! Jin Ling has absolutely no fear of his Jiujiu except for the one moment he does something really fucking bad and even then he’s just like “but Jiujiu… I’m baby 🥺. Shushu tell him, I’m baby.” And Guangyao says “look at him, he’s baby” and Jiang Cheng goes “…. yes okay, I forgive you. You’re a shit I love you so much” except with an eyeroll and not getting on his case for lying and escaping with a criminal

So many bad takes are about “Jin Ling is actually terrified of Jiang Cheng! He’s abusive and doesn’t love him! Once he keeps seeing Wei Wuxian he’ll realize he doesn’t want anything to do with Jiang Cheng! He doesn’t actually like being around him!”

Like… they’re each other’s favorite person in the world! Jin Ling feels so comfortable with him that he even just blabs that “Not even my Jiujiu has hit me! He just says that!”

Jin Ling starts crying publicly and Jiang Cheng just pulls him close, makes it clear that anyone who says anything will face his wrath. Which is NOT something either of Jiang Cheng’s parents would have allowed, something that Jiang Cheng would be within his right to say ‘Hey, clean yourself up. You’re an heir, wipe your tears.” And what he does instead is go “come here, tell me what’s wrong… you can’t speak? Okay let’s go somewhere private, no one will say anything, no one will hurt you, you’re safe’ with his actions of calling him over and pulling him close to carefully comfort him alone.

Jin Ling openly snarks and talks back to Jiang Cheng and even when Jiang Cheng snaps at him for being a dumbass and running into danger at the temple, Jin Ling still feels immediately safe by his presence and the fact that he actually let Jiang Cheng take care of him after being so horribly betrayed by Jin Guangyao speaks volumes. The only time Jin Ling is actually afraid of Jiang Cheng is after the most traumatizing event of his life involving one of his caretakers being willing to kill him and nearly doing so and Jiang Cheng does what he always does and the moment Jin Ling shows fear, Jiang Cheng backs down and takes him home instead.

I have so many emotions about these two I could write an essay

449 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 22:52:00 GMT

#4

Thinking about little baby toddler Jingyi who never quite manages to stop running once he figures out how to stand and manages to full on tackle Lan Xichen into the ground atleast three separate times and each time Lan Xichen laughs, almost a little too free (because honestly after the war? Such liveliness is a blessing he can’t curb) as he stands himself and the little gremlin up. He grins, just barely skirting that ‘don’t be too joyful’ rule, and reminds Jingyi not to run for his own safety… before sending him after Sizhui and Lan Wangji who are walking past. When Jingyi manages to tackle them both down, Lan Xichen turns away to hide his smile but it still lingers as he looks at the others

Every Lan disciple in the vicinity suddenly forgets about the no staring rule and wonders if they can convince Jingyi to knock him down again to make him laugh again.

512 notes • Posted 2021-09-13 23:12:08 GMT

#3

Do you ever think Wei Wuxian forgets that Jiang Cheng is now 36+ and is absolutely bewildered when Jiang Cheng complains about his back or says his knee aches when it rains because?? Brother is baby?? Brother is baby brother??? He shouldn’t be old?? What??

Jiang Cheng meanwhile is just like “IM NOT FUCKING OLD I JUST WENT THROUGH A WAR AND DON’T HAVE A FRESH BODY YOU FUCK ASS! IM ONLY 36!”

Jin Ling agrees that Jiang Cheng is indeed Old. Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren both try to ‘helpfully’ offer Jiang Cheng some helpful herbs or remedies while Lan Wangji is eternally smug that he has the Cold Pond and gets to avoid it.

Jiang Cheng regrets mentioning his back hurts one fucking time because “I am not old you shits! Put up your sword I can still kick your ass!” But his juniors just keep insisting he shouldn’t strain himself and he can’t tell if they’re just being brats or genuinely think that 30’s are old and either way he’s not having fun.

589 notes • Posted 2021-11-20 22:09:01 GMT

#2

I am Thinking about Nie Huaisang who doesn’t care. Nie Huaisang who honestly doesn’t know if Wei Wuxian is actually evil or not, if he actually became a demon. Nie Huaisang who willingly took a gamble being well aware that Wei Wuxian could come back wrong and twisted and lay death on Jianghu and decided that was fine.

So many thoughts seem to hinge on NHS being almost completely certain that WWX isn’t actually evil, didn’t actually lose his entire soul to demonic cultivation. I’m here for Huaisang who’s spent the last ten years in absolute terror of being killed because he’s not obedient enough, in absolute terror of being found out, in absolute terror of never being able to even just find his brothers body.

Who’s pushed to the brink because of that terror, because of that anger, that heartbreak, that agony. And he decides he doesn’t give a fuck how Wei Wuxian returns.

If he’s still the Wei Wuxian that Nie Huaisang remembers then great! Wonderful! His plan will work perfectly, probably! But if he’s not? If he’s a tormented destroyed soul of resentful energy and absolutely nothing else? If he really is the mass murderer everyone calls him and comes back with that same killing instinct?

Then Nie Huaisang will dump the oil in front of him to lead that fire straight to Koi tower first and accept his fate of being burned with the rest of the world. Because he is Tired, he is Scared, and he is so very very Angry.

One way or another he will burn the world that Jin Guangyao created at the expense of his brother. He will burn it down to the ground with rivers of blood and the flames of war if he has too. He has nothing left, he is not adored by the Nie Sect, his only other friend is a broken man on the other end of Jianghu who spends his time only with his nephew, his second brother doesn’t care to look at Jin Guangyao with anything but affection, and the man who he once lived beside has his hands coated in the blood of Huaisang’s big brother. He has nothing, he has nothing. And he will make sure Jin Guangyao dies with nothing too.

830 notes • Posted 2021-10-02 20:18:08 GMT

#1

Not to say that Jiang Cheng has definitely semi-raised half the disciples of Yunmeng Jiang via Jiujiu energy but Jiang Cheng has semi-raised every disciple more than two years younger than him via Jiujiu energy

He knows every single disciples name, their history, their likes and hates. He can rattle off every punishment they’ve received in the last four years, what he got for their birthday, how many times they’ve fallen in the lake, and how much time they’ve spent going through classes because physical punishment does nothing for these dumbasses.

At any given moment he is thinking about the disciples who were injured, tracking the ones who went out on missions, assigning lookouts for the ones who have taken too long to return home, and planning what he’s going to yell at them for making him worry.

He has been called “shushu” or “jiujiu” by them more times than even he can count, he rages every time but it’s a mark that the cultivator is Officially Jiang and he sighs and turns a blind eye (and occasionally slips funds in for) when they throw a party to ‘welcome’ the poor embarrassed cultivator.

He has kept every item ever given to him by his people, yes even the horrible scribbles passed over by four year olds who don’t even know who he is they just think he’s pretty. His bedroom is just covered in knickknacks and occasionally if he gets one he really likes he will put it purposefully at the end of his table over dinner and it’s an internal fight every time to get something he’ll like enough to show off.

(YES it’s ridiculous, YES it’s childish, but this is still Yunmeng Jiang and these cultivators, these members of the family Jiang Cheng dragged from the ashes of his home and made anew have given him everything they have and more so yes when they’re home they can have their little jokes and their little trinkets and he will let it all happen because it means they’re happy and they’re safe and they know they will always always have their sect leader at their back. When they’re outside they’re standing behind their sect leader, they will never falter. But when they get home? Their sect leader stands behind them and watches over them in all the million tiny ways only a sect leader can so they have their freedom in safety)

870 notes • Posted 2021-08-14 22:18:49 GMT

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[goldenchan-fx2thepeacock]

Quick AU where Danny stays in town during Girls Night Out

Yeah, random thoughts spring into brain. Danny is trans. I think that's enough background info. Also, Tumblr got a new post editor, so I'm betaing it right now.

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Danny was supposed to go fishing with his dad. But something came up. AKA, Vlad wanted him to go visit him without Danny. So Danny was in Amity Park when he was supposed to be having dad bonding time. What could he say? His dad got that dumb book and everything. It was gonna be epic. Except stupid Vlad had to go and ruin everything. Whatever. Dad said they would go next weekend.

The first big issue was when Tucker disappeared. And he didn't. Might've been a dumb ghost thing. So he and Sam went to find stuff out. Except all the men in town were gone. It was glaring. "I-I'm sure it's nothing Danny!" Sam said nervously. "Yeah. It's gotta have been a stupid mistake. Maybe I'm immune cause I'm half ghost," Except there weren't any male ghosts either. "Yeah, that's gotta be it!" That when they heard Ember. "OH YEAH! NO MORE PESKY GUYS! IT'S A GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!" "Yes. You know, I'm surprised that worked. I was afraid it might've been a ghost only thing," Spectra drawled. "Of course it worked. The superior gender always prevails," Kitty replied. "And that's obviously female," Every vein in his body was pounding. "I think you might've confused sex for gender ladies," Sam said patiently. "We're not having sex!" Ember laughed. "You do realize how invalidating this can feel for trans people?!" Sam shrieked back. "If they're still here, that means it's a she," Spectra grinned. That was the last straw. He ran. As fast as he could. And for a half ghost that was fast. Once he got home, he slammed the door.

Sam saw Danny run off and knew how this was looking for him. "Isn't this rich? The ghost boy is really a girl," Kitty grinned. "I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner," Spectra laughed. Ember stayed oddly quiet for someone who was normally boisterously loud.

Danny curled in on himself. Herself. NO! Don't second guess yourself. It change the fact that it hurt. "All the men in town are gone!" He heard Jazz yell. "I realize that Jazz. Thank goodness your father is out of town," Mom sighed. "Wait, but Danny isn't! I really hope..." She was standing in his doorway. "FUCKING GHOSTS!" Jazz didn't swear. She never swore. "What is it Jazz? Oh. Danny, I'm so sorry," Mom pulled him into a hug. "I'll be fine," He grumbled. "Do you know which ghosts?" Jazz decided to change the conversation. "Spectra, Kitty and Ember," "Great. Spectra is going to use this horribly," Jazz grumbled quiet enough that only Danny could hear. "Listen, we have to get the guys back first," "Wait, if you're, that means any trans women in Amity are stuck there," Mom said. "Can we not talk about that? I'm seriously not in the mood," "At least pesky Phantom won't be here to get in the way," Jazz and Danny exchanged a look. Sam came bursting in. "Danny! Okay, I am going to make them even deader than before," Sam cracked her knuckles. "I'm fine Sam. Let's just find a way to fix this," "I have an idea!" Jazz said. "No," Danny, Sam and Mom said in unison. "Oh come on. Don't be like that. Not all my plans are bad," Jazz protested. "Speaking from experience (of being trapped in a thermos way too much for one night), that is completely untrue," "What was that about thermoses Danny?" Mom said. "Jazz put soup in my Fenton Thermos!" "I couldn't tell them apart! We really need to label things," "Like with a massive sticker that say Fenton?" "All our stuff has those!" "Fair enough," Danny conceded. It was the plan if anyone caught them talking about getting trapped in thermoses. It made sense because it actually happened. "Well, since Jazz's plan is out, I opt that we figure out how this whole thing happened," Mom said. "It's a combo between Kitty and Ember. Kitty has this thing that makes men disappear into another dimension. And Ember must've used her guitar to make it cover all of Amity. If we don't get them out in twelve hours, they'll be stuck there forever," "And I will have to resign to a life of raging dysphoria," "You were gonna have that anyways," "Times ten. This won't help anyways, but it won't be all bad," "Let's stop talking about you being trans. Danny, you're staying here," Jazz winked. He knew what that meant. They would get all the men back and Danny would keep the ghosts at bay. "Okay. So, from what they were blabbing, all we have to do is get them to do it again," Sam said. Once they had a plan in place, all they had to do was implement it. They left and Danny quickly transformed. Praying that Spectra wouldn't find a way to use this against him, he sped off. "Hey! Poo faces! I'm not gone, and it semi pisses me off!" He screamed. "Oh now sweety. Why would you want to leave behind the superior gender?" Spectra said. "Because it makes me feel horrible and like I was born wrong," "You were, weren't you," Don't let Spectra sink her claws in Fenturd! "Yeah, maybe I was, but if I work hard enough I can fix it," "How is Danny Phantom still here?" He heard Paulina say. Nope, not listening. "They're all going to know. You can't do anything about that," Spectra laughed evilly. "Now girls, follow the recipe! You too now," "I'm. NOT A GIRL!" The wail was probably ill planned, but Danny wasn't thinking straight. Shit, humans. He cut himself off. "Oh come on now. No matter how many times you tell yourself that, you still have to cover parts of yourself. Don't tell me you don't wake up every morning and wish you were a real boy?" "I am. I am a real boy. I just have to take a few extra steps to get there," "Oh come on now. Stop lying to yourself. Maddie, how can you possibly call these eggs? They're green," Okay, maybe dealing with Spectra first was a bad idea. But she was also taunting his mom. Deal with Ember. She must be better than this.

So he flew to a stage. Ember was rocking out with a bunch of girls. Sam was in the background. This was probably one of the less dangerous problems. "Listen, if you're going to taunt me for the fact that I'm still here, do it already," "Hey, listen kid. I'm not actually going to taunt you. Kitty and Spectra are being complete jerks, but I'm not going to judge you for being trans," "Y-you're not?" "Heck no! I'm doing this because I wanted to have a fun night without guys. You included. I'll just have to take a few extra steps to get rid of you!" Danny dodged the guitar strum easily. "Are you planning on bringing them back at the end of the night?" "That's really up to Kitty," "I guess," Sam could deal with Ember.

Next up was Kitty. Oh great, makeup. (I honestly forget what Kitty was doing, so makeup works) "Now girls. All you gotta do is apply the bronzer like so!" "Kitty! How would Johnny feel if he knew you were doing this?" "Oh come on now Ghost girl, you can't be serious. Johnny is having a guys night in all due time," "HEY! Don't you dare. Transphobia doesn't help anyone," Jazz yelled. "Oh stop complaining. She knows she doesn't belong with the guys. From the looks of it, Spectra's already gotten to you. This'll make this so much easier,"

The plan backfired immensely. Danny and Mom were a mess, Sam didn't manage to get the guitar, and Jazz just got in a debate with Kitty. Danny, having to keep up a facade, came downstairs. "How'd it go?" "Terribly. Though, I did learn the Ghost Boy is trans," Mom said. "Fascinating," "It's, well it's oddly human. Why would a ghost even bother?" "Turns out gender dysphoria comes to the grave," "Danny, this is no time for one of your morbid jokes," Yeah, maybe it was morbid, but it wasn't a joke. "Whatever. I guess we get to use Jazz's plan," "All we gotta do is convince them that a cis guy is still in town. Like wandered in after the disappearing act," "Great plan. Sam can't pretend to be me though," "How did you know I was going to do that?" "Lucky guess,"

So that's how Jazz ended up wearing a baseball cap and a pair of men's jeans into Ember's concert. "Did we really have to use a pair of dad's jeans? These barely fit," "You know, the fact that they fit at all should be surprising. Dad was skinny at one point in his life. Which means that one of us could be on his end of the gene pool," "It's probably you," "Don't make me think about that. Hiding what little chest I have is hard enough. If I got dad's genes, I'd honestly be terrified," "We haven't seen the women on his side of the family. And besides, you got the blue eyes black hair thing," "You are honestly scaring me. Now, I gotta scram before someone sees me talking to you. Mom or the ghosts," "Fair,"

And thus, the plan worked. Kitty, adamant that no men be left in Amity, blew another kiss. Ember amplified it. The men came back. The three got thermosed. Jazz laughed at their faces when they honestly though she was from out of town. Danny once again didn't get taken, even in ghost form.

Tucker and Sam found him curled up in his bed. "Hey man. I know this has gotta be tough for you," Tucker said. "Spectra had no right!" Sam continued. "Thanks guys. But I think I'm gonna take a few days off school," The trio heard Dash's voice outside. "Hey mom. I know what happened was scary. And I know it must've felt really bad, but I still see you as my mom," "Thanks Dash. I can always count on you to make me feel better," A woman's voice rang out. Danny looked over the window sill. "See Danny. It's not horribly weird. Just a few transphobic ghosts," Tucker laughed. "A couple," "What?" Sam and Tucker said in unison. "Ember isn't," "How do you know that?" "I talked to her," "Hey Fenturd! Don't you dare tell anyone about my mom! And don't be mean to her! I'm sure you wouldn't get it," "You'd be surprised Dash!" He grabbed his trans flag and hung it out the window. "I get it more than you seem to think!" Dash's mom smiled at him. "Y-you're trans? I thought you were just a loser!" "Yeah, and I had to talk to the transphobic ghosts. So I won't invalidate your mom!" Dash stared up at him. "Holy shit,"

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Praying that this uploads, cause I've got shoddy internet rn. And I'm working on my Gravity Falls crossover fic. I just had this pop into my mind. Prolly just gonna be a oneshot. I might make another fic about Jack's side of the family later, that's connected to this one.

[nicolaswood]

the contingent { colin ford, cis male, homosexual } ♛ 》NICOLAS WOOD, EIGHTEEN, has been marked safe after the recent events. HE is currently a PROFESSIONAL QUIDDITCH PLAYER. to some, they are LOYAL & CARING. for others, NEEDY & INSECURE. to me, they remind me of champagne toasts, words whispered between giggles, poems no one will ever read, a cheering crowd, and always being too little or too much.

Hi y’all! My name’s Danny (he/ him). I’m 21 and live in the PST timezone. If you want to plot like this and I’ll jump into your im’s or you can message me on discord at dannyax2#7046

Full name: Nicolas (ni-ko-la) Wood Nicknames: Nico Parents: Oliver Wood and Marielle Duval Siblings: Eliza Wood (half sister), Scout Wood (half sister), 2 step siblings Spoken languages: French and English

Nico is the result of an affair. Oliver and Marielle were friends with benefits.  Marielle ended things when she found out she was pregnant. She offered to raise the baby alone, but Oliver decided to own up to the affair so he could be a part of Nico’s life.

Nico spent the first few years of his life living in France with his mother. He saw his father once or twice a year. Oliver told him he had siblings in Scotland and he told the other kids about Nico, but he held off on trying to introduce them.

When Nico was only a few years old Oliver had to retire from Quidditch. He had slightly more time to spend with Nico, and the two started to grow closer. This convinced Marielle to do something Oliver had asked her to when she first got pregnant: move to Scotland.

Nico was excited to meet his siblings after moving, but they didn’t all feel the same way. Some of their reactions were difficult for Nico to deal with. Oliver tried his best to make him feel welcome in his house, and after a few months he got his own room and started spending every other weekend at his dad's house.

When Nico was 10 his mom got married. They moved in with his step dad and his two kids from a previous marriage. Nico felt like he was once again the odd one out in his own family.

Going to Hogwarts a few months later was a welcome change of scenery. He quickly became popular for the simple fact that he was the fastest flyer in first year (several races proved this). In his second year he became the seeker for the Hufflepuff team.

Nico never considered a career path outside of Quidditch, but now that he has his dream job he’s not so sure he actually wants it.

[pettrichore]

so.. i’m not quite sure how to begin this. i guess i really just need to get something out there regarding my past relationship (well relationships kinda?) and my gender and sexual identity. this is something i need to get off my chest i think and something that, hopefully, will help someone else out?? at least to not make the mistake i made/could have made. i know many people have similar experiences, so i’m not alone in this but.. yeah anyway. everything under the cut

some cw before hand: misgendering, deadnaming, possibly some dubious ???? things around sex ??? done to me (idk how to class it but i just wasnt comfortable w it) though i DO NOT go into any detail. most of this shit i discuss is very vague in how i talk about it but it is mentioned.  

so for the past year about i was in a relationship with this guy. we’ll call him A for convenience sake. before we ever really started dating i came out to A though.... honestly not fully. i just said i was nonbinary and that i dont like being called a girl etc etc. i never REALLY went into how i kinda??? am but really i identify as a guy. i prefer male pronouns etc etc. we spent that night crying together and even after i thought things were good, we hit another rocky patch at the start of our relationship where he didn’t know WHAT to do. after that though it was pretty smooth sailing. A kinda... idk like he would sometimes make shit more awkward than it had to be???? lots of “idk what to call you in this situation” but he TRIED and for that i was grateful. i lied to my friends, and yall im sorry but mostly im sorry to myself, and said yeah no!! he treats me like a boy/like i should be treated etc etc. but this man is STRAIGHT and.... yeah. idk im also sorry to him a bit because i didnt just.. tell him hey no this isnt going to work. clearly you dont like guys like that. im a GUY no matter how i look or what i let other ppl call me bc im not OUT out. but i let this shit happen.

i was thrilled that when i wanted to cut my hair short and shit he was excited and said i’d look great. i was thrilled about a lot of things. i think shit started out okay though i shouldnt have started a relationship with someone who was so out of his own depth and who... wasnt going to be able to love and respect me like i needed. anyway shit continued though and i stopped trying to correct him with any female pronouns or whatever. i... kinda gave into that side of things. it’s not that i DONT like putting on makeup. it’s not that i dont sometimes actually love how i look (i’ve come more to terms with my looks actually) idk im not really gender conforming anyway so yeah.. but i REALLY gave in. when talking to him i even referred to myself as a girl and so on to which he was surprised and i tried to act nonchalant about. i was just really doing myself a disservice. god i even like... cut myself off from my own friends which.. that’s a whole other thing but at that point i had NO ONE who would call me by my NAME not my dead name. who would love and respect me for me. and when i came back to it god it was so fucking refreshing to hear it. 

i apologize if some of this shit seems a bit all over the place. anyway so not only was i fucking myself over and hurting myself but... he honestly didnt.. idk A was kinda a shithead with things!! ngl!!! im still furious that i was like.. okay you can call me THIS nickname and this nickname ONLY. bc it was comfortable enough and wasnt my full deadname yknow?? and at first it was cool but.. he refuses to do that now!! and i just never had the energy to argue with him because i would look like the bad guy. i always looked like the bad guy when i expressed that something made me upset (and that’s a whole other topic of why it’s sooo fucking good i got my heart broken and im no longer dating him.. god he wanted to get MARRIED yall i could have been SO trapped in something SO bad) anyway the thing that pisses me off the most about the name thing though is that he doesnt like his full first name. like he just doesnt like it. and like wants to be called by a nickname. so fine yes god i respect that and call him as such. but why does HE get the respect of a nickname he’s fine with and I do not???? makes NO fucking sense right??

i dont really know where i’m going with this anymore.. anyway i kinda just convinced myself that things would be fine. that i was faking it. that i WAS cis. that i was 1000% okay with all of this!! that if i just got used to it i could love it. that if he touched me in ways i didnt fully like or if he called me things that i didnt like either that.. i would get used to it. that it would be good!! we could be happy!!! honestly i did this with everything in our relationship. be it the small disagreements, the sex, or whatever. ugh.. i was so wrong i was so fucking.. in my own head about it. convinced that like.. NO ONE will love me how i want. no one will see me as i am. so i’ll take this one slight (not at all) victory. i’ll take the fact that i’m loved here and pretty happy for the most part and i’ll run with it. because how WILL i meet someone who likes me like i want and need??? i CANNOT come out. i cant go on dating apps with my actual gender. i cant just.. do any of that. and i met him. he was okay with some shit and he loved me and i loved him and yknow what i’ve GOTTA take it and run. i’m still scared i’ll never really be loved like i should. this is the SECOND time i started a relationship with a probably/def straight guy and came out. first time it was okay but i didnt really like him. he is ?? bi ??? now idk. and then he like misgendered me the second we broke up so lol. 

anyway this doesnt have a happy ending (yet) but i hope it will... and even if it doesnt i hope that if someone reads this and they’re in a similar situation that ur honest with yourself and your partner or whoever. i cant say i wont be an idiot again but i really hope not. this whole experience was much longer and much harder on me than the first guy i dated for like a few weeks in high school. i never want to go through this again.. but yeah i mean i’m still so fucking scared. i’m fine being single for now. i also wont just jump into a relationship anymore but... honestly i do want to be loved. i want to be loved the way i should be. i want someone who will accept me not being OUT out. someone who will love the way i look even if it doesnt look like a guy or someone super androgynous. and someone who will call me danny. who will refer to me by the right pronouns and such. idk who that’ll be or when i’ll meet that person but god.. i need it. i need to stop falling for straight boys lol

[writehardwhumpharder]

Carson Story - Chapter One

Hey guys I mentioned I was working on turning my drabbles into a real story and it’s still a work in progress but here is a rough draft of chapter one if anyone is interested. It’s not whumpy yet, sorry.

"This is ridiculous," Carson sighed, "it's never going to work."

"Not with that attitude it won't, now focus," Daniel scolded.

They sat opposite each other on Carson's kitchen floor. Between them a circle was drawn in chalk, about two feet in diameter. Within its borders there was a pentagram, some runes, and whatever other magical juju they could come up with. Candles flickered from every available surface, casting odd shadows around the small apartment. Carson closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind as he set down an old watch and a handwritten letter he'd received from his dad about twenty years ago. The objects were meant to establish a connection between him and the circle. Carson pricked his finger and let a few drops of blood drip inside, extending the connection to himself. Danny was mostly there for moral support since he couldn't do magic himself.

They joined hands and Danny smiled, a little proud that he'd actually convinced Carson to go along with this, "let the seance begin!" he declared.

"Richard Hall, if you are here with us tonight, make yourself known!" Carson said with as much seriousness as he could muster at that moment. To be fair, if his dad's spirit did exist somewhere, it would be here in his old apartment. Carson "inherited" it from him a few years ago. He didn't know the man but he must not have had anyone very important in his life after he left because he signed over everything in his will to his son by default. That's right, all $8,000. Oh, and the old answering machine that was left on the table probably by mistake.

"Richard Hall, if you are here with us tonight, make yourself known!" He repeated, the idea was to say it three times to properly summon a spirit. Daniel snickered from across the circle and Carson shushed him, cracking open one eye to glare at him. Danny bowed his head and cleared his throat, signaling that Carson could continue with the seance.

Okay, three times the charm, "Richard Hall if you-" a dull buzzing noise cut him off and both Carson and Danny jumped in surprise. They looked around the room to see if a man had suddenly appeared from the other side. Danny looked a little disappointed to find that the room was still empty.

Digging into his pocket Carson cast his friend a guilty look and as he pulled his phone out, the source of the buzzing got louder as he did. Danny crossed his arms.

"What? I set it in on silent..." He stood up, stretching his legs that had gotten sore from sitting Indian style for the past twenty minutes. He walked a few feet away and into his living room before answering, “Hello."

Papers shuffled around and random voices flooded in through the speaker, "Uh, hi, I'm detective Miller," a girl answered, sounding a little flustered, "is this Carson Hall?"

"Yeah, what do you want?" He asked, sounding a little impatient. He had a seance to finish and calls that start out asking his name are his least favorite kind of call, seeing as he had no interest talking to someone he didn’t already know.

"Well, I'm calling to see if you'd be willing to consult on a case..." she explained. Carson racked his brain trying to figure out what she could possibly need his help for.

"What does this have to do with me?" He asked.

"You see, it… it involves magic. We think someone is using it to kill people without leaving any clear evidence, there have been two deaths so far” she paused, hoping that would get his attention, usually she wouldn’t just give out details of a case right away but she needed his help, ”we lost our CI a few months ago that used to help with this sort of thing. You're the only confirmed magic user in our database that doesn't have a criminal record or gang affiliation-"

Carson frowned, "back up a second, I'm in your database? As a magic user? Who did you say you were again?" In his line of work it was best to operate with a healthy level of skepticism. When word does occasionally get out that he's a soul magician, having the incredibly rare set of skills that can be used to heal people of almost any ailment, including death believe it or not, he gets assaulted by phone calls from people all over the country asking him to fix someone. If Carson had the energy inside himself to do it, he probably would try to help every person that called him. Unfortunately, unlike other magic users, he can only use life energy to do magic, usually his own. There's also the issue of disrupting the natural order of things on a catastrophic level. Riley continued explaining her case and every step that had led her to Carson, she was clearly new at her job. At some point he must have started to tune her out, oops.

"So will you help me?" She asked. Carson searched his memory for whatever she had just said but all his brain supplied him with was "uhhh".

"Um, yeah I guess we can talk about it.” He said, not really sure what he was agreeing to.

“Can you meet me at my office tomorrow at ten?”

“Sure but if it’s going to be that early I’d rather meet somewhere that has caffeine,” Carson said, “I know a good coffee shop.”

Carson gave her the address and agreed to meet her tomorrow. He crossed his fingers that at the very least he’d get a free latte out of it. Crossing the room, Carson walked back to their little circle. Danny sat next to it with an expectant look on his face. Despite the eerie candle lighting and ritual set up, he couldn’t really get into the right headspace for a seance anymore. Not that it had any chance of working in the first place.

“Sorry, if you really want to summon my dead dad we’re going to have to do it another night.” He bent down to smear the edge of the circle and was surprised to feel just the faintest buzz of energy around it. He was sure if he really focused on it and opened his eyes to the energy, he’d see a weak blue glow around the edges.

"So what was that about?" Daniel asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. Some girl called about a case, she's with the police." Carson said as he started blowing out candles and cleaning up the circle. "I'm meeting her for coffee tomorrow."

"Ooh, Carson's got a date." Danny teased. Carson took a moment to be grateful that he'd met Danny in college and not middle school.

"I do not. She just wants some advice..." his face grew serious, "apparently there have been a few murders."

It was a little chilling, knowing there was a dangerous magician messing around in his city. Magic users had a bad enough reputation already. Daniel’s eyes widened with concern as a thought struck him.

"Wait, are magicians killing people? Or are people killing magicians..." he asked, suddenly worried for his friend, knowing he wasn't nearly as careful or as secretive as other magic users are. Magic in itself wasn't illegal, but it wasn't widely accepted either. Carson wished they could just go back to when people simply didn’t believe in it, or chose not to notice. Now that people do know, they fear it, and because they fear it, they hate it. It was the same old story of some group of people being different from the common masses and being alienated because no one took the time to try to understand them. Carson knew that if anyone besides Daniel knew about him it would cause a whole world of trouble for him, maybe make it hard to get a job or keep his apartment. Luckily he did have some level of protection, he’s done some big favors for a few very important people in New York. The kind of people you don’t argue with.

So it wasn’t exactly good news to hear that his name was in some police database. If they had that kind of information, anyone might be able to find it. He shivered.

***

Carson walked into the cafe at nearly 10am exactly. Despite having never met this detective Miller it wasn't hard to pick her out of the crowd. Where everyone else was calmly enjoying their morning coffee she was sitting behind a pile of papers, circling things with what looked to be five different colored pens. She looked up when he walked in and raised a tentative hand up to wave. Carson gave her a nod and headed towards the counter to order. She hurried around the table towards him.

"Thanks for coming," she said, sliding her card over to the barista discreetly, "I didn't think you would."

Carson wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, frankly he didn't know what he was doing here either but he did get that free latte he was hoping for. So far, so good.

"You can call me Riley," she said, extending her hand to shake his. He shook it, not bothering to introduce himself since she already knew who he was. “Did you want to get some food too?” She asked politely.

Carson’s face hardened, “I hate breakfast.” He said it with complete seriousness, like the meal itself  had personally offended him. Riley made a mental note to not mention it again, then another noting how odd this Carson guy seemed.

“Um okay then.” she replied timidly. Riley was young, she had that excited energy Carson lost sometime in college after too many late nights. Her medium brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that was casual yet decidedly professional along with the rest of her outfit. Everything about her was plain and average, everything except her eyes. Her green eyes were as striking as her hair was dull, or her skin was fair.

When Carson's coffee was ready they headed over to her makeshift desk and he had to move a few things out of the way to make room for his drink. "So you said something about a case?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm working under the lead detective on a couple of strange murders that we think were done with magic, but we need more information from an expert." She said.

Carson laughed, "and I'm supposed to be the expert? There was really no one else you could call?" God if he was the special help then this case would never be solved.

"Well magic users tend not to get involved with the police, or anyone for that matter. But you must know that. Anyways, it's not all that complicated, you've had some training right?" Her eyes sparkled with hope and suddenly Carson felt a little guilty for not taking this seriously.

“No, I'm still waiting on my letter from Hogwarts." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I've yet to find someone willing or able to train me. I'm a soul magician and those are pretty rare. It's kinda like I speak a different language than regular magicians, our magic isn't quite compatible."

"Magician? Like stage magic? Rabbits and hats and stuff?" She said, sounding a little skeptical.

"Magician, like, you know, physician, or electrician. It's what I do. But you can call it whatever you want, wizard, sorcerer, warlock, whatever." Carson took a large sip of his latte, he needed caffeine and he needed it now.

"But you do real magic right?" Riley asked, she didn't intend to be insulting, but Carson could see in her face that she was wondering if she made a horrible mistake in calling him. He sighed and looked around for an idea, some small object he could move to give her a demonstration. Settling his eyes on the pen in her hand Carson focused his thoughts on moving it towards himself. It's kind of a tedious process having to take the energy from his own life force and convert that into a more versatile form of magical energy but it only takes a few seconds, less time if he's desperate. The pen tore from her fingers as if on it's own accord and came to settle in his Carson's hand.

"Was that real enough?" He asked, giving her a challenging look. She swallowed nervously and jerked her head in a nod. Once he'd apparently passed her test, Riley found a few pictures and slid them over to him. Each one showed a ritual circle, not unlike the one he was using last night to try to summon his dad's spirit.

"Well that's magic alright. Pretty serious stuff by the looks of it. If these circles were used as a direct link to kill someone that would require a lot of power." Carson said. An uneasy feeling washed over him as it finally sunk in that a dangerous magician was operating right in this area, killing people in a way that wouldn't leave the police enough evidence to use in court. It was clever, but not that clever. The police have dealt with criminals like that before and the ritual circles in the pictures in front of him were pretty damning evidence if you knew what you were looking at. This magician is making the dangerous assumption that the police would have no idea how magic worked, which was only partially true. Carson made the decision right in that moment to help them if only because it pissed him off that someone thought they could get away with this.

"How does it work?" She asked. Finally, a question he could answer. Circles were magic 101. You didn't need to be very skilled to use symbols and artifacts, that's why they were Carson's go to method of doing any kind of magic.

"Well the circle let's you focus magic in one spot, like putting water in a glass instead of letting it flow. You can draw different shapes and symbols inside depending on what you're using it for. I've never seen this particular symbol before but then again I've never tried to use magic to kill anyone. I also see what looks like blood, candle wax, maybe salt, and a few dark stones I don't recognize. The other objects inside must be specific to the victims."

Carson looked up to see that Riley was scribbling away at a piece of paper. She was actually taking notes, precious. He didn't comment on it though, seeing as he's not a total dick. Instead he marked a few things on the pictures and handed them back to her.

"Thanks that's a good place to start. We already have one suspect, there is no direct link between him and the murders but he's the only powerful magician on the police's radar right now. We think he has the support of a gang..." Riley trailed off as she realized a lot of the assumptions they'd made so far were based on how magicians acted as criminals. In today's society, that's how most magic users were seen. Riley thought Carson seemed different though, completely different. When she went through the database of confirmed magic users most names were attached to a police report, Carson's was attached to medical files from the local hospital. They described a man coming in, speaking with the patient, then finding that that patient had been completely cured. Sometimes Carson picked people randomly, whenever he felt the need to clear his conscience with a good deed. Other times it was for money, after all, he had to pay his rent somehow, and he usually charged significantly less than the hospital did in the long run. A few files reported that same man being admitted for severe exhaustion. It didn’t take them long to put two and two together and figure out who and what he was. What Carson didn’t know was that they would release those files to the government.

Riley cleared her through, “The suspect’s name is Martin Foster, we were hoping you can ask around, see if anyone knows anything about him.”

She meant she wanted him to go talk to all his magician friends. Carson didn’t have the heart to tell her that he didn’t know a single other other magic user. If there was some special club for magicians, he hadn’t been invited. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t dig up something useful though, so all he said was, “sure, I’ll look into it.”

Riley gave him that hopeful smile, “Great, well I’ll give you my information,” her eyes darted around the table as if there weren’t plenty of pens and pieces of scrap paper at her disposal. She picked up a blue one and tore a page of a small notebook, scribbling her cell number, office number, and office address for him, “Oh and I should give you my partner’s info too. He’s in charge of the investigation.” Adding one final number onto the slip of paper she handed it to Carson.

He took it, brain already swirling with ideas, places to check, shady corners to watch. He had a few new tools that needed to be field tested. Grabbing his coffee, Carson got up and left her to gather her mountain of paperwork. It would have been awkward just standing there for the amount of time it would take her to organize the files and put them into her bag. Carson waved as he walked out the door and into the brisk morning air, she quickly waved back with a little too much enthusiasm. His apartment was only a few blocks away but turned around and walked in the other direction, deciding not to go home just yet. Danny’s family owned a bookshop that specialized in rare finds. He’d gotten many of his books on magic there over the years. With the images of the crime scenes still fresh in his memory Carson wanted to do some research on those symbols. He pulled out the slip of paper Riley just gave him and turned it over, pulling a black pen from his coat pocket. Carson drew the symbol as accurately as he could and stuffed the paper and pen back into his pocket for later.

***

Bells chimed as he opened the door to the shop. An older man stepped out from behind a bookshelf to welcome the customer but he just smiled and went back to work when he realized it was just Carson. The man was Daniel’s father, the actual owner of the shop though he let his sons mind the store most days. He only came in when there was a new shipment of books which happened once every week.

“Good morning, Ralph. Do you mind if I look at the new books?” he asked politely. Carson didn’t have the best manners but Daniel’s dad was a little old fashioned so he dusted them off just for him.

“They’re in the back room, knock yourself out.” He said as he shelved a few books.

“Thank you, sir.” The words felt like thick syrup in his mouth but he managed and proceeded to the back of the store. Chances were pretty slim that they had any new books on magic but it didn’t hurt to check. His collection of books was really Carson’s only way to study magic. Since no one would teach him, he’d just have to figure it out himself.

A stack of worn books sat in an opened box on the old oak table. Skimming over the titles he could dismiss the top few easily since he wasn’t looking to start a garden or learn Chinese history. Further in he did find one book. The title on the cover was worn and hard to read but when he opened it he found diagrams of ingredients and verses that might have been enchantments. It could be total nonsense but Carson wouldn’t know until he tried it for himself. He put all the books back into the box in their original order before heading up to the front to buy the book. He used to get the ‘friends and family’ discount but the shop had been struggling lately so he didn’t ask for it anymore. Carson was probably their best customer and he didn’t want them losing any money on him.

Ralph put the book and receipt into a bag carefully. Normally he would have just carried it out but the binding was coming undone in a few spots.

“Are you going to stay and read? Daniel should be coming in for his shift in an hour or so.” Ralph said, handing him the bag with the same caution one would use when handing over a newborn baby.

“No I have some stuff to do at home, I’ll see you around.” Carson smiled.

“Take care.”

Carson left the shop and started heading home. He felt like he had done so much today but it was only noon. Probably because he usually got out of bed around this time.

***

Carson spent most of the day rifling through books looking for that stupid symbol he had seen in the ritual circle. Even the books he had on black magic didn’t cover anything like that and those books had symbols and spells for almost everything dark and mysterious. Maybe he drew it wrong. He had a feeling Riley wouldn’t just hand over copies of evidence from an ongoing investigation so he’d probably have to stop by her office to compare them. He found a few things that didn’t quite match but could definitely be used to kill someone, though he didn’t really want Riley to know that he had that kind of information. Setting his notes aside, Carson got off the couch and stepped around piles of books. He’d cleared off most of the shelves in his search. If it was anything other than magic related he wouldn’t have nearly the same work ethic but he was also driven simply by how bothered he was that someone would do this. No wonder people were scared of magic users.

Carson opened his fridge looking for dinner, and he wasn’t too surprised when he found it nearly empty. God he needed a girlfriend or something. He’d probably be dead by now if Daniel hadn’t, for whatever reason, made it his job to make sure Carson took care of himself. He already ordered take out three times this week so he settled for his pathetic meal of cereal with a side of whiskey to make him forget how pathetic it was. He was just about to take a bite when there was a knocking at the door. He knew right away that it was Daniel because he waited a whole three seconds before unlocking the door and letting himself in.

“I knew it. I fucking knew it.” He said with a smirk.

“What?” Carson said, looking around his apartment for some idea of what he was talking about.

“You. You’re eating cereal for dinner again, no wonder you’re so skinny. Honestly, it hurts to watch. Luckily for us both I brought Chinese if only to spare myself the sight of… that.” Daniel said, making a vague gesture at his bowl and glass of bourbon.

Though Carson wouldn’t admit it, his mouth literally started watering at the scent emanating from the paper bag tucked under his friends arm. He cast the cereal aside, forgotten, and cleared enough space in his living room so they could both sit down.

“Well, aren’t you going to tell me about the girl, and the case, preferably in that order?”

Carson sighed as he opened up a box of rice, “Well she’s young, kinda cute, way too enthusiastic about her job, and she has green eyes, kind of like yours. As for the case, I don’t know much yet other than they’re using circles to do their dirty work. If they want to kill someone they should at least have the dignity to do it themselves and not just use magic.” Carson took a few heavenly bites of tofu and broccoli dripping in brown sauce before continuing, “I’ve been looking for this symbol all day.” He passed the piece of paper over to him so Daniel could get a good look. Despite having no magical ability himself, it was kind of a shared hobby of theirs and Daniel knew almost as much about it as Carson did.

“Mmmm, doesn’t look familiar.” He hummed in thought. “Have you checked…” he lowered his voice and leaned over the table, “the black books.”

He was referring to the small collection of super secret, super dangerous books on black magic which probably were illegal to own. Carson didn’t look at them often, afraid that that alone would be enough to corrupt him somehow.

“Yes I checked the black books. Nothing quite matches, I need to see the original pictures again anyways. Maybe I drew it wrong and all this was for nothing. But you will be glad to know that I made some progress with my other project.”

Daniel’s eyes lit up in a way that Carson had only seen in children. He didn’t understand Daniel’s obsession with magic but then again Carson has had it for most of his life so he tended to take it for granted. Lately they’ve been working on creating some kind of tool that would make it easier to wield other types of energy. They’d tried wands and staffs and all your typical wizardy stuff but it all felt unnatural to Carson. Recently Daniel came up with the idea to enchant a pair of gloves since one of his biggest problems when using magic was that using the lingering energy of other people’s life forces,  also known as souls, tended to make him sick. It was almost like his body treated the foreign energy like an infection when he mixed the energy of different souls and drew it into himself. It was unrealistic to recklessly use his own soul to fuel his magic, he kinda needed that for staying alive. So the idea was that gloves could let him grab hold of the energy without needing to actually bringing it into his body.

Daniel was practically shaking with excitement and Carson rolled his eyes at him as he walked around the set of bookshelves that divided the living room from his bedroom, best he could do in a studio apartment. He had a small cardboard box tucked under his bed filled with all his magical toys and such. A pair of black, leather gloves sat on top. He had needed to make up a new enchantment to make them conducive to magical energy and he almost had it figured out. Carson slipped them on and walked back out to his captive audience.

“Come on, do something already!” Danny begged. He quickly moved everything valuable to one side of the room, which consisted of a few books and the Chinese food.

“Here it goes, I guess, take cover,” Carson said a little uncertainly. He flexed his fingers a few times and closed his eyes, feeling for the energy around him. It was pointless to be wearing the gloves in his own apartment since all the lingering energy there was his own. Soon his fingertips began to tingle as energy was absorbed into the leather. He smiled and let out a small cheer when the energy gathered and stopped there instead of traveling up his arm. He focused his mind on what he wanted to do with it before he could get any further, the gloves caught fire. Like actually caught fire. Daniel was quick to throw a glass of water at him before the alarm could be triggered. Most of the water splashed onto Carson’s face but he did manage to put the gloves out in the process. The whole event left Carson’s heart racing in his chest. Any longer and his fingers would have started burning with them. They both stood there for a confused minute, panting as the panic slowly settled.

“What went wrong?” Daniel broke the silence first.

“Um, maybe the energy in the gloves was too much?” Carson answered with another question, “That’s the only thing that makes sense, too much energy concentrated in one spot.”

“But they worked? Other than that?” Daniel asked hopefully. Carson nodded.

“If I can just find a way to fix that, these could change everything.”

Carson did have other magical artifacts he had successfully enchanted, but none of those could be used for more than one thing, making them useless in combat. He had basic spells for heat and cold, turning things on and off, producing light. But all those things work on their own, they couldn’t directly aid Carson in harnessing and moving energy as cool as they may be. Slipping off the wet and slightly burned gloves Carson decided to work on them later. He had other things to think about. It was starting to get dark outside despite only being 7pm, a sure sign that winter was coming. Riley might still be working at her office or at the station. He decided to try her office first, not wanting to bother her if she was at home. She answered on the third ring.

“Hello this is Riley Miller, what can I help you with?” She asked in a very professional tone. Carson was starting to wonder what part of her job as a junior detective required her own office.

“Hi,” Carson said lamely, “I need to see those pictures again to compare some things.”

“Carson?”

“Yeah,” he said, realizing she might not recognize his voice after only one meeting. “Can I stop by your office?”

“Um, sure, I’ll probably be here for a while.” She said, sounding far less energetic than she had earlier that day. Ugh, Carson groaned in his head, what if she’s one of those weird morning people? He hung up a moment later, already grabbing his things to head over there.

“You can stay and keep searching the books if you want, I’m gonna go to Riley’s office and look at those crime scene photos again.” Carson said as he threw a flannel on over his t-shirt before putting hi jacket on.

“Oh yay, I get to stay here and scour these books all by myself.” Daniel groaned.

“Oh shut up, you own a book store, don’t even pretend you aren’t itching to look through…” Carson whispered, doing his best imitation of how Daniel had said it, “the black books.”

Daniel scowled and turned away from him in mock defiance as he grabbed a few books to start looking through. Carson walked outside and called a cab.

***

The cab stopped right in front of her office at the address he gave the driver. It was especially dark now but a warm, inviting glow lit up her window, making the name and logo etched into the front even more visible. Carson pulled a few crumpled bills out of his pocket and handed them to the driver before stepping out. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked up the front steps, ready to get out of the cold dark night. It was only mid October but Carson was already tended to run cold and the frigid wind whistling through the buildings wasn’t doing him any favors. He reluctantly dragged one hand back out to knock on the door, it was black and clearly real wood. Her office was in a nice part of town, the buildings here were a little older, a little shorter. The atmosphere was starkly different from where he lived. Riley peaked out the window before opening the door. Her hair was still pulled out of her face in a ponytail but she wore a different shirt from earlier, looking more casual now. Carson noticed a pink tint to her cheeks like she’d been exercising. As he walked further into the room he saw a half empty bottle of wine among stacks of papers on her desk. That explained the flush to her cheeks which, now that he got closer, looked kind of cute on her in contrast with her eyes.

Immediately in front of him upon stepping inside was a small kitchenette with a sink, fridge, and coffee pot. To the right there was a round wooden table up against the window with a few chairs gathered around it. Behind the wall by the kitchen he saw what he guessed to be a bathroom or a closet. Lastly an old leather couch sat in the corner with a low coffee table in front of it that matched her work desk. Needless to say, it was small, everything in New York was but it was well organized aside from the various folders spread around her work space. Carson took his coat off before walking around to the couch. Riley was already looking around for the pictures he had asked to see.

“Do you want anything? Coffee?” she asked, then held up the bottle, “merlot?”

“You got any cream or sugar?” Carson asked, knowing that if he did accept the wine he’d probably melt into the soft leather and fall asleep before he got anything done.

“Sure,” she set the folder she was looking for down on the coffee table then walked into the kitchen.

“I got it,” Carson took a few long strides and beat her to the coffee pot, he was already interrupting her work, she didn’t need to serve him too. Carson found a clean mug hung next to the machine and grabbed some half and half from the fridge. “Sugar?” he asked,

“Bottom shelf in the cupboard in front of you,” she supplied helpfully, returning to her desk.

Carson took the steaming mug with him back to the couch and opened the file folder. The two photos of the ritual circles were at the top of the stack, underneath he caught a glimpse of the other half of one of the crime scenes, he shuddered, pushing the folder away from him. A quick glance at the pictures confirmed that he had copied the symbol down correctly, it really was that hard to find. The only explanation he could think of was that the symbol in the circle was really two symbols drawn on top of each other. He ran a hand over his face wondering why he hadn’t considered that sooner. The lighting wasn’t good enough to distinguish the lines as being two separate things but once he started picking the photo apart, drawing every possible combination, things started to click. He felt a little stupid for not realizing it before, though he didn’t do anything complicated enough to require more than one it wasn’t unheard of layer multiple symbols on top of each other. It could very easily be the basic symbol for a death spell with what looked like two triangles, slightly offset from each other, forming uneven points.

“I think I figured it out,” Carson said, beckoning Riley over to the couch, “come look at this.” Riley got up from her chair a little tiredly and made her way over to sit next to him.

“What am I looking at?” she asked, to her it only looked like a page of notebook paper covered in strange doodles, though there was a clear pattern once she compared it to the photos.

“Well, I couldn’t find this exact symbol anywhere in my books, but then I realized it could be multiple symbols drawn on top of each other inside the circle. This here,” Carson pointed, “is the most common symbol for a death spell. Then these triangles, I’m not sure what they’re for, but they could be used to strengthen or alter the spell.” Carson explained, all a little too quickly. The words just spilled from his mouth as the gears turned in his brain. He looked up to see Riley frowning at him. “What? I thought you wanted to know how it worked?”

“I do. But I can’t overlook the fact that you know the construction of a death spell off the top of your head. There can’t be very many people in Brooklyn, or New York for that matter, that know how to do this.”

Carson let out a long sigh. He should have expected this. No one trusts magicians, and now he’s gone and made himself a suspect.

“Not many people in New York spend all their time reading books and studying magic either. I could also draw the symbol for blocking or amplifying sound off the top of my head.” Carson said.

“Sorry it’s just, you only hear about the bad magicians, so people assume they’re all bad. I know there are plenty of magic users out there that could use their magic to do a lot of harm but instead use it for good, or not at all. Why don’t you try to hide it?” She asked curiously. Carson took a few sips of his coffee and sank back into the sofa.

“Well, I do try to hide. But I can’t just stand by and do nothing when I have the ability to do what I do. Soul magicians also don’t really fall into the same category as other magic users. Throughout history we’ve been known mostly as healers. I can do other things of course, but soul magic and the transferring of life is the easiest for me, and regular magicians can’t touch that kind of energy.” Carson explained, it felt good to talk about it to someone other than Daniel. He just hoped he wasn’t making a mistake trusting her.

“Right, I’ve heard some rumors, stories, but I never really gave it much thought.” She said. “So you can heal people, even bring them back to life?” he nodded. “Can you also use it the other way, to hurt people?”

Carson nearly choked on his coffee, “No, it seems to be a one way exchange.” Carson lied. He searched her face for any sign that she didn’t believe him but didn’t find anything. No reason to make himself seem any more dangerous than he already did. Carson changed the subject by giving Riley a different truth, “there is a downside to it though.”

“Yeah?” She prompted.

“When I’ve brought people back, which only works if they’ve been dead for a few minutes at the most, I’ve seen death. It’s not something you can forget.”

Riley frowned, turning away from him. “What did it feel like?” She asked quietly.

Carson couldn’t contain the full body cringe that came with just thinking about it. He didn’t know how to describe it, didn’t want to. But it was cold, empty, lonely, painful, wrong, and it haunted him.

[dreamsofthescreen]

The Emotional History of Lili Elbe - The Danish Girl Review

Transgender pioneer Lili Elbe breaks our heart and attempts to teach us a lesson of authenticity in ‘The Danish Girl’.

Eddie Redmayne & Alicia Vikander in ‘The Danish Girl’ (2015)

Tom Hooper’s ‘The Danish Girl (2015) bursts with life, change & controversy, seen through it’s portrayed emotion, score & production design. Based on the touching story of 1920s Danish transgender pioneer, Lili Elbe & her wife Gerda Wegener, it focuses primarily on the unconditional love and support between the couple throughout. It is through the convincing writing that we get to see both partner’s go through life-changing transformations to understand their place in a world not so accepting of their beliefs. The artistic focus that is held on the film showcases the significance of the story. However, the portrayal of supposed ‘femininity’ was one that can be seen as offensively diminishing in it’s attempt to represent what it means to become and be a woman. Told through the eyes of cis-men, where there is a pioneer, there is controversy, especially in the LGBTQ+ world.

Set in 1920s Copenhagen, marriage between painters Gerda and Einar Wegener seems to be prospering in the artistic, seaside city. As the two appear to be made for each other, the complication that arises is life-changing for both characters. As Gerda’s friend Oola is unavailable to sit for Gerda’s painting, she persuades husband Einar to put on a ballerina’s costume, where he has a great revelation. Eventuating into belonging as ‘Lili Elbe’ after months of playing dress up, it is Gerda’s support that shows the poignancy in Lili’s journey. As Oscar-Winner Eddie Redmayne portrays both Einar Wegener and Lili Elbe, Swedish actress Alicia Vikander’s performance as Gerda earns her the Academy Award. As much as the film obviously focuses on Lili’s journey, Vikander steals the performance more than Redmayne, and she is just as significant of a character in the tale. However, in the 2016 Academy Awards, Vikander was still listed as ‘Best Supporting Actress’. And support did her character do. As the perspectives of Lili change drastically, Gerda’s unconditional love has her view of her partner staying the same, with her care only growing stronger. Having been known for representing strong female leads gracefully in pictures like ‘Testament Of Youth’, Vikander’s performance utters strength and an inspiring feature in the writing of the film. As Lili has an interview in Paris to discuss the possibility of a sex change, she states, “The fact is, i believe that I am a woman. Inside”, to which Gerda replies, “And I believe it too”.

In a world where no one could begin to understand what transgender even means, Gerda believes every word that her partner utters. As she never doubts Lili’s transition, and although there is constant grief and fear, we see how Gerda’s love overrides any challenged faced. Even though they may have not known it, that devotion was always the foundation of their relationship. This pure love is certainly recognised by Einar/Lili, as she utters, “I love you, because you’re the only person who made sense of me”. Einar & Gerda both take on great change, viewers gaining a new perspective on transitioning, seeing that it is not only one person who goes through it, but the loved ones around them too who discover the meaning and hardships of authenticity. The beauty of the connection between Gerda & Einar or Lili is a great highlight of Hooper’s film, creating interest and bringing meaning to the tale.

In ‘The Danish Girl’ we explore the world of art in the 1920s, which was a greatly influential time period - the art deco and nouveau styles, further expression post-WWI. The costume, set design, cinematography and score all weave into making an aesthetically stunning film, as the life of two artists themselves appears as a painting on screen. With the costume design by Paco Delgado, the production design by Eve Stewart, cinematography by Danny Cohen & the soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat, all these creative components do a beautiful job in tying into the meaning of the story. The costume design is a paramount feature in Einar’s journey into discovering who Lili is, as he is surrounded by women in striking dresses, tutu’s and silks. Delgado’s dressing of Einar see’s him as a stiff man, very restrained in tight, uninspiring suits. Where as when Lili is seen, she bursts with life in colourful velvets and layered capes. The cinematography by Danny Cohen focuses on some rather extreme close ups, which at times seem like too much, as though we as an audience cannot distinguish a characters emotion & need help by a camera’s exaggerated shots. Nevertheless, the shots themselves are symmetrical, and resemble artworks themselves, as the costumes, sets and light are all convincing of the time period. Director Hooper stated that he got inspiration for many of the shots and production design from Vilhelm Hammershøi, a Danish painter who was known for his subdued and empty, light focused interiors. Thus, when working with set designer, Eve Stewart, this had a lot of the images on screen genuinely resembling something on canvas & the long summer nights in Scandinavia. The maximalist, bohemian interiors of the apartment that Lili and Gerda share upon moving to Paris for exhibition work showcase the change and gained freedom in the couple. As Einar is exploring more of who Lili is, Gerda is faced with the challenge of accepting her new partner, whilst grieving her old one. Gone is the lonely, repressed space in Copenhagen that once represented the couple, and new is the lively and luxurious Parisian loft. Alexandre Desplat’s superb score is one of the things that hits the nail on the head of the emotions that break our hearts in Hoopers film. The discord, romance and speed in the soundtrack all perfectly reflect the mix of discomfort, love and terror in the story throughout. The dissonant piano taps or legato strings in the forefront of some scenes further dive into the characters experiences. A soundtrack can sometimes only support a film, yet Desplat’s work has us further understanding the shame, affection and despair in Lili & Gerda. The visual and audial areas of ‘The Danish Girl’ surely succeed in portraying deeper significance in the world and experience of a couple undergoing an overwhelming change in a time that helped, but didn’t understand.

The real winner in representing Lili’s story is the spotlight on Gerda & Einar’s artistry. As Gerda’s paintings of Einar dressed up as ‘Lili’ are her big break, Einar gets to see who he could be. Where there is flowing freedom in Gerda’s art, Einar’s continuous, rigid landscape work of the trees at Vejle represent his suppression. As in one scene Einar reveals to Gerda that he had dressed as Lili as a young boy in Vejle, him painting that same place can be seem as him stuck there, as he was his true self in that moment. Women started to become more in touch with their sexuality in the 1920s, seen through simple acts such as showing their ankles or dancing at speakeasies. This had screenwriter, Lucinda Coxon, cleverly making this aspect prominent in the transition of Einar to Lili & her discovery of herself. Einar is surrounded by nudes in his life, seen in his fellow workers art, his wife & specifically in a scene where he can visit a peep-show, even examining a cisgendered stripper there, to mimic it himself. In a scene where Einar visits As Gerda paints nude portraits of the character ‘Lili’, Einar himself can see who he truly is, as so much of the transgender experience would be defined by ones severe gender dysphoria. As the couple’s careers are both greatly visual, we can literally see the meaning of their works and how it ties into their lives - Einar feeling oppressed is his art pieces & Gerda discovering who her partner truly is supposed to be through hers, as well as the importance of being comfortable in ones raw body.

The controversy that surrounds ‘The Danish Girl’ is the fact that the cis-men that worked on it have succeeded in creating an untrue and fictionalised impression of womanhood.

A writer on site ‘IndieWire’, Carol Grant wrote a piece on how Hooper’s film was potentially harmful, stating that “In ‘becoming a woman’, Lili gives up painting to become a department store salesgirl.’ As Lili utters, “I want to be a woman, not a painter”, Gerda teases, stating “well, some people have been known to do both.” It can be argued that as Lili is an amateur in even being a woman, that she is uncertain of how to act accordingly & can only base herself off of stereotypes. Yet this plot line is never mentioned, and we as an audience are left with a badly represented and shallow idea of what it means to be a woman. Aren’t we meant to be inspired in seeing the authenticity in an early transgender pioneer? Yet this girl seems rather fake in her freedom, as we see how her overplayed feminine gestures seem to gain more merit than her actual spirit. Why does Lili’s early life have us see her delving into housewife activities, such as focusing on what scarf she loves or how to properly spray a perfume, rather than showing audiences what really means the most to her?

In moments that Einar reveals his truth to Gerda, we get to hear lines that do resonate well with the experience of a transgender man or woman, stating, “I think Lili’s thoughts, I dream her dreams. She was always there.” But Hooper never presents what Lili’s dreams or thoughts really were. It can be said that Lili never had enough of the time to fulfil these wishes, as (spoiler alert), this story ends with a tragic death. Yet Hooper had every opportunity to give us some insight into Lili, rather than just what her favourite nightdress was. This superficial focus on Lili separates her and her meaning greatly from the cisgendered characters, like Gerda herself, and Hans, a friend from Einar’s hometown of Vejle. Both Gerda and Hans are empowered through who they are: their ambitions, their careers, their empathy etc. By separating Lili from her loved ones & characterising her through her femininity only, this is potentially damaging to the transgender community, as trans women are too often seen as something that isn’t real or is a joke. We could have seen Lili as proof that transgender women are anything but fake and are so much more than just someone dressed up to the nines. There is depth in all humans, and by lacking this in Lili, her character only supports the harmful view that the trans community isn’t legitimate. Furthermore, the fact that Eddie Redmayne, a cisgendered man, played Lili Elbe didn’t sit well with many as this film too had opportunity to showcase the experience of a real transgender woman. Yet, this move was most likely made in order to sell the film to audiences, Redmayne being a well-known and praised actor.

Despite a lack of depth at points, Hoopers film still seems to soar in it’s skilful artistic communication. A solid attempt and successfully entertaining effort in portraying a pioneer was pulled off through the emotions seen on the surface. However pretty it looks, it cannot be ignored that the characterisation still lacks meaning in its main star. Yet, ‘The Danish Girl’ is still a marvel in how it raises awareness of an experience still highly misunderstood & through it, conservative judgements can be challenged.

Stars Out of Five: 3/5

[fortheloveofpearlet]

I don't know if a drabble with more than one ship would be a good idea for you? But i would love a Disney World Trip fic with Biadore, Pearlet and Trixya 💙

Thank you darling! This is just super fluff, I needed it after all the smut 😂 Trixie and Katya are cis girls cos it’s easier to write than having two Brian’s!

Send me sentence prompts and drag race pairings and I’ll write you a little drabble!

‘I want to go on Space Mountain!’ Jason jumped up and down excitedly.'I want to see Cinderella’s Castle!’ Trixie sighed dreamily at the thought.'No way! I want to go on the Haunted Mansion!’ Danny sulked a little. Their other half’s looked between each other and rolled their eyes.'I guess we’ll be going out separate ways already.’ Matt chuckled lightly.'Meet up later?’ Katya addressed them all.'For much needed drinks I’m sure.’ Roy rolled his eyes. Matt took hold of Jason’s hand and they headed to Space Mountain. Katya was pulled along towards Cinderella’s Castle and Roy put his arm around Danny’s shoulders as they made their way to the Haunted Mansion. So much for a fun day for the six of them, they should have known this would happen.

Jason was still jumping up and down like a small child as they neared the front of the queue. Matt chuckled a little and kissed him to try and calm him but it didn’t seem to work. When it was their turn to board the ride, Jason grabbed Matt’s arm tightly and pulled him to their seats.'Oh my god I’m so excited.’ Jason screeched a little as they were strapped in.'Really? I’d never have guessed.’ Matt chuckled. Jason nudged him in the arm.'Hey, I’ve been wanting to come here since I was like five, I’m allowed to be excited.’'Anyone would think you still are five.’ Matt teased, poking his tongue out. Jason nudged him again.'I’m going to get you back for that remark. But not right now. Space Mountain is more important than telling you off.’

'Oh my god it’s even more amazing than I thought it would be!’ Trixie gushed looking up at Cinderella’s Castle. Katya laughed a little seeing the awe in her girlfriends eyes. She looked like a small child as she looked up at the castle. 'I’ve waited for this for so long.’Katya wrapped her arm around the younger girl and kissed the side of her face.'It is pretty impressive.’ But it is just a fake castle, Katya added her in head. She never in a million years expected to be at Disneyworld, this so wasn’t her idea of fun. It wasn’t Matt’s and Roy’s either but they’d all made the sacrifice for their other half’s.'Oh my god, it’s Cinderella!’ Trixie suddenly screeched, jumping out of Katya’s hold. Katya followed her gaze to the woman dressed like the princess talking to some small children. 'Am I too old to get a photo with her?’'A little.’ Katya admitted. 'But if it’s going to make you happy then let’s do it.’ She took her hand and led Trixie closer. Trixie looked nervous as though she was approaching a celebrity. Katya thought it was silly, but she also thought it was adorable.

'I really don’t know about this.’ Roy shook his head as they were being led to their carriage on the Haunted Mansion.'Oh come on Roy I’ve been looking forward to this for ages!’ Danny pushed him towards their seats. Roy swallowed. The ride hadn’t even started and it was dark and the music was ominous. Roy was quite jumpy and he knew he was going to hate every second of this. 'It’s going to be fun! And I’ll be right next to you.’ Danny got him to sit down and Danny sat next to him. Roy gripped his hand tightly.'I’m older than you. I might have a heart attack.’'You will not have a heart attack.’ Danny laughed, squeezing his hand. 'It’s going to be fine. Promise.’Roy sighed but as the ride started his heart skipped a beat. He was dreading this. But Danny seemed so happy so he was willing to do this for him. Even if he did have a heart attack in the process.

'That was amazing! I want to go again!’ Jason was still jumping up and down as they exited the ride. Matt’s legs felt like jelly and his stomach felt like it was in his throat. In fact after the way they’d been tossed about on that ride he felt like none of his vital organs were where they should be. 'Are you ok?’ Jason frowned noticing his boyfriend was pale. Matt shook his head. He doubled over suddenly and threw up all over Jason’s shoes. Jason groaned, his excitement faded instantly. Matt stood back up and wiped his hand over his mouth.'Sorry pumpkin.’ He shrugged. 'I’m not good on rollercoasters.’'Why didn’t you say anything?’ Jason stroked his back.'Because you were so excited about it. I haven’t been on one since I was kid, I thought I’d be ok but…but…oh god…’ he doubled over again and threw up once more, thankfully not on Jason’s feet this time. Jason continued to stroke Matt’s back while he emptied his stomach.

'I look like a teenage fan girl.’ Trixie grimaced as she looked at the photo of her and Cinderella that Katya had taken. Katya laughed.'You look adorable.’'I look fan girly.’'Adorably fan girly.’ Katya kissed her. 'Did you enjoy that?’'Yes.’'Then that’s all that matters.’ Katya kissed her again. 'Oh and by the way,’ she leant closer to Trixie’s ear. 'You are way prettier than her.’A deep blush spread to Trixie’s cheeks at Katya’s words. She didn’t believe it for a second but she loved Katya for saying it.

Roy’s heart had never beat so hard. His hands were shaking and he felt like he’d just seen a ghost or several, which he had. Danny bit his lip trying not to laugh at his boyfriend.'Just laugh, I know you’re dying to.’ Roy rolled his eyes.'There were kids on that ride not nearly as scared as you.’ Danny started cackling. 'It’s all make believe baby, none of its real.’'I know that.’ Roy scoffed. 'I’m just jumpy. You know that.’ Why didn’t he go on Space Mountain with Matt and Jason? Or even to see the castle with Trixie and Katya? He was sure neither of those experiences were as traumatising.'Sorry baby. I appreciate you coming on it though.’ Danny cupped his face and kissed him.'You owe me.’ Roy spoke into his lips.'Of course sweetie, whatever you want.’

All six of them ended up having a good day, despite a rocky start for some of them. A good, but exhausting day. They met at the House of Blues for dinner and drinks that evening, drinks being the main priority. They didn’t do much talking while they drank, it had been a very long day. Danny stroked Roy’s hand and kissed him softly.'Thank you for doing this for me baby.’ He whispered to the older man.'You’re welcome baby.’Trixie cuddled up to Katya and rested her head on her shoulder.'I can’t believe I met Cinderella.’ She sighed sleepily. 'Thank you for convincing me to go over to her.’'Anytime baby.’Matt felt a little better by now but he’d decided against drinking. He sipped his cola as Jason stroked his hair back off.'You really are the best, you know that?’'So you’re not going to kick my ass for the comment I made earlier?’'I’ll let you have that one.’ Jason chuckled and kissed him softly.'Guys?’ Roy spoke up, addressing them all. They all turned to look at him. 'As fun as this is, maybe next year we can go on a vacation we’re all going to enjoy?’'Agreed.’ Katya and Matt spoke in unison. They all started laughing. Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as the three cynics had thought it would be. As long as their partners were happy, that’s all that really mattered to them anyway.

[horseshoecrabs]

i’ve finalized the full names of the main characters and their siblings from humanity is for suckers and i love them and you should ask me questions about them- info under the cut 

the main charas are college students home for summer break so all are living at home save for danny who is renting an apartment just outside of the city limits

Kyle Oisín Burke (20, he/him, bi cis guy) is the descendant of celtic druids, gifted with the power of second sight- he is privy to the fairies, goblins, and other supernatural creatures surrounding his town and also is struck with visions of the past and future. quiet and somewhat skittish due to the supernatural invading his life, loves music and playing the guitar and dreams of moving to iceland 

Megan Maebel Burke (16) is Kyle’s little sister going through her emo phase and is very dramatic and moody. gets wrapped up in magical nonsense when she wanders into a fairy ring and has a curse laid upon her 

Timothy Eoghan Burke (22) is Kyle’s older brother who has finished college and living at home seeking a job, the only member of the family who’s never gotten mixed up with magic 

Nathan Navarro Ayala (20, he/him, straight cis guy) moved to the sleepy Connecticut town where the story takes place from California at the beginning of high school and made friends with Kyle and Danny almost immediately. born with the ability to control and manipulate fire. fun-loving and reckless, and will do almost anything on a dare.

Katrina Isabel Ayala (20, she/her, pan nb girl) is Nate’s twin sister who’s been keeping his secret and extinguishing his flames for most of their lives. wants to live her own life, convince her parents to let her go to culinary school, and maybe kiss her best friend. 

Daniel Vidar Rhyner (21, he/him, gay trans guy) is Kyle’s best friend since middle school and only one of the trio born without supernatural influence. relaxed and easy going, taking community college classes while working for a local mechanic, and dealing with the fallout of a werewolf bite he got while camping with his rugby buddies. 

Sophia Marnie Rhyner (6) is Danny’s young half sister that he’s been tasked with taking to summer camp every day, but a wolf attack at the camp scares her away from the woods for the foreseeable future. 

Cora Jane Chandler (21, she/her, cis lesbian) is Kat’s best friend since moving to Connecticut and is finally finished community college and has to figure out what she wants to do with her life. she’d rather research the paranormal and is ecstatic when her old high school acquaintances come by with a bit of a dilemma. 

Lucas William Chandler (27) is Cora’s older brother back in town for his wedding and, along with his parents, is trying to steer his little sister towards a career in medicine just like him. 

Leanne “Lee” Dorothy Penn (18, they/them, pan agender) was a trust-fund baby who was on the receiving end of a werewolf bite a year prior to the story. horrified with themselves, they ran away from their distant family to embrace their animalistic side and live a life with a pack, occasionally terrifying children’s summer camps. 

[iamthedukeofurl]

How to Make a Good Iron Fist

So, it sounds like Iron Fist Sucks, for a variety of reasons. An undue focus on corporate law, shitty fight scenes, and unironic embracing of the White Savior myth. The thing is, Iron Fist is a tricky story, Not in the “This is a deeply complex character that requires careful handling” sense, but in the “This is kind of a shitty premise at its core, but it has been granted legitimacy due to its popularity and history” sense. Iron Fist is a faberge egg full of dog shit. It can work, but don’t drop it or inhale too deeply. 

Let’s start with Race (Disclaimer, Duke is a White, Cis, Straight male who has never known financial hardship in his life.) The “White Savior” narrative is stupid, so the obvious solution is to make him not-white. If you don’t want him to be Asian for some reason (Possibly because you’re afraid of making him the stereotypical Asian Kung Fu Guy), make him Black, or Latino, or Mixed-Race, just to avoid the whole “White Savior” thing.

But, okay, you want to stick to the comics, so you make him White. Lets say we’ve already cast Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Now you have the story of the White Guy who goes to the not-white place and becomes The Best At The Thing, where do you go from there?

For as much as Doctor Strange is neck-deep in the same bullshit, the recent movie actually resolved that particular problem in an interesting way. While talented, Strange was NOT the best magical kung-fu wizard. His great victories were due to luck, cleverness, and abuse of an overpowered magic item (The Eye of Agamotto) rather than greater skill with magic kung-fu. I don’t recall a time in the film when he beats even one of the mook-wizards in a straight fight. He’s not the Chosen One, he’s a talented rookie who grabs a lightsaber while everybody else is using fencing foils.

So, rather than denying the metatextual context of “The Chosen One” being the Rich White Orphan, let’s lean into it.

Iron Fist Backstory 101: Danny Rand’s father is the head of Rand Industries, a nondescript but very successful company. They are in a plane crash in Asia, his father dies, Danny is taken in by a mystical city of martial artists, who train him. Eventually, he emerges from a pool of candidates to become The Iron Fist, so he punches a dragon in the heart and gains it’s superpowers, then goes back to New York.

I obviously don’t know how the Netflix show does it, but in my version,  the Magic Kung-Fu People are preparing an Iron Fist to lead the fight against the Hand (Evil Magic Ninjas). The Hand has been spreading their influence, and has a lot of wealth and power at their disposal in addition to magical martial arts, so the Kung-Fu people decide to even the score. When selecting the next Iron Fist, they choose Danny Rand, not because he’s the best magic kung-fu guy they have, but because they expect that he’ll be able to leverage the wealth and power of Rand Industries into the fight against the Hand.

So, Danny is convinced he’s The Baddest Motherfucker Around. His teachers rig the selection process, and focus his training on the techniques he’ll need to successfully punch a dragon in the heart, rather than win a fight against a human.  So, he does so, and now he’s the Immortal Iron Fist. He goes back to New York to claim his company and lead the other candidates in the fight against the Hand. At which point, he learns that you can’t just walk into a building, say you’re the long-lost heir, and get access to the bank accounts.

So, he calls up the Magic Kung-Fu Guys and says “Hey, Iron Fist here. Bad news about the international corporation that I was supposed to use. But, the Hand is here, and they’re causing trouble, so, send in the other Iron Fist Candidates and i’ll lead them into battle!”

To which the Kung-Fu guys say “Well...we kind of made you the Iron Fist because we wanted your company. Congrats on the superpowers, take the fight to the Hand, but all the other candidates really, really hate you, and are kind of waiting for you to die so one of them can become the Iron Fist. So, you’re on your own.”

So, Danny has no army of martial artists at his back. “Whatever” he says, “I’ll recruit my own support. After all, I’m the Iron Fist, the Best Martial Artist in the world!”

Which is where we get Colleen Wing. He identifies her as a good recruit, she identifies him as a punk bitch who thinks he found enlightenment during a summer backpacking through Tibet, and they square up. And she kicks his ass, at first anyway. Don’t get me wrong, Danny Rand is good, you don’t spend your childhood learning mystic martial arts without being good. But his fundamentals are weak, his teachers indulged and coddled him to make him look like the Best Martial Artist, and to make sure he could fight the Dragon. He specializes in more outlandish, showy techniques: Flying kicks, pressure point strikes, acrobatic feints that lead into devastating combos, ect. But every time he tries to do one of those moves Colleen puts a foot in his kidney. He’s just not fast enough to use any of those moves against a master martial artist.

That is, until Danny activates the power of the Iron Fist, his chest tattoo glows, and he surges with power. Suddenly, he’s fast enough to dodge Colleen, tough enough to shrug off her blows, and strong enough to power through her guards. His wire-fu techniques work when his body is boosted by magic to make up for his lack of fundamental skills. He wins, stopping himself just before he causes her serious injury.

       So, this sets up the Dynamic for our two leads, at least as far as Martial Arts goes. Danny’s showy, magic-kung fu techniques CAN work, but only if he juices himself up on Dragon Power. But, because Danny isn’t ACTUALLY the Worthy Wielder of the power, he can’t keep that up for too long without serious consequences on his body. His teachers were not aware of these consequences, because all previous Iron Fists had been the best fighters around, good enough that they didn’t need to channel the Dragon’s power for an extended period of time, and tough enough to avoid side-effects of using the Power.

     Colleen joins Danny in helping to thwart the Hand, while also training him in the practical fundamentals that his teachers skipped in order to speed up his journey to being a convincing Iron Fist. Thus, you get to have two types of fight scenes. More “Realistic” Fights, where Danny and Colleen beat up goons in alleyways, and the occasional crazy Wire-Fu fight, where Danny channels the Dragon’s power to take on Hand Ninjas. Meanwhile, Danny gets better at the traditional stuff as Colleen trains him, potentially leading up to a final confrontation where, unable to use the Iron Fist powers for some reason, he’s forced to defeat his superpowered opponents entirely through mundane martial arts.

This also provides a strong character arc for Danny. He needs to deal with the realization that he didn’t become Iron Fist on his own merits, that he is in over his head, and that he still has an important job to do despite all of that. He arrives in New York on a high horse, and must first break down his ego, then rebuild himself as a humble, but still confident and determined, person. He has to become a hero worthy of the title. Finally, one of the main complaints I’ve seen is too much focus on corporate politics. If reclaiming his company is a key part of the plan to stop the villains, that adds some more stakes to the whole struggle, rather than “Danny wants money”.