#danny if it fits i sits williams | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

reasoningdaily · 8 months

Text

StoryCorps: Leesburg Stockade Girls Recall Time As Civil Rights-Era Prisoners : NPR

Taken in 2016, (left to right) Emmarene Kaigler-Streeter, Carol Barner-Seay, Shirley Green-Reese and Diane Bowens stand outside the stockade building in Leesburg, Ga., where they were jailed in 1963.

The day Martin Luther King Jr. gave his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech in August 1963, a lesser known moment in civil rights history was unfolding in southern Georgia.

More than a dozen African-American girls, ages 12 to 15, were being held in a small, Civil War-era stockade set up by law enforcement in Leesburg, Ga., as a makeshift jail.

Though they were never charged with a crime, the girls had been arrested for challenging segregation in demonstrations in nearby Americus, Ga. For about two months, the girls slept on concrete floors; there was no working toilet or shower. There were minimal food and water deliveries each day.

"The place was worse than filthy," recalled Carol Barner-Seay at StoryCorps in 2016.

Barner-Seay, who's now 68, had been imprisoned there along with Shirley Green-Reese, Diane Bowens and Emmarene Kaigler-Streeter. At StoryCorps, the four women recounted their time together in the stockade.

"Being in a place like that, I didn't feel like we was human," Shirley Green-Reese, now 70, said.

In August 1963, African-American girls were held in a Georgia stockade after being arrested for demonstrating segregation. Left to right: Melinda Jones Williams (13), Laura Ruff Saunders (13), Mattie Crittenden Reese, Pearl Brown, Carol Barner Seay (12), Annie Ragin Laster (14), Willie Smith Davis (15), Shirley Green (14), and Billie Jo Thornton Allen (13). Sitting on the floor: Verna Hollis (15).

Bowens, who's 68, was especially concerned about one of the girls, Verna Hollis. "I was scared Verna was going to die. If she ate, it would just come right back up."

Hollis didn't know that she was pregnant at the time. "We didn't know because we were children," Green-Reese said.

Looking back, Barner-Seay remembered Hollis' strength. "If she complained to anybody, it was under her breath to God, but we never heard it," she said.

Hollis' son, Joseph Jones III, is now 54 years old. A year before Hollis died in 2017, she recorded a StoryCorps interview with him, reflecting on those months she'd been jailed as a teen.

"I was scared and mad that you could treat a human being like they treated us," said Hollis, then 68. "We both could have died in there."

Jones told his mom he, too, was inspired by her strength. "I'm proud of that, and I try to live from that," he said.

'This is us'

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee eventually learned where the girls were and sent photographer Danny Lyon to the stockade to photograph them. When Lyon's photographs documenting their squalid living conditions were published, the girls were released.

When Green-Reese went back home, she says she didn't feel welcomed. "When we got out of that stockade, my classmates and my teachers never asked me where I was coming from," she said. "I felt like I didn't fit in, so after high school, I left the area and moved forward."

She took a job with a library in Savannah, Ga. In the archives at work one day, she saw for the first time one of Lyon's photos of the imprisoned girls, including herself, behind bars at the stockade.

"I said, 'This is us.' "

But Green-Reese didn't share the photo with her coworkers. "I didn't want them to know I was in that jail," she said.

It wasn't until 2015 that the women who had been imprisoned in the stockade got together to discuss their time there.

Bowens says she doesn't do well in confined spaces. "Today, when I got in this elevator, I was about to have a heart attack," she said in 2016. "I just don't want to be closed in, and I don't want to be in the dark."

In the StoryCorps podcast, Emmarene Kaigler-Streeter shared what she'd tell the men who locked her up: that she feels sorry for them. "Because they were not looking at us as children," she said. "They were not looking in the hearts. All they were looking at was the fact that we were black."

Green-Reese says the experience is in her "fibers."

"And I still don't like to talk about it," she said, "but this is a part of all of our lives forever."

#They Were Jailed In Squalor For Protesting Segregation #leesburg stockade #civil rights activists #Black Lives Matter #Black History Matters #georgia #americus georgia #systemic racism #falsely detained #adultification

8 notes · View notes

hellopartypeoples · 2 years

Text

Yes i did binge all of @inklingofadream 's "Sitting pretty on the throne, nothing more i want (except to be alone)"

And yes I'm now obsessed. And yes I did make a playlist to supplement me until its maybe updated:

TW: the song "bloodlust" deals with intense themes of domestic abuse and manipulation, tread carefully.

See below for song comments.

“Praise the Lamb” by River boy

Unapologetically Cult

“You Are the Moon” by The Hushed Sound

This song sounds like the kind of devotion everyone in this fic has for Jon

“Anxiety” by Lena Raine

I imagine Jon has ALOT OF it.

“Comfort Crowd” by Conan Gray

A Jon @ Gerry song, especially at the start.

“Make you Love me” by Troye Sivan

Elias @ Jon

“Tired as Fuck” by The Staves

Never had a prayer to follow, I'll be coming home tomorrow....

“Discomfort” by AK, Veela

Jon song

“Sedated” by Hozier

Danny & Jon, passing notes between the gift bin

“Running Away - Extended” by Infinity Train

This song started playing DURING THOSE CHAPTERS AS I READ, perfectly fit the tension and hope. Pro tip, the infinity Train soundtrack is a great soundtrack for ANY TMA fanfic.

“We have it all” by Him Stones

A Tim & Danny song, when the truth of their Signing is discovered

“Now Go” by Erato

A song for Jon, during the few moment he wants to be alone in the fic and it’s respected. Could also be interpreted as a Georgie song :c I worry about her in this fic, I wonder how SHE’s been!

“Out there” by Nick, Diane, & Julian

Lyrics aren’t perfect, but the desperate passion matches Jon’s and Elias’ and Gurtrude’s manipulations

“Saferoom” by Miwako Chinone

Occasional chapters of fluff are safe rooms in this hell scape of a fic

“Bury It” by CHVRCHES, Hayley Williams

I think I'm funny :> and Elias, Gurturde, and Artefacte Storage song

“Bloodlust” by aeseaes

TW: this song deals with intense themes of physical and emotional domestic abuse

A song for when Elias/similar prove to Jon they’re not above physical torture and abuse, like most cults. The way this song mourns the loss of identity and self autonomy to ones that only consists majority of being physically/emotionally abused amd treated like an onject, up to the point of death and no one noticing....it’s a headspace I felt Jon was in and out of a lot in this fic.

“Afraid” by The Neighborhood

When you start sharing your body with an Eldritch God, can you be so sure it’s you waking up...?

“Even in my Dreams, I can’t Win.” by Bad Suns

THAT MOST RECENT GERTRUDE CHAPTER THO

BONUS SONGS:

“Shipping Forecast” by the Longest Johns & “Light House” by River Boy

*banging hands, stomping feet, and chanting,” Peterlukaswhen, MartinBlackwoodWHEN

#inklingofadream #tma #au

11 notes · View notes

fearsmagazine · 7 months

Text

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

SYNOPSIS: Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 13 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter, Angela on his own. When Angela and her friend Katherine disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil. -Universal Pictures

REVIEW: William Peter Blatty’s novel, “The Exorcist,” spawned four feature films and a tv series. This forth film is helmed by director/executive producer David Gordon Green and co-story contributor and executive producer Danny McBride (yes, that Danny McBride). This is the same team who worked with Blumhouse Productions to breathe new life into the Halloween franchise with 2021’s “Halloween Kills” and 2022’s “Halloween Ends.” A bit out of their league here, the story disregards many important rules of myths and religious belief system for derivative elements of genre films and franchise films.

Let me address the film's positive portions first. I enjoyed Amman Abbasi and David Wingo’s score that incorporates movements based on Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield used in the original film. I enjoyed Cinematographer Michael Simmonds’ work in capturing moments that were reminiscent of the original film, especially the opening sequence similarities, and clearly his work with Green on “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends.” The special effects makeup is good, but not great. In an area where special and visual effects can work in tandem there is nothing here that feels fresh or original, or even transcends what has gone before.

The cast is fantastic, with the amazing talents of Leslie Odom, Jr., Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn. Leslie Odom, Jr. does the best he can with the material that never allowed me, especially as a father, to connect and empathize with the character. Ann Dowd is riveting as a former nun, now a nurse, with skeletons in her closet and is left to sum up their experiences. I liked her character, but, again, never fully connected with her. Then there is Ellen Burstyn. When she is on screen she is 100% and commands the scene. However, her screen time is limited and it clearly feels like an appearance that serves more as a franchise hook than an honest integration into the plot.

Okay, so the story… Clearly they were following a formula that they constructed from watching the films and not any other literary sources or Joseph Campbell. William Friedkin even sought out one of the people who influenced Blatty’s novel, Father Amorth, and later made a film about the exorcist. There are set pieces, including the exorcism, that feel like separate pieces that they attempt to fit together. There are parts of the story that feel like they are simply checking off boxes and don’t feel centric to this particular story. As someone who has studied world religions, I loved the idea of who these people of different faiths were going to come together to save these girls, but it simply fell apart. There are rules, many similarities between beliefs, that are discarded for genre film cliches and shock value. There are setups that lead to expected outcomes and some things that make no sense. There are a lot of assumptions and things not explained that one might think would be revealed in the next installment. By the end, actress Ann Dowd’s character sits at a table delivering a monologue about evil, the devil and hope as a montage shows the audience where this experience has left these characters. One scene in particular feels like it is the purpose of this entire film, in a way detracting from everything that has gone before or any message the film tries to make.

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER feels more about creating a franchise and an attraction at 2024 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. It’s one of the better Blumhouse Production films, but the material is beyond the grasp of the writers. Strong performances are wasted in service of a superficial screenplay that weaves in several lines that are written for laughs, and they get them, but don’t really belong here or uttered by the characters that do. The central idea never fully gells and the question of innocence feels to fall by the wayside. As a colleague pointed out, the trailer makes the film look better than it actually is. One can only hope that this is not the first in an attempt to “exorcize” the material in hopes a franchise.

CAST: Leslie Odom, Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, E.J. Bonilla, Raphael Sbarge and Ellen Burstyn. CREW: Director - David Gordon Green; Screenplay - Peter Sattler and David Gordon Green; Based on characters created by William Peter Blatty; Producers - Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James G. Robinson; Cinematographer - Michael Simmonds; Score - Amman Abbasi & David Wingo; Editor - Timothy Alverson; Production Designer - Brandon Tonner-Connolly; Special Make-up FX Designer - Christopher Allen Nelson; Special Effects Supervisor - Heath Hood; Visual Effects Producer - Andre Coutu.

OFFICIAL: www.theexorcistbeliever.movie FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/TheExorcistBeliever TWITTER: twitter.com/TheExorcistBlvr TRAILER: https://youtu.be/xovJ0GYy75A?si=sxtTkCDkz9pxlcn7 RELEASE DATE: In theaters October 6th, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER #TheExorcistBeliever #universal pictures #blumhouse #david gordon green #leslie odom jr #ann dowd #ellen burstyn #horror #supernatural #possession #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri

1 note · View note

cabinofimagines · 4 years

Text

You, him and his boyfriend

Remember me talking about the self indulgent poly!solangelo. Well, here it is. Thanks Danny for the help and oh golly oh gosh this is officially the fluffiest thing I have ever written. I love these boys so much

Pairing: Will Solace and Nico di Angelo x reader Warnings: none Word count: 1,214 Gender neutral reader, Not proofread

-Asnyox

Nico di Angelo and William Andrew Solace were the reason why you loved and hated life so much right now. Every time you saw them you wanted to hold them, tell them to love you, please! But why would they ever love you? How stupid could you be not just loving one, but two guys? Leave out the fact that they are already dating each other. You were hopeless, oh so hopeless.

“Hey, (Y/n), we have a favour to ask you.” The golden boy occupying your thoughts interrupted the waves of text that were going through your head. “What’s it? Need me to cover your shift at the infirmary again?” “Well, no, but Nico and I wanted to do a movie night in the Hades cabin and-“ Wills eyes shifted seemingly to look anywhere but to you. His hands fumbled a bit and a blush rose to his face. “And we were wondering if you would like to join us?” You looked him in the eyes. A fuzziness invaded your upper chest, but you pushed it down. “Do you need me to chaperone your date night? I know Chiron forbade for 2 people to be alone in a cabin but sure you can find a way around it,” you shrugged, “And I wouldn’t want to be the reason why you two can’t be comfortable. I know Nico isn’t that used to me.” And third wheeling the two boys you liked for an entire night just did not seem good for your mental health.

“It’s not chaperoning us (Y/n), we want you there. So, please?” No, you were not going to do this. There is no way – You looked at Will and he had this begging look, there is no way you could resist is there? “Alright, where do we meet?”

You felt odd, like you were not supposed to be in this room. You weren’t – apparently Nico and Will had still not asked for Chiron’s permission, so you had to sneak into the Hades cabin. Nico was all settled in his pillow fort of a bed, Will standing right in front of you. How were you three ever going to fit there with all these pillows? Better yet, how did these boys obtain all these pillows? “Alright, (Y/n), just go sit next to Nico, I’ll be right with you. Just have to grab the snacks!” Will shooed you towards his boyfriend. Oh right, his boyfriend. Not yours. You slowly made your way to the bed and carefully sat down next to Nico, who was all propped up against the wall. Was it just you, or did Nico seem more tense then usual? It was probably you; you were the reason he was tense.

“Uh, sorry.” You mumbled as you accidently touched his hand. You retracted your hand and look away.

You did not notice how Nico had a small blush. Inner Nico was scolding himself for being so tense. He and Will had revised this plan, and now you’re here and he just- why did you have to accidently make him feel so loved? His hand was still warm from your touch and the way your shoulders brushed had his heart beating out of his chest. It was Will idea to put you in the middle of them, and gods bless and curse his boyfriend for this. If only he could just relax and tell you to not be sorry and it’s fine, you are allowed to hold his hands if you want. Nico would love that.

“Snacks have arrived, now scooch over! I still need to fit on here.” The sunshine boy finally showed his face, holding a bag which presumably was filled with food. “Are you sure it will fit?” You asked, “I can just sit on the groun- OOF” Will, at that moment, had decided to sit down more on you than on the bed. Oh gods you were getting squished by your crushes – why? A cold hand grabbed your arm, and you were pulled up from underneath Will. “You alright?” Nico asked you, still holding on to your arm. You nodded as you felt your head empty itself from any thought. Instead of letting go, Nico’s hand found its way down to yours and his cold fingers intertwined with yours. You looked up from your hands to see a very small, shy smile adoring Nico’s face.

“Ah, sorry (Y/n)! Didn’t mean to squish you! Are you alright?” Will asked you as he scanned your body for any signs of injury. “I am fine doctor. Just don’t jump on my like that again!” You managed to bring out. Will’s face seemed to turn red, however it was getting harder to tell in this lightning. “Sorry!”

“Why would they enter the basement!” You screamed out. Will laughed loudly, “Mortals can be so stupid sometimes.” Somewhere between the start of the movie and now Will had manged to get a hold of your other hand, and in addition to that your whole arm. This left you in no position to move – not that you ever wanted to leave the embrace of these two boys. Nico had cuddled up to your side, his head on your shoulder. Every time you talked you could feel his hair move against your neck. Out of your sight Nico was smiling constantly, a contend look on his face.

Will however had taken the job up of feeding you candy every now and then, for with the two boys holding you tightly, there was no way for you to grab anything yourself. “Come on (Y/n), open up that beautiful mouth of yours.” Will said as he held a candy worm up to your lips. You opened your lips and he put the worm in. His hand lingered on your lips as he moved away. Although this may have been your own thoughts making up facts.

For Will this night was going great. Sure, it was no longer the vibe he wanted to confess in but he was holding you so close and feeding you? His fingers so close to your lips if only he could find that last bit of courage to put his hand on your cheek and kiss you. The frustration in your eyes whenever the people in the movie did something stupid, the way you felt free enough to share these frustrations with them. And then – oh.

The way his boyfriend looked so, so in love right now. Nico looked so comfortable cuddled up to you and it all seemed such a perfect fit. You, him, and his boyfriend. If only they could call you theirs. The bright laptop light seemed to get brighter every time you laughed.

“Hey, Will, why are you glowing?” the boy had fed you a worm and next thing you knew he was, how would you describe it, glow-in-the-dark? You felt Nico stifle a laugh and Will only seemed to get brighter. “Uh – I- Ah,” The yellow light started to turn red. “Oh my gods, Will I didn’t- “and you burst out laughing.

Your laughter was the best thing that happened to these two boys all night.

As they looked at you laughing and locked eyes one thing was sure. They were not going to let you go any time soon.

#requests #asja writes #thanks danny #Poly solangelo #will solace x reader #nico di angelo x reader #x reader #solangelo xreader #will x reader x nico #polyamourous #poly xreader #poly x reader #pjo xreader #asja #poly!solangelo x reader #poly!solangelo #admin asnyox

606 notes · View notes

evening-starlight · 3 years

Text

Daddy’s Best Friend

All Works Master List

DBF Master List

Word Count: 1021

Tom looked painfully beautiful in the black, form-fitting suit. His hair was slicked back, but his curls still held their form and framed his angelic face. Amaris shouldn't be thinking these things with her boyfriend next to her, but she couldn't stop looking at Tom.

Amaris truly wasn't a kid anymore, Tom realizes for what feels like the millionth time since she came home. She looks like a confident young lady who wore a simple dress with purpose and perfection. It dropped just above her mid-thigh and hugged the perfect places to show off her lovely hourglass figure.

"Bonjour, Tommy," Amaris greets, trying to act like everything was normal and she wasn't having these conflicting feelings. She loved Armel, she did, but he wasn't Tom.

Tom pulls Amaris into a quick hug before shaking Armel's hand. "Pleasure to see you again, Armel," Tom greets, fake smile plastered on his face. "Where's your father?"

"I thought you had him last?" Amaris jokes, smiling as Tom chuckles. "I don't know; I just got here. He said we could get the table if we get here before him." Tom approaches the hostess with the young couple in tow, smiling that dazzling smile that could make any woman swoon.

They sit down at the table, Amaris between the two men, by the time Will and the other two kids find their way to the back table. Armel grips Amaris's hand tightly, suddenly nervous about having a formal meeting with his girlfriend's family.

Amaris could barely think, her head dancing with so many thoughts that by the time she processed one, three more were coming at her. Tom was to her left, smiling and laughing with the rest of the family. He was part of that family. They all adopted him as a member, and Amaris didn't want to ruin that relationship with her family.

Armel was to her right, holding her hand and telling silly stories of Paris shenanigans. To say she was torn was an understatement. Amaris wasn't torn; she was already split. That kiss with Tom may not have meant anything to him, but to Amaris, it's everything she dreamt about for years. But Armel treats her so well. He treats her like a queen and always has.

The waitress comes over, greeting the table with a bright customer service smile. She introduces herself as Alex and asks the usual question of what she can get us. The Clarke siblings all look at each other, Amaris hoping she gains a point.

"A million dollars?" William jokes, causing Juno to wrinkle their nose. The oldest and youngest are now tied in points. Amaris does a silent celebration as she pulls out her phone to give herself a point while Armel giggles.

"Mr. Clarke, you jokester." Alex teases. She's waited on Will multiple times, and every time she does, it's the same joke, but a generous tip is always left. William laughs and continues his usual drink order of whiskey on ice.

Dinner seems to last forever to Amaris. Armel gets along swimmingly with her family, causing everyone to laugh and share the embarrassing stories they have with Amaris, much to her dismay. Tom laughed along, hoping no one can notice how forced it is.

Tom wanted to leave the more he watched how lovesick Armel was with Amaris. He called her stupid pet names and smiled like an idiot when he looked at her. But Tom can't blame the latter. Tom can't help but smile when Amaris has her attention on him.

"Oh my God," Danica exclaims, pulling both adults out of their thoughts. Amaris missed some of the conversations, having been lost in counting down the minutes until she can leave. "Did you know Mari had braces?"

"Danny, I promise I am not afraid to jump across this table to strangle you if you show Armel shit," Amaris threatens. She wasn't secretive about her awkward pre-teens, but they weren't something she boasted about. Danica smiles mischievously and reaches for her phone. "I hate you," Amaris groans as Danica hands Armel her cellphone.

On the screen is a picture of twelve-year-old Amaris smiling brightly with her braced teeth while holding a baby crocodile at the Australia Zoo. Armel laughs and then coes at the photo. "Adorable." Amaris hides her face in Armel's shoulder, making him laugh harder and rest a hand on her knee. "You were an adorable child, Mon Amour."

"Shut up," Amaris whines, causing the table to laugh again.

Tom remembered that picture. She was so excited to show him she got to hold a crocodile that she texted the photo to him right away, addressing him as Uncle Tom. That's all he was to her. Her adopted uncle. An adult figure that shouldn't be having these feelings for her, so why does he?

He felt disgusted with himself for thinking the immoral things he was. How beautiful she'd look with her dress on his floor or how ethereal she'd sound with his name in her mouth. Tom takes a long drink of alcohol in front of him, drowning the thoughts in the liquid.

It wasn't until dessert that Amaris noticed the change in Tom's demeanor. He stopped faking and slowly backed out of the conversation, focusing on his creme brulee. She leans over, whispering, "Are you okay? You kind of shut down, Tommy." Tommy. That fucking name makes his heart both soar in delight and sink in disgust with himself.

He forces a smile just for her and replies, "Lovely, darling. Just a tad tired, I think." Amaris gives a small smile and rests a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you for coming. I really appreciate you putting effort into knowing Armel." Maybe it was a little backhanded, but Amaris wanted to get a rise out of Tom. She wanted to see if that kiss wasn't as drunk as he told her he was.

Tom sniffles an annoyed sigh and kisses the girl's forehead tenderly. "Of course, darling. I'm really enjoying it," He says, trying his best to convey his disappointment.

Neither one could wait for this night to be over.

Taglist: @queenofallhobos @kingtwhiddleston @cynic-spirit

24 notes · View notes

deansmom · 3 years

Text

(ao3) pls accept this very old mcdanno fic I never published, in which there are feelings and a kiss. also, soup snakes.

"So, Steven."

Steve smirks a little bit, leaning back against his desk like the smug asshole he is. This conversation has been a train wreck from the start.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Danny raises his voice for dramatic effect to accompany the accusing look he's shooting at Steve. "You and me."

"Have you ever considered that maybe I'm interrupting you because you talk in incomplete sentences when you're nervous?"

Danny glares at him and flails his hands around unhelpfully, "See, this! This is what I'm talking about!"

Steve rolls his eyes, "You weren't talking about anything Danny. We were tailing a suspect and you said, out of the blue, 'do you know what a soup snake is' and here we are.”

"This -" Danny shakes his head and runs a hand over his face, "You know, if you ever let me finish a sentence I wouldn't have to bring things up like that."

Steve grins as he watches Danny start ramping up to a full-blown rant-down (the Williams version of a meltdown). He gets up after a moment and sets a hand on the other mans shoulder, his smile a little kinder. "Hey. I'm listening."

Danny looks up at him and deflates. He brings both of his hands up to his face and groans, "Okay. Okay, so..."

He walks a few steps away from Steve and collects himself before saying, "So Gracie is reading this book, right? And it's been so long since she was excited about a book so I said sure, I'll read it with her, cause y'know, that's what you do, you read books you don't care about just to spend time with your daughter before she starts to hate you."

"Danny," Steve sighs and rests against his desk again, "Gracie could never -"

"Shut up," Danny interrupts with a flail. He's yelling with his hands. "Shut up or I'm never gonna get through this okay?"

Steve stays silent as way of answer.

It takes another few seconds before Danny says, "So this book. Some actress wrote it and she was on that show The Office."

Danny turns to look out at the rest of the squad room and runs a hand through his hair, "She's got this friend and he's - he's her ex. Best friends though, like, the kinda thing you hope for growing up.

"And Mindy - that's the actress - everybody wants to know why they're not together. So she's got this chapter in this book and she says y'know, it's weird, their relationship, but they're soup snakes."

Steve has to bite his tongue.

"And - Gracie, you know, she turns to me and she says, 'That sounds like you and Uncle Steve, Danno.'"

On instinct, Steve's body tenses up and he's got to remind himself to breathe.

"So I'm thinking you know, she's just a kid, she doesn't know things. She's smart but she doesn't, you know - she doesn't know this."

Danny lets his head fall forward so it's resting as close to his chest as it can. "Do you know what soup snakes are, Steven?"

He has to take a moment to get his voice to work before he responds, "Uh... No, afraid I don't."

Danny spins around suddenly, and gestures around, "It's from an episode apparently. The main guy, his ex comes to town and he spends the whole episode trying to explain why he doesn't have feelings for her when he clearly does and he doesn’t want to be friends with her and - it's jibberish. Makes a toddler look like a genius."

He takes a few steps closer to Steve, apparently more determined now, "And he makes this list. The number one reason on it is because they're soup snakes."

Danny pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and pretends his hands aren't shaking. It's harder to pretend his voice isn't shaking though when he starts reading it.

"I lied to Kevin. Holly and I can never be just friends. I wrote down a list of bullet points why Holly and I should be together, and I'm going to find the perfect moment today and I am going to tell her. Number one: "Holly, you and I are soup snakes." The ... and the reason is... because... in terms of the soup, we like to- that doesn't make any sense. We're soul mates. Holly and I are soul mates."

Steve's heart is pounding in a way that it hasn't since he went through basic training and he's suddenly sweating bullets. "That's, ah..." He licks his lips and tries again, "That's a nice story, Danny."

Danny seems to ignore him, keeping his eyes on the paper, “So, there I am, sitting in my living room with my daughter, my lovely, amazing girlfriend in the kitchen and...”

He looks up at Steve finally and he looks terrified - like walking into a tunnel terrified.

“And see I’m - I’m having a crisis. Because this?” He gestures in between the two of them, “This wasn’t - it’s not -”

“Yeah,” Steve croaks out, his voice rough for a number of reasons.

Danny opens his mouth uselessly, the words on the tip of his tongue and refusing to come out.

Steve takes a step closer, well within his personal space now and swallows nervously, “It doesn’t have to be. I mean, if you...” He lets out a breath, ignoring his stuttering heart, “If you don’t -”

He’s not an idiot. Despite what Danny likes to think, he’s not a ‘neanderthal.’ He’s got feelings, lots of them, and he knows what they all mean.

He knows that he’s been in love with Danny since the day they met.

“But it is!” Danny yelps, his hands coming up to rest on the back of his head, “It already is Steven, it doesn’t matter if I -”

Steve sets a hand on his shoulder, effectively shutting him up. It doesn’t matter, not really, because the only thing he can hear is the sound of his heart racing in his ears.

“Did you break up with her?” He asks, terrified of the answer.

Danny makes a face that clearly communicates how dumb he thinks Steve is, “What, are you insane? What kind of person do you think I am, huh?? Realize I’m in love with my best friend and keep dating a perfectly nice -”

And, well, that’s enough.

Steve leans down, slamming their lips together in both an effort to shut him the hell up and finally, finally find out what kissing Danny feels like.

Danny groans into it, his hands coming up to fist Steve’s shirt.

They’ve always been a bit of a disaster together, two halves of different puzzles that shouldn’t fit, but they do, they fit so well, and kissing is no exception.

There’s a literal push and pull and before Steve realizes what’s happening, he gets pushed back into his chair. Danny’s standing there looking absolutely wrecked, the toes of their shoes knocking against each other, and Steve has never seen anything more beautiful.

“You,” Danny huffs, trying to catch his breath, and points at Steve’s chest. “Are an asshole.”

Steve squawks, his hands coming up to grab Danny’s thighs, “Me?!”

Danny glares at him, but still moves so that he’s partially on Steve’s lap.

Something fizzles out in Steve’s brain with all this physical contact and he’s expecting something, something like a kiss or frotting or - something.

Instead, Danny pinches the sensitive part of his upper arm, hard, and Steve yelps.

“Do not interrupt me when I’m talking to you,” he hisses.

“Talking at me is more like it,” Steve mumbles, unable to take his eyes off of Danny. They’re so close, they’re so fucking close, and he’s got years of pent-up frustration and theories he wants to explore.

There’s a bead of sweat rolling its way down Danny’s throat and Steve just watches it go, wonders how angry Danny would be if he leaned up and licked it right now. Probably really angry, he seems like he’s really pissed, and Steve’s not sure why.

Then again, he usually isn’t totally sure why Danny’s mad at him.

Danny’s hand grabs his chin, forcing Steve to look back up at him, “Steven.”

Steve licks his lips, his mouth feeling suddenly very dry, “Yeah?”

“We are at work,” he reminds him, his tone going a little softer.

He sounds, for lack of a better word, wrecked. He sounds like Steve feels, which is a little raw and a little off balance and -

Steve groans, his head falling forward and landing on Danny’s clavicle. Stupidly, some part of his lizard brain can only think about how good he smells.

“Yeah,” he sighs, his eyes closing. “Yeah, okay.”

Danny presses a kiss to his temple, softer than anything Steve thinks he deserves, and finally pulls away from him. Steve makes a noise of complaint at the loss of contact and it feels like his chest is going to explode with the quiet laugh from Danny it earns him.

God, he really loves him.

He watches as Danny fixes his hair, fixes his shirt, tries not to look like his whole world has been rocked in the last ten minutes.

Steve doesn’t even try to pretend he isn’t doing exactly what he’s doing.

Danny catches his eye after a moment and grins, walking around to the front of the desk.

This is the part of Danny that Steve’s always had to experience from the outside looking in, and now, he’s the center of that look and. Wow.

“Hey Danny,” he hears himself choke out right as Danny’s about to walk out of the office.

Danny turns around, the door half open, and somehow the bastard looks like he always does, like this is all normal. “Yeah?”

It takes his brain a little bit longer than normal to figure out what it was he was going to say, and when it does he wants to laugh.

“I’m gonna need that report before we leave tonight.”

Danny’s face does that thing where it scrunches up like Steve’s being the most unreasonable dictator in the world and he starts yelling (’I don’t yell at you Steven, I explain loudly’).

Because he’s an idiot, and he’s hopelessly in love with his partner, Steve just grins.

Yeah, he thinks to himself. Yeah, this could work.

#mcdanno #mcdanno fic #mcdanno fanfiction #stevedanny #h50 #mackenzie attempts fics #personal #otp: kinda surf buddies #this is SO OLD however old mindy kaling's first book is that's how old this is #anyways here I finally wrote an ending for it enjoy pls be nice 2 me #theres so much good stevedanno fic I never felt ~adequate~ to throw my hat in the ring lol

50 notes · View notes

kingofthenorth49 · 2 years

Text

CYA SUCKER(BERG)

Approximately 16 hours left until the end, well, what I perceive as the end I guess, after all do we really know if there’s life after Farcebook?

I’m going to find out, it’s part of my goal set for 2022 to cast off the bonds of social media, at least the ones that want to control me anyway. Mark Suckerberg can kiss my ass, and yes, I’ll say that to his alien-lizard looking face if I was ever afforded the opportunity, much like the Barrington St Profanity laced brow beating of Premier Danny Williams in May 2004. There’s another asshat who feelings wouldn’t fit under their chapeau.

But I digress.

As I sit here pondering my electronic eulogy,, these words from a song come to mind.

Did I disappoint you or let you down? Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown? 'Cause I saw the end, before we'd begun Yes, I saw you were blind and I knew I had won

Ah James Blunt, that song has so many fond memories including an open car door on the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 50 mph and Gloria and I laughing our asses off during better days.

I chose those lyrics because they express (albeit in a different connotation than the authors’) my current sentiments regarding life and society in general at this current moment in time. Some of you will get it, the rest will shake their heads and stick them back in the sand, which is entirely their prerogative at this point. You see, we are literally almost at the point of it’s every man/woman/whatever-you-wanna-be-today for them/their/it-selves.

Political correct fact check that sentence, I don’t fucking care. The reality bus is about to take society right outta their crocs standing on the crosswalk of life and I bet a few of you will shake your head and think I’m the crazy one.

Maybe I am, I sure as hell hope so because that will mean I’m wrong, and I’ve never wanted to be more wrong in my entire life but to be 100% honest I don’t think I am and I firmly believe the next 3 to 6 months will be the most unsettling times of human habitation on this planet. We fiddled while Rome burned, we allowed false prophets to rein unchecked like teenagers babysitting their younger siblings the first time mom and dad went away for the weekend and not only did we invite a few friends over who subsequently trashed the house, we cleaned out the savings account and maxed the credit cards on hookers and cheap beer.

We gave them the car and house keys, the credit cards and bank account pin numbers, all the responsibility to create order, and then we completely failed to hold anyone to account for the last 50 years and yet we wonder “How did we get here” as the bus is teetering on the edge of Springfield gorge and we’re sitting on the dash staring at the abyss.

I used to think the movie Idiocity was a parody, not a documentary.

For those in my inner circle, you know one of my biggest hang-ups is trust. I trust very few people, I can count them on one hand if you really boil it down. There’s a reason for that, and it has everything to do with the noble lie.

One time when I was still proudly wearing the uniform of Canada’s mounted, one more than one occasion I was given information that was less than forthcoming knowing the truth full well in advance. When the persons uttering said information were clergy, elected officials, pillars of the community etc., you start to realize that everybody lies. The differentiator is the motivation behind the lie. Once you learn to look to motive each time you analyze someone’s statements you can quickly assign weigh to the veracity of the information or in other words always ask yourself “what’s in it for them”.

The other differentiator is the magnitude of the consequences of the lie as to how hard a person will hold onto it even after being confronted with evidence that shows that in fact they’ve been caught in the lie.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times, I watched the guilty cling to a story so feeble it makes Joe Brandon look like Superman and despite glaring evidence to the contrary, they won’t admit defeat.

That’s where we are today folks, we’ve ripped the mask of the swamp creature and the politician who was telling us to be afraid of the swamp creature is the one hiding inside the costume yet we refuse to acknowledge the fact that we were lied to all along.

I worry what’s about to happen when the world wakes up and realizes the magnitude of the lies they were fed, and what’s going to happen when people wake up enmass to the fact that they are currently living through the greatest man-made experiment in history, one where evil is running amok and good people will pay the price. I fear the shock that people will endure will be catastrophic to humanity, something far more sinister than what we saw at the end of World War 2.

Betrayal is one of the worst things a human being need endure, death is more merciful because it’s final. Like the denial of lies, I’ve seen the shock of betrayal first hand way to many times in my life, sometimes being the bearer of the bad news that a spouse was unfaithful, a business partner dishonest, or a family member capable of doing dark things.

Folks, we’ve been lied to on a scale never before seen in humanity and I fear it’s all going to come out in the coming weeks/months and when it does, and people start waking up to what has happened, and not only the magnitude of the deceit, but the consequences for those left behind. The food shortages we are about to see will make past famines look like a weight watchers convention. The coming crash of the financial systems will decimate families. The instability of the supply chain will make everything infinitely more difficult to produce, from power to clothing, to transporting good to market will require herculean effort.

Think I’m wrong?

I sure hope I am. I hope and pray every single day that I’m one of the tin foil wearing hat class ya’ll think I am and that the totality of the information I’ve absorbed is completely wrong. I’d be 100% good with being made a social pariah for saying the sky is falling. I’m ok with being Chicken Little. Problem is, I don’t think I am.

So today officially is my last day as a safety professional. I’ve decided to let my board certifications expire as of midnight tonight, ending that phase of my life and looking forward to the next phase as I transition to lead a company as it’s CEO. I can look back on my 30+ year career with pride, knowing I helped make the world a little bit better by keeping people safe, usually from themselves because as any safety person worth their salt knows (see what I did there???) that 90% of safety issues are related to human behavior and it’s was my job to show people the safe way.

I did my job and enjoyed it right up until September 30, 2021 when I realized people weren’t listening anymore and either I was right or wrong, but it didn’t matter anymore.

So I decided to leave and take care of the people in my circle. I decided to control the things I can control and not worry about things I can’t.

I completely get Atlas Shrugged now. Now more than ever. I just never thought I’d be living through it, and if you don’t think the irony of me becoming a CEO and moving away from society at the end of the book is lost on me, it isn’t. Actually it’s isn’t irony at all.

Is it.

I wish each and every one of you the best for 2022. I hope each of you find love, hope, and happiness in your hearts with the promise of a new year and a fresh start. Be kind to one another, and remember while we are all on the same ocean, we are all floating in different objects, from boats to life rafts, and every person you meet today could be having the worst day of their life today. Lend them an ear and a hand if you are able, but stay vigilant in the coming days as those who failed to build a home of brick will seek shelter against the storm and no amount of political correctness will prevent evil from rising up and taking what it feels entitled to.

Dark, I know. But as a person who’s spend his life grounded in the reality of life being hard and ugly, it’s the best advice I can give you.

As for me I’m looking forward to the challenges coming in 2022 on all fronts, even if they are hard times, because hard times make men (and women, and he/she/they/them) bring out the best and worst in society and that creates catalyst for significant change, change we badly need.

Be safe out there. See you in the movies.

Much love.

Jim Out.

#walkaway resist justsayno stopitnow NWO

2 notes · View notes

gundamcalibarney · 4 years

Text

Fuck it.

JoJo Actors AU headcanons:

-Half of the actors are fans of the series and most of them are starting to become fans of it.

-Jotaro’s actor is literally Daisuke Ono but muscled and 6’5.

-The Josephs and a lot of the part 2 cast are related to each other or to other actors, Part 2 Joseph is the son of Part 3 Joseph who is the son of Part 4 Joseph. The family resemblance is uncanny. Suzi Q is played by Joseph’s girlfriend. Lisa Lisa is Straizo’s sister, Old!Erina is played by Part 4 Joseph’s wife,Loggins and Messina are brothers, Smokey is Avdol’s younger brother,Kars is Yukako’s dad,and Stroheim is Suzi’s uncle.

-Phantom Blood took 2 weeks to finish, Battle Tendency took 3,Stardust Crusaders took 4 and a half months,Diamond is Unbreakable took 5 months,and Vento Aureo took 2 months.

-The scene of Danny burning was filmed but cut due to the cast members and staff voicing their discomfort about the scene. (“I didn’t want to see a dog jump out of a furnance like, melting and on fire. I think nobody else wanted to see it so it was cut from the final product.”-Dio)

-Jonathan,Speedwagon,and William are best buddies and often drink together in-between takes.

-Dio,Jonathan,Jotaro,Kakyoin,Kars,Trish,Tomoko,and Formaggio are fans of the series from the start and are Ecstatic about being actors in it. (“I swear when my mum told me that there were open auditions for the role of JoJo i KNEW i had to be a part of it, i think i squeed at like 4 in the morning. I wanted to play Jotaro cause i thought that was the part they were going to do first cause that’s the most popular part. If i wasn’t a JoJo i was like ‘then i’m going to be a Stand!’. And then when they announced they were doing it in order i’m like, ‘i’m going to be Jonathan’, and that’s how i got in the part.”-Jonathan) (“I‘m still waiting for JoJolion to end.”-Kakyoin) (“When they approached me about the project i was like ‘oh my god yes!’ and i’m just sitting there in my chair eating my soggy chips screaming inside.”-Dio)

-Speedwagon has appeared in all the filming sessions to gives moral support and acting tips.

-Jorge and Giorno played 12 year old Jonathan and Dio. Jorge wore a wig.

-Jonathan’s actor has a twitter and often posts about the series as well behind the scenes photos.

-Melone’s actor hated playing Melone for obvious reasons and said the only reason he played him was because his friend (Who plays Proscuitto) coaxed him into doing it.

-Josuke is also the Tom Holland of it, meaning he accidentally says spoilers.

-Jonathan and Erina married on set in-character during the filming of Part 4, they engaged during the filming of Part 2. Nobody told Josuke about it. (“When Josiah and Eleanor married on set and in character i was SO confused cause nobody didn’t tell me Anything about it and then i thought it was like a added scene as like uh, a flashback. Then when it was done Daisuke told me ‘yo they’re married now.’ and i’m like *mind blown motion*.”-Josuke)

-Diavolo is literally the sweetest person on set and apologises to The Bucci gang after every Doppio and Diavolo encounter.

-Part 2 Speedwagon is just regular Speedwagon but in old makeup, He was sad that he had to cut off nearly all his hair.

-La Squadra and the Bucci Gang are friends IRL because they keep seeing each other in each others work.

-Phantom Blood movie!Jonathan is played by Diavolo.

-Most of the british cast of Part 1-2 are actually british, except George who was american and Bluford who was irish.

-The movie and OVAs were not filmed by the company that did the official one. Worthy of note is that Star Platinum played OVA Jotaro and

-The scene that took the most takes was the Torture dance. Narancia got sea sick after filming it.

-Arnold,Danny,and Coco Jumbo are the only real animals on set. Polnareff!Coco Jumbo is a prop.

-Polnareff’s pillar hair is actually made up of hair extensions+his real hair. A lot of character’s hair are wigs. Kakyoin’s noodle is natural.

-The rock in Phantom Blood and Rolling Stones are the same prop.

-Every April fools, the cast are given ‘Duwang’ versions of their scripts. Only Dio was able to rehearse them with a straight face cause he was too into it (Duwang 1-3 were made by the writers).

-The Part 3 cast actually had to go to the desert AND Egypt for the filming of the Egypt arc. Jotaro and Polnareff got sunburned badly when they got to the town.

-Koichi played child Polnareff and Jolyne played child Jotaro.

-“GOOD EVENING JOEY JO-JO!” “(chuckles) i’m soRRY I CAN’T DO THIS! (Breaks into a laughing fit)”

-There’s a tradition that the actors and only the actors do after they finish a part, they go into the costume and prop room and steal and keep one item relating to the character they play.

-Stolen items: Luck and Pluck,Dio greenscreen head prop,Erina’s necklace,Speedwagon’s bowler hat,Zeppeli’s hat,Joseph’s clackers,Caesar’s headband,Lisa Lisa’s glasses,Smokey’s hat,Kar’s head scarf,Whammu’s earings,Esidisi’s brain prop,Suzi’s dress,All of Jotaro’s hats,Hermit Purple,Kakyoin’s scarf,Polnareff’s earrings,Avdol’s scarf,Emperor prop,DIO’s pants,Thoth prop,Oingo’s hat,Anubis prop,Vanilla Ice’s belt,Josuke’s pins,Echoes ACT 1 prop,Okuyasu’s uniform,Josuke’s console,Yukako’s uniform,Book Terunosuke,Sheer Hear Attack prop,Stray Cat prop,Dark Pink Boy manga prop,Surface prop,Frog prop,Diavolo’s contact lenses,Mista’s Revolver,Aerosmith prop,White Album helmet,Beach Boys prop,Purple Haze’s gloves,Coco Jumbo prop (Mr. President included),Stand Arrow,Frog phone,Bruno’s jacket,The piss teacup.

#jjba #JoJo actors AU #there was a entire bonus episode that was basically Jonathan and Erina visiting Morioh and interacting with everyone but Josuke

76 notes · View notes

ducktracy · 3 years

Text

187. daffy duck & egghead (1938)

release date: january 1st, 1938

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: mel blanc (daffy, turtle, duck), danny webb (egghead)

starting off the new year with a bang—the first cartoon of 1938 is one of my favorites! two tex avery creations, daffy and egghead, make their second appearances paired together.

both characters have gotten a makeover, though egghead’s is more drastic: he now has hair and talks in a dopey drawl courtesy of danny webb. daffy, on the other hand, now has blue irises and a matching ring around his neck—this design would be exclusive to this short only. but, it IS the first cartoon to pen him as daffy duck! he’d appear in a number of looney tunes shorts with porky as the year would go on.

like so many other “hunter vs prey” shorts, egghead is determined to hunt daffy. daffy, however, is prepared to do everything in his power to make egghead miserable.

ben hardaway, who would have been directing his own cartoons at the time of this cartoon’s release, is the writer, and it shows throughout. ben is notable for his more hayseed sense of humor, relying on puns so corny you’ll be flossing your teeth for a week to remove the kernels. his punny touch is noticeable right at the start, with daffy and egghead bursting out of literal nutshells in an odd little introductory sequence. irv spence does some nice animation here: daffy shakes his fists in the glory, soon to be interrupted by the fire of egghead’s gun. egghead chases after a HOOHOOing daffy, the smoke from the gun spelling out to the audience “DUCK SEASON STARTS TODAY”.

the scene is odd, but more so out of uniqueness rather than perplexity. one wonders how tex really would have prefaced the cartoon if he were paired with another writer instead.

in a tradition that would carry out into tex’s MGM days, one of our first impressions of the short is a facetious disclaimer:

a sense of tranquility is established through a soft, sweeping rendition of “morning song” from the william tell overture. various gorgeously painted backgrounds fade into each other to convey the passage of time and rise of the sun, each background absolutely stunning in its own right. in a tex avery cartoon, such peace and harmony can only mean one thing: chaos is soon to follow.

our eponymous hunter creeps onto the screen, remarking aloud on the eerie stillness of his surroundings. “i wonder if there are any more hunters out here this morning.” right on cue, a swarm of hunters pop out of the reeds, reciting a popular catchphrase from the ken murray show reused in many a ‘30s WB cartoon: “whoooooooooa, yeaaaaah!”

the sound of quacks ring out from the recesses of the reeds, turning egghead on the alert. just as he prepares to hunt his prey, a signature avery gag of epic proportions interrupts the scene... literally.

tedd pierce’s silhouette darkens the screen as he makes his way to his movie seat--a latecomer. egghead spots him and urges him to sit down and not scare away his prey. the latecomer does so, only to rise up again and change seats. our frustrated sportsman urges the silhouette to sit down again, which he does so. the silhouette never utters a word, and that’s the best part. the matter of fact delivery of the gag, the control of it all is what makes the gag so funny. such even temperament from the silhouette juxtaposes starkly with the wild nature of avery cartoons. the normal is now the ridiculous.

when the silhouette snoops around for a better seat once more, egghead loses all patience and fires his gun straight at the silhouette. tedd pierce’s theatrics are hilarious--he twirls around, clutching his heart, hamming up his injury to the last drop. the anticipatory drum-roll as egghead looks on brings the entire act together. finally, pierce collapses, much to the contentment of egghead. he merely rubs the dust off his hands in a job well done and continues where he left off.

cartoon characters shooting audience members isn’t an alien move in warner bros. cartoons (bugs in rhapsody rabbit, daffy in the ducksters), yet the inclusion of the silhouette and its subsequent dramatics brings a new level of inclusion with the audience. imagine what an uproar this would get in a packed house! it’s a great way to break the barrier between cartoon characters and the audience. WB did a great job of making the audience feel included. hell, a majority of daffy’s character throughout the ‘40s hinges on this! but that’s an analysis for another time.

speaking of daffy, he’s the perpetrator of those quacking sounds in the reeds. egghead parts the plants to see if his prey is still there. he is—daffy gives him a viscious bite on egghead’s bulbous nose before going back into hiding.

“that duck’s craaaa-zy!” daffy pops his head out of the reeds again, shrieking a reply of “you tellin’ me? WOO WOO WOOHOO!”

daffy’s voice is significantly more shrill than his dopey guffaws in porky’s duck hunt. in fact, it’s so shrill that this could easily be considered one of his most annoying cartoons. though his 100% screwy, totally out of his mind personality isn’t my favorite personality for him, it’s still pretty damn great! so if you like obnoxious daffy (like me), this is a short for you. if you can’t stand him being a lunatic, stay away!

with that, daffy takes an exit, whooping and shrieking all the way in a direct throwback to his ecstatic exit in porky’s duck hunt. this is a game-changer for the merrie melodies series—the screwy, lunatic antics were typically reserved for the black and white looney tunes shorts. and here we have daffy, splitting the ears of his patrons and being a royal nuisance in the more expensive, esteemed merrie melodies, typically reserved for song and dance numbers! this ain’t your mother’s merry melody.

when daffy takes refuge within a cluster of reeds positioned in the middle of the lake, egghead uses this as an opportunity to lure out his prey with a decoy. specifically, ONE LOVE-LURE DUCK DECOY.

egghead sends the obnoxiously feminine duck decoy out into the water, quacking in time to the beat of stalling’s “the lady in red” underscore. the decoy disappears into the reeds, and there’s a pause.

a flurry of aggravated, warbled quacking cues us in that daffy is pissed off. the action is all hidden behind the plants, leaving details of their altercation is up to the audience’s interpretation. what we do see is daffy’s physical anger: he pops out of the water at the bank of the lake, throwing the decoy down at egghead’s feet. a makeshift sign cleverly held up by a cattail echoes a beloved catchphrase from the radio show fibber mcgee and molly:

bubbles rippling on the surface indicate daffy’s presence. he pokes his head out to heave a teasing quack at the befuddled hunter before dipping back down again, prompting egghead to stick his rifle in the lake. cue a tried and true gag that was likely much funnier then than now: the ol’ tie-the-gun-into-a-bow trick.

the next gag is one that tex avery would refurbish in his MGM debut, the early bird dood it!: egghead physically lifts the lake up like a blanket, where daffy appears just in time to give his nose another honk for good measure. cue crazed laughter and intricate water aerobics. daffy halts, addressing the audience directly with a flimsy reassurance: “i’m not crazy, i just don’t give a darn!”

irv spence takes the next showdown between hunter and duck. look at how much more appealing egghead is in his hands! egghead leans down to retrieve his gun he tosses aside, when daffy zooms into frame and fights him for it. daffy’s consistent smile as he and egghead battle for dominance, both trying to reach higher and higher on the gun, is hysterical—he’s absolutely getting a kick out of egghead’s frustration. though it was clear he was reveling in porky’s own anger in porky’s duck hunt, here his enjoyment is much more blatant. he loves being a pest.

daffy slides the rifle beneath his legs and out of sight, bopping egghead on the fist and causing him to slug a haymaker against his own head. signature irv spence grawlixes add a nice level of two dimensional graphic design, like something straight from a comic.

out of nowhere, a random turtle disrupts the altercation. the turtle is a parody of parkykarkus from the chase & sanborn hour, speaking in a thick accent and slightly butchered grammar. he opts to settle daffy and egghead’s fight once and for all, posing as a referee. “just a minute, chums. just a minute!” he supplies the two with pistols, both fitted for their respective sizes. to daffy, “turn around.” to egghead: “now you turn around.”

i love how daffy’s curiosity with the turtle’s interruption is noticeable. so noticeable, in fact, that the turtle grows hostile, getting up in his face and shouting “KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLES BUSINESS, AIN’T IT!” it’s rare to see daffy lacking control of the situation, even this early on.

the two put their backs together per the turtle’s command, walking ten paces backwards in time to the turtle’s countdown. just as the turtle reaches ten, daffy jumps behind egghead, who fires. a potentially gruesome conclusion is avoided as the bullet hits the turtle’s chest instead, causing his head to rocket upward, hit a branch, and shrink back into his shell. in a hardawayian touch, daffy hands egghead a cigar, walking off screen, satisfied.

random as the scene is (hardaway’s influence seems to be particularly strong throughout this whole middle section), irv spence’s timing and appealing animation makes up for it. the switch to another animator entails an inevitable downgrade in draftsmanship.

after egghead realizes he’s been duped, he retrieves his rifle and prepares to shoot daffy. though initially startled, daffy thinks on his feet, and eagerly places an apple on his head for egghead to aim at instead. stalling’s fitting accompaniment of “william tell overture” raises in key each time egghead fires (and subsequently misses), a pattern that sounds almost identical to scott bradley’s scores under the direction of tex at MGM.

egghead shoots a tree, the lake, a barn, and even straight past daffy, who grows increasingly irritated at the hunter’s incompetence, moving closer to him with each effort. hardaway’s influence is strong with the next gag, matched with tex’s fast pace to prevent it from overstaying its welcome: daffy thrusts pencils, sunglasses, and a sign that says BLIND on it before turning to the audience and tssking. “too bad. too bad!” harsh indeed. i imagine this gag would have been prolonged had hardaway directed this cartoon or wrote it under another director.

if anything, this cartoon certainly displays the importance of the relationship between director and writer. writers have a much bigger influence on the cartoon than one might believe! there’s a reason as to why chuck jones and mike maltese are touted around as a dynamic duo. i wouldn’t call hardaway a bad writer by any means, but his influence is certainly potent. tex is a strong director, and thankfully he could cushion the blows of hardaway’s corniness as much as he could, but it’s also evident that certain decisions were made that tex wouldn’t have made in other circumstances.

decisions such as daffy singing an entire ode to his lunacy as the cartoon’s song number. this is definitely a hardawayian insert--a prototype, hayseed, screwball bugs bunny sings his own nutty anthem in hardaway’s hare-um scare-um just a year later. full song numbers have been making their way out the door in avery’s cartoons, and by either this year or next they’d be absent in total from the merrie melodies series. it’s unlike avery to write a whole song about characters explaining their nuttiness.

that is why i have qualms with the scene. at his zenith, daffy never attempts to explain or justify his screwiness. even in the mid-’40s, when he’s able to think and speak coherently and isn’t a mere caricature of his name, he showed no self awareness for his condition. the “look at me, ain’t i a crazy one?” jokes with him were out the door by 1939. half the fun with him is how unaware he is of his daffiness--he lives in it constantly, always zipping from emotional extremes, but never stops to tell the audience just how crazy and fun he is. here, his self-awareness seems ingenuine and prideful. daffy is my favorite character for his humanity and relatability (even--if not more so--when he’s a total loon). here, he lacks that dynamism. he’s merely a stock reflection of his namesake.

with that said, daffy’s rendition of “the merry go round broke down” is my favorite merrie melody song number, period. i’m certainly biased due to my undying affinity with daffy, but irv spence’s animation is genuinely fun to watch, and mel blanc does a wonderful performance. i know all of the words by heart! essentially, daffy’s justification for his daffiness is because the dizzy pace of the merry go round went to his head and made him nuts. while this sense of bragging is relatively out of character for him, it makes for a contagiously fun song, and also, this is his second film ever. they still had much to explore.

the scene concludes with daffy shaking hands with his reflection in the water and diving back in. fade out and in to egghead, still furiously attempting to pursue his prey. cue a fun little avery gag where our hunter nonchalantly opens the reeds he’s hiding behind like a pair of blinds. daffy’s carefree quacking and swimming in the lake almost seems to mock him. in a gag that would be reused in avery’s lucky ducky over at MGM to a greater extent, daffy puts on a mask to scare away the oncoming bullets. indeed, the bullets retreat into egghead’s gun, prompting befuddled stares at both the gun and the audience.

daffy engages in another round of spastic water aerobics, HOOHOOing all the way. he only pauses to cling to a cattail, echoing an averyian daffy catchphrase that he would also shriek in daffy duck in hollywood, “ain’t i some cutie? ahah! i think i’ll do it again! HAHAHA!”

a nice, jazzy score of “bob white (whatcha gonna swing tonight?)” accompanies yet another endeavor by egghead. he’s either stupidly bold or boldly stupid to keep up such a tiring charade--or both! egghead loads a pair of gloves tied to a string into the barrel of the rifle, cleverly using a cattail as a bore brush. and, despite the absurdity of his makeshift fishing pole, it works: one gloved hand grabs daffy by the neck, the other konking him on the head and knocking him unconscious. egghead reels in his prize, dumping daffy into a net and letting out a handful of gleeful “WHOOPEE!”s.

avery’s timing is succinct--immediately after egghead snags his duck, the sound of a siren drowns out his celebration. a duck nearly identical to daffy approaches the scene in an “asylum ambulance”. “gee, t’anks a lot for catchin’ dis goof!” duck confiscates his fellow duck comrade. the decision to turn the conversation confidential, complete with the lowering of the voice and shifty-eyed glances is great. “y’know, we been after dis guy for months!”

despite everything that egghead has endured, he seems genuinely shocked at the duck’s claim that daffy is “100% nuts”. “oh YEAH?” he echoes, daring to believe it. duck nods. “yeeeeah!” with that, he gives egghead a honk right on the nose.

daffy, completely unscathed, wastes little time in joining the festivities as both ducks beat the tar out of egghead from both ends, literally kicking him in the arse and honking him on the nose. both ducks head to the lake, HOOHOOing in shrill unison as they bound off into the horizon. egghead only has one more option... to join them. thus, we iris out on our brave hunter HOOHOOing into the horizon himself.

as i said at the beginning of this review, this cartoon is one of my favorites--for this era, anyway. despite its imperfections, it’s still a rather fun and rousing cartoon. it’s exciting to see daffy becoming more recognizable, in terms of voice, demeanor, and appearance. the same can be said for egghead as well, though i doubt anyone has the same attachment to him as they do other characters. i certainly don’t.

admittedly, porky’s duck hunt is a more solid cartoon. this cartoon feels much more like a string of gags than anything, though i suppose that could be said for many a tex avery cartoon. he wasn’t known for his moving stories. hardaway’s corny, hayseed sense of humor serves as the biggest detriment to the cartoon, but luckily tex is a strong enough director to try and work around those weaknesses as best he could. and even though i disagree with the reasoning behind the song number, the song number will always be my favorite merry melody song.

i didn’t mention the backgrounds very often, but they’re STELLAR. the colorful, whimsical palette brings a lot of energy and vitality to the table. if you were to describe the cartoon in one word, “energetic” would certainly be it.

so, with that said, go watch it! this is a really fun cartoon that serves as an interesting look into early daffy’s character, obnoxious as he may be.

link!

#lt #daffy duck and egghead #looney tunes #reviews #avery #long post

37 notes · View notes

mymcdanno · 4 years

Text

Fic: I picked you, didn’t I?

Summary: Quick 10x22 fix-it.

Author note: Hopefully this little drabble can brighten your day!

Steve had been watching over Danny for about an hour now. He felt helpless, worried out of his mind, and the overwhelming guilt that came with knowing that it was his fault that Danny got hurt didn’t help. The only thing keeping Steve grounded was holding Danny’s hand, letting him know he was there even if he might not feel a thing, his fingers running over the knuckles.

Flashbacks were running through Steve’s mind as he let go and hid his face in his hands. Everything they had been through in the past 10 years, all the times they had saved each other, all the times they stood together and proved how well they fit together again and again. Everything Danny had done for him. Everything people had said about them, but they had never taken too seriously.

How long have you two been married?

Can’t bear to be apart, right?

Didn’t they deserve some happiness, after all? Wasn’t Danny the only person who’d always been by Steve’s side, never left him, and even welcomed him into his family? Suddenly everything seemed so clear, so simple. Steve was in love with Danny Williams and had been for years.

“Hey.”

Steve’s head jerked up. He was so relieved to hear the soft voice that he felt his whole body relax, everything focusing in on Danny now.

“Hey,” he replied just as softly, holding out one hand to gently lift some hair from Danny’s face.

“Why’d you stop holding my hand? We’re fighting?” Danny teased, the morphine letting him be more honest than usual. “It felt nice,” he mumbled quietly, and Steve immediately held his hand again, never to let go.

“No, no we’re not.” Steve couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t understand why he’d ever wanted to leave this place. Leave Hawaii, the 5-0, his ohana, but especially his Danno. Finally he knew exactly what he needed.

It had been a few days since Danny was let out of the hospital, but he still couldn’t move too quickly without getting hurt. Steve had taken care of him like always, made everything so easy, but at the same time it only made things more difficult for Danny. There was no way he could get used to Hawaii without Steve.

They were now sat on their beach chairs, drinking cold beers and watching the sea, talking about everything and nothing. It hurt Danny to even think about how long it would take for him to have this again.

“So, I guess you have to leave soon, to catch your flight-” Danny started after they had been quiet for an unusually long time, but stopping with a surprised look on his face when Steve just shook his head.

“There is no flight, Danny. I can’t leave you, not now. Not ever. Don’t get me wrong, I will need some time from work, need to clear my head. But-” Steve shook his head, like he was annoyed that he couldn’t seem to find the right words. “It’s time I only want to spend with you,” he finally finished, voice soft and hands twitching with how nervous he was.

Danny looked at him for a long time, not believing his own ears. “Are you-” He winced as he tried to sit up too quickly, Steve reaching over to help him. “Are you telling me you’re not leaving? You’re going to stay?”

“I’m staying,” Steve confirmed, a goofy grin spreading over his face, and the hope started blooming in Danny’s chest again. “I picked you, didn’t I? And I’ll never forget it again.”

The words Danny had heard before all these years ago were like music to his ears. Steve had gotten close now, helping him sit up in the chair, and the worried look in his eyes only made Danny love him more.

Oh, fuck it, Danny thought, as he used his hands to pull Steve down and kiss him. Steve kissed him back without any hesitation, his hands going straight to Danny’s hair, changing the angle a little bit to deepen the kiss.

They kissed, and they kissed, and finally everything clicked. This was everything they’d both wanted, and they could do whatever they wanted now, whenever they wanted. Danny’s dream of them growing old together on the beach didn’t seem so far away anymore.

#my fic #mcdanno #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #fix-it fic #10x22 #h50 #h50 finale #H50FixIt

210 notes · View notes

ghostsray · 4 years

Text

Ch4: Science

(...i swear, this chapter did not go how i planned it at all.)

(first - prev - next)

Danny was panting when he entered the school building. He had arrived in time despite the ghost he encountered on the way. As he leaned over on his knees to catch his breath, Sam walked over nonchalantly and handed him a filled worksheet. "I did your biology homework for you," she explained. "You're welcome."

Danny blinked. "We had biology homework?"

Sam rolled her eyes and said, "What would you do without me?"

"Fail school, for sure," Danny said and gratefully accepted the paper from her.

A girl passing by them suddenly paused and came over. Danny recognized her from a few of his classes, though he didn't remember her name. "Danny--" (He might not know everyone's names, but everyone knew his name; it was kind of hard not to recognize him with the Fentons' reputation)--"I didn't know you had a brother!" she said.

Danny furrowed his brows and said, "Brother? What brother?"

"That freshman who looks exactly like you," she responded, glancing between him and Sam with knit eyebrows. "Are you not related?"

Sam and Danny met each other's eyes. No doubt, the same thought was running through their heads: a fourteen-year-old boy who looked exactly like Danny? Sure, it could be a coincidence, but it was more likely to be Danny's oh-so-beloved clone, Niel.

Danny frowned at his classmate and asked, "Where is he?"

She pointed down the hallway, still confused, and Danny moved in the direction of her finger before she could ask any more questions. It didn't take him long before he spotted the freshman she had been referring to, standing alone by a locker.

Niel looked nervous. As much as the idea of being around other kids was appealing to him, the reality was a bit overwhelming. There were all these students milling about who didn't speak to him and whom he didn't know how to engage with. More than a few were staring at him and whispering to each other, which Niel found pretty rude, considering he was right there.

He perked up when he saw Danny approach him. Finally, someone he knew! Niel turned away from his new locker and greeted Danny with outstretched arms and an exclamation of, "Danny!"

Danny did not reciprocate his friendliness. Instead, he crossed his arms and demanded, "What are you doing in my school?"

Niel dropped his arms (a little disappointed) and replied, "Learning, supposedly."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "You mean you--? But I thought you were homeschooled."

"Not anymore," Niel responded with a grin. "Dad thinks being around others my age would be good for me. Er, my physical age, that is."

"That's great and all, but did it really have to be this school? No offense, but I think people would notice that you and I, you know..." he gestured between their faces and said, "look exactly the same."

"Actually," Niel said, holding up a finger, "sometimes look-alikes exist even though they aren't related at all. After all, genes are based on chance, and as the infinite monkey theorem says: if you allow a monkey to hit a typewriter at random for an infinite amount of time, eventually he will surely write out the complete works of William Shakespeare."

"The infinite mon...whuh?"

"All I'm saying is, it's scientifically proven that there's a one in 135 chance of someone having a perfect genetic double who isn't a twin--or a clone. It's rare, but not impossible."

Danny scratched his head. "You seem well researched on the subject."

Niel smiled and said, "Of course! I love knowing stuff."

"Wonderful," Danny muttered. "I bet you'll fit in just great with the nerd table."

"Nerd table?" Niel asked, sounding genuinely interested. Danny could already picture it in his mind: his double sitting with Mikey and Lester and the other nerds, standing out among their high pants and round glasses with his punk hair and luxurious clothes.

Danny wanted to stay and verbally fight Niel further, but he realized there was nothing to berate him for. Niel had long ago given up on recruiting Danny in joining Vlad, and he wasn't the kind of person to cause problems in school for no reason. Sure, he could be plotting something under Vlad's orders, but Sam had promised him that she had "recruited Niel into the rebellion against the tyrannical rule of parents", so he doubted it. Niel was, simply put, here to learn.

Danny narrowed his eyes at him just in case, then grumbled, "Welcome to Casper High, I guess. Try not to cause any problems."

"Rich of you to say, but all right," Niel said. A few students nearby giggled. Danny didn't know how Niel already knew about Danny's so-called deliquent status at school, but he frowned at Niel's smirk before turning away with the intent to go to class.

He paused mid-step when he caught Wes watching them intently. Oh, boy. Wes. That guy must be having a field trip--an exact double of Danny suddenly appearing at school? No doubt he was already formulating theories in his head about Niel's existence.

Danny and Wes caught each other's eyes. Danny smirked and made his eyes glow for just a split second. Wes scowled.

"You seem well acquainted with the new kid," Wes spoke with narrowed eyes. "He's not just a look-alike, is he?"

Danny shrugged and said, "The truth doesn't matter, especially since nobody will believe you either way."

"You're dead to me," Wes growled.

"Don't you mean I'm dead in general?"

Danny's grin was shit-eating as he walked past Wes like he wasn't there.

Wes glared at Danny's back before returning his attention to where Niel stood, but the other boy was already gone too. The bell rang to signify the start of class. Wes balled his hands into fists and muttered, "I will find you out, clone."

"Really, Wes?" someone said, and he turned around to find that Star still hadn't left the hallway yet.

"Oh, come on!" He gestured wildly and said, "Surely you must have noticed that they look exactly the same!"

"They have different hair. And eyes."

"Hair can be styled, and contact lenses exist."

Star rolled her eyes and said, "You're delusional, Wes."

"I am not!" But Star ignored him and was already leaving the hallway. Wes grumbled loudly to himself before eventually sighing and shuffling to class.

School was pretty easy for Niel. In fact, being the son of a scientist--as well as an avid reader and Wikipedia diver--made the subjects he learned in class seem like child's play. As he and his classmates stood in the chemistry lab, the other students oohed and aahed at the rainbow display when the teacher added boric acid to a flame, but Niel wanted to scoff. He'd seen much more impressive things in his dad's lab. Hell, he was a scientific marvel himself, so to speak.

The teacher told them to replicate the experiment in pairs. Immediately, everyone else in the room quickly paired up with their partners, and Niel suddenly found himself an outcast. Danny and his friends weren't in this class; he didn't know any of the faces around him. He didn't have the half year everyone else had to get acquainted with each other, and he doubted anyone was interested in being paired with the new kid.

Niel was just about to accept the prospect of him being partnerless when a boy quietly slid into the seat next to him. Niel looked up in surprise. The boy was tall, and Niel had a feeling he would make a pretty good basketball player. He looked sort of like Danny with red hair--which was a funny thought coming from a literal clone of Danny.

The redhead turned his eyes on him. Niel was suddenly reminded of the way Dad used to look at him during his first weeks of existence outside his pod. Studying him.

"Hello," Niel said, thinking it a polite way to greet this person who chose to be his partner.

The boy just narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's your relation to Danny?"

Did this person know Danny? "His parents and my parent were college buddies," Niel answered truthfully.

"Riiight. College buddies." His eyes squinted so hard at Niel, he wondered if something might have gotten inside his safety goggles. The boy leaned toward him and said, "So you're not, say, I don't know...a clone?"

Niel's eyes widened, but he thought he hid his worry pretty well. Dad had made him promise before going to school that he would not reveal to anyone his clone status. It was a closely guarded secret, like the existence of human-ghost hybrids.

So it turned out Danny was right about people noticing the physical similarities between them. But Niel told himself not to worry yet.

"We do look sort of similar, don't we?" Niel said conversationally. "It's pretty cool, actually. Did you know there's a one in 135 chance of--"

"Cut the bull," the boy interrupted. "I searched that up on my phone just now. The chance of actually meeting your look-alike is about one in a trillion."

"Then I guess I'm the one in a trillion?" Niel said with a shrug, but sweat began to form in his palms. The boy wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, right," he said. "You're way too similar to Danny for it to be normal. Either you're some long lost twin, or you're his clone."

Alarms blared inside Niel's head. He tried to think of a valid response to save himself. Luckily, he didn't need to, because a student from the table in front of them groaned and said, "Leave the new kid alone, Wes."

The boy--Wes--looked at the girl who spoke and said, "Come on, Ashley. You had to have noticed how much he looks like Danny."

"I don't know, his hair's different," Ashley retorted, turning around in her chair to face them. "Are you sure this isn't just your Danny obsession acting up?"

Wes spluttered and shouted, "It's not an obsession!" After getting a glare from the teacher, he lowered his voice and repeated, "It's not an obsession. You're all just too blind to admit the truth that he's Phantom."

Wes knew that Danny was Phantom? Yet, apparently, nobody believed him. Ashley rolled her eyes and drawled, "Suuuure. Just because he's absent most of the time Phantom appears--"

"Not most of the time! All the time!"

Ashley's lab partner snickered and said, "Right, and I must be Batman because we've never been seen in the same room together."

Wes growled. "Nathan, you know Batman isn't real. Phantom is. And he's definitely Fenton."

"Hey, how dare you imply Batman isn't real?"

Wes grabbed at his hairs and made a whimpering sound in his throat.

Niel was starting to realize that these people will never believe Wes no matter what. A sly grin worked its way onto his face, and he said, "No, you're right. I am absolutely a clone."

Ashley and Nathan covered their mouths and giggled. Wes gave Niel a stink eye.

"You're just like your original, you know that?"

Niel shrugged.

Ashley stopped giggling to squint at Niel. A second later, she said, "Actually, hey, I see it now. You do sort of look like Fenton."

Crap. "Really? I don't see it," Niel said, then mentally kicked himself. How could he say he doesn't see it when he already admitted their similarity earlier? Really, Niel, you're starting to slip with your lies.

Nathan just shrugged and said, "Big deal. Everyone tells me that me and my brother look the same."

"Yeah, but that's because you two are related," Wes retorted. "What's Niel's excuse--apart from his extremely unlikely cover story of being a random doppelganger?"

Ashley suddenly gasped and said, "What if Niel and Danny are brothers?"

"I thought Niel is the mayor's kid," Nathan said and scratched his head.

"Of course he is, but who's the mom? Haven't you ever noticed how close Danny's parents are with Masters?"

Niel really hoped she wasn't suggesting what he thought she was suggesting. "I'm adopted," he told her.

"That's exactly what Masters would say to the media," Ashley said with a smirk. She leaned forward and said, "Come on, tell the truth. Am I right?"

"No!" Niel replied, his face burning. Of course, if his dad knew that someone even thought he, um, went to bed with Maddie, he'd be elated. But Niel was not elated. "Danny's mom doesn't even like my dad."

"But Danny's dad does, right?" Nathan said, stroking his chin. "And you do sort of look like him, minus the size."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now you guys are just making stuff up. How do two men have birth together?"

Nathan shrugged. "They're scientists, aren't they? Maybe they, like made him in an artificial pod."

Niel silently panicked. Obviously, the idea of Vlad and Jack in a relationship was plain wrong (and a bit funny, considering how much Vlad hated Jack), but the part about the pod baby was a little too close to the truth for comfort. Also, what the heck was with them discussing his birth right in front of him?

Niel was about to find something to say to get them to abandon this conversation when Ashley suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

"What?" Nathan asked.

Ashley held silent for a few moments to increase the tension before she slowly said, "Vlad Masters is trans."

Silence. Niel was suddenly aware that several other kids in the lab had abandoned their projects to listen in on the quartet's discussion. They observed Niel, as if trying to find the similarities in him to Vlad and Jack.

Niel slowly and deliberately whispered, "What the butter biscuits?"

Danny stomped down the hallway with a frown. He found Sam by her locker and approached her.

"As everyone knows, I'm all for brooding, but what's with the sour mood?" Sam asked. Danny glared at her.

"You did my biology paper, but you didn't think to remind me that we had an English assignment due?"

Sam held up her hands innocently and said, "Hey, I can fill out your worksheets, but I can't write your assignments for you. Mr. Lancer is crazy good at spotting differences in writing style."

"I thought you were good at copying styles."

"Maybe, but then I started thinking about what sort of creative writing you would think of, and it bummed me out too much to do it."

"The goth girl thinks I'm too much of a bum?"

"Exactly, Danny. Your life is sad as hell."

Whatever reply Danny was about to say was interrupted when the same girl from earlier ran up to them and said, "Danny, I didn't know you had a secret half-brother!"

Danny didn't think it was possible, but he was even more confused now than he had been before. "A what now?"

"Oh, right, my bad. It's supposed to be a secret." She winked.

"Wait, what? What secret?" he called out, but the girl already left.

Niel walked over to them. For some reason, his face was buried in his hands, as if he was in too much shame to make himself seen.

"Niel," Danny began, "what the heck have you done, and why are people calling you my secret half-brother?"

Niel just slumped his head against a locker and murmured, "The doppelganger excuse didn't work."

That didn't explain much, but just then Tucker came over laughing and slapped Niel on the back. "Niel, I know we haven't spent much time together, but I love you," he said between laughs.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Danny demanded.

Tucker spent another minute or so laughing, but after he eventually stopped with a satisfied sigh, he grinned at Danny and said, "People are starting to write Mpreg fanfiction of your dad and Vlad."

Danny choked on his saliva and probably would have died if he had needed to breathe. Tucker's guffaws picked up again, and Niel looked like he was seriously considering phasing through the earth.

#Danny Phantom #dannymay #dannymay2020 #niel masters #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #wes weston #fic #fanfiction #writing #mine

65 notes · View notes

flowerfan2 · 4 years

Text

Shelter at Home

McDanno, 1100k, T, A03

Summary: Danny is coping with the pandemic as best he can in Steve’s absence.

-----

Danny sits down in his chair and stares out at the water for a few minutes, trying to let the sound of the gentle waves soothe him. The ocean doesn’t give a shit about COVID-19.

At eight o’clock he clicks on a zoom link. After a few seconds, Grace’s face shows up on the screen, and he can’t help but smile.

“Hey, monkey, how’s it going?”

Grace grins at him and waves, the motion not quite fluid on the screen. “Hi Danno!”

Sunday nights are family zoom calls, with Grace and Charlie, his folks, and various other members of the Williams clan. Rachel even says hi from over Charlie’s shoulder sometimes. But Wednesday nights are just for him and Grace.

“What’s new in wine country this week?” When things started to lock down, Grace had begged to wait out the quarantine with her college roommate’s family in northern California. Given the whole cruise ship debacle, and the paranoia Danny continued to feel about being trapped on an island during a global catastrophe, he had reluctantly agreed.

It didn’t hurt that Grace’s roommate Marisa was one of four good-natured kids and lived on a sprawling ranch with lots of land. Her mom was a retired physician, and her dad was laying down the law when it came to quarantining. Gracie was relatively safe and happy, and there always seemed to be enough to do to keep Grace occupied even when she wasn’t finishing her spring semester classes (remotely, of course).

“Not much. I texted you about my internship, right?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Gracie.” Grace had landed a neat summer job with an environmental law organization, but they were cancelling all their summer programs due to the pandemic.

“It’s all right. I wasn’t really surprised.”

Still, it’s just one more little disappointment on top of everything else. He wishes he could make this easier for her. “What are you and Marisa up to?”

“Well, we’re still doing that yoga class every morning with her mom. And Marisa and I played cards last night with her boyfriend and his brother, it was pretty fun.”

“You did what?” Danny asks, eyebrows raised.

“Online, dad, with an app. I sent you the link last week. I’m not an idiot.”

“Okay, okay. Marisa isn’t still thinking about going to see that kid, is she?” Marisa’s boyfriend lives in L.A., and she has been getting increasing antsy about being apart from him, according to Grace.

“No, her parents won’t let her. I still think it would be okay, his family is being pretty strict about quarantine too-”

“Grace, absolutely not-”

“I know, dad, I know.”

Danny pushes down the wave of panic he feels at the thought of Grace taking a road trip right now, stopping in gas stations and diners filled with people, the virus lurking on everything she might touch. Even if Grace stayed at Marisa’s place, Marisa would eventually want to return, bringing all that exposure back in contact with his daughter. He knows Grace has a good head on her shoulders, and so far has agreed to not go anywhere without his permission, but he’s an ocean away from her and there’s only so much he can do.

“Grace, promise me-”

“Dad,” Grace says. “Stop worrying. I’m fine.” She takes a deep breath and resettles herself on her bed, her laptop jostling as she moves around. “So, what’s up with you guys?”

“Not much,” Danny responds automatically, and Grace frowns. He knows it’s not fair to think she isn’t worried too, especially since Danny can’t exactly shelter at home. He and the rest of Five-0 are hard at work, going out every day wherever they are needed. Luckily Oahu hasn’t been hit as hard as some places, but there are still a significant number of people with the virus, including members of HPD. Five-0 is taking its turn helping to enforce social distancing in public areas, and although the streets are fairly quiet, people are always finding new, inventive ways to get into trouble.

“You’re wearing masks, right?”

Danny has his doubts about the usefulness of this practice, especially since the ones they have been issued don’t fit particularly well, but he has been wearing a mask, and he makes the rest of the team wear them too. If nothing else, it sets a good example. “Of course, monkey.”

“Do you guys have enough? I saw on the news that not all police departments are getting the PPE they need.”

“We’re good,” Danny replies, although it’s not exactly true. He doesn’t want to lie to Grace, but neither is he going to tell her every little detail that keeps him up at night. First responders are always in danger, cops are always in danger, Five-0 is always, always in danger. The current craziness just adds another layer to it.

He changes the subject to food, making her guess what he had for lunch. People have been dropping off food at the palace, restaurants and others donating meals to those on the front lines, and Five-0 gets its fair share. It’s an amusing enough topic for Grace, and it keeps them occupied for a few more minutes.

“How is Leonard’s even open?” Grace asks. “With social distancing, their lines would stretch for blocks. And can someone send me some malasadas?”

“They’re taking phone orders, apparently,” Danny says. “And no, they don’t do mail order malasadas. We’ve been over this before.”

“Whatever,” Grace says, grinning as she lets out a long sigh. The conversation lulls, and Danny’s stomach tightens. He knows what’s coming.

“Danno? Is Uncle Steve back yet?”

Danny takes a deep breath, forcing a smile onto his face. “Not yet. But he’s looking out for himself, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure? Why won’t he just come home?”

Danny has asked himself this so many times the words have lost their meaning. “He’ll come home when he’s ready, Grace.”

Steve has been walkabout for a few months now. The house feels emptier every day, no longer the safe, happy retreat it used to be. Now Steve’s ghost echoes around every corner. Danny would gladly share his meager hoard of toilet paper if Steve would just come back.

Steve has kept his promise to Danny to keep in touch, although only barely. Still, he lets him know daily that he’s alive, and at this point, that has to be enough.

Danny and Grace talk for a few more minutes, then Danny tells Grace he needs to do some paperwork, and they sign off. He closes the laptop and pulls out his phone, typing out a variation on the same message he sends every night.

Love you, babe. Stay safe. Goodnight.

A few minutes later, Danny gets a response, and he can breathe again for another day.

Love you too, Danno.

#mcdanno #mcdanno fic #H50 #H50 fic #Hawaii Five-0 #danny williams #steve mcgarrett

57 notes · View notes

lilacnothlit · 4 years

Text

Animorphs Fandom Questions #1:

If you wrote a story with the characters having all their last names, what names did you go with, and why?

I’ll start... Jake Berenson, Rachel Berenson, Tobias Kushner, Cassie Luthier, Marco Dimayuga, David Andersen.

Since Jake and Rachel’s dads are brothers, I assumed they’d share a last name. Berenson is canon.

I made Naomi’s maiden name Naomi Loeb, in a nod to Rachel’s lion morph in the show.

Jean Berenson’s maiden name, Canary, was a pun on jaune-canari (Canary yellow). She’s probably heard all the Sean Connery jokes before. That, and her publishing name, the intentionally androgynous Jean Louis, were also “To Kill A Mockingbird” jokes - Scout’s proper name is Jean Louise Finch. The puns set up spoilers for my fic, or I’d explain them in further detail. Both that, and “Hibou et Minou allerent a la mer / Dans une barque peinte en jaune-canari.” In the French translation, the Owl and the Pussycat go to see in a canary yellow boat, and wrap the honey in a letter of credit. Rhymes. Another reference that has spoilers.

Tobias: Okay, this one was fun - I jokingly once suggested Loren’s full name be “Loren Ibsen.” As in “dolor sit amet.” That led to a proposal that all the people related to her family be similarly named after playwrights. Narrowly edging out “Tobias Marlowe,” since I quoted “Doctor Faustus” enough times for it to be cheesy, I went with the oddly euphonious “Tobias Kushner,” after Tony Kushner, the guy who wrote “Angels in America,” which I love but don’t quote as often.

I named his aunt and uncle around that - Loren’s older sister, I named Joan Ibsen because I used the name as a rhyme in a song parody I wrote, then said she moved to Jersey after divorcing Garth Kushner, and Tobias retained his last name. Garth, I forget why, possibly named after illustrator Garth Williams.

Cassie: Since Jake’s last name is a blunt-force Tolkein reference, to the tale of Beren the mortal lover and Luthién the beloved elf, I named her Cassie Luthier to balance it out*. Luthiers are guys who build guitars, no relation to the name “Luther.” It seemed to fit her, having a name that, like her portrayal in the books, appears to be African-American at first glance and then turns out to actually be an elf.

Michelle’s maiden name, Neill, was from a guy I built a house with once in Kentucky. I made a pile of names for the family as part of a family tree for a fic I’m writing. Cassie’s great-grandmother who Jake mentions having dinner with is Frances Eastham, named after my own grandmother (who turns ninety tomorrow, having outlived the fictional Fran by a year).

Marco: When discussing representation in the series with a friend, he scoffed and asked “What’s next, an Asian kid?” And I was like, “Well, it IS on the west coast, why not?” And later realized “Wait, they never say that Peter’s white, do they? Or non-Hispanic? Only that Eva is darker than him, and Marco took after her.” So I made Peter Filipino. Asian, yet Hispanic, and still short. So I was going to name Peter, and by extension, Marco, after a lifelong Filipino family friend and frequent childhood babysitter. “Peter Demavivas.” A fine name. “Marco Demavivas.” Not bad. “Eva Demavivas?” Uh. Nope. Not doing that. I searched for alternatives, and found the Filipino last name “Dimayuga,” and it fit them well. So they’re Peter and Marco Dimayuga* now, and Eva never took the name. I could have started with “she kept her name” and saved myself the trouble, but eh.

”Marco Martinez” is a name I’ve seen a few times, independently, so I named Eva “Eva Martinez Quispe.” Since I write her as Peruvian, I gave her that, and the matronym “Quispe,” for bitter irony and dramatic echo purposes (it’s not only the most common name in the country, it means “free” in Quechua). Poor Marco. Doesn’t get the height from either side of his family, it seems.

David: Named him for Hans Christian Andersen, since I was watching the Danny Kaye movie at the time I was reading the books. Not every name has to be profound.

*(You have no idea how badly I resisted naming Cassie and Marco “Cassie Orangedoor” and “Marco Loan.” I’m not over how self-insert they are.)

What did you guys do? I’m really curious.

#animorphs #names #I've wanted to ask for a while #you guys have such cooI names #and I want to know what you did - how you got there #OC sorta?#Not sure #Cassie is an eIf and that's wonderfuI #And aIso very very obviousIy written by a white coupIe but they can't heIp that #I headcanon WaIter as sIightIy autistic and it heIps expIain how Cassie grew up #A very innocent chiId from a bygone age #I grew up in Chicago and I'm cynicaI #Cassie wouIdn't Iast a month there #Farm girls are all alike; each city girl is city in her own way #There we go #Dostoyevsky #I'll protect Cassie with my life if only because - author or no author - black girls in fiction can be anything they want #realistic or unrealistic #and not every story needs to be depressingly realistic as long as it's aware of what it's doing #and Applegrant very much are? Their handling of race was progressive for the nineties and has survived because it's tongue-in-cheek #I mean - in the very first book #the cop picks Cassie out of a lineup of white kids twice and abducts her the third time #and you can tell they were very aware that this was a reality facing black kids in post-Rodney-King California #Even if Cassie is naive she's also a hippie and says in MM3 that she rationalizes away her anger towards slurs #There's a lot of naïvete in her portrayal to be sure but the authors don't try to act like it isn't there #and that saves the whole thing because black kids can be anything they want #even *turns into a polar bear*#I do respect and understand though why to many people she's a disappointment and I won't invalidate that interpretation #I'm not black myself and am not qualified to speak on the topic from a place of experience so I yield the floor to those who are #thank you for coming to my unintentional ted talk

8 notes · View notes

sojourner-between-worlds · 4 years

Text

Merry Band of Misfits

Fandom: Alex Rider/ Hawaii Five-0

Summary: After an incident, child services questions whether Steve is truly a good fit for Alex. Steve won’t stand for Alex being taken from him of course, and Danny is right there with him.

A/N: This started out as a little angst, a little comfort, and a whole lot of cheese, but somehow it turned into a little cheese, probably a lot of inaccuracy of how the system works, and a ton of angst sprinkled with comfort. What ya gonna do, tho, lol.

. . . .

They were still chasing their suspect through the crowded outdoor market when Steve’s phone vibrated incessantly in his pocket for the third time. His mind immediately jumped to Alex, wondering if he was okay, but he couldn’t exactly answer at the moment. Ready to be done with this chase and praying the call wasn’t anything too serious, he jumped up onto a low, narrow wall. Now moving faster than the man attempting to push his way through, it took less than a minute to catch up. Launching himself off the wall, Steve tackled the man to the ground.

“Oh, just give it up,” Steve grumbled at the still-struggling man underneath him as he wrenched the suspect’s arms around and zip-tied his wrists together. He pulled the man back up to his feet as the rest of his team finally caught up. “Book ‘im, Danno.”

After they had pushed their way back out of the market, Steve finally fished his phone out of his pocket.

3 Missed Calls - Kapi’olani Medical Center

He stopped dead in his tracks, heart in his throat, as he played back the voicemail they’d left for him. It didn’t give him much to go on, unfortunately, but since the woman had introduced herself as a child advocate with the hospital, that didn’t bode well. He didn’t hesitate to call her back.

The other end rang twice before the same woman who left the message, Alana Kelekolio, answered.

“Yeah, this is Commander McGarrett. You called about Alex? Is everything okay?”

. . .

As Steve stormed into the office, he didn’t fail to notice the two people in the room who were clearly not medical staff, but for the moment he ignored them, opting to head straight for Alex, who had stood up as he had entered.

“Hey, you all right, kiddo?” Steve asked, wrapping him in a hug.

“Shoulder hurts, but otherwise I’m fine.”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, that happens when you dislocate it. What happened?”

Alex shrugged his good shoulder. “Got my feet tangled up with Nathan’s fighting for the ball during practice and fell.”

“Yeah, you might need to spice that story up a bit before you tell it to anyone else.” That comment finally pulled a small smile out of the teen as Steve turned to address the other two people in the room. “So we’re good to go then?”

“Not quite, Commander.” A man Steve vaguely recognized as Alex’s social worker stood up and stepped forward. He’d been by the house a handful of times, but Steve honestly had a hard time remembering his name; he didn’t leave much of an impression. Robert something, maybe? Robert Kent? That sounded right. “If I could have a word with you alone?” he asked, gesturing towards the door.

Once they had stepped out and the door had clicked shut behind them, Robert continued. “This is negligence at best, Commander.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are Alex’s only emergency contact.”

“Yes, and here I am. So what?”

“The only reason I am here is because the hospital couldn’t get a hold of you.”

“I was literally in the middle of chasing a human trafficker through Chinatown. What was I supposed to do, huh? Ask him to wait while I answer my phone?”

“And that is exactly why Alex’s case is going to be reviewed.”

For the second time in an hour, Steve felt his heart jump into his throat. “What does that mean?”

“It means I think someone was a little quick to hand you Alex’s custody, so there is going to be some careful thought as to if this is really the best situation for Alex.”

. . .

“I could have punched him, Danny. Was it oversight on my part? Yes, I’ll admit that it was. Initially I wasn’t sure who else to put down since chances are if they can’t get me then they wouldn’t be able to get any of you guys either. So I put it off -- a little too long evidently -- but reviewing his case over that?”

Danny sat quietly, watching as Steve paced, waiting for him to finish.

“I mean, isn’t that a little extreme? Especially coming from a guy who talks to Alex for maybe ten minutes in a month. He doesn’t know anything.” Steve stopped with his back to Danny, a long sigh escaping. “He’s finally starting to settle a little and they’re about to take all of the progress he’s made away.”

“That does seem like a little much,” Danny sighed when it seemed like Steve was done. “Especially for something that’s a quick fix. Did he tell you how soon they’d make a decision?”

“End of the week.” Steve plopped down into one of the chairs opposite Danny’s desk, rubbing wearily at his temples.

Danny nodded. “Okay. I’m assuming you plan to fight this if they decide to pull him, right?”

“You have to ask?”

“If it comes to that, you know I’ll do whatever I can to help. I’ve got your back, babe.”

Some of the tension bled out of Steve’s shoulders at Danny’s words. “I know. I know you do. Thank you.”

. . .

Alex stopped at the end of the driveway, staring at Steve’s truck with a frown. They’d left at the same time that morning so Alex knew Steve had driven himself to work. If it was here, that meant Steve was home already -- very, very early.

Which likely meant something was wrong.

He parked his bike next to the garage and went inside to find Steve sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his clasped hands, face pensive.

Steve dropped his hands, face softening slightly, when he noticed Alex. “Hey.”

“You’re home early, which is never a good thing. What’s wrong?”

Sighing deeply, Steve motioned to the spot next to him on the couch.

Alex dropped his bag onto the stairs and sat down.

“I already tipped you off, so I’ll just get right to the point. You -uh, you remember on Tuesday when you got hurt at practice?”

“Hard to forget. Go on.”

“The hospital called in child services when they couldn’t get me right away, and that made them...less than happy.”

Alex’s stomach dropped. When he spoke, the words didn’t feel like they were coming from his own mouth. “They’re taking me away, aren’t they?”

Steve sighed again. “They want to, but I’m not letting that happen without a fight. I told you from the start that I’m not gonna leave you on your own, and I meant it -- I still mean it. I have a hearing with a family court judge in a few weeks to decide the final verdict.” He wrapped an arm around Alex’s shoulders, and the teen easily melted into his side. “I’m not going to let them take you, Alex. Okay?”

“Okay. I trust you.”

As true as those words were, they still felt hollow on Alex’s tongue. He wanted to believe them but he knew it wasn’t as simply as that either. No matter how much faith he had in Steve, they could still take him away.

And there would be nothing either of them could do about it.

. . .

The hearing was not going well and Danny knew it. Robert Kent seemed bent on removing Alex from Steve’s custody and was bringing up every even slightly questionable thing Steve had ever done, whether it related to Alex’s care or not.

And Danny was done listening.

“And furthermore, it was clearly negligence on Commander McGarrett’s part in failing to list a second emergency contact.”

“Your Honor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but to be honest, none of this is in any way relevant.”

“Detective Williams, this is not your forum, and I do believe I am perfectly capable of determining what is relevant and what is not.”

“Yes, I am aware of that, and I apologize -- I really do -- but if I may, I have something I need to say.”

“I do believe you will already be giving a statement.”

“I will be, but this has nothing to do with what I’ve planned to say, your Honor.”

The judge was silent for a moment before saying. “I’ll allow it, but keep it brief, Detective.”

“Your Honor, with all due respect, if you allow Alex to be taken from Commander McGarrett’s custody based only on what you have heard so far, then you will be making a huge mistake.” He paused, taking a deep breath. Steve was either going to hug him or kill him for this later. “I’ve known Commander McGarrett for a long time now, and I will be the first to admit that I hated his guts back then. I thought he was completely irresponsible and reckless. But here’s the thing: he’s downright terrible at first impressions. So forget the bad first impression you’ve been given here so far today because what you are probably thinking is exactly what I thought, too. But the fact of the matter is, your Honor, that I trust him with my life and, moreover, with the lives of my own children.

“See, first impressions don’t tell you everything about a person. My first impression didn’t tell me that his guy was going to give me a place to belong in a place that I hated and a family in a place where I had no one.

“If the other members of Five-0 could be here right now, I know they’d say the same because Steve McGarrett likes to fix broken things. He has again and again taken the outcasts and the misfits and given them a place to call home. All of us at Five-0 are a family.

“And Alex is part of that family now, too.”

Danny paused; he’d been told to keep it short and he was sure he’d already talked longer than the judge wanted, but he hadn’t been stopped yet either.

“Right now, Mr Kent is trying to tell you from a collection of ‘first impressions’ why Commander McGarrett is unfit to be a parent, so allow me to tell you why Mr Kent is dead wrong.

“In the past eleven months, Alex has gone from withdrawn and emotionally volatile to outgoing and emotionally stable -- as stable as any teenager can be, anyway. In the first three months alone Alex was diagnosed with PTSD, properly medicated to help mitigate symptoms, and started in therapy -- all things that should have happened much sooner but were easily overlooked as he was written off as a ‘problem child’ and quickly passed around between homes like he didn’t matter -- and maybe to those people, he didn’t.

“But therein lies the fundamental differences between everyone else Alex has been placed with and Commander McGarrett: instead of calling Alex the problem, he addressed the problems Alex had, and -- maybe even more importantly -- he has never once even considered giving up on Alex.

“Commander McGarrett may not be the perfect parent, but he is a good one, and he does genuinely care about Alex’s well-being and wants the best for him. One oversight that is easily corrected -- because make no mistake, that’s the real reason why we’re here right now -- should not detract from all the good that has already happened -- and it has happened, your Honor; I’ve witnessed it myself. And that is how I can say with absolute confidence, your Honor, that if you allow this to happen, you will be making a huge mistake.”

Danny sat back down in the eerily quiet courtroom.

The judge cleared her throat. “Thank you, Detective Williams. Your words will be taken into consideration.”

. . .

Alex couldn’t concentrate, plain and simple. Steve had offered to let him stay home from school but Alex had declined, thinking it would be a good distraction. But it wasn’t, and he was seriously considering going to the office and signing himself out for the day. His anxiety was the worst it had been in months so he doubted they would make him stay, but would it really be any better if he went home? He doubted it. So at school he would stay for the long four hours that still remained.

Maybe.

He really wasn’t sold on the idea.

(But, again, being home alone probably wasn’t the best idea either, but those were his only two options.)

He forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths; having a panic attack in the middle of World History would not do.

Somehow he made it through the rest of the class and to lunch, skipping the line and heading straight to his usual table, folding his arms and resting his head on them. Maybe if he could close his eyes and focus on his breathing for a minute then his stomach would dislodge itself from his throat and go back to where it belonged.

“Alex?” The clunk of a tray against the table and the thud of a bad against the floor accompanied the voice.

“Hm?”

“Maybe you should go home, man.”

“‘M fine.”

“Yup. That’s very convincing.”

Alex took a breath and raised his head just enough to glare at his friend. “I’m fine, Koa.”

“Ya know, I actually have to agree with him for once,” Nathan said as he slid into the seat next Koa. “You really don’t look good, man.”

Letting his head thump back down, Alex muttered, “It’s just anxiety. It’s nothing.”

A pause, then, “Alex. Go home. I’m serious.”

Alex knew they were right, but… He pushed himself all the way up, meeting their concerned gazes. “I really don’t want to be alone so school is the better option right now.”

Koa shrugged. “Then call Commander McGarrett.”

“Can’t. He’s in court right now, and I don’t know when he’ll be out.”

As if on cue, his phone vibrated in his pocket with a text from Steve.

Steve McGarrett: Hearing’s over. They’ll call with the decision sometime this evening. Are you doing okay?

Alex sighed in relief; Steve always seemed to know when he was struggling and Alex didn’t feel guilty about admitting it if someone asked first as opposed to him just saying it.

Alex Rider: Honestly not really. Steve McGarrett: Omw

“He’s coming to get you, isn’t he.” It wasn’t a question.

Alex nodded. “Yeah. I’m just...gonna head to the office then. See you guys tomorrow.”

“No, you won’t.”

Alex glanced at Nathan as he stood up. “What?”

“No school? It’s Thanksgiving.”

Alex stared blankly for a moment. “Oh. Right. Forgot. Uhm, Monday -- I’ll see you Monday.” I hope.

By the time he got to the office, Steve was already there, still in his dress blues from the hearing, and it took Alex a minute to realize that Steve must have been headed this way to get him already even as he’d texted.

“So how’d it go?” Alex asked as he settled into the passenger seat of the truck.

Steve let out a heavy sigh. “Well, not as good as I’d been hoping, honestly, but not horribly either. We’ve still got a shot.” He paused, shifting into drive and pulling away from the curb. “So what would you like to do with this suddenly school-free afternoon?”

Alex shrugged, worrying his bottom lip. His anxiety was still through the roof so he honestly didn’t want to do much of anything.

“Did you eat?”

Busted. Once again, Steve always seemed to know. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he shook his head, stomach still rather queasy.

Expression full of understanding, Steve nodded once. “Okay. I want you to try when we get home though, all right?”

Alex took a deep breath. “No promises on success.”

“That’s okay. Just try.”

“Okay.”

The rest of the ride was relatively silent apart from Steve assuring him that he didn’t need to worry about school or homework, that they would just relax until they had news.

Once home, Alex changed from jeans to sweats; no need to be anything less than completely comfortable all things considered. Alex sat down on his bed, listening as Steve went down to the kitchen to find something for them both to eat. Simultaneously exhausted and restless, he honestly didn’t know if he’d rather take a nap or run a marathon. His breathing hitched, and he tried to push everything he was feeling into nice, neat compartments. He knew he shouldn’t, that he should just get it over with and deal with it now, but if he could shove it away for only a few more hours, then he wouldn’t have to deal with it at all. (Because in a few hours they would get word that he was staying -- he would be -- because if he wasn’t, he didn’t know what he would do.)

Calloused hands gently pried his apart, and as Alex’s eyes slowly focused on where Steve knelt in front of him, he wondered when the man had even come in. How long had he been sitting here that Steve had had to come up to get him?

“Oh, kid.”

Those two words were all it took to open the floodgates. An ugly, hysterical sob tore out at the same time Steve pulled him into a hug.

Alex wasn’t sure how long they sat there before the knot in his chest eased and the sobs pettered off into hiccups, but he did know that he didn’t feel any better. Wasn’t that what was supposed to happen? But he didn’t, exhaustion settling even thicker in his bones, his stomach still uncomfortably lodged in his throat. If anything, he only felt worse.

“How are you feeling, buddy? Any better?”

“Not really.”

Steve hummed in thought before he said, “Why don’t you come lay down on the couch and watch a movie with me, and we can go from there. Okay?”

He didn’t want to move, but lying down definitely sounded nice. “‘Kay.”

Steve took one corner of the couch, and Alex curled up next to him, head on the man’s thigh. Some Disney movie played quietly on the TV, but Alex wasn’t really paying attention. Time seemed to drag on; it could have been hours or only minutes before Steve asked if he was feeling up to eating. Alex could only shake his head in response and, strangely enough, Steve didn’t push it.

Then finally -- finally -- Steve’s phone vibrated with an incoming call. Glancing at the ID displayed on the screen, Steve murmured, “This is them,” before picking up. “Steve McGarrett.”

Alex sat up. He had thought he’d feel something when the call came, but all he felt was numb.

After a moment, Steve said, “Thank you very much for calling.” As soon as he’d set his phone down, he turned to Alex and wrapped him in a hug. “Remind me to thank Danny by picking up his tab at Side Street next time. Looks like you’re stuck with me for a little bit longer, buddy.”

It took a moment longer than it should have for the meaning of those words to register, but when they did, Alex almost felt like crying all over again. Instead he tightened his grip and breathed for what felt like the first time in weeks. He couldn’t help but think that maybe Steve really had been telling him the truth all along, that maybe it would actually be true this time.

Maybe he really would never have to be alone again.

. . .

“So, a little birdy named Lou told me you might be needing someone as a second emergency contact for Alex,” Renee commented as she mixed up a salad at the counter. “If you haven’t figured someone else out already, you can always put me down, you know; I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Steve asked, glancing up from the pan he’d just pulled from the oven. “I hadn’t figured that out yet, so I’d really appreciate that actually.”

“Shoots, a sista beat me to it,” Kamekona said from the doorway. “I was gon’ offer, too.”

“As was I,” Max added as Steve turned the corner, carrying the turkey to the table. “Given my profession, I surmised it to be highly unlikely I would not be able to get away if called upon.”

“Great minds think alike,” Jerry piped up next. “I mean, I don’t exactly ever have anything I couldn’t step away from if you needed me, after all, and when I work with you guys I’m not really in the field for all the dangerous stuff, anyway.”

Danny laughed as he came out of the kitchen, carrying more dishes. “So, uh, you think child services will be happy now with that many numbers to choose from?”

Steve couldn’t help but chuckle. As Alex came up beside him, he threw an arm around the teen’s shoulders. “I’ve definitely got a lot to be thankful for his year, you know that? So, thank you, guys -- I mean that; it’s been quite a year and I couldn’t have done this without all of you.”

“You don’t need to thank us,” Chin replied with a smile. “We’re ohana; it’s what we do.”

“Yeah, if anything we should be thanking you,” Kono added. “None of us would be here right now without you.”

Steve looked around at the people he called family and realized that Danny had been only partially correct. He may have created a space for them all to belong, but he needed it just as much as everyone else did. They had rescued him just as much as he had rescued them.

A merry band of misfits -- maybe that was just how it was always meant to be.

. . . .

Tags: @diekatimitdemhutohnehut @just-add-butter

#alex rider #hawaii five-0 #crossover fanfiction #fic: merry band of misfits #fic: dywc #fic: don't you worry child verse #tag as a ship and i will eat your kneecaps #i feel like the depth of this is lost a little bit #because i haven't written much of the stuff that happens early on #in this first year alex is living with steve #but hopefully it's still as meaningful as i find it to be #since i already know All of the Things lol

17 notes · View notes

murphyhatesme · 4 years

Text

Sorting it out

Summary: The boys sort it out with a little help from their extended family (notes at the end - AO3 Link )

Steve sighs as he puts his phone back in his lap. Leaving Danny is the hardest part of this but the mission has run its course, he’s done. He needs time to shake the memories, to find the fabled peace of mind. A sense of dread tries to claw its way up from the pit of his stomach, he squashes it but it’s too late. A visual has already wormed its way into his mind, Danny, alone in his chair on Steve’s beach. The urge to get off the plane and back to Danny is strong but he manages to suppress it. He wonders what would have happened if he finally told Danny that the casual ‘I love yous’ had taken a deeper meaning for him over the last two years. This afternoon, for one glorious moment, he thought Danny was going to lean in and kiss him, but his partner turned away and left Steve staring at his back. It cemented his belief that he needed to leave the island, get over Danny, find peace and then maybe he could go back to seeing Danny as his best friend and not a love interest. Then he remembers Danny’s face and the look he gave Steve. He rubs at his eyes, fuck is he making a mistake?

“Is this seat taken?”

Steve glances up in shock, because he recognises that voice.

“Catherine ..”

“Hey sailor”

“It was you? You cracked the cypher?”

She nods her head yes.

“Lincoln got a hold of me, said you guys needed some help. So ..”

“He’s a good man”

“He must be, did you really give him the keys to Danno’s car?”

“Well, we can’t have Danny Williams driving his own car”

“Yes we can, you just won’t allow it.”

They both smile before Catherine sits down and takes his hand, squeezing it slightly.

“What are you doing Steve?”

He sighs, letting his head fall against the rest and closes his eyes.

“I just need to be on my own for a while. Find a semblance of peace”

“No, I’m not talking about that and you know it.”

Cath tugs on his arm and he rolls his head towards her, taking a deep breath before he looks at her.

“Why in god's name are you leaving the one thing behind that can give you everything you are looking for huh?”

“I .. Now listen. We don’t .. Jesus Cath, Danny doesn’t love me that way okay?”

She squints her eyes, a broad smile taking over her beautiful face.

“I meant the team, you know, your chosen family? Funny you immediately jumped to Danny.”

“I ..”

But Cath holds up her hand and shakes her head.

“No. shh. Let me talk okay?”

When he doesn’t answer she prods his shoulder.

“Fine! Were you always this bossy?”

“Yes I was, you liked that about me. And I’m pretty sure it’s why you fell for Danny.”

He shakes his head and opens his mouth but she gives him a look and he makes a zipping motion with his hand.

“Look, I know the past few years have been hard, especially the last months. I, more than most people, understand the need to get away. After Billy, I needed to find some peace but most of all quiet. A place where I could admit to myself that we” she gestures between them “became complacent. We were together because it was comfortable, easy if you will. I love you, very much, but we weren’t in love at the end. You and Danny? You fit. He loves you. Probably more than he’s willing to admit. And you love him, have loved him for a while now. I don’t understand why you haven’t said anything yet? You were never shy? And I know what you guys got up to in the barracks after the light went out.”

“Can I talk yet?”

“Don’t be a smart ass.”

“Danny and me, it’s complicated. I always thought once we’re settled, with a pension plan in place we would see what we could become. But it was never the right time, always something going on and then a few months ago he started pushing me to date. And then I realised I missed my window.”

She looks at him intently for a moment.

“So nothing happened to make him push you away? Nothing at all?”

“No?”

“So you didn’t sell the restaurant? Told him you weren’t ready?”

Steve blanches, Danny knows it was just the restaurant. Right?

“Danny knows that was just the restaurant!”

He’s aware of the slight panic in his voice as he echoes his thoughts. Cath places a warm hand on his arm and he focuses on that as he takes a deep breath.

“That was your pension. Your happily ever after. The one you pushed to have, together. And then suddenly you’re out? That must have stung and maybe it told him you weren’t ready to take the next step.”

“But he said if you’re out, I’m out. I mean this wasn’t my decision alone!”

“Of course he said that. He. Loves. You .”

“I know. We’re best friends.”

“Right, I hoped this wouldn’t be necessary but you are .. argh!”

Steve frowns as he watches her raise her arm. Within seconds two air marshals come into the cabin, stopping short at their row.

“Commander McGarrett,” the marshal, Andy Turner, steps to the side as Cath moves to the empty seat across the path “If you’d be so kind as to follow us.”

Steve narrows his eyes at Cath, he gets up but he’s not feeling kind at all.

“What did you do?”

“It’s for your own good.”

“What did you do?”

He repeats and he’s conscious of all the eyes on them.

“Missing a window is not possible if you are the one crafting it. Also if there was a right time? Then this is it.”

“Cath you can’t force this. It’s not your decision to make.”

She grins at him as she pushes past him to take the window seat.

“As I said, it’s for your own good. Oh and Steve?”

He stops but doesn’t look back.

“Don’t blame the kids okay? They just want you to be happy.”

The marshals lead him off the plane straight into a holding cell. It’s bare, one cot, pillow, sheets and toilet and sink in the corner. They leave him there. He inspects every surface of the small room, already knowing he won’t find any surveillance equipment because monitoring the cells is in violation of the privacy law. He sits down and waits.

Not even thirty minutes later the door opens and Danny comes in, leaning heavily on his cane. When Tani lingers in the doorway Steve suddenly and with clarity knows exactly what Cath meant with don’t blame the kids. He rushes forward but Tani is quicker and she closes the door with a deafening sound. He slowly turns to Danny and goes for the offence.

“Look what you did! Now we’re stuck here.”

Danny hmms, sits down on the cot and purses his lips.

“Do you honestly think I didn't know they were up to something? Steve, you’ve been gone for an hour and a half, when Cath called to tell me you were detained at the airport nobody was surprised. Charlie is a better actor than most of our team.”

Steve grins at that, remembering Charlie’s innocent face when a bag of candy appeared on the belt at the supermarket. Danny catches his eye and Steve’s heart seems to skip a beat. The dread turns into hope and somehow that’s worse.

“So why are we here Steve?”

“Because Cath is a busybody.”

Danny’s sigh is filled with disappointment and Steve’s stomach clenches.

“Fine. We’ll wait them out.”

The silence is oppressing and Steve struggles to keep quiet when suddenly Danny’s cane hits the ground, hard.

“No. You know what? You’re finally going to listen to me without deflecting or running away! You’re an asshole.”

Steve opens his mouth but Danny is suddenly in his space holding a finger up.

“Shut it. You are an asshole. You were perfectly fine with walking away and not looking back. I get it. I do. But fuck Steve you left me months ago. You twisted your way into my heart, my home, my life and eventually my retirement. And I let you. That is on me. But just when I, we, landed on the same page you dropped me. The restaurant was too much. You couldn’t do it. It wasn’t you. And again I got it. I let you walk out but you kept coming back and I couldn’t handle it. So I pushed you away, onto the dating scene, hopefully giving me a fighting chance to get over you and still I .. Then you told me you needed time. Away from me, from everything you call home and for the last time I told you fine. I thought this is it, I was going to tell you but you shut me down. I just, I desperately wanted to be the reason you’d stay. But this morning made me realise I’m once again not enough. And that’s fine, this is the story of my life. I .. with all my negative thinking, with every imagined scenario you leaving me behind never crossed my mind. That’s how sure I.. Look, I’m sorry. This isn’t fair but damn it! I’m pissed.”

Steve blinks, the hope burst into a million tiny butterflies.

“Okay, sit down before you keel over.”

He helps a grumbling Danny back to the cot.

“I really just meant the restaurant Danno. I could never truly walk away from you. You’re in my heart. I don’t want to give you a fighting chance. You’ve always been enough for me.”

Danny narrows his eyes at him but Steve ignores it and kneels down between Danny’s legs. He tugs him close and buries his face into Danny’s neck, inhaling the familiar scent. Danny tightens his arms around him, mumbling half hearted threats into his shoulder and Steve feels a tension, he didn’t know he was holding, leaving his body. He sags into the embrace, closing his eyes and just breathes for a moment. Eventually he draws back and looks Danny in the eye, he leans in slightly, giving Danny ample time to pull away. But when Danny raises his brow, Steve grins and plants a soft kiss on the corner of Danny’s mouth. Danny huffs and yanks him into a proper kiss, groaning when Steve deepens the kiss almost immediately. He gets lost in the kiss, loving the feeling of Danny’s fingers carding through his hair. They kiss for a long time, mapping each other’s mouths, necking like teenagers on a first date. He slips his hands down Danny’s back, but pulls away when he feels Danny twinge. Right, bruising, from the kidnapping. Fuck.

“Ah sorry.”

“You didn’t beat me up Steve.”

“No but it was ..”

Danny kisses the words out of his mouth and for a moment he forgets everything around him. Until Danny breaks the kiss, sweeping a thumb over Steve’s sensitive bottom lip.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“But Danny, you are the most important person in my life right now and everybody knows it. I can’t do this without you. I’d rather be miserable on my own knowing you are safe than be responsible for your .. So you see now why it’s better for me to leave?”

He looks at Danny willing him to understand only to be met with an eye roll and a cuff to the back of his head.

“I know you like to think you are superman but you do not control the actions of other people Steven. I’d rather have you here, being able to save me than thousands of miles away and not being able to do a damn thing. Afghanistan and Korea taught me that. So if you are going to stay, then make damn sure that this is what you want because if you leave again then we are done. No take backs, no do overs.”

Steve looks away, he’s going to have to stop fooling himself seeing as how he isn’t fooling anyone else. Cath was right, now is the time.

“I hear Jersey is nice this time of year.”

Danny’s laugh is music for his soul and he leans in to taste it.

******

Smiling, Tani quietly closes the peephole in the door. She checks her watch and shoots off a text to Cath ‘mission accomplished’ seconds later she gets a ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ back.

Fin

I seem to be on a roll, part of it is that people keep giving me inspiring prompts and another part of it is the fandom collectively deciding we needed a slightly altered ending. This tiny fix it story is based on a tumblr post from mcdannohmygod, @mireilleleerves tagged me in it and I really liked the idea. I did give it a twist, though. Hope you enjoyed it!

#mcdanno #mcdanno fic #my writing #lizlybear #I hope you guys enjoy it #posted on AO3

31 notes · View notes