#danny would probably be mercenary or
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Dp x idv collab thingy i found from October 2023
Damnnn wonder what character he is
#danny phantom#digital art#art#dp#concept#idenity v#Identity V Skin Concept#dp x idv#imagine if vlad’s Joseph#I would scream#or like wuchang#danny would probably be mercenary or#my artwork#halfa-failure#crossover#fanmade#screaming so much#identity five#identity V#the thermos could be an acessory#tucker would defo be a decoder and sam could be qi#danny fenton#dp fanart#phanart#danny phantom au#womp womp#ibispaintx#cackling
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Apologies for the long analysis!
I think Victoria and Taylor share an interesting character in hating people who serve as projections of themselves
For example, here’s Taylor describing the Merchants:
- Worm 10.2
Remove the Merchant label, and you basically described not only Taylor, but her entire team of Undersiders.
Taylor latched onto the only group that would take her (in her mind), Regent is an addict (for emotions), Rachel is a vagrant, and the entire team are thugs, looters, scavengers, and thieves. Like, it was only an arc ago that Taylor had attacked a PRT supply truck to steal from it, and then the PRT HQ itself. Coil has been supplying drugs to the city to pay for the Undersiders, and both of them mooch off of the US government to “rule” Brockton Bay (which is why they panicked at the idea of the Government closing down the city and paying off the residents).
This goes on even after: Taylor hates the Merchants for kidnapping people for their pleasure and thinks being trapped in one’s body is a fate worse than death… which are things Regent does and she *supports* him (by this point he not only had Sophia but a half dozen other victims as well), and later what she does as Khepri.
Taylor (though some may argue otherwise), never reaches the mass depravity and sadism of the Merchants personally, but she has more in common with them than she wants to admit and would make allowances that line up with them (and hates them because of those similarities).
And then we have Victoria:
- Ward 13.3
Victoria last arc had killed a lot of people. She unloaded an assault rifle into mercenaries, she crushed an entire squad with a cave in, and at this point believed that she had killed Etna in self-defense. We later learn that as GG she had night terrors about people dying, showing that this is a deep seated root of fear, possibly stemming from her Aunt’s murder.
Victoria didn’t do drugs*, but she was an addict: she craved Amy’s love/attention to the point that, to paraphrase her own words, she felt like an animal. How it consumed her life and made her thoughts spiral, even when she tried to learn coping mechanisms to handle the cravings. *There might be some connected shame to her needing to take medication to handle her night terrors as we learn in arc 16.
Victoria didn’t really care about money per se, but it was an important argument she had with Tristan, talking about how she used to watch Carol stay up late at night, trying to handle bills and stressing out about them (probably because Carol was supporting two families by herself good lord). She focuses a LOT on paying back the local residents when street fights get nasty and damages property (:insertmemehere:), or making villains pay for it. And while not necessarily monetary, there is the fact that she craves recognition and - in her own words - hates being ignored. She does want fame and the good that comes with it.
I think a point of diversion is how they handle this being pointed out to them. Well, not necessarily these moments above (though Vic does admit she fails her own benchmark and Taylor almost has an epiphany when Piggot is telling her all the details), but similarity moments.
Taylor:
- Worm 21.2
Victoria:
- Ward 18.9
(Sorry for the large images)
We see that Taylor and Victoria both try to deflect and counter argue when their behaviors are called out (TT noting that she’s not thinking straight and not acknowledging the reality of the situation; Sveta and Natalie both pointing out that Victoria is acting more and more desperate and reckless in each fight and maybe pushing that on others).
And then a key difference happens:
Taylor - in a mirror to her conflicts with Danny - leaves. She doesn’t have a counterpoint to make, so she doesn’t, and just leaves to stew on her anger. It’s not like she could gag TT like she did Piggot after all; the only winning move was to not play. Or change the rules so that she would have the advantage (or gun to the head, as TT so aptly puts it later on as Khepri goes into full swing).
Victoria admits defeat. She treated the argument as, well, an argument and conceded her loss when she found that she had no proper rebuttal. Even though she disagreed (and heavily at that; even trying to forget that she had judged Switch Hitter for breaking down for a bit) she couldn’t find the words to do so, thus she lost. Which later plays out into her deciding to trust others to handle defeating Fortuna (and awakening them) instead of herself.
What do y’all think? Am I just spewing nonsense? If not, any other points that you think where they have similar character flaws but different ways of handling them?
#parahumans#wildbow#ward#worm#victoria dallon#antares#glory girl#ward web serial#taylor hebert#skitter#weaver#Khepri#worm web serial#analysis
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Okay, I just thought of an AU that's either very big brained or very unrealistic, but here we go-
If you're familiar with some of the newer comics, there's a character called "Respawn", who is a clone of Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) and Talia al Ghul, making Respawn Damian's half-brother. What if Danny was also a clone of Deathstroke and Talia? You could even have Danny be a clone of Maddie and Slade, if you go along the lines of a similar AU to the one that can be found on @batpham-discord-highlights from a while ago, which you can find here that Maddie had once been a part of or associated with the League of Assassins.
You can either have Danny be trained by the League for some time, or be taken in by the Fentons very early on. The former would mean he has more training, while the latter would mean he's uninformed, beyond the fact that he knows he has to die his hair. Slade's hair is usually white/really light blond, from what I can see, so if this really is the former (where Danny knows about his creation and his relation to Slade) then when Danny goes through his accident, and he has his white hair, he gets REALLY spooked.
But that also means that Maddie might see Phantom flying around and think to herself, "Oh that's one of Slade's failed/killed clones" or something along those lines. So she thinks Phantom's extra dangerous to her and her family, to Danny especially. And that's why she REALLY tries to take him down.
If this is an AU where Danny is Damian's half-brother through Talia, then that's where we could see some more action. Imagine if there's Danny, stuck in ghost form but unable to access his powers, running around, still kicking ass. Maybe he has a sword or weapon of some kind, and the Batfam are either in the area or find out and they immediately think: "Deathstroke has another kid???"
He's got the pale hair and the green eyes (Lazarus green, and Slade was in the League at some point) for it, after all, right?
So they're really concerned, especially since this kid looks pretty experienced. And now they're worried if this is another Joseph Wilson (Jericho) situation, or even worse, a Rose Wilson (Ravager) situation, or EVEN WORSE, a Grant Wilson (also Ravager) situation. Yes, depending on the child, the situation could be worse or better. And since Deathstroke is technically a meta, when they see Danny use his powers again, they think that he just inherited the metagene, only whatever he got was MUCH more powerful. And then later, if they find out he's actually a clone, they'd think that he was experimented on to be this powerful.
Basically, the Batfam are losing their minds, Danny is confused and just wants to go home, Damian may or may not be getting a half-brother (of which he has rather complicated feelings about), and Deathstroke wants to know this child is really his or not. In either case, he has no intentions of paying for child support. He's a mercenary, not made of gold.
Sorry for the long ask, btw XD But what do you think?
I think this is brilliant and you should definitely write it! I love Damian having a half brother and being salty about it. I also love the thought that Danny would find out about Slade and pester him. Not for money mind you, but asking about hi other siblings and how to contact them. He might also terrorize Slade into family bonding time.
Danny probably gets kidnapped by the batfam for interrogation but he keeps escaping them :)
#the alien answers#im imagining danny as that one picture of a racoon#the one with an evil smile and its widdle hands pressed together
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Fetch Re;Quest Dev Log #1 - 11/15/2023
Welcome to the first official dev log for Fetch Re;Quest! This one is probably loooong overdue, haha...
It's a Sequel
I've been trying to make a sequel to my NaNoRenO game, Fetch Quest, literally since it came out. In fact, if you get the creator's commentary from itch, you'll see I was very confident that I'd be able to get something for it ready to go in just a few short months...
That was four and half years ago 😅 But after many false starts, I finally managed to get something going.
What's It About?
(Side note, I've been using Feniks' Easy Ren'Py GUI template a lot lately, and its a lifesaver. Check it out if you're a fellow dev!)
Hey! I think this might be the first real screenshot I've posted of the game! Isn't Flora's bedroom cute?
Anyway! Fetch Re;Quest picks up directly after the upcoming Fetch Quest Remaster's new "True Ending".
After their one-shot TTRPG session ends, Flora finds herself wrestling with a problem. She has a crush on her coworker and would like to ask him out, but she's a little nervous.
So what does she do? Procrastinate, of course!
Flora sets a one week challenge for herself to grind up her stats in preparation for the final battle- Asking the object of her affection out on a date.
Luckily, she and her coworkers Connor, Todd, and Dan all have the week off. Flora decides to use the various board, card, and video games she and her friends play as a way to mentally level up.
The Stats
That's right, the game is a (light!) stat raiser. Each day, the gang decide between four games to play, each of which are tied to one of Flora's imaginary stats. Each game has its own scenes and helps Flora build up her confidence.
Techno-opolis is a 4X civilization building boardgame that increases Flora's "Acumen".
Of Fiends and Fangs is a social deduction card game about werewolves, vampires, villagers and betrayal that increases Flora's "Charm".
Clockwork Mercenaries is a steampunk monster hunting game that forces Flora to get "Gud".
and Deathpocolypse 2 is a janky ghost hunting game that increases Flora's "Moxie".
But be careful... Flora is easily distracted, and getting too into a game could lead to her completely forgetting about her original mission.
So Who's the Crush?
It's Dan.
Much to my surprise, the tired, snarky GM of the first game was very popular. I got a lot of comments lamenting the fact that he wasn't one of the love interests.
So here he is, the sole LI of Fetch Re;Quest! Sorry to any Connor or Todd lovers. It's Danny's time to shine.
New Characters
Connor and Todd will be prominently featured, but Fetch Re;Quest will also introduce a handful of new characters as well! Here's a sneak peek of about half the new cast:
Nona, Teddie, and David (pronounced Dah-veed) are members of the band Cats Eat Bats! There is one more member named TJ not pictured, but you've already met him, so...
Flora sets herself the daunting task of asking Dan out during their concert at the end of the week, but they show up here and there throughout the entire game. They're especially involved if you play a lot of Deathpocolypse 2!
What's Next?
A large portion of the game is already written and I've started commissioning the assets I'm not making myself. Things are really starting to roll now!
Right now I'm working on finishing the script and making the sprites. Hopefully that means there will be more visual things to show off soon.
Until Next Time
Hopefully these dev logs are at the very least interesting! If there's anything in particular you want to know about the game, feel free to send me an ask.
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Inspired by Teenage Mercenary, a DC × DP AU in which Danny plays the role on Ijin except instead of a foreign country Danny grew up in the Ghost Zone after an ill fated trip wherein Jack, Madeline and Danny entered the ghost zone in the prototype Specter Speeder but failed to return. Instead of growing up with her grandparents, Jazz is taken in by Vlad and then one day an older iteration of Danny emerges from Vlad's ghost zone portal. Jazz bearhugs Danny and Danny hugs her back, in steps Vlad who also hugs his godson adding to the dog pile.
Vlad uses Jazz's preexisting attendance to Gotham Academy to get Danny into the school as a new student and Danny is sorted into the same homeroom as one Tim Drake.
Sorry for the delay on this, Shroud, I wanted to be able to give you something good instead of whatever hot garbage my fevered brain churned out. I mean, it might still be hot garbage, but at least I tried, you know?
Anyway
I LOVE this idea an amount that you probably expected. Let's start with the immediate effects and then push out to when he returns!
Vlad
The objects of his obsession (Maddie and Jack) are gone. Dead. He even goes to the GZ to find them with no luck; just a wrecked Specter Speeder, parts and pieces of Maddie and Jack, and a blood-soaked baby seat.
Understandably, his mental status is completely rocked. If he didn't have the (once minor) obsessions with family and custody of Jazmine, his core would've shattered.
All that to say: this is a Vlad more like the future one in the apocalypse during TUE. He's broken, barely holding himself together for the sake of this broken-hearted little girl, and is forced to move on.
Jazmine
Despite being only 3 at the time of the accident, she has a lot of guilt. She thinks she should have faked being sick, thrown a tantrum, ANYTHING. It takes years of therapy (hence her goal of being a psychiatrist) for her to internalize it wasn't her fault. She was 3. She wasn't even at the house, she was at a sleepover. How was she supposed to stop them?
Despite her (unfair) guilt, she moves to calling Vlad 'dad' pretty quickly. Now, when she thinks of her dad, it's our favorite Green Bay Packers fan. When somebody presses about her bio dad, she has a few pictures, some stories, and a vague memory of a man in orange buckling up her older brother for the last ride he would ever take.
She misses Danny, and often wonders what he'd be like if he lived. Her hardest day, besides the immediate aftermath, was her 6th birthday because that meant she was older than Danny (who was 5 when he died) would ever be.
6 year old Jazz had a very hard time.
Now, at 14, her main concerns are having to move to Gotham and leave her friends Sam and Tucker (not to mention the town she grew up in) behind. She spent the last half year in Gotham, but she thought she was going back to Amity Park
Unfortunately (or fortunately) for her, business is booming, and Vlad signed a contract with Wayne Enterprises that's slowly putting a certain evil billionaire out of business, and he needs to be in city. And she's 14, so she is, obviously, going with him.
Side note, Vlad grew up rich and in boarding schools. He had a Very Bad Time in boarding schools, so that's a no go for him. Also, his existence low-key revolves around his daughter, so he starts going a little canon-level crazy when he can't see her for at least an hour or two a week. (Thank you, Skype! She can enjoy summer camp as long as she has a reliable internet connection!)
Also: Jazz knows this. But her abandonment issues have abandonment issues, so she's totally fine with this: she gets to reassure herself that her only living parent is still (half) alive and healthy.
Also also: thanks to an unexpected vulture visit, she's known Vlad is a half ghost since she was 4.
The Plot Beggineth
Is Beggineth a word? I like it, so it is now.
She sneaks off to say a final goodbye to Fentonworks the week before they're supposed to leave, but Sam and Tucker have a feeling she would do that and follow her.
Most of this chapter would be somber, I think. Jazz visiting the Ops center, the kitchen, and every room to say a final goodbye because, tbh, she doesn't plan on going back here again at this point. She's finally ready to move on.
She tests the lock on the lab as always, and it's locked, but the hinges have rusted and pretty much falls over. Despite knowing how dangerous a maintained ghost lab is, she decends. A last goodbye to the ghosts who never, despite all the wishes and prayers, came to haunt her.
There's the wrecked Speeder, just as her dad found it years ago. The weapons cabinet, the lab tables. All untouched bexause her dad couldn't stand to be here either. She's about to leave when she trips over a Fenton Thermos and lands in the portal.
Despite being very careful standing up, she trips on a wire, and the fact her dad never shut off the power really bites her because she bumps the on button, and boom! Halfa!Jazz.
By this time, Sam and Tucker are there to see her death, and Vlad's not far behind since his wards were tripped when she entered. They're all a little too late.
Not only does the portal activation kill Jazz! It also acts as a beacon to a certain ghost who doesn't remember much, but knows his obsession lies on the other side of the door he can't cross. Until now.
Danny
Immediately recognizes Jazz, though not Vlad.
They don't recognize him either. He's had a multitude of ghost parents, so 4 arms (Pandora), horns (Frostbite), star maps on his skin (Clockwork), and- well, he looks like a neverborn.
Until he switches back, and he's the spitting image of Jack at that age. He knows things only Danny would know. VERY secretive blood tests prove that's Jazz's long (un)dead brother.
Jazz and Vlad are beyond excited to have him back, and so is he! Matter of fact, Vlad's a little confused at how such a gentle, kind boy (admittedly with a lot of sass) has (half) survived the GZ.
All that changes when Luthor does weird mind control on Superman to get revenge (not against Plasmius- he isn't in the know- but against Vlad, who is driving him out of business) (overkill much, Lexy?), and Danny takes him down in like...20 seconds.
Super speed? Well how does your super hearing like that Ghostly Wail? Super strength? Boy, he wrestles with the ghost of the Nemean Lion on the regular.
Lazer eyes? Frost breath. Catch two arms? Jokes on you, he's got 2 more and now you're in range.
Yeah. It's quick. Batman and the bats have to slow down CCTV footage to 1 FPS and it's still faster than the camera could track.
He always went by Phantom in the GZ, so that's his hero name! Vlad still tries to teach him- and learns a few tricks himself. They both teach Jazz.
Tim
With summer over, classes start again!
Immediately, Tim knows something is off. The new kid, Danny, is WAY too nice for Gotham. Yeah, he's sassy, but he'll also make friends with anybody!
Tim tries to teach him the ropes. This causes Danny to believe they're BFFs now, which Tim was NOT aiming for, he just didn't want the cinnamon roll to be murdered.
Only then Danny steps in with a school bully who Tim has just had to deal with because he can't reveal his combat training, and absolutely shreds the guy to pieces. Then, super friendly, gives Tim his backpack back and wants to know if Tim knows any good burger joints in the area.
Detective mode: activated! Tim (thinks he) figures out that this is a Jason Situation. He resolves to keep an eye out on Danny to see if he has superpowers or nah.
Tim: I'll hang around him until I figure him out. Danny: new friend!
Danny starts showing up randomly. A fight breaks out while he's supposed to be in class? Nope, Danny's right beside him kicking ass, but his teacher says he never left the room, and the footage he (ahem) aquired confirms it.
Tim starts making a list of powers and panicking because a meta like this might be able to slow down even Superman! He'd be far more frightened if he knew half of the stuff Danny could really pull.
The Batfam thinks Tim has a crush. There's a lot of 'you can tell us anything!' speeches, Kate reminds him she's lesbian and it's ok with everyone else for some reason, even Jason gets to the point where he's just: Tim. Listen. Bruce is like the only straight person here, and frankly nobody knows about Alfred. It's cool if you want to bring him home.
"He's a meta."
"I'll make an exception unless he hurts you."
Tim thinks: ok, meta is fine. Turn him into a hero! Bruce thinks: ok, going to meet my son's boyfriend soon!
This is, by the way, the while thing. Everyone (but Tim & sweet cinnamon roll Danny) thinks they're dating. It gets to the point where Bruce and Vlad start inviting eachother over for family dinners in the hopes that their sons will just fess up, already!
Everyone (but Tim, Jazz, and Vlad) thinks Danny is either normal, or a meta with some speed and strength enhancements.
Tim tries to explain how dangerous he really is? YES, Tim, we GET IT, Danny is AWESOME and has great hair, JESUS CHRIST.
Hilariously, Tim and Danny keep getting kidnapped, and everyone from the Batfam thinks Tim keeps somehow overpowering metas to rescue them. Ghostfam thinks Tim is now In The Know.
"Hey Mr. Masters-"
"Tim, please, it's Vlad."
"Uh. Vlad? How did Danny get superpowers?"
"Oh, he died."
"WhAt?!"
Phantom and Robin keep teaming up to rescue Jazz, who is doing her best not to show powers so Lex doesn't have a reason to clone her.
Phantom/Robin becomes a thing. Danny/Tim is still not. When they find out, both families are FURIOUS.
"DANIEL JAMES FENTON-MASTERS, WHY ARE YOU CHEATING ON YOUR BOYFRIEND?!"
"TIMOTHY DRAKE, GET DOWN HERE AND TELL ME WHY RED ROBIN WAS SEEN KISSING PHANTOM?!"
Tim starts hanging around the Fenton-Masters more because NOBODY believes he and Danny aren't dating! Danny does the opposite- and both figure out eachother's secret identities.
This leads to further problems because: ok, he likes Red Robin, but he clearly isn't interested in Tim Drake. Ok, he likes Phantom, but Danny probably annoys him.
Tim gets Unmasked by Disposable Henchman #4, and (after getting rid of the others), Danny, to even the score, shows that Phantom and Danny are the same person too.
This leads to further drama. You'd think everything was solved, wouldn't you? Nah. "Dad, please stop yelling at me. Tim IS Red Robin." "Oh, that's a load of licorice, Danny, you're grounded."
"Bruce, everybody- I'm tired of this, so here: Danny IS Phantom." "So now you're lying to your BF AND to us?!"
Finally, they unmask in front of each other's families. Problem solved, right? Right! Except Jazz is kidnapped now, and there's this new scary blue meta looking for a ghost kid, and- shit's complicated.
But that's (realistically) where I'd go with it- romantic comedy/ crouching tiger hidden dumbass style.
All in all:
Danny? Genius when it comes to fighting, the GZ, and math. Dumbass for anything else.
Tim? Genius when it comes to detective work, fighting, and breaking and entering. Dumbass when it comes to human interaction.
Danny AND Tim? Bisexual Disaster Squad for the win!
#danny phantom#inthememetime#danny phantom au#vlad masters#redeemed vlad masters#ask answered#come ask me things!#tim drake#halfa!jazz#tim/danny is wonderful your honor#because they're both dumbass geniuses
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❛ company . silently sit with my muse to comfort them. from cyberpunk joey :))
Loud & Deafening Silence
This last gig was a bust with a capital B. A Bust, if you will. If V was smarter, they would suspect some foul play in the downspiral of the evening's events. Some dude who looked rich and sounded rich with all his fancy words of "benefits" and "pro bono" and all a' that offered Vale a chance at busting into some fancy apartments that were always left unlocked. The owners didn't worry about thieves because they were in a "safe apartment complex", whatever that meant. What it meant for Vale was an easy in and out as they stole whatever stuff they could find in the apartment. Old vinyls, jewelry, designer cyberware to be worn for fancy occasions, and just spare cash left lyin' about.
It should've been an easy W for the merc, but they found themself in the center of what could have possibly been a trap. The first step they took into the unoccupied apartment and the police were already on their way. With just one scent of a Streetkid in a big, fancy condo, the pigs were already charging into this truffle hunt. Luckily, a dear friend scanning the police radio waves was quick to get there and provide V with a safe getaway. When in doubt, Joey was always on the case.
And now Vale was on the couch in Joey's home, clinging tight onto the cat on their lap. As Danny was out of the house, probably doin' some work or somethin', Vale felt so fucking embarrassed about the whole deal. Not only did they totally fall for a corpo set-up, but they also had to get their ass saved by someone else. No matter what they did, their mercenary resume was failing and eating complete shit on the way down. How were they going to become a legend when the only legendary thing about them was how badly they fucked up all the time?
"Joey." Their voice is empty, ashamed. They can't even look her in the eye. "Am I the worst mercenary you've ever met?"
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Book of Boba Fett: 1.3 "Chapter 3"
Was there a title for this episode? Somehow I missed it.
Anyway, uhhhh, what is going on with diamond spider here in the intro? Come on, Disney, up your CGI game a little bit. (Also, did Obi-wan have to fight a giant spider at some point during his stay on Tatooine?)
Oof, these Tatooine "present-day" sequences are a lot of exposition dumping.
Now this, I find interesting. Imagine, if you would, a semi-underground cult following of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader after the fall of the Empire. Imagine a bunch of Tatooine-born young adults modding their bodies the same as Anakin/Vader would have (of course, that's not the reality of it, but history has a way of getting warped). We get zero character development for the Back to the Future/Star Wars hoverboard gang, but there's part of me that would like to believe that the impetus for such body modifications lies in some seriously distorted history re: Anakin, especially considering their employment prospects seem no better under the New Republic than the Empire.
That speculation aside (and damnit, Sith cults would have been the perfect setup for the Sequel Trilogy one day I will outline my plot for the Sequels including all the known characters but with a wildly different plot arg). ANYWAY, Boba Fett's interaction with the BTTF-gang had me doing a bit of whiplash. I went real fast from, "oh no, don't be a Boomer" to "okay, this guy gets it." (And, like, the economics of Tatooine, especially post-Empire and post-Jabba, would be fascinating to get into and tie into Boba Fett's haracter development if this show could actually a) choose a storyline and b) be longer than Disney's seemingly codified 6-8 Episode format. Everything is just so fucking rushed.)
I do have to laugh at the BTTF-gang a little bit. I swear I've seen this party somewhere in [redacted city] before.
Full honesty, here. I prefer Clone Wars Pyke Syndicate. They were creepy as hell and "The Lost Ones" is a wildly under-appreciated episode if for nothing else, the absolute sense of inexorable demise present the entire time (not to mention the A+++++ duel with Dooku).
At least Fennec has her priorities straight. Enjoy the damn food, Boba. (This is like, an almost Hannibal-esque montage).
Exactly.
As for the rest of the episode, nothing much of interest really happens. I always enjoy a good Danny Trejo cameo (I'm assuming he'll die horribly just as he did in Breaking Bad) and I already made my Back to the Future parallels post earlier.
Unfortunately, this episode did rather little to forward the narrative. I also am fully aware of how the next two episodes play out and to be honest, I am not convinced we will get any kind of satisfying story out of this show. I will wait to pass ultimate judgement until the end, but so far, I would have been happier to have stuck with the Sandpeople/Boba Fett finding-a-new-identity narrative and leave out the supposed "underworld" dealings (which have been milquetoast at best).
I will say this. The relationship between the twin Hutts could be read as a little incestuous, which is probably the most interesting thing to happen in the present-day Tatooine narrative thus far.
Ugh. I really want to like this show, but between this and some of Disney's recent Marvel shows, everything just feels a bit...beige, or at least, algorithmic. Like, I love the concept of Boba Fett forging this new identity and hanging up his mercenary boots, but the execution with the narrative has just not worked, especially in the present-day Tatooine sequences. Apparently the Mando episode is very good, so we will see when I get to that installment. Episode 3 = 6/10, mostly for the Back to the Future references.
#book of boba fett#im trying guys really#but this show has issues#and tbh disney needs to get its shit together#hello there#legobiwan watches a television show#i miss tcw
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Movie Review | Silverado (Kasdan, 1985)
After a certain point, probably sometime in the '70s, westerns had become so scarce that a new one, by virtue of being made, functioned as a kind of statement. Certainly movies like Unforgiven and The Proposition are designed as reflections on the genre rather than mere exercises in the form (and this reflective quality extends to movies that traffic in western aesthetics, like No Country for Old Men). But even movies eager to bask in the simple, unpretentious pleasures of the genre come off like statements through omission, by virtue of being so rare. Silverado is one such film, and a pretty good one at that. This is a movie about good guys being good, bad guys being bad, spinning pistols and being crack shots, hopping on horses and riding into the sunset. If any of those things sound good to you, you're likely to have a good time with this anyway, but some astute casting goes a long way in making this work.
The heroes are played by Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner, who are roughly given equal weighting, although Glenn is perhaps the most alpha. Glenn is perfect for westerns, with a face so leathery it might as well match his boots and so craggy it blends into the harsh landscape. (I've heard him described as weird looking, which is a bit unfair. Rugged is a better term, and if you squint, he's maybe even a little handsome.) He has a certain low key presence that suggests confidence without overplaying it, and is instantly credible as a man who's averse to violence but awful good at it if the need arises. He's also the coolest looking of the bunch, with a hairdo and wardrobe that look stylish and modern without compromising the period. (Black Friday is coming up and I can't promise I won't order some western wear as a result of this movie, although I suspect the short jacket he wears for much of the movie would not look flattering on me.) This was during the period when Glenn was being pushed as an action hero, and his work here fits nicely with The Challenge, a pleasingly excessive swordplay movie with a well used Toshiro Mifune, Man on Fire, a thriller whose artfulness better matches the samurai-inspired quality of its source novel than the more jagged Tony Scott adaptation, and Wild Geese II, the sober followup to the cheerful mercenary shoot 'em up. Glenn had also donned a cowboy hat in Urban Cowboy, where he stole the movie from John Travolta, and it's nice to him put on a hat and play a good guy this time around.
Glover is someone I always think of as very old, likely because his best known role includes a famous line of dialogue commenting on his age. This is the role I've seen him where he comes off the least geriatric, and like Glenn, he brings an unforced heroic quality (and his character is a better shot too). His introduction can remind viewers of the extremely lame ways modern movies will try to pander to righteous sensibilities by having a character face racial injustice (or some other kind) in an awkwardly written scene, but the one here works because of two indisputable facts: One, Glover is kind of cool in this, and two, watching him beat up racists is objectively enjoyable. Compared to him and Glenn, Kline comes off as relatively genteel, but in a way that creates tension between his desire for respectability, his violent past, and his need to pick up a gun again for the sake of justice. His might be considered the Henry Fonda role, and he has some nice, maybe romantic chemistry, with a saloon operator played by Linda Hunt. And in contrast to all of them, Costner is the most excitable, bringing some of the spontaneity and anarchic energy of a young Tom Hanks. I've usually seen him cast as an everyman, which can help ground a movie (like in the frantic, paranoid JFK), but it's nice to see him in a completely different mode. (In contrast to Glenn's costuming, Costner's is a little more flamboyant and goofy, in keeping with his character's youthful indiscretion.) If you like these actors, you'll get a lot out of the way the movie savours their distinct presences.
The strong casting carries over to the rest of the film as well, including the aforementioned Hunt, Brian Dennehy as the heavy, a purposefully incongruous Jeff Goldblum, and the list goes on. To borrow a phrase from the We Hate Movies podcast, this was made in an era when studio movies had deep casts (good, recognizable actors all the way down). This is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and like Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which he wrote the screenplay, this is deeply nostalgic for the films of yore, although the innate significance of a western made in this era probably forces it to be more sprawling and quite a bit less terse than the B-westerns that would have inspired it. It's not as good as that movie, as Kasdan lacks Spielberg's immaculate action direction. (Consider a scene where Costner guns down two foes, one on each side. Kasdan chooses to cut when holding the shot would have made the punchline land better.) But at the same time, the baseline of craft in studio pictures at the time was a lot better than it is today, and on the whole this is quite enjoyable, especially if you like hanging out with the stars and spending time in this setting. I know I did.
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Yo Imma dummy and fell in love with your DP Phantasy AU and am brimming with questions. How does Val’s suit work here? What’s Vlad’s situation here? How does partial resurrection work? Like I said, brimming with questions, expect a flood later.
*slams my hands on the table* HI HELLO THANK YOU FOR LIKING THIS DUM AU IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO REPLY IM AKSNDAKSADKJ Im so glad you like this tho i really do qwq <3 <3 <3
Anyway umm be ready for a long answer because BOI I do have a lot to talk
because I did type a lot on the original description and then tmblr goes upload error on me so i lost all that so YEAH i hope u dont mind the long post
Feel free to send more questions tho im always down to talk :DD
So Vlad thing, I havent given that one much thought yet. But this is fantasy AU so he can now finally be the brooding-alone--in-his-oversized-castle vampire that he is
Valerie would be a rogue mercenary / bounty hunter (coz Red Huntress lol). I haven’t thought up how her S2 suit yet but she probably has a cursed gem on her glove or bracelet that slowly corrupts her. Maybe it could turn into armor like Trollhunter style that be neat :3c
NOW! The Ressurection thing!
disclaimer : im makni this with my very limited idea of dnd n game stuff so please do tell if its too far off??
But yeah, for this think of HP as your body hit point, and MP as your magic consist in your soul. When the portal open up on him, it needs something to anchor itself to both realm. The portal use Danny as said anchor and seperate his soul from the body, using the body to anchor to living world, and the soul to the ghost/dead realm. Should either of it got destroyed or killed, the portal would be closed.
Danny’s soul turned into a Lich, and his body is.. well it’s just there i guess. It’s alive techncially (thanks to sam’s ressurection attempt) but it doesn’t have a soul anymore. As a lich you can’t just.. get merge back into your old body. I mean you can possess it but that’s just not the same. Also because of the whole being turned into a lich, his body is basically his horcrux, which is an item lich use to store life force/soul. It what makes Lich almost immortal?? so long the item is not broken. maybe not immortal but you get the gist, it’s like voldie’s horcruxes basically, except he only got one
So now we have a) portal use both danny soul and body as anchor; b) danny’s body is his horcrux; c) if his body or soul is destroyed, the portal closes; and d) if danny’s body died, his lich form is no longer immortal
Sooo, in DnD there’s a system? In which if your health hits 0, you don’t immidiately die. You basically passed out, and then you have to do roll dices to wake up again. But if you got hit again in the 0 HP state, then you die for good.
I’m basically playing around this. If Danny’s HP hits 0, technically speaking he ded. Not full dead yet, but no more life energy in there to fuel/anchor the portal anymore, basically closing the thing completely.
AND it’s dead enough to weaken or alter Danny’s lich status to.. not.. complete undead anymore. So maybe MAYBE they can try to merge both the soul and the body back together. By using ressurection to jump start or force the soul to bound back with the body again
So that’s what Danny Sam and Tucker were planning for. More less sth like this :
why half lich? Because while no longer undead, he’s still technically a Lich sorta so.. partial lich? Also because half lich sounds cool so ye
Hopefully that explains it??
#long post#DP Phantasy AU#im sorry but i'm having so much fun answering this sorry its so long#dp au#dp fantasy au#tgfangirl4eva
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I sort of feel like if Danny wasn’t being attacked all the time his powers would have developed differently. In the first episode he isn’t shown as being particularly violent, or combative. He only fights because his friends and family are in danger.
And why do his powers develop the way they do? Because he needs them to fight.
So, imagine a world where ghosts didn’t pop out of the portal constantly. Where Vlad didn’t send mercenaries after Danny and Jack. Let’s call it the Danny Rests AU.
How would Danny’s powers develop there?
If we say his Obsession is still helping people (by fandom consensus), then his powers will probably wind up being related to however he can best do that.
No ectoblasts, probably. What would he need those for? Maybe he’d develop duplication faster, instead. Or telekinesis, so that he could help people in sneaky ways.
His life in general would be better, probably, I bet. His grades would be as high as Jazz’s. He wouldn’t see his powers as such a burden. He could sleep. He might take a page out of Jazz’s book and help people with schoolwork.
Do you guys have any thoughts?
Let Danny Rest.
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Unexpected Guests
Summary:
Ivy gets a surprise visit from a bored Piper while she's recovering from her injuries from Forest Grove.
MacCready runs an important errand in Goodneighbor.
What's a week off from adventures without a chance to catch up with old friends over drinks and maybe get a little bit of gossip?
Notes:
This is a bit of a self indulgent split pov fic. I’ve had a chance to drop in some character backstory and separate Mac and Ivy and let them talk to other people about each other too.
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 6456 [AO3 link] [Then I Met You - Series Link]
Ivy woke with a start, chest caught in a tight knot from the blinding flash relived behind her eyelids. Still clutched in her fingers from before she drifted off was an old photograph, faded by the centuries, but lovingly maintained. It showed a perfect nuclear family; a smiling husband--dark-haired, handsome and square-jawed--his arms wrapped tightly around the waist of his wife, her rich brown curls perfectly framing a serene expression of absolute love towards the baby cradled in her arms.
Nate, Nora and Shaun Carroll - October 20th 2077 was written in neat looped script on the back - the precious memento had been pressed into her hands by Codsworth as she set out for Concord. Ivy could remember peeking through the blinds of Rosa’s living room - still recovering, still hiding from the world - and seeing them take that photograph. The laughter and the sweet ridiculousness of their Mr Handy attempting to take it first before they resorted to a neighbour.
Her dream wasn’t of that moment though. It was of thundering knocking at her door, of propellers whirring deafeningly overhead, of Nora’s hand in hers dragging her up the hill to the vault, of her throwing more military legalese at the gate guard than Ivy could wrap her head around until the man let them pass. It was of being held tightly in the arms of a near-stranger as the light from a rising mushroom cloud burnt itself onto their retinas, and of a baby screaming in its father’s arms.
Ivy owed the Carrolls her life. Not that the debt mattered much to the frosted dead eyes that stared back at her through thick glass when she fell coughing and half-frozen from her own metal tomb. It was in the ruins of what had been her sanctuary, that she promised Codsworth that she’d do everything she could to find the boy and bring him home - to whatever kind of a home this world had to offer.
Sliding the photo onto her bedside table, Ivy checked her pipboy: 6pm. Shit, when did that happen? Last time her eyes were open it’d been 11.
The dull thrum of conversation from the Dugout’s evening crowd drifted through the thin walls, punctuated occasionally by the proprietor's booming laugh. Even that was drowned out in the wake of the incessant knocking which shook the door.
Her sleep-clouded eyes indignantly took in the lamplit room, wondering why her partner had put up with the banging as long as he had - MacCready’s patience was infinitely shorter than hers at the best of times - but her surroundings were severely lacking one mercenary.
For a moment she wondered if it was him at the door, but he never knocked. Well, not unless he thought she might be changing. He’d learnt that one the hard way; wandering in on her in her underwear, the poor guy had been so caught off guard that, instead of running his smart mouth, he’d turned tato red and nearly smacked his nose on the door when he spun back around.
Ivy pulled her flannel shirt into a more respectable position and swung her legs off the edge of the bed - bare skin instantly goosebumped by the touch of cold air, she dragged the blanket to cover them. As a second thought, she lifted her pistol off the bedside table and tucked it under the blanket, pointed at the door.
“Who is it?” she called across the room at the now incessant knocking.
“Blue, it’s me. If you don’t open up soon, Vadim is gonna think you’re up to something disgraceful.”
Piper Wright. Diamond City’s version of trouble incarnate - if you were a corrupt official at any rate.
“It’s open, no need to bust out those fancy picks.”
“I would never,” the reporter grinned at her, slamming the door and leaning back on it.
In Piper’s hand were a couple of beers – they were probably warm, and flat, but there wasn’t much more to be hoped for two hundred years after brewing. She raised an approving eyebrow when Ivy withdrew the gun and tucked it back on the table.
Hazel eyes, keen with the spark of a bored investigative journalist took in the dingy room; rifles tucked under the bed, packs stowed by the unused chest of drawers, notepads strewn across the table next to a full ashtray and some nuka cola bottles, and a discarded pile of blankets on the sofa where the occupier had kicked them off. Piper frowned, but resisted the urge to lean closer and read the notes.
“So, Blue, what’s kicking?”
“Ha. Ha.” Ivy rolled her eyes, sticking her bruised and swollen ankle out from under the blanket. “You know, not much at the moment.”
Piper ditched the beers on the coffee table, then on second thought used one of them to prod the blankets out of the way from MacCready’s makeshift bed on the couch. With some effort, she helped Ivy hop over to sit in the space she’d made while she took the armchair. Passing Ivy the blanket beer, Piper kicked her feet up onto the table and twirled her own bottle in her hand, watching the flat liquid regain some of its fizz before taking a sip.
“I heard a rumour you were back in town. Thought I’d check in on you, see if there was any news from Nicky.”
MacCready had promised to check for her when they got back to Diamond City, but the meeting had yielded little more than Mac’s frayed temper snapping at Valentine. Followed by a surprise apology from the mercenary. Maybe that was the gossip Piper had come for.
“I’m sure you’d have heard before me if there was,” Ivy huffed.
Passing Piper the photo of the Carrolls, she sank back into the cushions of the sofa and hugged her knee to her chest. “No, not a damn thing. It’s hardly surprising, if anything, my memory’s getting fuzzier.”
Piper stroked her fingers across the glossy picture, a sad smile half-tugging at her lips.
“They look so happy.”
“They were.”
“Still nothing?” She glanced up at Ivy.
There was less hope and more resignation in her eyes every time she asked the question. Back when Nick took her case, both he and Piper had tried to talk her through ways of recalling information, even small details, ways to look past the trauma.
None of it had worked.
“Just the voice.” Smug and malicious. Calling her the backup. “His face is still just blurry.” Even though he’d leant right in and tapped on the glass like Ivy was a goldfish. Bastard.
“It’s not your fault, Blue. You’d already been through so much. That kind of trauma--” The look Piper gave her ached with pity, despite her attempt at an encouraging smile. “You found - you rescued - Nick. If anyone can help, he can.”
“I made a promise, it just doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough.”
“You’re doing so much! We got the article out there.”
Ivy shifted uncomfortably. “All that’s gotten me so far are commiserations.”
“I know saying you were his mom didn’t sit right with you-- I should have warned you.”
Piper reached out and squeezed her hand - it was an apology that came every time they saw each other following that first interview. A more extreme attempt to make it up to her, had been the trip across to Boston Common which had resulted in them fleeing to Goodneighbor back in October.
“I don’t know if you noticed, Blue, but this world is kind of selfish. Honestly, I think people will be more likely to help this way.”
“I know… I know.”
“By the time we’re done, there won’t be a person in the Commonwealth who doesn’t know who Shaun Carroll is. We’ll get him back, I promise.”
“Thanks, Piper.”
The reporter awkwardly cast around for something else to do, and settled on straightening out the notebooks; eyes that didn’t miss a thing, skimmed the scribbled maps and notes that Ivy had carefully taken down as Mac tried to describe Mass Pike from memory.
Ivy flicked the book shut when that questioning gaze fell on her.
“Not to bring up the elephant in the room…” Piper tried a subject change instead and nodded to Mac’s ‘bed’ on the sofa. “But weren’t you meant to be ditching the hired help once you found Nicky?”
“I never said that.”
“So what? You’re keeping him around because you like the stink of cigarettes and, I can only assume, wet dog.”
“Piper Wright, play nice! I know you aren’t his biggest fan, but MacCready watches my back.”
“He watches your butt, Blue. Or what is it you Brits say? Bottom? Bum?”
Ivy tried to sound outraged but she was laughing too hard at the plumy queen’s english that just left her friend’s mouth.
“Piper, he does not.”
Liar. She bit her lip, unable to keep the colour from her cheeks.
He did watch her ass, she’d caught him more than once. Sometimes he wasn’t even ashamed of it, although it was far more fun when he was. And maybe she did put a little more sway into her walk now and again, or lift with her back instead of her knees every so often. But what was the harm in that?
“I should have expected you’d stand up for him. My sources tell me you two showed up in town with him carrying you like a couple of honeymooners.” The reporter crowed smugly.
“Because of my leg!” Ivy cried, responding to Piper’s dramatic spouting of mock-marriage announcement headline, with a playful shove. “And I know your ‘sources’ are Danny. I saw him gawking.”
“Speaking of Danny, he said your mercenary--”
“Not my mercenary--”
“Whatever.” She raised an eyebrow. “Danny said he saw MacCready head out this morning. Didn’t see where he was headed though.” Piper paused, scrutinising her between sips of beer, before her expression softened again. “You don’t know where he is, do you?”
“I’ve not seen him since first thing when he said he was going out. I never even thought he might leave.”
“Leave,” Piper scoffed and chugged the last of her beer. Slapping her hands on her knees, she sprang to her feet. “You know what you need, Blue? A distraction. And something stronger than beer.”
After making Ivy swear she’d get up and showered, and watching to make sure she downed the last of her own beer, Piper left in as much of a whirlwind as she’d arrived, with a promise that she’d be back in twenty minutes with a change of clothes and Ivy had better be ready.
--x--
Nothing says welcome like the stench of urine soaked garbage, MacCready had once complained to Ivy on one of their trips back to the inner city settlement, but despite the ever present smell of tomcat, Goodneighbor still felt like the closest thing to home he’d found in the ‘wealth. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he got no sidelong looks, but fewer than any other settlement he visited, and at least these were somewhat based in fact.
Despite the ache in his head from where a board had hit him, his dumb yet ingenious - if he did say so himself - plan to return to the re-supermutant infested library had paid off. Stowed safely in his pack was a pre-war map that covered the whole area around the Mass Pike Interchange. With it, they could plan a route to take on the Gunners without a repeat of their last disastrous attempt.
MacCready had slipped past the raiders and the mutants en route across Boston, tracing a route that he knew by heart from the months he’d spent there before meeting Ivy. It was late afternoon by the time he sauntered through the gate to Goodneighbor, whistling past the cigarette hanging from his lips. Other than the surly presence of the neighbourhood watch, the streets were quiet; the night owls weren’t up yet and the day drinkers had already shambled off to the Third Rail to dull whatever pain they kept tight-lipped about.
That meant he wouldn’t have to wait for a quiet spell to drop in and see Daisy. It’d been too long since they’d stopped by Goodneighbor and he had a pile of caps burning a hole in his pocket, just waiting to be shipped back to the Capital Wasteland. Not to mention a desperate hope for news from home.
“MacCready, long time no see.” Daisy leant across the counter of the discount store, beaming when she saw him. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about our little corner of the Commonwealth.”
“How could I forget about you, Daisy?”
“Nice try, kid. Don’t think I don’t know why you’re really here.”
She reached under the counter and produced a lockbox which clicked open with a key kept around her neck. MacCready grinned, its contents might be cargo precious to no one but him, but Daisy understood.
He took the letter that had been locked safely away, dragging a thumb over the crayon doodles that covered the envelope before he tucked it securely into his breast pocket to read later when he got a moment of privacy.
The old girl had always been good to him, ever since he staggered into Goodneighbor without a cap to his name, a wild look in his eye and Gunner blood on his face. She’d treated him like family with no explanation other than he reminded her of herself when she was younger – a fuck up too, he’d guessed at the time.
On the anniversary of Lucy’s death, after more than a skinful, Mac had broken down and told her everything. Daisy let him cry it out, never passed judgement, and once his sobs had settled she told him the caravans owed her more than a few favours, handed him a pen and paper and said write to your boy. I’ll get it to him.
So now, more than six months later, MacCready paid her back as best he could - by dealing with trouble - and she kept him afloat with a lifeline home.
“Here on your own?”
“Yeah, the boss is laid up.”
The word ‘boss’ tasted odd on this tongue. It’d been a while since he’d used it to anyone other than strangers. It hadn’t felt like Ivy in a long time, but it was easier not to try and fumble his way through that explanation.
Carefully checking they were still without an audience, MacCready emptied out every last cap he had - digging deep into his pockets and tipping out bags to make sure every last one was accounted for. Daisy wrapped them tightly in fabric to stop the telltale tinkle of metal on metal, adding more as he discovered them squirreled away in various places.
“Laid up, huh? Sounds like there’s a story behind that,” she chatted idly.
“Just ran into some trouble on the way to take out some old trash.” Trouble, with any luck, they’d avoid next time.
“Gunners, huh?” Nothing got past Daisy. “Those boys might not be the brightest, but they’ve got numbers.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, Daisy.”
“And what about your boss.”
Nothing got past Daisy.
“She sprained her ankle. Doc says she’s got to keep the weight off, that’s all.” His explanation appeared good enough for now.
Next for the package were two envelopes; battered from being repeatedly crammed in pockets before anyone could see him writing, opened and reopened as he added more news while waiting for his chance to get to Goodneighbour and send them off. One was covered in messy scrawl addressed to Carys, the other he’d lovingly and carefully addressed to Duncan and was filled to the brim with adventures he wished he could tell his son in person, and a promise that daddy would be home soon.
“Anything else?” Daisy asked, taking the toy car out of his hands and wrapping it with the caps.
MacCready patted his pockets down and felt the hard glossy sheen of a photograph that had remained stowed in his duster for longer than he’d care to admit.
On their first trip to the library for Daisy, Ivy had found a working camera and he’d damn near blinded himself with the flash. After some ill advised chemistry experiments, her and Sturges had managed to develop a single unscathed picture; he was squinting, caught off guard by the sudden light, and tucked into his side was Ivy, smiling over at him like she wanted to laugh. The look had recently started to make the air catch in the back of his throat.
He turned the picture in his hand, half of him wanting to send Duncan something more than words or toys to remember him by, but the other half didn’t want to let the picture go.
“Wait.”
Taking the cap stash back from Daisy, he removed 200 and tucked them back into his pack - it was about time he stopped hiding behind their initial arrangement. As much as he hated debt, he disliked the idea of Ivy thinking he was just there because she paid him, more.
But speaking of debt.
He sighed and pulled out another 300. At least he could finally afford to pay off Whitey’s tab in something other than favours, even though he’d rather send the extra caps home.
“Before you go wandering off with the look of a man who’s lost at cards, I’ve got a little something to send along to Duncan,” Daisy smiled.
She produced a couple of packs of gumdrops and one of snack cakes, and, most impressively, a pristine teddy bear. MacCready stared, speechless. Daisy had obviously gone to a heck of a lot of effort to clean up the toy and get it into good condition. He’d never have admitted it when he was a kid, but he’d have killed for something like that.
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep back the threat of tears at the thought of Duncan’s face lighting up at the sight of it, and instead ducked around the counter to press a sloppy kiss to Daisy’s temple.
“You’re a doll, you know that right?”
“I know. Now get out of here. I’m sure you’ve got plenty more important things to do than entertain an old ghoul.”
Barely making it out of the doorway on his debtors traipse to the Third Rail, Daisy called him back.
“I think you forgot something.” She slid the photo across the counter to him, but had the grace not to tease him. “You be careful out there.”
--x--
“Gunners.” Ivy swayed gently on her barstool, carried on a breeze of cheap vodka and weak beer.
The Dugout Inn was a whole world away from the far shadier, but infinitely friendly Third Rail. That evening the bar was filled with its traditionally grumbling clientele, mostly spaced so that they wouldn’t be forced to interact with anyone they hadn’t specifically come to see. It was about as congenial as her old Metro commute - although commuters these days were more likely to eat you than glare if you tried to force them to converse.
The pair had been getting scornful looks from the second Piper half-lifted Ivy out of her room and to the bar, and that was a good few hours, and a bad few drinks ago.
Dragging the sleeve of her rather too large t-shirt back up onto her shoulder, Ivy knocked back another shot of vodka and pulled a face at the burn in her throat - she’d assumed it would ease with regular applications of the spirit. Her theory was not panning out.
Piper grabbed Ivy by the knees and twisted her so they were facing. The sharp movement nearly knocked her own shot flying, luckily the practiced hand of Vadim - who had learnt from the number of spillages caused by Piper’s over excited limbs - caught the drink before it had a chance to topple.
“Are you nuts, Blue? Why the hell would you go after Gunners?”
“Shh shh shh.” Ivy patted at her friend’s mouth, bemused at her lack of understanding. “They were bothering him.”
Realisation slowly dawned across Piper’s as one hand fished around for her drink, eyes not leaving Ivy’s.
“It’s those big bastards from Goodneighbor, isn’t it? Damn, Ivy, you’re running around on that mercanar— mermenar—” Piper growled at the word that refused to untangle from her tongue. She threw back her rescued shot instead and tried again. “That merc’s vendetta? You remember you hired him, right?”
“Yes, I remember I hired him. It set me back 200 caps.”
“Out of a grand. You sold that shiny laser rifle, remember?”
Ivy patted more frantically at her friend’s mouth in an attempt to stop her loudly spilling any more secrets, especially money related ones.
With the stalls around the market closing and the rumbles of another encroaching winter storm bouncing off the stands outside, a fresh wave of patrons huddled into the muggy gloom of the increasingly packed Inn, bringing with them a cold, damp breeze that channeled straight to the bar each time the door opened.
“Miss Wright!”
This latest wave had apparently washed up Doc Crocker, who greeted Piper from somewhere behind Ivy. The man was a disconcerting sight at the best of times, smiling away like a used car salesman from under a pair of goggles he never seemed to take off - apparently not even in the darkened bar. He beamed across at Piper while he waited to be served.
“Doc. What brings you here?” she asked with the strained patience of a woman who had probably had this conversation many times before.
“Well, I must admit to a small vice,” he tittered away to himself, as though answering questions they’d not heard asked. “A quick drink after work!”
“And the jet,” Piper muttered into her glass so only Ivy could hear.
“You have marvellous bone structure. Beautiful…” Suddenly Ivy was trapped like a rabbit in headlights under the focus of those bug-eyed goggles. “But not perfect. You should stop by the Mega Surgery sometime.”
The surgeon picked up his drink and wandered off to the couches to comment on somebody’s nose.
Ivy prodded at her cheekbones and gave Piper a bemused look. “Well that was charming.”
“Oh, he’s harmless, Blue,” the reporter chuckled, reaching across to smush Ivy’s cheeks. “Aren’t you tempted by a little nip and tuck? Impress your mer--”
“Stop it or I will push you off your stool.” Ivy muffled through her forced pout.
“Come on, Miss Kendrick, a statement for the press… You can’t tell me you’re helping him for no reason.”
Piper didn’t see it, but MacCready was in trouble, Ivy knew that much for sure, but the extent of which was anyone’s guess. Trying to work out what was going on with the guy was like trying to put together a thousand piece jigsaw of throwaway comments, far off looks and names he’d whisper as he tumbled out of bad dreams, except she was missing the lid and all the pieces were baked beans.
“I’m helping him because he asked. That’s basically all I’ve been doing for people since I defrosted, isn’t it? Build me a house, fetch me this paint, get that body out of the water supply.” Ivy ignored the horrified look on her friend’s face and topped up their glasses. “Isn’t it enough that he asked?”
“For you maybe, Blue.”
“Do you want me to call back Crocker? See if we can get your eyes fixed? Your hunger for a story is making you hallucinate, Miss Wright.”
“Fine. Go after your Gunners if you must.” She raised a shot with Ivy and waited for her to drink. “All I’m saying is when you get round to it, the sex better be worth it.”
Ivy choked, spluttering on the alcohol that threatened close off her airway. She turned, slack jawed to her friend, fully aware from the hairs pricking up on the back of her suddenly overheating neck, that the entire queue at the bar had turned to look as well.
“Piper--” A hoarse chastisement was all she could manage.
Vadim’s booming chuckle cut across the bar before Ivy had a chance to gather herself enough to clamp her hands over her friend’s mouth. The women managed to glare him away before he was able to comment. He strolled off, still laughing to himself, to serve the last waiting customer - one of Diamond City’s security guards, a rare sight without a helmet on.
Poor MacCready had already been the butt of far too many of the bartender’s jokes about the amount of time she’d spent shut away in their room. Mac had given up trying to explain himself and by day three of her convalescence he was practically running through the bar to avoid the insinuations. This was going to make things a thousand times worse.
Their reprieve was short-lived; Vadim reappeared with two glasses of good whiskey and a smirk that threatened to split his face in two.
“From a not-so-secret admirer.”
The bald security guard, who was obviously the sender of what Ivy fully intended to be her last drink of the evening, made no move to come and talk to them. He just raised his glass and gave them a nod - his expression unreadable behind dark glasses.
Ivy and Piper raised their glasses and nodded in return before huddling conspiratorially.
“You’re going to give me a reputation, Piper Wright.”
“Renting a room for a week with that mercenary is going to give you a rep--admittedly I’m not helping...” She gave Ivy a cheeky little grimace. “Ugh, Blue, why is there nothing interesting to write about? McDonough is shutting me down at every angle. So much for freedom of the press. I just want a decent story!”
Still hovering nearby, the bartender seized his moment to make a bid for 15 minutes of fame. It wasn’t happening.
“So, Piper, you have finally decided to come publish Vadim’s latest tale of heroism, yes?”
“That’s not news, Vadim. We all heard about the nudity. And the coolant. Earl spread that one faster than a town crier,” Piper snorted.
“See what I mean?” she sighed when Vadim had been successfully shooed away to the opposite end of the bar. “All I get are people telling me stupid stories like that. Whenever I publish the real deal. The truth about what’s going on in Diamond City, everyone looks at me like I’m mad.”
There was something so miserable about seeing Piper dejected. Stuck in a room filled with her critics, not even managing to get a hint of gossip out of her friend. Ivy hadn’t been out drinking with a girlfriend since college, and the more she thought about it... Piper had braved this place with its bad beer and bitchy clientele to keep her company. The least she could do was throw her a bone, after all, two centuries is a long time to go without gossip and a giggle.
“You got me thinking and I have a very serious question.” Ivy downed the rest of her whiskey, which in hindsight was not supposed to be drunk that way.
Piper perked up in an instant, leaning in close as Ivy beckoned her forward until their foreheads were practically touching.
“What is it, Blue?”
“What if sex changed in the last 200 years?”
Piper’s snort was worth everything Ivy was going to have to endure. It was the loudest, most undignified, joyous noise, and set Ivy off cackling too.
“I knew it! I knew it!”
“What? Shut up, I’m asking for a friend.”
--x--
On the other side of town, it was getting to that time of night where MacCready needed to catch himself before knocking ash into his whiskey and picking up his ashtray for a drink. A good time of night.
“Not me, brother.” Hancock shrugged, leaning back on one of the tattered sofas in his rooms in the State House. “You think I go around paying off tabs? You’d drink me out of house and home.”
“You know it wasn’t that kind of tab.”
Mac shifted uncomfortably, glancing across at Farenheit, who lurked in the gloom, leaning against the doorframe, her unimpressed expression lit by the glow of a cigarette. He’d been convinced it was Hancock when Whitey refused to give him a name.
“I know, but I’d rather Charlie didn’t have to dispose of too many Gunner corpses either. They might decide it’s actually worth starting shit.” MacCready might have earned his place as a friend of the mayor, but Hancock wasn’t going to risk Goodneighbour to the Gunners. “Sure you aren’t missing the obvious?”
“Positive. She wouldn’t have,” he scoffed. “Ives had way too much of Charlie’s swill to remember my tab.”
“I should be insulted,” Hancock drawled, without the slightest hint of offense taken. “Your doe-eyed vaultie talked Charlie into coughing up 400 caps for my warehouse job. You sure she was as drunk as you remember?”
“You shoulda seen her at the Rexford,” MacCready settled back into his sofa, wrapped in the warm embrace of a whiskey induced haze, a far away smile sneaking onto his lips. “One minute she’s swaying on her feet, the next she’s got old Fred to offer 500 caps for a trip to Hallucigen. She just smiled and told him it was hazard pay.”
A lazy grin spread across Hancock’s face.
“What?”
“Nothing, man. Just nice seein’ you something other than drunk or sour.” He got up and meandered over to the cabinet, fishing out a bottle to replace the whiskey they’d finished - an action that didn’t fail to get Mac’s attention. “How is the new job working out?”
“Hope you’ve got enough of that to go around.” Without bothering to lean forward, he toed his empty glass across the coffee table for a refill. “Hate to admit it, but i’m actually enjoying the work.”
The ghoul raised an eyebrow at his mucky boots draped across the wood, but filled his glass anyway before kicking his own feet up. “Just the work hmm, nothing to do with the company?”
You don’t know the half of it.
MacCready had been doing a damn good job of keeping things professional - harmless flirting didn’t count - but admittedly it was getting more difficult, and a badly timed return to their room had only complicated matters. In a matter of seconds, keen eyes usually trained to spot weakness and danger, had read details of his half-naked partner’s life that he hadn’t earned the right to see. She had three tattoos - knowing Ivy they had stories behind them, a couple of old bullet wounds had left superficial scars across her upper arm, not to mention the surprisingly distracting dusting of freckles.
All things he shouldn’t hope to study slowly and in infinitely more detail.
“The work is good.”
“Ha. I knew it. Don’t tell me, don’t tell me,” Hancock chuckled. “She’s not as sweet as she seems. You’d never have stuck around otherwise, not unless you got to play bad influence.”
“She’s an angel.” MacCready smirked at the nickname that used to be taunt. He shook his head as an irrepressible grin cracked across his face. Damn whiskey making him loose lipped. And damn half-empty pack on Mentats - the ghoul was on the ball today. “But you should see her pick a lock. Those hands--”
It had come as a shock, but a heck of a pleasant one, that Ives could work a lock faster than some professionals he’d run with. But the image that caught in his head was the way she dragged her teeth over her bottom lip when she concentrated, deft hands delicately coaxing the locking mechanism open.
Once he’d cockily asked her if she could do it blindfolded and without missing a beat she’d told him she could do a lot of things blindfolded - it had made for a distracting fight through the rest of the raider camp.
He sucked a breath in through his teeth and concentrated on lighting his cigarette to avoid making eye contact with Hancock.
“Hey, distractions are good, man. You gotta enjoy your time on this earth,” the ghoul shrugged. “I admit, we half-expected to see you back here by now. The boys had a sweepstake on how long it’d be before that sweet boss of yours sent you packing.”
Of course they did.
“Oh yeah, who’s winning?”
“Yours truly. Everyone else thought you’d be back by now.”
MacCready laughed. If you asked around Goodneighbor about him, most people would tell you “good shot, bad attitude”. Didn’t matter if they’d met him or not, word travelled fast and reputations tended to stick. He’d been a defensive son-of-a-- well, his attitude hadn’t won him any popularity contests.
“Sorry to disappoint but you’ll be waiting a little longer for your payday. We’ve still got jobs planned.”
“I heard you were looking to make a move on the Gunners.”
Mac had given up long ago being surprised by the things Hancock heard on the grapevine.
“That’s the plan. Why? You’ve not had any more trouble from them, have you?”
“Not since you left. They’re watching, but then they’re always watching. It’s the super mutants that are giving us more trouble these days. Gotta say, we miss your gun on the defences.”
MacCready grinned. What little work he’d managed to get out of Goodneighbor, despite his Gunner background, had been from people seeing him in action during those raids. Although drifters and drug dealers didn’t bring in the steadiest or best paid work.
Leaving Goodneighbor with Ivy had been a longshot, but then again those were his specialty.
“Any news from home?”
Daisy wasn’t the only one who knew what drew him back to Goodneighbor so often.
MacCready fished the latest letter from his breast pocket, running a calloused thumb over the doodles on the envelope. “Carys says he’s ‘pretty stable’ - whatever that means - and he misses his daddy.”
She’d said other things too, mostly shit he didn’t understand like the boils had spread from his axillae and groins, but she was keeping an eye on them and they weren’t causing more issues. Yet. And that Duncan was still on his feet, but it was taking a lot of physio and he was hating it. He throws the kind of tantrums baby you would be proud of, MacAttack.
“And he still wants a puppy.”
MacCready bowed his head, the bridge of his nose pinched tightly between his finger and thumb, like that was ever gonna stop the tears prickling his eyes. Carys - or the ‘lone wanderer’ as she was known to people who never bothered to get to know her better - was the only doctor he’d trust anywhere near his son. She and her wife hadn’t hesitated to open their home to his little boy, to look after him while MacCready headed north. But Carys was never one to mince her words. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that leaving the Capital Wasteland meant that there was a risk Duncan could die without him there.
“So.” Hancock wasn’t one to mince his words either. “You made any progress on that cure?”
“You think I’d be sitting here getting drunk with you if I had?” he snapped, then sighed. “Without Sinclair’s password it’s fuh-- it’s pointless.”
Trust issues and desperation were an ugly combination, but he’d had them in spades when he’d landed in the Commonwealth. Sinclair and his partner had looked no better than kids wearing pots and pans as homemade armour. Freaking useless. There was no way he was going anywhere with those amateurs, but that hadn’t stopped him trying to beat them to the prize, only to realise he’d never get through security without a password - one Sinclair had neglected to mention when they proposed the team up. The hoards of ferals were just the icing on the cake. There was no way in hell he was getting in there alone.
On the brightside, if there was one, there was no way they’d have made it through those ferals if he couldn’t. So the cure was still there, just waiting for him to find a way in.
“You know what I’m going to say, but I’m going to say it anyway.” Hancock took a long drag of his cigarette then folded his arms, black eyes studying MacCready intensely from under the shadows of his hat. “You were saving caps to hire some guys to get you into that lab, but you’ve got a partner who - from what it sounds like - would help you for free. What’s stopping you asking?”
“I nearly got torn apart last time I went there.”
He slammed his glass down, a wave of amber liquid sloshed across the wood. Shame reared its ugly head as he tried to forget that he had tried to get Ivy to Malden. And he’d lied to her to do it. But that was before she was more than just a job. His alcohol fogged mind drifted back to the tears that spilled from earnest brown eyes when she told him she thought she’d got him killed.
His voice cracked, “I can’t watch it happen again.”
MacCready stood suddenly, the room giving an indignant whiskey induced spin. Once his eyes could focus again, he checked his watch: 1am. “I should get back.”
At the door he turned, remembering his manners. “Thanks for the drink, Hancock. Sorry about the…” - he waved vaguely - “everything.”
“No harm done,” Hancock smiled calmly. He was always hard to rile, not to mention better at holding his drink than the mercenary. “Hey MacCready, don’t be so hard on yourself.”
—x—
It was late - or possibly early - when MacCready finally made it back to the Dugout. On the brightside, he was in one piece, having luckily skirted round any trouble while crossing Boston under cover of night. On the downside, he looked like he’d swum up the Charles rather than walking - the storm that had finally broken when he was halfway back, and even the brim of his cap was sagging under the weight of water.
He found his partner fast asleep, still fully dressed - in clothes he didn’t recognise - curled up on top of her covers. She hadn’t even stirred when he kicked the door shut. The bottoms of her feet were grubby like she’d been out of the room barefoot - must be what Vadim looked so entertained about when he wandered through the bar.
Smiling to himself, he dragged a free corner of the blanket over her before kicking off his boots, ditching his sodden coat and hat and collapsing back onto the couch. If his luck remained, maybe he’d sleep through any potential hangover.
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Typhoid Mary: feminist femme fatale?
“Season 4 was going to be Typhoid Mary, Alice Eve [who played the role in Iron Fist], we were doing a kind of...I had a much different version of her than what Raven [Metzner] had done in Iron Fist. I was kind of rebooting what she was going to be like, and we were going to do a, you know, kind of a warped love story/murder mystery kind of femme fatale, but kind of a modern-day, feminist version of it, as opposed to kind of the older, sexist kind of femme fatale archetype.”
-Erik Oleson, in conversation with Steven DeKnight, SaveDaredevilCon
As I said yesterday, I have some thoughts about this! If you want some opinions nobody asked for, about a storyline that may never come to pass, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive in.
A femme fatale is a character type with quite a history, that can take various forms. She is always an attractive woman who brings ruin to the man who gets involved with her. But sometimes she is deliberately manipulative, while sometimes she is more a victim of circumstances. She may be evil, or she may be sympathetic/tragic. But whatever her moral alignment, she has two defining traits: sexual allure, and some form of negative consequences for the hero as a result of his involvement with her.
A woman who schemes against the hero, and succeeds in harming him, but without using feminine wiles? Not a femme fatale. The Marvel TV universe has featured several examples on different shows: Madame Gao, Mariah Dillard, Alexandra. And, ironically, the version of Typhoid Mary who appeared in Iron Fist. (We’ll get there.)
A sexy woman who tries to manipulate/damage the hero, but fails? Also not a femme fatale. I wish I could give some examples, but sadly I can’t think of any, in dramas at least. Our current media culture loves a sexy manipulator, no writer ever seems to introduce one into a dramatic story without making her succeed in her schemes, to some extent at least.
Which is unfortunate, from my perspective, because I loathe sexy manipulators. It’s a character type I really dislike, whenever I encounter her. As soon as she shows up, I know the hero is going to fall for her bullshit like a chump, and I’m going to end up respecting him less as a result. I could try to unpack my feelings about this a bit more, but that would probably make a post all on its own, so for now I’ll leave it at that.
This doesn’t mean I hate all femmes fatales—it really depends on her motivation and her behavior. If she isn’t trying to harm the hero, and it happens due to circumstances, then I might like the character, but the story becomes a tragedy. Which is not necessarily bad. Just, you know. Tragic.
Anyway! Let’s talk about Typhoid Mary.
Mary Walker is a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities), and high-level combat skills. In the comics, she is also a mutant with mental powers. She appeared in the Daredevil comics starting in 1988.
In this original version, her personality fragmented due to childhood abuse, leading her to vow as an adult that no man would ever hurt her again. Her personalities are: Mary, who is timid and gentle; Typhoid, who is adventurous, lusty, and violent; and Bloody Mary, who is even more violent, sadistic, and hates all men.
Mary becomes romantically involved with Matt Murdock, who is cheating on his girlfriend, Karen Page, to be with her. At the same time, Typhoid is trying to ruin him, having been hired to do so by the Kingpin. Matt can’t tell they’re the same woman, because when she switches personalities all her bio signs change (voice, scent, heartbeat, etc) so much that he can’t recognize her. (Uh, sure.) She may also be using some of her mutant powers to confuse his senses. I haven’t read the comics, I’m relying here on what I could learn from the internet.
Eventually Typhoid drops him off a bridge, but then Mary finds him and gets him to a hospital, saving him. Karen is with him when he wakes up, but he breaks her heart by calling out for Mary.
This storyline...does not thrill me. As I said, I haven’t read it, but comics writing about mental illness is generally neither nuanced nor accurate, and comics writing about women circa 1988 is also not great, by today’s standards. And comics Matt’s disastrous love life is legendary—cheating on your girlfriend is bad, Matt! Don’t do it!
I have, however, watched season 2 of Iron Fist, where we get a different version. This Mary Walker is a US army veteran, special ops, who was captured by the Sokovian military. Her personality fragmented due to the brutal abuse she received from her captors for nearly two years, until she finally escaped. She got a medical discharge from the army after being diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Her personalities are: Mary, who is innocent and naive; and Walker, who is a ruthless, coolly efficient mercenary-for-hire. The existence of a third, ultraviolent personality, previously unknown to either Mary or Walker, is revealed near the end of the season.
Mary meets and befriends Danny Rand, while Walker is hired by his enemies to stalk him, and eventually capture him so they can steal his Iron Fist powers from him. She later changes sides, getting hired to bring down Davos, the season’s main villain, by Joy Meachum, his former ally.
There are clear parallels to the Daredevil comics storyline, albeit in less extreme form—Mary befriends the hero, but isn’t romantically involved with him; her more violent personality works against him and fights him, but doesn’t try to destroy him.
I enjoyed this version of the character more than I expected to, for a couple of reasons. For one, she is never the out of control, “crazy” stereotype of a person with mental illness. Both Mary and Walker are more-or-less functional adults, managing to live a strange hybrid life, aware of each other’s existence even though they don’t share memories.
But what I especially like is that she isn’t sexualized, at all. It’s incredibly rare, in my experience, to see a young, female antagonist opposing a male hero, and not have her be sexy. Older women are exempt from this obligation (see my list of examples above), but the young ones always vamp it up, and I am so tired of it. I am not opposed to sexy women, but I am very opposed to the requirement that all women must be sexy. (Unless they’re old.) Male antagonists aren’t required to be alluring, so why should women be? (Yes, I know why. I just don’t like it.)
There’s also a lot of potential YIKES in sexualizing a woman with a severe mental illness, which was caused by (among other things) repeated sexual violence. Could it be done in a way that isn’t super problematic? It’s possible, sure. Am I assuming that most television writers would give the subject the respect it deserves? NOPE!
I’m really glad they chose to just not go there. Walker is extremely good at what she does, takes no shit from anyone, and (almost) never gets riled up. After everything she’s been through, nothing in her present life has the power to faze her, and none of the men around her have the power to intimidate her. It’s pretty great!
She isn’t the least bit coy or seductive, and, equally refreshing, none of the men try to sexualize her or hit on her. Everyone Walker talks to knows she is a highly skilled professional, and they treat her accordingly. Or, when someone does disrespect her, it’s never gendered as far as I can remember, and it stops as soon as she calmly states what she’s going to do to him if it doesn’t.
As for Mary, although she has a more feminine appearance than Walker (hair down and loose, makeup), she is also not sexualized. Her friendship with Danny, who is in an established relationship with Colleen Wing, is platonic, and no one else tries to hit on her that I remember.
So this is the version of Typhoid Mary that Erik Oleson was going to reboot, into a femme fatale. Only, you know. A feminist one.
I...have some questions. What does that even mean? What does feminism mean to Erik Oleson? Let’s be real, the idea of a woman becoming an ultraviolent, sadistic man-hater as a result of sexual trauma would have been seen as feminist in some circles, back in 1988 when that version was written. So what, exactly, did he have in mind?
As I said before, sexual allure is a necessary component of a femme fatale. So she was definitely gonna be sexy. And you know now how I feel about sexy female antagonists. As for the “warped love story” part...Matt wouldn’t be cheating on Karen, since they aren’t together (please, for the love of mercy, don’t have them get together right before he meets Mary, we did that once and I do NOT want to see it again), but I am still not a fan of Matt/Mary as a couple.
Her Dissociative Identity Disorder raises some serious issues around consent, and even if the show chose to ignore that, there’s still the issue of past sexual trauma. Unless Oleson’s reworking of the character was going to include a completely different back story, a Matt/Mary relationship would mean Matt unknowingly having sex with a woman who has suffered brutal sexual abuse in her past. Not to mention, having sex with her that only one part of her personality actually wants.
Is it possible for someone with Mary’s past trauma and present mental illness to have a positive sexual relationship? In reality, of course! In the hands of writers with only a layman’s knowledge of psychology, on a show that loves to torment its hero, I wouldn’t bet on it. How do you suppose our poster boy for Catholic guilt would react when he inevitably finds out the truth?
Plus, aside from any issues around Mary herself, Matt starting a relationship with anyone other than the handful of people who already know his secret identity, means a whole new round of Matt lying to someone he cares about. Does anyone really want to see that? I know I don’t. Sure, maybe he’d tell her eventually, but how long would they have to date before he decided to trust her with the truth?
I’m not opposed to the Mary Walker from Iron Fist appearing in Daredevil, if the writers could come up with a new story for her (i.e, don’t just have her repeat all the same plot beats with Matt that she already did with Danny). But bringing her in as a femme fatale really doesn’t sit well with me. We’ve already seen Matt in an ultimately destructive relationship with a sexy, violent, morally grey woman. I really don’t want to watch Round 2: now with multiple personalities!
Of course, maybe we never will. The quote at the beginning of this post is from just a couple of weeks ago (July 25 2020), so Erik Oleson still seems to think it’s a fine idea. But obviously we don’t know yet if there will ever be a season 4, or who the show runner will be if there is. He may never get to make the story he was planning.
So yes, I realize I’m merely speculating about a completely theoretical story that may never happen. But I wanted to write this anyway. I had a strong “ugh, no” reaction to the idea of a feminist femme fatale Typhoid Mary, and I wanted to go deeper and pick apart my reasons for not liking the idea.
To the three of you who have read this all the way through to the end (this post is nearly 2000 words, yikes), thank you for indulging me! These are, as always, my own opinions, and YMMV.
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Tease
Request: “Imagine Sam (Nova) with a girlfriend that knows and love to push his buttons in order to make him flustered? Since he himself always tries do that to her? Thank you love ❤️”
Originally going to be a headcanon but I ended up getting carried away. Tumblr also needs more Nova gifs.
The thing about dating Sam is that he tended to tease you a lot, it’s his way of showing affection. While you’re not as badly teased as his friends are, you still didn’t like the fact Sam knew just what to do and say to make you lose your composure, so you decided it was his turn to get a taste of his own medicine and you wouldn’t be holding back.
“Hey, guys!” You greeted brightly as you plopped yourself onto your boyfriend’s lap.
The conversation between Sam and his team stopped as you pulled out your phone and started to scroll on your Instagram, acting as if you hadn’t just sat on your boyfriend’s lap in the middle of homeroom for everyone to see.
“What are you doing?” Sam frowned, although you could see the growing blush on his cheeks. You smiled in satisfaction but looked back to your phone, “Flash is sitting at my desk and I need a place to sit down.”
“There is literally a desk right next to me.” Sam pointed out, gesturing to the desk. You looked up at him with a look of fake hurt in your eyes, “Aw, am I embarrassing you, Sam?”
Before he could respond, the bell rang, and you immediately sat up from your spot.
“Class is starting.”You hummed as you walked to your usual desk, although you could feel Sam’s emerald eyes on you.
Ava, who typically sat behind you, had watched the entire thing and tapped your shoulder the moment you sat in front of her.
“What was all that about?” She asked, tilting her head. You looked over your shoulder and sent her a wide grin, “Just decided maybe it’s time I do the teasing instead of Sam.”
She rolled her eyes, of course, that’s the reason. Then she leaned into her chair while you looked to the front of the class, Sam’s eyes were still on you and you sent him a smile. Except it became sinister when he noticed the devious glint in your (e/c) eyes and he gulped, unsure what was going to come from that smile.
“She’s messing with your head, dude,” Danny observed when Sam looked over his shoulder for the third time in a minute. Sam only scowled at the ground when he confirmed that you weren’t anywhere near him, “That’s all she’s been doing the entire day!”
Luke tilted his head in confusion, “(Y/n)? How has she been doing that?”
There were a lot of things you were doing to annoy him that he shouted in frustration at the very thought of what you torture you made him endure right after homeroom.
“Don’t get me started! In Math, she kept talking to me like I was a baby in this condescending tone,” Sam began to rant as his teammates rolled their eyes but listened, “then in Biology, she kept asking me what I was thinking, and then she started to act like I didn’t exist in Study Hall!”
“Don’t you do those things to her, sometimes?” Danny frowned. Sam looked at him as if he asked the dumbest question on Earth, “Well, yeah, but it’s cute when I do it.”
“But it isn’t when she does it?” Peter mused.
“Sounds like she wants to get payback,” Luke chuckled, “and it looks like it’s working.”
Sam then stopped in his tracks before glaring at Luke, “It is not! She’s just being annoying!”
Meanwhile, you were retelling all the ways you had annoyed your boyfriend to Ava and MJ, who laughed and snickered as every teasing tactic became more and more brutal.
“You should’ve seen his face when I asked if I was pretty or not.” You snickered, remembering the dumbfounded and hesitant look on Sam’s face since he knew there was no good answer. MJ laughed while Ava shook her head with a wide grin on her face, “You are surprisingly good at messing with a guy’s head.”
“It’s genetic, according to my mom.” You joked but screamed when something crashed through the hallway in front of you guys. Sam suddenly stopped in his tracks and dropped his books before looking over his shoulder as most students did when they hear the crash but there was one sound that stood out to Sam, “That sounded like (Y/n)!”
Luke and Danny looked at each other before looking at Sam and grinning.
“I thought she was being annoying?” Peter smirked. Sam scowled at him, “Yeah but she’s still my girlfriend, now come on!”
When they quickly changed into their hero personas, they ran to the source of the explosion to see that the hallway was destroyed but there was nothing there. Except for a pile of abandoned notebooks and papers, as well as the pencil case that had the key chain Sam got you not too long ago on your last date, and suddenly another scream rang in the air.
“MJ!” Spiderman shouted as he jumped out of the gaping hole, swinging out to catch the red-haired female, and Luke jumped out to catch Ava before she could land on the ground.
“What happened?” Powerman asked as Ava shook her head to regain her thoughts. Then she looked up at her team, “It’s the Beetle, he tried to take one of us but I guess he decided one hostage was enough.”
“Yeah, he has (Y/n)!” MJ shouted as she looked up at the sky.
“Not for long,” Nova growled as he immediately flew after the Beetle.
When he was close enough to see your (h/c) hair blowing wildly in the wind, it only motivated him to fly faster. Meanwhile, you were trying very hard not to look at how far you were from the ground but also didn’t take comfort being in the arms of a very well-known assassin.
“(Y/n)!” Sam’s voice shouted at you.
Despite the loud wind, you looked down to see your boyfriend, now in his hero persona. The Beetle also noticed and stopped flying to face Nova, aiming a gun at him. Nova quickly stopped flying at the sight of the weapon and looked from you to the gun. You heard the whirr of it power up and what you did next no one could’ve guessed.
“Wouwd uwu weawwy huwt a kid, Beetwe?” You cooed in a baby-ish tone of voice.
The Beetle looked down at you, probably wondering what you just said or unsure why you just spoke to him like he was a baby, but then you took that moment to use your leg to kick down the ray gun on his hand and take out one of the rockets attached to his foot.
He soon lost control of balance and ended up dropping you in the process, making you scream as you felt yourself plummet through the air, however, two familiar arms caught you and prevented you from falling any further.
“Did you just babytalk a mercenary?” Nova snickered.
You felt so relieved and hugged him tightly as he started to glide down to the ground. Beetle had ironically crashed into the Helicarrier which saved a lot of time for the team but Sam was just happy that you were alright.
“You guys are alright!” You beamed happily when you saw both MJ and Ava run over to you and Nova. However, Nova didn’t set you down to greet your friends which made you look up at him in confusion.
“You know, this is the part where the hero usually gets a kiss.” Nova purred, enjoying the way you blushed at his words. You shyly looked down, “Well, I guess, but I don’t think my boyfriend would like that.”
Nova frowned in confusion but then he saw the mischievous smirk on your face, “You’re kidding, right? You’re still going to tease me when I just saved your life?”
“Oh, so I guess that means I’m obligated to kiss you, is that what you’re saying?” You hummed.
“What? No! I- you-” then he set you on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest, “You know, I’m starting to wonder what exactly your boyfriend sees in you.”
You smiled as you walked over to your friends, “Ask him yourself someday.”
Nova rolled his eyes, all he’s been doing today as you messed with him was asking himself that question, and he could only come up with one over-used answer.
He loved you, even if you were a tease at times.
#Sam Alexander x reader#Sam Alexander x you#Nova x reader#Nova x you#Ultimate Spiderman#Ultimate Spiderman x you#Ultimate Spiderman x reader#Marvel x reader#Marvel x you#Marvel Nova#Sam Alexander
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AU Info: V; Into The Fire (Pre! Hazbin AU)
What if Charlie never made the Hazbin Hotel due to pursuing a different path in her life (I.E: Following her parents’ footsteps)? Where would Don go following his first yearly cleanse?
This is a verse set before the events of the Hazbin pilot, but can go into a AU verse in where the events never happen at all.
Note: Title comes from this song by Asking Alexandria (Lead singer Danny Worsnop is one of Don’s singing voice claims.)
Don would continue his work as a freelance deliveryman until deciding to pursue a job as an assassin/hitman (For Blitz and I.M.P), a mercenary-for-hire (Probably employed under Alastor or one of the overlords), or a royal guard to the Morningstar Family’s palace.
His idealism is buried beneath his realism and apathic nature, thus he’s very much lost hope in any chances for redemption.
I also feel like he doesn’t get too close to his associates in his job, he’s just there to do the job and get it done right away for the pay, he’s only going to protect them because he needs them alive for both the business and the payment.
Don would try to avoid anything that reminds him of his traumatic past alive life as brainwashed soldier to the Saviors, going quiet or simply telling his associates that he’d rather not talk about his past unless they’ve earned their keep in his trust and respect.
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hey guys ! it is i, fox, who’s probably the only one that sill hasn’t posted an intro yet lol under the cut you’ll find all of the info on my messy ass problem child, zeus ! if you’d like to plot, please heart this post or maybe even hit me up on discord: the world’s last reece king stan#9349
[ reece king, cis male, twenty-three ] did you see ZEUS CAITO ? looking as broke as ever. rumor has it HE is usually - UNCARING and -IRRESPONSIBLE but is also known to be +LOYAL and +LAID BACK. we’ll see about that. they kind of remind me of OPEN SILK BUTTON DOWNS. THE SMELL OF GRASS AFTER IT RAINS. WEED STASHED IN CEREAL BOXES. maybe because they’re a TAURUS. they’ve been living around here for TWENTY YEARS. i wonder when they’ll make it out…
zeus was born in france, where his father is from. his mother, jade, was american, born and raised in crawford. she moved to france for university, and that’s where she met balthazar caito, a local mercenary that made millions running a crime ring a few towns over. the two got married just after a few months of being together, and less than a year into the marriage came zeus.
by the time zeus was three years old, his mother fled back to the united states in the middle of the night--- you see, mr. balthazar wasn’t a good man. not only a criminal, he was also incredibly abusive to his much younger wife, and after jade found out he had plans of one day having zeus run his criminal empire, she chose to risk her own life by flying back to the usa and abandoning her entire life behind.
zeus was mostly raised by his grandfather; his mother worked three jobs to be able to put food on the table, which didn’t leave much time for her child. zeus’ grandfather was already quite old, and even though they loved each other dearly, most of the time zeus was the one taking care of him, and not the other way around.
jade never told zeus the truth about the abuse she suffered; she simply told him, when he was old enough to ask about his dad, that the man had wanted zeus to grow up to be a criminal, and she wasn’t going to let that happen. it had the opposite effect of what she wanted, however, and by the age of thirteen zeus was already a familiar face at the local police precinct.
his mother, either working or exhausted from being overworked, only ever really paid him attention when he was in trouble: and because of that, zeus got into trouble a lot. he would get into fights at school, and he would skip class to smoke weed under the bleachers, and it evolved into vandalizing local stores, petty thieving and quite a few dui’s.
his grandfather, a retired military man, pushed zeus to join the army until the day of his death, but zeus’ 18th birthday came and went and he refused to enlist; he loves violence, and he’ll beat up anyone he thinks deserves it, but zeus is horrible at following orders. he has a huge authority complex, and will do the exact opposite of anything that is ordered to him, even down to the small things.
without any real clues of what he should do with his life, zeus never graduated high school; he stopped going to classes halfway through his senior year, and that was when he started selling drugs. just weed at first, and he would most often than not smoke his own supply, but it’s been a steady income ever since and he doesn’t really see any other future for himself.
after his daughter, danny, was born, zeus tried to find a decent job; he worked for a few months as a convenience store clerk, but was fired for sleeping on the job. he worked at the supermarket for about a week, and some idiot even gave him a job at front desk of the local hospital, but again zeus isn’t used to honest work, so he soon went back to his old ways; his mother, with whom he barely ever speaks, claims that criminal activity is part of his dna, courtesy of his rotten father. zeus, on the other hand, simply believes that there’s no other future in a town like crawford.
PLOTS:
fwb ( both male & female ).
a ride or die best friend.
a roommate.
a childhood sweetheart. ( both male & female ).
someone who feels protective over him.
someone he feels protective over.
mutual hatred.
someone that has a crush on him, but he doesnt even notice it.
a hate-sex fling, where they’ll fight & fuck every time they meet.
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Ryan and Danny have a conversation. While Ryan is a delight and charming, he’s still Syndicate - and Syndicate sons take what they want. The latest in the Honor Bound/Daniel Michaelson AU with @whump-tr0pes! You guys are going to be so mad at us soon…
CW: Referenced past torture, referenced past noncom, some sense of dehumanization but nothing direct
“Come on, jackass, don’t act all shy now. You and I both know I can feel your stupid crush floating all around you like snow.” Ryan elbowed his brother in the ribs, and Danny pushed back lightly, rolling his eyes, red already flushing along his cheeks, nearly canceling out the scars there. “You like him, admit it.”
“Okay, fine, I do.” Danny shrugged, kicking awkwardly at a stick in their front yard. Forty yards away, Michaelson men (and more than a few women) roamed armed and ready for any threat, but so far none had materialized. “I do, I like him.“
"There, was that so hard?” Ryan asked with a tone of exaggerated patience. Danny rolled his eyes and kicked at him this time, only to have Ryan step lightly back and to the side.
"Fuck off. Anyway… Nate does, too - and that’s important.”
“Sure. You’ve had him in your room for like… five days now. That doesn’t happen unless Vandrum likes him, too.” Ryan nodded, glancing over his shoulder back at the house. Nate had moved the battered, beat-up car the team had arrived in behind the house and to the side the day before. The team was due to leave tomorrow afternoon or evening, but Nate had said he had a feeling, something that kept sticking in his mind, and he’d feel better if the car was ready to take the secondary track.
There was a path, through the woods. Rarely used. Wide enough on the ground for a car and covered with the tree canopy over it, so it was harder to track someone from the air. It’d take them through the woods and out the back side of the summer estate grounds, onto a small unmapped road. A getaway road, just in case, that as far as Ryan knew, had never been used.
There had been no threat, nothing to fear - but when Nate Vandrum had a hunch, even Ryan just shrugged and let him do what he wanted.
Jackass.
"Are you gonna date him together, then, or just you?“
Danny’s face went bright red, and he ducked his head low, letting his wavy hair hide it as best he could. Ryan had always liked making his big brother blush - redheads blushed so easily, and honestly, how could anyone expect him to resist? “I, uh. I don’t know. Probably mostly just, um, just me. But we’re not going to-… they’re going to leave like, um, tomorrow night, Ryan. And they can’t exactly just swan in and out of, um, of Mom’s territory.”
Patrick Michaelson was the nominal head of the Michaelson syndicate - but everyone knew that Corrine Michaelson was the one in charge.
“I guess that’s true.” Ryan leaned himself back against a low stone wall that cuts across the front lawn, and Danny stayed standing, rubbing idly at the scars cut so deeply into the backs of his hands. Ryan had spent nearly four years spending every resource, calling in every favor, desperately working to find his brother.
When he found him, Danny was sitting in a mercenary’s truck, and Nate Vandrum was standing in front of a house on fire with seven people inside. Ryan had come with his own people planning to shoot the place until it fell down from all the bullet holes but instead he had found himself shaking the hand of a man who had been held captive alongside Danny and offering him a job.
Ryan put one hand up to his mouth, flickering at his thumbnail with his finger in thought. The breeze was gentle and warm on a pretty day, and he knew their guests were no doubt largely outside in the back by now, enjoying the sunlight themselves.
Out of earshot.
“You could have him stay, you know,” Ryan offered, gently.
Next to him, Danny stiffened. “What?”
“Don’t be mad.” Ryan put both hands in the air in a don’t shoot gesture. “I know what you think I’m about to say. But… you know, it’s been a long time since you looked at anyone but Nate, right?”
Danny went quiet, his blue eyes traveling over the lush green grass, the trees that line the drive up to the summer house, the wide, cloudless blue sky over their heads. “Right.” His voice was soft, and a little shaky, but Ryan knew his brother well - worry but not panic, concern but not slipping away into the nightmares that follow him through the waking world as well as the sleeping.
They might have been skirting a line, but he hadn’t crossed it. Not yet.
“We’re in charge, here,” Ryan said, firmly. “This is our territory. We did a nice thing, a generous thing, offering them safe haven and a way through here without being picked up by bounty hunters or worse-”
“Being picked up by Mom,” Danny muttered, and the two of them snorted nearly in unison.
“Right. Exactly. Look, I like them all-”
“You like everybody, Ryan, that doesn’t mean shit.”
“Not everybody.” No, Ryan wasn’t prone to hatred, but he could feel it. He was the one bankrolling Vandrum’s occasional forays into being a bit of a bounty hunter himself. Nate saw another face he remembered, heard a name that rang in his mind from the fucking parties where the Denners had passed his brother around like a cheap whore, and he came to Ryan for cash, a couple of armed men, and permission to kill.
Ryan gave him whatever he wanted, every single time.
Every new corpse was one less motherfucker walking the earth that had raped, beaten, or tortured his brother. Every dead body was worth the cost.
He and Nate would keep Danny safe, protected, and make sure that he would have what he needed from here on out. What he wanted. And the moment Ryan had seen Danny lay eyes on the man, he had known that Danny wanted Isaac.
“I’m just saying,” Ryan said quietly. “I’m saying that they’re not our friends, Dan. They’re on the run from the Stormbecks, and I like fucking over Collen and her shit family as much as any other Michaelson, but… but we don’t owe them any of this. This is all out of generosity. Goodness.”
Danny gnawed on his lower lip, sitting on the stone wall now, crossing his arms in front of himself. “We don’t have to be cruel, Ryan. Just because every other syndicate is, that doesn’t mean-”
“Yeah, we do. You can’t run the world without at least a little cruelty, you know. We’re lucky to be born on this side of the equation. And we should take the advantages that fortune gives us. You like him.”
“I do.” Danny knew what he was going to say, Ryan could tell. The blush had faded and been replaced by pale uncertainty. Once upon a time, Danny had been angry as shit but he’d been a good syndicate kid, too. It was all still in there, but the Denners had wrecked it, dismantled a lot of the easy assumptions Danny had once held.
Ryan hadn’t been able to save him or protect him, when it mattered. But he could make sure Danny never wanted for a single thing for the rest of his life.
“Then… he should stay here with us. With you and Nate.”
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#honor bound au#ash/Athena au#ryan Michaelson is a good syndicate son#and that means something#the calm before the storm#shit about to get real y'all#but we got more smut for you first!#tw: referenced past noncon#tw: referenced past torture#daniel michaelson's au
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