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sojourner-between-worlds · 4 years

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Burn the Ships, Epilogue

A/N: And now we’ve reached the end. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the final chapter! I have no excuses for why this took so long except for who I am as a person, meaning “I started reading the Power of Five series, and I can’t even,” lol. :P

This started out as completely self-indulgent fluff (with some angst because I can’t control myself apparently) because it’s what they deserve, but honestly now it’s just self-indulgent. Still some fluff but much angstier than I intended, lol. Most of the real fluff got cut because it got too long, unfortunately (this is still one of the longest chapters, and I didn’t even write half of what I had planned, ahahahaha). You’ve been warned. :P

Content warnings: A panic attack, mentions of a nightmare and trauma, vomiting (nothing graphic by any means, but...) . . . . .

Epilogue

February

“I’m sorry.” Alex’s elbows hit the countertop, his head falling into his hands. “I didn’t mean -- I’m sorry.”

“Alex. It’s okay. I’m not angry. This isn’t your fault.”

He didn’t look up. There was glass shattered on the floor now because he’d failed to control his temper. He had lashed out, and now something -- he didn’t even know what -- was broken, and why had he even been angry, anyway? He couldn’t remember, but it definitely was his fault, and he had no idea why Steve was saying it wasn’t. “Sure seems like it is.”

A tired sigh. Alex knew what he would find if he looked up, so he didn’t bother. This situation was all-too familiar, and one of these times Steve was going to get tired of him -- just like everyone else had. Honestly, it was a miracle he’d lasted this long.

“Look at me, please, buddy.”

He didn’t want to.

Another sigh, then: “Alright, just listen, okay? There are three things in play right now, and none of them are your fault. The first is the amount of trauma you’ve been through the last couple of years. The second is that you’re sixteen, which means raging hormones. The third is that you’re still trying to settle in here -- transition into a new life. Any one of those by itself would be hard enough, but you have to deal with all three at the same time.” A pause. “Mood swings are gonna happen -- that’s just a fact. But it’s not always going to be this bad. It’s gonna get better, but you need to be patient with yourself because it’s going to take time. Remember? You need to give yourself time.”

Alex finally straightened up and turned to face Steve, almost still surprised to find nothing but concern and kindness etched on his face where Alex had been sure would be nothing but irritation. “How long, Steve?” he begged, frustration bleeding into every word. “Because it’s been almost two months, and I’m still just --.” He cut himself off, looking away, his gaze catching on the mess on the floor. “I’m still just broken,” he finally muttered.

“Yeah. You are.”

His head whipped up, eyes wide. Surely he hadn’t heard that right?

A smile ghosted over Steve’s lips. “But so am I. You, me, Chin, Kono, Lou, Danny… We all are. There’s nothing wrong with being broken as long as you pick up the pieces. Even then, you won’t be the same as you were. But that’s okay. No one expects you to be.”

Alex didn’t know what to say, what to think about that statement. He’d never considered that maybe it was okay to be damaged.

Maybe it was enough just to try. . . .

March

“Steve, it’s three o’clock in the morning. This has better be important.”

Steve glanced at the clock. “Sorry, Danny. I honestly hadn’t realized the time. I might have...panicked. Just a little.”

“What’s wrong?”

His partner sounded a bit more awake now, at least. He took a deep breath. “What do you do with a puking teenager?”

A startled laugh. “What? Okay, let me get this straight: you called me in the middle of the night because Alex is sick and you don’t know what to do?”

Steve swallowed his pride. “Basically, yeah. Look, the only person I have experience taking care of while ill is myself. You have kids -- more specifically, you have a teenager -- so please just tell me what I’m supposed to do right now.”

Danny’s next words were -- thankfully, mercifully -- serious. “I take it that, since you called in a panic, he is currently, at this moment, throwing up?”

“I’m...actually not sure. I just heard him make a run for it. He hasn’t gone back to bed yet, though.”

A sigh. “Okay, first things first -- go in there so at least you can assess the damage, and he’ll know that you know so he doesn’t try to hide it in the morning. He’ll probably be embarrassed but also grateful. If he’s not ready to go back to bed yet, sit with him until he is, and make sure he drinks something once his stomach has settled a little. In the middle of the night, that’s about all there is to it.”

Steve let out a breath. “I think I can handle that…”

“I would hope so.”

“Thanks, Danny.”

“Yeah, I’m going back to sleep. Try to save any other questions for daylight hours. Now go take care of your kid.”

“Yeah. Goodnight.” He pulled the phone from his ear to hang up, but Danny had beat him to it. Slipping it into the pocket of his sweatpants, he quietly made his way down the hall.

He gently knocked twice on the slightly ajar door before he pushed it open. Alex was on his knees beside the toilet, forehead resting on his arm against the seat, breathing heavily. He didn’t look up as Steve entered. “Hey, buddy. Really not feeling great now, huh?”

Alex let out a huff as Steve knelt down beside him, hand instinctively falling between his shoulder blades and rubbing in slow, gentle circles. “You could say that.”

Alex’s voice came out shaky, and Steve didn’t even bother asking if he was ready to go back to bed; his pinched expression, eyes squeezed shut, and labored breathing were answer enough.

Not a minute had passed since Steve had come in when Alex tensed then jolted back up over the toilet as he gagged. Steve winced as he felt the muscles contracting under his hand as the poor kid heaved. Judging from the sound, there wasn’t much left to even bring up, and if there was one thing worse than vomiting, Steve thought, it was dry heaving.

He wasn’t sure where the words were coming from -- long buried memories of Dorris fussing over him, maybe -- but he started murmuring reassurances anyway. “It’s alright, Alex. Shhh. Just breathe through it. That’s it.”

After a minute or so, Alex finally dropped his head back down to rest on the toilet seat, with a horsley muttered, “This sucks.”

Steve couldn’t help but grin a little. “Yeah, I’ll bet it does, buddy. I’ll bet it does.” . . .

June

“Hey, there you are.”

Alex turned his head but didn’t get up from his chair, wind off the ocean whipping his hair around wildly. “Hey.”

Steve sat down in the other chair, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “Looks like you’re about due for a haircut.”

Alex shrugged, resting his chin back on his knees. “I don’t mind it.”

Steve chose not to say anything, turning to look out at the waves. Six months had passed and yet Steve still had a hard time figuring the kid out sometimes; was what Alex just said the truth or did he not want to ‘inconvenience’ Steve with the price of the service? He would tackle that another day, though; there were other things they needed to talk about right now.

“Doing okay?” Steve always asked when he came home; Alex always answered honestly. That had been the arrangement for a while now; Alex was struggling to settle in still, and Steve couldn’t do anything to help if he didn’t know. “This isn’t exactly prime sitting outside weather, after all.” It wasn’t, truly; the sky was overcast, and the temperature was unseasonably cool. While it wasn’t unusual to find Alex outside, on a day like today? That was questionable, and Steve got the feeling Alex wasn’t having a great day.

“I don’t know.” Alex shrugged. “Just kind of restless, I guess. Needed to get out of the house.”

Steve nodded; that wasn’t the worst answer he’d ever gotten by far. “Yeah, you are here by yourself most of the time. That can happen.” He paused. “That - uh, that kind of brings me to something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about, actually.”

“Oh?” Alex tilted his head so his cheek rested on his knee instead of his chin, his gaze meeting Steve’s again.

Steve knew Alex would balk at the idea before he’d even started, but he had to try. Alex couldn’t stay cooped up in the house for the rest of his life; he needed to get out and live. “I know the last six months have been rough, but I think it’s time you at least start thinking about going back to a public school. You don’t need to decide right now; I just want you to think about it, okay? If you decide you don’t want to or you’re not ready, that’s fine. I don’t have a problem with this whole homeschool thing we’ve got going on now. But honestly, Alex, it might actually help. Going to school is normal. Something that’s always been a constant might help you adjust.”

Alex sat up straighter and stared down at his bare feet. “I won’t fit in. I’m too different from them. They’ll ask too many questions I can’t answer.”

“Maybe so.” Steve sighed. “I’m not gonna force you, but seriously consider it, alright?”

Alex nodded. “Fine. I will.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Steve stood with a small smile. “I’m gonna go start dinner.”

As he headed for the house, he already knew Alex would make the decision that was best for himself, whatever that might be. . . .

September

Alex nervously followed behind the officer. Steve had told him he was always welcome to drop in at the Palace, but this was the first time he’d taken up that offer. If they were busy, he didn’t want to interrupt or be in the way, but it was actually important this time.

Chin was the first to see him as he stepped through the door. “Well, this is a surprise. Hey, Alex.” He turned to the officer. “Thanks for bringing him up.”

As the officer walked away, Lou said, “If you’re looking for Steve, he’s not here. He and Danny are in a meeting with the governor. Should be back before long, though.”

“Was there something you needed?” Kono asked. “I think this is the first time you’ve been in without Steve.

“Not really.” He grabbed onto the straps of his backpack to keep from fidgeting. “It’s nothing, and I’m sure you’re busy with a case anyway. I don’t want to interrupt.”

Lou shrugged. “Nope. Been a slow day.”

“And I doubt it’s nothing,” Chin added. “It’s obviously something if you made the trip down here instead of calling or waiting until Steve got home tonight. So what’s up?”

Alex gnawed on his bottom lip. He didn’t want to bother them with this when he was most likely just being paranoid. It was one thing to talk to Steve and entirely another to bring in the rest of Five-0.

Kono must have sensed his hesitation because she said, “Alex, you know you can talk to us, right? You’re ohana. If something’s going on, we want to help you.”

Ohana. What did that even mean, really? Family, but they weren’t related in any way. He didn’t seem to fit. But since Steve wasn’t here, maybe it wouldn’t hurt? He sighed and, after another moment, nodded. “Okay, but it probably really is nothing.” He pulled out his phone as he stepped closer. Opening his photos, he set it down on the table so the other three could see it. “These two guys have been sitting outside the school everyday for the past two weeks. They never pick anyone up, and no one ever goes over to talk to them, either. They sit there for about an hour after the final bell, and then they drive away. It’s just...weird. And kind of creepy.”

Chin moved his phone to connect it to the holotable. “Do you have any more photos?”

“Yeah, just swipe right. I took one of the plates on the car, too.”

“Atta boy,” Lou grinned, clapping him on the back. “Good work. Let’s see if we can get an ID on these creeps.”

Alex was momentarily floored at the response. They weren’t writing him off; they weren’t laughing or mocking. “You’re...taking this seriously.”

Chin’s hands hovered over the table for a moment before he turned to face Alex fully. “You thought we wouldn’t?”

Alex shrugged. “People usually don’t.”

Chin turned back with a smile. “Like Kono said: you’re ohana now. Better get used to it, because we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

Alex smiled back. For once someone actually had his back. It was a nice feeling -- one he thought he definitely wouldn’t mind getting used to. . . .

December

His lungs felt like they were filled with lead as he desperately tried to pull in another breath, his whole body shaking with the effort. The strong arms around him tightened ever-so-slightly, one hand sliding up to cradle the the back of his head, as if knowing if they didn’t hold him together then he’d crumble into ash.

They do know, he realized with a start. Steve does know. Because they’d been in this same position a million times already this year.

Alex’s fingers involuntarily tightened their grip on Steve’s shirt as another wave of panic hit, blinding his senses, making it impossible to get his lungs to function. He could hear Steve talking, but he couldn’t seem to make sense of any of it. The blood was rushing in his ears, and every instinct was telling him to run, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. So he latched on to the one thing he could find outside the chaos in his head: the thrumming of a heart that wasn’t his. Alex’s own was rapid and hammering; the one he could feel against his temple was calm and steady.

He forced himself to focus on that rhythm -- it was all the proof he needed that he was safe. Another living person right beside him meant he wasn’t strapped down in Cairo or drowning in Cornwall. He was safe. He was okay. Because there was someone with him.

Steve’s words started to filter through the fray: “Try to breathe with me, Alex. Everything’s going to be okay. You’re safe, buddy; you’re safe.”

Reality came back in small doses. A nightmare. 4:41am. An impending panic attack sending him straight to Steve. Collapsing to the hardwood floor beside the man’s bed.

The floor, where he was currently curled up half in Steve’s lap, head pressed into his sternum, fingers twisted in a white-knuckled grip in the back of his t-shirt. Steve’s arms were secure around him, one hand still at the back of his head, the other following a slow path up and down his spine.

He forced his focus to the hand on his back, knowing its purpose from repetition. His breaths were erratic and shallow; the motion was a breathing pattern for him to try to follow. His chest ached, but he did his best to match it anyway; he knew he needed to -- that it would get easier even though it felt impossible now.

“There you go, buddy; that’s it. You’re doing great.”

As the muscles in his chest slowly loosened and he could breathe more normally -- albeit shakily -- again, he let his thoughts wander.

When had he become so comfortable with this arrangement that it had become second nature to run to Steve when he started to panic? The first time he’d had a panic attack in front of the man, he’d pushed him away, embarrassed, unwilling to let him help. He had managed to keep them a secret for an entire month, and Alex had thought Steve would be angry when he found out. But he hadn’t been. He’d understood. Since then, they had talked about triggers and what helped and what didn’t. And, at first, it had been weird to let Steve help him, but now…

Now it was comfortable.

“How you doing, Alex?” The softly spoken question brought him back to the present.

Alex shifted slightly. He knew what Steve was asking, but all the same, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander back over the previous year. Once, he had thought that he’d never get to truly know what home felt like; he had thought he’d never have another family. But now he thought maybe he did.

Maybe this was home.

Maybe this was family.

If it was, Alex knew he never wanted to let it go.

“Good,” he rasped. “I’m good.” . . .

“This is my family. I found it all on my own. It’s little and broken, but still good.

Yeah, still good.”

--Lilo and Stitch

. . . . .

Tag List: @diekatimitdemhutohnehut @ghostly-homo @grungeweasel @just-add-butter

#alex rider #hawaii five-0 #crossover fanfiction #fic: Burn the Ships #I may well write more in this verse someday #because I love it #and I have plenty more ideas #mostly stuff that didn't make it in this chapter #but I still want to write it so #lol

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apple-grass-and-smiles · 4 years

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OTP Tag

I got doubled tagged by @marthaskane and @brvceselina both of whom are lovely.

Pick 10 of your OTPs from different fandoms without reading the questions and then answer them. Then tag 10 other people to do the same.

Anakin/Padmé (Star Wars)

Selina/Bruce (Gotham)

Peter/Olivia (Fringe)

Colleen/Danny (Iron Fist)

Peggy/Steve (MCU)

Percy/Annabeth (PJO)

Karen/Matt (Daredevil)

Sydney/Vaughn (Alias)

Rose/10 (Doctor Who)

Peeta/Katniss (Hunger Games)

(I ship WAY too many ships with people with names that start with the letter ‘P’ and I’ve always kind of known it, but never realized how much of a pattern it was until now.)

Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

It was from basically the very first interaction, so the “he’s the one” in Lightning Thief. It did not take much for me to ship people then (it still doesn’t now.)

Have you ever read a fic about 2?

Yes. I’ve also written it.

Has a picture of 4 ever been your screensaver/profile pic/Tumblr?

No, since I'm notoriously unwilling to change anything ever.

If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

I guess I wouldn’t be surprised since they’re not technically together?

Why is 1 so important?

DUDE! Because it was one of the first couples I truly loved and they’re messy but can be so, so good for each other and because they’re so good at offsetting each other because in so many ways their polar opposites and because I honestly have both characters embedded into my very soul and personality so I would not be me without them.

Which one has the strongest bond?

My gut reaction is to say either Percy and Annabeth or Peeta and Katniss, but they’re all pretty close. I think it’d just depend on what kind of bond.

How many times have you read/watched 10′s fandom?

An obscene number. I think I watched the entire series of movies at least 4 times over the course of the week of Thanksgiving last year and that’s not counting the years I devoted to the fandom prior to that.

Which ship has lasted the longest?

In terms of me loving them, Anakin and Padmé. In terms of being together, Steggy is implied to have been married for quite a while and we see Sydney and Vaughn at least 10 years into their relationship on-screen, so probably those two.

How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They have never broken up and I think Rick Riordan would need to be put into witness protection if he ever tried to break them up.

If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive: 2 or 8?

Both would make it out. Batcat are freaking superheroes with cool gadgets and Sydney and Vaughn are insanely good spies with cool gadgets. If one has to die, it’s Batcat simply because Sydney and Vaughn know how to play the long game and just wait stuff out and Batcat would try to save everyone.

Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Not really. I think they kind of kept it under wraps for an episode in S2, but they’d really just gone on a single date at that point.

Is 4 still together?

No and the group chat has thousands of words about why that’s stupid.

Is 10 canon?

Yes. After three years of ship wars, I got the pleasure of being right.

If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

So, this is an unfortunate question considering I actually have a THG couple on here. If they’re coming into the arena with their stuff, then the Doctor wins because he can just chill in the TARDIS. If you’re just dropping them into an arena with clothes and that’s it, Anakin and Padmé win because Anakin will just overpower everyone.

Has anyone ever tried to sabotage 5?

Only time itself.

Do you spend hours a day going through 3′s tumblr tag?

I have in the past. I usually just end up reading meta on specific blogs now though.

If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break forever or else she’d break them all up, which ship would you SINK?

Karen and Matt because they’re not even technically dating and the only other non-canon couples are Batcat and Danny/Colleen and I have two groups of people who I think I’d very deeply hurt if I chose either of those two to break up.

I honestly don’t know if I have ten people to tag so this is an open tag to anyone, but especially to the usual suspects ( @gothamstreetcat, @claraaoswald, @the-wingway, @ironwingblog, and @bpdanakins all of whom are amazing and way cooler than I am .)

#guess what #I did a second tag #I'm on a roll #silence emily #em does stuff (shocker)

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flowerfan2 · 5 years

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Bound To Be Together - Chapter 14 (9.14)

McDanno, M, A03 A continuous story of Season 9 codas exploring the bond between Steve and Danny as they grow even closer.

Chapter 14 - 9.14

Danny’s standing in front of the open refrigerator, debating whether he has the energy to make something or if he should just eat store-bought rotisserie chicken for the third night in a row, when he hears his front door open.

He turns to see Steve bounding towards him, a big smile on his face as he looks around the house.

“Grace isn’t here,” Danny informs him. “She’s at Rachel’s tonight, remember?”

Steve comes to a stop in front of Danny, still smiling. “I know, you told me like three times.” He holds up a bag. “I brought dinner.”

Danny’s a little taken aback. Not upset, of course, just a little thrown off by all the enthusiasm directed his way. Although of course it’s true that Steve doesn’t reserve his affection only for Grace, he definitely has been showering her with love lately. Danny shouldn’t be jealous of his daughter – she deserves all the love in the world, no question. Anyway, whatever else is going on, Steve is clearly eager to see Danny right now, so he needs to get with the program and enjoy it.

“Okay, thanks.”

“Steak burritos, medium salsa, extra sour cream and guac, just like you like ‘em.” Steve says proudly. He grabs Danny by the arm and drags him towards the table. “Come on, I’m starved. It’s not as if you have any other food in the house.”

“This is all too true.” Danny detours to get them each a beer, and they settle down to eat. “What’s the occasion?” He almost kicks himself for asking. Danny’s never been good at just accepting happy moments when they come along.

Steve isn’t deterred, however. He cheekily wipes a bit of sour cream off the side of Danny’s mouth with the tip of his finger and grins. “Don’t act so surprised. Can’t I do something nice for my, uh, friend?”

Steve’s cheeks pink as he stutters on the last word, and Danny relaxes. This, he can deal with. Giving Steve shit is familiar territory, even if this topic is new to them.

“Your friend, huh?”

Steve pokes around in the bag the food came in, apparently very curious now about whether there are any paper napkins left in there. “Yeah, my friend.”

Danny sits calmly as Steve fully explores the bag, finding two plastic forks but no napkins, and then another long minute goes by as Steve realizes that Danny is still waiting for Steve to give him a better answer.

“What, you want me to call you something else?” Steve asks, defiance battling with a hint of shyness.

“I dunno, what do you think you should call me?”

Steve smirks. “How about a pain in my ass?”

“That can be arranged.”

Steve’s mouth drops open, and he’s momentarily at a loss for words. Danny grins, and turns back to his burrito. But before he can take a bite, Steve’s in his space, pushing him back in his chair for a hard kiss.

“You’re feisty tonight.” Danny breathes hard when Steve lets him go, one hand still holding his burrito. “Not that I’m complaining.”

Steve shrugs and sits back down, as if nothing had happened. “Just felt like kissing you.”

“Because I’m your friend.” Danny drags the word out. Steve looks annoyed now, though, apparently disappointed that his actions can’t actually substitute for words. “Honestly, Steve, what are we doing?”

Danny hadn’t meant to turn the conversation in such a serious direction, but it’s what he’s been thinking for weeks now, and at some point he’d appreciate actually knowing the answer. He isn’t particularly proud of the fact that he got drunk and threw himself at Steve last week, and would like to assume that Steve’s response means that they’re back together, but drunken orgasms do not a relationship make.

Steve turns in his chair to face Danny head on. “Do you think I’m screwing around with you, Danny, is that what is it?”

It actually hadn’t occurred to him that there could be any malice in Steve’s cluelessness. “No, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Steve says, affronted. “Do we need to put a label on it? You really want me to call you my boyfriend?”

Danny is about to give in, to say it doesn’t matter, that labels are dumb and unnecessary and he doesn’t care, when he realizes that he does. He does care.

“Yeah, actually, I do.”

Steve tilts his head, his eyes locked with Danny’s. “Okay.” He nods. “Okay.”

“That’s it?”

Steve leans close and brushes his lips across Danny’s mouth. “Yup, boyfriend, that’s it.” He sits back. “I didn’t know it was important to you. You should’ve said.” All defensiveness drops from his expression, and he looks soft. “I want us to be together, Danno. You make me happy, and I want to make you happy. That’s how I feel. I know I haven’t been good about saying it, and I’m sorry.”

Before Danny can absorb the impact of Steve’s unusual sincerity, Steve drops to one knee, a mischievous expression on his face, and Danny spares a fleeting though that maybe Steve still has the ring Harry made him use on the op in Laos. “Danny Williams, will you be my boyfriend?”

It’s cheesy as hell, but Danny kind of asked for it. Steve’s words send a little tingle through his entire body. “I will, you goof.” Danny tugs at Steve’s shoulders and kisses him properly, letting Steve wrap his arms around his waist and hold them close. Danny’s rather pleased at their progress.

As the night wears on, Steve shows no sign of heading home, and before long they’re half-asleep in front of the television, a cooking show droning on in the background. Steve starts to rouse himself, looking at the time.

“So what is Grace up to tonight?” Steve is trying for casual, but his parental-like worry clearly shows through. Danny understands – ever since her accident, it’s hard to be nonchalant about his daughter’s whereabouts on a Friday night.

“She’s home with Rachel, a few of her friends are staying over with her. No driving, no parties.”

“Good, good.” Steve sits up, stretching. “That girl, Annie, from our case this week? Kinda reminded me of her.”

Danny has heard all about what he missed, including the very interesting fact that Flippa’s friend Luka was a counselor for LGBTQ kids, and no one on their team had blinked an eye. More than that, Five-0 had unanimously supported Annie’s need to get away from her intolerant parents, clearly understanding that who you love can’t be “treated” out of you. It gives him hope for how the team might react to learning about him and Steve.

But that’s not a conversation for right now. Danny’s pushed enough for tonight. “She reminds you of Gracie?” he prompts.

“Yeah. Sure of herself. Not afraid to stand up for what she knows is right.” Steve turns to Danny. “You raised a good kid, Danno.”

“You might have had something to do with that,” Danny says.

Steve shrugs, a little embarrassed. Danny knows he’s proud of how Grace looks up to him, and what an important part of her life he is. He should be. Grace is a better person for it.

He stifles a yawn, and glances at the clock. It’s late. “You gonna stay over?” Danny asks.

“Is that a boyfriend thing?”

Danny groans. Steve is going to milk this as much as he can. “Sure, whatever.”

Steve is nodding, but then he rubs his face and grimaces. “I need to feed Eddie. Want to come to mine instead?”

Now, that really is a boyfriend thing, right there. Because it’s already almost midnight, and their date, such as it was, is truly over. In fact, it might be past boyfriend stage, and well into old marrieds. But curling up with Steve in his big comfortable bed sounds amazing. Danny doesn’t even mind the sound of the waves anymore; it just means he’s home with Steve.

As Danny predicted, they pass out almost as soon as they get under the covers, and he doesn’t mind a bit.

In the morning, Steve gets out of bed with the dawn, off to do his usual imitation of an overachieving fish. Danny rolls around in bed for a while, but can’t really fall back asleep. He finally gives up and gets out of bed, pulling on shorts and a t-shirt. He puts the coffee on and dozes at the table while it brews, then fills two mugs and heads outside. Sitting down by the beach while Steve does laps has become something of a morning ritual for them. It’s soothing.

The sun is just starting to warm the air, and Danny is wishing he was wearing something warmer, when he realizes that Steve isn’t actually swimming. Instead, he’s conked out in the hammock.

Danny leaves the mugs on the lanai table and walks slowly towards Steve, not wanting to wake him. He’s got on an old sweatshirt and his swim trunks, his feet bare, and he’s curled up on his side, one hand tucked under his head.

“Steve?” Danny whispers, and there’s no response. Danny’s chest aches with concern. He’s noticed how tired Steve has been lately, even though Steve tries to hide it. It shows around his eyes, and on his face. He’s pretty sure it took Steve days to recover from that crazy free dive, although of course Steve wouldn’t tell anyone. It’s too important to Steve to be everyone’s protector, the superhero Seal they can all count on to swoop in and come to the rescue, no matter the personal cost.

Danny doesn’t like to think about whether it’s just a natural consequence of getting older combined with Steve’s general penchant for extreme physical activity, or something more serious (don’t think about radiation poisoning, he chants to himself). Either way, in contrast to all that exhaustion and stress, Steve looks downright peaceful there on the hammock, a gentle breeze ruffling his hair. Danny wants to wrap his arms around him and never let go.

So he does. Or, more accurately, he tries. Steve mumbles at him when Danny climbs into the hammock, and there’s a moment when Danny worries that he’s going to tip them both over, but after a minute they get their balance back and Steve shifts so Danny can curl up against his chest.

Steve’s warmth chases the chill away, as do the sleepy kisses Steve plants all over Danny’s face. “Love you, Danno,” Steve breathes out.

“Love you too, babe.”

It’s a damn good start to the day.

#H50 #mcdanno #episode coda #Hawaii Five-0 #Danny Williams #Steve McGarrett #my fic

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cowandcalf · 5 years

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H50 9.11 – 'Hala i ke ala o'i'ole mai'

Part 1 – The Hug between Steve and Danny

The reason why I look at an episode the kind way is that I'm never unprepared. Yes, there are of course moments, situations that suck and the way the plot is unfolding is not always the way I wished it to happen. But that's all I get. That's the show – let's say I know my opponent after over eight years (producer, director, writers…). I know what I'm going to get, no surprises there.

There's no reason for me to fight that because the only thing that would break would be my heart. I try to deal with it because Hawaii Five-0 is my happy place. I'll try to explain here why I loved and enjoyed this episode and why I’ve really liked it a lot and why it shook me, made me cry, let me muse over scenes and tiny, important moments and all the unsaid words between the short sentences.

There's also the other side. I know the writers have their ideas and they always put a meaning behind situations. I try to look past my McDanno wishes, past my own version of Five-0. I've engaged in this version the writers have chosen for this episode. I truly believe that there's always a deeper meaning behind actions, situations and why they are handled the way we watch it on the show. I also believe that the writers care for the characters and their actions. I really believe that, and I try to understand the meaning they've put in there.

So, let's have a closer look.

Steve's and Danny's meeting in the very beginning was way different than I've expected. At first, of course, I was disappointed, and I've thought – c'mon guys! That's all you give us? This lousy hug between my guys? That's some big heartless shit you let me see there! BUT ohmygod – there's a reason why the hug felt cold, distant and unreal. And Danny sensed that immediately. Steve pushed him away, non-verbally, but with all the power he could muster to make Danny keep a certain distance.

Because... this hug? This was in no way a Steve hug.

We all know how Steve hugs – especially Danny: It's totally emotional and his whole body is involved. It's encompassing, engrossing with his emotions. Steve likes to tug Danny to his chest; wrap him up in his body, one hand always goes up and sneaks towards the nape of Danny's neck. Steve often props his chin on Danny's shoulder and he normally closes his eyes. Both his long arms are tightly looped around Danny as if he never wanted to let go again.

Steve would have definitely closed his eyes with this hug in Montana because Danny would have turned this one in a special, important, meaningful hug. But Steve didn't let him! He couldn't, and he didn't want Danny to hug him with all the emotions that would have been there.

Danny knew the moment he got out of the car that things have changed. Steve's in Montana for over four weeks now. Danny came all the way to see Steve because apparently, Steve didn't have any intention to return home and somehow, he hadn't been in no mood to tell Danny what his plans were. Danny asks him if it wasn't time to go home. It's been four weeks now. There's a worry in Danny's voice. He's testing the waters and his face shows everything. He has no chance to get closer to Steve. Steve has shut him out. And it hurts Danny, but he can't do a thing about it. He only can accept what's happening and roll with it. There are some lingering touches of Danny's hands, briefly but the contact is there as if he hopes that Steve might cave, might want to be closer. Steve doesn't. Steve actually feels uncomfortable when he hugs Danny. That's a first.

Watch Steve, take a real good look at him. He's dirty, a stained tee shirt, dirt smudges (no blood) all over his arms, up to his biceps – on both arms. It seems as if he wears this shirt for days now. His face shows alert and there's this streak of being haunted. Steve looks stressed out, clinging with the teeth to reality.

I look at Steve and see all these details and something big is missing – his energy field (aura) has shifted like massively. A new message wafts around him like fog. It's a huge difference compared to the time before Joe's death and this is not only because he can't deal with grief. There's something bigger that hollows Steve out, that makes the invisible tags around his neck more visible. There's a message on this tag 'I can't give a shit anymore because I'm not worth it.'

When Danny arrives there's this moment. Steve crouches down behind this big tub, his gaze close to feverish and intense, with wary eyes he watches the car. Danny gets out – and Steve literally slumps, and he even closes his eyes for a moment. He fucking folds into himself on the spot when he recognizes Danny. And I can see how Steve steels himself, hardens everything inside him to be able to face the moment. To face Danny. Steve can't stand to see Danny because it hurts so much!

The explanation for that moment and this awkward hug is given further into their mission. Steve mentions to Catherine that he's responsible for Joe's death. If he hadn't had trusted Greer and if he hadn't had a blind spot for her, he maybe would have sensed that's she's going to betray all his team and get everyone killed. This revelation Steve is having right there – Jesus fucking Christ – that meaning just chopped my heart to pieces. He believes that he's stigmatized or at least he has to make sure this doesn't happen again. Many people who Steve has trusted so far have turned against him and people have been killed because he didn’t realize that they were betraying him.

Wherever he goes, whoever he meets somehow, they turn their back on him and fucking kill or hurt people he loves! Steve believes he must protect people from himself. He believes that he's not worth to be loved because it always ends badly somehow. He wants to protect Danny and that's why he shoves him away. He doesn't want Danny to get hurt, and in his grief-befogged mind, Steve's really convinced that everyone is better off without him. Of course, he loves Danny so much and of course, he would need him by his side, craves for his touch and his comfort but Steve doesn't allow himself this wish anymore. He only brings danger and death, grief and unhappiness and that's why he creates a distance, an iron wall – and this just kills me.

Whatever Steve does, whomever his loves at some point Steve meets death and it would kill him if something happens to Danny. So, the awkward, cold, distant hug at the beginning makes way more sense with this background. Steve can't stand Danny's love and his care because he is convinced that he isn't worth it. Steve wants nothing. He has nothing to give. I can't even –

Steve's also not interested in Catherine. (More to this later). He just walks by her with this bucket filled with water and with an energy of a damn executioner he walks into that room where his victim sist, tortured, bloody, beaten into a pulp of raw meat – done by Steve and Danny's understanding grows that something big shifted in Steve and that nothing can be fixed right this moment.

This Steve, the hangman, the how-to-torture-a-man-trained SEAL Steve is scary. Seriously. That's some tough shit happening right here in this room. I was a bit shocked to see what the events have done to Steve's heart. Danny knows he just has to let him have his way. He knows Steve has to find Joe's murder, the one man who ordered the kill. Without this satisfaction Steve wouldn't come back from his personal hell he's living in right now.

There's more – I mean…fuck this is so intense!

Part 2

Part 3

#H50 #alex o'loughlin #danny williams #steve mcgarrett #h50edit #my edit #h50 9.11 #the awkward hug 9.11 #mcdanno #cowandcalf writes #my toughts #shit this is so long and I haven't even started

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erienne1983 · 6 years

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Thoughts about episode 8x10, Danny’s dreams, the restaurant, the future

I know, I’m late, but I absolutely wanted to say something about episode 8x10 and doing so now that the season is over makes me realize even more, if possible, how pivotal this episode is, how big of a milestone it is. I think it’s one of those episode where every line, every moment, every detail, even the tiniest ones, have a weight, a deep meaning and this makes it very similar to another milestone – another masterpiece – and I’m clearly talking about episode 5x07, the wonderful, unforgettable 100th episode. That episode let us enter Steve’s heart and mind in a privileged way, made us know him in such a deep way, and episode 8x10 did the same with Danny. Such a gift, one I’m really thankful for, because getting to know these characters is always a wonderful, touching, emotional experience.

So here I am, giving my personal interpretation of what I saw, focusing especially on Danny’s “dreams”, because I think that those scenes gave us so many meaningful keys to get to know what is in Danny’s mind, what is in Danny’s heart. Let’s always remember, watching these scenes, that what we see is a visual representation – and how amazing is that? – of Danny’s wishes, fears, thoughts (even those in the back of his mind), feelings and emotions.

The first “dream scene”, the one at the restaurant, says so much. Above all, it shows the reason why Danny dreams to open a restaurant, the sentiment behind this choice. The reason is in those pictures on the wall, family and friends, the reason is in one beautiful line, so touching and full of emotions… no wonder we hear it from Steve… no wonder Danny dreams of hearing Steve saying those words: “Grandma Williams right now is smiling down on you, boy”. It’s everything in these words, really, it’s everything in those pictures.

Cooking for someone is an act of love, Danny knows that very well, his family taught him that and he learned the lesson so well. And he met someone who sees things the same way: let’s just think, how many times during these years we saw the Ohana reunited in Steve or Danny’s house, celebrating something or simply sharing some funny, sweet moments together.

With that line, Steve explained things so well: this dream is rooted in Danny’s past, in those sweet, loud memories, in those handed down recipes, is anchored in Danny’s present, the way he loves now, the man he became, is anchored in Steve, who shares this dream with him, is projected in the future, their future.

You know, when you cook something for someone the best moment is when you wait for them to taste what you cooked, you keep looking at them to see if they liked it and when you see they did… well, that makes you happy. So, we all know how Danny felt when he saw that Steve simply adored his new recipe… most of all, we all know why Danny had Steve try the recipe: because his opinion is the one that matters the most for him.

There are other super interesting details in this restaurant scene… I love that Danny imagines Steve like this absolutely charming maître who makes sure everyone is happy with the service, everyone feels special and important. I love how comfortable Danny is in the kitchen, I love that Steve comes in and says there is “another full house”… yes, our pessimistic Danny is no more pessimistic: in his dream the restaurant is a big success. Deep down, he knows that he and Steve, together, are capable of accomplishing anything. Then, the way Danny feeds Steve in a sweet and intimate gesture.

Last but absolutely not least, what about that “serve ‘em, Danno?”… if we think that at first Danny pretended he didn’t like to be called that, because it was just something between him and Grace … now, it keeps being something between him and the three most important people in his life: Grace, Charlie and Steve. How sweet is that?

Then we have the scene with Danny and Grace, right before Grace and Will’s wedding, that takes place at Steve’s house, and that’s already a heartwarming detail, to say the least… I loved so much the way Danny reassured Grace and calmed her down, with that endless love he has for her and that we’ve been lucky to witness all these years as it grew stronger and stronger… even something as beautiful as marrying the love of your life can be scary… but the thought of not getting to spend the rest of your life with that person is way scarier. Even after so much painful experiences, Danny still believes in love, he knows you need to nurture it, you gotta work at it, but… remember those words? “I believe in you, I believe in us and that’s all that matters”: when you met that perfect match, you have nothing to fear.

And of course I have so many things to say about the way Danny imagines Charlie’s police academy graduation. Imagining Charlie as a cop proves that, even if he’s planning to do something different in the future, Danny still values so deeply this job, he thinks it’s a vocation, a calling, something that requires you to be tough, but also kindhearted, honest, smart, righteous, a true protector. With this dream, Danny shows the faith he has in the man Charlie will be and wishes the best to the people who will get to be protected by him.

There are some interesting details about this scene… one is more emotional: you know, when Steve says Charlie told him he’s his role model and Danny protests a bit… that’s actually Danny’s thought, let’s not forget that everything in these dream scenes comes from Danny’s mind and heart: he thinks Steve will be Charlie’s role model, he has no doubt about it. He knows Charlie will become the man we saw in this scene because of him, but also because of Steve. And that’s one of the greatest proof of trust and esteem Danny could ever give to Steve, along with that "If something happens, I need you to take care of Grace", back in episode 3x06.

Let’s also notice that both Steve and Danny clearly noticed the way Tani and Junior flirt with each other and in this dream Danny imagines them as a married couple, also giving Junior an Afro, because he heard Tani saying he’d look cute with that style and this calls for a little anticipation of the next scene, the one with Steve and Danny as old men: when Steve gave himself a buzzcut, Danny told him ”why don’t you just stop already and let Mother Nature do her thing? She’s on her way, I promise”. This was Steve’s answer: “I’ll have you know that I will go to the grave with a full head of hair”. And guess what? In Danny’s dream, Steve, even as an old man, had a full head of hair.

Another cute detail of the graduation scene: Steve wearing the crazy colorful socks Danny adores.

And then, the cherry on top, the scene where Danny imagines him and Steve as old men, sitting on the lanai of Steve’s house… “Clara called for you, yesterday. I forgot to tell you”, Steve says to Danny. Clara is clearly Danny’s granddaughter, maybe Grace’s daughter, maybe Charlie’s… can you imagine Danny as a grandfather? Such a sweet thought.

It’s very interesting the way Steve says Clara called: she called Steve’s house, thinking she would find her grandfather. So… can we guess that Danny imagines that that won’t be just Steve’s house, but that will be their house? He imagines he and Steve will live together at some point.

He imagines his granddaughter wanting to become a cop, asking him if he would change anything about his life. He imagines himself telling her he wouldn’t change anything. He wouldn’t change anything about that life that brought him to grow old with Steve.

And you know, that light that hides Steve’s ring finger in the one moment where we could see it tells me Danny could still be afraid of giving a name, a definition, to what he feels and what all these things he dreams mean, but I can’t help but thinking and hoping they could mean he shares the same dream I have for these two since the first time I saw them, back in 2010.

As I wait to find out, I just want to say thanks for this episode, for this story, for the heart you writers put in it. It’s something wonderful and I’m truly grateful for it.

#McDanno #H50 #Hawaii Five 0 #Steve McGarrett #Danny Williams

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mcdanno-love-marvey · 7 years

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MCDANNO FIC REC LIST

okay so here’s a whole lot of fics, i tried to get a mixture in so i hope you enjoy xo

SENTINEL/GUIDE FICS

Care and Feeding of Lieutenant Commander Steven J. McGarrett by darkmoore

[It took a parking garage falling onto Steve's head to bring out the Sentinel in him. It took Steve coming online for Danny to be able to claim his place as a Guide. But things are never as easy as they appear to be.]

Sensory Overload by darkmoore

[Steve goes in sensory overload, Danny thinks he can't help and Catherine is about to lose her temper with these two stubborn idiots. Sentinel and Guide relations at their best ... ]

Everything He Wanted by Brumeier

[Danny was a Guide who thought he could never bond, until he was called in to help a Sentinel in distress. And then everything changed.]

You’ve Got The Best Ass by Alliemackenzie28

[Danny is a Guide, but he's having trouble finding a match.]

Back To Back (They Faced Each Other) by harrycrewe

[Danny didn’t even realize that Steve was a sentinel when they first met. That probably said a lot right there about what kind of a guide Danny was.]

Sentinel And Guide by Elayna

[Every fandom needs a couple of Sentinel-fusion rewrites of the first episode, right? This is mine. I've only seen two episodes of The Sentinel, so this is my take on Sentinel fanon as generally found in Sentinel/SG:A fusions. I won't even pretend it's faithful to Sentinel canon, though I tried to not drift too far from H5-0 canon.]

DIFFERENT JOBS AU

Happiness is Homemade by ellievolia and sirona

[It's not easy, running a Jersey-style bakery in Hawai'i. Things get a little easier (and a whole lot more fun) once Danny meets Chin and Kono's friend, the one who enjoys leaning against his glass cases despite all of Danny's dire warnings, and starts food fights for no reason whatsoever.]

A Fielder’s Choice by Carryokee

long af summary but basically the boys are baseball players

Ten Sessions by Leslie_Knope

[In which Danny hurts his knee, Steve is a physical therapist, and their worlds collide.]

A Jug Of Wine, A Trebuchet, and Thou by Siria

[In which Steve and Danny are medieval history professors.]

it's not what you're sure of (it's what you don't know) by somehowunbroken

[Art thief Steve McGarrett and his team come up against FBI Special Agent Danny Williams, and things spin wildly out of control from there.]

UNDERCOVER FICS

Beneath The Trident by kristen999 [Steve and Danny go undercover to investigate the death of a SEAL before a sensitive joint Special Forces’ operation. With Steve as the SEALs' new team leader and Danny as the reporter assigned to shadow him, Danny finally gets to see the hidden depths of the real Lt. Commander McGarrett.]

All The Way by VictoriaAGrey

[Danny has lost count of how many times he and Steve have used the sexual tension between them for undercover work, only for it to be bottled away after the op is over. With Saint Michael as his witness, that ends tonight.]

Ever Since I Met You by mymcdanno

[Written for forgetmenotswhynot on Tumblr, who asked for a day in the life of McDanno.]

SOULMATE AU

Simple Facts by kurikuri [“You don’t want a soulmate,” Steve says, like it’s a fact of life: the sky is blue, his Glock holds twenty-two rounds, and Danny Williams does not want a soulmate.]

A Marked Interest by Chimera01

long af summary but basically Danny ignores his soulmark and he really really should not have

Hit Me With Your Best by Liu

[In hindsight, Danny blames it all on the adrenaline. Since the moment he first looks (and draws a weapon) at McGarrett, his life is a constant swirl of one near-death experience after another, and the adrenaline, sloshing through his veins due to the neverending panic, is absolutely the reason why it takes him a year to realize he’s found his soulmate.]

Uhane Hoa by Amboseus

In a world where people have a mark on their body leading them to their soul mate, Danny is not believing it at all. Ignoring his own mark he lives not thinking about it, until a certain Seal just had to destroy his plans (as always). [Available now from Steve's POV.]

The Boy With The Hibiscus Soul Mark by GeckoGirl89

[When he's a child, Danny frowns every time he looked at the soul mark on his arm. It's some kind of fancy pink flower, painted onto his skin with precise detailing, that Danny doesn't recognize. It would actually make a very nice tattoo. For a girl.]

KID FICS

If You Ever Need Me I’ll Be There by conformityissuicide

[Steve and Danny didn't realize how much they relied on each other. It took months of support and the innocent insights of their two little girls to realize just how much they needed each other.]

JEALOUS FICS

You Changed My World by mymcdanno

[Danny doesn’t like how the people at the bar are looking at Steve.] this fic was actually written for me by main gal who I love to pieces and you should actually just check out all her fics

Green and Red by JaneDavitt

[Danny's not jealous. Much.]

ASSUMED/FAKE DEATH FICS

A House Is Not A Home by writerdragonfly

[Danny is gone and everything is wrong. Steve fails to deal. Or, Danny is forced to play dead and no one bothers to tell Steve it ain't real.]

Shall Pass Through Fire and Water by Zinnith

[Steve is not getting out of that building alive.]

STEVE DEPLOYED FICS

Ain’t Always What It’s Supposed To Be by brahe

[And Danny can't help it, the way his eyes get watery, because he doesn't know how to explain to his daughter that the other half of his life is leaving, shipping out to war and maybe never coming home. Or, Steve gets deployed, and Danny's trying really hard to not turn their lives into a Lifetime movie.]

Meet You On The Other Side by starlit_cities

[It's been 48 days] Steve goes MIA for a little while and yep i cried

Break Upon The Waves by somehowunbroken

[When a case draws Steve back to the SEALs and the life he thought he'd never be pulled back into, he comes to some realizations and has to make a choice.]

Hung Up On You by AlamoGirl80

[There are a couple things Steve didn't count on. Missing Danny this much is one...]

OTHER FICS – mainly just cute af

So Have I Loved You by Brumeier

[LJ Comment Fic for Happy prompt: Any, any/any, the happiest moments in my life have all been since I met you

In which Grace has a surprise for Steve's birthday and there's not a dry eye in the house.]

Forever-Love by paradis

[Danny has to fall in love before he turns thirty-five, or he’s alone for the rest of his life. And not just fall in love, but truly, madly and deeply in love.]

Unfair by mymcdanno

[Written for earthdragon1 on Tumblr, who asked: "I'm a sucker for Emotional!Danny Whump. I'd love to read something where Steve maybe shoots his mouth off then realizes later Danny was really *really* hurt by it, like maybe even cried because of it, and then he kinda falls all over himself trying in his Steve-way to make it up to him."]

Kauoha by ember_firedrake

[Hawaii Five-0/Ella Enchanted fusion. Danny is cursed with obedience. He must obey any order given to him.]

Resolutions by delighted

[Steve makes a New Year’s Resolution to hug Danny every day until he can work up the courage to kiss him instead.]

If You Die I’ll Kill You by tailoredshirt

[Steve decides to participate in the Death Race, an extreme obstacle course/competition so intense that very few even finish. Naturally, Danny is violently opposed to this idea.]

PINING

Comfort In The Waiting Room by mermaid

[After two years as partners and friends, it's no secret that Steve and Danny care about each other. But when Grace undergoes emergency surgery, Danny is stunned to discover just how deep those feelings run.]

If The Morning Light Ever Calls You Backwards by stellarmeadow [Steve's been waiting for Danny to leave him for Rachel for months. Now he's convinced it's happening.]

Pitching Woo by SBG

[In which Danny pitches (and then accidentally catches) woo.]

Legacy by stellarmeadow

[One story that weaves throughout all the eps in season 7.]

That Constantly Strange Geography by OfALaurel

[In the aftermath of their fishing-hijacking adventure, Danny grapples with the feelings he already knows he harbors for Steve, and Steve grapples with Danny’s obstinacy and selective blindness. Pining, frustration, and misguided matchmaking ensue.]

Home is Just Another Word For You by morganoconner [It's not that Danny misses his partner; that would be ridiculous. Maybe it's just heartburn.]

MARRIAGE FOR CONVENIENCE

hoʻokāne by Siria

[As active as Danny's imagination was, however, as strong as all his fears could be at the thoughts of his little girl being taken away from him again, he'd forgotten to factor in one very important element: Steve.]

PRE-SLASH

Overwhelmed by dawnchsr

[Coda to episode 2.15- Danny and Steve have to come to grips with what happened in the wake of Grace's kidnapping. Note: Pre-slash Steve/Danny] so they don’t get together in this one but it’s one of my fave ever mcdanno fics – warning it contains super sad Danny.

#mcdanno #mcdanno fic #mcdanno fics #mcdanno fic recs #mcdanno fic rec #list #h50 #hawaii 5 0 #hawaii five o #hawaii five 0 #hawaii 5-0 #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #mcdanno fanfics

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 Marvel, Captain America, MCU Easter Eggs

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This article contains The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 spoilers and potential spoilers for the wider MCU.

Well, it’s finally here. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 6 was an action-packed, but rather messy season finale for the show. Hopefully it isn’t a series finale, and we’ll see it continue in season 2 as Captain America and the Winter Soldier, but that’s an argument for another time.

For now, we’re here (as usual) to dig in to all the Marvel Comics and MCU references the show gave us this episode. We’ll be honest, it was relatively light on those, but there’s still plenty to speculate about. And if you spot anything we missed, be sure to let us know in the comments!

The New Captain America

Sam’s incredibly sharp-looking Captain America costume is a perfect live action translation of the version he wore in the comics. That costume was designed by Carlos Pacheco, and first hit the pages of Marvel Comics in October of 2014, in All-New Captain America #1. Even then, it felt like a perfectly movie-ready design, but to see it translated to beautifully to live action is a real treat, and this is an immediate contender for “best superhero movie or TV suit” right now. The additional stars and stripes motif added to the underside of the wings here seems to be an MCU flourish, but that’s just one little way they managed to improve on perfection.

It’s safe to assume that Sam’s new wings are vibranium, or at least vibranium laced, just like his shield, considering that it was made for him by the tech geniuses in Black Panther‘s Wakanda. There’s something to be said here about how America is stronger when it works with and accepts help from its allies, as opposed to going it alone. Just witness how much better Sam’s wings hold up under pressure than Walker’s homemade shield.

Similarly, Sam primarily uses the shield and the wings for defense. Compare that to how Walker wields his shield, as a slashing/bludgeoning weapon for offense. It’s a nice illustration of two different interpretations about how best to utilize America’s power.

Bucky

Bucky’s leap from a barrier-crashing motorcycle in episode 6 is a nice callback to Steve’s very similar move in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. As a voice barked “stand down” from a SHIELD quinjet, Steve hit a barrier on his bike and was thrown forward into the action.

We also see Bucky straining to open the back of the van with his vibranium arm, but he doesn’t flex as hard as Steve did when he stopped Bucky taking off in a helicopter in that same movie. Both Sam and Bucky reflect elements of what made Steve an exceptional Captain America in the finale, and prove to be a terrific team.

Bucky gives Steve’s notebook to his therapist as a thank you gift. Honestly, she deserves less. It belongs in a museum.

U.S. Agent

John Walker manages to control the effects that the super soldier serum is having on his psyche when he gets a second chance to prove himself, dropping his damaged makeshift shield and realizing he needs to prioritize human lives over vengeance.

Val says that people will need a “US Agent” soon, and not a Captain America, as things are about to get “weird”. US Agent, of course, was the codename Walker took on after he stopped being Captain America in the comics. Speaking of which, Walker’s new costume is basically identical to his Marvel Comics US Agent costume and it looks really great here. We wrote more about the Marvel Comics history of U.S. Agent here.

Why are Val, Walker and his wife back in the courthouse where Walker got court martialed to try on his new US Agent costume? Feels like pandemic-related restrictions forced the show to film all those scenes at the same time, doesn’t it?

Isaiah Bradley

Sam returning to properly make sure Isaiah Bradley gets his due once again mirrors the excellent Truth: Red, White, and Black story by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker. There it was Steve who made sure that Isaiah’s deeds were finally known to the world.

Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of Isaiah, but you can bet we’re going to get more of Elijah down the road. Between introducing two members of the Young Avengers in WandaVision with Billy and Tommy, and the impending arrival of Kate Bishop on Hawkeye later this year, young Elijah is due to get himself some red, white, and blue duds of his own.

Sharon Carter is the Power Broker?

Yes, Sharon Carter is the Power Broker. No, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. She took Sam, Bucky, and Zemo to see super soldier serum scientist Dr. Nagel in his lab. He was working for her! She let that dangerous shit play out, which was very much against her interests! What! No. What! The man must have been confused as hell in his final moments.

Sharon uses the same tech that Natasha Romanoff used to disguise her face during the climax of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

We find out that Sharon was indeed behind Karli’s initial rise to Flag-Smasher power, after taking her in and giving her a chance in Madripoor. Sharon is willing to forgive the betrayal if Karli and her friends come back to the fold, but Karli’s too far gone for that.

Sharon gets a pardon from the US government. I guess it wasn’t that hard after all. Maybe you could click this link while you’re here.

Is this the first time Sharon has been called Agent Carter in the MCU? And is there some way to bring Peggy back to kick her narrow Power Brokering ass? How dare you besmirch the Carter name, girl.

Sharon’s “mercury vapor” bomb that takes out that poor dude kind of feels like the dust that the Red Skull used to use during the Mark Gruenwald era of the comics to kill people…which left them looking like red skulls. Uh-oh…this brings us to the next question…

Who was Sharon calling at the end? Val? Nick Fury? Her Skrull bosses? Alexander Lukin? Something is definitely wrong here. It’s possible that she’s working with Val to put together a team of Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts, but nothing makes a lot of sense with Sharon’s arc in the MCU in general, let alone this show.

Zemo

That is indeed Zemo’s butler Oeznik (played by Nicholas Pryor) who kills the fuck out of the Flag-Smashers in the police van with a remote controlled incendiary device. What an Evil Jarvis. In any case, Zemo got at least some of his wish, as now there are a few fewer super soldiers running around the MCU.

Among the books that Zemo is reading in his cell is Alexander von Humboldt’s Views of Nature – the German polymath, geographer, naturalist and explorer was the first person to truly make note of human-induced climate change. But we can only assume that the book Zemo is holding close to his heart as he hears the fate of the Flag-Smashers is the Machiavelli tome that Bucky rudely interrupted earlier in the series.

Despite the news saying that there are no suspects in the Flag-Smasher bombing, Val knows straight away that it was Zemo who had “the last laugh”. Huh. “Couldn’t have worked better if I planned it myself,” she jokes. “Oh, well, maybe I did. No, I’m kidding, I didn’t. Or did I?” Who the hell knows, Val.

Batroc

Is Batroc dead? Batroc had better not be dead! We demand more Georges St-Pierre in the MCU! Ze Leaper has managed to escape certain death multiple times in the MCU so far, and we’d like that trend to continue. He’s such a great all-purpose, kinda hapless baddie, that we’d love to just see him show up for the occasional slugfest. Or hell, maybe a Batroc fight can be a kind of “right of passage” for anyone else who has to wear the Captain America costume down the road!

And hey, he even did some leaping in this episode!

The Flag-Smashers

Sam’s face-off with Karli Morgenthau is a lot like Steve’s final face-off with Bucky in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when he tries to talk her down instead of fighting back.

The Raft

The Raft was first introduced to the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, but the fact that they’re going out of their way to mention it multiple times in this show, and the fact that the Flag-Smashers were destined for there (after all, they’re super soldiers) should be an indication of just how important that place is going to be to the MCU going forward. I think we can safely expect both Val and Sharon to be doing some recruiting out of there.

The New Falcon?

We only get a brief moment with Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, as he gazes adoringly at the TV broadcast with Sam as Captain America, but hopefully we get more of him in the future. After all, Joaquin became the new Falcon when Sam wore the red, white, and blue in the comics, and he DOES have Sam’s old wings.

Where is Steve Rogers?

You know, if they keep making that joke about Steve being “on the moon” maybe there’s gonna turn out to be some truth to it. Is this how the MCU will introduce the “man on the wall” concept from the Original Sin story in Marvel Comics? OK, fine, probably not.

The Bridge

Sam having his first big public moment on a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn, where New Yorkers see him, cheer him, and implicitly accept him as a hero feels like moments in Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man movies, particularly the Brooklyn Bridge scene in the first one, and the subway car scene in Spider-Man 2. This is decidedly less heavy-handed, though.

Ayla

GRC representative Ayla is not from Marvel Comics. We don’t get her last name, and she shares a first name with extremely obscure Nightstalkers villain Rotwrap. Look, there’s not a lot going on in this episode, we’re trying.

Speaking of things we don’t have a lot on…

“Government Official”

Can you believe that despite appearing in nearly every episode of this show, Alphie Hyorth’s bearded senator is still only named as “government official” in the credits? What are you hiding Marvel?!? Maybe he’s actually Mephisto! (sorry, a little WandaVision humor there)

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But for real, why would you have a recurring character who ends up central to so many elements of this story and NOT name him? Is he a Skrull? Is he Senator Robert Kelly? (look, we miss all the mutant speculation from the WandaVision days)

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 Marvel, Captain America, MCU Easter Eggs appeared first on Den of Geek.

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svubloods · 7 years

Text

Imagine your brother Danny not being impressed with your boyfriend Nick

(A/N: For Anon, I hope you and everyone else enjoys! Sorry, it’s late!)

Imagine Danny not being impressed with your boyfriend Nick

“So why weren’t you this nervous to meet my other older brother, or my grandfather or my father for that matter?” You inquired, sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine as Nick emerged from you bathroom after spending a good hour getting ready for dinner.

“Because I want to impress him,” He replied, smoothing out his pants.

“And you didn’t want to impress my Dad?” You countered.

“No, of course, I did and I think I did impress him…?” He began to explain but paused to ask.

“You’re good,” You confirmed, flashing him a quick comforting smile.

“But Danny unlike your Dad won’t have any problems with hanging me off a roof if he doesn’t like me,” He explained.

“Pretty sure that was Steve McGarrett and not Danny,” You corrected before pausing to think about it to make sure you weren’t forgetting, “But then again he may have done it and not told me but usually he tells me when he does that sort of stuff so I don’t think you should worry.”

“You fill me with so much confidence, Y/N,” He stated bluntly in an unimpressed sarcastic monotone.

“Don’t worry Nick. I’ll protect you,” You chuckled, tossing your magazine and getting up and smoothing out your own dress, “He’ll have to get through me first.”

“Once again so much confidence,” He sighed, walking towards the door.

“Hey,” You protested, “I’ve saved your ass lots of times.”

“Sure you have,” He said sarcastically.

“You’re only lying to yourself,” You commented, holding your arms across your chest and narrowing your eyes at him.

“I just agreed with you,” He defended.

“You were being sarcastic,” You pointed out.

“Well, you’re always sarcastic so I thought why not give it whirl,” He countered with a large over exaggerated grin.

So defensive and I didn’t even mention the amount of time I’ve kicked your ass,” You commented, off-handedly as if he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“That’s because you didn’t give me any warning,” He played off as you grabbed your bag and he opened the door.

“Was ‘go’ not enough of a warning for you?” You countered, puling face.

He pulled a face, “Can you just?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll lay off you because you’re so nervous,” You gave in before leaning in and giving him a brief kiss, playing with his tie as you did but once you broke away you said, “Though piece of advice you may want to put on some chapstick before you spend all night kissing Danny’s ass. You’re a bit dry,”

He narrowed his eyes at you.

“And I’m done,” You grinned, “Let’s get moving. Danny doesn’t like it when his dates are late,”

With only a sigh as a response, you walked out the door first. He wanted for you to go ahead before slapping your ass in retaliation and to get you to move faster as he shut the door and headed down alongside you. You swatted at him playfully before your hands entwined as you headed down to his car so you could to the restaurant where Danny and Linda for that matter were waiting for you.

It was strange seeing Nick so nervous for something. He was such a suave and confident guy seeing him nervous was just so strange to you. He was definitely nervous to meet your Dad for the first time a couple of weeks ago but you think the fact that he had met everyone else there beforehand calmed him down. As he had some people on side, particularly Erin, Nicky, and Linda but you won’t lie and say Jamie didn’t have a positive affliction for him either. So that definitely helped with the nerves. Plus though intimidating your Dad is a very calm and collected person he judges on character and ultimately you knew Nick fundamentally was a good person so you didn’t worry too much about it.

Danny on the other hand you knew was going to be a different story. Danny was more impulsive, some say aggressive you say deeply passionate but no one could deny he was an incredible cop, one of the best. Though you like to say he is an even better brother. You and Danny were really close despite the fifteen year age gap between the two of you. You’re really close with all your siblings of course but you had a special relationship with Danny. He was like your best friend, brother and a second father all rolled into one. You were the baby of the family and he treated you as such. It was the same with Erin and Joe who are and were twelve and ten years older than you respectively.

It was just different with Danny though. When you were born Danny was around fifteen years old and was going through a really tough time. He was just lost and like a lot of kids was confused about where his life was going. It was just worst because Danny’s fiery personality meant he was just getting into trouble. And then your Mom went into labor a month early and Danny was the only one there because he had been suspended from school. He drove her to the hospital after only one driving lesson and stayed with her until your Dad got there. He was the first family member besides your parents to hold you. Your Mom told you that be burst into tears at the sight of you but Danny always forgets that part when he tells the story.

And after that, he cleaned up his act. Joined the force and the Marines respectively when of age and got together Linda. He says that holding you for the first time made him realizes that there was more to life than screwing up. Real fulfillment came from the ones you love. He said that you were so small that day and the world was so big and he just had to do his part to make it better for you. So you shared a special bond. You think that he found it easier to talk to you and tell you things because he knew that you wouldn’t judge him. And you did talk a lot. When he confessed to you about the PTSD and stuff you went to Linda and you Dad to get help for him. You like always were a little more reserved but if you were going to confess something it would be to Danny.

Danny was very important to you and you think because nick knew this was why he was so nervous. And if you were being honest you were a little too despite your cool and playful demeanor before.

When you introduced Nick to you family that was the first time you had ever done it. Introduce a guy to your family. Which consequently also meant this was the first time you were introducing a guy to Danny. And you really wanted Danny to like him. You were hoping that he would meet him at the same time as your Dad but Danny was suddenly taken out of town so he missed it. Nick, unlike your other family members, had never met Danny before. Just heard horror stories which are another reason why he was so nervous. So Danny had suggested that the three of you have dinner which you knew for Danny was just code for ‘I’ll interrogate him and you can eat dinner while I do it’ so you convinced Linda to come along as a protective barrier and as a comfort blanket for Nick. It would be less intimidating.

You and Nick had been dating for around nine months at this point. You had a kept it a secret for quite a while as he had just become your Sergeant which made the fact that you were dating even worse, job-wise, than when you were partners. You and Nick were infamous for bad timing. When you realized you liked him as more than a partner he had just finalized his divorce and clearly wasn’t ready to be an in a relationship. Nick says he realized he was in love with you when he was getting the divorce and while you were in your last relationship.

It wasn’t serious or anything but more serious than any of your other relationships but saying that all that really meant was that lasted longer than three months. You were always a bit weary of long term commitment which is why none of your relationship before Nick surpassed max four months and why none of them ever met your family officially.

You and Danny had discussed your lack of actual relationships a lot. He made you confront things about yourself which you wouldn’t have if he wasn’t there. Like a therapist. A small angry therapist. It was because of that conversation you realized you could accept your more than friends feelings for Nick and eventually tell Nick about how you felt.

You and Nick had been partners for over two years prior to dating, ever since he joined Special Victims back then. You started dating when he became your Sergeant and you got a new partner, Sonny.

Everyone would always you were a couple before you started dating when you were partners. Strangely, though you got much less of that now that you were actually dating. You think it was because you and Nick worked so well together.

You were very different but also very similar. Your whole relationship was formed on originally finding each other the most annoying people on the planet and teasing each other. Sure, it developed a mutual understanding and respect and then a friendship and then a very close relationship but you had assumed that was the limit. He was very by the book and work orientated, he wanted the job done and of course, he had his own temper. While you were much more relaxed when it came to things and rarely got angry but when you did everyone knew it was serious. You encouraged Nick to relax and he kept you in line. You balanced each other out and ultimately made each other better cops. But because of your differences, you never stopped teasing and arguing with each other like a married couple. You made each other laugh and smile, he understood and was willing to listen to your deep ramblings and you could always make him see the bright side of things. You could switch from playful to serious. You just had fun and loved being with each other. Could you really help falling in love, you think it was obvious in hindsight that the two of you were truly made for the other.

So when you finally started dating it truly was one of the nest days of your life. You were just so excited and you had never felt that way in a relationship before. You weren’t scared of hitting all of those big milestones anymore. Though you can admit nine months was a bit long to wait before introducing a guy to you family, But in your defense, you didn’t actually know when the right time was to officially introduce a guy as your boyfriend to you family. You probably would have waited longer if Danny had interrogated it out of you one Sunday lunch in front of everyone. He sensed something was off and he had been for a while but had waited because he had a feeling what it was and wanted to wait and do research.

You had admitted to him privately prior that you were seeing someone a couple of months before to Danny but you didn’t think much of it because you were always dating someone. You didn’t tell him who then but he got out at lunch.

“You’re not really nervous are, you?” You questioned, as you and Nick walked hand in hand still to the doors of the restaurant.

“No, are you?” He countered.

“A little,” You confessed.

“Why are you nervous?” He asked.

“Because if he doesn’t like you we’re over. And I would hate to see this end so soon.” You replied in dead serious tone.

You watched his face change dramatically.

“I’m sorry. I had too,” You giggled.

“I hate you,” He snapped while breathing in relief.

“Come on tough guy,” You giggled, as you pushed him through the door of the bustling restaurant first.

You and Nick had arrived before Danny and Linda so you got seated first. Which was a good thing as you defiantly needed to get Nick to relax a little more before they arrived.

“At least we aren’t late,” You commented, taking a seat as Nick slide in beside you.

“Does he not like it when people are late?” Nick questioned.

“People don’t like it when other people are late,” You quipped, “It’s rude,”

“Why can’t you help me through this stress instead of making it harder,” He asked.

“It’s more fun this way though,” You pouted, tilting your head in his direction.

“Seriously?” He responded.

“I joke through anxiety,” You said, “I know you already know this,”

“I do and I’m curious as to why you are nervous,” He chuckled.

“I really want him to like you as much I do but not really,” You confessed, “I just really want this to go well,”

“And why is that?” He probed, enjoying himself.

“Because I love you,” You stated.

“I wasn’t expecting a serious answer,” He commented.

“Well, you got one,” You smirked.

“I love you too,” He replied before kissing you again before pulling away and saying, “Plus it’s nice to see you worked about something,”

“You like seeing me in distress?” You accused.

“Of course not,” He said, rolling his eyes, “You know sometimes I feel like I’m more into you than you are to me. I mean look at you and then look at me. You could have any guy you wanted,”

“You’re not terrible looking, seen .you know.” You teased.

“I feel so good about myself,” He winked.

“You don’t really think that do you?” You asked.

“Of course I do,” He confirmed, “Like I said look at you. You’re gorgeous,”

“When I have a ton of makeup on like tonight,” You played.

“Even when you don’t have any makeup on. You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” He said sincerely, looking into your eyes.

You couldn’t help but blush.

“You’re really selling yourself short,” You insisted, playing with his tie, “I have always thought you were the handsome guy I’ve seen.Definitely the hottest cop I know,”

“It’s not that hard considering you’re related to half the police force,” He quipped which earned a playful hit from you, “You’re still blushing!”

“I can’t help it!” You stated, “You’re being all sweet and stuff, it’s so sickening. I’m embarrassed for you really,”

“You know you’re really cute when you blush,” He commented, biting his lip.

“Aren’t I always cute?” You countered, raising your eyebrows.

Nick rolled his eyes once again, licked his lips before leaning in for another kiss.

“Yeah, we better get all this PDA out the way before Danny comes,” You mentioned as he pulled away yet again.

“Is he not a fan of PDA?” Nick asked.

“Not when it involves his baby sister,” You corrected.

“Such a smartass,” He tutted, leaning back in his seat and looking at you with a smile.

“But you like that don’t you?” You teased.

“One more time?” He pouted.

“Fine,” You gave in, kissing him again.

You had intended for it to be brief. But lets just say the two of you got a little caught up with each other. You and Nick were like that. You couldn’t keep your hands off each other unless you were at work of course. It wasn’t in the way you would think, it wasn’t always sexual. You kissed a lot sure but mostly you just liked being able to grab hold of him whenever you wanted, because finally he was yours. And you just simply loved holding hand. To you it was way more intimate and romantic act than kissing and making out. There was just something about feeling the constant fireworks you felt whenever you touched.

“Ahem,” A voice said which caused the two of you to pull apart and look up..

“Danny. Linda,” You greeted, getting up so you could hug them, “Hi,”

“Hello,” Linda chuckled as you hugged her, “To the both of you,”

“Hi Linda,” Nick said.

“Danny,” You said again with a big smile as you hugged him.

“Y/N,” He said in sickly sweet tone.

“Danny,” You began once again, your arm still around him as you turned to introduce, “This is my boyfriend Nick Amaro,”

“Nice to meet you,” Nick jumped, extending his hand towards Danny.

“I’m sure it is,” Danny responded, taking his hand firmly and shaking it.

You watched Nick hand turn white because of Danny’s tight grip but he looked unfazed. After a brief moment of silence you all sat down. You asked Linda about the boys which handled the conversation side of things for about ten minutes. Throughout you could feel Danny’s gaze on the two of you but mostly on Nick. You and Nick like always were holding hands, it would have been unnatural for you not to. You kept squeezing his hand reassuringly. Everyone ordered quickly and things finally started at that point as soon as the waiter walked away.

“So how did the two of you meet?” Danny asked, suspiciously, eyeing the two of you up.

“On the job,” You stated annoyed because you knew that he knew this, “We were partners,”

“And what are you now?” He asked.

“I’m her Sergeant,” Nick replied.

“Do you sleep with all the detectives under your watch,” He snapped.

“No, pretty sure he doesn’t sleep with Carisi,” You countered.

“Danny,” Linda warned.

“Alright,” He sighed, “Tell me about yourself Nick,”

“Well…” Nick began.

After that point dinner transformed into an interrogation with fancy food and mood lighting. But luckily for you and Nick you think it went well. He was charming throughout, Linda loved him but no too much and you caught Danny slipping up his cold exterior a couple times when he found similarities between himself and Nick.

All and all you were convinced that Danny liked Nick but you had to wait until you were alone to ask him about it. Which happened when Nick left to make a phone call and Linda went to check on the boys at their sleepover.

“So…?” You prompted, as soon as they were out of earshot.

“So what?” He entertained, leaning back and taking a drink.

“Daniel,” You scolded.

“What do you want me to say?” He asked.

“Just tell me what you think,” You pleaded, leaning across the table.

“Why do you care so much about what I think?” He inquired.

“Because you’re my big brother and you’re important to me,” You replied, shaking your head at him in disbelief.

“And you are very important to me,” He smiled sincerely for the first time all evening.

“Your opinion matters to me,” You reiterated.

“What did Dad think about him?” He asked.

“He said as long as I’m happy he’s happy. Nick was a gentlemen and if he hurts me then we’ll see,” You repeated.

“Yeah I’m feeling the same way but if he hurts you I’m hanging him off the empire state building and letting go,” He smirked, raising his eyebrows.

“You like him,” You beamed.

“He’s alright,” He corrected.

“So you approve?” You asked.

“You don’t need my approval. Never have. Proved that when you dated a criminal in high school,” He reminded.

“He lifted some sunglasses as a bet and how do you know about him?” You informed and then asked.

“I know everything,” He said suspiciously.

“Sorry about that,” Nick smiled, sitting back down, “What did I miss?”

“Just sibling stuff,” Danny responded.

“Then I won’t ask more,” He said, smiling at you.

“Better not,” Danny commented, taking another swig.

The dinner ended after that. You were so excited, it was strange. It was like for the first time since Joe and your Mom, you felt content. There wasn’t this massive piece of your life missing anymore. It was a really good feeling. “That was amazing,” You practically squealed as soon as the door of your apartment closed, “He loved you,”

“Sure did…I mean was…” He fumbled suspiciously, putting his hands in his pockets and tapping his foot nervously.

You turned and looked him up and down, suspiciously, yourself. Nick was never good at hiding his emotions or lying…to you at least…for that matter.

“Why what’s wrong?” You demanded, walking up to him and looking up at him.

“I can’t lie to you,” He began, avoiding your gaze but you could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Look at me,” You insisted, reaching up for his face, “What happened?”

“He told me to break up with you,” He revealed.

“He what?” You demanded, shocked.

“I couldn’t not tell,” Nick confessed, “He told me that I should ease out of it. You know distance myself from you and then end it,”

“When did he say this?” You asked in disbelief.

“When you were in the restroom with Linda,” He continued, as if he was deeply conflicted about telling you all this.

“I can’t believe he’s done this,” You sniffed, tears filling in your eyes.

“Hey,” Nick comforted, reaching for your face this time, “Are you okay?”

“No,” You stated, wiping them fiercely, “I’m pissed. How could he do this? He told me that he liked you,”

“He did?” Nick questioned, “Why would he say that to you?”

“Throw me off,” You spat, “That bastard,”

“He’s still your brother,” Nick reminded.

“I’m going kill him,” You fumed.

“Y/N, I only told you because I know i can’t do it,” He said.

“Break-up with me?” You filled in.

He nodded, “I know he’s your brother but I’m not going to throw this away because he tells me too, even if he is scary,”

“He’s not that bad,” You insisted, “But I can’t believe he is doing this to me,”

“Y/N, I don’t want to ruin your relationship with your brother. I know how much he means to you,” Nick began.

“But you didn’t ruin Nick,” You interrupted, taking his hands into your and leaning against his body, “He did. He knows how much you mean to me and you were perfect tonight. I can’t believe he would do this,”

“I thought he didn’t know about us,” Nick asked.

“He didn’t but before we got together I would talk to him about you and how much you meant to me without names of course. He was the first person to guess after we started seeing each other that I was dating someone. And I told him all about how much you helped me heal after everything I’ve been though and how you have helped me in ways that I didn’t even know I needed help. You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me. I love you so much,” You explained, tears spilling down your cheeks.

“I love you too,” Nick smiled, gently colliding his forehead with yours, “So much that I can handle him hating me for the rest of my life if it means I get to spend it with you,”   “You won’t have too,” You said stepping out of his reach, “I’m going to go talk to him,”

“No Y/N,” Nick began to argue.

“Nick it isn’t about him not liking you. Yeah, it was important to me but I don’t live to make others happy. I spent too much of my life already doing that. I live to make myself happy. I’m going to go talk about him interfering in my life. Telling you to break up with me is too far,” You stated, grabbing your coat and charging of the door.

“Do it tomorrow,” Nick argued.

“Why?” You countered.

“Because you’re angry right now and you need to think about it for a little longer,” He explained.

“When did you become all rational about anger?” You inquired dropping your bag and kicking off shoes and ultimately giving in.

“Second I saw you angry,” He chuckled, “You’re scary,”

“You don’t know the half of it,” You smirked.

“Let’s go to bed,” He suggested, “Might the last night we get too,”

“Not funny,” You commented as you walked past him into the bedroom.

“Just like you then,” He countered.

The next morning you weren’t any less angry despite Nick’s best efforts. It was Friday so you had to go to work and you knew Danny would be as well. But you couldn’t help but seethe about it all day. Nick kept a watchful eye on you to ensure you didn’t escape and release an unholy triad on Danny but to no avail. You slipped out at lunched and stormed down to the 54th precinct.

“What are you…” Danny asked in your direction as you charged into his squadron.

“Interrogation room two…now,” You ordered not even stopping as you left him in your wake.

He quickly obliged, something about your demeanour must have tipped him off. He walked in and took a seat and you slammed the door behind him.

“Hey that wall can’t any more slams,” He commented causally, “I do it too much already,”

“How dare you?” You asked.

“How dare I what?” He countered.

“Don’t give me that Danny!” You stated, “Nick told me what you said to him. You too him to break up with me,”

“He told you that?” Danny countered.

“Of course he did,” You said, “Because Danny he isn’t just going to dump me because my insane older brother tells him to,”

“But isn’t he worried that you might be as crazy as me?” He smirked.

“I’m not kidding Danny,” You spat.

“You’re really angry aren’t you?” He asked, folding his arms and looking up at you.

“Of course I am,” You sighed, “You told the man I love to break up with me,”

“You love him?” He asked.

“Yes, but that isn’t the point,” You sighed once agin getting frustrated, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“What the hell was your man thinking telling you what I said to him,” He said casually.

“Did you think he was just going to dump me because you threatened him?” You interrogated.

“Sort of,” He pouted, “I’m quite scary. When did he tell you what I said?”

“Last night,”

“Why did it take you so long to confront me?” He asked.

“Nick stopped me. He says that there was no point confronting you angry because we’re so close that doing it might ruin our relationship,” You explained, “He told me to wait and calm own a little,”

“Didn’t work,” He commented.

“He tried his best. Kept at the station all day,” You confessed.

“Really?” He questioned, surprised.

“Yeah,” You stated, confused by his reactions, “Why aren’t you defending yourself?”

“For what?” He asked.

“For lying to me or for telling my boyfriend to break up with me,” You reminded.

“Can’t defend the boyfriend part but I can defend the first bit. I didn’t lie,” He stated, “I liked Nick,”

“You did?” You questioned.

“Yeah he was a nice guy,” He clarified, “I think he’s great for you,”

“Then why did you tell him to break up with me?” You interrogated.

“Would you believe me if I said it was for fun?” He joked.

“No,” You stated, unwilling to participate and unimpressed.

“It was a test,” He finally revealed.

“A test?” You countered in disbelief.

“Yeah, a test,” He confirmed before explaining fully his reasoning, “I needed to make sure that he wouldn’t run away at the first sight of trouble. I know how much you like him. I needed to make sure he wouldn’t break your heart because there is a problem. Even a big one like an important family member not liking them.”

“By asking him to break up with me?” You accused.

“I knew he wouldn’t but I needed to make sure,” He elaborated, “And if he did he wouldn’t be worth your time anyway,”

“Why?” You demanded.

“Life is hard Y/N. You need someone despite any repercussions will tell you how it is. He knew how close we are and still told yous something that could potentially end a very important relationship for you. And he did that because he didn’t want to lie and because he really does love you. You clearly are as important to him as he is to you,” He explained sincerely, clearly speaking from a place of concern.

“I can’t believe you,” You commented, annoyed beyond belief at that point.

“I’ve always got your back,” He grinned gleefully, “Even when you don’t think I’m there,”

“I can’t even be mad at you,” You sighed, collapsing into the opposite seat in relief.

“Because you know it came from a good place?” He inquired, cheekily.

“Sure,” You said, rolling you eyes.

“You’re so relaxed now,” Danny observed.

“Now that I know my brother isn’t an insane interfering bastard, I’m sort of at ease,” You gave in, messaging your temple, “But you’re still freaking crazy. Couldn’t you have come up with a better way to test him?”

“But it wouldn’t have been as fun,” He smirked playfully before cackling with laughter.

“I’m going to kill you,” You threatened.

“I’ve lived a long life,” He chuckled.

“Can’t wait to tell Nick about this,” You breathed.

“Was he sacred?” Danny inquired.

“He was sad,” You corrected.

“At what?” He asked.

“The prospect of breaking up with me,” You reminded, as if it was obvious because it obviously was.

“Anyone else would be relieved,” He teased.

“Just for that I’m going to tell him you like him,” You smirked.

“Don’t do that,”

#law and order svu #Law and Order: Special Victims Unit #law and order svu imagine #svu #SVU fanfiction #svu imagine #Blue Bloods #blue bloods imagine #SVUxbluebloods #bluebloodsxSVU #Nick Amaro #Detective Nick Amaro #nick amaro imagine #detective nick amaro imagine #Danny Reagan #danny reagan imagine #imagine #svubloods

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Transcript of Getting Smart About the Business of Education

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Transcript of Getting Smart About the Business of Education

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John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch, and my guest today is Danny Iny. He is an educator, entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Mirasee, a business education company. He’s also the author of a book we’re going to talk about today, Leveraged Learning: How the Disruption of Education Helps Lifelong Learners and Experts with Something to … And my notes stop there. It must say,” Something to say ,” right?

Danny Iny: Something to teach.

John Jantsch: Teach. Sorry, it got cut off there. So Danny, welcome back.

Danny Iny: John, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

John Jantsch: So what led you here? I mean this is … We’re going to come back to why it’s so on topic, but it’s a little bit seemingly off topic for a entrepreneur and founder of a marketing related company.

Danny Iny: Yeah, so in one sense it’s very on topic. I’ve been working in the space of education for my entire adult career. I operate an education company. We teach people how to build and sell courses. But this is a departure from the more tactical focus of how do experts build courses based on their expertise. And this was really prompted by two experiences I had in my life.

So the first was when I was 15 years old and I fell out of high school. As a kid, I was the biggest goody two shoes, teacher’s pet, gets all his homework done before leaving class, like I was that kid. But then I go into the ninth grade, and it’s like a switch get flipped in my head, and I’m just sitting in class thinking,” Oh my deity, I am so bored. I can’t take it anymore .”

And so I started cutting classes. And I don’t do anything halfway, and so in that first semester I missed like 152 classes. I was barely there. And this went on for about a year and a half. And then I appeared in the mirror, and I stopped. I paused. I said,” Danny, what are you doing? What’s the plan? Am I just going to keep cutting class and going to the gym and watching MTV ?” Like that’s not a plan.

And so I decided to quit and make it official and start my first business. And the predominate narrative around me was,” Danny, you are making a terrible misstep. You are throwing their own lives away .” And that’s interesting, right? Because, you know,” Danny, you’re making a terrible mistake .” You know what? Maybe. I entail I was open to that possibility. Maybe this is the incorrect move. I don’t think so, but it could be. But,” You throwing your life away ,” right? This implication of it being an irreversible decision; “its the end”. That simply didn’t make sense to me.

I was always thinking like, you know,” In a worst case scenario, I can just go back to school .” So it didn’t really make sense to me. I dropped out of school, and it turned out to have been a great decision, one of the best moves I induced for myself in my life. And then fast forward 10 years, and I’d been involved in a bunch of startups, and I had done a whole bunch of interesting things. I had just tried to build a software company. That fell apart when the markets crashed. And I walked away from that with a ton of debt. And when you have a setback like that, you kind of rethink your decisions, you question.

And I thought,” Maybe I need a little more structure. Perhaps I need more stability. Perhaps I need a safety net, so perhaps I should go back to school and get an MBA .” And the predominate narrative around me now was like,” Wow, Danny, that’s a great idea. You are setting yourself up for success in life. You’re going to open doors. It’s amazing .” And nobody devoted any thought to reversibility because why would you want to reversal something so wonderful?

So I applied to business schools. I got into Queen’s School of Business, one of the top business schools in Canada, without a high school certificate or undergraduate degree. It turns out, even institutions of higher learning only value the signal of a certain degree in the absence of better signals. And I go through this program. I invest lots of time and lots of money. And it turns out, if I had to rank the five or 10 worst investments of my life, this would be high on that list. Right?

I met some great people, but I also met a lot of mediocre people. I had some great teachers, also a lot of mediocre teachers. The pamphlets promised the future leaders of tomorrow. The class was filled with the middle managers of today. So that was basically its own experience. And I had a lot of debt.

And the contrast between these two experiences just got me thinking,” Wow, something’s really out of whack with the route people suppose education functions and how it actually does. And that set me on a path of only doing a lot of casual research to see what’s really going on. And that accelerated over the years. And in the last couple of years, it became a full blown research project, hundreds of books and articles and journals and interviews with experts. And I did all this just for my own personal curiosity because I would have all these discussions with people saying,” Look, I believe education is broken. I think it costs too much. I think it’s not preparing us for the world .” And there would be all these,” Yeah, buts .”” Yeah, but it helps you be well rounded. Yeah, but you needed to get a job. Yeah, but it’s still a good investment .” And none of these things are true according to the data

John Jantsch: I met my wife at university. Don’t forget that one.

Danny Iny: I get that every once in a while and I’m like,” You know that’s not in the brochures, right ?”

But so I did all this research kind of looking for the data to prove once and for all definitively, you know,” Look, this thing that I’m saying is happening with education, this is really where it’s going .” And what I actually determined is that it’s already here.

I truly supposed I was going to find data showing that in 10 or 20 years, the college degree is going to be more or less defunct. What I determined is that we’re pretty much there right now, and it was just too important and too compelling message. I mean college indebtednes in the US is over one and a half trillion dollars now. The average university alumnu from an undergraduate degree comes out of that experience with over $30,000 of debt. The average interest rate on student loans is 6. 8 %. This is the only kind of debt that you cannot for yourself of by proclaiming insolvency. It’s also the various kinds of indebtednes that you are most likely to incur before you’re even legally an adult. And this was just too … It wasn’t okay. It was too awful, and so that resulted me to write the book.

John Jantsch: Yeah. It’s interesting. Of course we could go a whole nother course and talk about the, sort of the whole lending industry’s role in this, of course. But that would be another volume, wouldn’t it?

Danny Iny: It utterly could be. But frankly, as much as the student indebtednes is like this whole egregious, enormous number, I’m less concerned with the costs and I’m more pay particular attention to what it’s buying, which is not much.

John Jantsch: Yeah. And what’s really interesting is when this person goes through, acquires all this debt, and then realizes that what I really want to do is start a business, which they could have done six years ago, especially today. I started my business almost 30 years ago, and it’s amazing how the sort of culture has changed around that.

When I started it, my friend said,” Oh, something will come up .” I entail It was like,” You lost; you started a business .” And now it’s just the opposite. I think you ensure a lot of these kids in college, you know, while they’re in that experience, and certainly right after that are saying,” Oh wait, that’s the way to go .” And I don’t know if that … Is that because this degree is so worthless, and they thought they were gonna make all this fund, but now they’re find the only people making money are controlling their own thing? Or is it only culturally shifted in your intellect that that’s now cool?

Danny Iny: I think one of the purposes of it is a cultural change. I suppose part of it is that the biggest celebrities of our modern age are not pop superstars or movie stars, they’re entrepreneurs. It’s the Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and Steve jobs. I think that’s part of it, but I also think it’s just that the economy is a lot less stable than it used to be because the pace of change has grown so quickly. It used to be 30 years ago you could alumnu, get a job and have more or less the same undertaking a decade or several decades later. The world is only changing too fast now. That doesn’t exist.

John Jantsch: Yeah. And the industry you were in might not exist. So, we probably ought to define what leveraging learning is.

Danny Iny: Yeah. So the way I think about it, most of life involves trade-offs, right? The way people tend to think about education involves trade-offs. Either we can create a thorough, intensive, transformative educational experience for a very small number of people at very large expense. Or we can create a very mediocre, watered down educational experience that reaches a lot of people and is affordable. The first half of the book is about here’s everything that’s wrong with education today. The second half of the book is here’s what we can do instead. And I think we are really at the beginning of a golden age of education where we can leverage the best of what we know to create an empowered, transformative experience for everyone in a way that is accessible and cost effective.

John Jantsch: It’s interesting. Portion of it starts with this definition, and we always think of education as a place that has buildings, and you go to classes, and that kind of thing. And of course that’s changed because people do it online now at those institutions. But actually, you and I’ve been lecturers for a long time. I’m calling myself a marketing consultant, but ironically in our beginning of the year, actually fourth quarter planning, we had this really silly insight that we’re really a training company more than anything else.

Danny Iny: Yeah , no kidding.

John Jantsch: But we don’t … I don’t know that everybody accepts that that’s kind of what all the businesses that are really succeeding have some element of that, don’t they?

Danny Iny: Well, it’s incredibly, incredibly common, and it stimulates sense because when you empower someone to do something that they couldn’t do before and you can do it in a way that is scalable to some degree and leverageable to some degree, it’s like it’s a great business model. It’s a great outcome. It’s a great value proposition, so what’s not to like?

John Jantsch: So, and I’m going backwards a little bit here, but I remember a jotting down the the one … I think it was a sub topic , not a title chapter, but that really struck me is that you … You, kind of after is speaking to what’s wrong with education, you also then say it’s really a life problem. So, violate that open.

Danny Iny: Well, the fundamental challenge is not that people are going to college and spending too much and getting too little. The real issue is that people … Because what is the role of education in society? It’s to give us a way of becoming valued by and valuable to society. And when that pathway breaks down, you’ve got a lot of people who are basically sitting there reasoning,” Well , now what? What am I going to do? How am I going to contribute? How am I going to be able to do something valuable and meaningful ?” And that’s a life problem for everyone, right? Just like when the economy’s down, people don’t have money to expend, there’s less money going into the economy, and there’s a vicious cycle. The same thing happens with education.

John Jantsch: Yeah. And in a lot of ways, you can’t really knock education. It’s really more the approach to education. Because I mean, I couldn’t be a teacher or trainer if I didn’t know something, if I didn’t learn or experience something. So what’s the way that we need to educate ourselves now? If you’re that person thinking,” Okay, Danny, I won’t go to college ,” what do I do?

Danny Iny: Well, the key thing is to think … And I’m not anti-college. I’m just anti-college as a magical golden ticket. I suppose, and this applies to if people have kids and they’re thinking about college. This also applies to adults. Basically, education is meant to bridge a gap from where you are now to where you want to be. It’s meant to be a shortcut. If education doesn’t let you get to where you want to go in less hour, or at less cost, or with less risk, then what’s the point, right? It’s supposed to do one of those things.

And so rather than … You know 30 decades ago, you could go to college and expend a very small amount of money, and it was affordable, and it would open a lot of doorways because not a lot of people have a degree, and it was a differentiator, and all that stuff. That’s not the case today.

So just like we do in every other region of life, if you have a goal, think about carefully, diligently, what is the goal and what is the best way for me to achieve that goal, right? If I’m looking to advance in my career, don’t go to get that continuing education certificate and hope that somehow magically puts you over the top and impresses people. Suppose about, what are the real gaps? What do I need to know that I don’t know? Who do I need to know that I don’t know? And be intentional about that. It always comes down to allocation of time and resources. What is the best style for you to get the outcomes that you’re looking for?

John Jantsch: So you work with a lot of … I entail it kind of started … Well, I shouldn’t set words in your mouth. Did it kind of start with this course build work that you assured as a route for people to build legitimate businesses and train others exchange value that then turned into this kind of journey on what education means in general and how … I mean obviously you start with the very practical: I have a course. I want to teach someone something. How do I make sure that they get value out of it? How do I make sure they actually learned something? How do I make sure they come back? I entail, kind of practical things. I get the sense in the book that you’re now kind of almost inducing part of the wiring of the human existence in some ways.

Danny Iny: Very much so. All these transitions in education, they also create a lot of opportunities. So one of the big transitions that we’re watching is a shifting from just-in-case education to just-in-times. It used to be we would do a lot of just-in-case education at the start of our career, you know, four years just in case I need it. And that’s always been challenging pedagogically because we know that what you learned 10 years ago, we don’t retain a lot of it. But the world is changing so quickly that even if we did retain it, it wouldn’t be relevant anymore. And so we’re shifting to actually a lot more education over our lifetime, but merely in time. So instead of it being months or years early on, it’s weeks or months as you go when you need it.

Now when you have that granularization,” I don’t need one giant education. I need a lot of small units of education. I need it to be relevant. I need it to be cutting edge ,” the ones who you need to teach it change. It becomes different people. And this is a subtle distinction, but it’s a really important one.

In a static world, in a world where educational curricula remains more or less the same, what you want is a great educator who also knows the subject matter because teaching is hard. It’s a skill, right? So if it’s a great teacher who also knows the subject matter, you’re in good hands. But when the curriculum is changing all the time, when when the stuff that you’re teaching now is not going to be good anymore in three years or five years, it needs to be updated because the world has changed, well, a good educator who also knows the subject matter can’t keep abreast fast enough. So what you need as a subject matter expert “whos also” a good teacher.

And it’s a subtle distinction, but it’s a very important one because what this means is that it’s not career lecturers anymore who are the go-to people to deliver it. Really it’s got to come from people who are experts and professionals on the cutting edge of their field, boots on the ground. They’re the ones who know the stuff that every other person wants to learn and they’re the ones who are very well positioned to take that knowledge and expertise and package it up in a way that is impactful and transformative.

John Jantsch: Yeah. In a style the typical, and I knew it sounds like we’re bashing the education institutions, but in a lot of ways they’re almost incentivized not to change.

Danny Iny: Well, they don’t really have a selection. People sometimes keep asking me, how can colleges change? And I actually don’t think they can. Clayton Christensen has said publicly that he expects that 50% of colleges will be bankrupt in the next five or 10 years. I don’t know if I’m quite that aggressive in my expectations. The statistic on average is that for every dollar taken in by a college from a student, only 21 cents goes to instruction, right? Everything else is the administration, the amenities, the grounds, the buildings, all that stuff.

And the thing is, looking at it as a business, a lot of that stuff, these are fixed costs. These are things that they can’t get rid of. They can’t merely decide,” Oh, we want to cut costs, so we’re not going to have these houses anymore .” Right? They’re stuck with it. There’s a ton of inertia, and so it’s not very likely that colleges are going to be able to pivot quickly enough to build that happen. And that sucks for colleges, but for independent experts and professionals who have really valuable things to teach, it’s a great opportunity.

John Jantsch: Yeah. So if I’m this person that is a subject matter expert, how do I flip that around then and say,” Okay. Based on the way that people need to learn, how do I need to teach ?”

Danny Iny: Well, it’s not an if; you are at that subject matter expert, and you do actually do it, right? But a good way of thinking about it is this, and this is … again, it’s going to point to the big possibility. When we want to go and learn something, when we want to really develop a proficiency, internalize a skill, there are three steps in that process. The first step is the intake, right? So that’s when “youre reading” the book, or watch the video, or listen to the audio, or hear the lecture, right? We ingest the new ideas. That’s basic exposure. And you need that to start because without that, you’re nowhere, but it’s not enough. You don’t get a lot of deep learning there.

The second step is application. And that’s where you take what you learned and you do something with it. And that is likely to be theoretical, essays, or homework, or worksheets, or whatever. Or it could be practical. I’m going to do something in the real world, in my business, in my life.

And then the third step is feedback and iteration. That’s where someone who is qualified, a coach, a teacher, an instructor looks at what you did in the real world or in your exerts and tells you,” Here’s where you need to improve. Here’s what we need to do differently .” They give you feedback. And most of the deep learn happens on the part of feedback and happens on the part of application.

Now again, this presents a really interesting opportunity for experts and professionals because there are a lot of platforms out there: There’s the Courseras, there’s the Lyndas, there’s the MasterClass sites, right? There’s all these sites that you can go and you can expend a hundred, $200 for a video course. You can go take a screenwriting course with Aaron Sorkin on MasterClass for a couple hundred bucks. But that’s just the first bucket, right? That’s just the exposure to the ideas, and we get that.

Nobody takes a course with Aaron Sorkin on screenwriting, on MasterClass with the high expectations they’re actually going to be a dramatically better screenwriter at the end of it, right? They’re taking it because they’re interested. It’s edutainment, and that’s great for the people who have that reach and that reputation and that brand.

But then after people have gone through Aaron Sorkin’s MasterClass and they’re like,” Okay, this is cool, but I really actually want to become a better screenwriter ,” then they’re going to go and look for,” Where is the expert or professional who can deliver all three of those pails? Not simply the exposure to the ideas, but also the run that I can do to apply and then the feedback to improve .” And whereas for just the exposure to the content, that’s not something that can command a ton of money, right? A couple of hundred bucks at the high aim is as far as it’s going to go, and that takes an Aaron Sorkin level of brand reputation.

But if I’m going to get all three of those buckets, and that can actually create a transformation, the value of that is dramatically higher. And now we’re looking at thousands of dollars rather than hundreds. And what we as experts have to do is build experiences that devote all three of those pails, and that’s what justifies the investment and truly drives the business model.

John Jantsch: Yeah. Think about all the people that bought courses and courses and courses. I entail, they’re just kind of skipping that stuff now because they realize they’ve not gotten much out of it. And they are looking more for, as you said, that more transformative experience.

Danny Iny: It’s the maturation of the market. Online courses, and this is one of these things that’s a little tricky for us because we’ve been in this space for so long so it’s like,” Online courses, that’s old news .” But go out into the world and talk to a quote-unquote’ real, regular person’ and say,” Where can I take a course ?” It’s only very recently that the idea of online is starting to enter the public awareness, right? We’re, we’re traversing the abys from innovators and early adopters to mainstream purchasers, and mainstream purchasers have very different expectations, right?

Early adopters, when they got cell phones that came out on the market, it was a giant brick. It had maybe four apps. They didn’t work half the time, and early adopters are fine paying a luck for that. Mainstream buyers expect a great form factor, and hundreds of thousands of apps, and a great battery life, and it works all the time, even if you drop it in the pool. And so the expectation of how much you’re going to get as part of its own experience is changing because of the market is maturing.

John Jantsch: And LinkedIn fairly recently paid $1.6 billion to acquire Lynda.com because … I think that’s an show as big as anything that it’s gone mainstream, isn’t it?

Danny Iny: Absolutely. It’s one of the … There’s a lot that went into that tip-off phase, but the eLearning market is projected to grow to merely shy of $400 billion in 2026, which sounds like a huge number, but education globally depending on the numbers you look at is between 4.4 and $6.9 trillion. So as big as eLearning and online education is getting, it’s still a relatively low piece of that, which is why we’re early in that phase, and it’s just going to grow.

John Jantsch: One of the things that I thought was very fun is at LeverageLearningBook.com somebody can actually read the whole volume there, if they want to sit there on your website all day, can’t they?

Danny Iny: Absolutely. So the bet I’m making is … First of all, I don’t make money selling books. I operate a business, so that’s how I get paid. Second, I think this is a very important message to get out there. A trillion and a half dollars, that’s just … That’s insane. So I want people to read it. I wanted to be able to share. And I’m also banking on the fact that if somebody really likes what they’re reading, they’re not going to want to read 300 pages on a website. So , no strings , no limits, anyone who wants to check out the book can go to LeverageLearningBook.com, and hopefully they’ll like it enough to then go to Amazon and order dozens of copies.

John Jantsch: Well, Danny, and important topic and one that that I guess reaches on a couple fronts. I entail culturally I think it hittings on a really, really big important topic. But certainly far from an entrepreneur’s standpoint, I think it addresses an opportunity that’s really pretty much is accessible to anybody.

Danny Iny: I think so. I mean anyone who’s got expertise and depth of knowledge in something that’s valuable to others, which is most people.

John Jantsch: Well, Danny, it was great catching up with you. LeverageLearningBook.com is where you can find the book. Do you want to tell people where they can find more about you and your work as well?

Danny Iny: Well, LeverageLearningBook.com is a great place to go. People can go to Amazon and order dozens and dozens of copies, or leave a review. That’s good too. And you can find more about me and my work at my company’s website, which is Mirasee, M-I-R–AS-E-E dot com.

John Jantsch: Awesome. Thanks, Danny. Hopefully we’ll run into you some day out there on the road.

Danny Iny: I will look forward to it. Thank you for having me.