WOWOWOW I WANT A BOOK RIGHT NOW. IMMEDIATELY

I'm feeling some chaos today so have this:

DANNY IS IN METROPOLIS, SLEEP DEPRIVED AS FUCK, AND MISTAKES SUPERMAN FOR JACK FENTON

he hadn't meant to *KO* the guy. He and his dad just has this thing where they'll flip each other over the shoulder and a One Punch the other one. It's helped a lot since his parents found out he's Phantom, and Jack is having fun bonding with his dann-o boy.

well.

except apparently if Danny does that to *Superman*, the hero gets completely knocked out. Danny is not sure how to respond and ends up just staring bc what the fuck? what the fuck.

that's not his dad. where is Jack??

oh shit that's.. that's superman. That's *Superman*. Danny just KOed SUPERMAN.

how the fuck does he fix this AND WHERE'S DAD

wait. WAIT. Superman is supposed to be nearly indestructible. Danny does this exact same thing to his dad and Jack always bounces right back up with a smile and loud booming voice of pride and ??? boosting abt Danny. HOW DID SUPERMAN GET KNOCKED OUT WHEN HIS DAD CAN HANDLE THIS

WHERE IS HIS DAD

and. well. Jack is off somewhere accidentally knocking out Lex bc Lex saw Mad Scientist and went "i want that one. i can use that one". he also accidentally knocked out some dobblegonger of Danny (would be SO FUNNY if it's one of the supersons, but not necessarily).

Jack comes to the same conclusions Danny did.

that's not Danny. where's dann-o?

This one doesn't react the way it's supposed to go. Danny doesn't get hurt like this.

TIME TO FIX TO BEST OF ABILITIES AND FIND HIS DANN-O BOY

oh did I mention heavily Liminial Ecto Contaminated Fenton Fam? This is Liminial Ecto Contaminated Fenton Fam.

So Danny is panicking, staring at Superman who does not get back up. He might have to resort to Ghost Shenigans.

Sends out a SONIC BOOM mentally and emotionally across ALL of Metropolis with only one word:

DAD

and Jack hears, looks up and so he's away, running and smashing walls like the Kool Aid Man. Somehow forgot he's holding the Danny lookalike still.

But now Danny and Jack are gathered! Around a still knocked out Superman and a scared shitless Danny lookalike (listen, even if you're a hero or viligante or superson. You just got knocked out by a civilian, said civilian tried to fix the harm. Only to stop midway and RUN THROUGH WALLS WITH YOU BARLEY PROTECTED OR LUCID ENOUGH. you will be at least a bit scared in this situation. ESPECIALLY when you see freaking superman knocked OUT).

anyway. Danny tells Jack what happend. Jack tells Danny. They immediately proceed to try and fix the harm done. Might actually use Ghost Stuff or FentonWork Shenigans in the attempt. If the lookalike is a superson, they're now pressed against their dad Superman and staring up at the strangers. Finds out both civilians mistook the two for each other.

And. Well. The two civilians did KNOCK OUT SUPERMAN AND THE LOOKALIKE.

it's chaos. glorious glorious chaos. onlookers are totally live streaming, taking photos and videos. someone might think to contact the JL bc uhhhhh hey. superman's boss might want to be made aware of this??? Danny is still reeling ove the fact that HE KNOCKED OUT SUPERMAN. WHEN JACK HIS DAD CAN TAKE IT WITHOUT A SWEAT????

evantually tho, Superman wakes up. Might actually be in the Fenton temp home (unless they moved bc GIW? idk, but where they're currently staying). There's fudge on the table beside Superman, along with an apology letter and explanation. Superman still has an concussion and can't fully read it so. just flops back down and stares at the ceiling. He's not used to feeling like this without kryptonite near. it's weird and could he think more, highly concerning.

The lookalike is also in the room tho. and catches Superman up to what happened and helps the best they can with the concussion. ('huh, this is what that feels like? hm. huh. he doesn't like it')

Danny and Jack meanwhile are getting ecto to speed heal (Jack's ability) the two they hurt, if necessary. Maddie, Jazz, Dani and Dan are also caught up on the situation. Jazz and Maddie are on their way to the poor victims of the day.

I also want the JL to evantually show up and just. sees a still concussed superman. and the lookalike just curled up beside him (no matter who it'd be, unless it'd be WILDLY out of character. but either out of comfort or out of need to protect and make sure nothing else happens).

Jack and Danny explains the situation to JL too. mentions the fact they greet each other by flipping the other over the shoulder. Someone asks to see it. Jack and Danny clears a space big enough or is like "okay. on the roof". Runs at each other, grabs around the wrist and whoever grabs first is the one to flip. Flipped gets up and returns the favour. Seeing this twink of a teen flip that tank of a man without effort.. Huh. Okay. Maybe that does explain a little bit more why SUPERMAN HAS A CONCUSSION. Superman would like everyone to be quieter please.

Maddie arrives with a portable red sun device (why does she have this? she heard it was superman and whipped it up on the spot. gotta help however she can and she knows from Danny loud noises are bothering! see? they're helping the heroes! don't mind the lab.). She enters, flips Danny over her shoulder before he jumps at her from the back with a tight squeeze as if attacking a robber before letting go. Maddie then completely ignores the JL, gives Jack a kiss on the cheek, and walks over to Superman like "Hello there, my name is Dr Maddie Fenton. I'm Danny's mother, who I understand knocked you out. I have made a portable red sun device for you, would you wish to use it. It would help with the sounds, but might slow down your healing. Do you understand?"

and Superman, hazy but clearer is like. "Can Lois come with me?" bc WHERES LOIS :(. Maddie smiles like "why yes of course. Danny darling will you find her while I set up the spare room?"

Danny leaves to find Lois (how? when he yelled for Dad earlier he felt a vague connection to everyone's soul. he simply follows that. Beside he can almost hear her worrying. yay for super hearing am I right?). Maddie and Jack fix up the spare room while the JL talks to Superman and the lookalike (lookalike if a superson is NOT leaving btw. if one of the batkids they're now hiding underneath Batman's cape. If Billy, he's just confused as to wtf is happening but sticks to whoever seems the best bet.)

Danny returns with Lois and Jazz, Jack picks up Superman (and the lookalike?) with a small warning (Superman.. isn't sure how to react to being the one carried like this. He isn't sure what to make out of most everything). Drops the two into the spare room and goes to get the fudge (it's Jack's way of apologising okay guys).

Lois goes after and sits close to Superman who finally seems to relax a bit bc Wow. Ow. Sounds Loud. here's safe though.

The JL wants to know why Maddie had a red sun device. She tells them she just made it on the way to help how she could, and really moving a lot, or being moved a lot, while concussed is not to recommend. So no secret space HQ. The JL wants to know how the FUCK they know about that. Danny says he's been visiting a couple of times and they never had a problem then (if he actually did or not is debatable).

idk how to end this actually. just want the Fenton Unhinged Chaos and being so obvious with the Liminiality and Ecto Contamination. All the gremlin freaks that makes JL go *oh no, there's another one. oh no the parents are worse* that vibe.

Maybe Ecto Contaminated food too? which attacks superman once he's finally healed back up (a few hours to two days. remember he got knocked out too, and stays mostly in the red room). Also he gets to keep the portable red sun device, Maddie reassures she can make another and gets how important hero work is! Danny chimes in with badly concealed info about also being a hero. And a LOT of apologies.

The JL are so fucking concerned guys. Fenton Fam is Mad Scientist-ing and Cackles Manically as they dive into lab work. (They... might or might not have taken over one of Lex's abandoned old labs. they're resourceful! this will do perfectly! The Fenton Family will never abandon their roots; OSHA VIOLATED SCIENCE!!! especially now that they all got Ghost Obsessions. btw, Danny, will you go get the kids? Jazz, be a darling and get the Ecto? great!)

Why go to space when you are space? Love all space obsessed Danny lore phandom comes up with.

Prompts:

Day 6, Eclipse

Day 24, NASA

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.

The Causal Chain And Why Your Story Needs It

The most obnoxious thing my writing teacher taught me every story needed, that I absolutely loathed studying in the moment and that only later, after months of resisting and fighting realized she was right, was something called the causal chain.

Simply put, the causal chain is the linked cause-and-effect that must logically connect every event, reaction, and beat that takes place in your story to the ones before and after.

The Causal Chain is exhausting to go through. It is infuriating when someone points out that an event or a character beat comes out of nowhere, unmoored from events around it.

It is profoundly necessary to learn and include because a cause-and-effect chain is what allows readers to follow your story logically which means they can start anticipating what happens next, which is what is required for a writer to be able to build suspense and cognitively engage the audience, to surprise them, and to not infuriate them with random coincidences that hurt or help the characters in order to clumsily advance the author's goals.

By all means, write your story as you want to write it in the first draft, and don't worry about this principle too much. This is an editing tool, not a first draft tool. But one of the first things you should do when retroactively begin preparing your story to be read by others is going step by step through each event and confirming that a previous event leads to it and that subsequent events are impacted by it on the page.

Kubo style Kon

Nightwing: Uncovered #1 (2024)

cover by Jamal Campbell

"I'll pay you 10 times the amount you were given to take me out." Bruce Wayne is, very out of character, super serious and looking at him so intense.

Danny isn't paid enough to figure out why the supposed himbo isn't acting like it.

"You know what? Yeah. Deal." He fishes his phone out, accepting the money transfer and calls his boss for the day.

"Heyyy big guy– yeah‐ I know... anyway! I'm not killing Bruce Wayne, you should find someone different to do it— bye!" And he hangs up, cutting the shouting with a grin.

"If you ever, and I mean, ever need someone out of the way, call me."

He happily hands his contact information to the billionaire and swoops out of the window.

He is rich! So mega rich!

("Did you just buy the mercenary?"

"He's a kid! I panicked!"

"At least you got a phone number??")

what on earth is going on w AO3

Original writing! Kinda funny, I guess? I don’t know, read it under the cut and please tell me what you think!!!!!!! I NEED OPINIONS PLEASE!!

Agatha looked at the man in her hallway incredulously. When she looked behind her, around her, even above her, she looked at him again with an arched brow.

“Care to repeat that?” She asked, with not a small amount of skepticism.

He was still beaming, his smile not faltering even in her impromptu search, and his eyes twinkled—yes actually twinkled— as he opened his mouth, straight white teeth gleaming.

“You, my Lady Agatha, have been determined to be the Chosen One of the Great Prophecy and will be the Realm’s Hero!”

That’s what she thought he’d said. He beamed even brighter at her, his teeth twinkling now. This had to be a dream. Or a hallucination. Or she was dead and this was what her brain had decided to conjure up. Why couldn’t she have a nice hallucination like—like eating at a five star hotel? Or even getting to retire with a hefty pension fund?

She pinched herself. It hurt.

Motherfucker.

The silence stretched, and stretched. And he was still smiling. Was there something wrong with him? Her head was blank, devoid of any thoughts except a faint buzzing sound. And then, just to cut off the silence that was becoming a little stifling by now, she blurted the first thing she could.

“But what about my cats?”

The man blinked, his perfect smile faltering for just a moment. His brow furrowed slightly as if the thought of cats hadn’t quite factored into his grand announcement. He opened his mouth, paused, then tilted his head, clearly trying to reassess the situation.

"Your... cats?" he asked, as though the concept of pets was a foreign one.

Agatha nodded. "Yes, my cats. All three of them. Whiskers, Tibbles, and Shadow. Who’s going to feed them? Who’s going to clean their litter boxes? You can’t just expect me to up and leave them!"

The man hesitated, his eyes flickering as though searching for an answer that would satisfy her. "Well, my Lady, surely your noble companions will be well looked after—"

Agatha cut him off with a raised hand. "By who? You? The Realm’s Hero isn’t exactly a part-time gig, is it? I mean, between saving the world and fulfilling the Great Prophecy, when exactly am I supposed to find the time to change the litter? And do you know how picky Whiskers is about his food? He only eats the chicken pâté, and it has to be room temperature." She was rambling now, and her eyes had strayed over to the door she was leaning against. It was dusty, and she winced a little at the state of it. She’d have to remember to dust it soon. Assuming that this ‘Hero’ business didn’t put her out too much.

The man’s smile had faded entirely now, replaced by a look of utter bewilderment. This was not how these proclamations usually went. There was supposed to be awe, excitement, a dramatic embrace of destiny. Not... cats.

Agatha watched as the man struggled to find words, feeling a small sense of satisfaction in his discomfort. She had no idea how to deal with being a "Chosen One," but she was quite adept at handling pushy strangers who thought they could just barge into her life with outlandish demands. Being a wedding planner helped with that. She crossed her arms over her chest, her skepticism growing by the second.

"Listen," she said, her voice softening a bit. "I’m sure saving the,” she had to pause here, remembering his words earlier “Realm is very important and all, but I have a life here. A small life. With cats! You can’t just expect me to drop everything because some prophecy says I’m supposed to. It’s not that simple."

The man finally seemed to regain his composure, standing a little taller and clearing his throat. "My Lady Agatha, the Great Prophecy is not to be taken lightly. The fate of the Realm hangs in the balance, and you are the key to our salvation. Your—" he paused here, much like she did earlier, and he seemed to be clearly struggling with the idea “cats, while surely beloved, are but a small part of a much larger tapestry. Surely you can see the greater good—"

"Stop right there," Agatha interrupted again. "If you’re going to try and guilt-trip me into this, we’re going to have a problem. Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not saying no, okay? I’m just saying I need to think about it. Maybe read up on this prophecy, find out what it actually entails. And, y’know, figure out what to do with my cats." She frowned a little at the end. If the answer was that she had to leave her cats behind, then she was going to have to do a lot of thinking.

The man sighed, the twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly as he realized this conversation was going to be far more complicated than he’d anticipated. How did he do that? "Very well, my Lady," he said, his tone more subdued. "I shall return in three days' time for your decision. In the meantime, I suggest you prepare yourself—both for the journey ahead and for the weight of the responsibility that comes with being the Chosen One."

Agatha nodded, though she wasn’t entirely sure what "preparing herself" meant. Finding a bow & arrow? That seemed very on point with what was happening right now.

The man gave a stiff bow, turned on his heel, and with a flash of light that made Agatha wince and shield her eyes, he vanished from her hallway, leaving her alone with her thoughts—and her cats, who had finally decided to come investigate the commotion.

She looked down at Whiskers, who meowed expectantly. "Well," she said, picking him up and scratching behind his ears, "What do you think? Should I save the world? Or should we just go back to bed and pretend none of this happened?"

Whiskers purred loudly, clearly in favor of the latter option.

Agatha sighed. "Yeah, that’s what I thought."