A new ruler of Hel has been chosen, the fearsome King Phantom, defeater of Pariah Dark. It is time for Asgard to prepare to pay the dues required to keep peace between the realms of the gods and of the dead. Bring the terms of your surrender to King’s Phantom’s representative on earth, Daniel James Fenton of Amity Park.
The Noble Scribe of King Phantom,
Ghost Writer
*****
“Okay so let me get this straight,” Tony Stark, Iron Man and Avenger said. “Ghosts are real.”
“Yes.” King Thor Odinson, Asgardian and god of thunder agreed.
“And they’re evil.”
“A bit of an oversimplification, but yes.” Prince Loki Odinson, sometimes villain and would be planet invader, answered.
“And the ghosts have had one ruler, the most powerful ghost in existence. And that new rulers are chosen by combat, meaning that every new ruler is more powerful than the last.”
“Yes, you’ve got the idea.” Thor said looking down at his knees for a moment.
“And since ghosts are so evil and so powerful, that means that their ruler is practically an unstoppable force of destruction.”
“Doesn’t it sound delightful?” Loki asked, to which he received a glare.
“So, for the past 10,000 years, at least, Asgard and plenty of other realms have been paying taxes to the ghost king to avoid a war. A racketeering scheme.”
“I don’t know what a racketeering scheme is but yes, the ghost peace treaty does require that Asgard pay the ghost king gold and magical weapons every century and if we fail to pay that price, then the peace treaty will be broken and Asgard will likely be forfeit.”
“That’s a racketeering scheme!”
“Well then yes.”
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. It was clear the man’s headache was only growing stronger as he walked through the information the two gods had dumped into his lap this morning. Thor and Loki both had rushed into his lab and started babbling about world ending threats and how they might possibly be absolutely screwed.
“So, now there’s a new king. Which means a new peace treaty has to be signed.” Tony said the words ‘peace treaty’ in the same way he’d say ‘nuclear bomb’ or ‘Steve Rogers’.
“I thought you said it was a racketeering scheme?” Loki asked.
“Shut it.” Tony hissed.
“A new treaty must be signed.” Thor repeated, trying to keep the three of them on track.
“And since the last king Pariah Dark was so powerful that he made the entirety of Asgard tremble, you’re pretty sure this new king, Phantom, is probably worse.”
“Pariah Dark had the power to suck entire planets into the afterlife, destroying them,” Loki said looking at his nails. “Stands to reason that a ghost powerful enough to defeat him could do much, much worse.”
“Right. Fantastic!” Tony practically shouted.
“I don’t think anything about this is fantastic.” Thor admitted, he was ignored.
“And according to you Asgard has been paying the ghost tax for both their realm and ours since we were under Odin’s protection. And since Hela and Sutur destroyed your entire planet and your entire people are refugees, now we have to figure out how to keep an ultrapowerful ghost from wiping out our home without any way of paying him.”
“Technically we don’t know if Phantom is a ‘he’.” Loki pointed out unhelpfully.
“The letter literally says he’s a king!”
“Could be a title. What do the dead have need for gender?”
“This is not the point of this discussion,” Thor cut in before an argument about the usefulness of gender and the concept of a female king burst forth. “We’re here to figure out how to make peace with King Phantom without resulting in a war that would destroy our world and our peoples.”
“We don’t even have Earth’s mightiest heroes anymore.” Loki said, referencing the painful results of the civil war and the Accords.
An angsty phanfic based on Moths by Conan Gray. Dan and Phil separated years ago, but after Phil begins to question their decision, they decide to just talk it out.
"I really don't know what else there is to talk about, Phil," Dan groaned. That was his favorite way to end a conversation. I don't know what else to talk about. I rolled my eyes. The last thing Dan ever did was shut up. He'd talk for hours if you let him, unless he didn't want to be around you anymore. Then he would get quiet and say "I don't know what else there is to talk about."
"Just meet with me tomorrow, okay? We don't have to do anything, I just want to talk to you," I begged. I heard his sigh over the phone.
"Fine. We can talk. Just text me the address."
Dan hung up the phone. I kept the phone close to my face with the screen hot on my cheek. I quite liked how it felt. Everything else around me felt so cold. I stared at our empty bed until the phone ran cold too. I was never sure what I was supposed to do with the empty space.
The home we built together was soon to be sold. I wondered who would buy it. Maybe it would be a family and the door frames would be covered in scribbles and milestones. The kid would beg his mother for treats and she'd give him a handful of chocolate buttons. Or maybe it would be some other couple. They'd have a dog named Charlie who would leave his fur everywhere.
Or maybe it would be to a single person. Like myself. He'd move in with his modest furniture. Though he can cook, he doesn't like the activity much, so he orders take out. It's just him and the TV night after night. Does he feel lonely? Or has he gotten used to it? Does he wish he had someone at his side doing these mundane tasks with him?
I threw myself on the bed and let out a big sigh. I stared at the doorway and realized I had left the hallway light on. I didn't really care to turn it off. Ever since Dan left, I've felt weird about lights. I have to have the lights on. When you live with someone, it's completely normal for more than one room to have the lights on. However, if you're alone, it's suddenly a waste of electricity. It's expected that you only light up the room that you're in. I guess I understand it, but I hate it. It's like you have a dollhouse but can only put your dolls in one room at a time. It's suffocating and lonely. So I keep the lights on.
I know that I've wasted a ridiculous amount on an electricity bill that is way too high. That's why I'm moving out. It's been three years and honestly, it's just too depressing. It's a half decorated home with the lights always on, like a starter home in The Sims and my sim is upset because the space is so poorly decorated.
My friends told me that I could decorate however I wanted now that Dan was gone. I hated when people would say that as if it were a good thing.
"Think of all the things you can do now that Dan is gone!"
I don't think people understood that I did exactly what I wanted to with Dan. Compromises were far and few. We almost always agreed on things. Even little things, like decor, we could always find some sort of agreement.
I finally started to doze off. I only woke up because I felt something tickling my chin. My eyes fluttered open and something fluttered back. It was a damn moth.
"Ah!" I yelped, swatting the bug away. I tried to look around to see where it had gone, but my vision was glossy from the dried contacts sitting in my eyes. I flicked the things onto the bed and squinted around. I'd lost sight of the bastard. It must have flown in from a cracked window, another habit I developed after Dan left. Initially, I couldn't stand the place smelling like him. Nowadays though, I wish I had bottled it.
I flopped back onto the bed and drifted off. My brain tortured me with a replay of every mistake I had made. I watched as Dan and I bickered over useless things. I watched as he sat there silent on the way back from tour. I watched him look at me coldly. And I watched as I looked back at him the same. Finally, I watched him walk out the door for the last time. It was quiet. I watched as he held his bag in one hand and the knob in the other. The last thing I heard was the click, but I had to lock the door.
I woke up aching. I brushed my teeth and put in a new set of contacts. As I teased my hair, a fluttering appeared in the lightbulb.
"There you are!" I cupped my hand around the light and grabbed the moth. "Ew," I mumbled as it's little legs squirmed in my hand. I stuck my hand out the window and watched it fly away. It's brown wings were speckled with iridescence that shimmered in the sun.
1881 Bakers Rd, by that weird yellow pub.
I stood on the curb and patiently waited. It felt like ages. Finally, I saw a brown curly fringe tower above everyone else. My heart started to pound. I couldn't tell how I felt. Part of me was overly happy to see him, the other part was nervous. I was afraid reaching out was a mistake. Maybe he was happy without me. Maybe he had realized how much he could do without me.
He stood a good twenty feet away and just stared for a moment. We hadn't seen each other in years. I knew it would be awkward, but I was afraid it would be insufferable. No matter what though, I knew I had to try. I wasn't sure what I was trying, but I couldn't keep living without him in my life. I needed him with me, even if he was just... a friend, I guess.
The corner of his mouth lifted. I could see in his eyes that he was also hesitant but happy to see me. He creases his eyes when he's happy, it's not something he can fake. I waved and Dan also raised his hand in a modest wave.
I walked to him the rest of the way. Finally, we were only a few feet away. Neither of us knew how to break the silence. I knew I just had to say it.
"I've missed you," I confessed. Dan looked off into the street. A bus had just pulled over and an old woman with a cane was hitting the doors. I don't think Dan was paying attention to that though, he just couldn't look at me this close.
"I've missed you, too," Dan admitted. We both watched the bus commotion. The bus driver now stood at the door and was shaking his head at the woman. He wouldn't let her get on. We were quiet for a moment more. "Is that all you dragged me out here to say?"
I scoffed. Now, a man ran up to the woman and consoled her. It must have been her son. He appeared to apologize to the bus driver over and over. The bus driver then ran his hand over his face and gestured for the pair to board.
"No. I... I think we messed up," I said quietly. Dan squinted his eyes in the distance for a moment and then shook his head.
"I don't think we did," he laughed. It hurt to hear him say it.
"Ouch."
"I don't think we messed up, Phil. I think we did exactly what we were supposed to do in that moment," Dan said. I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure how the conversation would go, but I guess I should have expected Dan to be blunt. "And now, we are doing exactly what we are supposed to, in this one."
I turned towards Dan and he turned to me.
"I don't think I understand," I said. Dan looked up at the sky then back to me.
"Honestly, I thought you wanted to talk to me about selling the house. Agents keep calling me, you know... I guess our numbers are still listed together."
"Oh."
"But that's not what this conversation is, is it?"
Dan looked straight at me. His brown eyes bruising into my skull. God, why didn't I practice what I would say other than "I've missed you?" Great job, Philip. I looked at the floor.
"No, it's not," I admitted.
"Then what is it, Phil?" Dan ducked down to meet my lowered eyeline. Now, I couldn't look at him. What was I trying to do? I didn't think about it, I just couldn't live like that anymore.
"What is it? Because I waited for you to call me, for you to text me, for you to do anything that would say that I was on your mind, but you did nothing. So I gave up. I moved on. I did shows. I wrote a book. I watched you do your projects–at a distance of course–but I did all these things and guess what? Every time I did them, I hoped you would just say 'Hey Dan! Saw you did this thing, hope you're doing well!' and instead I got nothing," Dan growled.
"I didn't think you wanted that! I felt ashamed that everything ended the way it did, I didn't think you wanted to hear from me!"
"Of course I did. Phil, you were in my life for 13 fucking years! So what we grew apart, you were still such an integral part of my life and you knew that. I could live without you as my partner, but that didn't mean I didn't want you as my friend."
"How can you expect to be friends with someone you don't know how to talk to?"
Dan stayed quiet. That was the last thing he said to me before we broke up.
"I didn't reach out to you because I know you, Dan. You needed space, so I gave it to you," I said sternly. "I didn't tell you anything because it wouldn't have changed a thing."
We both looked at the floor now. The conversation had grown dreadful. My fingers were tingling with adrenaline as if I were ready to fight a bear, not get in a minor argument with an ex.
"Do you keep the lights on?" Dan asked.
"What?"
"I hate the way my flat feels with all the lights off. My electric bill is terrible, but I just have to keep my lights on."
I wasn't sure why he was changing the subject, but it was better than silence. Better than I don't know what else to say.
"I do. My lights are on all the time," I smiled. I told him how it felt like a dollhouse, then how I felt like a sim. He told me that he played The Sims more often, like a guilty pleasure. The conversation felt familiar, like the ones we used to have every night while eating takeout in front of the TV.
Eventually, the gloomy British weather caught up to us and it started to rain. The first drop hit Dan's head. He looked up at the clouds then back to me. His breath was hesitant and I could see the words getting stuck in his throat.
"Do you want to grab a drink?" I asked, gesturing to the weird yellow pub. Dan's shoulders relaxed and he swallowed.
"Yes, I'd like that," he smiled.
After a few cups of mead (which was all the weird yellow pub served), we both felt looser. I should mention that Dan was a bit looser than me.
"You know, I wrote you letters, Phil," Dan slurred.
"What?"
"Letters? Like with a fucking pen and paper?"
"I know what a letter is, Dan-"
"Every time I really wanted to tell you something, I just wrote it down instead. I have dozens of them. They're quite poetic, really. They're all for you. All of them. In some stupid way, I liked to think you somehow read them all. Like some telepathic letter reading wizard. And I kept writing them. Because it felt like you were still there."
Dan laid his chin in his hands on the table. He stared off the same way he did on the curb, the same way he did on the plane, the same way he did every night. Sometimes the thoughts didn't matter, and sometimes they seemed to eat away at him until he couldn't take it anymore.
"What are we doing, Phil?"
I didn't know how to answer him in a way that felt right. I wasn't sure there was a right answer.
"Oh!" Dan yelped. A moth had just flown across his face and was fluttering around his hair. Dan sloppily swatted his hand around until the bug flew off to some light or other pasty patron. I laughed, then sighed. As familiar as this all felt, I knew that at the end of the day, we'd both go home to our respective places and we'd both sleep alone with all of the lights on. There was no escaping it.
"Come spend the night," Dan said. He had been staring at me the same way I was staring at him just moments before.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to wake up tomorrow and-"
"Just come spend the night with me, Phil. I'm not saying we have to do anything, just stay with me, talk to me. I've missed you," Dan looked at me earnestly. His hand touched mine and it was warmer than a phone screen. His hand was hot enough to warm my whole body. Dan's touch felt like washing your hands under hot water after playing in the snow. It was right. It was healing. I could hear the world around me again.
"Okay," I nodded. Dan was really sloshed. He raised both arms in the air and kicked the bar next to his stool.
When we got back to his flat, nothing really happened. I don't remember much else other than waking up the next morning. We had both fallen asleep on Dan's bed fully clothed. The image of Dan's peaceful face was the first thing I saw. I haven't started my day with that sight in years. I just laid there, taking it all in. The morning felt so different than from what I had grown used to. Of course, I was at Dan's flat, laying in bed with Dan, but there was something else too.
We’ve got another phandom classic!! Teach Me To Live by @donttouchthefigs is a modern AU that beautifully weaves together elements of Gaston Leroux and Susan Kay, and it’s one of those fics I find myself returning to again and again. The title says it all: it’s a story about Erik and Christine gently pushing each other beyond the boundaries of what they thought they were comfortable with, adding color to lives that once felt muted, and learning how to truly live, but this time together. Two people who were once just drifting through the motions suddenly find something new in each other through music, and forming a connection that feels unexpected, intimate, and undeniably beautiful (swoons). Of course, there are plenty of trials and tribulations along the way (because what’s a fic without them?), but that only makes the ending all the sweeter. And the side characters? Absolute perfection. Meg, Nadir, and Charles each have their own personalities and roles in Erik and Christine’s lives, but I won’t spoil anything. You’ll just have to read and find out 😉
Making the Polaroids and frames for this fic also made me realize how rarely I draw Eriks outside of ALW (something I definitely need to change, and I will!!). I honestly wish I’d drawn even more moments, because there were so many unforgettable scenes to choose from. In the end, I went with their conversation at Erik’s underground home— partly because it’s such a tender moment, and partly because I really wanted to draw Erik in casual clothes 😛
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
phm x dp crossover. NO ROMANCE!
Grace and Rocky's "weekend trip" gets unceremoniously interrupted by an encounter with an interstellar phenomenon. The collision results in a visit to a wildlife rehabilitation center. The catch? They're the wildlife.
They know very little about where they are and who/what the Star Giant who takes care of the place is, but they do know that the only other person around, a human named Danny, is medically unreleasable according to said Star Giant. According to Rocky and Grace, Erid's xenobiologists could totally handle all that and besides, how hard could stealing a whole human person from a nigh-magical hospital be?
Hey guys if anyone has any fic recs with maybe less hurt and more comfort it would be highly appreciated!!! i don’t think i can handle a heartbreak rn!
I’ll take anything honestly but i don’t lost one shots that’s all
