#ironfistweek

THE CAST OF IRON FIST

Harold is there every time Ward hurts someone that was trying to reach out to him, every time he remembers what a complete asshole he used to be to Danny, every time the word "pussy" crosses Ward's mind in a derogatory fashion.

He's there every time Ward sends his employees home early, at every NA meeting, every time Ward needs to handle his kid and chooses to do the opposite of whatever Harold's reaction would have been.

Ward's escape from Harold isn't wrapped up in the stilling of a murky lake, or the harsh recoil of a gun, or the consuming flames of a crematorium. It isn't even in a week without nightmares, or picking up a sketchbook, or the long, twisty process of reconciling with Joy.

This particular freedom comes slowly and subtly, as Ward's life continues to expand in ways he never imagined. He grabs takeout from a hole-in-the-wall place that Misty (Danny's cop friend with the arm, has some bond with Colleen and must therefore be feared) of all people introduced him to, just because their food is good and he knows he'll enjoy it, and he doesn't once think the words "shabby" or "questionable" or even "fuck you, Dad." He cries in front of Danny and it's horrifying and embarrassing and he absolutely blames it on chemical imbalance caused by stress and lack of sleep, but he also doesn't for a second think to worry about Danny using a blatant display of weakness against him. The first time Colleen trusts Ward alone with some of her little downworld ducklings while she runs off to save their friend from whatever problem they've come running to her with - probably a glowing assassin who shoots lasers out of their third eye, knowing Colleen and Danny - he doesn't feel any smugness or victory or anything besides terrified honor.

One day, Ward looks up from furniture shopping (because his kid, who he loves more than anything in this world, had taken a brown magic marker and slashed an "X" over every single white couch cushion and cabinet door in the entertainment room yesterday) to find Joy brandishing a bottle of her favorite Rosé, a bouquet of flowers, and a second bottle of what she tends to refer to as Ward's "toddler juice".

"Special occasion?" He asks mildly. "How many millions did you crush Judith by this time that it warrants pity flowers?"

Joy raises a judgemental eyebrow right back at him. "Dad's anniversary?" she prompts, in her usual why-must-you-remind-me-how-stupid-you-are voice.

(It's a complicated thing, Ward and Joy's relationship to their father and each other and their father in light of each other. Over the years they've had a lot of - painful - communication sessions about it and they respect that Harold will always mean different things to each of them. Joy may know, now: feels the bitter tinge of hindsight to "I was his punching bag," and every memory of Ward oh-so-casually mentioning running away and starting over and "Never trust him again," but she will always grieve the father that she lost. And Ward, he'd hated Harold; he'd hated the never ending fear and condescension and mind games, but most of all, he'd hated that it wasn't all bad. There was joking and "didn't know you had it in you; good job, kid"s and "When I was about your age, my old man shared this with me... And now I'm the old man, passing it on to my son," and there was Joy's delighted giggling as she span in the air and Joy's gap-toothed grins in frames on Harold's desk, and how could anything be completely rotten that put that happiness on Joy's face? Ward held Joy through her tears over her beautiful dreams of her dead father waiting for her after school to hold her hand, so he gets it, too.)

Possibly, he should feel ashamed of completely forgetting their annual visit to Dad's (fake) grave on his (fake? impermanent, anyway) deathday. The two of them went every year before Danny's return, and after the tumult from his crash back into their lives and all the revelations that came with it had relatively settled down, they resumed the tradition, sticking with Harold's first deathdate, the one that Joy still uses to mourn the version of their father that she loved, and on which Ward usually finds himself dwelling on the idea of the father that they should have had.

He doesn't feel ashamed, though, no matter how blatantly Joy judges him. He's surprised. He forgot. He just... forgot.

What's more, it seems absurd to say that Ward has been forgetting Harold a lot lately, because he doesn't forget, not really, but... how long has it been since a reminder of Harold came along with recalling the tone of his voice and feeling echoes of the emotions Ward had felt hearing it, as opposed to an acknowledging 'that was such bullshit' and a return to whatever Ward had been doing? When was the last time Ward tensed or shot a look towards the nearest surveillance camera as he passed the turn that would have taken him towards the penthouse? When did the roiling mass of anger-guilt-hurt "I hate that bastard" turn into a dismissive, contemptuous "Ugh, that bastard"?

It doesn't scare him. It's a relief.

"Let's pick up some birdseed on the way," Ward says as he rounds his desk to walk beside Joy out of the building. "We can put it on top of his grave so all the birds crap on him."

"Ward," Joy scolds, part scandalized, part tentative. "It's a cemetery."

"Two bags," Ward replies. "We can put some on Danny's, too."

"Ward!" Joy repeats, but there's laughter in it this time. "You're horrible!"

IRON FIST WEEK 2021!

We are back for 2021! This year we have a character and a prompt for each day. These are optional; you can use both, one, or neither. They are there for inspiration only!

You can create any sort of fanwork for any day of the fest: pictures/gifs, fiction, fanart, meta, vid, cosplay, interpretive dance, etc. Just tag it with #ironfistweek so I know to reblog it!

Day One (April 1):

Character: Danny Rand

Prompt: Love

Day Two (April 2):

Character: Ward Meachum

Prompt: Escape

Day Three (April 3):

Character: Colleen Wing

Prompt: Fate

Day Four (April 4):

Character: Misty Knight

Prompt: Fight

Day Five (April 5):

Character: Davos

Prompt: Dragon

Day Six (April 6):

Character: Joy Meachum

Prompt: Family

Day Seven (April 7):

Character: Your Favorite Minor Character

Prompt: Missing Scene

Day Eight (April 8)

Bonus catchup day! You can post whatever you want (I mean, technically you can on any day, but this is the free-for-all roundup day) - catch up on earlier prompts, or post something you’ve had hanging around in your drafts. Late fills are fine at any time, though I’ll stop monitoring the tag after a couple of weeks.

Takes place after the big fight in 1x13.

--

"You've never heard of Joe's Pizza," Claire said, in a tone that suggested Ward had never heard of the Empire State Building.

Ward looked up, scowling, and winced as he fingered the sutures Claire had placed along his hairline. "Sure, Joe's Pizza, how could I forget, we catered them for our last company event."

"It's the best pizza in the city! Stop squirming," Claire added to Danny. She was picking broken glass out of the palm of his left hand. His right was swathed in bandages, resting on his knee. "Come on, I know you two are billionaires and all, but you can't call yourselves New Yorkers if you don't know Joe's."

"I like Pizza Hut," Danny said.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. Colleen?" Claire appealed. "Back me up here."

"Sorry," Colleen said from the kitchen. She came back, carefully balancing cups of tea. "This is Armando's erasure and I won't stand for it."

"I'm surrounded by Philistines." Claire sat back on the couch and stripped off her gloves. "That's the last of it. Meachum, stop picking at your stitches." Ward jerked his hand down. "Colleen, do you have any stab wounds or anything you need me to look at?"

Colleen gave a little smile, a tug at the corner of her mouth, and set the cups on the edge of the coffee table. "I'm okay. There's tea here if anyone wants it."

Danny started to reach for a cup and winced. Colleen handed it to him, placing it carefully in his relatively less hurt left hand.

There was an awkward silence while Claire closed up her first aid kit, a general sense of things unsaid. Colleen settled down with her shoulder resting against Danny's. Ward looked like the only reason why he hadn't bolted for the door already was because he wasn't entirely sure if he could get up.

G, Danny Rand, The Birds [marker sketch] @ironfistweek Day One, April 1 (Danny Rand; Love)

I believe Danny is the person who can just love the world around. I remember he was successfully communicating with a dog (not exactly communicating, but they reached understanding), so I immediately imagined him talking to birds & animals Snow White style (and I haven't even watched Snow White, lol). Mostly I'm joking, but it's still cool to imagine that he can feel some connection with the birds & other living beings. It's an interesting thing to explore.