#I WANT TO VISIT SO MANY PLACES

[sn4kebites]

wanting to travel but being visibly muslim is always weird

[starry-bi-sky]

tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid

okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.

It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.

(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)

There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.

It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.

Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.

Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.

He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.

At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.

This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.

Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.

Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.

Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.

("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.") ("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.") ("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.") (Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)

Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.

Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.

Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.

Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.

Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".

(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)

Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.

He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.

Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.

Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.

At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.

He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.

Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."

And there it is. There's his out.

Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."

The ball starts rolling.

Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.

He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.

It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.

Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.

He breaks the lock by hand.

Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.

The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.

And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.

I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"

I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.

Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.

But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.

Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.

Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.

Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.

Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.

And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 52

So I’ve seen several catboy Danny prompts, but hear me out: All of Amity becoming so ecto-contaminated that everyone becomes something akin to a mythological creature. And Danny? He becomes a Nekomata- a two-tailed cat that was said to be able to shapeshift into humans for mischief, including straight up haunting people and stealing corpses. Vlad ends up a kitsune- which is already associated with taking on human forms to seduce people and with things such as foxfire and possession. Tucker ends up a sphinx sort of creature- “It’s not fair you guys can just float around while I have to figure out how to use these stupid wings when I could be coding!”- and Sam ends up a dryad of some sort, they aren’t entirely sure what but that’s what they joke it is so…

The people sent to investigate this city are more than slightly freaking out.

[angy-grrr]

SJ's internal changes (I recall it was the editor in chief, someone really influential) happening JUST at the same time it was announced the epilogue would be 5 chapters (same week) + the ending not bringing up huge plot points (where the other villains are, why theres no actual Himiko corpse and instead we got Ochako's grief over that assumption, what happened to Dabi, what was the All Might vestige, why the bkdk handhold was off screen when its a big deal for them, who is Deku's dad, etc), letting them linger in the air while trying to make an okay ending + that strange two week break because of "schedule conflicts" + choosing to end BNHA under even more pressure even tho its one of the most important manga in SJ + Horikoshi talking about the ending days after the official release and bringing up how grateful he is for being able to work in SJ, as in past tense (like he is grateful he worked here, but isnt happening again; I say this bc I expected him to say something around the lines of "I hope im able to create something good here again soon!", considering we already know he has another manga project, if I remember correctly)

Thinking about it.

Thinking about how he could let it as it is, or try to pick it up and confirm the things that do matter to his story.

Btw, im not talking about the handhold as a shipper -it was genuinely important for them, as it symbolizes both their new mutual understanding and an acceptance as the new All Might duo thanks to their respective heroisms. It wouldn't be weird to add it in the epilogue, especially considering so many characters hold hands in non romanitc ways, so to choose not to when its arguably the most important one... Idk, it felt really weird as it was the only thing I was sure would get sooner or later.

[the-pheal]

Pheal, are you joining your dads on the US leg of the tour?

hi! thank you for your question. i'm not sure, they didn't take me this time around :/ but hopefully they will now!

i do miss the cuddles :'3

- pheal <3

[violetren]

I feel like every US election I am forced to learn something new and stupidly exploitable by facists about how their voting system works.

Why the fuck do you need to sign your ballots? And what is the fucking point if you then also need to "cure" your ballot by calling up to confirm that yes actually that is your signature even if it doesn't exactly match the sample signature your state has for comparison because handwriting can fucking change for a multitude of reasons?

Literally only seems to be a thing for the purposes of making it possible to arbitrarily throw out however many votes the state wants to ensure they get their outcome. Which... does anyone really believe a country is a democracy if that can happen?

[vickyvicarious]

I love the music this episode. So foreboding for the Demeter section, and then so light and charming for Mina.

Speaking of Mina, I love how she opens with Lucy "looking sweeter and lovelier than ever" - because obviously, Lucy looking sweet and lovely at all times is a given, she's just more so currently. ^_^ She has some lovely descriptions, reminiscent of Jonathan - she too is painting a word-picture for him to possibly read later. But it soon diverts into history and legend and spookiness, because of course it does, she enjoys that stuff. ...actually, graveyards being treated almost like public parks wasn't that uncommon at the time I think, but it's still fun and her interest in spooky stories is apparent elsewhere in the entry too. I love how Mina is planning to come back here and work often: it's that preparation for the future again. She's so eager to get started, and possibly in a little bit of the 'I'm going to get so much done this summer' phase, though I have way more faith in her ability to stick to the plan than my own. But she really is obviously excited to build up her skills (presumably working on typing and stenography) and I love how you can really feel her effort (and her enjoyment in the effort) to be like lady journalists here. All those descriptions and interviewing Mr. Swales...

Speaking of Mr. Swales, he sounds so sweet. Lovable grandpa acquired; well done Mina!

[quatregats]

I have gone to Cotlliure and sent the legend himself your regards as best I could!

+ bonus pictures of the walk to the cemetery and back to town because there was lots of interesting nature and views

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Me, while manically cleaning my room at 3:27am: I should make several large, life-changing, irreversible decisions.

[perilegs]

being homesick and changing as a person so much the place you grew up in isn't your home anymore is such a core part of ati and upon further inspection i think i was projecting a little

[ai-the-broccoli]

aaghh I hate health anxiety ocd (or whatever you call it), it's literally doing nothing other than contributing to make my health worse

... wait actually, does anyone have like, tips/advice for that kind of thing? I really think I need some help with this one

[dent-de-leon]

the thought of Claret Orders blood hunter Molly/King is just so interesting to me, I really do wonder what would've happened if they found their way there after Lucien. I still hope Kingsley runs into the Orders one day--maybe after reading Beau's journal and wanting to learn more about his past. Maybe because he has questions about the whole blood magic thing.

And I think it would be good for him to meet Karem. He reminds me a bit of what Mollymauk saw in Gustav--though I could never see Karem selling others out to a demon the way Gustav did with Kylre. Someone who protects others from the monsters, who could have saved the circus and Kylre's other victims if he ever crossed paths with "Lucien" again. I wonder if Molly regrets not seeing the signs sooner, wishes he knew enough about being a blood hunter to end everything before Trostenwald, before more people got hurt--

And...the fact that Karem genuinely cared for Lucien--but was inevitably pushed away. Lucien who was hurt too much by his own family and everyone he ever trusted to put his faith in someone now. I wonder if he felt responsible when Lucien left the Orders and took Cree and Brevin with him, if he feels like he failed him somehow. I wonder if news ever reached Karem about Lucien's death, or if he still hopes his reckless student is alive. I think it'd give both him and King a lot of closure to meet, and that Karem would be happy to train him again if he wanted--

[seaofreverie]

Any londoners here / people who are familiar with the place? Just asking. for no particular reason

[flagonofdragons]

Ken just wanted to visit his sister...

So I was thinking how nice it would have been to have an episode where Ken visits Gwen at Friedkin. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised how utterly bizarre and bewildering that visit would be. Gwen and Kevin are showing Ken around and introducing him to people and it just keeps getting weirder and weirder, just imagine:

Because first up you've got Zed, Kevin's alien dog who used to be one of Ben's enemies. Then you've got Professor Hex who used to be one of Gwen's enemies.

Depending on what was supposed to happen after 'The Most Dangerous Game Show,' it's highly likely that Charmcaster is still at Friedkin, who of course was Gwen's number 1 enemy. If this was a couple months later, then maybe Gwen has succeeded in befriending her and helping her change her life for the better. Or if Charmcaster hasn't quite changed yet, then she'd either still be trapped in her bag, or possibly be allowed out of it for some freedom but with a spell on her to stop her using her magic so she couldn't harm anyone (like the spell Gwen put on Darkstar) and either way this is going to look majorly weird.

Then there's Professor Xagliv 'The Art History Professor of Death' who isn't actually an enemy, but was once mistaken for one of Ben's old enemies (Vilgax)

There's also Professor Aniceto from the drama department, who for some reason was stealing plutonium and ended up fighting Lucky Girl.

Ken: The eyes on that painting keep following me..

Kevin: Yeah they do that, don't stare at them too long or they might try to steal your soul

And Kevin's only half-joking because no ones really sure why the paintings do that and knowing Friedkin University it's possible they're actually haunted or cursed.

The guy who sells sandwiches isn't evil (as far as we know) but gives off a really ominous vibe.

They walk past a group of students and Ken asks his sister why some of them are wearing dark robes; "Are they part of a D&D club?" And they explain that no, actually they used to be part of a cult that worshiped this guy who's still Gwen's enemy (Darkstar)

Kevin: Don't worry, we beat him and he doesn't go here anymore. We don't really know what those kids do anymore but they haven't caused anymore trouble so it's cool I guess.

Ken: Wait that guy used to go here?

And they're walking around showing Ken the buildings and he points at one.

Ken: That looks new, is the University expanding?

Gwen: No that's just repair work from when Charmcaster sliced the building in half when we fought once. And that new archway over there was built after she destroyed the last one when she turned into a dragon.

Ken: ...

Kevin, grumbling: And over there is where she made my car vanish.

By the time they run into Bezel, Ken's just like "let me guess, he used to be one of your enemies too?" And Gwen tells him "actually, no! He is however the most powerful sorcerer in the universe." And right on cue, Bezel pulls out a deck of cards (that are clearly facing the wrong way) brandishes them at Ken, and gleefully asks him to pick one.

Other than the DNAlien incident, it's probably the weirdest visit Ken's ever done (but thankfully far less traumatizing)

[servuscallidus]

I Need to go to Scotland