#and also outside of cities.

[deadsetobsessions]

Tim Drake, Danny’s human identity in this universe, is a boy trapped in an empty manor with absentee parents a low socialization.

Danny Phantom, on the other hand, is Gotham City himself. He could fly, he could interact, he could be the heart of his city like he needs to be. From the lowest of the lows to the highest of the highs, Danny loved the people that were his. Well, most of them. Child molesters often found themselves crossing paths with a vengeful, mostly recovered Robin.

He is the city, he is Gotham. And with his status came more changes, ones he welcomes more readily that the changes that came with his title of Ghost King.

Being a city couldn’t change him as much as it would have, had he gained the title before becoming King. But now, his shadows are dark, curling around his shoulders and curling away what little light he allowed into his city. His skin, having once glittered green with stars and galaxies and black holes, clouds over just a bit. It gives him a misty quality. His hands become sharper, stronger. Gargoyle-like. He wonders what he looked like to Batman, holding his broken son cradled safely to himself. He’s crueler, now, but that’s easily balanced by his years of being a vigilante himself.

He loves these changes. They are loved in a way changing into Dead Danny Phantom and Ghost King Danny Phantom will never be loved. And even though his human features are different in a way he never had to deal with as Danny Fenton, because it was his body that he died in, Danny finds himself enjoying the distinction. And he enjoys when they combine, because in the end, they’re just facets of who he is, now.

Gotham flies through his city, and enjoys it as a whole. A bigger picture.

Tim Drake walks through his city, and enjoys it as an individual. The smaller picture.

Being Gotham reminds him of what he had to protect as a whole. A duty he gladly bears.

Being Tim reminds him of the people he’s meant to help, the stories he doesn’t get as Danny. A connection he gladly encouraged.

Gotham is power. He is duty, he is fierce love. But for the good of the whole.

Tim is kindness. He is choice, he is gentle devotion. But for the good of the individual.

He’s both.

Danny. Danny Phantom.

Phantom glides through the smog.

The ebb and flow of people is his life blood, the thrumming of life and death and fear and hate and love and everything the city is sung through him and Danny sung back with everything he had. Danny is the gargoyles perched high, watching everything. He’s the stone curves of the sewers, sheltering his rats and mutant murderous crocodile man. The is no love comparable to a city’s mutant rats and their sewers. Ancients, he loves his city.

It would be nice, Danny thinks wryly, if they’d love me enough to stop blowing up buildings.

The sting of destruction to his city would hurt much more, had he not also been King. Regardless, every time there’s an explosion or general large scale property damage, he feels a stab of mild pain. Catching sight of his Bats, Danny stays invisible while following them. He wills the shadows to cradle them, to hide them further. He softens the stone, the mortar, the steel, just a hint. Their footsteps, silent and aided by the city himself. The wind steal away the noise of the grappling guns, so when Danny’s favorite vigilante duo (a fascination he shared with original text!Tim) broke into the building, not a single soul aside them are aware of the intrusion.

Batman skulks across the support beams, Robin following with an anticipatory grin. Danny floats, invisible, undetectable, besides them.

“C’mon!” A goon grunts beneath them. Danny tilts his head. A… Dresden Aberthy. Wow. That’s one hell of a name.

“Hurry it up! Boss said Batman’s going to get here soon!” Another goon- Robbert- said, waving around a gun like a moron at the terrified hostages. Danny could tell half of them were part of a tour bus, mostly because the other half were his Gothamites, bored and unfairly used to this kind of thing. The tourists… He’s fond of them, having kept track of their progress through his city. He doesn’t care for intruders on his haunt, but tourists like to appreciate his city and its doubtlessly Sam-approved architecture. Most of them. Rude tourists get pigeon shit on their heads and food stolen by his lovely rats.

He’ll have to make sure none of the bullets hit the tourists. He likes this group, even if he has enough awareness to question their sanity in choosing his city to sightsee. He knows it’s a mess. It’s Danny’s mess though, so whatever.

——

All said and done, Batman whoops ass and Robin rescues the hostages just fine. Danny grins proudly as Robin knees a guy in the crotch and punches a lady’s throat in order to incapacitate them.

After they tied the goons up, and interrogated them for Two Face’s plans- explode a quarter of Gotham to distract the Bats from his diabolical plan to murder half of Gotham’s judges and lawyers that have been going after him and his people- the duo retreats to the rooftop.

“Didja think Gotham saw that?”

Batman goes to reply, but Danny beats him to it, coming back to visibility with a wind touched laugh.

“I did, little Robin.” Danny smiles, fangs and shadows on display as his vigilantes startles and whips around to face him. “You did well.”

Robin- Jason!- gapes at him.

“I see you’ve recovered, little bird.”

“Gotham! Oh. Wow. People always said Gotham was a lady, but you’re a guy!”

“It was a Lady,” Danny confirmed. “It’s complicated, little bird.”

“So, you’re really… you’re really Gotham? The city?”

Danny looks at Robin with the weight of the city behind his gaze.

“I think you know the answer to that. But yes, I am your city.”

“Constantine,” Batman starts. “He said that city spirits only appear in times of grave danger.”

There is deference in his words. Batman is Batman for Gotham, after all. Danny just wishes he could… well, be friendlier with his knights. May this is a good place to start.

Are you in danger? What threats do we need to handle? How can I help? How can I protect? Please, let me help.

His Knight always felt more than he ever says. Danny smiles.

“Was Robin’s wellbeing not in grave danger?” Danny floats closer. “I am your city. You protect me, it is only right that I protect you, no?”

“Thank you for saving me, Gotham!” Robin’s grin is a touch more sincere than usual.

“Of course, Robin. You are loved.”

“Is there… a reason you’ve shown yourself today? Gotham.”

Danny chuckles, understanding the awkwardness that was Batman addressing someone with deference.

“I wanted to tell you that you did well tonight. Those tourists weren’t harmed in the slightest. Well done.” Danny gave Robin a playful but sincere thumbs up.

“They weren’t a match for us!”

“No, they weren’t.” Danny ruffles Robin’s hair, noticing how still he grew at it. “Robin was too fast for them. That maneuver at the end was masterfully executed.”

Batman clears his throat and Danny resists the urge to laugh at him. It would be mean.

“Thank you, for the… praise.”

Fuck it. He’s played well behaved for too long.

“Yes. I read in child rearing books that positive reinforcement is necessary for healthy development. You did well, Batman.”

Despite trolling Batman- and somehow holding a straight (and hopefully wise face)- he meant every word.

Allowing a small smile to slip at Robin’s chortles and Batman’s quiet sputtering, Danny moves on.

“Where is Nightwing, Batman?”

“He’s still on a mission...”

“If it is awkward to refer to me as Gotham, Phantom will do.”

Batman dips his head once. “In space, with the Teen Titans.”

“I see. Please tell him I request his presence,” Danny barely waits for Batman’s oddly acquiescing agreement before summoning a pigeon.

“Follow her,” Danny instructs the duo. “She’ll lead you to the places with explosives. I will guide you through her, to Harvey Dent.”

Danny winces as another explosion rings out.

“Your face is cracking!” Robin exclaimed, worried. He surged forward to stare at the hairline cracks appearing on Danny’s jaw.

“That would be the explosives. Any damage to the city will be shown on me.”

“Well take care of it.” Batman growled, shoulders straightening once more into an imposing symbol.

“Yeah!”

“I know you will. Stay safe.” Danny disappears, spreading his awareness and directing his Birds to the explosives that will go off the fastest.

Batman and Robin share a glance and leaps off the roof, ready to save their city once more.

——

Tim Drake wanders around Crime Alley, and meets a blonde nine year old trying to throw hands at her absentee Riddler knockoff of a dad. He dodges the brick en route to his face and kicks the guy’s knees out.

“You okay?”

The girl blinks. She stares at her dad, groaning on the dirty street of crime alley, and flicks her gaze back up to Tim, who waits casually.

“Yep. I’m Stephanie. We’re gonna be friends now!”

She grins at him, a baby tooth missing, and Danny melts.

“Heck yeah. Tim!” He introduces himself for the first time in a long time.

Maybe with Stephanie around, he’ll finally use the name Tim? Maybe he’ll get used to it, finally!

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 168

So. Apparently halfas are like phoenixes or something, which Danny would’ve really liked to know. 

See, usually with ghosts if they’re forced to retreat to their cores they reform as was, but apparently, since they’re still partially living, schrodinger's people and all that, halfas have to regrow their body from scratch. At least that’s what he’s understanding from Frostbite. 

But how come he has to deal with it? It’s Dan’s fault for trying to pull such a stunt! Oh, it’s either him or Vlad? Well fuck, he might have calmed down and is going to therapy in both the living realm and the Zone, but he’s waaay not equipped to raise a child except for like, monetarily wise. 

Well dammit, how long will this core incubation thing last, he has his new job in… let him check which offer he accepted again… He has his new job in Coast City that he needs to finish packing for and then all the rest of the stuff to do. 

What do you mean it’ll take months?! He doesn’t have months?! Urgh, fine. At least being a mortician isn’t that exciting, nor dangerous. Just hand him Dan’s core and he’ll figure things out for the living side of things. He’s sure Tucker and Sam wouldn’t be against helping, if only to try and claim favorite aunt or uncle spots. 

[fusionsprunt]

me when my meteor-powered robot gf attempts to murder me 😳😳

[robinfollies]

KEEP THE DANGER OUT // KEEP THE DANGER IN

[b0tster]

ive never seen more promos and 50% off sales and damage control open letters in my entire life than what starbucks is doing right now lmao they are getting desperate

[loadingbones]

May I please request a Laurence doodle please? Your art is amazing 🤩!!

It became Laurence doodles 🫰🏻

And thank u!!! ✨

[estrangedandwayward]

The Gilded King

[arquinx]

I remember when Redspring Studios wanted us to notice something about the locations and I thought it was weird that there was something growing out of the sewers.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

End of Empathy (time for violence)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[notbecauseofvictories]

I know my experience is not universal, but I biked 5+ miles to do my errands today and I genuinely think we'd be much happier as a human collective if we increased residential density and switched to largely alternative modes of transportation.

[pondslime]

What do you want from me? What have I done? I'm just a word processor, for Christ sake!

Griffin Dunne as Paul Hackett AFTER HOURS (1985) dir. Martin Scorsese

[mxtxfanatic]

A-Qing and Wei Wuxian: An Under-Discussed Analysis

While many different Yi City comparisons and relationship breakdowns have been made, one that I don't think I've ever seen is between A-Qing and Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian is probably the first living being to treat A-Qing with respect and not fear or revulsion after her death. He plays into her jumpscare trick by allowing her to scare the juniors, but also addresses her respectfully, the directness of which initially arouses her wariness. He trusts her to lead him and the juniors to safety, being able to understand that she does not mean any of them harm. This is a trust she then reciprocates when she allows Wei Wuxian to perform Empathy on her to share her wish to avenge Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan:

Wei Wuxian smiled. “Mm, you’ve thought about this, very good. This is exactly how you should analyze the situation—don’t ignore any suspicious details. Now then, let’s ask her to come inside and clear up any doubts about this case.” After he finished speaking, he immediately removed one of the wooden boards blocking the window. The youths inside the dim room and even the ghost outside were startled by his sudden movement. She raised her bamboo pole in defense. Wei Wuxian first waved to the ghost. “Miss, you’ve been following us this whole time. Do you have some business with us?” he asked immediately.

—Chapt. 36: Flora IV, fanyiyi

The ghost of the blind, tongue-less girl had returned! Wei Wuxian made a snap decision. “Let’s go!” “Go where?” Lan Jingyi said. “Follow the sound of the bamboo pole,” Wei Wuxian replied. “You want us to follow a ghost?” Jin Ling said, somewhat startled. “Who knows where she’ll take us?!” “Yes, exactly. Follow her. The sound’s been tailing you ever since you got here, right? You tried to walk further into the city, but she was leading you toward the city gates, and then you ran into us. She was trying to drive you away—to rescue you!”

...

“Why don’t you come in?” Wei Wuxian said to the ghost girl. She wiped her eyes and face and ran at him, her entire soul merging with his body.

—Chapt. 38: Flora VI, fanyiyi

But the thing I find most interesting about A-Qing and her role amidst the Yi City arc's parallels is how alike she and Wei Wuxian are. If Xiao Xingchen is the parallel for Wei Wuxian's righteousness and the trajectory of his first life, then A-Qing is the parallel for his adaptability and unwillingness to passively accept evil cloaked in civility, as a lot of the moments where Wei Wuxian and A-Qing are most in-tuned are when A-Qing is showing off her survival skills or when they are both mentally raging about Xue Yang:

This girl really knows how to act wild. I understand now—she’s pretending to be blind. She was probably born with white pupils. Even though she looks blind on the surface, she actually can see. She’s using her appearance to pose as a blind person in order to trick people and win their sympathy. As a young, lone, homeless girl, if she pretended to be blind, others would naturally lower their guard. In reality, she could see perfectly clearly and could thus adapt to the situation. It indeed counted as a smart method of self-protection.

...

Ah-qing apologized repeatedly, but as the man was about to leave, he realized he wasn’t willing to let it go just yet. His unruly right hand found Ah-qing’s bottom and pinched her forcefully. As he shared her feelings, this was effectively the same as pinching Wei Wuxian. He instantaneously felt his skin crawl and become covered in a dense layer of goosebumps. He could think about nothing except slapping the man so hard he’d fly right into the earth.

—Chapt. 39: Flora VII, fanyiyi

Before she even opened her mouth, something small flew abruptly toward her. Subconsciously, Wei Wuxian wanted to dodge in case it was some kind of concealed weapon, but of course, he had no control over Ah-qing’s body. Soon after, he came to a sudden and startling realization: It’s a trap! Xue Yang was experimenting on Ah-qing. If she was truly blind, she shouldn’t be able to dodge! Ah-qing proved herself a veteran of posing as a blind girl at all times. She was quick: when she saw the object sailing toward her, she didn’t attempt to duck out of the way. She didn’t even blink. Instead, she allowed it to strike her lower chest, and only then did she jump back. ... He pointed the tip of the blade at Ah-qing. If she walked a few more steps forward, she would be impaled. But if she hesitated even a moment, the fact that she wasn’t truly blind would be revealed! Wei Wuxian shared all five of Ah-qing’s senses, and he could also feel the prickling at the back of her head. However, the girl had incomparable courage and composure, and continued to feel her way forward, expression normal. Sure enough, when her stomach was about a centimeter from the tip of the blade, Xue Yang drew back Jiangzai on his own and placed it back into his sleeve, exchanging it for a couple of pieces of candy. ... She was astonishingly shrewd, Wei Wuxian thought. Ah-qing hadn’t forgotten at all. Everything Xiao Xingchen said, she remembered more clearly than anyone. She had said the wrong thing on purpose, and since Xue Yang corrected her, he had effectively confirmed that he was also a cultivator. His test had failed, but she had tested him successfully in return. Though the girl was so young, her mind was surprisingly sharp.

...

Xiao Xingchen hadn’t had much prior experience with people like him and was easily amused—just a few of Xue Yang’s remarks could make him laugh. Listening to their pleasant conversation, Ah-qing viciously but silently mouthed a few words. After careful observation, it seemed as though she were saying, “I’m going to kill you, you horrible thing.” Wei Wuxian and Ah-qing’s feelings were the same.

...

There’s no way Xue Yang has good intentions, Wei Wuxian thought. He even wants to help Xiao Xingchen night- hunt. If Ah-qing doesn’t follow them, then we’ll miss something big. However, Ah-qing was indeed quick-witted and understood that Xue Yang was probably up to no good. She waited until the pair left, then hopped out of the coffin and followed them at a distance.

—Chapt. 39: Flora VII, fanyiyi

However, Ah-qing did not understand the cipher lying before her. Her knowledge was extremely cursory, derived entirely from the occasional moments when Xiao Xingchen had mentioned these subjects. “Could that rotten thing really be helping Daozhang?” she mumbled. Don’t start believing in Xue Yang so easily! Wei Wuxian thought. Fortunately, Ah-qing’s intuition was very sharp. Though she couldn’t pick out anything strange from what she saw, her wary attitude toward Xue Yang was deeply rooted within her. She hated him on instinct and couldn’t feel at ease with him. Thus, whenever Xue Yang followed Xiao Xingchen out to night-hunt, she quietly tailed them. Even when they were all at home, she never let down her guard.

—Chapt. 40: Flora VIII, fanyiyi

While A-Qing lacked the cultivation knowledge and skill to act on her knowledge to save lives, the courage and endurance she displayed while living with Xue Yang matches Wei Wuxian's own spirit. And because of this shared spirit, A-Qing is willing to entrust her life and after-life goal to Wei Wuxian:

Wei Wuxian sighed internally, then turned to Ah-qing. “We’ve troubled you.” ... Propped up on the side of the coffin, Ah-qing pressed her palms together and bowed repeatedly to Wei Wuxian. Afterwards, with her bamboo pole serving as her sword, she made the “kill kill kill” gesture she had often used when causing a ruckus. “Don’t worry,” Wei Wuxian said.

—Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

...a faith proven rightfully placed as not only does he (and Lan Wangji!) put an end to Xue Yang's reign of terror in Yi City, he also releases Song Lan from the curse of the nails and gathers the fragments of her shattered soul to give to him for safekeeping:

“Hold him down!” Wei Wuxian said. He leaned over and rapidly felt through Song Lan’s hair, searching for the two nails stuck in the corpse’s skull. Relief washed over him when his fingers found the ends: this pair of nails was much thinner than the pair which had been hammered into Wen Ning’s head. Plus, they were made of different material, so restoring Song Lan’s original consciousness wouldn’t be too hard. Immediately, Wei Wuxian pinched the ends of the nails and slowly began pulling them out. Feeling the foreign objects move in his head, Song Lan’s eyes abruptly widened. He let out a low hiss, and Wen Ning was forced to press him down harder to prevent him from escaping. When the nails were finally wrenched free, Song Lan immediately collapsed on the ground, entirely immobile, paralyzed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

—Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

After a moment of silence, Wei Wuxian produced two identical, small spirit-locking pouches and passed them over to him. “Xiao Xingchen Daozhang and Miss Ah-qing.” Though Ah-qing had been terrified of Xue Yang, she had closely shadowed her murderer, preventing him from escaping or hiding until Bichen had plunged its blade through his chest and he had finally experienced retribution. The seal Xue Yang had venomously thrown at her had shattered her soul. Wei Wuxian had run around frantically, trying his best to pick up the pieces, but he had only successfully retrieved part of it, and only after a great deal of effort. Now that Ah-qing’s soul was in fragments, it was in more or less the same state as Xiao Xingchen’s. Curled up in their respective spirit locking pouches, the two souls seemed extremely fragile, as though they would disintegrate right inside the pouch at the slightest bump. Song Lan’s hands trembled slightly as he received them. He held the pouches in his palm, too afraid to carry them by their tassels lest a shake destroy the souls inside.

—Chapt. 42: Flora X, fanyiyi

[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.

[sir-fluffbutts]

how cone twins appeared in latte's apartment? why would he sell a room in his house to some teenages? why would he even sell a room in his house at that point? was it to feel a little less lonely or is there another matter?

SO,

- its not like he rented out a room from his own house, but latte lives in a 5 story apartment building that he owns (something like this)

he only uses the top floor as his own so the rest is up for grabs (so directly speaking, he's a landlord)

- the twins (all of them) were signed up as a sort of support system from lotl.corp, and since lattes apartment (at the time, only 4th story available) was open for those types of support systems, it was selected as one of the housing options from the system

they just picked this place cause unlike the rest of the twins, they posess a strong special ability(fire) and was pretty confident they can live in a more shady parts of the city without accident

-----------

so in short, he didn't directly sold the place to them, he just had it open for a housing support system (cause its not like he need the space or the money) and it got randomly selected as a option

[maybe-boys-do-love]

A Tale of a Thousand Stars answers the age-old question: What if Hallmark movies were good?