#and eventually he explodes

[pinkished]

my job has me like gumball in the ep where he keeps all his snide comments to himself and it literally makes him sick

[dyinggirldied]

Danny, burnout and exhausted of being the basically only one who can fight ghosts but still gets villainized and hated by the people he saved, decides he's done.

Because he's 14 he runs to another city, one where his parents and GIW cannot willy dilly do whatever they want. Yes, he runs to Gotham. Without telling anyone.

At Gotham, he ultilizes his intelligence in making fake ID and studies at a normal if a bit run down Gotham high school, not the fancy one where Tim or Damian is studying because 1) he's trying to lay low and 2) he hates the rich. He uses an old abadoned fire station as his home.

It's all fine and dandy. He doesn't need to intervene much since there are plenty of vigilantes in this city and he's free to just...focus. On himself, his education.

Meanwhile, Amity Park is literally and metaphorically under fire with his absence.

[vwoop-prince]

YJ S3 Dick, still in the midst of his fever dream, hides underneath the 'souvenir' instead of behind some boxes, and accidentally opens the airlock trying to take care of the Parademons. The others get it to close... but not before Nightwing is thrown into space.

There, he stares at the ship holding his friends and mentors. There, he wishes more than anything that he can, somehow, survive. There, he tries to live, if only so his family don't have to bury him like Jason.

There, Nightwing dies, wanting to save everyone, even with the cold seeping into his bones far too quickly for a regular section of space.

Then, Dick opens his eyes to... Earth? There's a little house, and grass, and trees, but there's a bubble of green over it all. Outside of that green was an entire castle, one that looked like it should have far more support beams than it does for even a hope that it stays standing.

And the sky was swirling shades of that same green. It makes him think of Lazarus.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." He whips his head behind him, a bit too fast for Earth's atmosphere, but it doesn't hurt him. Past the bubble of green was a blue-skinned adult in purple robes, the insides of a grandfather-clock fitted inside their torso, and a black staff with a stopwatch on its top. Beside them was a man with snow white hair, glowing green eyes, a crown of frozen fire dancing above his head, and the most galaxy-like cloak Dick's ever seen clasped to his shoulders. He's wearing... a hazmat suit? Maybe? The twinkling stars and odd lighting of wherever he is were giving him a bit of a headache.

But in front of those two, within this bubble, was...

"DICK!" Wally shouted with unrestrained glee, a blur overtaking his spot for barely a heartbeat before Dick's stuck in a crushing hug that he reciprocates once his brain stops feeling like its melting.

He doesn't know how long it took for them to calm down, but the man with the crown spoke up after a time, as Wally was still wiping their faces free of tears. "Welcome to the Infinite Realms, Nightwing." Dick barely even registered that he was still wearing his suit, but now it felt suffocating. "I suppose you're the one Clockwork was holding out for; There shouldn't've been enough Ectoplasm around you to form a Ghost, and your physical body's still in space. I can see why you like this one, though, Clockie," he states flippantly, turning to his companion. Almost like he didn't expect Dick to pay too close attention to what he was saying.

"Either way, there's two options for you." The man didn't let Dick swallow his tears and question anything. Dick's not sure if he's grateful or not. "First: Stay in the Realms permanently. You'll see Kid Flash whenever you want and learn to be a Ghost with the denizens of the Realms. Maybe find your parents."

"But..." Dick pulls away from Wally, keeping him at arms length, eyes flitting between them. The two outside the bubble were distinctly... ghost-like, so the mentions of 'Ghosts' make sense. But Wally looked... alive. A bit pale, a bit thin... but alive. Dick can't see any of his own skin to see if it was blue or tinted that way, but the Nightwing symbol on his chest kept flickering between its own blue and this 'Realms' green. "But--What about the others? What about you? Why can't you come home?" The last two, he focuses on Wally, because now he can feel a heartbeat beneath his gloves. Wally's alive. He's alive.

His friend just shrugs. "Something about their portals not fit for the living? I'm meant to wait for someone to figure out a permanent portal, but they won't tell me how long that'll take." Wally glares at the... 'Ghosts'? There was a heat to it, but it also seemed like this was a well-worn argument.

"The permanent portal was always an 'if', Wallace West. And that is entirely dependent on if Richard Grayson takes the second option," the clock Ghost--Clockwork?--speaks up. But instead of the adult Dick was expecting, there was an elderly Ghost in their place. Still with the time motif. Was that... more literal than Dick took it?

"Yes, the second option..." The crowned man glares daggers at Clockwork. The temperature dips below comfortable. Dick tries to blink the spaceship and stars out of his sight, withdrawing his arms from Wally to try and warm himself. Tries to remember he's not in space. "The second option is that you return to your body... changed. You'll be able to protect Earth better, stay with your alive family, save the Lost Ones... for a price."

Dick doesn't know if he should ignore the plural in 'Lost Ones'. He doesn't know if he's reading too much into how, in this Realm, apparently only his parents were able to be found. Where's Jason? He doesn't dare hope, but...

"What's the price?"

The man smiles and a ring of blue forms around his waist. It splits in two and travels up and down his body, replacing the cloak and whatever clothes he was actually wearing with a NASA shirt, worn jeans, and red sneakers actually duct taped together. The blue tint to his otherwise tan skin fades completely. His hair turns black. His eyes turn blue.

He was like a taller, slightly slimmer, way hotter version of Bruce.

The man walks through the bubble, but doesn't disturb the grass beneath his feet. "You become the Ghost King's vassal." Dick flinches away and almost hides behind Wally. "Not my idea! But, well... it is either this, or your permanent death."

"What does becoming a vassal do to him?" Wally asks, gently trying to stop Dick from breaking his ribs with how tightly he was hugging himself. Does he even have ribs?

"He gains my powers. Ice, electricity, invisibility, intangibility, flight... He becomes a Halfa. He becomes what I was, in life. Just... needing to make offerings to me, now and then. Something like that, at least. I give him powers, he gives me a chunk of, I don't know, chocolate once a week. Like a warlock."

Wally keeps talking to the man, keeps getting information that he knows he should pay attention to, but something in his chest screams to accept this deal, and he can't focus on anything else.

Nightwing can protect. He can return to life and go back to Blüdhaven, be the Vigilante they need. He can visit Gotham every now and then, help with cases and stop criminals from harming others. He can see his brother. He can see his friends. He can eat Alfred's cookies, and have little get-togethers with Babs and the Team--hell, he can argue with Bruce.

And all he has to do is... give an offering to this guy? The Ghost King? Every once in a while?

"There's no other price?" The King turns his attention to Dick. His eyes had shifted to a blue-green that almost hypnotize him. The green swirls, the blue forms and melts like snowflakes, and he can't look away.

He takes another step forward and Wally steps to the side. There was familiarity between them. Wally deferred to him. Dick can't quite tell why. Though, with how Wally hasn't once looked at Clockwork, maybe it's because he's... grounded? Are all speedsters in trouble with, what, the Ghost of Time? That... actually makes perfect sense.

"I'll be honest, Nightwing: You've impressed me." The weight behind the King's words lifts the ones that've been on his shoulders since he was nine. "You remind me of myself. Maybe, if I wasn't a Halfa... If I had a mentor... I could've been like you.

"Despite Clockwork's insistence over the years that I get back in touch with the living, I've held off. When he eventually suggested that I help create another Halfa, I locked him in his tower for twenty years. I didn't want anyone to go through what I had. But, now... I see that you won't. You can't. Even if you hide this deal--our shared powers... You'll still have people by your side. Strong people. Smart people. You can already handle yourself. And I'd love to see what you can do--who you can save--with my help."

There was maybe two inches between their faces when the King finishes speaking. Dick roves his eyes across the other's face, trying to find the common and familiar ticks that show lies and deceit and manipulation. All he finds is sincerity and genuine care.

Wally plays with his fingers from the corner of his eye, gaze hopeful as he looks between the two of them. Wally, who was alive and breathing and able to leave if he accepts. Eventually. Somehow.

Dick Grayson sends a quiet apology to his parents and hopes they will forgive him for being a little bit selfish.

"I accept."

He flings his eyes open. Above him, domino mask too wobbly to be properly secured anymore, was Robin crying and begging him to wake up. His hands were sloppily placed over his heart. Batman was trying to drag him away, the firm set of his jaw screaming grief.

Nightwing gasps once he registers his lungs burning.

There's a large cacophony of noise, multiple bright suits and people hounding over him, and the distinct artificial taste of slightly-too-much oxygen that the ship with the Parademons had. That he flew out of and died. He was still too cold.

Someone moves their arm beneath his knees and shoulder and Dick passes out.

(Dick 'Nightwing' Grayson dies in space. Ghost King Danny Phantom likes this too-human Hero. They split their souls in half, take one piece of the others, and all they know is that Phantom is now Nightwing's Patron Deity. Danny uses ice, for electricity killed him. Dick uses electricity, for ice killed him. They are opposites, and yet so incredibly similar. Clockwork was looking forward to when Danny starts putting off his paperwork to hang out with his new 'friend'.)

[nelkcats]

Eldritch Friend

Or: Learning to be human,

DPxDC Prompt

Since she was in the League, Cass noticed a shadow watching her, but it never took aggressive actions against her, on the contrary, the shadow always seemed to try to help her. It gave her medicine or cures for her wounds, on one occasion it gave her an ice sculpture of a dancer, it was beautiful.

The shadow didn't seem to want to fight with her, and it was impossible for them to communicate because of this. It didn't seem to have a body either so she couldn't read its body language (Though Cass was sure that the shadow was trying to form a more stable body, maybe even resembling a human).

When she moved in with the Waynes the shadow followed her (and even formed a more human body), that's when she understood. The shadow was trying to be human.

And her "lessons" began (She was determined to teach her shadow friend about humanity, even if she herself was learning), Cass taught it sign language at the same time she was learning, and her deductions proved to be correct when the shadow was finally able to explain to her why it stayed.

His name was Danny, a ghost who had been alone so long that he had lost his humanity, the only language he remembered was that of his old friend: Wulf. Although he had lost his humanity long ago, Danny was still human, more or less (Cass didn't understand that part, probably a mistranslation?)

The shadow wanted to be human like her, learn the language, how to relate and so on. As her lessons continued, the shadow's body began to change more until she found herself facing a teenager who looked just like a male version of herself (Cass wondered if Danny copied her appearance).

Despite that achievement, it was obvious that his Eldritch characteristics weren't completely gone, and he still had a hard time being human, but he looked so proud that she couldn't ask him to shapeshift. So she had to follow her lessons while she concealed a teenage Eldritch who would give her father a cardiac arrest if he discover it.

Oh, and that while she was trying to keep Alfred and Steph from finding out, easy right?

[ironunderstands]

Crossposting my IP3 as parents post because this is my propaganda and you will read it

[syn0vial]

boba with a lightsaber in "legacy of the force"

highlights:

the fact that the scene starts with boba noticing that jaina is looking at him with "real compassion" and being like, "nuh-uh. absolutely not. putting a stop to this right the fuck now."

the way jaina draws her lightsaber all carefully like she's trying not to trigger Man With Notorious Beef Against Jedi, and he just pulls his own lightsaber out of nowhere like, "oh yeah i have one of those too :^)"

(i need everyone to know that this encounter was prefaced by an extended scene of beviin and medrit fussing over boba's shitty durasteel armor and basically forbidding him from going to spar with jaina until he swapped it out for something more lightsaber-resistant. so, after all this build-up of, "you CANNOT afford to take risks with someone wielding a lightsaber, what, are you TRYING to end up like jango," the fact that boba just casually pulls out a lightsaber of his own is extra funny to me)

(everyone is being so mindful of the fett family's traumatic history with lightsabers and meanwhile boba is just like, "EXPOSURE THERAPY OR NOTHING, LET'S FUCKING GO")

boba holding the lightsaber "like a hammer." can't decide if he's holding it like that bc it's genuinely more comfortable for him or if he's intentionally playing up his inexperience to get jaina to lower her guard.

the way he stalks towards jaina while letting the tip of the lightsaber drag against the ground. that's so menacing and i love it.

all that build-up and once he's in actual striking distance he just deactivates the lightsaber and sucker-punches her in the stomach LMAO

the fact that he uses the lightsaber as a FUCKING KNUCKLEDUSTER

he's such a mean and horrible old man. i love him <3

[emborami]

Through the years, from popinjay to coxcomb to maccaroni to dandy to dude

[t-u-i-t-c]

"Mission clear."

+ bonus

[witchofthemidlands]

there's something poetic about the mockingjay birds being created through the unintended mating between the mockingbird & the jabberjays it was a jabberjay snow used in his younger years that caused sejanus, someone who wanted the games to be abolished & became involved with the rebels, to be executed & then in president snow's genocidal peepaw years katniss became the mockingjay, the symbol for the rebellion & it was the spark she lit that eventually led to the destruction of the games so, in conclusion, them birds came for snow's NECK

[qwakque]

OMG I LOVE KALIM SO MUCHHHH 😫😫💞💫

I don't know if you do requests for drawing, but can you do a drawing containing Kalim and Idia? They're such opposites that I've always wondered what they would do if they hung out.

Ignore this if you're already busy or if you don't take requests.

Also, how are you doing? I hope you're having a good day/night.

HII YEAH I CAN DO RQS!!!

honestly this is how i think itd go if they were to be within six feet of each other LOL

ALSO IM DOING GREAT TYYY hopefully can draw more stuff soon >:]

[blu-ish]

based on a convo me and my friend had lmao.

@no-need-to-apply

[shoezuki]

rambling bout divinity au in the wake of the new fic:

sampo Did in fact wipe gepards memory of that night. but at this point in the rough timeline i have in mind sampo has fucked w gepards memory So Much and hes... not really good at it like thats fuli's job. so gepards building up a resistance

sampo has a tendency to wipe geps memory a Lot and often for stupid shit. like mid chase sampo trips and eats shit? oo thats embarassing cant have gep remembering that.

(another fic idea is the first chase where gepard actually catches sampo and sampo is so flustered he causes a localized ecological disaster around em and accidentally grows plants n flowers around gepard and then wipes geps memory)

gepard 100% knows that sampo was the one who arrested elias/the dude who stabbed him. he knows that sampo somehow got around all of their guards and security. he knows sampo tried to mess with his memory somehow.

i dont want gepard to seem like an airhead in this. kind of hard to balance it because his obliviousness to aeonic influences is central to the whole au but at the point of this fic. he Knows theres something not 'right' w sampo

at this point gepard knows sampo isnt human or has some inhuman things going on. hes decided its not relevant to the records against him and refuses to mention it or allude to it.

serval was mentioned for exactly 1 line but i have a fic planned from her perspective. she knows sampo isnt human and does her own investigations against him which leads to her butting hands with natasha. pela also knows 'something' is up w sampo but moreso about how sampo feels bout gepard.

gepard shuts down all insistances that sampo is abnormal esp from serval and pela because he doesnt want anything to change for sampo. its sort of his own way of being protective

i cut out that segment where sampo goes to natasha before finding elias but my idea is that sampo goes to natasha for comfort very often. they have a strong mutual understanding and shes kinda like an older sister/maternal figure sometimes to him

(his 'childhood' was shit and he sees his own experiences in the underworld children. so hes envious of how nat treats them lovingly because he never had that and has never had any supportive older figure considering hes not human)

i loved writing the segment with lan because lan's origins as an aeon are interesting to me.

considering lan rose to aeonhood from a hatred for Yaoshi, how sampo felt when spiralling in his anger towards elias is how lan 'feels' all the time. Lan is an aeon but is a very... emotion based aeon.

thats why lan reached out to sampo but never aha. he could feel sampos anger and relate to it. (lan's message was almost a warning as well as a jab at sampo being 'weak')

sampo thinks gepard is an emanator of qlipoth but hes so wrong.

sampo considers making gepard his emanator. he wouldnt though. if he was aha? absolutely. but hes human now and knows doing something like that and altering gepard without his knowledge would be a betrayal. gepard isnt suited for elation anyways

people who know sampo isnt exactly human: gepard, natasha, serval

people who know sampo is so down bad for gep: pela, seele, natasha

i dont think anyone fully realizes hes an aeon though. because thats so unimagimable. nat is the closest though

[fizzie-frog]

K k but consider this: Asmodeus taking care of Fizz when his health acts up and struggles to take care of himself (and we know Fizz is a stubborn little gremlin who most likely would try to take care by himself unless he's literally like dying or something).

[lokh]

in a world where the dungeon meshi cast are playing a ttrpg. did shuro just like inexplicably get roped in one day and he just. kept showing up

[juniperleafdelivery]

[yinyuedijun]

thinking about aven on this fathers day

if he ever got really, truly close enough to you to settle down and have a family... he would have so so many feelings about holding your baby for the first time. fear. the baby has his eyes- the eyes of a sigonian, the eyes that have the world scream back: cheater, liar, thief, whore. he has come a long way from who he was as a child, and has much more security through his wealth, but will he ever be fully able to protect his child? will he be a good father? is he capable of that kind of love?

and under the fear- sheer pride and adoration. the baby is nothing short of a miracle- something aventurine (no, kakavasha,) is intimately acquainted with. blessings. is there anything more special than a being that encompasses the two of you, that symbolizes the love and commitment you have for each other? and a bright, new future ahead of you?

he refuses to hold the baby at first- mouthing some sort of excuse that you as the birthing parent have the right, as you have worked so hard for. really, he's afraid of tainting your child. his child.

later when you're exhausted and asleep he'll creep next to the crib and pick your baby up and hold them so gently, and understand the love and desire to protect that seeimingly comes out of nowhere.

OKAY IGNORE THIS IF YOU WANT LKDFLKSJFZLLDK

no words or thoughts anon, just tears....... dadventurine u are so important to me......