#but other times Danny is just worried

[nelkcats]

Baby Bird Advices

When a person is facing a difficult moment, or having to make a though decision. The voice of their soulmate will manifest in their head. It's not their actual voice though, it's the voice of the child they were once, which can be confusing because people change over time.

Sometimes all someone needs is a kid scolding them or telling them to take a break; After all, they don't lie to make you feel better but try their best to support you.

However, Jason's soulmate wants a refund, little Robin is definitely not trying his best. He suggested steal the tires of a car once!

Danny didn't know his soulmate's name, one day the boy proudly declared his name was "Robin" which couldn't be a real name, but he assumed it worked. Little Robin gave worrisome advice.

Honestly, Little Robin remained silent for most of his life, sometimes he complained about his parents or his living conditions, but he didn't go further than that.

When he was a child it was a surprise to discover Little Robin, at that time the voice had no name but at the age of 5 he advised him to run, and well, it worked. Robin had a lot of advices on running away, or how to survive on little food, which was extremely helpful considering his... living conditions.

Although the halfa was very worried about the future of the child, he knew the voice of his soulmate would still be there even if they died, Little Robin was still alive? Would he be okay? How did he know so many worrying things? And why did he consider it was a good idea to tell him what to do?

On the other hand, Jason has tried to shut the little Dick in his head from making jokes during his most tense moments. Although he is stupidly helpful, and his knowledge of chemistry helped him on more than one occasion (how did a kid know about chemistry and mechanics, what the fuck?)

[teetle-time]

yknow. i have the dp xover vision in my brain. which is with the rise guys meeting the danny phantom guys. and it works! i have So Many Ideas about it and the idea of these two groups of chaotic overpowered teenagers joining forces is a beautiful one.

but we're sleeping on a gold mine, folks.

a gold mine.

[sincetheducksleft]

S3E6 "University": Sympathetic characters and intergenerational trauma

Tracee burning her son with a cigarette because her mother held her hand on the stove is like the entire fucking thesis of this show, even more so because it specifically undercuts Tracee as one of the most straightforwardly sympathetic characters we've seen.

(800 words; spoilers for all of season 3)

I'm currently rewatching The Sopranos with my mom, and one of the first things she mentioned (not as a complaint, just as an observation) is that there really are no purely sympathetic characters on the show. By the end of the first episode we've seen our main character commit acts of extreme violence -- but it would be misguided to say we're supposed to root against him, because the mafia-aligned characters who oppose him are usually just as bad, if not worse.

Rather, I think The Sopranos is supposed to make us question what makes a character sympathetic or villainous, and how this relies on narrative, perspective, and arc (or the lack thereof).

Tracee enters this episode as something close to a purely sympathetic character -- a single mother, presumably a former teen mom, baking bread to thank Tony for helping her son. It's a specifically feminine/domestic act, both motherly and naive, that also positions Danny (the son) as a priority in her life. She almost represents the mother figure that was so missing from Tony's life, except that we're also supposed to see her as a naive child, making her tragic instead.

Speaking of tragic, we find out quickly that she's in a relationship with Ralph, which stops your fucking heart if you've been paying attention and know he's straight up violently insane. (Not to say that the escalation of his behavior in this episode isn't supposed to surprise us -- just that it's an escalation of existing behavior, not an introduction of a new trait to his character).

But right as we find out Tracee is pregnant, presumably setting us up for the tragedy of her death (which, yes, is exactly what ends up happening), we also find out that Tracee has a history of abusing her son to the point that a social worker got involved. And we also find out, in the exact same breath, that the social worker and Tracee herself believe she burned her son with cigarettes because her mother held her hand on the stove when she was little.

It's such a perfect parallel to the overall theme of intergenerational trauma and the cycle of abuse and dysfunction, and also to Tony specifically as a product of his own father, and it completely undercuts the simplistic, arguably stereotypical depiction of a helplessly naive little girl we've seen in Tracee.

Although she's generally being used as a highly feminine, mother-adjacent victim in the context of Tony's story, there's another story out there (Danny's story) where she's the abusive parent who fucks him up for life, and another where she's an abused child whose mother fucks her up for life. She's both a source of pain and someone forced to absorb pain, and it's like a perfect microcosm of how the human condition is portrayed on The Sopranos.

Every character has the potential to be a main character, every character has depth and complexity that is revealing of the human condition. Everyone has the potential to be sympathetic or villainous, and how we see them in this story relies heavily on how they're used in a narrative sense, but if there's a truth at the heart of that narrative it's that everyone is both.

Even Ralph has his moment of sympathy in this episode, reminding us (again) that he had to drop out of school in 11th grade. Unlike Tony, Ralph actually was forced into this life.

And it's just so fucking typical that Tracee, who's apparently just starting to gain some insight into why she abuses her son and starting to do better, would have her story abruptly ended as a minor plot point in the story of some other asshole's unresolved issues and childhood trauma.

Tracee's story may be profound and revealing, but that doesn't mean it will be told in full. That life will treat her like more than a side character, that the people around us care about our own narrative satisfaction. That's not how The Sopranos works because it's not how life works.

It's not a profoundly meaningful tragedy that leaves us reeling at the end of this episode. Rather, it's the fact that Tracee's story ends abruptly, in the middle, without resolution or satisfaction, that leaves us empty and cold. Wondering what the fuck just happened to Tracee, and what the fuck is going to happen to us in our own lives, and whether we'll get a chance to put meaning to it before the big nothing.

Everyone we meet has enough depth and complexity and narrative power to be a main character, to have their story told in full with an arc and a meaning and a true profundity of purpose, and most of them never are.

[aro-aizawa]

well. i am officially one family member less now.

[gigantomachylesbian]

Okay I get it now. I DO think that Gojo and Geto Explored each other's bodies.

[only-in-december]

Y'know, being in my brain 24/7 is a wild experience. Especially when it comes to fandom related stuff. Because like. On the one hand, I'm rewriting/editing all my Danny Phantom fics so I can reupload them, but better. On the other, I'm still working on my SG1 AU. But also, I want to keep writing the three different Star Trek fics that I have going right now. Plus, I'm reading LOTR and just really want to read that. And I also am starting to get back into Doctor Who again??? Because y'know. THe rest of that wasn't quite enough for me. I'm going to drive myself insane with all of this. I might as well fall back into the Les Mis fandom too! (I won't though. Don't worry.)

[boopjuice]

Okay, I have A Thought.

So I've seen around a few times that Danny's heart stops and freaks out people with superhearing, particularly Superman and his family. Que the freaking out because this child's heart has stopped and they haven't even seemed to notice.

But what if Danny keeping his heart beating takes effort? He has to focus on it at least a little all the time to seem more human. But if he's relaxed because he's, say, gaming over at Tucker's, he stops paying attention to if his heart is beating or not, and it stops. Sort of like how if you're walking around in a place you don't know in the middle of the night, you're tense and worried, but once you make it to a little area or a place you know better you stop being so nervous.

All that to say, having a beating heart is a stress response for halfas. And, like any other stress response, having it be constantly active can have long term negative effects. This was discovered by Frostbite shortly before Danny told his parents about being a halfa, and in fact influenced that decision. It turned out well, and Danny's heart began to stop more and more frequently while at home, to the point that it rarely ever beats at home now.

So que Phantom joining the League through some shenanigan or another, and together they're working to dismantle the Anti-Ecto Acts. The League knows he's powerful, but he's paranoid enough that he hasn't told them about the whole "half dead" thing. He's wandering around the Watchtower, chatting with Superman as they walk past a window that looks out into space. Danny's chatting about his weekend plans with Sam and Tuck, Superman's chatting about his upcoming visit to Ma and Pa's farm, and suddenly the kid's heart just stops.

And Superman freaks out. Because there is a child right next to him having a heart attack and seemingly not knowing.

He rushes Phantom to the medbay, only for his heart to be beating again? And the kid looks really freaked out and confused now. So he apologizes, explains what he heard, or rather didn't hear, and asks if it's an arrhythmia or something.

And now Danny, poor, socially awkward, barely a sophomore in high school Danny, gets to explain that sometimes, if he's really happy and content and feels safe, his heart stops and it is actually a good thing.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPxDC prompt: Danny is Chronos' first child.

Well, not his first child biologically, to be completely honest.

It just so happened that the Phantom very often helped/helps/will help Clockwork at different times and his presence next to the titan required an explanation.

And the opportunity to call Zeus a little brother is worth a lot, right? So when the Ancient came up with this idea Phantom did not resist just to have such a pleasant bonus from their cooperation.

However, in the time of the gods and heroes, such a solution was not a problem. But in modern times, when Phantom tries to attract as little attention as possible in order to graduate from university, such relatives are more likely to cause a lot of problems.

~~~~~

Wonder Woman: Uncle Danny?

Superman, who wanted to chase away a teenager serenely strolling through still smoking battlefield, turns to Wonder Woman, who is waving affably at excactly this guy.

Well, Fenton honestly happened to be in Fawcett City by accident, and it just so happened that by chance it was on this sunny and cloudless day that the villains decided to cause riots worthy of the attention of the founders of the Justice League.

Danny: Diana! My dear, it seems like we really haven't seen each other not for a long time! In what century was it? Ah, I honestly, I barely remember it... The speed at which children grow up defies the laws of time. I mean, look at you! Your mother must be so proud. How's Dad? Still not paying child support, arrogant bastard?

Wonder Woman: Oh, uncle, please. I'm all grown up now, don't worry about me.

Danny: Hm, well, let's get back to this question later. I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends. Anyway, would you like to introduce them, little princess?

Wonder Woman: Of course, meet Kal El, Batman, and Shazam. The rest of the guys have already returned to our base. Would you like to...

Danny: Ooh, you're talking about, um... What do you young people call it? The Justice League, right? During my youth, the heroes rarely united and mostly performed all the feats alone. It's good that you help each other, kids.

Danny flies up a little to pat Superman and Batman on the head.

Under the Diana's gaze full of hope that they will get along with her uncle, the men do not move.

In the background:

Red Hood and Robin who used to hang out with Danny near the Lazarus pits: *sounds of seagulls dying of laughter*

~~~~~

Flash: So you're Diana's uncle?

Danny: Yes, call me Danny.

Flash: Cool, cool...

Danny: What does the temperature have to do with it? Do you need ice? Let me make some for you.

Flash: No, it's like,um, I didn't know that Zeus has a younger brother with that name. So, it's good to know?

Danny: Hmm, thanks. Many people tell me that I look quite young, hah. But actually I'm his older brother, so...

Flash: Older? Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to disrespect.

Danny: No, it's all right. It's "cool". I rarely appear on the pages of your human myths and legends, I know it. After all this business about Chronos devours his own children, my father punished me for a long time. So, yeah...It's a funny story.

Flash: Punished for what? How?

Danny: Uh, sitting in a room at a time when there is no Internet or electricity is not fun at all. You see, I just didn't want a younger brother or sister because I was afraid that my parents would pay less attention to me. So, I made up this stupid prophecy and persuaded Gaea to tell it in order to remain the only child in the family. My father would never have thought that I would decide to kill him, that's why...Phah, it's just a bad family story. In 10 thousand years, we'll all laugh about it.

Flash: Yeah, that's... funny.

~~~~

Danny *is woken up by an emergency call from the League at three in the morning, although he fell asleep at two o'clock* (he gave his contact so as not to upset his niece): I knew this would happen! I knew it!

~~~~

Billy Batson *stands in his human form in front of the Justice League and doesn't know what to say*,*sweating nervous*.

Danny *enters the hall*: What's up, mortals, Diana and...Batman? My father said that there is something that I have to be here for. Oh! Well, at least someone in this family is also a shapeshifter. Have you decided to make a younger form so that your uncle doesn't feel lonely? What a good boy! Usually everyone is so afraid to seem like children, once they turn a couple of centuries old. Ah, youth~

Billy: Yeah, I decided to..experiment? and it seems I got stuck by accident.

Danny: It's okay, Uncle Danny will help you. Come on, let's go...

~~~~

Danny *teleports them to the Fawcett City*.

Billy: ....

Danny:

Billy: Hey, I'm still stuck!

A new portal opens and a man in a purple cape hands Billy a note. "Go to Constantine. P.S., my son always completes all assignments only by half, sorry." written on it.

Billy: Oh... OoOhHh!!!

~~~~

Meanwhile, Constantine, who is forced to do additional work: Son of a bi... beloved and respected Master of Time.

Danny: Yeap, that's me.

Constantine: Damn it. Couldn't you just let Batman adopt him like in other timelines?

Danny: And where's the fun in that?

[starry-bi-sky]

I just think they’re neat. Also Talia totally started it, Ras Danyal is just gonna finish it.

Danny Is An Alternate Version Of Ra's Al Ghul And Flash Already Called Dibs On Adopting Him

Danny In All His Sleep Deprived Slightly Scuffed Up From A Fight Glory Is On His Way To Clockworks Tower To Hopefully Get A Nap And Maybe Some Homework Done When A Natural Portal Opens Up In Front Of Him And Proceeds To Unceremoniously Drop Him In The DC Verse Just Outside Of Central City Before Promptly Closing Leaving A Tired Danny Behind In A Run Down Abandoned Parking Lot.

It's Times Like This When Danny Regrets Putting Off Learning How To Make His Own Portals, Cause Now He Is Very Much Stuck For The Foreseeable Future And He Has No Idea Where Or When He Is. Luckily For Him However Central City Isn't Too Far Away, Unlucky For Him However Is That Once In The City He Realizes This Isn't His Dimension. He's Pretty Sure He'd Remember Something Called The Justice League.

So What Do You Do When Supernatural Bullshit Fails You? You Fall Back On Your Mad Scientist Roots And You Make A Portal Gun. So That's Exactly What Danny Plans To Do.

Unfortunately Staying Alive And Building Questionably Safe Portal Technology Requires Money And Supplies, So He Ends Up Wandering From City To City Doing Odd Jobs/Fixing Up Busted Tech For Cash Or Unwanted Electronics For His "Operation: Get Home" Needs. This Obviously Ends In A Few Superhero Encounter Shenanigans.

Though He Always Ends Up Back Near Central City, Both On The Off Chance The Natural Portal Will Open Up Again And Because Out Of All The Superheroes That Apparently Exist In This Universe The Speedsters Are His Favorite (Red Robin Is Solidly His Second Favorite Ever Since The Gotham Vigilante Gave Him A Large Coffee Filled With Enough Caffeine To Kill A Man).

Unbeknownst To Danny However Is That Every Hero/Vigilante He Has Encountered Has Come To At Least One Of The Following Conclusions; 1. Run Away Meta Who Is In Desperate Need Of A Good Meal/Adoption Bait. 2. Possibly Red Robin/Tim Drake Clone 3. A Good Kid But Could Possibly Be A Future Rouge If Left Unsupervised. 4. Did Bats Get A New Kid And Why Is He Here?

All Flash Knows Is That He Saw The Kid First And Therefore Has Dibs. Suck It Bruce.

Fast-forward A Few Months And Danny Gets Hurt During A Rogue Attack While Trying To Help Some Civilians Get To Safety (Old Hero Habits Die Hard (Ha Die Hard) And All That Jazz) And He Nopes Out Once Everyone Is Safe And When The Paramedics Are Busy With Other People Unaware He Left A Blood Sample Behind.

One DNA Test Brought To You By Paranoid Bat Concerns Of A Possible Red Robin Clone Later And They Find Out That Dannys DNA Matches One Ra's Al Ghul.

They Now Think Danny Is An Escaped Ra's Al Ghul Clone.

Memes For The Vibes:

[the-thing-inside-your-closet]

Nothing You Can Prove

Danny wasn’t having a good time. In fact, he was having a very, very, very, very, bad time.

He was just trying to walk home with his children, his very energetic chaos inclined children, when Ellie declared that she needed to use the bathroom. So, as any responsible parent would, Danny walked with her and Dan to the nearest building that would have an open to the public restroom. And while Ellie was busy using the little girl’s room, Danny focused to ensuring Dan didn’t bite anyone. Again. The last time he drew blood and Danny couldn’t apologise enough to the punk looking guy who seemed completely bewildered by what had happened.

All Danny remembered was apologising repeatedly, turning to scold Dan about biting strangers, and the young man muttering something about some guy named Tom (or was it Tim?) And how he was never going to believe what had happened.

So, safe to say Danny was more focused on watching his child and waiting for the other one than looking at the suspicious group of men that had just walked into the restaurant.

Because of course the first building Danny saw that might have an open bathroom was a fancy upscale restaurant, and not the fast food restraint two blocks down. Ellie had said she couldn’t hold it that long.

But now, Danny had a gun to his face, and his babies hidden behind him as much as he could manage while the two of them subtly tried to shove past him so they could beat the shit out of this butthead for daring to point a weapon at their dad.

Masked thug: Hand over all of valuables! Wallet, phone, everything! Be quick and nobody gets hurt!

Danny calmly reached into his pocket, and hoped that the situation would stay as calm as possible until the city’s local heir or the police could arrive. He didn’t want to have to reveal his or his children’s powers and potentially need to flee yet another city.

Danny: Here, just take it and go.

The thugs had grabbed what they could from as many people as possibly before bolting, leaving many of the patrons upset and shaken from the encounter. Danny quickly turned to his children and vegans looking them over, fussing and making sure they were okay.

Ellie: Dad you never let the guy near us. How could we have possibly gotten hurt?

Danny: With how much trouble you two like to get into, I’m not taking any chances. Now Dan-

Dan was gone. Dan. Was. Gone. Danny felt his chest tighten and his breathing becoming harder to control. Where was his son?!

Just as Danny was about to ask a waitress who had just finished giving her statement to a police officer if she’d seen where his son ran off to, Dan reappeared beside his sister with a sharp toothed grin.

Dan: Don’t worry dad, I got your stuff back. So you don’t have to be upset now!

Danny: …What did you do.

Dan, smirking: Nothing you can prove.

The local vigilante/hero watching this exchange:

[five-rivers]

Little thing inspired by various Justice League summons Danny posts I've seen about.

.

Interdimensional travel was hard.

It was a true statement, and one that, in retrospect, was obvious. Of course interdimensional travel was hard. It was reaching out of your reality and into one that had an entirely different set of rules. However, having an interdimensional portal in one's basement tended to skew one's understanding of these things. That was why it took Danny so long to realize that the Observants were actually worried about him.

"Wait," he said, looking up from the (admittedly very passive-aggressive) report the crowd of Observants had just dropped on his (already crowded) desk. "You want to change my summoning ritual because you think other dimensions might hurt my human half?"

"Some of them certainly will," said one of the Observants, testily.

"I didn't know you cared about that," said Danny, still somewhat stunned.

"We normally wouldn't," admitted the Observant, "but although the position of Ghost King is, politically, a figurehead, you are metaphysically vital to the Realms as a whole. Damage to you is to be avoided, when possible."

"Uh huh," said Danny, looking back down at the summoning ritual change paperwork. Although, through a combination of Danny's own nature and the nature of time across dimensional barriers, Danny still looked fourteen and spent a great deal of his time going to school in Amity Park, he had years of experience interpreting the Observants' paperwork under his belt. "Yeah, it's just that I don't think this is the best way to, like. Do that."

"It is the best way to protect you!" said the Observant who had, apparently, been selected as the group's spokesperson.

"Maybe," agreed Danny, who wasn't entirely sure that was true. "But I feel like some of these modifications would kind of be a problem for wherever I wound up."

"Then they ought not to summon you."

While Danny agreed with that sentiment in spirit (getting summoned was almost always inconvenient and annoying), in practice, he wasn't so sure. "I don't think there's any way to communicate that to the guys who are summoning me. Like, some of them get me with old Pariah Dark rituals. And most of them don't really care if their mistakes screw over other people, so..."

"Next to the well-being of the Realms, that is a minor concern."

Danny didn't disagree with that, but he wasn't about to waste time arguing with the Observants about it. They just didn't get it. He tapped his finger on another section that was bothering him. "Also, this seems to keep me from getting out of the summoning circle at all. If someone is summoning me to ask for help, that's going to keep me from doing much."

"It will also keep you from inadvertently exiting into a hostile environment."

"Even in my home universe?" asked Danny, pointedly. "This seems like something more geared to imprisonment than protection."

The Observants were silent.

"Oh, come on, guys, really? Again?"

The Observants scattered.

Danny sighed and picked up the paperwork. He didn't think it was all bad ideas, honestly, but he needed a second opinion that hadn't tried to stuff him in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep Mark 2.

Maybe Clockwork would look it over for him.

.

"It isn't an entirely terrible concept," said Clockwork, "except for the obvious drawbacks."

"The whole being trapped in the summoning circle bit," said Danny.

Clockwork nodded. "To be fairer than they deserve, there is no way to modify that portion of a summoning ritual in some types of universes but not others. Not from our own side of things, in any case."

"And I mostly can't get at the other side," said Danny with a groan. He perched on the back of Clockwork's chair. "I do want to make sure that I, I don't know, fit with other universes enough that I won't completely demolish them just by existing."

Clockwork hummed. "There are some ways to do that. There are drawbacks, however."

"Bigger drawbacks than accidentally nuking a planet because my radiation is different than theirs?"

"It depends on your perspective, I suppose."

Danny sighed. "Go ahead and tell me, then."

Clockwork picked up a pen. "You are a shapeshifter. You have multiple forms, one of which cannot be harmed through any normal means and which similarly would have little negative affect on the environment unless you acted to cause negative effects. Change the current ritual so that a summoning puts you in that form, and then further change it so that you cannot leave the circle unless you are in a form that will not automatically cause harm or be harmed by the laws of that universe."

"You mean my Ghost King form."

"All your forms are your Ghost King form."

"You know what I mean."

"I do," said Clockwork, smiling.

"It freaks people out, though."

"Your current form might, as you say, freak people out," said Clockwork. "If your summoners were, say, ants."

"Is that likely?"

"Not particularly. But consider the multiverse. Not all of your summoners will be human."

Danny crossed his arms, frustrated that there wasn't an easy solution. "I guess I could always shapeshift into something nonthreatening after. Hard to see if it's something safe without running into

"You can do more than that."

"I can?"

"Yes," said Clockwork, setting the pen to paper. "Let me show you."

.

The summoning circle shimmered and shivered as Constantine and Zatanna recited the chant, their voices rising and falling. Batman and other members of the League stood by, watching, waiting.

This, this ritual, wasn't their first choice. It wasn't their second, third, or fourth choice, either. But nothing else they had tried worked, and the entire world was at stake.

They were summoning the King of All Ghosts. An eldritch monstrosity that had once tried to conquer all realities. But the alternative was worse. Much worst. At least, with the King of All Ghosts, there was a chance that they could negotiate and that it'd want the Earth more or less intact for the sake of conquering it. At least, with this kind of summoning, they could offer a sacrifice, a bargain, a deal.

And if Constantine was good at anything, it was deals.

The lines of the summoning circle flared green, then pure white, and, without any other fanfare, the King of All Ghosts was there.

It filled the circle with starry darkness, struck with nebulae and aurorae. The clouds rippled as a star died near its heart, fiery cataclysms spreading throughout the being. A crown like the accretion disk of a black hole burned around its highest extremity.

Something like a voice, echoing and many-layered, emanated from the being. "Nghftùsh phlarûm âzgûm (1)." It paused, and the League felt it examine the area more closely. "Ko wgâ âzgûm nghftùsh derza. Ko gok hubhûfh fhtù gâh mglwnuh...(2)"

Constantine swore. "Oh, bollocks, I don't know that one. Would it be too much to ask that one of these things speak English? Just a little?"

"Nghftùsh ak. Ko ngngi. (3)"

"Zatanna," said Batman, "could a spell let us understand one another?"

"Kù-nghînku bùr fùmúu umni snîgûrip. (4)" It seemed to bend closer for all that it didn't move. "Nghftùsh laglúfhâk krîk ko phlî ak phlorza. Chthe nî hîhnâ, ka. (5)"

"I think I understand a little," said Captain Marvel, raising a hand. "I think it understands us just fine."

"Hagthu. Nghftùsh ngngi ùk nî chthe kûmpù nû gâ. (6)"

"It wants to get out of the circle," said Captain Marvel.

The veils of green light that shrouded the being rippled. "Dal phlù. (7)"

"Not without an agreement in place, you're not," said Constantine.

"Gagthashîzgathg. (8)"

"God," whispered Flash, "that hurts my throat just hearing it."

Batman shot him a glare, then stepped forward. They'd prepared a list of demands. Most of them were negotiable, but it was better to start something like this with things you were willing to remove or throw away. It took several minutes for Batman to read the whole thing.

"Ku. Chthal lohúfhâk hagthu. Fhta nghftùsh kâk phlorza ko thru. (9)"

"What did it say?" asked Batman.

"I'm... I think it said it'll do it, but it needs something from us in return."

Batman nodded. They'd expected something like this. Whatever it asked for, it would, without a doubt, be exorbitant. Then, they'd go back and forth, reducing each of their demands until they'd reached a deal both sides hated, but could accept. Constantine had bet that, at minimum, the King of All Ghosts would want the entire population of Earth as slaves.

"Nghftùsh kâk hû ko mglwno nî phnglâ gho-lobi. (10)"

"Uh," said Captain Marvel. "I think he said one of our lives."

"Hik! Rlo phlarâk kruk nîk ghû. (11)"

"Not just any of us," said Marvel. "It has to be someone who's a parent."

A tension fell over the room. They'd known they'd have to sacrifice something. A single life wasn't much, but for the King of All Ghosts to specify a parent...

"But are you sure it's just one?" pressed Constantine.

The King of All Ghosts gave off a sense of... exasperation? "Úzg, hû. (12)"

"One," said Captain Marvel. "Just one."

"And just us, not our kids or anything?"

"Nghftùsh ngngi ùk e nghuu. Gù phlarâk fush ko du? (13)"

"No, it doesn't want children. They're... wrong, somehow?"

"And it's not a sex thing?" Constantine sounded... strangely hopeful.

"Hik! Fhtùl! (14)"

"No," said Captain Marvel. "And... something about fat, maybe?"

"Oh, we're definitely getting eaten, then," said Constantine, with forced cheer. "I volunteer, then. It's not like my kids are sitting up waiting for me or anything."

"Hik nuk. Ngngi ko. E hâta phlarâk lerzaolûm. (15)"

"Not you, there's... something wrong with your soul."

"Oh, he's a picky eater, too, huh?"

"Let's not antagonize him, okay?" said Flash. "He's kind of-- He's kind of looming, right now."

And so it was. Somehow. Without moving.

"Who will... satisfy you?" asked Batman.

The entity did not move, but it managed to indicate Batman anyway.

"Very well," said Batman, before anyone could even attempt to talk him out of it. After all, his life for the lives of everyone in this universe was a very good deal. "Take me."

For the first time, the King of All Ghosts moved, all that darkness, all that light, rushing towards Batman.

There was a burst of blinding light.

When everyone opened their eyes again, a boy with black hair, blue eyes, and a jawline that bore more than a passing resemblance to Batman's was stepping out of the summoning circle.

"That's much better," he said, stretching. "No offense, dude, but you kind of suck at Ghost Speak." He turned to Batman. "What I was asking for was a template so I could exist in your universe and do what you want without accidentally blowing it up because of incompatible physics, but whatever. Not sure how you guys got me eating you out of that."

"You wanted a human appearance so you could better conquer this world?" asked Batman.

"Uh, no? You've got a pretty strong clause against conquering the world in your paperwork there. You're probably thinking about Pariah Dark, but he's old news." The boy smiled widely. "Let's get started on your problem, okay?"

I've been summoned.

You haven't summoned me before. You have a nice space station here...

I can. You can't.

Inter-dimensional language differences are so annoying.

I hope you can do something. This will be difficult, otherwise.

Good. I don't want to be in this circle forever.

Close enough.

Figures (literally, 'certainly').

Okay. That sounds good. But I need something from you.

I need one of you to be my template (literally, life-pattern).

No! It's like being a parent.

Yes, one.

I don't want your children. What is wrong with you?

No! Gross!

No way. Not you. You're crazy (literally, your soul is cracked).

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny’s always thought meeting other vigilantes and heroes outside of Amity would be an event he’d gush about. He’d figured it would be more intimidating. More graceful, certainly. Less humiliating, considering he���s known Val for ages and she’d seen him choke on chili cheese fries in middle school and hack it out like a dying walrus.

Ah, well, at least this time, it wasn’t humiliating for him. Danny Fenton knew when to count his blessings, and this counted for sure.

The sight of the helmeted vigilante laying face down on the pavement for five minutes straight was getting worrying though, even if Danny sympathized with the feeling.

“…You good?”

A pause of deliberation.

“No,” came the muffled reply.

Danny finished filling his gas tank- gah, why did the GAV have to eat so much?- before walking around his car and prodding at the now dozing man. Huh. He smelled kind of liminal. The man groaned.

"Hey, is there someone coming to get you or...?" Danny trailed off. Other than inwardly laughing at watching the infamous Red Hood eat shit on the asphalt, it was probably a good idea for Danny to figure out why the guy was so far from Gotham.

"Ain't your business, kid, get lost." Red Hood made to stand up, only to groan as he stressed his very broken arm.

"Right. Do you want me to sit here with you until your trusted adult picks you up?"

"Oh, fuck off."

Danny grinned. "Here, hold on. I think I've got an arm splint in my car." Without another word, he trotted off to grab his medical supplies.

"That's a concerning amount of medical supplies," Hood's hand- the unbroken one, went to his gun.

"I get hurt a lot. Like, a lot." Danny replied candidly, forking over the medical supplies.

"Red Him! Bizarro come pick up!"

Danny looked up. "Is that... zombie Superman?"

"His name's Bizarro. And he's way better than that blue asshole."

"I'll take your word for it," Danny shrugged. Liminals tended to have better instinct about people anyways.

"Bizarro! Down here, bud!"

"Red him!" Bizarro floated back down to the ground with a thump. Danny saw the little Superman plushie sat on top of his shoulders. "Red her in little trouble!"

"Shit, get me up." Bizarro turned slightly suspicious eyes onto Danny, who just smiled at him.

"Who this?"

"This is... uh..."

"Danny. Retired vigilante." Danny rocked back onto his heels. He'd retired Phantom years ago, taking over the family business and shutting down the portal.

"Huh. That explains a lot," Red Hood considered his arm. "Red Hood. This is Bizarro."

"Skinny him help?" Bizarro asked, visibly worried.

"Sure! Whatcha need help with?" Danny paused. "Can I be something other than skinny him, though?"

"Hey- wait-"

[atiyasnake]

@stealingyourbones it stayed in my head so here ya go (I say this with love)

~

It took longer than Bruce would have liked for his next visit to the Fenton household. 

The previous weeks were filled with reports, meetings, and research that still didn’t make Bruce feel like he knew enough. 

He didn’t. 

This was made clear when Constantine nearly strangled him when he reported the portal and the news about the Anti-Ecto Acts. Of course, Constantine practically gave himself an aneurism when trying to figure it out himself and explain it to the rest of the JL members. “The Realms”, Constantine had said was “tricky business”.

It didn’t bode well.

That sense of unease followed Bruce back into Amity Park where he stood at the doorstep of a former employee. 

He knocked. 

The moments that followed as his hand left the wooden door were peculiar and slightly concerning. Not that he saw anything odd, but rather what he heard. 

It sounded like something crashed in the house and a few curses slipped out of someone’s mouth.

“Just a sec!” someone called out before it was cut off by an electric whine and then the sound of a small bast. There was a loud thud against the door and before Bruce could call out to see if they were okay, the door opened. 

Unlike last time when Bruce was met with a wall of a man, he instead had to look down to see who had opened it. 

“Boss Man! Watcha doin’ here?” Danny asked. His shirt was ripped. His hair was a mess with smoke trailing from a few strands. There was even a slight cut on his cheek, but he barely seemed aware of it, only looking at Bruce curiously. 

Before Bruce could answer, though he wasn’t sure what he would have said, Danny looked around him. He moved to the side. “Why don’t you come in for now,” and he ushered Bruce inside.

The house again was still a mess. There was even a gun on the entrance table, one unlike Bruce had ever seen. Danny after closing the door quickly picked it up, making sure to have it aimed at the ground, his finger nowhere near the trigger. 

Bruce's gut turned at the sight, the familiarity of the actions. 

“Dad’s not here if you came by to ask him more questions,” Danny said putting away the gun, its light now longer glowing. “He said he was taking a little trip, but I’m pretty sure he wreaking havoc with the GAV somewhere around town, ya know.”

“The GAV?” Bruce asked. 

“Yeah the Ghost Assault Vehicle,” Danny said like it was obvious. “A repurposed RV with all my parent's gadgets and stuff. Kinda like those storm chaser vehicles in a way, just less fancy.”

The description didn’t fill Bruce with a lot of faith. For all he knew it could be similar to the Batmobile, considering the Fenton gadgets consisted of various weaponry.

“Anyways, Mom’s downstairs though if you wanna talk to her.” Danny motioned towards the basement door.

Green filled Bruce’s memory. 

Bruce would rather stay upstairs, away from the portal. Away from the place where he came to the horrible realization that he had been too late. Away from that unsettling sensation that told him he still didn’t fully understand what he had been late to stop. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be a bother. I’ll admit this was a spur-of-the moment visit,” Bruce said apologetically.

Danny smirked, blood welled up from the cut on his cheek at the motion. “If you don’t ‘bother’ them” -he said as he went over to the basement door and Bruce followed, his hand reaching out for Danny’s shoulder -“then you’ll never get a chance to talk.” Bruce’s gut turned even more as Danny got closer to the door. He didn’t want to go back down there. He could still remember that look Danny had as he stared at the portal and the way his hands shook as he closed it. “You did come all the way from-well I don't know- but still, I can ju-”

Bruce’s hand had just been about to touch Danny's shoulder to stop him when something burst through the basement door.

A blur of red and green rushed out accompanied by the sound of screeching wheels and Danny was knocked back into Bruce. The blur turned. It was a motorcycle? Two people were on it and they rushed out towards the front door, not stopping as they got nearer. 

Bruce thought there would be a crash, already using the hold he had on Danny to turn him away from any possible debris. But instead, the blur passed through the door like it had with the basement door. Then they were gone.

The basement door was pulled open.

“Danny, where did it go?” A voice yelled and Bruce was met with the sight of Madeline Fenton in her full jumpsuit gear holding what could only be described as a bazooka in the doorway of the basement. Even with her eyes covered by goggles, he could see the scowl on her lips, the tension in which she held her weapon. She stared down at them on the floor. “Where!”

“They-uh went out the door.” Danny’s voice sounded hesitant when he answered.

Madeline sighed exasperatedly as she stalked over to the door. “How many times do I have to tell you not to forget to rengage the system, Danny,” She set aside the bazooka and pulled what looked like a shotgun from her back. Danny flinched at the sound it made when she cocked the gun. “It wouldn’t have gotten out, now I have to hunt it down.”

She opened the front door with a slam and raced out leaving without another word. 

Not a single word or question about the man in her house. The man from a mother's point of view had her son on the ground. The son who had a cut on his cheek, singed hair, and a rip in his shirt.

No not a word. 

Barely a glance. 

The two were left alone. 

_

Danny let his head slump back down on the floor and just looked at the door and what little he could see on the street. He could hear some distant shooting and the hollering that could only be Johnny and Kitty. 

Bruce had after a moment, finally backed off, no longer essentially covering Danny’s body. Danny had felt the man catch him when he was knocked back earlier and how he was moved in a way that Danny had pulled a few times himself in past fights. 

Bruce didn’t stand up though, instead, he just kept sitting on the ground.

Danny didn’t feel like getting up. 

Before Bruce had shown up he was dealing with some reanimated hotdogs. There had been seven of them and Danny had only managed to get six of them when Bruce knocked on their door. Missing one was sure to bite him in the ass later. 

Literally. 

For some reason, hotdogs were real biters, viciously so.

“Jeet?” Danny found himself asking and turned his head to where Bruce was sitting. He didn’t think those pants should have been touching their floors. 

“Hm?” Bruce titled his head in question.

“Didja eat?” Which was probably not the best question Danny could ask considering there wasn’t any food in the house other than the on-the-loose hotdog. Though, it was best to get out of the house. Danny remembered how unsettled Bruce had been last time he had been there after learning about the portal and he didn’t want to see those expensive pants get ripped like his shirt did. 

Fortunately for him, Bruce’s answer was, “No, I haven’t.”

With that and a plan to keep Bruce’s pants unripped, Danny finally got up. He ignored the slight twinges he could feel in his body at the movement. When he stood up he had expected Bruce to have already gotten up but the man was still seated, his expensive pants still touching the floor. 

It really shouldn’t have. 

Bruce was just staring at him. 

“You good, boss man?”

“It’s just…” Bruce lifted a hand and touched his cheek, “you're bleeding Danny.”

Danny mirrored the man’s actions and when he pulled back his hand, he saw the red on his fingertips. “Huh.” He looked back at Bruce and shrugged. “Guess I missed that.”

Bruce finally got up, but his eyes were still trained on Danny’s cheek. It was…

“Whaddya think of diner food?” Danny asked. 

…It didn’t matter. 

Bruce sighed. “I’ll pay?”

Danny wiped his hand on his pants. “Well…I don’t know about tha-”

“Please,” Bruce cut in, “I insist.” 

His eyes finally moved away from Danny’s cheek and that…feeling in his chest settled down.

Danny sighed in resignation, and turned around. “Alright,” he said and began to walk towards the front door, “but we’d better hurry up if you want good seats.”

“Are there any bad seats?” Bruce asked when he followed. 

“Ha! You have no idea.”

Short DPXDC Prompts #986

Jack Fenton briefly worked in R&D in Wayne Industries a year or so after Vlad’s portal incident. He used some company assets to plan new prototypes of his ghost portal in his spare time. Drafting blueprints and creating models of the portal during his lunch break. He stored the physical documents he had in a storage closet near his desk so he wouldn’t mix his documents up with his work documents. 20 years later, a group of interns were instructed to clean out a storage closet that had been abandoned and came across a dust covered set of blueprints and schematics for what looked like a boom tube. This looked like something Mr. Wayne would be interested in. Sending their unique findings to Bruce and thinking nothing of it, while Bruce is freaking out because if he’s reading these notes right, this machine is intended to punch holes into another dimension. It might have just been a far-fetched fantasy idea made by Jack Fenton but just in case, he needed to make sure this man didn’t tear a hole in reality.

[queeniewithabeanie]

The Polyglot

Dpxdc Prompt #8

Turns out when you become the Ghost King you get a few extra powers to go along with it. One of these powers was to not only understand, but speak every language in the multiverse.

Almost all ghosts stuck to ghost speak, which was easily understandable by all the denizens of the realms, but when you're the king apparently you also have to deal with relations to nations that lack the ability to speak the mother tongue of ghosts.

When Danny's sudden language aptitude presented itself it lead to a lot of problems. Mainly that he couldn't tell what language he was speaking in, and often swapped which one every other word.

The only language that he could speak no problem right after gaining his new power was ghost speak, which was great for talking to denizens! Not so great for talking to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. Despite their liminality Danny's closest friends couldn't hear all the frequencies that were used in ghost speak.

Soon after discovering his problem Danny started going nonverbal, not wanting to expose himself to his fellow Amitians, or Ancients-forbid his parents.

Luckily Jazz had a solution for him! ASL

ASL was easy for Danny with his newfound ability and he didn't have to worry about constantly switching around his language mid-sentence. The movements grounded him, and he could tell immediately if he was switching to another language that didn't require a voice. Jazz had learned it in high school, wanting to be able to provide therapy to those who had more trouble hearing along with everyone else.

Sam and Tucker didn't really have prior experience with ASL, but they sure were motivated to learn. By the time they got fluent, Danny mostly had control over his polyglot ability (and started speaking again because of it), but he often forgot what language he was speaking in when he was distracted or stressed.

It was nice to be able to speak with his friends even when they couldn't understand a word coming out of his mouth.

Then Jazz, Sam, and Tucker (along with his parents) died in an explosion at Nasty Burger and he was swept into the foster care system. He got picked up by some serial adopter (what was with billionaires and wanting Danny as their son?) who lived in Gotham named Bruce Wayne.

After everyone living person Danny loved had died he was prone to being a lot more stressed which meant his languages were acting up. There was no reason for normal Danny Fenton, 17-year-old-boy to know and use 20 different languages in one conversation so he reverted to the one language he couldn't mess up.

ASL.

at least that's what he told himself

he wasn't going nonverbal

he wasn't

Hopefully his new "family" knew it (they did), would be accepting of him not speaking (they would), and most importantly didn't have a creepy basement (danny had no idea what he was getting into)!

turns out knowing every language in the world and beyond wasn't too strange for the family he was joining

now he just had to explain after 6 months why he was suddenly fine speaking around them

couldn't be too hard, right?

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Constantine Is Having Fae Problems

Not as in 'problems with the fae', but as in 'the Batfam don't understand shit about fae and it is somehow Constantine's problem'

"Thank you."

Whatever thoughts Constantine had before come to a screeching halt. He slowly turns around, praying he's misheard, but, unfortunately, no. He heard that right.

The black-haired kid - he looks like a kid, but, really, he is not, and he is not even human to begin with - is smiling at Nightwing, who just laughs and ruffles the boy's hair.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing," the moronic eldest batkid says, like it's not a big deal, and Constantine just... can't. He is not dealing with this right now. He needs a drink.

And then it happens again. Not with the Nightwing, though. This time, it's Black Bat. Now, in all honesty, Constantine is not so sure about her being human either, what with her appearing out of goddamn aether and being silent as a ghost, but the point still stands. The new addition to Bat's menagerie of children, the fae boy, the changeling who insists he is Robin's brother, thanks her.

It's quick and easy, just like a human would say it, and Black Bat just nods back at him, but Constantine knows what it means. He knows the weight of fae gratitude.

The big question is, do the Bats know it?

He promises himself to address this issue later with the Big Bat himself. But every time he encounters the man, he just forgets to bring it up. Constantine strongly suspects it's not his bad memory at fault here, but a certain fae. Not that he is going to outright go and blame the damned creature, of course, Constantine values his life, mind, and consciousness. Also, he is very aware of the consequences of talking to the fae, unlike the furry brigade.

Alas, he can't forget something if he witnesses with his own eyes. So the next time he is in the Batcave, he makes it a point to wait until the same thing eventually happens. And, score for Constantine, it does.

"Thank you," the kid - again, not a kid, not a human, but whatever - tells Red Robin, and Constantine immediately snaps his head to him, pointing a finger at the smiling fae.

"I mean no disrespect, but what are you doing?"

The kid - Danny, as he insists to be called, although Constantine knows better than to call a fae by any name - tilts his head to the side. He looks confused, but there's a sly glint to his blue eyes. Oh, the fucker knows exactly what he means. He just doesn't want to admit to it.

"What do you mean?" It's not him, but Red Robin asking, and Constantine turns to look him in the eyes. Mask. Whatever.

"He is thanking-" a terrible thought crosses Constantine's mind, and he stares at Red Robin with horror, "Oh, don't tell me you were all thanking him and apologizing to him like he is a human being."

"I don't see how this is your business," Red Robin scolds, and his eyes narrow. Constantine can't see his actual eyes through the mask, but he knows the Bats well enough to know the kid looks as deadpan as he can.

"You can't do that!" He reaches down to the pocket where he keeps his cigarettes, but stops halfway. Right, no smoking in the Batcave. Wait, he never obeyed that rule! Constantine turns to glare at the fae boy. Danny appears as innocent as a newborn baby. Little bastard.

"Quit making a scene," comes another voice, and this one John recognizes, turning to look at little Robin. Now that he thinks about it, the demonic child claimed the fae as his brother, and he definitely should know how to talk to fae!

"Why didn't you tell them about the rules?!" He asks Robin, and the kid doesn't even bat an eye at him.

"You will not accuse me of incompetence in front of my brother," Robin huffs, not stepping closer and keeping one hand on his hip, "I did."

"You-"

"Okay, how about you calm down?" Danny interjects, and John is positive this is the first time he's heard the boy say anything other than 'thank you'. He turns to the fae, facing him, and, oh, Jesus, those are not human eyes. Or teeth. Or face. Holy fuck how do Bats live with this, it's like uncanny valley but hundreds times worse.

"If I tell you I use it for easier access, will you leave it be?" The fae tilts his head again, and this time it is not in confusion, but in the eerie manner of how all very much not human beings do it. Constantine swallows, but doesn't back down.

"Access to what, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Transportation," Danny provides. This does not explain shit and he knows it. Red Robin groans and rolls his eyes.

"We use it to summon Danny if we need him. It's faster than calling or texting."

Constantine freezes.

These fucking kids. Are using the fae debts. To summon him. Because they don't like texting.

Do they know that they can literally ask a fae to destroy a small country to fulfill a debt like that? It's not just a small favor, it's a gratitude. Fae take their gratitude very seriously. They value it. A lot.

Actually, you know what, no. John is not going to be explaining that part to them because God knows the batkids are all batshit crazy and this is an opportunity he is not willing to give them.

So he just nods stiffly, turns around, and heads to the zeta tube.

"Thank you for caring about my family," he hears a voice behind him, full of mischief and joy. Constantine feels the weight of the newly acquired debt, or better call it a favor, bind itself to his soul, and, great, he now has the power to part the sea like Moses, but only once.

He needs a drink. No, correction, he needs a whole bar to himself.

Wait, that's an idea.

"Get me a bottle of good bourbon, and we're even," he throws around his shoulder, stepping into a zeta tube.

When he steps out of it, there's an unlabeled bottle in his hand. John sighs and opens it, foregoing the glass or cup and drinking straight from the neck.

...It's good bourbon.

Inspired by @blackfoxsposts

| <-prev | next-> |

[windyengel]

DCXDP Ghosts mate for life (and dead)

It is logical to think that when a ghost finds their partner, is for the afterlife.

Ghosts are basically the souls of those who died and passed to a better state of being, striping them of all the things that could restrain them from following their obsessions.

And even Neverborns, they are ideas given enough power to develop a soul.

So it is logical to think that when a ghost finds their partner, when their core identifies them as their selected partners, is for the remaining of the afterlife.

Sure, they don't have to be lovely dovey the whole time. They fight, "break up" maybe even try to kill each other.

But at the end of the day they get back together.

Danny thought he wouldn't have to worry about that until he went fully dead. He thought that even though he had a ghost core, he was human enough.

He dated Val and Sam and he didn't get ghost attached to them (aside from the protection obsession, but that's mostly because he thought of them as his people)

Then he fooled around with Tuck and even Dash and he didn't form any kind of intense, over the top attachment.

(He still will go feral if someone ever dared to even threaten them or hurt them, but when Tuck and Star started to date he was the first to celebrate for them)

So Danny thought he was save.

That is until he was in his first semester of College in Gotham U, when he was walking back to his dorms at night and someone tried to mug him.

Now, normally he would easily deck the mugger and go his merry way. But this time, before he could do anything, someone fell from the roofs directly on top of the mugger.

And as Danny sees this vigilante take down the mugger, his core does a little purr and pull towards the man, and Danny can only think oh shit and now what do I say to my possible soulmate

-------------------

Tim has never felt more embarrassed in his entire life.

He had been following this guy since he saw him walking alone through Gotham a couple of weeks ago.

At first it was because he was worried that the guy will get mugged working so close to Crime Alley.

(He did get robbed, but decked the man right across his face so hard that the mugger got knocked down)

Then because Tim was curious, full detective mode about this guy and his ability to fight.

Then just because.

He figured out his name was Daniel and he worked in a small coffee shop, and attended the Gotham U aerospace program on a Wayne scholarship.

He figured out he came from a tiny town and was Vladimir Masters legal heir

He discovered he liked to eat midnight burgers and eleven shots of espresso on a coffee cup.

And he knew, now that he was right in front of him, that he had the clearest blue eyes he has seen. It was like seeing deep into a glacier.

Damian had found him stalking following the guy to keep him safe and had pushed him off the roof. And now he was right in front of him.

And he had no clue what to say.