#but they will notice that phantom isn't showing up anymore

[ririblogsss]

what if Danny give no fu-ks

Ok hear me out, Dannys obsession has never truest been confirmed by the show itself (that I remember) I've seen a lot of people say his obsession comes from wanting to help / protect people. But what if he feels as though that he is now doing more damage than good, after all there are a lot of people getting hurt as colateral damage from the chases he has to go on. Or simply when he has to run away from getting captured.

What if one night he was up late and saw a post about a tragedy that happened because he slipped up (it wasn't even his fault, but he still blames himself for everything). And then he starts looking at all the bad comments against him ignoring all the good ones saying how much Danny Phantom has helped Amity. Because Danny is still human and confirmation bias is real. Imagine how he felt the moment he realized that he was causing people to get hurt instead of keeping them save.

Image the desperation clawing at him with the realization that he has never been able to fully manage his obsession. it makes him sad, desperate, angry.

His entire self is filled with too many emotions at the sametime he isn't even able to identify them and catalogue them properly like Jazz taught him.

and then everything stops and he feels nothing.

Completely and utterly numb.

Like his whole reason to keep going suddenly disappears.

And it has.

He gave up on his obsession and now he has to make / get a new one.

But it's not that easy.

This drastic change could've ended any ghost as they run on (live off) emotions.

Luckily because he's a Halfa, so that has given him the upper hand. Unfortunately it makes it so that he is completely devoid of any emotion.

Months go by and people immediately notice changes, the more drastic one is that Phantom went missing, and eventually a lot of ghost that where coming in looking for him stop. Amity Park is no longer populated by ghosts, and slowly the GIW started to retreat from Amity going to another place following a lead that says there are more ghost activities up north.

But those changes aren't the only ones noticeable. Dannys classmates and teachers can vouch that Danny has changed. Most say he was always quite , and others say he looked down right depressed. Danny didn't do much in classes not that he paid attention before. Its just this time it seems that its not out of being sleepy or anxious about another ghost attacking the school instead Danny looks like he coundn't give less of a fu-k about anything.

He never smiles anymore not even when his favorite subjects (mechanics and space) are brought up. Not even a quirk of a smile. The school decided to contact his parents about Dannys new behaviors. That includes skipping classes, not handing in work, not doing the assigned work in class ect....

And its not like his parents havent noticed, they've had more time in their hands since they aren't using hours of the day/night going out hunting anymore. and they have witnessed their son become a shell of himself. They don't know what to do, and they don't want to worry Jazz about it because she's at collage and needs to focus on her studies.

So when the school contact them and told them that the behavior is the same in school they decided major changes needed to happen. Starting with a change of environment.

Maddie and Jack decided that Amity park was too big of a city with too many people. They could nearly see the stars at night because of the light pollution, hence they decided to move next door to Alicia, Maddie sister, home in SmallVille.

They decided it was the best choice, Danny would be surrounded by nature and he could do online classes that would go the pace he wanted. The move was immediate, the day off they packed everything sold the house and moved.

They only stopped to say goodbye to Danny's friends. A small bye and hug later they were on a 7 hour road trip to their new home.

When they got there the old resident handed them the keys of the home and told them to ignore the their neighbors 'The Kents' as they often made a lot of noice and had group gatherings every month.

The one thing Jack and Maddie forgot to double check was if the house was an actual house or a farm house. Sounds similar, but completely different as they now had 2 cows, 16 chickens, 1 rooster, and 3 pigs to take care off.

Danny was put on duty of taking care of the animals, such as feeding them on time and making sure they were healthy. Jack and Maddie made more of the heavy weight as to re building broken fences and fixing the questionable roof.

(The first thing Danny did when meeting all the animals was name them. After all this was about all the interaction he was going to do.)

Danny didn't have time to think about his lost obsession or his lack of emotions as he was now too busy making sure each animal was taken care off.

Marcy and linda (the cows) were danny's favorite they were very gentle and he felt that they could understand him when he spoke to them the stories of his vigilante past.

On the other hand The Chickens were a nightmare, Glinda was cool as she never chased him down. But Matilda and Bethany were a nightmarish duo spiteful too when he was seconds late to the finding time. Mark the rooster was chill he mainly acted as of he was part of the group that needed protection.

Marice, Betty, and Miss Piggy were the chillest of the bunch never gave Danny any trouble when feeding them and always made a point that they loved their new mudbath installation that Danny made for them on his first 2 days on the farm.

A month after arriving at the farm house Danny noticed that mark was missing. Danny looked everywhere around the property and saw him from afar, at the road. So Danny did the sensible thing anyone would do when spotting a run away pet, and that is call their name at the top of your lungs whilst running after them.

naturally Mark the escape artist run the opposite direction. By the time Danny caught up to him Danny didn't recognize the house he was infant off. So with Mark comfortably in his arms He swears he can see a smug look on marks face. Danny turned away from the house to start his walk back to the farm, but he was met with a kid his age looking at him with distrust.

"Ehhh look kid Im sorry to have crossed the properties border but Mark here" Danny made a point to acentuate Mark in his arms "Runaway from me this morning and I've been trying to catch him ever since, anyways I need to go feed the girls"

The kid starred at him for a second "OMG your from the new family in Mr.duncans farm right? in Aver ST.?" and wow the kid was like a ray of sunshine.

"Yea-" Danny could even finish his sentence before the kid cut him off by starting to talk a mile a minute about how he was so exited to meet people his age that lived near by and how farm chores were harder that normal house chores.

"Jon, give him time to respond. Im Damian this is Jon" Danny jumped he hadn't noticed the second kid at all

"Oh yeah... sorry about that what's your name?" The kid (Jon) slightly less enthusiasm, a bit embarrassed if his tone of voice was anything to get by.

"Danny, Im 15" he responded before he started walking away after all he did need to get in time to feed the chickens unless he wants to suffer their furry. Danny shuddered at the memory that popped up in his head.

"Wait!!! I just thought we could be friends cause we live close by u know" Jon said catching up with Dannys steps. Damian was following from behind.

"Sure kid I don't care" Dannys voice was monotone much like it had been for months.

"Hey were not kids for your information, Im 14 and Damians 16 soon to be 17, so if anything you night be the actual kid!" Danny chuckled slightly it was more similar to releasing air from his lips than a laugh.

Soon a quite and enjoyable science encompassed the group as they went to Dannys home.

"Hmm... you're hold on Mark is adequate and the your determination for getting home in time for feeding is acceptable" Damian spoke up after a while of the passive silence.

"yeah and what is It to you" Danny was slightly urked by Damians default setting speach. He told him as such.

Jon blanched before erupting into giggles that sent him to lay down on the grass uncontrollably laughing. Damians right eyebrow quirked up in what Danny assumed was amusement.

Thus a new friendship grew that day.

They often gathered at Dannys or Jons yard to have picnic in the weekends (as Damian and Jon has school in Metropolis on week days) and hangout with the animals. Danny found out that Damian was a vegetarian and that he had various animals at home. One time he brought his Great Dane Titus, who bodied Danny on sight to give him kisses.

Also Damian was Damian Wayne as in bruce Wayne, Batman sugar daddy. When he said that, Jons milk flew out of his nose and Damian choked on his cucumber wrap. Even Titus gave him a judgemental stare.

Slowly Danny started to smile more, laugh every so often. And things were feeling so much better after not being able to feel anything for a while.

Jazz, Aunt Alicia and especially Maddie and Jack felt so relived to see that Danny was slowly coming back to them.

Danny to this day backs the fact that Mark knew something and planned the whole thing.

[basementloser]

I would've loved an episode in which Danny and Dash switch bodies.

I imagine it happens because Dash is talking to Kwan about how cool Phantom is or something, and at some point he says "Man, I wish I was Danny Phantom!"

Of course Desiree hears this, she appears before him ("So you have wished it, so shall it be!"), and the next day Dash wakes up in Danny's body. Danny Fenton's body. In Danny's room.

At this point he's pretty familiar with Desiree, and he assumes she just heard him wrong, befause Fenton and Phantom do sound alike. ("Huh, how weird! How has no one noticed this before?" We hear Wes screaming in the distance as Dash makes this observation.)

But there is no way in hell that a puny little nerd like Fenton could be Dash's hero, so something must've gone wrong. He decides to find Desiree and correct his wish.

-

Meanwhile, Danny (to his horror) wakes up in Dash's body.

He assumes he overshadowed him for some reason, but when he tries to leave, he finds out he doesn't have his powers. He also doesn't feel Dash's presence in the body.

"I know i asked for a growth spurt, but not like this!"

This isn't good.

-

Dash makes his way downstairs, and is immediately greeted by Jack Fenton, who has a million chores for him.

"Come on, Danno! Those ghosts I fished out of the ghost zone with the Fenton Ghost Fisher™️ aren't gonna put themselves back!"

Before he can object he is pushed into the lab and has to fight a couple of ectopusses. This goes very badly at first, until Dash remembers the bit of ghost hunting training Danny gave him and his classmates, when they had to rescue their parents from that big pirate ship.

As soon as he's done, exhausted on the floor (Damn, Fenton really needs to work out more!), he hears Jack yelling down the stairs.

"Son, don't forget to change the ecto filtrator! You don't want Amity Park to blow up, do ya?"

More dangerous chores keep getting added for longer than Dash thought was humanly possible.

(At some point Jack gave him some fudge, which helped.)

How does Fenton live like this???

-

We switch back over to Danny, who is now looking around Dash's room. He already knew about the cute pink teddy bear collection, but he didn't expect to find what can only be described as a fan shrine to Phantom.

There are newspaper articles, pictures, merch ("Wait I have merch? How come i didn't know that? Who is selling Phantom merch?" it's Tucker), and a poster.

(the b-story of this episode is Sam & Tucker running a Phantom merch line, and trying to stop the Box Ghost from stealing all the boxes of merch.)

Danny keeps looking around Dash's room, and finding out more about him through his stuff.

At some point he finds Dash's diary. He contemplates if he should read it or not, but in the end he decides that since Dash is always such a jerk to him, he doesn't care about morals and reads it.

Reading the diary, Danny starts to feel kinda bad, because in the entries Dash actually seems human. He's insecure, and he actually struggles with a lot. He's afraid to talk about what he's going through.

His parents are very absent, and the A-listers kicked Valerie out when her life wasn't perfect anymore. He doesn't want that to happen to him.

(I personally headcanon Dash as an extremely closeted gay guy with a lot of internalised homophobia, who hasn't stopped trying to convince himself that he's straight, but his struggles could be about anything.)

After reading all that, Danny starts to feel kinda bad for him.

-

Over the course of the day ghosts keep showing up to fight or talk to Fenton, and Dash is incredibly confused by this. Also Danny must have a weird cold or something, because he's been exhaling cold air at random all day.

"I AM THE BOX GHO- Hey! Wait! Why are you running away? You never run away. You always trap me in your cylindrical contraption of doOoOoOm!" (The Box Ghost is wearing a Phantom t-shirt, and is holding a box full of other Phantom merch. After Dash runs away, Sam and Tucker appear, chasing the Box Ghost through the street, trying to get the merch back.)

Later Johnny 13 shows up to fight, because he and Kitty broke up for the 4th time this week, and he wants to let out some steam. "Shouldn't you change for our fight, kid?" Change into what? Wait he wanted to fight, right? Dash puts on his gym uniform, and boxing gloves. Johnny looks at him weird, but doesn't question it. They have a little boxing match in the backyard.

Youngblood came by to play astronauts with him, and was very disappointed that Danny didn't fly up to space with him. (Wait didn't that dead kid kidnap Dash's parents??! Also why in the hell does he think Fenton has the ability to fly?????!! And breathe(!) in space?!!!)

After finishing what seems like a billion ghost related chores (and dealing with way too many ghosts), Dash finally manages to get out of the Fenton house, and starts to look for Desiree.

-

Danny walks out of Dash's room, and runs into Dash's dad. He opens his mouth, but he doesn't seem to care about what he's going to say. "Son I am so incredibly disappointed in you." the dad starts, then continues to list all the reasons he is a huge disappointment who should try harder. "Those weird little bears in your closet!" and "Why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"

The whole interaction is horrible, and makes Danny appreciate his own parents (weird as they may be) so much.

Dash's mom also berates him about being a disappointment, because they found his Phantom collection ("He is a GHOST, Dash! He's dangerous!"), and because his grades are so low. ("What do you mean tutor? Just study harder!")

They threaten to take Pookie away if he doesn't get his shit together.

-

At some point Danny has deduced that this body situation must be some ghost bullshit, and he decides to go to Fentonworks.

Then he runs into Dash in his body, and they have a little spiderman moment

After the internal shock and "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BODY GET OUT!"s have gone around, Dash tells Danny what happened.

Danny informs Dash that most of Desiree's wishes become permanent after 24 hours. They decide to team up to get Desiree to undo this wish before that happens.

It's noted that Dash didn't say the word "puny" or any other insult, when he says "I really don't wanna stay in your body.".

We see a compilation of Danny and Dash searching Amity Park for Desiree, and other wishes she has granted. They fight off a couple of small ghost things together.

(during this compilation we see Sam and Tucker chasing the Box Ghost around. "How is he this hard to catch?? We've done this millions of times already!!!" -"Well maybe if you didn't drop the fucking thermos!")

After the fight, Dash sighs and says "Man, I had no idea how difficult your life is, Fenton. I've only been living it a day and it sucks."

they have a little heart to heart, and Dash sincerely apologises for bullying Danny so much.

"why did you want to be Phantom anyway? I assume his life isn't that easy either." Danny says.

"I dunno, man. I just thought it would be cool to be, y'know, going ghost."

White rings appear around Dash. He turns into Phantom.

they have another moment like this:

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"I"M- I- YOU- YOU'RE PHANTOM??!!!"

"NO! YES! NO TIME! FIGHT HER!!!"

Because of course, this is the moment that Desiree appears, and starts fighting them.

"I dont know how!!!"

The beginning of the fight is very awkward, with Dash not knowing how Danny's powers work, and Danny not being used to fighting Desiree without his powers.

Eventually they get the hang of it, with Danny telling Dash how to activate and use certain powers in the moment, and they defeat Desiree.

All the wishes get undone, and they suck her up into a thermos.

After that, they talk about Danny being Phantom. Danny tells Dash the story of how he died got his powers, and Dash shares some of his secrets with Danny so they're "even". (it's some stuff that wasn't in Dash's diary. Danny doesn't mention that he read that, but that can be conflict in a later episode)

They aren't friends yet, but it's a start. Now that he walked a mile in Danny's shoes, Dash feels so bad about bullying him all those years, and he starts to question his life choices. (start of a Dash redemption arc i guess). He promises to stop bullying in general, and help out Danny however he can. (He also promises to not tell anyone about Danny's secret identity.)

(The episode ends with Sam and Tucker, having finally caught the Box Ghost, only to realise that in the chase/fight all the merch got way too messed up to sell, so it was all for nothing. Tucker throws the thermos down in frustration, the Box Ghost gets free, grabs the Phantom shirt he wore earlier, yells "BEWARE!" and flies off. Sam sighs and gets ready to start chasing him again, but Tucker stops her. "I give up. Let him have the fucking shirt.")

[valerianonyx]

Tour Bus Behavior

Dewdrop:

-in time out next to Papa because he couldn't behave

-liked to steal all of Aether's snacks even if he didn't actually like them

-likes to take one of Rain's earbuds and lay his head on his shoulder on the way back

Rain:

-usually reads or listens to game soundtracks or podcasts

-does not like to be touched (some exceptions) when he has his earbuds in or actively reading, but will let some people hold his hand

-helped Dew steal snacks and would give them to Swiss and Phantom as well

Swiss:

-used to sit next to Sunny and play sentence games, A-Z signs, I spy, etc.

-insists on picking the music, is the reason why there isn't any playing on the bus rides anymore (he played cbat once, only got 15 seconds in)

-likes playing with the hands of whoever is sitting next to him on the way back, usually silently 

Phantom:

-always clung to whoever is near him or clings them to him

-loves joining and observing others in their elements: likes reading over Rain's shoulder if he is sitting with him, playing games with Swiss if he's next to him, watching thrillers and dramas with Cirrus, watching Mountain drum rhythms onto his own thigh, etc.

-whole bag of fidgets, Mountain, Cirrus, and Dew have their designated ones from it because they use his so often 

Aether:

-used to bring all the snacks and extra waters (Cumulus would help prepare the things that weren't packaged/processed)

-ghoul pillow, anyone and everyone who wants to rest on him can

-jams to his music with his headphones on, one side on, one off, the entire time unless someone needs to talk

Cumulus:

-loves to bring small foods and baked goods as treats there and back, tried getting Sunshine and Cirrus to help but they almost burned the kitchen down, but Aurora did pretty well

-gets really into the movies Cirrus picks, very overdramatic in her reactions (but valid in doing so)

-lets Aurora lay on her and watches videos on her phone with her on the way back

Cirrus:

-brings popcorn for the movie viewers

-does not let anyone else pick out the movie (Dew ruined it, she trusted his intuition ONCE and it was a waste of an hour and a half of her life, she won't let it happen again)

-will push off anyone who tries to cuddle her, and will steal their favorite items from them if they piss her off (but she will brush hair or file nails for the ghoulettes, Phantom, Rain, or Mountain)

Aurora: 

-usually having 3 am talks (in the afternoon/evening) with Swiss, will also play games (Cirrus enjoys joining in as well)

-also enjoys reading, but mostly graphic novels and manga, will hold the book in between her and these people if she's next to them: Swiss, Phantom, Cumulus, and Mountain (only Phantom and Mountain actually read along with her though)

-will put stickers on her bandmates and their things until they notice

Sunshine:

-would read food, fashion, and true crime blogs with Cumulus over her shoulder

-liked throwing small items (as in a piece of pencil lead, small pebbles, and other unnoticeable things) at Dew, giggled enough to give away that she was the culprit instantly (Swiss would also do this with her, and occasionally Cirrus or Mountain)

-if she was next to Rain she would try to tune into the podcast he was listening to without making it obvious (he would turn up the volume so she could hear better)

Mountain:

-doesn't really care who sits next to him, nobody bothers him besides when Dew, Sunny, and Swiss mess with each other 

-likes window seat, eyes never leave the view of the outside unless someone wants to show him something, then they have his full attention

-if someone is laying on him he will usually trace patterns or tap rhythms onto them, or just hum soft songs 

[ghostchems]

masterlist

ONGOING

infernal | nsfw | parts: one/two/three/four/five/six/seven| ao3 link

papa emeritus iii x fem reader Terzo is serving a death sentence. It isn’t like he had much of a choice. He remembers the game night clearly. The typical arguments and accusations of cheating had subsided and it was a rare moment of fun and relaxation with his brothers. The next thing he remembers is waking up on a gurney and gasping for air. They told him his brothers were dead. They told him they had removed his head for a photoshoot and then reattached it again. They gave him a choice: die now or take their money and never speak to them again.

lovers led astray | nsfw | parts: one | ao3 link

cardinal copia x fem reader - upior sequel much has changed within the ministry since the dust settled. you're stuck in a position you never wanted - the chosen lover of the cardinal, the heir apparent, as well as the secretary for the ministry's budding satanic education program. despite your life having more meaning that it ever has, you're still flooded with memories of the before times.

phantom of the paradise | eventual nsfw | parts: one | ao3 link

papa emeritus iv x fem reader you go to a special screening of “phantom of the paradise” and end up being taken with the strange man who introduces the film

sacred blasphemy | eventual nsfw | parts: one | ao3 link

catholic priest!copia x fem original character in another world, copia has become a catholic priest after being drawn to it during his childhood in an orphanage. he is content with his life, finally feeling grounded and like he belongs -- until a new face in his flock captures his attention.

COMPLETED

*the titles link to the tumblr post. ao3 links included for all! for fics with multiple parts, i linked the last part bc i am lazy :) there are no tumblr links for burn with me because its an ~ao3 exclusive~ (i stopped consistently posting the chapters on tumblr the longer it went dhdjsjsj)

papa emeritus iii

cirice | nsfw | ao3 link

you are searching for inspiration at the site of a local urban legend but something beckons to you

kazoo comfort | sfw | ao3 link

you take a break from your daily duties to clear your head when you run into a cozy-looking retired papa

the rose | sfw | ao3 link

terzo reminisces about simpler times

upiór | nsfw | ao3 link

upiór (n.) - a person cursed before death, a person who died suddenly, or someone whose corpse was desecrated

the wedding guest | nsfw | ao3 link

you have just gotten over a break-up and attend a wedding of a friend alone. a man with face paint distracts you from the festivities

the cardinal’s cure | nsfw | ao3 link

cardinal terzo notices you seem a bit stressed and he has perfect solution

gloves | nsfw | ao3 link

you are the resident glove maker at the abbey and cardinal terzo comes to you with a curious request.

you drive me (crazy) | nsfw | ao3 link

the prompt: Now that Terzo has retired he has to take driving lessons because Imperator won't let any of the ghouls drive him around anymore. Reader is hired to teach him but what happens when love (or just sex) gets in the way of his lessons?

a man after midnight | nsfw | ao3 link

the prompt: looking at the mirror but the reflection isn't. looking. at. you.

the phantom touch | nsfw | ao3 link

when copia is gone, the phantom comes out to play.

the dressing room | nsfw | ao3 link

the last show of the popestar tour has concluded with Papa being dragged off stage. your task is to keep him occupied in his dressing room

smoke break | sfw | ao3 link

you find solace and a private place to smoke when you are caught by the new papa.

cardinal copia

burn with me | nsfw | ao3 link

It’s been a long time since Copia has been able to play with his food.

restroom detour | nsfw | ao3 link

you're out with your friends at the new local hot spot: the pinnacle lounge. a trip to find the bathroom has you stumbling into something not for your eyes.

road rage | nsfw | ao3 link

as copia's assistant, you've found a nonconventional way to keep your boss calm.

oops | nsfw | ao3 link

copia makes a mistake while summoning a new ghoul.

upiór | nsfw | ao3 link

upiór (n.) - a person cursed before death, a person who died suddenly, or someone whose corpse was desecrated.

devotion | nsfw | ao3 link

the cardinal™️ doesn’t feel that you’ve been a good little sinner lately.

boys suck | nsfw | ao3 link

dracopia with the prompts: that gut feeling something is following you & having blood smeared all over you

the cream in cardinal copia's coffee | nsfw | ao3 link

you are blessed with the task of making the new cardinal his coffee each morning and on your first day, you forget the evaporated milk.

papa emeritus iv

the sads | sfw | ao3 link

you've fallen behind on your classes at the ministry because of an episode of the sads.

somethin’ spooky | nsfw | ao3 link

you've secured an invite to an exclusive party at a satanic church only to end up being underwhelmed by the lack of "spooky".

have some sympathy and some taste | nsfw | ao3 link

you become charmed by a spooky live performance at a bar you wandered into.

wrong place, right time | nsfw | ao3 link

you work at a local concert venue, specializing in requests from the music acts. one request and one warning slips your mind.

on leather wings | nsfw | ao3 link

copia surprises you with a spooky weekend getaway, culminating in some winged bedroom time

longing | nsfw | ao3 link

at a certain moment during a performance, copia thinks of you.

papa emeritus ii

la bella luna | nsfw | ao3 link

after a disappointing evening, you run into a mysterious man on the street.

the devil’s damsel | nsfw: non-con | parts: one/two/three/four | ao3 link

papa emeritus ii x fem reader after one mistake, you end up in the belly of the beast

cemetery stroll | nsfw | parts: one/two | ao3 link

papa emeritus ii x fem reader a creature interrupts your evening walk through the abbey cemetery.

mary goore

baptized in blood | nsfw | ao3 link

you will never forget the day Mary Goore rolled into town.

silco

thief | nsfw| ao3 link

desperate for shimmer, you steal some from the last drop and make your escape

raphael

bad idea right? | nsfw | parts: one/two/three | ao3 link

raphael x fem tav your companions have made their stance on making a deal with a devil clear but as the stakes of your quest grow you aren't so certain

[adozentothedawn]

The first time one of them calls him Master he beats them black and blue in the training yard. Afterwards, looking at the gasping and trembling shape of Aedan on his knees in front of him, barely 16, he feels nauseous in a way he hasn't in years. That Aedan still looks at him with admiration makes bile rise in his throat.

He leaves the boy to Montgomery and locks himself in his office, and when that isn't enough he climbs out the window and finds the highest roof in the city outside of the tower. He burns through two packs of cigarettes that day.

The second time it's Leon (Leonid still then, until her second half joined half a year later), 15 and freshly changed out of her bloodied maid outfit. He glowers and sends her out with Aedan to clean out the rats nest in their new base' cellar and puts her on first watch for a month. If anything it seems to spur her on more. He smokes so much that day that Montgomery has to make him a tonic so he can keep leading training without his voice giving out. She confiscates the rest of his smokes for a week.

The third time it's Scott, not one of the new kids, and he doesn't mean anything by it. It's almost casual when he says it, handing over a missive from a new client. Daud nearly tears the paper in half when he rips it out of Scott's hand. He doesn't go to see Montgomery that evening, but the tonic still finds its way to his desk.

That night, after he peels off his blood drenched clothing after a kill gone messy and hurls them into the laundry pile with enough force to splatter the blood over the walls, the Outsider draws him into the void, for the first time in months. But it's not the facsimile of his own bed that he finds himself in.

Instead what greets him when he opens his eyes is the cage where he lost his childhood.

He learns then that while he can retch in the void he cannot vomit.

While he prefers to let the Outsider wait for a while these days, he cannot get out of the room quickly enough, nearly hitting his head on the tiny gate that marked the end of his innocence and stumbling out the door beyond into the destructured realm that is the Void. Vertigo that has nothing to do with the void rips into his mind, tipping his sense of self and forcing him to his knees as he's desperately gasping for breath past the horrible tightness in his chest.

It takes him a few moments, or an eternity, until he can drag himself back up and steel himself against the familiar, deconstructed vision of the hell that shaped him into the man he is today. One transversal after another he gets further away, until all that is left are impersonal blocks of stone and dirt floating next to the whales and he doesn't feel quite so much anymore like he's teetering on a ledge that will maybe not kill him but drop him back into the time he wished it would.

When the Outsider appears and seals his voice he can almost pretend to be unaffected.

"Hello, Daud." Nothing shows on the leviathan's face, as it has always been, but for the first time it fills Daud with a burning hatred. If the Outsider notices, as he has to, as he always does, he doesn't deem it worthy of a reaction.

"You have become a man of titles, Daud." The boy cocks his head and Daud tenses. "They call you the Knife of Dunwall. The murderer who stalks the night. And of course your own people, your collection of children and outcasts who steal, spy, and murder for you, they call you master now, don't they." It's not a question. Daud wants to hurl. Vomit, insults, or fists he can't quite tell.

The Outsider lets him stand there for a few moments, looking over him impassively with those black, uncaring depths pretending to be eyes.

"I wonder, Daud. Will you let them? Or will you forbid them from using the word, punish them the way he punished you for refusing it, and become like him anyway." It's still not a question. The bastard has already decided and Daud has never hated him the way he hates him now. His back stings with the phantom pain of lashes, of beatings, he feels the hot, itching sensation of fresh blood running down his thighs, rope burns flame across his wrists, the world swims in front of his eyes like someone has hit him over the head. Daud doesn't know if it's the Outsider's doing or his own mind's, but in the haze of rage, hatred, and old, long buried panic he cannot bring himself to care.

It feels like an eternity until the Outsider finally releases him and he shoots upright in own bed, drenched in cold sweat. The first thing he does is bend over the side and vomit. Some primal part of his mind that he has long since locked away and buried, has pretended to have killed along with his master expects to be slapped for it.

The sun has risen over the rooftops of Dunwall when he finally drags himself out of bed to clean up the mess and start the day. The Whalers notice, those few that they are in those days, but no one comments on his foul mood. His jacket is returned by Leon, washed of all traces of blood and scrubbed so well it almost shines. Montgomery hands him another tonic without a word. Aedan asks to show him a new maneuver with the knife he's learnt.

Daud doesn't comment when any of them call him Master, let's them call him what they want without reacting anymore. The group grows, some pick it up, some don't, but eventually it is enough of them that he doesn't bother keeping track. He establishes a system of ranks, masters and novices, and explains it is to better manage their tasks to their skill level, as well as provide incentives for growth. It makes sense and no one questions it.

It also makes sense that he would be a master.

It takes Daud years to stop feeling the pain of phantom wounds when he hears the not yet broken voices of children call him Master.

[the-reaping-lamb]

Quick stuff to get you on track for the AU:

-The Lamb remains dead, they aren't resurrected. Think of them as like, a phantom that can switch between worlds at anytime?

-Lambert still serves TOWW, but instead of being his vessel, he's instead a "Reaper".

-In this AU, his job is to essentially hunt down followers of the Old Faith instead of "converting" them into TOWW's cult. By doing so under the will of Death (Narinder), they are sent to Narinder himself, in which they are forced into servitude under him to gain their rite of passage to the afterlife. None of the followers who are killed are allowed to resurrect back.

-In addition to hunting down the bishops' followers, he's also tasked with collecting the souls of the wandering and delivering them to the afterlife

-The "Wandering Souls" are essentially people who were killed unjustly due to their devotion to Narinder or because they remained neutral in terms of religion. They are delivered straight to the afterlife where they are reunited with their loved ones, and are allowed to pass on quietly if they wish. Passing on is essentially the act of having their souls dissipate from the plane of existence

-They tried their hand at running a cult before becoming a reaper, but after a tragedy hit and all their followers died (their poor, innocent, beloved followers...) they decided that the cultist life was not for them. (Guilt, guilt, guilt...) so Narinder gave them a chance at something else different, that he thinks they'd be much better at. He's much more content with the life (or lack thereof) that he has now

-This version of Lambert is extremely jaded. There is a heavy weariness that follows them everywhere despite the fact they don't need sleep, and it weighs on them. Especially the first time he went to collect the souls of the members of his cult group.

-Narinder is happy to accommodate the Lamb's newfound vengeance streak + relieved that someone's able to collect any of the wandering souls that don't make it back to him. But he DOES feel a bit of remorse when he sees the Lamb looking so.... quiet. Like that

-Arguably the only time the Lamb smiles is probably when they're in the heat of battle, in which they're chopping away at people's heads with a manic grin

LAMB'S DESIGN:

-I wanted him to contrast Narinder and still reference canon Lamb's designs. So in some way, he still has his cloak, but it's made to hang off one shoulder instead of both.

-He doesn't bear the crown anymore, but that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't use powers associated to Narinder. He IS his devoted Reaper after all. So instead of directly using Narinder's power, he uses the Sin that accumulates in people's bodies to fuel his strength

-Narinder has all his eyes showing, right? So I figured, I'm gonna make Lambert have his own eyes covered (or eyeHOLES, haha! Get it? Cuz he's actually eyeless as a Reaper? Haha! Fucked up!)

-If you look closely at the 1st fanart, you'll notice that there's a sliver of space between his head and neck- that's where he was first killed, actually. When he was still running the cult, he had it covered with the collar + bell, but when he became the Reaper, he proceeded to forgo the thing entirely

-Can you guess what his favorite weapon is? (Cuz I can't, it sucks) it's an axe! Ironic, considering he was killed with one- oooohhh wait, that's why he's using it, huh? :>

-He gets some sort of bittersweet, sick and sadistic joy from chopping people's heads off. It's 100% associated with his trauma from getting killed the same way. He likes to make sure his axe isn't nearly as sharp, so he can take his sweet time while still making sure it's as painful as possible

-He can visit his flock in the afterlife! They don't recognize him though, he lost them as a baby and he's been wandering since then. His family are expecting a scared young man to approach them, so they aren't aware of what he's become. He keeps it that way, and approaches them not as "their youngest" but as "TOWW's most devout servant". They're always staring at them longingly with a distant look

-If the Lamb is smiling, it usually means something REAAAALLY fucked up happened (that is 9 times out of 10 entirely his doing) because he just..... doesn't smile?? And it's fuckin creepy when he does it, jfc

[im-a-marion3tt3]

To Much

Phantom needs a break. Tw for unintentionally sh. This is kinda shitty but I needed to write something.

Tour was hard on everyone, all the ghouls and papa eventually only looked forward to going home. This was especially the case for Phantom. The stage lights had stopped being awe-inducing and now only gave him a migraine and stress. His fingers felt far more brittle as he played his guitar; the ache never seemed to leave anymore.

The end of the performance came sooner than he realized, mainly because he had zoned out after the second song, thinking about when he would finally get to go to bed. Even as he bows and heads off stage, his mind isn't fully there, finding it easier to cope with his exhaustion in this state of mind. That is until he gets confronted.

"Phantom, what the hell were you doing tonight?" Dewdrop snapped after they had changed out of their show clothes. He looked tired and pissed off, his hair looking much more messy than normal. They all were too tired at this point, a long nap and going home were over due.

"I played, what the fuck are you talking about?" Phantom muttered back, rolling his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair. He did have the energy for a fight right now but if that's what Dew wanted, he give him one.

"Yeah, you played but you sure as hell didn't perform! You're not some baby and more, you have to fucking pull your weight now. Jesus, why did Aether have to fucking leave, this is ridiculous!"

"Then get him back and I'll fucking leave! So sorry your Highness that my best isn't good enough anymore!" Phantom spat out before storming out of the venue before anyone could even try and stop him. He blended in with the shadows as soon as he hit the streets, making sure his demon form was concealed.

And just like that, he was gone. Having followed the sidewalk to a brightly lit up building. It smelled bad in his head but it would do for now. Here, he could nap unbothered. Phantom curled up behind a dumpster and quickly fell asleep, cold and uncomfortable but happy to finally get the sleep he so desperately craved. Dew's words rang in his ears, maybe it would be better if he was gone, then they could get Aether back.

Copia took longer getting ready to leave, having more to do and had to make sure the clergy knew of what went wrong during the performance. By the time he finally was ready to leave and met up with his ghouls, he noticed there was a stiff and uncomfortable whispering. Copia didn't know what happened but didn't really care, they were always up to something. Except, he started to get a little more nervous when he took a head count and found them to be one short. Phantom.

Shortly after, a screaming match started, fingers being pointed all while Copia looked on, a heart broken look on his face. He loved all of his ghouls and to hear the one away made him feel like a failure and question why he had ever been put in charge.

It was Mountain who realized Copia's facial expression. He hadn't joined in the fight either, being far to concerned that there was a little ghoul wandering the cold city streets alone. Carefully, he pulled Copia into a hug, holding him close to his chest.

"Just shut up!" Mountain eventually barked, a glare resting on his face as at the other ghouls with a frustrated expression, his horns sticking through his glamour as thorns started to grow off of them. He proceeded to yell at the group at how it was everyone's fault for letting him leave, for making him feel unwanted and for hurting papa in such a way. He had trusted them and they broke that trust. Thinking on his feet, he quickly paired them up and sent them out, figuring such a younger ghoul couldn't have gotten far. Mountain left Dew behind with Copia though, feeling as though Phantom might not want to see him.

It was Aurora who found him, curled up and still crying softly, a piece of glass in his hand and a small puddle of blood on the pavement. She noted that the blood came from his palm, he had most likely crushed something made of glass.

"Phantom! Oh for Hell's sake we've been worried sick," she muttered kneel down next to him and carefully grabbing his wrist to look at this hand. Phantom was not having it though, he snapped his hand out of hers.

"Jus g-go away," he stuttered out, something he only did when feeling big emotions. It made Aurora frown though, unsure of how to actually help him. So, she simply picked him up and tossed his over her shoulder, uncaring of his fighting. She was stronger than him by far and she was scared for it.

Phantom fought the entire way back to the building, noticing that their bus had already pulled up. Great, now everyone would be mad at him, he thought, a fresh wave of tears coming. It was a great surprise to him that instead of getting yelled at he felt arms yank him from Aurora and hug him tightly. It was papa.

"You simply cannot run off like that. You are but a kit still and had us all worried sick," Copia said in his thickly accidented voice as he held Phantom close. Phantom just held him back, crying softly into his shoulder, uncaring of the blood that got onto Copia. He just wanted to feel loved and needed right now.

"I know sometimes we say too much and feel too much but we all love you," Mountain said softly, having come in recently though stayed silent. He knew the other ghoul needed to feel loved and no one but Copia could heal the wounds from Dewdrops words.

[sageofthestarz]

It's Alright

A small RainDrop ficlet of how Dew is after Aether leaves the Abbey, and who helps him

-

This takes place in my own version of the ghost universe and is purely for my self indulgence :)

Dew barley spoke to anyone, going through the motions rather then living the few weeks after Aether left. Even to Rain, he barley gave him the time of day waving him off make sure all of Rains things were out of his room and staying out.

He was snippy, only coming to the new summoning because Sister ordered it, scowling as Phantom and Aurora made their way. Growling as Phantom looked around the room and looked to him as the first. The younger ghoul having a scared look almost like he wanted to bolt out of there, scrambling back on the floor Dew only rolling his eyes as Cirrus fussed at him for scaring him, both Mountain and Rain going over to calm the new summon down. Dew didn't understand why it stung to see Phantom cling to Rain like a life line. Rain more then happy to comfort him. Why did it make his chest hurt so much.

He left seconds after slamming the door behind him leaving out of the Abbey completely, walking down to the lake and taking time, a few hours alone. The other ghouls were preoccupied with the two new ones. It was fine. He was fine. He didn't need them, couldn't need them. He was fine.

He wasn't.

He was overwhelmed and upset and wanted nothing more then the comfort of his pack, the one he wished was his mate. He couldn't though. Couldn't bring himself to ask. To rely on them, not anymore, not when that's the reason Aether left him. He couldn't take that again, not with any more of his pack. He can take this on his own, he's fine, they have enough stress on all their shoulders, everyone is busy, everyone has their own shit to deal with they don't need a Fire Ghoul who still acts like his pathetic Water Ghoul self. He needs to get over it. Will get over it.

He is fine.

It takes weeks for him to crack. He was right in the sense that everyone busy, but that doesn't mean they don't notice how he doesn't show up sleeping in the common rooms anymore, isn't planning weekly movie nights, no impromptu ghoul piles, no nothing. He shows up for what's required. Rehearsals, meals, sounds, fitting, all the sort but once it's done he goes back to his own thing. Rain tries to talk to him, tries to bring back his Dewdrop, but Dew just snaps at him. Practically barks in rage when Rain calls him Dew telling him how that isn't his name, the hurt in his voice is all Rain needs to hear to know what's going on.

Rain grabs his wrist and even with a bit of a bitch fit on Dews end he drags him to Rains room, locks the door. He puts on a record quietly, one of calling classical that he always put on for their naps together before shutting the lights off and pulling Dew into his bed.

Dews dead on his feet watching Rain do this, shoulders dropped and just not willing to fight anymore. Allowing Rain to pull him into his bed, into his chest. It doesn't take long before the flood gates are open.

Dews apologizing over and over, knowing how shitty he's acted towards everyone. Rain let's him get it all out, telling him how he can go apologize to them later. Dews afraid. Afraid Rain will leave all the same, that he's being too much right now, he's trying to pull himself together but the soft sweet words Rain tells him, coaxing it out of him makes it impossible. He feels safe there in Rains arms. He hates how much he wants Rain. Wants to be his mate. Rain deserves so much more then him. He's forever grateful to him though. The small acts the water ghoul does mean so much to him.

Dew calm down after while, head pressed in the crook of Rains neck, taking in his scent. Laying together in silence for awhile, Rains hands combing through Dews hair, taking notice to how much he hasn't been taking care of it. It's dry, tangled making him frown slightly. Rain combs it out, taking his time as he braids it, a light purr in his chest the whole time. It's the one noise Dew focuses on when he closes his eyes, taking it in, soaking up any once of comfort Rain gives him. He's tired. So tired, in so many different ways. They both needed this. Each other, this time to just relax there. It doesn't take long before both of them have dozed off, the first peaceful sleep either have gotten recently.

[thelavendercatalogue]

@dagmartoons here ya go :D _ _ _

The leg has always been their worry. . .the broken hip, busted knee, possible broken femur from his leg getting crushed in the car. Femurs are hard things to break. Their also the most at risk when they break due to potential issues that can occur with to all the major blood vessels and muscle networks and nerves and such. The leg had always been their worry, always been the main goal to save cause god forbid Lupin loose it and really have his life screwed up. . .Jigen can deal with rehabilitation, but he cannot deal with the outcome that may occur if Lupin looses the leg

Doctors are worried when infection sets in, but so much shit is wrong with the guy that it’s not surprising. . .what IS surprising is when the infection gets worse and suddenly Jigen is in a room surrounded by a bunch of people in white suits all discussing the idea of the most dreaded word Jigen has ever heard in his life and as they try to convince him that maybe it would be more beneficial for the leg to go

Infection isn't something to mess around with. For his leg to be so badly mutilated to the point of his blood essentially poisoning him, a discussion of possibly amputating the limb must be had. Jigen probably would fight as much as possible against the idea, imploring and even begging them to try every other possible route because he knows just how much Lupin needs both of his legs

like lupin is good at robotics

he could make a new leg

could deck it out and make it work as good as he can

but it's still the idea

not to mention the phantom pain would be nearly unbearable at times

Bit of a gut punch given the choice to attempt to continue treatment for his leg or to simply amputate it altogether, But Lupin asked for Jigen to help him make the decision.

But once again, Jigen finds himself freezing.

He has no idea what to say,

So he tells Lupin that he has to think about it for a little while. Which he has time to do, but he's still on the metaphorical clock, so to speak

But he doesn't "think"

At least not right away

Instead he just dips to cope and put it at the back of his mind for a while by hopefully spending some "time" with fujiko

Of fucking course he quickly learns that that isn’t going to work and he just has to say it to her

Him randomly just walking into Fujiko’s hotel room after dealing with this whole debacle for a few hours and originally he came here for a little “stress relief” but obviously Fujiko notices something is up by how he’s sitting on the end of the bed with his fingers steepled against his mouth and how cold and stone like he looks in his eyes.

Looks that she’d know by now mean that he was internally debating with himself and not liking the outcome of the argument

She asks him what’s up and oh imagine how bluntly he says the next words to her

“They wanna take his leg”

fujiko's heart dropping when she hears it, part of her hopes she misheard him but she knows what he said all she can think to respond with is a soft and fearful "what?"

Jigen chuckling as if in disbelief

“haha. . .yeah not the best news I’ve gotten all week”

Fujiko stopping everything and being like "ok we need to get everyone together and talk about this" bc it's literally pt 2 of that whole 'what would we do if Lupin couldn't thieve anymore' discussion

Jigen just taking a deep breath and nodding when Fuji says they need to talk about this. That all of them need to talk

No amount of "stress relief" would be able to fix this It's too somber, too severe

So they get dressed or whatever they have to do to get themselves situated and start making some calls

Fuji calling up Goe, jigen calling Zeni

Time passes and they all convene in Fuji's hotel room

Zeni probably shows up last, but they tell Goe and Zeni the news at the same time

They feel horrible having this sort of discussion without Lupin here with them-- but at the same time, it's one that they couldn't have if he were here, either.

so HERE are the Oppositions

Jigen and Zenigata: Amputation

Jigen's undecided ofc, that's kinda the whole point

And it doesn't matter if it's majority, they'd all decide pretty early on that the decision needs to be unanimous

Zeni would say amputate. Not because it'd mean Lupin can't be a thief anymore (or that it'd be a while until he figures out how to thieve again), that's the last thing he wants, but because it's the safest option. The best guarantee of recovery and the greatest avoidance of the unthinkable.

Considering how jigen might be frantic to fix it and for things to finally calm back down, he'd probably be leaning towards amputation for the same sort of reasons as Zeni. But the idea of Lupin losing a leg is absolutely terrifying to him, not to mention Lupin counting on him to decide whether to make the call or not.

Fujiko: No Amputation

Fujiko could reason that Lupin doesn’t do well with change and would be on the side of Non-Amputation. Not in the regular sense of people not doing well with change but in the sense that he has so very few constants in his life and he leans on those so heavily even if it’s not noticeable to outsiders. He has those few constants and without those tethers he loses himself. And right now things are already changing so much she doesn’t want him to have to lose anything else.

Fujiko won’t admit it, but Jigen knows how much she cares for Lupin, he’s come to accept the notion, especially in the weeks that have followed since this shit started.

Much like him, she has not handled the stress very well. The reason why Fujiko tends to stay is suave hotels attached to casinos

lots of big headed blue-bloods making it big, lots to swoon over her and lots of idiots she can steal from.

Because Lupin was everything to them. Without him they're drowning in how much they miss him and coping in ways they know

But Jigen is smart because also knows deep down that anyone riding the wave will eventually have to get off or fall

Fujiko just seems to end up falling more often now. Much like Lupin and Jigen, her tethers are snapping and if it makes her feel miserable

god what is it gonna do to Lupin

Goemon: No Amputation

Goemon's a bit tricky, but I'd say he'd be the most against it. He's very into self-improvement (shit way to put it but idk how else to) and would wholeheartedly believe that Lupin would be able to power through whatever sort of recovery might be necessary, no matter how much time it might take and no matter the risk to his health (bc lets be honest, Goemon tends to do the same thing to himself).

Honestly I just really like the idea of Goemon getting the chance to go off for once ;;;

Like, he can't fking believe that zeni and jigen are even considering amputation, it's completely unfathomable to him and he just digs into them for it

They've all been injured severely at some point and this has never been offered up as an option before, he doesn't understand how this scenario would be different from any of those other time

but imagine Jigen digs into the fact that Goemon hasn’t even been up to see Lupin since this happened and questioning him as to why everyone else has been up to see him besides Goemon

………goemon snapping back that jigen never gave him the chance to

which leads to

Jigen and Goemon Argument

Jigen actually ends up getting into a shouting match with Goemon on how dare he judge their decisions when he hasn’t even had the stones to go UP and see Lupin. And how he refuses to allow Goemon to use the fact he’s been guarding his sister as a excuse cause even MADDIE has pushed him to visit but Goemon refused

Jigen saying that Goemon never needed his permission to visit lupin,

but Goemon saying that he had no way of knowing that when he's been avoiding him ever since that fight he had with lupin in pt 5

Jigen railing into him over what he did. Because tbh this fight has been a long time coming and Jigen didn’t want to say anything about it but tensions are high and Jigen is on a trigger

He won’t say things he regrets though he’s close to it, but he will mention that Goemon has a lot of nerve considering what he did

And if Goemon tries to use the excuse that he has never been the only one to try and kill each other of the group, and that they’ve done it all the time and what makes the difference now

Only for Jigen to point out how no one has EVER actually tried to kill each other and that’s what Goemon doesn’t seem to get, they have always pretended but no one except Goemon has actively tried to KILL someone from this group and not only that nearly succeeded in doing so

However before he can continue, too Jigen’s surprise, however, Zeni steps into the ring in Goemon's defense for one simple reason

Zeni would probably say that jigen hasn't seen the full extent of Goemon's regret, and the fact that Goemon gave up everything when he believed he had 'defeated' lupin is proof enough that Goemon isn't making some kind of 'excuse' for what he did.

At the end, I'm sure they're all aware that Jigen is just snapping under stress. He's upset, he wants Lupin better, he doesn't want to have the conversation about his leg, he doesn't want to make these choices, he just wants to wake up beside him in bed and this is all just a bad dream

but thats not gonna happen any time soon. . .

[starry-blue-echoes]

Alright, with the timeline clarification question out of the way, its time to start getting my thoughts on the StarSwap AU.

For starters, Star Swap Phantom Blood undergoes a complete tonal shift. 

Like, regular Phantom Blood is probably the most serious of the JoJo parts. I don’t think it has any sections of it that are intentionally played for laughs. 

And that all changes with Jolyne arrives because she is officially done with this before it even starts.

While the whole “having to adapt to life as a Victorian gentlemen”, sucks, the one things she is fully prepared for is Dio’s Bullshit. She doesn’t even bother tolerating him. 

Dio: (says some thinly veiled insult)

Jolyne: Alright, sure, fuck you too.

Dio: wha- you can’t just say things like that!

Jolyne: Watch me. (Flips Dio off while walking away)

The first fight against Vampire Dio is going to be less about “Oh no! My brother’s become a monster!” and more “Heck yeah! I can finally punch this asshole without without anyone complaining about it anymore!”

Dio: I have rejected my humanity, JoJo!

Jolyne: Alright cool but are you a stand user? (Summons Stone Free)

Dio: A stand what? (Doesn’t notice)

(Stone Free Punches him in the face)

And the whole initial Zeppeli interaction goes differently. Because he still shows up and punches Jolyne in the stomach, activating her latent hamon potential (Yaaay hamon-user Jolyne is the best), but rather that being shocked, Jolyne just punches Zeppili back and sends him flying.

And then the final Fight against Dio is going to be much less dramatic, because Jolyne does not give him the opportunity to be dramatic.

Dio: I can freeze your blood!

Jolyne: Okay but what is my blood was string?

Dio: (irratated WRYYYYYY)

Dio: I can shoot pressurized fluid from my eyes! 

Jolyne: Okay, now I know you’re just trying to show off (deflects space ripper stingy eyes with Stone Free)

Dio: (infuriated WRYYYYYY)

This isn’t to say that the fights aren’t going to be challenging for her, they definitely are. 

But having a stand gives Jolyne a much more level playing field against Dio compared to what Jonathan had to deal with.

RJHBFHJDRBFHBHVD Y E A H -

Jolyne is 110% D O N E with every single aspect of Dio's Bullshit. Honestly what he's doing is almost nothing compared to Literal Prison and he's not even a Stand User so dealing with him is easy

the time period? honestly sucks ass. At the very least she has a good status, but she really misses her old body. She misses being able to be Jolyne and a she, but this is possibly one of the single worst time periods for those feelings to exist in

so Dio ends up being a good outlet for all these frustrations. She isn't fooled by his Playing Nice attitude, she knows he's plotting some shit. Plus, even him playing nice doesn't make him kind. In the beginning she thinks Jonathan would've been incredibly gullible and stupid to believe it........ but then she learns and experiences exactly Jonathan had to live his life and realises Dio's "change" was probably the kindest thing the guy had ever experienced

but she doesn't have time to deal with All That, so she decides to spend her time getting back at Dio and making a nice life Jonathan could maybe return to :D

and to make things even funnier, what if as the months/years go by, Jolyne slowly perfects the art of subtly telling Dio to Fuck Off in public and various explicit Fuck Offs to tell him when nobody else is around. It throws Dio off completely because not only is Jonathan acting VERY different, but he's also actually pushing back and noticing what he's doing which is a mix of confusing, freaky and frustrating. Plus....... there's all the strange supernatural things happening around his 'brother.' Dio could've sworn he's seen objects float, he trips on apparently nothing almost daily, things seem to move with no one there to move them

If Dio had a new sudden interest in stories of the supernatural...... well that's nobodies business

(and if Jolyne took extra care to specifically fuck around with his super natural stuff, that's nobodies business either :3)

but also YEAH Jolyne is going so happy to finally have an excuse to finally be able to get Dio in trouble for all the shit he's pulled over the years. Sure it's not for everything, and honestly most of the things he did are likely to stay unknown for the rest of their lives, but at least this one would get Dio locked up for a good while, if not for the rest of his life

I think it would be funny for Speedwagon to be a bit surprised by Jolyne's reaction. After all, as far as he's aware this is Jolyne's brother, sure there are some conflicting feelings there.......... but then she quickly explains All The Shit Dio's Pulled Over The Years and his surprise becomes "oh yeah never mind that makes sense fuck that guy"

(it's also entirely possible that while the mansion burns down, George might not die. Jolyne doesn't have the same honour code as Jonathan and wouldn't be lured as easily. And even if she was, she'd at least have the abilities to redirect the knife safely)

I do think Jolyne would be a bit more secretive with her Stand though, just in general. She's absolutely going to use it whenever she can, but Stone Free is one card she aims to keep as close to her chest as possible. She's going to be going all out when the mansion starts burning down. Using SF to make holes around Dio's attacks to avoid getting injured, climbing the walls to get out of reach, anything she can do to take this guy down she pulls out every trick she has because she knows that only one of them is walking away from this fight

as a result, while she's still definitely going to have to spend some time in the hospital, she's going to be way less injured than Jonathan was, which is nice. She's immediately on edge when Zeppeli shows up tho, she's gotten blindsided by too much Bullshit Shenanigans to let herself get caught off guard that easily. Unfortunately with her injuries Zeppeli still manages to punch her, and while it does wind her she immediately decks him right back

also, Stone Free is going to be ridiculously compatible with Hamon. Kinda like with Joseph and Hermit Purple, Stone Free's reach and dexterity is now going to be given an extra punch

and dhrbghvdbhvbd the "what if my blood was string" definitely got a laugh out of me, and given the fact most of the people present know Stone Free exists she probably wouldn't be too secretive about it at the moment. The fight is made a bit difficult in how Dio is ow consciously aware of SF, and how while he can't see the Stand he's still strong enough to rip them with relative ease if Jolyne's not careful

[titlemewickedwonderland]

The Manager (Ghost Fic) Chapter 10

Summary: The Ministry announces an outsider coming to be part of the congregation to help with the Ghost project as a tour manager; little did the Ghoul know; she is nothing like they pictured her or how she'd affect them all.

Request Board

Workshop

Chapter 9

Warning: Sexual content!

The Mass hall was bustling with the usual sounds of clinking cups, murmured conversations, and the soft hum of background music playing overhead in the speakers. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and whatever was on the breakfast menu for the day fills the air, adding to the familiar atmosphere Ari was so used to. It had been two weeks since the end of the tour and they had returned to their usual routine at the Abbey. Still, everything was not as routine as it had been - hell even the siblings had noticed the tension when the band returned making Ari feel as horrible now as she did away; she knew they would be talking behind her back wondering what had happened and she didn't blame them. Her career had felt like it was soaring in the beginning and now she felt as if she didn't know where to go from here. Dewdrop had ignored her since they had gotten back home; going so far as to pretend she wasn't there or ask someone else questions that could be asked to her directly - like some kind of middleman.

In one corner, amidst the chatter of the siblings of the Church, Ari sits at the Ghoul table nursing a cold cup of coffee; a cup long past cooled off from its usual hotness the longer she sat there brewing in her own thoughts. Phantom, who sat across from her had made it his mission to never let her be alone when she got this broody. The pained expression etched on her face and her eyes that were slightly red, a sign of her recent tears and troubles that has become the norm to those with keen eyes; no amount of makeup or sleep could hide the turmoil that roared inside of her and for a quintessence ghoul like him; he hated to see his friend looking like this - hated to feel the emotional heaviness that seemed to engulf her.

Across from Ari, Phantom looks concerned and attentive as he watches her; she had been sitting here for the last 3 hours barely even touching the coffee he'd brought her when he caught her heading this way a few hours before in the hallway that very morning.

Softly, Phantom reaches out to gently grab her attention with a hand on her arm. "Ari, I can see how much you're hurting. Do you want to talk about it?"

Her lips turned up into a wry smile as she shook her head and stared down at her coffee. "There isn't much to say anymore. Dew won't talk to me and if he won't...I can't fix things." she blew out a breath.

"Makes me wonder if it's worth sticking around. I can't sleep properly, I'm messing up at my job, and I know Copia is trying to be supportive but even he is getting stressed out from the lack of professionalism I usually show and I just...I just don't know how much more I can take, Phantom." her tired eyes lifted to meet her friend's.

His face softened even if she couldn't tell behind his mask as he gave her arm a squeeze. "Oh sweet pea, it'll get better. I promise, Dewdrop is hard-headed and for a while he and I never got along when I was first summoned but he's just hurting too...he doesn't know how to feel about any of this but I promise you he's not as unaffected as you think. You really need to try to talk to him again." he advised softly.

"I can't Phantom! He won't speak to me! He won't even hear me out! Like what the hell am I supposed to do if he won't even try to listen?! He won't even look at me!" she asked as her voice rose sharply; gaining the attention of a few siblings at the nearby tables.

Phantom hushed her gently and shook his head. "We'll work it out. love. I promise you, we will. I and the others will help...look, if he doesn't talk to you on his own terms then we need to force his hand." he stated seriously.

"We can't watch you just...turn into a husk and wither away like this." he added sighing softly.

"Oh? And what do you expect to do? Lock me and him in a room together?" Ari snorted leaning away from him; as if tucking herself away from even his hold that had been nothing but comfort to her even if she wouldn't say it out loud to him.

"If that's what we got to do, then yes." Phantom scowled tapping the table with his fingers. "Enough is enough Ari. If you still want to fight for him then yes. Whatever it takes." he replied staring her down.

Ari stared back at him. Trying to see his expression through his goggled mask but she couldn't. But what other choice did she have if not to trust him? Just leave and regret it for the rest of her life? Her shoulders slumped as she gave him a curt nod.

"Okay." she finally replied. "Okay, Phantom. It's in your hands, my friend." she conceded wondering just what he was going to get up to; how was he supposed to get her and Dewdrop in a room together without him getting pissed off at her?

"Good." he took her hands and placed a kiss on her knuckles before rising from the table. "Meet me in two hours in the Green house." he told her before he was striding with purpose out of the room while Ari watched with a worried expression on her face as he disappeared.

She didn't have to wait too long afterward to see what he was up to. When the two hours were up she went out to the Greenhouse. The sky was looking kind of gloomy with dark clouds threatening to downpour any second so she rushed her way through the garden where she spotted Phantom and Mountain standing outside waiting for her.

"Okay...what's going on?" she looked between the pair but they said nothing.

"Okay, guys what-" she began but Phantom suddenly grabbed her and as Mountain opened the door to the Greenhouse she was shoved in before the door was slammed shut and the audible click of a lock fell into place.

"Oh those son of a bitches did not just-"

"The fuck?" Ari spun around to find Dewdrop standing further in the room with a bag filled with some green buds.

It only took her about 3 seconds to realize what was going on; this was Phantom's brilliant plan - to literally lock them in a place that only had one entrance and exit. Mountain must have bribed Dewdrop to come here without telling him what was going on under the guise he could pick some of Mountain's special weed he was growing and then lock them in here when she arrived.

"Well, looks like that oddly worked," she muttered crossing her arms before speaking louder. "I'm sorry Dew...this was the only way they saw that you would talk to me." she murmured.

"I'm not talking to you." Dew spat

"We have to...if we don't Dew..." she swallowed looking at the floor. "Look. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran away from you pretending it was because of morals. I'm sorry that I brushed you aside thinking it meant nothing..." she closed her eyes a moment to breath.

"I never meant to hurt you." she confessed

Dewdrop snorted shaking his head and turning to go back into the greenhouse further to drop his stash on the workbench and began rummaging around drawers to see if Mountain had any papers to roll up a blunt.

"Dew please talk to me! I'm trying here!" Ari called pursuing him. "Even if it means you shouting and cursing at me at least talk to me please!" she was practically begging now.

When Dewdrop still said nothing her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. "That's it then? You'll continue to just ignore me? I'm not here trying to talk to you as your manager...I'm trying to talk to you as Ari, as your friend!" she insisted.

Dewdrop started to roll up a joint and Ari just watched him with sad eyes; the clouds outside finally letting loose the rainfall from above making loud pattering sounds overhead and casting the place into darkness since the lights weren't on; as if they were affected by the storm inside of her in that moment. How many tears had she shed for this man already? How many hours had she lost in sleep because of him? She was trying goddamn it! Why couldn't he just talk to her?

"Dew...if we can't work this out...I may have to leave...Find another job or something. Because believe it or not, I do care about you. And if this issue between us continues to be like this then I won't work right...having a good relationship with you guys is important and if you and I can't have that...it'll screw everything up."

She didn't realize as she spoke that Dew's shoulders seemed to tense up when she mentioned leaving the Clergy. She turned her back to him and walked over to a window to stare out through the raindrops rolling down at the gloomy weather outside wondering how much longer Phantom and Mountain planned on keeping them locked inside; where they watching them or listening in somehow on what was going on? Or were the pair locked in here for a certain amount of time? She didn't know, but the air inside was stifling; mixed with the scent of greenery and potting soil.

She stared out unaware of the shadow that lurked behind her; Dewdrop had risen from his seat and approached her on silent steps until she shuddered when she felt the ghost of his breath against the back of her neck but she didn't turn around, afraid that if she moved then he'd leave again and close off. So she stared out of the window with her heart pounding in her throat - something she knew Dew probably heard with his inhuman hearing. He couldn't be so stupid not to hear the thunder of her heart.

The phantom touch came next, featherlight along her shoulders as if he was too scared to actually touch her. Just the gentle brush of fingertips that slid down her arms until they reached her hands and she felt his unearthly heat as his fingers slide oh so slowly between her own until she felt as if he was enveloping her just by holding her hand alone; having him this close after so long felt almost unreal as if she was dreaming and if she turned around he'd disappear.

"You wouldn't leave." his voice came soft near her ear. "You'd regret it."

Licking her dry lips she turned her head slightly to look up at him; the lights from outside the greenhouse casting a array of shadows from the raindrops on the window along her face as if reflecting her inner tears.

"Yes, I would regret it; I'd regret it more than anything in my life, Dew." she whispered staring up at his unmasked face; etching the details of his angular features in her brain.

"So give me a reason not to make that mistake." she said softly searching his face before her gaze dropped to his lips. "Give me a reason to stay."

"You've made it clear you didn't want anything from me, Ari." his eyes glued to her face as he spoke making her skin flush under his hard stare.

"I'm here aren't I?" her lips curled up slightly into a sad smile. "I don't want to leave Dewdrop. So, make me stay. Give me a reason not to walk out that door and never look back." she challenged; an almost desperate edge to her voice as she looked up at him.

His grip tightened on her before suddenly his touch was gone and before she could think she was spun around and her back slammed against the window pane before a hot mouth was pressed against hers.

His mouth was hot and hard against hers as if he was taking her anger out on her; whether anger at himself or his anger to her. She didn't know, but she wasn't going to let him leave. Her arms wrapped around his neck to hold him against her as he devoured her mouth. Teeth clanked against each other and a small sting on her lip registered as his sharp fangs piercing the delicate part of her lip - not that she cared.

Her head was fuzzy again whether from lack of oxygen or from the magnitude of his presence; her breaths coming in deep pants as he finally surrendered her mouth to stare down at her with glowing eyes like the flames of hell themselves staring down at her - his face morphing into something she couldn't recognize.

"Tell me to stop." his hand snaked up her chest to wrap around her throat; his touch was light and seemingly unthreatening but the look on his eyes promised far more.

"Tell me you changed your mind. Because if you don't Ari...You won't be leaving anytime soon." he muttered in a voice akin to a growl.

her eyes stared up half-lidded into his face and her tongue flicked out to lick the smear of red from her lip; an action that caught his attention and made his eyes darken into something far more primal than she'd ever seen.

"I'll gladly burn in hell with you Dew." she whispered before wrapping her hand around the one cradling her throat and tightening her hold around his.

He growled and yanked her by his hold back into him to kiss her again. Giving no room for her to fight or to get away as he kissed her as if he'd never kiss her ever again. His hands left her throat and instead started yanking at her clothes; there was the sound of something ripping and she gasped pulling her mouth from his.

"Dew! This is my favorite shirt!" she chided him breathlessly as his mouth latched onto her neck; surely to leave as many hickeys and bites as he could as he fully yanked off her now ripped shirt from her body leaving her in her jeans and bra.

"I'll buy you a fucking new one!" he snapped as he yanked at the confinements holding her breasts hidden from him. The humid air of the greenhouse felt clammy on her heated skin as she was spun around and pressed face-first into the glass; her hands slamming with a thunk against it as she braced herself.

Dewdrop's mouth was hot against her shoulder as he placed little bites there while his skillful hands yanked at the buttons of her jeans and as his hand slipped inside her knees went weak causing him to wrap an arm around her waist to hold her up against him.

"Shit...how are you this wet already?" he hissed against her ear as he pressed two long fingers as deep as they could go inside of her; pumping slowly causing her to whimper as she bit her lip to keep as quiet as she could.

"You're practically soaking my hand, huh?" he chuckled feeling her tremble against him while he worked her over.

But before he could fully claim her let alone take himself out of his confinement of his tight jeans the door suddenly unlocked and swung open revealing Phantom and Mountain standing in the doorway.

"Hey, guys are you okay? we heard-" Phantom paused with his jaw slack at the scene in front of him.

Ari tensed at being caught red-handed and Dew hissed as he covered her with his body while glaring at his packmate but otherwise didn't remove himself from her body.

"A little busy here Phantom. Fuck off!" Dew snapped.

"Shit! Sorry!" Phantom slapped a hand over his eyes and spun around as he shoved at Mountain's chest to hurry him out of the doorway. "Come on come on!" the quintessence ghoul hissed feeling his face burn with embarrassment as he slammed the door behind them casting the pair back into the darkness.

"Dew..." Ari stammered as she tried to push him to get off. "Maybe we should -"

The fire ghoul sank his teeth into her earlobe at the same time he thrust his fingers hard a few times into her heat causing her to let out an embarrassing little noise and buckle against him again; her grip on his arm like a vice as she throbbed at the motion.

"I'm not finished with you yet princess. I got to give you a reason to stay don't I?" there was an evident smirk on his face even if she couldn't see it.

"Y-yes but..." Ari moaned softly "The others..." she swallowed.

"Fuck them. They don't change shit. Now shut up and let me make it up to you." he withdrew his hand from her pants and idly watched how his fingers glistened in the dim light making her hide her face.

"Turn around." Dew guided her back around before lowering his hands to begin to undo his jeans.

Ari swallowed turning around and watched breathlessly as he undid his pants and shoved them down his thighs along with his boxers allowing her to see all of him.

"Shit Dew is that going to fit?" her eyes widened slightly looking up at him.

"Trust me." Dew's grin was a little feral as he playfully yanked her leg up around his waist. "We'll make it fit."

~

Chapter 11

[violet-foxe]

"Us..." Jason breathes. "Us, everyone together, just getting along... That's his Dream?"

"Yes." Danny looks solemn

"And you want me to wake him up by giving him a nightmare."

"That is why I brought you here. I didn't exactly... know the best way to make this a nightmare without traumatizing him." Phantom looks back out to the room with everyone in it.

"Just make them fight." Jason supplies. "It won't be his Dream anymore if we ain't getting along."

"I had thought of that" Danny admitted, restraining himself from rubbing the back of his neck. "But to wake from a nightmare, there needs to be a shock. I made Dream version of you fight Dick at the piano, Bruce and the others just attempted to resolve the conflict, and accepted it as long as no one was being killed, and it didn't have nearly the impact I required."

"Well then I dunno! B doesn't seem to get shocked by anything!" Jason growled. And it was true, the big man hardly ever showed any emotion, much less fear or shock.

"What about death."

"What?"

"What about death." Phantom repeated. "When I overshadowed you in this dream world to try to fight the others, it didn't work, but I noticed that you didn't have your scars." Phantom turned to face Red Hood.

"My scars?"

"You died. You think I don't know that comes with some kind of scarring?" His own litchenburg figures glowed a little brighter. And Jason seemed to get the idea.

"So what? Your plan is to show off my scars and hope for the best? Maybe blame him for my death?"

"I just brought it up. I told you that I don't want to traumatize him, just scare him. But if you think that is the best way..."

Jason thought about it for a second before deciding. "I have an idea. Can you get other me out of the room and over here?"

"Sure."

Phantom invisibly overshadowed Dream Jason, who announced that he needed a drink of water, then trotted over to where the real Jason is standing with a small cloth in his hand before phasing out of the dream person.

As soon as Dream Jason sees his double his eyes widen, and his mouth opens as he takes a step back, but it's too late. Jason grabs the dream character, spins him around, and with a hand and over his mouth to keep him quiet, the Dream version passes out.

"Chloroform?" Danny asks.

"Chloroform." Then Jason takes off the dream's clothes, changing them with his own. "Gotta blend in." He answers to Danny slightly confused look. "Take these" he shoves the Red Hood gear in the ghost's direction.

Jason takes a deep breath to calm his nerves before walking into the room.

Bruce sees him come in and smiles. He looks so happy. He's surrounded by his family, and they are all happy. This never happens anymore.

Jason is rarely in the manor, and only for some meals at Alfred's request. Dick is always doing his own thing in Bludhaven 'cause that place needs major help. Tim's mostly in his Nest, working for Wayne Enterprises, or in his room working on a case. Cass is usually in Hong Kong doing her own thing. Steph is independent and lives on her own anyway. Babs does her work from a distance because she's Oracle, and it's all online anyway. Only Duke and Damien are really around right now, and Duke is about to go off to college anyway. Damien isn't exactly the hangout type either. Man, Jason kinda feels bad about putting a stop to this. Bruce, for all his shortcomings, did pretty well to care for them. Maybe Jason should come more often, or try to get the family together more frequently.

Danny senses that this will be a sensitive conversation, so he drifts a little farther down the hallway to give them some privacy.

Jason speaks first. "Hey, Bruce."

Bruce's face just lit up like Jason was the best thing in the world. "Jay." Jason's heart kind of dies again.

"Bruce." Jason kneels down in front of his old man. "Hey. You know that it's not your fault right?"

"Jay?-"

"I don't blame you for my death."

"Jay, I-"

"The Joker killed me, you did your best."

"Jason, you-"

"You gave me the best home that I could ever hope for."

"Ja-" Bruce started tearing up.

"You know that right? That you always did the best that you could."

"Jaylad-"

"It's not your fault. I don't blame you." He did before, but he was also brainwashed by Talia, and it was the truth, not anymore.

"Jas-" Jason cut him off with a hug.

"I love you, Dad."

Then Bruce woke up.

Jason and Danny flew out of Batman's Chest as he startled awake and sat up. Danny caught Jason before he hit the ground, and Jason was back into his regular outfit, including the helmet that hid his face.

B was panting. The batclan started freaking out, worrying over their father and his seemingly upset state, but Batman only had his eyes on Jason.

Seemingly understanding the unspoken question. The Red Hood nodded. "I meant what I said." He spoke in a haughty voice. Well, as haughty as he could be with a throat that felt clogged with emotion.

Batman just nodded, but a small smile could be seen in his lips.

Jason walked out of the room before he was too overwhelmed. "See you later, Old Man."

"What?! Where are you going!" Nightwing called after him.

"Nunya!"

"Leave him be." Batman rumbly voice spoke up.

"-Fine! But are you okay??? You woke up really suddenly, and you were breathing heavily! Are you sure that you are fine? What if-"

"Nightwing. I've never been better." The eldest child just slumps in relief.

Then Nightwing turns around to stare down Phantom. "So what was that about you healing Red Hood?"

"That is for him to tell you."

"But he doesn't tell me anything!" Nightwing threw his arms up in the air.

"Then I guess you will never know." Danny said with a smirk and an eyebrow raise.

"Who are you?" The Batman growl was on full throttle. Danny wonder how it doesn't hurt his throat.

"Phantom. High King of the Infinite Realms."

"Hnn..." Nightwing recognized that as the 'Asking for more information" grunt

Nightwing butted in, "Hood said he had a contact and summoned him. He was the one who helped wake you up. He went in alone initially, but a few minutes later he came back out and took Red Hood with him back in."

"Hm." That was the 'Approval' grunt. A rare one to hear and Dick brightened.

"Now that that is cleared up, I must go and take care of Nocturne." Phantom was about to leave when he heard a shout.

"Wait!" Red Robin called out. "What if we need your help for something later?"

"I gave my Summoning Circle to Red Hood." Phantom deadpanned.

"Yeah, but he doesn't share!" Spoiler blurted.

Phantom sighed before reaching into one of his pockets (thank you malleable form for letting him do a costume change) and pulled out another calling card, handing it to the nearest bat, which happened to be Nightwing.

"This is only meant to be used for emergency purposes." The ghost said sternly. "I do not want to be pulled around constantly for fun and games. Do I make myself clear? I believe I made my rules clear with Red Hood as well as elaborated on them earlier. Those rules still stand, and will be taken seriously. But I will add on, the entire party involved, as well as I, must agree on the offering. Am I understood?" That should get them from offering themselves up all willy-nilly.

"Yes, you are understood." Batman replied.

Phantom turned himself invisible and intangible, before making his way to Gotham proper in search on the Wayward Spirit of Dreams. There was a lesson that he needed to learn.

Writing Prompt #13

"So?" Red Hood asks, arms crossed. "Was I right?"

"Yes," Phantom says, deepening his voice, "this is one of mine."

"One of your what?" Robin growls. Nightwing's hand on his shoulder is the only thing keeping him from invading Phantom's personal space, which, please, continue to do so Mr. Nightwing, Sir.

Phantom would take a deep calming breath if a) he wasn't trying to appear as otherworldly as possible which means no human breathing and b) if that wouldn't so obviously telegraph how uncomfortable he is in the Batcave surrounded by the entire Batfamily.

Next to him Red Hood shifts in slight discomfort. His ties to the spectral realm mean he's picking up on Danny's unease even if he can't fully translate the feeling. Which is good. Danny needs to maintain what little control he has over this situation.

"There's a gh-spirit in my...realm," Phantom says, letting himself drift gently to the other side of Batman's medical table which just coincidentally puts more distance between him and the the rest of the clan staring him down. Black Bat leans forward and he violently suppresses a flinch. "They're known as Nocturne. They wield power over dreams. Their signature is all over this."

And Danny means that literally. Their ecto-signature couldn't be more apparent if they'd written it in sharpie across Batman's suit. This is what Jason—Red Hood, because Danny couldn't have been dealing with a simple civilian case of ecto-contamination, nooo, he's got to have connections to the superheroes Danny has spent the better part of his afterlife avoiding—managed to pick up on, even being the low level entity that he is.

At which point he'd called Phantom in, even though Danny had spent the better part of two weeks trying to intimidate the guy into never contacting him, Ruler of the Spirit Realm (lightning crash!), again, but here is his calling card just in case (thunder and creaking noises!!), but again, you should never use it unless things are very serious, OoOoOoOo~~~

Damn it. It's been like 10 days.

"So how do we fix it, Your, uh, Ghostliness?" Nightwing says, ducking his head in a sort of half-assed supplication when Phantom turns to him. Nightwing glances at Jason for affirmation who shrugs out of the corner of Danny's eye.

"Phantom is fine," Danny says, waving his hand and letting his upper lip curl in an expression of distaste. "Remember, it's like you're Vlad when Dad offers him a glass of eight dollar wine!" Jazz's voice reminds him. Robin growls lowly, likely meaning he's nailing it. He looks away dismissively ("Honestly, it's like you're Vlad, anytime, ever." Sam notes dryly) and thanks god he doesn't have a heart in this form because it would be beating so loud right now.

Beside him, Jason scratches compulsively at the back of his neck. Huh, his anxiety is manifesting physically as an itch. Good to know.

"You can't fix it," Phantom says. "I can."

"At what cost?" Red Robin asks. "Red Hood mentioned you'd want something in return?"

Frick. His other contingency to keep Jason from ever contacting him again. Phantom had lightly hinted his taste du jour was, uh, souls.

Something Red Hood has apparently let slip, because now Robin shakes off Nightwing's hand, puffs out his chest and declares "I will trade myself for my father's safe awakening, Spirit!"

The other members burst into denials which almost covers up Danny floating sharply back and saying "What? No!!!"

Key word: almost.

Danny coughs as they stare at him.

"That is to say, I have no desire for a child," he puts a bit of snarl into it, showing fang. The mood in the room plummets drastically as Nightwing gently grabs Robin by the arm and pulls him back to his side.

"We see," he says. He steps forward more assertively, placing himself in front of the others, all of which are now eying him warily. "Then, is there a gender you prefer?"

It takes a second to click in Danny's head and then he swings his head wildly away from his audience to hide his reaction, nausea and embarrassment turning his face bright green. "Fika Kristo," he mutters in Esperanto as quietly as he possibly can, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He gives himself a moment to settle and game plan before turning back around. "I have no desire for any of you, and it matters not. In this instance, a deal need not be struck. Nocturne is my subject, and they have done this without my permission." Danny blinks, eyes widening. "Not—not! that I would give them permission to do such a thing. In the first place. Ahem."

"Okay...so you'll do this for free?" Jason asks. "Seems like a bad business practice since you also fixed me up for nothing—"

"What he means to say, Your Majesty, Phantom, is thank you!" Signal says in a rush as Nightwing starts, "Wait, Hood, what do you mean—"

"Enough!" Phantom says loudly (nearby bats take off and Jason's itch migrates to his forearms) "I have little time," read: he has a test tomorrow and he's only one-third of the way through the study guide "And I grow tired of this...dilly-dally." Frick! Is that an old-timey word?

"Of course. Thank you again, Phantom." Nightwing says stiffly, eyes still narrowed in Hood's direction.

"Wait, sorry, Phantom, Majesty, I'm Spoiler by the way," the purple-caped vigilante Danny already knew was Spoiler says. "How do we keep this from happening again? To any of us? Is there a way to defeat this Nocturne?"

"Moreover, why Batman?" Red Robin asks. "Why would a spirit from another dimension want him asleep?"

Phantom sighs. "Nocturne was trying to send a message. To me. Through you," he says, nodding at Red Hood. "They...how do I put this. They like attention. Being the spirit of uh, dreaming, they don't receive that attention. And you were in my realms for quite some time. And they wanted...attention."

The lackluster explanation sits for a moment before "They were jealous? Of me?" Red Hood asks skeptically.

"It's more complicated than that. Your...physiology," Danny puts it as delicately as possible, watching regretfully when Red Hood still stiffens at the mention, "Is particular. You gather attention in our realm. And having my attention is...special. But not!" He says to the group at large, a touch panicked, "Romantic!"

Jesus, he's never gonna hear the end of this from the others.

"Anyway, I will ensure it does not happen again."

"By paying them attention," Spoiler says under her breath, wiggling her eyebrows at Black Bat, Red Robin shooting them both a glare. Nightwing ignores them in favor of staring at Red Hood and Phantom. Danny is unsure what Red Hood has disclosed about how he knows Danny, but now he feels confident the answer is close to nothing.

Before Nightwing can ask whatever uncomfortable thing he's about to ask, Phantom disappears. Invisibly, he hovers over Batman's sleeping body and silently apologizes for the intrusion before intangibly slipping into Batman's REM realm and finding the man...oh...

Probably thirty minutes later he reappears to the group, who all perk up at the sight of him. Their eyes bounce from him to Batman; who does not move, to the monitor; which shows no change in his brain activity.

"I'm going to need your help," Danny says to Jason, getting to the point.

"Why? What can I do?"

"It's easier if you come with me," Danny says, grabbing his arm.

"Come with—"

Danny wastes no time in turning them both invisible and flying them into Batman's mind.

"What the—" Red Hood twists and turns, taking in the hallways of the manor. From afar, they can hear the tinkling of a piano. "You, I had your word—"

"This isn't where you think it is," Danny says hurriedly. "We're in your—Batman's dream." He walks quickly down the hallway, towards the music. Jason follows.

"What?"

"The way to break a dream spell is to wake the dreamer. You can't do that externally so you do it internally. Usually you wake the dreamer by turning the dream into the nightmare, scaring them awake."

The hallway stretches on longer than realistic, the dream attempting to divert them. But it can't outrun Danny. His power seeps into the halls, ice creeping along the paneling and freezing the way behind them.

"Batman, however, is hard to scare."

"So you want me to do it."

"What? No." Phantom shoots him a confused look. "Why would I—Ahem, The other way is to convince the dreamer they are dreaming. They break the dream themselves."

"Alright..." Jason says slowly, now keeping pace with him. His breath forms a cloud as he speaks. "And you think I'm the person to do it? I'm not the one he listens to you know, that's more Nightwing's schtick, or hell, anyone other than me."

"This isn't just Batman's dream, Jason," he says. Hood's eyes narrow at his real name, but now the truth is necessary. "This is The Dream. The perfect life. Everything he could ever want."

They're approaching an opening on the right side of the corridor. A bright light emanates from it, alongside the noise of stumbling piano keys and laughter, deep and male and unrecognizable. The Dream.

"Thomas Wayne," Jason breathes. "You want me to convince Bruce it's worth walking away from the center of his universe? It'd be easier if I put a bullet in their chests."

Danny stops abruptly before the doorway, turning to face Jason.

"You know, I fixed you," he says, head cocked. "Those feelings you felt, you shouldn't be feeling them anymore."

"I...I don't."

"Then why do you act like it?" He lets himself drift up, reaching beyond their planes of existence and extending a metaphysical hand to Jason's spirit. It shivers away. "You don't have to hide behind what was."

"I'm not hiding! And I don't have to explain myself to you!" He tries to move forward but Danny puts a hand out and he cannot move past it. He growls in frustration.

"I'm grateful to you, but with or without the Pits I'm fucked up. This is just who I am. This is just what he made me."

"You've never asked why I look like this. But did you know my form is malleable?" Phantom says, letting his legs shift into a tail, letting two eyes become three. "What I believe is what I am."

And then he takes several steps back, putting the doorway between them. "From here on out, the Pits can't tell you how to think or feel. Your decisions are wholly your own. Starting with this one."

Jason stares at the doorway, then Danny.

"I won't make you," Danny says simply. "And if you desire, I will retrieve Nightwing instead."

Jason scratches at his arms, grits his teeth, and stomps through. The light resolves into the sitting room, massive windows letting in sunlight so bright it streaks yellow-white across the room. Bruce sits on the maroon versailles couch next to Cassandra, who sits cross legged, excitedly watching Alfred pour her a cup of tea. To their right, in the open space, Damian barks instructions at Tim on handling a katana. Stephanie and Duke sit on the ground besides the coffee table, homework sheets sprawled across the surface, suffering their way through a calculus problem.

Bruce, smiling softly, looks across the room to where the atrocious playing is coming from. Red Hood follows his gaze.

Sitting at the piano, trying to play while Dick distracts him with a pair of chopsticks, is Jason. He puts a hand on Dick's face and shoves, both of them hitting the wrong keys.

"Get—away—dumbass!"

"No, see, it's a duet! Jay!"

"That's not why it's named—" and Jason Todd-Wayne tips his white-tipped head back and laughs.

[mycomicbox]

Random Thoughts on Persona 5 Royal - Part 4

[Progress: November 20th, 6th Palace conquered, first Bad Ending viewed]

<<< Part 3

Y'know, sometimes, I worry that my comments on this game are just meaningless fluff, but then again, these are my Random Thoughts, not a profound literary analysis.

After seeing this unused design, I am ITCHING to design a female protagonist for Persona 5 (à la Persona 3 Portable), but I want to finish the game before then, so that I have full context. I already have a pretty clear design for her in my head.

Cool how the Akihabara crane game plays the Junes Theme from Persona 4. My headcanon is that Junes and the crane machine have the same parent company.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Elizabeth Maxwell did a fantastic job voicing Sae Niijima.

Network Fusion is fun... and game-breaking. I managed to fuse a Parvati with Thunder Reign, Wild Thunder, Victory Cry, and the Bargain Bolts trait.

One thing I noticed back during the Okumura arc: if you talk to Chihaya during that part of the game, she'll mention that the Empress card kept coming up during her readings, foreshadowing Haru joining the Phantom Thieves.

Sojiro was surprisingly chill with finding out the protagonist's secret. He'd make an awesome Phantom Thief. I might draw that...

That's... a lot of eyeliner, ma'am.

As much as I refuse to step foot into a casino IRL, I love the aesthetic of casino-themed levels/areas/characters in video games. Other examples I can think of are that one level in Kirby: Planet Robobot, or the Gambler job from Bravely Default II.

Now with proper context, the scene with the protagonist getting beat up in a cell has a lot more weight behind it than at the start of the game. I physically winced.

...

And now, we've caught up with the present. Here I lie, on the floor of this interrogation room... six feet under.

I sold out my friends to save my own hide, and even then, it was for naught.

I've failed.

I'm sorry, everyone...

If only I had shown her the smartphone...

...

⚡️ Confidant Lightning Round

I've heard that the Priestess Confidant is, narratively, one of the weaker S-Links/Confidants in the series, and... yeah, I have to agree. It's not terrible, but I feel as though Makoto wasn't really the star of the show in her own Confidant. And on top of that, her awakened Persona isn't a motorcycle anymore!? Cringe. (I still like Makoto, though.)

It's narratively fitting that I maxed out the Priestess Confidant right before the fight with Shadow Sae.

Great vegetables.

Rank 7 of the Hierophant Confidant really helps explain why Sojiro was so tough on the protagonist near the beginning of the game: he was projecting his own feelings of having to stay in line. Throughout modern Persona, this Arcana has pretty consistently good writing.

What the hell is Akechi's problem!? Then again, I guess I'm going to find out soon.

Futaba's Rank 10 was really heartwarming, especially in conjunction with Sojiro's Confidant. Though, I'm going to miss her initial Persona's design...

To see Chihaya go from scamming people, to taking responsibility for her actions, to weaving her own fate... it's really something. (If you're curious as to who I romanced, it's her. She's too cute.)

The maid cafe scene with the Warden Twins got a chuckle out of me.

I've always been particularly interested by the Social Links/Confidants involving those younger than the protagonist (such as Maiko, Nanako, and now Shinya). I think it's because kids generally have a more limited worldview, and as such, don't have the same tools to navigate their issues that teens and adults have.

If Mishima was a real person, he'd be like one of those people who annoys me, but I wouldn't have the heart to tell him that he annoys me. Granted, I think he gets too much hate as a character: his whole endgame is dealing with both his sense of entitlement and his lack of self-worth (with both issues being connected).

[realititrip]

my Red Error AU for @dpauzine :D You can also check out the full zine here

The story in this AU follows Valerie after getting suit upgrade from Technus. Of course it's more than that and things start getting out of hand pretty quickly.

First it was the little things, barely noticable, but still there like studying becoming easier or her reaction time to attacks being faster. Valerie brushed it off.

This was going on for around 2 weeks without change until Phantom approached her after a fight where they had to team up to take down a more dangerous ghost. "Um Red? Your eyes glowed red for a second there and i wanted to ask if you were okay?" he said but Val just snaped at him to better mind his own business or else he'll be the one in her thermos next time she sees him. Phantom flew away then but the worry she saw in his eyes was stuck in her brain.

Valerie spent the rest of that night staring at the mirror in her bathroom looking for the red glow but never found it. Until a few days later when she woke up with sore eyes. Went to the mirror and saw red around the edges. It's fine it's FINE don't panic you'll figure it out girl.

After some thinking she figured new suit must be the source of the problem. Since it was fused with her body Val couldn't take it off, but it wasn't causing harm to anyone so she probably overused it or something that's why the red showed up.

And oh honey, you couldn't be more wrong.

Her vision changed. Those are definitely NOT the same eyes she had last week. The iris looks more mechanical, like there's something moving and shifting in it, like a robot or cyborgs, she thought. Everything is clearer, in higher quality, she can even zoom in and out if she so desieres. When she puts the suit on there's just /more/ of everything. Around the edges of her vision Valerie can see health statistics, ghosts in the area and other important information she needs. The familiar green eyes are gone, replaced with red.

The next change was her hair. Problem was they didn't look like hair anymore. Thick and think cables, any kind, running down her back. This really started freaking her out. This is where it started becoming too much and the situation she's in started sinking in. She needed help. But who even could do anything about it? Her dad would just worry even more, Phantom isn't an option, the best tech guy in town doesn't know she's Red Huntress and she's not going to change that.

So Valerie made a plan to wait for Technus to show up and catch him before Phantom. It surprised her the ghost was actually useful and explained what he could. Of course there was the threat that she'll destroy Technus if he won't but. Details.

Apparently her "hair" could be used to connect with any sort of device. She needs camera footage to check out ghost fight details? done. Wes talking about his phone freaking out because of ghost pictures? she can get that easily. The cables act like another pair of arms and do exactly what she wants.

Technus has a theory that the reason behind all of this was because he used too much of his powers on her. Since it was more than a normal human body could handle thus the changes.

He warned that there's a possibility she'll develop something similar to a ghosts core, the thing that stores all her power, the source of it. Since she's still human, Valerie thought it wouldn't happen, but fate seems to hate her, so here we are, with a triangle on her forehead that seems to be slowly growing in size every day. Honestly, it's not so bad, pretty easy to hide. The worst part about it is that if the core got damaged she must go to Technus for help.

But other than that, she's fine, for real this time.

[survivingnightbyday]

I HAVE AN IDEA

If Danny dies via vivesection, or by the Red Huntress or his parents, his ghost does a 180 in behavior. Phantom's own obsessions, betraying him? Killing his other half? Devastating. He goes half-feral, and things like making sure people aren't hurt in collateral? Making sure the ghosts he hunts don't die?

Out. Of. The. Window. All of it. His morals have been chucked, and he's stuck in a swirling storm of anger, agony, 'why did they do this?' 'wasn't I their child? their friend?'; his death wound, his final one, weeps ectoplasm consistently, constantly while he's freshly reformed; his first death wound is green-green-green, so lively, so vibrant, on constant display.

The first enemy that comes back to Amity after he dies nearly gets obliterated. He isn't holding back anymore, but he isn't a halfa either- not completely and his rival-enemy doesn't expect to see a wraith of the former protector. They neatly escape into the portal, still open; they aren't followed. The wraith doesn't even follow them into the house.

He doesn't hurt people, though, in all his crazed pain. He still protects him, but he's just to the left of human-adjacent. He doesn't interact with anyone, and only shows up when some unsuspecting (or, perhaps, expectant) ghost comes around on his territory.

The rest of his rivals and enemies get the memo very quickly, but they don't leave him to his own; they engage him. Their fights before look staged in comparison, but they do their best not to hurt him too much. Ghosts may not need companionship, but a newly formed one? They won't leave him a permanent shadow of himself.

It's slow work. It's so slow, that sometimes the others feel as though they'll be stuck with a wraith, that some will contemplate making him ; but there is progress. The Lunch Lady notices that her wounds are not as deep as they could've been. The Box Ghost realizes half way through their fight that Phantom is hesitating.

[aikoiya]

Thank you!

I'm also thinking, instead of just going outright Pat O'Brian, what if I literally go the angle of merging the characters of Pat O'Brian & Ralph Dibny here? So, I'm going with the initial name, Pat Dibny & a merging of their backstories & powers.

Like, I really enjoyed Ralph in the Flash show & I especially enjoyed his sleuthing, but joking nature. If I remember rightly, he was actually legitimately good as a detective & was, evidently, a talented chemist, just not the best at being very serious, is all. I also liked his love for mysteries.

So I very much like the idea of merging the 2 & maybe having his wife also be a detective too to sort of go a similar route to Joshua & Margaret from Adventure Time. Like, literally make it a family business.

In such a situation, as Plastic Man, he'll have all of Plastic Man's powers, but plus Elongated Man's enhanced sense of smell.

Regardless, he'll end up in a happy, healthy, & supportive marriage. Because Pat should get at least 1 iteration where he gets to be happy.

I also like how Pat O’Brian continued to maintain his connections with the criminal underworld to gather information despite having reformed. It'll be useful both as a hero & a detective, so I'm keeping that.

My thoughts are that Pat Dibny was initially a corrupt cop in Gotham, who was using his connections to help him as a crook (Kite Man). But after everything with his nieces & nephew, as well as the accident that turned him into Plastic Man, plus his encounter with the monk who turned away the police when he sensed in him a greater capacity for good, he realized that he'd been completely dissatisfied with his criminal life & remembered his childhood dream of one day becoming a detective. And the original reason why he became a cop.

It'd been so long since he was that bright-eyed kid absolutely enthralled with mysteries & a desire to help clean Gotham up... He guessed that all the corruption in the force had just... it got to him... beat him down... In a way, Kite Man was his way of getting out his frustration…

His gang didn't know it, but he tended to donate his portion of the loot to the many orphanages around Gotham as he'd been one since 10.

As a P.I., he does a lot of work involving things like kidnapping & child trafficking. That isn't to say that he doesn't also do murder cases, stolen items, & other things, but he definitely tends to get a lot more driven when the victims are kids. Which, he tends to be really good with due to his personality.

But, based on _ suggestion, I do like the idea that he initially adopts them illegally, but after the accident, meeting the monk, & deciding that he wants to change & be better. Batman notices & helps him to create a new identity & legally adopt his nieces & nephew.

Which, would make it easier for him to become a P.I. because if he has a new identity, then he can't be a cop anymore. Because only Pat Dibny was registered as a cop. But, now, he's Ralph O'Brian & he can finally pursue his own dream of solving mysteries & cleaning up Gotham, but without the corruption saturating the GPD getting in the way of his every attempt.

I can also see him, Dick, & even Gordon becoming drinking buddies that often commiserate over the sorry state of the force & plot how to root out all the corrupt cops in the precinct, which Ralph can act as an anonymous source for.

Oh! I love the idea of them & Jason all coming over to play cards with the Villain Fam on weekends after they move to the new house!

Also, I'm thinking that, for the Maddie & Jack situation, we could go a similar route to the Ao3 fanfic series A Phantom In New York City. Or even take a couple of cues from Shadow of Doubt & Phantom of Truth where, yes, Maddie & Jack really freaking mess up. And they mess up bad, but they legitimately love their children. Thing is, they are egotistical & tend to have difficulty taking other people's opinions into account.

Not to mention, I see them as having issues with their senses of object permanence. This, as well as my hc that Jack & Maddie are both neurodivergent in some shape or form, results in them getting wrapped up in their own heads, wrapped up in each other, laser focusing on their fixations (namely ghosts) &, at times, results in them being unintentionally negligent despite really & truly adoring their family.

They are also the scientists who managed to prove without a shadow of a doubt that ghosts are real. And this is after having been disregarded for years as crackpot within the scientific community.

As a result, now they tie their pride to being right. Especially when it comes to ghosts.

And we all know their initial thoughts on ghosts. All of them are evil.

Now, because of this, if the reveal doesn't take place correctly, it can result in them reacting in the exact worst way possible.

In other words, I think in order for it to go well, I believe that they both need to be convinced that Phantom & Danny are the same person or they will incorrectly believe that he is either being possessed or has been replaced by Phantom. Or at least, that Danny a/o Phantom ‘believe’ they are.

If they aren't convinced, then they will do what I'm sure a lot of angst phans believe, attempt to capture him & either torture him until he tells them where Danny is or attempt to ‘purge him of Phantom’s influence.’

Now, at the end of the day, even if the reveal goes the exact wrong way, I still think it's possible for things to get better. However, again, the key is them realizing that Danny & Phantom are the same person. Though, if it isn't via the use of science to, like, scan his DNA or something, then they're liable to believe that Danny died in the portal & may not even contemplate the possibility that the residual electricity may have resuscitated his body, thus returning him to life.

As such, they'd believe that his ghost was possessing his own corpse. Or, if they do think of it, they might think that the ‘ectoplasmic imprint of consciousness’ created by his own death was possessing his body & may try to expunge it.

Either way, they might try to separate his ectoplasm from him via the Ghost Catcher. However, I'm of the opinion that due to literally being half-ghost, this would divide his personality, though in different ways depending on what he wants at the time.

And, while the 2 halves would be okay for a while, as time would pass, both would begin to degrade until the ghost destabilizes & the human dies.

Basically, bad times.

But yeah, back to the idea I have for the actual story.

I want a fic where Danny is adopted but not by the JL but a villian. BUT! It is a very minor villian to the point where people are absolutely gobsmacked when he calls the villian dad, like everyone just stops what they're doing and watch the interaction. Bonus points if they find out that Danny is an absolute powerhouse monster and wonder what entity away from God's light did they fuck to have him.

"That's your son?"

"Yes."

"The glowing white haired teen?"

"Yes."

"The same glowing white haired teen that just froze a star and then ate it?..."

"Yes! And?"

"THE FUCK YOU MEAN "AND?", HE JUST ATE A STAR!!"

___________

Danny in a less than human form: *screeching*

"Scream all you want but you still have school tomorrow and you're going."

Danny: *leaves taking the cold and weirdness with him*

"Sorry about that, he gets a bit cranky when he has to take a nap."

The rest of the villians in the meeting terrified: Oh...

___________

"It would much easier if you got your son to help with your task."

"Absolutely fucking not! He's not going to do ANY vigilante/villian bullshit if I have any say in it."

"You have the ultimate weapon at your side and you-"

"My son is blessing not a weapon, I advise you to NEVER speak about him like that ever again."

____________

Villian, threatening JL Hero: Tell your kid stay away from my son, he doesn't need any of that shit yall bring into his life.

JL Hero: What?

____________

Personally I like to imagine this somebody as Kite-Man but that's just me, use whoever yall like.