#i need to work on how this au actually works... i feel like danny doesn't ping as a ghost unless he's being all portal-y

[surelysilly]

do they get paid enough for this, i wonder (danny has zero concept of the economy)

[daddyplasmius]

AU where in TUE Dan not only killed human-Danny, but killed Vlad too when ripping his ghost half out, so when Danny gets stuck in the future, Vlad can't help him get the Time Medallion out. AU where Danny is permanently stuck in the future & no one knows (besides Jazz, who unfortunately was never brought into the know so doesn't know what exactly she's seeing so only knows Danny is being weirder than normal) because Dan is still pretending to be him in the past. AU where the timeline is so fucked up by all the paradoxes & shit that Clockwork can no longer touch it with a ten-foot-transdimensional-pole.

[mutable-manifestation]

Actual Scientists Jack & Maddie AU Part 3

Part 1 & 2

***

The lab is empty when they get to Fenton Works, his parents busy off helping the JLD wherever it was they were working from.

The journey the rest of the way to the Far Frozen passes relatively quickly under the weight of discussing how to reverse engineer the sarcophagus of forever sleep to make Naptime Box 2: Vlad Edition.

Could they probably just beat him up with the right plan and aid? Sure. But then they risk having to play royal hot potato (Danny doesn't want it and he doubts most of the allies he has would want the extra responsibility. Assuming there are responsibilities - Danny wouldn't know since there hasn't been a king, for all intents and purposes, since well before he became a halfa so who knows what the position even means in the context of the Zone).

Plus it would be way more satisfying to shove him in a box. Vlad gets a nice long nap and Danny gets to live the rest of his half-life without worrying about his Dad getting stabbed or something if Vlad starts feeling impatient.

It would also give Danny plenty of time to find some way to buy the Packers - not because he wants them, just because it would be really funny if Vlad eventually woke up to find that the only thing he wanted other than Maddie was now also very permanently out of reach.

The city of Green Bay could fold eventually, after all. But Danny? Danny would never yield, just to spite him, and Vlad would know that.

He probably won't actually do it, seeing as a) expensive and b) probably complicated.

But it would be really funny.

Their discussion on the ethics of using the Fenton Stockades as the base for the Box cut off as they land.

Without the distraction of their chat the adrenaline of panic comes rushing back, and he transforms as he steps out of the Speeder, nyooming to hover in front of Frostbite so quickly that the entire welcoming party - Frostbite somehow manages to have one arranged every time he drops by, and Danny is usually willing to at least try and indulge them since it seems to make them happy - jolts in surprise.

"Greetings!" Frostbite smiles wide, arms open in a grand welcoming, the only hint of lingering surprise the trails of slightly puffed up fur up his arms and the sides of his neck that has already mostly smoothed itself back out. "The Far Frozen welcomes the Great One and friends-"

"Hey Frostbite sorry for being abrupt but I'm kind of freaking out and you seemed like the best person - uh, ghost to go to because you always seem to know lots of things and I kind of need to know what's going on as soon as possible just in case it's a worst case scenario because the Justice League came to talk to my parents about some papers and I probably haven't mentioned them to you before because they're awful and I thought my parents made them but surprise I was wrong! Which is good! Except the League was mostly worried about them maybe causing the new ghost king to war with the human realm because apparently there's a supernatural branch of the Justice League and they think there's a new Ghost KingTM as in the Ghost King after Pariah Dark and I'm kind of freaking out because if there is a new ghost king there's actually a chance it's Vlad and oh ancients please tell me it's not Vlad or that the League heard wrong please."

Sam and Tucker had caught up by then, coming to stand on either side of him as Frostbite blinked.

"You are...asking me the identity of the current High King?" He asks, face scrunched in a bewildered expression.

"Oh my gosh Batman was right!?" He floats a bit higher at the news. "Please just tell me it's not Vlad! Uh, Plasmius."

"Plasmius?" Frostbite asks, eyebrows crawling higher. "Certainly not! What in the realms - do you truly not know?"

"Oh thank goodness," Danny sighs, sinking back to his usual level. "Not Vlad, okay, one less disastrous possibility. And whoever it is probably already knows they're the king and nothing bad has happened yet so it's probably fine, right?"

He looks back to meet Frostbite's eyes.

"Wait, nothing bad has happened yet, right? Like, is everything okay? I know Pariah caused you guys a lot of grief before; the new guy 's not going around causing trouble for you and you just haven't told me because you're worried about being a bother, right?" He frets, eyes flicking about, searching for fresh injuries on the various members of the welcoming party.

"...No, Great One," Frostbite answers, blinking away the surprised expression to be replaced by something soft. "Though I, and all the Far Frozen, are honored by your concern. While Pariah Dark is no longer the High King of the Infinite Realms, I can assure you, with utmost certainty, that you have nothing to fear from his successor. But I believe we have much more to discuss. Come, let us find somewhere more comfortable to talk - and get your human friends out of the cold."

***

It didn't take them long to reach a sitting room, and soon enough they were all settled into the enormous, fuzzy chairs in one of the warmer rooms available, Danny and Frostbite each with a cup of shaved ice tea while Sam and Tucker were offered beverages warm enough to steam in deference to their need for warmth.

Once everyone had taken a sip - or bite - Danny launched back into his questioning.

"So did Dark have a kid hidden away somewhere or did some kind of council finally decide on his replacement? Actually can ghosts even have - wait right Box Lunch, forgot about that on purpose but never mind. Or is there some fourth option that isn't those or trial by combat that we didn't think of?"

"Before I answer that, Great One, may I ask why you have already discounted trial by combat?" He returns curiously.

"Because if it was trial by combat it would be Vlad - er, Plasmius - and you already said it isn't him."

"Or it could be you," Tucker ribs, waggling his fingers at him.

"We already talked about why it couldn't be me, Tuck," Danny huffs, rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his... smoothie?

"Oh? And why do you think it would be Plasmius?" Frostbite asks.

"Because! I may have fought Pariah Dark, and sure I put him back in the sarcophagus, but I was running on fumes by that point, and he was still slamming around in there! Vlad, as much as I hate to admit it, is the one that turned the key and made sure he stayed locked away. It took almost everything I had to keep him pinned long enough. If...if he'd been even a few seconds later I probably would've died the rest of the way before he even had the time to break out a second time."

"But had you not put him there, no key would have mattered," Frostbite begins quietly. "Plasmius was no match for Pariah Dark; he was defeated in an instant the first time they clashed."

"Well, yeah, but so was I," he protests, not liking the direction the conversation is beginning to take.

"And yet, you alone went to face him a second time. You alone stood against the King of All Ghosts while your armies clashed."

"Our-!? I didn't have- you mean the ghosts that came to help me???" Danny sputtered, incredulous. "They weren't an army they were just-"

He pauses, searching for words that would not come.

"They were just a large group of ghosts who sided with you, who aided you in combat and kept the multitudes distracted while you went to face their leader alone. However you thought of them at the time, whatever they were to you up till then or are to you now, after, in that moment they were your army."

"Danny's totally the ghost king, isn't he?" Sam drawls after the brief silence that follows.

"Indeed," Frostbite answers her, but he looks Danny in the eyes as he does so. "You are the savior of the Ghost Zone, Pariah's Bane. And you are the High King of the Infinite Realms."

"I cheated!" Danny blurts out, shooting up to float above his chair.

"Cheated?" Frostbite's lips twitch as he fights down a smile.

"I had the Fenton Ecto-Skeleton! That's totally cheating! Don't combat trials have to be honorable or something?!" He begs.

Frostbite chuckles.

"I apologize, Great One, but I am afraid there is no such thing as an honorable war," he says, expression briefly turning solemn. "And even if it were, just as you had your "Ecto-Skeleton," did not Pariah have his ring and crown?

You issued a challenge and he answered, your armies clashed while the two of you stood against each other and each other alone; you alone put him back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and you alone held it shut long enough for Plasmius to turn the key.”

Danny drifts back down to his seat as Frostbite speaks, then continues slouching further with every word.

“I am given to understand that Plasmius likes to think of others as pawns on his own personal chessboard,” he says, “But at the time he was but another ghost, come to fight Pariah's army on your behalf - as a member of your army. A pawn, to paraphrase his own words, that you used to topple a king - not through any intentional manipulation, but through the sheer magnetic charisma of your willingness to stand against monsters like Pariah Dark and of your ability to do so. The confidence to stand alongside you that such strength inspires. 

He would not have approached if he did not believe you could win - would not risk endangering himself so. At best, you could consider him a referee, calling the match to a close once it was decisively in your favor.

Plasmius may think of existence as a game with himself as the only player, and he may have been acting in his own self-interest overall, but by every measure, in this instance, he was undeniably your piece.

The Zone itself acknowledges your right to rule by the way the crown of fire sits where you left it, unmoving on the floor of Pariah's keep until the day you finally choose to wear it, no matter how many hands may try to move it."

Frostbite's words are slow and measured, but as undeniable as the creeping of a glacier. And by the time they cease, Danny has sunk so far as to end up an undignified heap on the floor before his chair.

The trio remains silent as they absorb his words.

Minutes pass before Danny finally speaks.

"If the crown can't be taken, then how did I get it from Pariah?" He questions, a final hope that Frostbite may be mistaken.

"It will only remain unmoved until you first put it on. After that, it will be up to you whether it stays safe on your head."

Danny groans his despair, final bit of hope shattered.

"I must apologize again, Great One," he says solemnly. "Had I known you were unaware of your station, I would have informed you sooner."

He frowns heavily, looking into the distance thoughtfully.

"The Observants should have informed you long before now."

"Well, that explains it. The Observants hate Danny's guts," Tucker says.

"To neglect their duties for such a reason...," He trails off, his glower highlighting the inhuman nature of his visage. 

The trio fidget.

Danny coughs after a few seconds of tense silence.

“Uh, speaking of duties,” he begins, relaxing as Frostbite’s expression smooths back into something kind and polite as he listens, “What exactly does the Ghost King even do? Like. Pariah was locked away for… a long time? I guess. So does the Zone even need a King? Can’t I just, like, resign?”

“I suppose it might seem that way from a younger ghost’s perspective - Pariah has been locked away for millenia, after all, and the Zone is still in one piece.” 

Frostbite pauses, leaning back in his seat and taking another bite of his drink. 

“However. What you must understand, Great One, is that the problems caused by the absence of a king in the Infinite Realms are not the whirlwind that such a thing would be in the living realm - social order is affected, but the speed of bureaucracy is slower by orders of magnitude in the Realms, and there is not the same level of inter-reliance that the living tend to require - but rather, they are winds and waters sliding against a rock, chipping away at it bit by bit until it is either worn smooth… or the whole structure collapses under its own weight.”

“How does not having a king cause dimensional collapse!?” Tucker shrieks, clutching his cup like a lifeline.

“How long do we have before it collapses?” Sam asks urgently not a second later.

“Oh shit, how long do we have before it collapses???” he echoes, hunching over his cup enough that the steam adds a layer of fog to his glasses.

Danny sits bolt upright, whipping wide eyes away from his friends to join them in staring at Frostbite.

“Total collapse would take millenia more to truly begin,” he placates before taking a more grave expression. “This does not mean that there will not be issues before that point, however; the symptoms of the High King’s absence have begun to show this past millennium. But rest assured, there is time enough to heal the wounds that have been wrought. The only permanent damage would be the collapse itself, and that, as I said, is millenia away.”

“Is… is that why you never mentioned it to me before?” Danny asks, dropping back to the ground in relief. “Because it’s not urgent and you figured I’d just…get to it eventually? Actually, why did you think I knew if you knew that the crown was still in Pariah’s Keep?”

“It is the duty of the Observants to observe, but also, as you have experienced, to oversee - the timeline, trials, the general functioning of the zone. Without a king to report to, much of their ability to act is crippled, of course - their ability to interfere directly with the timeline has always been severely restricted, their options for sentencing are severely reduced, and there are some things the Realms require that only the High King can provide - but one duty remains unaffected: overseeing the ascension of new kings. 

Coronations have taken many forms in the past, from a quick swap in the battlefield to a formal ceremony to a celebration that lasted a decade. Given the dark era we are, at last, able to put behind us and the non-urgent nature of even the most severe problems that the Realms are currently affected by, I had assumed that the large delay was in preparation for that last form - the lead-up to a grand celebration.”

“Except instead it’s just them being petty,” Sam notes, sitting back up from her own relieved slouch. 

Danny groans, leaving his tea to float and covering his face with his hands.

“Why couldn’t it have just been as easy as shoving Vlad in a box,” he whines.

“I mean, we still can?” Tucker offers, prompting Sam to smack him over the head before pausing consideringly.

“OW!”

“He might be right, actually,” she says, ignoring his exclamation. “Given Vortex’s trial and sentencing, there’s clearly some kind of legal system in the Zone that isn’t just Walker on a power trip. No doubt he’s broken some kind of Actual Realms Law - I’d be surprised if breaking Pariah out like he did wasn’t some form of highly illegal - so you could probably send him to actual Ghost Jail. It’s certainly where he belongs, given all the….”

She makes a vague gesture with her hand in lieu of words.

“That doesn’t resolve the problem of I Don’t Wanna Be A King!” Danny exclaims, sitting back and throwing his hands in the air.

Then he turns to Frostbite, eyes pleading. 

“Can’t you be king?” he asks. 

Frostbite opens his mouth to reply, but Danny steamrolls over him.

“It makes sense! You already know how to lead people! And your people love you! You already know about all the king stuff too! You’ve beaten me in spars before! We’d just have to go to the keep, I put on the crown, you beat me, and problem solved!”

Frostbite’s smile is a mix of amused and pitying.

“I have only ever beaten you in training spars, Great One, and you and I both know that is largely because they were focused on improving your skill with ice and ice alone. Even if I could defeat you in a true all-out fight as you are, I believe you underestimate the boost granted by the crown of fire.”

“I can just put it on then take it off again before we fight! And we can stick to ice!”

“I’m afraid it is not so simple,” he shakes his head. “If you do not give it your all, the crown - the Realms - will not recognize the transition. The only way to “throw the match” successfully would require your opponent to fully End you: to crush your core and snuff your spirit from the very fabric of existence. I am unwilling to do such a thing, and I sincerely hope you would not ask it of me - or, indeed, of anyone.”

Danny paled enough that he nearly matched his human form in skin tone.

“Right. Let’s… let’s not do that, actually.”

“On the bright side, you can probably weasel ruling tips out of Aquaman in exchange for not declaring war on the Living Realm!” Tucker chirps, aiming to cheer him up.

“I’m not going to threaten the Justice League!” he yelps, scandalized.

“But you probably won’t have to threaten them,” Sam chimes in. “They’re already trying to summon you, you already know their goal is to avoid a war. As long as you don’t ask for anything unreasonable, they should be inclined to give you what you want in exchange for peace.”

“Once you offer peace, they will be invested in your successful rule of their own volition as a means of perpetuating said peace,” Frostbite corrects. “If you would like to set preconditions to an accord you should make them things that will not readily be given as a result of said accord. But before we discuss further, perhaps you can fill me in on why war was a concern in the first place? I believe you mentioned something about papers?”

[broadwaytheanimatedseries]

Okay but hear me out!

Dead On Main Revolutionary Ghost Utena AU:

Canonically, Jason focuses his rage to summon the All Blade

Ghost Prince Danny would have the Ring of Rage, but not the Crown of Fire yet

I hypothesize to you that the two are connected, and not only that, but that wearing the ring allows one to draw the All Blade out of the other. Like, literally.

Because of this, summoning the All Blade of their own accord is the mark of a ghost powerful enough to be the ghost king's betrothed, and whatever other ghosts were in the running are pushed back in line as the All Blade wielder is now at the front.

It is part of ancient ceremony that predates Pariah as Ghost King and dates all the way back to the first Royal of the infinite realms, King Lazarus.

The connection itself is no more than a pull towards each other, a fascination at most to make an easier base to build a genuine and in this case, human connection.

To become actually engaged Jason would have to willingly appear before the Ghost Prince and allow him to draw the All Blade out of him, something he is not very excited for and might actually have other lasting impact besides the engagement.

Y'see Jason isn't a halfa the way Danny is, he came back twice in a short amount of time between those two instances, and while the second time was Lazarus induced, no one really knows how he woke up in his grave and broke himself out. There are theories but Clockwork was watching and even he doesn't seem to know for sure, so it's really anyone's guess.

So what the engagement ceremony could do, potentially, is either solidify his halfa status by sheer amount of ectoplasm transfered by the act, or alternatively it could just kill him on the spot and then he'd probably become a full ghost.

Now, neither of these sound great to Jason, but he also doesn't like that a bunch of ghosts have been trying to fight him for their Prince's hand in marriage, something they can only do while the Prince is still not engaged to anyone.

Meanwhile, Danny doesn't appreciate that as soon as he came of age all these marriage proposals started being thrown at him, he's known some of these ghosts since he was a teenager so that's really weird for one, and he gets that most of them are just trying to secure their happiness and not to mention their future safety as the mortal world seems to be moving on with the anti ecto act, which had lead many a specter to retreat back to the realms, causing a lot of unrest as the realms become more crowded and politically tense between factions who have not needed to interact for a while now.

It would seem the Amity portal and even Danny fighting the ghosts and sending them back through it was the break many of the realms' denizens desperately needed, but now with that option no longer being safe, as even their king can't protect them from the GIW when they're gaining so much support from governments across the world, tensions are running high in the realms and it seems that it's every ghost for themselves.

Danny doesn't really resent any of the ghosts for doing what they feel they must to make sure they aren't destroyed in what is shaping out to be a realms wide war at this point, even as he works overtime with his council to prevent that from happening, and he understands they obviously don't expect any actual marital kind of relationship from him, which is at least a little reassuring even if the idea of being married to any of them is still very weird, but he can't help but think there could be a better solution here that he's missing.

And then he feels it, a pull telling him he's overlooked something, someone important.

It's like a fire engulfing his ice core but not burning it somehow, just as it does not cool the fire around it.

Two opposite forces meant to cancel each other out, somehow instead keeping perfect equilibrium with one another.

He talks to Frostbite and Clockwork and finds out what that pull is and takes their advice to follow it.

Jason doesn't realize he just altered the source of all his recent problems to his location as he draws the All Blade to fend off yet another "challenger to the Prince's hand" whatever the hell that means, as finally one of them was dumb enough to try to use actual magic against him.

However, he soon feels the answering pull back from Danny as the latter decides to use the power in his ring to open the portal, feeling that this candidate should at least know he's coming to talk to him.

It's almost the opposite, he feels the fire of the pit madness flaring a bit, but instead of immediately trying to spread, to threaten to consume him unless he tempers it himself, it is still burning just as strong and wild, but kept in one place by an icy chill, an aura of cold, clear fury and calm in equal measure, it doesn't thaw from the fire anymore than his fire dies from the lack of heat around it.

They sustain each other, impossibly.

So Jason and Danny finally meet and give each other the rundown of their side of things and agree that maybe the best bet to not only stop ghosts from attacking Jason and proposing to Danny, but perhaps the key to overthrowing the GIW so the realms' denizens don't have to afterlive in fear and portals can be reinstated to allow travel through the realms and back, not to mention keeping the GIW from going after Jason himself who by their definition is certainly considered an ecto entity, is in fact to go through with the Ring and Blade ceremony.

Jason, at this point, is more of Earth than Danny, who has unfortunately had to step back from his normal mortal life when he turned 18 to take care of realms business, despite still only being Prince.

He was meant to have more time but with the GIW advancing like they had been it was in the realms' best interest as well as his own that he decree the realms going no contact with humans for the foreseeable future.

It's been nearly 3 years since then and they are still getting ghosts back from parts of the world who have been avoiding humans as much as they can.

As soon as he turned 21 all this ghost marriage nonsense has has been making his job of protecting the ghosts in all the realms a lot more difficult, so when ghosts realized he didn't want to be challenged every day for his hand, they went to the next best thing, the top candidate.

Now, Phantom was saying that he's gonna marry the guy they've all been trying to defeat (and failing, to his credit, so at least he was worthy of being top pick)

A lot of them were upset or disappointed, but he explained how this arrangement could potentially help out everyone in the long run and most got on board when they heard the new plan.

Now the only problem is that getting engaged, as mentioned previously, is a ceremony that could prove dangerous to Jason and "not to be insensitive about it, but if you die and become a ghost that sorta defeats one of the main purposes of us even doing this." Danny points out.

"So what's our plan, Your Majesty?" "It's Royal Highness, I'm not king yet, thank the ancients for that." "Yeah yeah, so what are we doing, Your Royal Whinyness?" "Rude. Anyway, there's a chance you might become a full halfa during the process, that means getting a second form and a fully developed core and powers besides the All Blade, which would be better than you dying. So the best way to ensure that outcome, as much as any outcome can be guaranteed anyway, is to start the process of making you a halfa before the ceremony."

"Okay? How do we do that?" "Well, we gotta get some ecto in you - " "aren't you made of that? This better not be a pickup line" "no, not like that! I told you, this marriage doesn't have to be anything more than a contract, I'm about as thrilled about having to get married to save my people as you are about doing this to stop ghost from kicking your ass on a weekly basis." "Excuse me? I won all those fights!" "Yeah, after getting tossed into brick walls 5 times per ghost" "not every ghost tossed me into walls. Box Bitch did throw crates at me tho, that hurt." "Holyshit, Boxy is not messing around anymore huh? Well, makes sense, he's a father now. He doesn't wanna raise his little girl in these conditions. Still glad he lost, but I'm surprised Lunch Lady even agreed to him trying."

So they start Jason on his ecto diet and in the meantime the batfam is brought up to date about everything that's happening and they get to work, Batman gathers the JL to push back on the GIW's fuckery and all of Jason's siblings have an engagement party and a bachelor bash to plan. The girls decide to plan a Bachelorette party for Danny because he deserves to have a break as well.

Jason hates his stupid family, but Danny seems happy to be part of one again after so long, so he sucks it up and plays along.

It's possible that maybe while preparing and planning and helping each other and working together, Jason has gotten to know and developed a fondness for Danny.

Okay so maybe he's a sappy fuck who fell head over heels in love with him in the span of like a month, but this is still just a contract to Danny, and Jason isn't going to push for or expect anything more. Danny doesn't need that kind of stress in his life rn.

Danny has been freaking out since he met his soon to be husband because holyshit that's Red Hood, that is THE Red Hood! No wonder he passed the trial of the All Blade, and the way that fire burned around Danny's core, a fire he now recognized as the warmth answering from Jason's own, made him realize that this is way more than just a contract to him. Still, he'd been part of the realms for a lot longer than Jason ans he was their future king. Jason as part of this contract would be his equal but until the marriage was sealed, he was still technically Jason’s superior. And it didn't feel right to take adventage of that and suddenly change the terms of this deal, to make Jason in any way feel pressured by Danny's own feelings. No, this was just a contract, like Jason wanted it to be. He would keep that promise to him.

Jazz and Babs get together to help their idiot baby brothers figure out their unrequited love is actually very much mutual pining and they're just being stupid.

Anyway the marriage ceremony is a different ritual from the engagement ceremony, the All Blade wielder summons it and presents it to the wearer of the ring, who sheaths it back into the summoner's core, symbolizing that they both have power over the Blade but it belongs to its wielder, and even the king himself may not keep it without permission. The Blade as a manifestation of Jason's will.

(And as a bonus, we know Jason is a literary nerd so he recognizes and appreciates the romance novel tropes happening to him, especially in the high king's court, but he is not a weeb. So I don't think he'd recognize the Utena references happening to him. But you know who I think would? You know who is a weeb who loves swords and is soooo jealous of Todd and his husband right now? It's Damian. Damian's fucking seething that he doesn't get a magic sword. He's so pissed and it's very funny.)

[starry-bi-sky]

more clone^2 thoughts

you know who i just remembered ALSO has long hair? Vlad. Vlad Masters. Danny's worst enemy and biggest pain in the ass ever since he sent those vulture ghosts after his fucking dAD. Danny having long hair would make Vlad so inSUFFERABLE. Like look!! Proof that you are much better off as MY son. We have matching hair lengths! Come be my son! I will make you a halfa like me and we will become powerful allies together!

Danny almost chops it off out of spite. He ends up not doing it because he likes his hair long, actually, very much so and he's not growing it out again just because you're crazy! He's attempted to take a pair of scissors to Vlad's hair though -- THAT was a fight that got ugly. Danny's go-to threat whenever he sees him after that is that he's going to chop off vlad's hair when he's not looking - just you watch, Masters. He'll do it. HE'LL DO IT.

And if Danny wasn't keeping it a tight secret, he'd turn around and taunt Vlad about being a) a clone and b) a clone of BRUCE WAYNE. he'd say stuff like:

"How's it feel knowing my parents cloned a man richer than you"

"you're just mad that bruce wayne is more my dad than you'll ever be!"

"it could've been you that my parents accidentally cloned instead of Wayne, but instead you fucked off for twenty years instead!"

but also its a constant question Danny asks himself how he and no one else ever figured it out sooner that he was a clone. He doesn't understand how Vlad of all people didn't realize it when he went to college with the man with his parents and was also stinking rich, before remembering that he doubts Vlad remembers anyone who wasn't his parents in college, and has been a rich, recluse loser this entire time.

its a good thing though, danny's pretty sure vlad would attempt a hit on the man if he found out out of pure jealousy and indignant rage. And then he'd get his ass beat by Batman and his army of children.

All in all, Dany is a pure menace towards Vlad whenever he gets the chance, as is normal, and then Vlad's suffering gets doubled after he makes Ellie - of which she is even worse than Danny because she's the halfa that Danny Is NOt and thus has the powers to break into his house easy peasy and wreck shit. She steals his obsidian black card and goes on a shopping spree. This is a regular occurrence.

(and for anyone who isn't aware - Ellie is the same age as Danny in clone^2 bc i thought it'd be fun)

And then it gets tripled once Damian joins the family and gets caught up to speed on all of Vlad's tomfoolery and whoops, Damian's got better stealth skills than Danny and looks like Ellie has a partner in crime whenever they need to sneak into vlad's house to cause him grief.

Vlad's walls are the first canvas for Damian to test out his new spray paints on once he gets them :)

next up

Wes weston! i love this guy, he's so funny and he definitely knows danny is the Phantom in the clone^2 au. it's not as easy to figure out as it is in canon since its not just a simple colorswap, but perhaps he sees Danny taking off his mask after a daytime fight. and after that he becomes determined to reveal that quiet, strange fenton is the vigilante phantom.

he's putting some real,,, detectiveness? stalkerish? skills to use because catching photos of phantom is not as easy as it is if he were a halfa. He can't just snap a few dozen photos of fenton and phantom and then color compare the two of them either - Phantom wears a mask, and works primarily at night or in evenings, and typically avoids the living during the day. And he doesn't speak to the living either. Wes has to put in some extra work into his investigations and evidence.

He also makes the dumb mistake of cornering Danny in the bathroom one day early on and telling him he knows he's the Phantom -- now that Danny knows that Wes knows, he's going to be even more careful not to get caught. He puts in a little extra work in both Fenton and Phantom - another layer, perhaps a jacket, as Phantom, and baggier pants and boots he never wears as Fenton. His hood stays up in the daytime.

He was already putting in some extra effort to appear creepy and unsettling as Phantom - things like crouching low, tense movements, fluid movements. If he's perched on something he does a kinda-crawl like movement - think a mix between a bear and a gorilla crawl. It's weird, creepy. And he stares. Danny's mastered the art of not needing to blink for long periods of time, so if he sees you and sticks around he stares. It doesn't help that you can't see his eyes that well through his mask - its just two piercing green.

It helps endear him to ghosts and his enemies though - the annoying little human boy is engaging in ghost culture! That's eliciting some form of begrudging respect from his enemies.

And then compare that creepy, almost cryptid-like behavior to Fenton who, while considered a freak, really isn't anything more than just some dorky weirdo with occasional heart problems. He's kinda unsettling - he has those 'stares into soul' eyes - but its leveled by the fact that he's kinda just... dorky. It reads as normal, awkward kid behavior, and then gets disregarded completely as he gets older and it bleeds into 'very chill teenager'. Fenton being Phantom doesn't compute that much.

Paulina: you think Phantom is Fenton? Wes: I don't think, I know he is! I have proof-- Star: Just because they both have black hair doesn't mean they're the same, Wes. That's like saying Paulina and Manson are sisters because they also have black hair.

Wes's attempts to out him as Phantom means that Danny is a little more wary of him than he is in canon, since his vigilante identity isn't an entirely different ghost form its just him, so he has to be careful about where or when he takes off his mask in case Wes is around. Especially during daytime fights.

But other than that he has a lot of time messing with him. Wes is trying to convince his table group at lunch that Fenton = Phantom (again) and Danny just so happens to be within earshot of him and starts making fun of the idea.

"You think I'm Phantom?" and he's got the most disbelieving grin on his face that's only partially convincing. "That's totally bogus, man. The Phantom famously doesn't get along with my parents, why would I be a ghost hunter and not work with them?"

He has this most shit-eating, delighted look in his eyes that Wes knows is pure manic glee at being able to mess with him and get away with it. Wes is going to strangle him.

"Besides, dude, did you forget I have a heart condition? I can't be chasing around ghosts - my heart would give out from all that running and jumping."

Although Danny can get really serious at the flip of a coin if need be - especially with Wes when he gets too pushy about him being Phantom. A notable instance is when Wes cornered him in an empty bathroom to again talk about him being Phantom.

Except Danny, who had been working on a really difficult cold case about the death of a child, and hadn't gotten much sleep in the last 72 hours, plus a plethora of other stuff (like recently acquiring Damian, fighting ghosts, etc), wasn't in the mood to entertain him. It ended with Weston getting pinned to the wall and lowkey threatened by Danny. He apologizes for it afterwards but it's not forgotten.

Additional note: Wes Weston having a crush on Danny Fenton is a hilarious trope to me so Wes absolutely has a crush on Danny and the only one in denial about it is him. Everyone else - except Danny because he's more focused on the fact that Wes knows his identity, and has other things to worry about - knows about it, and everyone chalks up his obsession with Danny as being part of said crush.

Wes' friend: you know usually when you have a crush on someone you normally confess, maybe ask them out, pine from afar....

Wes: i dont--

Wes's friend: not accuse him of being the local ghost-fighting vigilante. Seriously, wes! His parents are ghost hunters!

Wes: i do not have a crush

Wes's friend: and ghosts aren't real! everyone knows that's a lie!

next up

Dan! Or Dante, but i'll call him Dan for the time being. Even if I dislike the name with a passion. Much like Wrath from my Childhood Friends au, Dan here is pretty different from his canon counterpart. Mostly because I wanted to experiment with Dan and different interpretations of him, and I thought; hey, where no better than an au where Danny has no powers?

so, dan? Dan is not a combination of Danny and Vlad's ghost halves -- now, don't get me wrong, danny still ends up under vlad's custody care after the death of his family, but he just doesn't fuse with Vlad's ghost.

So, what happened? What happened is that Vlad convinces a grieving Danny that he should let him make him a halfa (despite the fact that he has no idea how) because the he could go find his family in the ghost zone. Danny is in no mental state for any kind of experiments, but his hope and want to see his family and friends again gets him to agree.

It backfires. Vlad doesn't make Danny a halfa, he just ends up killing him completely. Danny comes back instantly as a ghost however, and enraged over being lied to, betrayed, and murdered, ends up killing Vlad in furious cold blood. He doesn't fuse with his ghost half, there's no ghost half to fuse with.

So a grieving ghost, Danny flees into the ghost zone. And, in this iteration, doesn't end up destroying the world. So how does TUE end up happening? Well, ten years later - with Danny remaining a forever 14 year old ghost - Dan ends up finding out about time travel. He finds out a way to travel back into the past, and he does.

So he can take over his past self's life. Danny just thinks he's fighting a weird doppleganger ghost, but ends up getting overshadowed. It's like being in a weird limbo, and Danny's not really sure what's happening - but his friends figure something out. After all, its been ten years since dan saw his friends, something has to give.

And that episode happens. Danny ends up meeting clockworth, beats Dan. But, well, it's not really happily ever after - somewhat. Ehh.. sorta. Danny's been traumatized by Dan's overshadowing - making him realize that despite everything, there are things ghosts can do that danny simply cannot and he needs to prepare for it. Onset paranoia, anyone?

Dan tells them his whole tragic backstory - there's a chance for redemption here, for him. For forgiveness. Not immediately, not yet, but its there. And he doesn't want to go back to the future - he's alone there. He's tired of being alone.

But he ends up being convinced - he needs to learn to look forward, not cling back. He can build himself up again, find new family. He doesn't have to be alone. So Dan goes back to the future.

"But come tell me if Vlad's giving you trouble --" and he smiles something wicked, "I'd be happy to handle him again"

and finally

not so much as any concrete thoughts as it is just me being emotional over Danny and Damian's brotherhood in this au and also Danny's hands. Again.

lIKE.. I put it in the tags of my reblog of my "danny's scarred hands' ficlet but im putting it here and its just?? Danny grabbing the blade of Damian's sword. Him grabbing the sword multiple times despite the fact that he knows it will hurt, that he will hurt himself. That he will keep hurting himself until Damian himself stops.

its just like??? whats it mean to spill your own blood just so that this little boy you've just met won’t have to ever again. he doesn't know any english and he is hurting you and yet you take him home and get him new clothes. he runs away and you go looking for him, every single time. you teach yourself arabic first so that you can converse with him.

this boy is a clone and so are you. you're a clone of his father he's a clone of your son - by nature of your existence this is your child. except its not your child, you don't have one, its just a little boy who happens to share the same dna as you. and you take him home and he becomes your little brother.

what's it mean when its you whose been hurt rather than him? whats it mean when you’d hurt yourself again just so that he can start to heal, so that he knows that he’s worth it? you cut your hands on his blade, catch its swing, just so this boy can know, can learn, that there’s someone who will bleed for him. that there's someone who will scar their hands just to make sure that you wont scar yours.

you’re a bleeding heart and its spilling out onto your palms. you take bloody fingers and wrap it around your little brother’s and say "its okay. it’s okay. you’re safe. no one will hurt you here. i promise. i wont let them. no one will hurt you so long as i'm around."

"put the sword down. i can show you how. let me show you how."

and damian in this au just reminds me of the song "eight" by sleeping at last. like?? the lYRICS. he is sO "eight" coded

'show me how to lay my sword down for long enough to let you through.' 'here i am. pry me open. what do you want to know?' 'im just a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut and bury my innocence' 'but here's a map. here's a shovel. here's my achilles' heel. im all in palms out. im at your mercy now and im ready to begin. i am strong enough to let you in.'

"by nature of our existence we are father and son, but by choice we are brothers. we are brothers we are brothers we are brothers. and i love you"

[spacedace]

I had more thoughts about my "Elle is the Ancient of the Speedforce" au idea so I'm gonna dump them here in bullet point format:

Elle decides to formally claim the Flash Fam as part of her Court, no one thinks much of this outside of "Oh that's neat" until it comes out that if anything happens to Elle, the FlashFam becomes the new Royal Family of Speedforce and that due to weird Infinite Realms laws Bart is the next in line for the mantle of Ancient of the Spaceforce

Elle can use any Speedster as a portal. She just decides who she wants to see and just comes crawling put of their chests like a god damn horror movie. It doesn't hurt the Speedster at all (it actually gives them a power boost for a bit) but it is absolutely fucking terrifying to witness this eldritch entity burst its way out of the Speedster in question. The FlashFam uses this as the ultimate intimidation tactic. It's super effective.

Now that they are in direct contact with the Speedforce itself (in a way) the Speedsters can get away with So Much Shit that they didn’t used to. Elle can now just pull them out of her core if they end up going to fast and now that they have someone who has the Ancient of Time on speed dial (ha) they get a heads up on what that particular attempt to fuck with time will result in

Technically Diana & the FlashFam are cousins now. The family reunions get a little wild. Batman has no idea how he's supposed to make contingencies for this shit

Anytime any of the Speedsters are having issues with the Speedforce they call Elle and she helps them figure it out and get it under control. Sometimes to help calm them down she will pull the Speedforce away from them completely

Elle decides that her Speedsters all need therapy. Jazz won't do it because since they're family now it'd be a conflict of interests but a few Yetis from the Far Frozen step up to help.

Anytime it looks like there is something truly world ending about to go down thr FlashFam call Elle to help out. Since she looks like a tiny twelve year old girl it results in a lot of funny moments of the Biggest Big Bads being like "This is all you got?" Seconds before having their faces melted off.

The reason Bart is Elle's heir is because he "inherited" Elle's. (And therefore Danny's) ability to duplicate.

Everyone finally chills out about the idea of Bart being Elle's heir only to discover that being her heir also makes him second in line for the throne of the Infinite Realms.

Constantine - once he stops having a panic attack about it - does try to sell his soul to each of the Speedsters just to see if it would work. It does, but since they technically out rank everyone else he's sold his soul too, anyone who has a soul contract with Constantine takes this to mean the new members of the Royal Family want *all* of Constantine's soul and hand thier contracts over to try and gain favor. Constantine now constantly feels like he's on the brink of having an adrenaline crash and no one will buy his soul off him anymore because no one wants to piss off the new royals lol

[vladdyissues]

thinking about hurt/comfort, there's a musical that made me kinda. remember. an old AU idea i had that i keep revisiting and only keep putting off because there's some research i gotta do for allusion's sake

-Danny Phantom style Descent of Orpheus (before anyone says it, yes, the musical was Hadestown)

-Vlad dies during Phantom Planet and ends up in his ghost lair, against all expectation. rather than return to his life, which he thoroughly fucked up, he holes up there and begins making it the kind of world where he has no regrets

-meanwhile, in the living world, Danny inherited all his remaining possessions and cat. he is not impressed by this. he is even less impressed when, a few years later, he discovers the VAULT OF STOLEN ARTIFACTS that are FREAKING OUT because the will wasn't enough to actually transfer ownership to Danny and now they're triggering some Poltergeist shit in Vlad's old home. it would only work if Vlad was fully dead

-well... what the fuck? he's not fully dead?! where IS he then?!

-cue Danny tracking down Vlad's lair with Clockwork's help so he can pry the man out of there

that part is about as far as i usually got consistently (lots of ideas, nothing firm) before hearing Hadestown and realizing where i could go from there. once I did, Vlad became a combo of Eurydice and Hades, and Danny a combo of Orpheus and Persephone. at which point:

-Plasmius basically made himself an anachronistic mish mash of everything he associates with power and glory. including a lot of roman empire, because clearly he was having fun there before Danny showed up.

-lots of little indicators he's still full of regrets, familiar faces on background characters, familiar motifs, lots of sad

-Plasmius reveals he can still become human. there's just nothing left for him up there. he is a king here, there he will be the most hated man on Earth. his life is over, just like it will be for Danny one day, and he will not force himself outside of his refuge just to be discarded once again

-that actually does get to Danny. sure, it's because of Vlad's own actions but... there really isn't anything in this for Vlad. and he had been planning to just offer a simple out, in, back to being sad in his lair forever and holy shit that does not feel right

-so he... stays. until he can find something to offer Vlad on the outside

-he fails. he leaves. he returns. more than once. he has to get Vlad to finally transfer those artifacts, but his need to protect is telling him he needs to give Vlad something that's worth leaving

-still have a lot of the third act to plan, but Danny eventually becomes that thing worth leaving for after a lot of getting to know Vlad's many wounds and regrets. and Vlad decides rather than be king of his personal underworld, he'd rather be a kingmaker. it's why he stole the crown of fire and ring of rage without using them in the first place

-and he's sure he knows who he wants to have them some day

-(there would also be a lot of implications that would roll into a possible AGIT based sequel that the half-ghost status is a lot more mystically significant than just an ability to change back and forth)

-featuring a lot of hot king Vlad and a Danny who's so stubborn he doesn't even realize he's catching feelings until it sneaks up on him

I love this I love this. It's extremely cinematic and has so many great visuals (like Hot King Vlad). When do tickets go on sale? I want to book the entire theater, please. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

Also, feel free to ignore this if you're not taking suggestions, but that third act? The impetus that finally gets Vlad to return to the human world?

Danny gets captured. And the only person who can save him is Vlad.

Maybe Danny's newly-acquired wealth attracted attention from some unsavory people (GIW, whoever), and because he was so preoccupied visiting Vlad and trying to figure out how to get him to come back to the living world, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. (Of course he wasn't; he's young and inexperienced and there are things he doesn't know to watch out for. Vlad obviously did, which was how he managed to be such a high-profile individual and yet keep his ghost identity a secret for 20+ years.)

And maybe Vlad began to bond with Danny through his regular visits. Nothing could get him to return to the human world, but he was beginning to enjoy Danny's company. And then suddenly Frostbite or another ghost bursts into Vlad's lair and utters three words: "They got Danny."

Oh shit.

Cue an epic rescue. King Vlad at his hottest and deadliest. Michael Bay explosions. John Williams score. Blood, fire, vengeance, the artifacts firing up at their master's presence, the boss of all boss battles, Duel of the Fates cranked to 11—

[radiance1]

Back on my bullshit with the Eastern Dragon Danny and Phoenix Vlad au:

So basically, Vlad decided to go to sleep for a while, inside a modified coffin built to withstand him and all that. So, he tells Danny a specific time to wake him so that he could resume his duties as Duke.

Why did Vlad decide to take a really long nap? Because he was extremely tired of ghost zone politics and decided to just go fuck it, I need a nap.

The deadline he needed Danny to wake him up at is relatively short in ghost terms really, just about a period of 40 years, he's currently 20, so at the end of this he should just be an even 60. Which would give him plenty of time to finish forty years of work before his rebirth cycle kicked in again.

He gave Danny the key to said coffin, with its specific magical signature and everything. So he expected and trusted that Danny would awaken him within a span of forty years, perhaps a bit earlier if push came to shove.

Then he just went to sleep.

Danny doesn't like his decision to just, up and go sleep for forty years, only because he would have to be the one doing the paperwork but its like, whatever he guessed. Do Danny was now actually handling the paperwork and navigating ghostly politics once more!

Joy...

He was buried in work for a fair amount of time, sometimes literally, and had to kick it back for a bit before going back to work. He felt like he was forgetting something, though...

A key appeared under a stack of papers that he just worked through, a veeeeeeery familiar key that he was sure had some kind of importance based on that itchy feeling in the back of his skull.

Eh, it's probably not important.

Welp, back to work!

Danny worked in silence for a bit, before getting up and slamming his hands on his desk.

OH FUCK, VLAD!

It's been waaaay more than 40 years last he checked, enough time that Vlad must've rebirthed inside his coffin already by like, a lot of times by now.

Considering that 5 millenniums have passed.

Well, shit.

So he hid the key in his hair, shifted, and flew off to Vlad's domain to wake him up. But when he got there, weeeeell, let's just say that Vlad's coffin was. Well.

It was gone.

Now, you see Observants. He had a totally reasonable explanation for this, you know. It was uh, well, you know, he just, ya'know?

He just, kinda, forgot...

He'll get him back! He swears! He just, need to, ya'know, find the guy!

Couldn't be that hard!

Another five millenniums later, he felt like punching his past self for fucking jinxing future him! The Observants were literally breathing down his neck to find the guy, and he didn't want to go back to doing paperwork either!

His salvation came in the form of a summoning, one he answered and finally, finally found the location of Vlad's coffin. He honestly got extremely, he didn't want to face paperwork again, so he asked these group of heroes to help him find this specific coffin in exchange for whatever they wanted him to do.

And he's Ancient damn thankful he did cause oh boy, cause like 2 days later he was presented the coffin that was just sitting collecting dust in some magician guy's house that was apparently passed down throughout generations that the Justice League managed to get their hands on.

So he opened it, and literally had to catch Vlad, who fell out of his coffin and looked like a literal 10-year-old. Did Vlad's temporary retirement plan include his deadline of 40 years being stretched by 9,960 years? No, no it did not, and unlike the previous ghost king, he was not unaffected by the length of his sleep.

So forgive him if he had to relearn how to do basic body functions, his memory foggy, and his powers were a bit outta wack.

[jackdaw-sprite]

Hi, @ep-10 ! I was your truce gifter this year for @phandomholidaytruce and I decided to use your prompts for a Japanese ghost--kinda, but mostly for a biopunk fantasy au. You're getting some character designs for a biopunk fantasy AU set in a world suspiciously similar to Sengoku era Japan! And also backstory. Mostly backstory, really.

Warning for someone getting baked alive in a kiln.

I mean, we all know who.

Jack and Maddie Fenton are a married pair of researcher/alchemists who've been brought into the country with the influence of an old friend of theirs, Vlad. He wants them to figure out the secret to producing porcelain, an expensive and magically versatile ceramic with a production process that's a closely guarded secret in a nearby, much more economically powerful country.

To this end, Vlad has supplied the Fentons with enough wealth and resources to not ask things like "where did you get this?" and "what exactly is going to happen when it gets out that we're trying to make porcelain?"

As it turns out, this is a very important question, because together the pair piece together how to build a kiln that burns hotter than any they've ever seen before and for the very first time make the coveted porcelain.

The victory is short lived: their son Daniel goes missing that very day, and then their search for him is waylaid by another discovery: some of the porcelain is coming to life, animated by a horrific amalgam of flesh and vitriol. They must find Danny, but first they must make sure the monsters they've made are destroyed…

So! The three big players in our cast of characters here are Jack, Maddie, and poor, poor Danny. They are coincidentally the only ones I had time to do a character design for, so let's look at Jack first, who is holding an experimental porcelain vase:

That's quite an outfit. It's, uh. Not quite standard in the Sengoku: while he's wearing a hitatare, it's been modified, and he's chosen not to wear pants because it's technically not, like, a crime. I chose this for him because Jack:

a) Does not care about what everyone thinks of what he's wearing, or he wouldn't wear a jumpsuit all the time in canon b) Hates the feel of most clothes

Hitatare were growing in popularity during the Sengoku because of how comfortable they were, so it seemed a good fit for Jack. They didn't necessarily need to be worn with hakama if you were of a lower class, but it would be frowned upon to go without if you were off a higher class.

The modifications he and Maddie have made to it make it even less restrictive than a standard hitatare, and a bit more suited to their work of experimenting with kilns and clay.

The obi is stitched into place, so it doesn't actually act like a belt and put a line of pressure across Jack's stomach, and they've added a button to the side to hold the hitatare closed, instead. The stitching around the sleeve openings is pretty archaic by this point, but they've kept (or added) it so he can draw the openings closed when he wants, and a second draw string runs along his sleeve to let him draw the sleeves away from his hands when needed, while still letting him let them extend to their full length to act as a barrier between his skin and unpleasant textures.

He's got some leather gloves and a pair of very early goggles to protect his hands and eyes from the heat of the kilns.

The geta act as an additional layer of protection against bad textures, since they should keep him above mud.

Maddie, here holding a shattered fragment of porcelain, is dressed far less eccentrically, because this (left) is before the porcelain came to life. She's just wearing a kosode with hakama and a leather apron. (She has gloves too, they're just tucked away at her back) The smaller sleeves stay out of the way while she works, and the hakama are roomy. She's wearing waraji, because she prefers what I assume is more stable footing and a lower center of gravity.

This is especially true after they start fighting the porcelain. Pictured here, you can see she keeps her hair out of her face with a standard low ponytail, and the Fenton Anti-Creep stick manages to still exist in this world, despite all odds.

This Anti-Creep stick is a bokken with embedded teeth of broken porcelain for a better shattering potential--metal, especially enough metal of sufficient quality for a sword, is expensive, and they're dealing with something that's only a stronger ceramic…

Which brings us to the kiln. And, to his great misfortune, to Danny.

This is a multi-chambered climbing kiln. While I don't think it's the first kiln that allowed firing temperatures to reach that required for porcelain in Japan in our world, it's the most common and appeared around the same time as that first one. The design of it encourages airflow in a way that traps and directs heat to build it on itself and distribute it reasonably evenly.

The kiln chambers would get filled with the pots to be fired, then they would set a fire in the little step down in each chamber. Then they would seal the kiln chambers entrances with fire bricks, except for a small stoking hole to keep the fires fed.

Then they'd light the main fire at the mouth to the first, lowest chamber called the stoke hole and the fire box respectively.

And then they would keep the fires lit, and feed them, wood upon wood upon wood…

Until eventually, the kiln warmed, grew sweltering, grew hot, hot like fire, like iron in a forge and then hotter still, until the whole of the inside glows.

Like the center of the earth.

…

At the lowest, porcelain requires a firing temperature of 1000 degrees. Celsius.

Brass melts, at that temperature. Porcelain itself gets its strength from melting.

And Danny…

Danny tripped. Danny was loading one of the chambers, and he tripped and he hit his head and by the time he woke he was sweating.

He tried to crawl away from where he knew the fires were. The flue, where the spent air left the kiln, has charred finger marks where his burnt away after the carbon dioxide and heat drove him unconscious a second time.

It was a mercy.

By the time he woke again, his body was cooling.

You see, the Fentons enchanted the kiln to make it try to repair pieces that were falling apart during the firing process. And, if one piece was destroyed in the firing anyway, to use the fragments to reinforce the other pieces in the kiln.

Danny was in the kiln. Danny's body failed.

Bone ash is not a critical ingredient in porcelain, but its presence makes it much, much stronger.

Danny woke up made of porcelain.

His sandals left black on the soles of his feet and the fingers on one hand that had burned looked skeletal. But he woke up.

And he ran.

Later, he'll find help. Later, he'll find a way to fight the other things in the kiln that day, and the results of later firings. Later, he'll meet a boy who loves puzzles and information and who teaches him how to use a bow and arrow to keep his fragile body intact. He'll meet a girl who loves foraging (partly because it gets her away from her parents) but loves justice more.

(Whether he'll stop wearing his clothes like a corpse is another question.)

Danny here is wearing something hitatare adjacent and hakama, along with a yugake.

Happy truce!

[dontbooatme]

DPXBNHA

Aizawa uses Erasure on Danny but he just splits in two, Fenton and Phantom, like in the Identity Crisis episode. Sorry, plot vomit again

Once they're split, Aizawa's quirk works normally on both of them, but Phantom doesn't have a second form to change into. So it doesn't effect his appearance/give away his identity. And he's more ghost-like post-split. He doesn't eat, sleep, breath. (No pulse, just justice)

Queue confusion cause now everyone thinks they're supposed to be two separate people.

They think Danny was being possessed by Phantom.

I kind of think it would be fun if their powerset was more connected than it was in the show. Like: Phantom's using intangibility, so Fenton can't. And goddamnit, Phantom, that's the only power Danny registered for a quirk. He can't use anything else in front of the teachers.

Fenton is taken into protective custody by Aizawa, and ultimately enrolled in UA's hero track

With only Intangibilty registered as his quirk.

Aizawa takes Fenton in pretty quickly after the split. Phantom is considered a villain. And the pros think Danny needs protection from him. But fresh from the split, he notices a lot of things wrong with the teenager in his care. His reactions to everything seem pretty strange. Some things he should react to, don't make him upset.

So there's still a personality split.

Phantom is considered a villain

(Unfortunately, Fenton got his love of astronomy, but he knows nothing about space. Phantom's the one with all the facts and could care less. Danny didn't know he could be this annoying. In UA, after Danny admits how much he loves space. Izuku tries to bond with him about it. It doesn't go well. He thought he'd just bring it up and let Danny rant at him like he wishes people would let him do. But Izuku ends up info dumping more. Some of the facts he dumps about end up being inaccurate, cause he's a hero nerd, not a space nerd. But Danny can't explain it right to correct him. He just knows it's wrong.)

The personality split should be a little more subtle in this au than in the show. So, kinda crack taken seriously, I guess. When bnha characters finally meet both halves, it's like there's a sense of deja vu. The two are similar, but different at the same time.

Like Danny's need to protect, for example. Phantom's still the more heroic between the two of them. But both halves feel a sense of duty and responsibility.

Fenton is the one who embodies Danny's self-preservation. He gets separated from Phantom, and makes every decision he can to keep them both safe and not arrested until they can fix the disconnect caused by Aizawa's quirk.

Phantom on the other hand, has no sense (of self-preservation.) He throws himself into vigilantism without a care to the consequences he could face. And this leaves Fenton scrambling to pull some string somewhere in the background that'll get Phantom away from the heroes, or keep the heroes distracted until he can trap Phantom in the thermos.

Fenton doesn't feel the same duty to protect other people that he did before. Meaning he will pull some reckless stunts to lure heroes away, or to lure Phantom somewhere so he can trap him. And actually fix this.

So Phantom's assumed to be the villain, but Fenton is the morally ambiguous one between the two of them.

Fenton protects himself (and by extension, Phantom) while Phantom protects everyone, except himself (including Fenton. Fenton is the one person Phantom won't go out of his way to protect. He's the loophole in Phantom's obsession. Which doesn't help the misconception that he's a villain who's targeting Fenton)

Aizawa is proud of Fenton's self-preservation skills. The student who's most likely to survive and potentially retire from hero work. Or at least, that's the starting point of his view of Daniel James Fenton. He gets around to the idea that Fenton, like some students he could mention, might be pursuing hero work for the wrong reasons.

No one in UA knew what to make of the new exchange student.

On the surface level, he seemed like a perfectly average, normal kid with a lucky quirk. Bakugou fumed when he heard the new guy had a quirk that mimicked one of UA's Big 3. Intangibility.

Danny's skills with it weren't as finely polished as Mirio's...

But at the same time, Danny's intangibility didn't have the same drawbacks as Mirio's did. Whether or not that was a good thing was still up in the air. Mirio did find ways to turn his weaknesses into strengths in his time at UA. And he would make a first-class hero when he graduated.

Maybe it wasn't completely fair. But most people couldn't help but think this kid would show up and show out in ways that were just as impressive.

No one knew exactly what kind of trouble the new kid was in. But the idea that he was in some kind of trouble was obvious in how closely he was watched by the teachers.

Izuku, fresh out of the Hosu Incident, just wants to help the transfer student being hunted down by a villain. He knows he's not supposed to get involved. He's not even supposed to know how seriously this guy was in trouble. But how is he supposed to just stand aside? The guy absolutely refuses to so much as acknowledge he's being targeted. And he refuses to follow any of the safety measures their teachers put in place. He sneaks away constantly. Izuku doesn't think he's spent so much as one full night in his dorm room.

He has a sick feeling in his stomach that Fenton's rejecting any help from heroes to solve his problem alone. As a vigilante.

Just like Iida.

Fenton and Phantom still merge back into one person at the end, but before they do, Phantom will be tempted when the League shows up. Particularly when the offer to make Phantom a body, his own body (a Nomu, unbeknownst to him) is set in front of him.

This is especially tempting considering how reckless Fenton is with other people. Phantom starts getting the idea that Fenton is his dark side, and he's a better hero when they're separated. (This would contrast Aizawa, who's goal is to raise up good heroes with good self-preservation instincts. So self-preservation being a necessary skillset for young heroes would be a big theme here)

(Though, I'm kinda split on the idea of them merging back together, or saying they grow into their own people and Aizawa adopts twins. On the other hand, I like the idea of using the Phantom/Fenton split as a device to explore Danny's character, aka trauma boy. Danny has a whole host of self-esteem issues. And post-split that presents as a deep dislike of his counterpart. On both sides of the split. So, kind of a journey of self-love/learning to love the parts of himself he hates kind of thing)

Maybe Fenton even gets a little bit involved with the GIW in this au. So, they'd exist in bnha. Whether they followed Danny there or ghosts do actually exist in bnha, I'm not sure yet.

He doesn't join them. But in the same way that Phantom doesn't join the League. Danny doesn't set off the GIW's sensors unless he uses their powers. And after failing to catch Phantom for so long, he gets the idea that he needs better ghost hunting equipment.

So, his actions kind of mirror Phantom's in a way.

Phantom wants his own body to make his separation from Fenton permanent. And he's tempted with help from the League. Danny's primary goal is to find Phantom so they can merge back into one person. And he needs access to equipment the GIW has.

So I guess that would make this another "stranded in the bnha verse" kind of au. Starting to feel a little one track minded about that 😬 oops.

I like the drama of Phantom pursuing his humanity in any way but merging with his human half again. While Fenton just wants to go back to being one person.

There would probably be a scene where Danny uses cryonkineses against Endeavor in a way that leaves the man hospitalized. It's the first time Fenton does something to protect someone else. And he does it because he knows Todoroki, and knows all the trauma Todoroki has because of his father.

Phantom's never met Todoroki though. All he sees is Fenton going overboard against a pro-hero. And this would probably be the scene that cements Fenton as Phantom's darkside, in Phantom's mind. And out Fenton as someone with multiple quirks, to Aizawa and class 1-A.

If we go with the idea that Fenton and Phantom remain separated in the end, that would probably also mark the point where they start growing apart/into distinct individuals.

[msfcatlover]

@fandomwandererer

im still like mid s3 in tma but im practically spoiled all the way to somewhere else, tell me more about the archivist tim story. is the not them even relevant if tim is already marked by the stranger? if it is who end up a not!them? tim would need a spider mark right? wonder what that is

*vibrating in place* ARCHIVIST!TIM STOKER, MY BELOVED!

You have no idea how much I love this AU. You have no idea how long I could talk about it. No, really. It took so many edits to keep this response reasonable.

(This is from my notes document on this AU, and does not include the lengthy conversation that originally spawned it. My adoration of Archivist!Tim cannot be overstated.)

Okay, okay. A couple things to establish. First: I cannot take full credit for this AU. @daydreamingofdragons & I came up with it together while bouncing ideas off eachother, and it spiraled (ha) out of control. This is just as much their monster as it is mine.

Second: Tim Stoker’s trauma is not defined by being from the Stranger. His tie to the Stranger hugely shapes his character, but not the Stranger itself. Tim’s trauma is defined by the feeling that he had multiple chances to save his brother and didn’t; that Tim watched Danny die, too close not to feel like Tim should’ve done something, and even though Tim consciously tries to argue with himself that there was nothing he could’ve done, Tim can never silence the part of him which says Tim’s actions (or lack thereof) indirectly killed his little brother. You don’t need the Stranger for that.

(a few post-s3 spoilers below cut, as well as other answers.)

Third: The purpose of the Archivist is to collect “marks” (scars/traumas) from each of the Entities. The Archivist is chosen for their potential to collect those marks, and how easy they seem like they’ll make it (translation: how much work Elias has to put in himself.) To make a viable Archivist candidate, you need to ask what mark/s they already have when they first arrive at the Institute, how Elias might manipulate them, and how much manipulation it would take for them to start putting “finding answers” above “personal safety.” (So Jon Sims is an exceptionally good candidate because he’s driven by a desperate need to understand, he has trouble trusting others, his self-worth was already garbage by the time he got to the Magnus Institute, a consequence of both being a tendency to do absolutely everything himself, and he walked in already marked by arguably the hardest Entity to manipulate into doing anything.)

While the Web would be needed eventually, it's not needed as a foundation. Any mark will do, though if anyone at the Institute is still marked by the Web, you need to give your chosen Archivist a mark just as (if not more) rare & dangerous to make them the more tempting prospect.

.

So, Tim is not marked by the Stranger; we actually had him marked by the End (full statement outlined,) and to compensate for how not Eye-aligned Tim is (canon!Tim wants answers about what happened to Danny, but beyond that curiosity is very much not one of Tim's defining character traits; he's not driven for want of knowledge the way Jon & Sasha are, he's driven by love for those closest to him & a need to find a guilty party who can be blamed & punished for any suffering they endure) we had each one of his assistants be marked by a different Entity. After all, if Tim doesn't care about answers or mysteries that don't affect people he cares about, the answer is to tie those mysteries to the personal struggles of those people he cares about.

Jon kept his Web mark (still Mr. Spider, and Jon was definitely the backup in case anything happened to Tim, but the End was always going to be the biggest risk to get a mark from, which makes it just too tempting even with Tim's temper & disposition taken into account.)

Sasha was marked by the Dark (the first time Tim uses his powers is to protect her from it, eventually leading Tim to directly help Basira & co with the lowercase-r ritual the People's Church performed in s2.)

Martin was marked by the Stranger (and also is the only assistant Tim didn't choose; Martin was Gertrude's last assistant, while Jon & Sasha were on a list of "pre-approved" potential assistants Elias gave Tim.)

(and yes, we fully figured out how Sasha & Martin were both impacted, and how it would tie into the plot & their respective arcs. Especially Martin & Jon's tragic enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story in this version.)

That gives Tim 4 different rabbits to chase down. By the time he's started to clear up even one of them, chances are other avatars would start to poke their noses into the archives' business. And then Tim's temper, need to protect those he deems to be his own, and need for retribution on any who would harm them would keep Tim locked solidly into the Archivist's role. He's not going to try to leave as long as they're still at risk, and he's always going to jump in front of that bus rather than throw any of his people under it. And once Tim figures out what's happening, he's far more likely to try to get ahead of things by taking the fight to the other avatars rather than try to slide beneath their notice the way Jon mostly did.

.

The NotThem isn't actually that relevant, though we did play a bit with the idea of NotBasira. Instead, @daydreamingofdragons came up with a new creature who does the opposite: it steals identities by rendering people unrecognizable. Not like it replaces them or completely changes their appearance, but it's the cross-section of the fear of mistaking a stranger for someone you care about & the fear of being rejected by loved ones. This person claiming to be your brother is obviously not your brother---sure, at a distance you might mistake them for your brother, maybe they could even fool someone who doesn't know your brother that well, but you can very clearly see all the little differences that show this cannot possibly be your brother. Especially if you have a picture to compare. It's not your brother, you know it's not your brother, why is this complete stranger insisting that they're your brother? Why do they know so many things about your brother, why are they wearing his clothes, how did they get the lucky charm he never takes off? What did they DO to him?!?

(It is, in fact, your brother. He knows why you're acting like this, he can't recognize himself in the mirror, but it doesn't make your complete rejection of his identity hurt any less.)

I can't remember if we actually discussed this, but I've been calling it the "Innominate." Which is an adjective meaning "something anonymous or unnamed," but sounds like a word that could easily be a verb meaning "to un-name something, to render anonymous," and also works as a proper noun just fine.

It goes after Jon in mid-to-late s2. This leads to everyone needing to figure out whether or not they still trust Jon ("trust & love as an active choice," you're such a good theme and I love you so, so much,) Georgie joining the Institute to investigate Jon's "disappearance" (they reconnected after Jon did the follow-up on Melanie's statement in s1,) and Tim needing to save Jon from Daisy after they find Gertrude's body (s2 finale, rather than s1; but once the police are there, there is one person in this verse who is obviously skittish, out of place, and doesn't want to show identification to the cops, and it's not the Archivist. Tim's being nothing but coolly polite & helpful, because he's worried about his people and wants to get these cops out of his archives as soon as humanly possible.)

The antagonist for s1 is the Spiral rather than the Corruption, and after Michael (& co) invades the Archives, Tim ends up going to Hill Top Road for a guiding thread so he can rescue his friends. He hates it, but Tim recognizes the pattern, has no pre-existing hangups about the Web, and there's an original statement in there about a woman getting lost in the tunnels and following a thread of spider silk all the way to the trap door in the archives. With the help of the thread anchored in Tim's chest, he's able to trick a different Spiral ally into the heart of the Distortion and safely recover Sasha, Martin, & Jon from the chaotic, twisting halls. With the changed heart (and the loss of Michael's obsession) the Distortion retreats for a while.

[lapetitechatonne]

Slept on Ships P1: Space Princess

Slept on Ships: Space Princess; Silent Jasmines hello!! so after taking a look at the very long Batpham shipping chart and seeing so many slept on ship dynamics, i decided to start a series all about highlighting romantic and platonic dynamics that---in my professional opinion---deserve more love. i'll be starting with the first dp/dc ship i created: Space Princess.

Space Princess: Dani Phantom/Mar'i Grayson

Relevant Background

so, in general, if you're not knee deep in the DC Fandom, you might now know who Mar'i Grayson, aka Nightstar, is. Mar'i Grayson is the daughter of Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, and Koriand'r, aka Starfire, from Earth-22. she appears in the Kingdom Come series, where she has her own issue and everything! she's shown as protective of her family, like her father, and just as strong-willed as her mother.

if you'd like more info on Mar'i here's a like to the wiki article: Mar'i Grayson (Earth-22)

fun fact: in Kingdom Come, Dick and Kori are actually divorced, while in most fanfic, people portray them as together. Mar'i is also part of the Teen Titans on her earth, along with Lian Harper and Irey West.

in this post i'll be reference a few head canons such as; Dani being considered a Princess in a Ghost King Danny au and Dani possibly having an ice core (we don't know what core she has in canon.)

Why is the dynamic interesting?

they are prime Sun and Moon couple energy

Mar'i who lives her life in the sun as a public figure, her powers fuled by the sun and just as bright as her, while Dani hides in the shadows of society, lurking. giving Dani and ice core adds an extra layer of opposites.

they are equal parts soft sapphic girls, and battle hardened heroes. they're both incredibly capable political figures (in a Ghost King Danny Au) who always have to put up a front, they have to be the perfect leaders their kingdoms need them to be. they would understand each other in ways that other people couldn't

i also imagine them bonding over being the child of very famous/rich parents.

they also have colorful girlfriend and grunge girlfriend vibes.

Dani deserves to run Tameran like a fortune five hundred company while Mar'i is off being a superhero. the dynamic works strangely well for them.

Dick and Kori would love Dani, and if Mar'i doesn't marry her they're adopting her

Mar'i can be scary when she wants to, just like her mom. Dani thinks it's very hot.

Mar'i inherits her mother's height, which makes her both taller and stronger than Dani, and Dani would love it.

i like to imagine Dani having purple eyes or powers later down the road (since Vlad's are pink and Danny's are green/blue) which would make them almost opposites. it could be a fun story device to use.

A lot of people compare Mar'i to her mother, but realistically, i think she would be a lot like her dad's family, specifically Tim. it would be fun to explore the dynamics between Mar'i and Tim as niece and uncle, and they dynamic between Mar'i and Damian as sort of siblings (yes, i am a 'Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne's dad' fan). it could be prime real estate for a little bit of Danny/Damian or Dan/Tim or Jazz/Cass on the side.

Mar'i inherited her mom/dad's anger, and he Uncle Tim's ability to compartmentalize her feelings until she breaks. enough said.

through Mar'i, and by extension the batfam, Dani learns what real love looks like. she finally understands how abusive Vlad was to her. this could be in the context of a Vlad trying to redem himself, or a Vlad trying to manipulate Dani back into his life, but now she knows better.

with how much Mar'i hung around Raven as a kid, it would be interesting if Mar'i knew that Dani was not normal before everyone else. maybe Mar'i even knows a little bit of magic.

Some Prompt Ideas

a photographer and model au

Dani joins the Teen Titans and meets Nightstar

Vlad and Bruce are business rivals, but neither Dani or Mar'i particularly care and get together anyways.

Mar'i sees a clip of Dani in her ghost form with her green powers and thinks she's Tameranian. Mar'i channels her inner Uncle Tim and goes all detective to find Dani.

Dani is a mechanic and Mar'i is a student who refuses to get her very old car replaced.

Mar'i gets lost in the Zone after the destruction of her universe. She had no idea what to do or where to go. Dani finds her, and together they traverse worlds they were never meant to see.

Fic Recs

(i will admit the second one is self-promotion but i'm working with a small pool of fics lol)

Our Love Will Last Us by foldingfacets (READ THE TAGS)

Dani fell in love with the hot girl who watched her smash her skateboard into a dude without care. Little did she know the girl saw her first and fell in love faster. Maybe, just maybe, Dani doesn't have to be alone anymore. Maybe Mar'i would stay.

Can I have this Dance? by petitechatonne

When Dani goes to a gala with Sam, originally intent on keeping her friend company, she meets someone who sweeps her off her feet. Literally.

Playlists

Pintrest Boards

this paring has the ability to be cute and horrifyingly angsty at the same time, with a good helping of family chaos on the side!!! i will admit i'm quite bias about this one as the first ship i really made, but i also think they have the potential to have interesting and complex stories. there aren't enough sapphic pairings in the dp/dc fandom and yes, i am trying to single-handedly change that. join the revolution today!!!

-- find the wonder in creating. love, Kate💗

[bidisasterevankinard]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @buddiefication 💜

I have 4 wips I want to share cause I really like them

Buck wears skirts in 6b au

Hen stares at him with her jaw open for a few seconds, then smiles broadly. The way Hen's attention abruptly changed from the conversation attracts the others in the room, they turn around, Bobby and Chim freeze with their mouths open, and Eddie falls off the bench, trying to turn completely to them. He doesn't even pay attention to it, just blinks a lot, looking at Buck.The blue-eyed man rushes to him.

“Damn, Eds, are you hurt?” Buck helps the brown-eyed to get up.

“I-I-I I-no. Everything is fine. Just… um… I didn't expect to see you like this,” Eddie looks Buck up and down. His face is a funny mix of disbelief, shock and something that Buck doesn't want to decipher. Because it looks like an interest. Even desire, but Eddie can't desire him, can he?

after poker smut (I were sharing mostly angst parts so here a little bit of spice)

Eddie finally breaks away from Buck's plush lips, but moves on to his gorgeous neck, taking the jacket off him and throwing it to the side. He starts kissing and sucking on Buck's neck, and something tells Buck that tomorrow he will need a turtleneck to cover his neck. Maybe Eddie wouldn't mind if Buck borrowed his.

In parallel with the kisses, Eddie unbuttons Buck's shirt, but on the second button he just tears it apart, pulling off at least one button. And Buck would be lying if he said it wasn't hot. He's already half hard in his pants just from kissing Eddie and the way they rub against each other. But he feels that Eddie is not soft either, so it's all fair.

"You belong with me" (au where Buck is wooed by a new guy at the station)

"Hey, Eddie. What flowers does Buck like?”

“What?”

“What's Buck's favorite flowers?” Danny repeats even though Eddie clearly heard him from the first time. He just doesn't understand why this new guy needs to know it and why he's asking Eddie. “Have you slept well man? You look exhausted.” He sounds … honest. Like he actually cares about Eddie`s well-being. He seems nice. But Eddie still feels strange about him. 

“I`m alright, but thank you for asking,” Eddie tries to be polite, but he definitely is not going to share anything with him. “Why do you want to know Buck's favorite flowers?"

“I … really fell for Buck. I mean I know I`m here only for a week, but he's just so, you know, kind, so heart-open, caring, funny and so invested in his work. And the way he can talk about his interest with so many emotions, expressions and energy. Can`t understand how he doesn't have thousands of people trying to woo him. I want to try to do it. So I'm gonna start with flowers."

Eddie can relate to everything that this guy was talking about, but he can add so much more things why people should love Buck.

Great. Buck`s wooed by a nice man. Not like Buck doesn't deserve to be wooed by a nice man. But Eddie can't be happy that it is Danny. Only because he feels in his gut this guy is strange. No other reason.

And the wip i started hour ago : Chris tells Buck "You died".

“You died, Buck,” these three words Buck already heard from three people important to him, but none of them broke him like that. “You died. I heard dad said that to Carla,” Buck feels his hoodie getting wet on his chest, but he doesn't care so much. The only thing he cares about right now is figuring out how he can help Chris come to terms with what happened to him. Help Chris heal. “You've been in a coma for so long. We-we almost lost you. I came to talk to you. You were so, so not yourself. I don't want you to leave. I don't want you or dad to die," now Chris is really crying and Buck's heart hurts more than ever. “And I-I know you and dad can't control it, but please promise me that you'll always try to come back. Please promise, Buck.”

Buck is crying now, too.

Tagging(no pressure): @usercowboy @jobairdxx @swiftiediaz @ebdaydreamer @alyxmastershipper @gayedmundodiaz @yelenascowboys @loveyourownsmiilee and anyone who wants to share

[gunebuggieswriting]

̶Good Bad Habits Run In The Family: Chapter Ten

DPxDC Crossover, Jason Adopts Danny AU

[AO3] [FF.net] [Wattpad]

First Chapter || << Last Chapter || Next Chapter >>

"You're related to Red Robin?"

Jason kind of wished he could be re-buried at the moment, knowing he was going to have to explain a lot. He could only hope that Danny wouldn't freak out too much, or any of the other bats for that matter. He already knew Tim had linked him with Danny, and that he probably knew that Danny was the new meta, but the rest of them didn't know. Bruce would most likely be furious that Jason was hiding information about a pressing subject, or for that matter hiding an actual meta with him. Not like he cared what the older man thought.

Sighing deeply, his hands rubbing his face with new found stress, he looked at Danny. The teen's eyes were wide, holding both shock and a layer of fear, stirring the inside of Jason’s stomach. He didn't like the idea that Tim had done something to Danny to make him this on edge, right when he was finally starting to relax around Jason.

Deciding to stop dragging it out, and to put them both out of their misery, he leaned forward. "For one, you can't call him that in public, secret identity and all that."

Danny, after hearing Jason's voice, snapped back to reality, his eyes more focused and analytical towards Jason. The sharp eyes were tinted with a bit of green, like it was barely being restrained, unsettling Jason more the longer he looked. "That doesn't answer my question. I thought you two just worked together or something! Are you all related?" Danny's hands were moving frantically as he quickly spoke, showing how frazzled the situation has made him.

"Well, kinda, but not really?" Danny deadpanned at Jason, his answer not being really helpful. Jason grumbled a few curses, uncomfortable as he ran a hand through his hair, no doubt messing it up. "Most of us are adopted, so we're technically related, just not by blood."

Danny was staring at Jason with a critical expression, trying to process everything that the man just told him. Then it all seemed to suddenly click and Danny almost fell out of his chair from realization, jaw gaping with surprise, causing a few other customers turning towards him confused. "You're Jason Todd, aren't you? How did I not figure that out earlier?" Danny was leaning back in his chair, a hand over his mouth as he continued to think.

Jason was dumbfounded, as he already thought that Danny would've put two and two together. Surely he would recognize him from Bruce? Perhaps he was being too egotistical and not everybody immediately knew him like he thought. Years in the spotlight and constantly being headlines for news would do that to somebody. "Yeah? I honestly thought you already knew."

"No? Why would I? I don't keep up with all the Wayne drama, wait, does that mean Wes was right? There's no way that Bruce is-" Danny stopped himself before he finished his sentence, but both of his hands were in his hair and slightly tugging on them. "It makes so much more sense now."

Jason could tell he wasn’t the only one feeling overwhelmed, after all this is a lot of information to take in. That didn’t stop him from wanting to know Danny’s thoughts, surely him being acquainted with the Wayne's didn’t change anything, right? "First of all, who the hell is Wes and what does he know? Second of all, you need to shut the fuck up a little, we're in public. Third of all, what do you mean it all makes more sense?" Amy had come back with their food, placing them down in front of the two. She must have noticed the difference in atmosphere, not being nearly as laid-back as earlier, keeping quiet as she walked away, not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was happening.

Danny seemed somewhat anxious to talk now that he was the one being questioned. His hands released their grip on his hair and began to fiddle with his shirt. "Well, um, Wes is just somebody from my school, or the one I used to go to. He comes up with all kinds of conspiracy theories like that, nobody ever takes him seriously, so don't worry about him." Jason couldn't help but think to Benard and how that all went, and he frowned, knowing that he probably should worry about this Wes guy. Though Danny was clearly uncomfortable having to speak of his past, so he wouldn't push it for now.

"Alright, what about the whole making 'more sense' thing?" Jason pressed, wondering if Danny already had a suspicion of his relationship with the others, or if this somehow made his view of Jason different. He hoped not, he hated being looked at with a difference only because he was known as the "son of Bruce Wayne who died and came back".

Danny's hand, which seemed to not quit moving, began to scratch the back of his neck. He was biting his lip, nervous as he debated on what he should tell Jason. Hopefully he doesn't find what he says rude or upsetting, like it would for many others. "Well, it makes sense why you have such a powerful aura of death around you. I thought it was because of the whole crime lord thing and killing others, but now I know why it felt so much different from the others."

"Death aura? What do you mean by that?" Jason questioned, but he knew what Danny was referring to, he just wanted to ignore it. The swirls of discomfort were him, not another force, he was far past that. He knew he was. His vision was clear, and he would keep it like that. There was no pit other problem.

"The stories were true, weren't they? You died before, haven't you?" Danny asked Jason, with an air so nonchalant that it made Jason both curious and uncomfortable.

Jason didn't want to answer that, to be forced to remember and face a reality he wanted to keep buried with the rest of his past whenever he dug himself out, so he ignored it. Danny already knew what his answer would be anyways. Jason had a feeling that Danny knew all too well, and it only made those green specks in his eyes be that more concerning. "Is that 'death aura' how you knew it was Tim earlier, since apparently everybody's is different?"

Danny let the fact that Jason danced around his question go, understanding the way he didn't want to go into more details. Danny didn't like his past being explored either, so it was only fair. The teen took a bite of his fry, surprised that the green seasoned food was actually decent, before speaking. "Yeah, sorta. Usually most people have little to no hint of death on them. Though you bunch seem to all be affected one way or another. Red- Tim's is quite powerful and a lot different than yours. It seems he's killed quite a few people, even more so than the crime lord himself."

Jason was beginning to get used to how relaxed Danny talked about these things, as if being revived from the dead or killing people were something that came to no surprise. Though the thought of Tim having killed more people than him did take him back a little. He knew that Tim was a bit unhinged at times, but surely the replacement followed Bruce's strict "no killing" rule.

"So, about that family dinner?" Danny asked after he ate a few more of his fries, not liking how awkward the silence was getting. They were getting along so well a few minutes ago, and now it felt like they were right back in the warehouse that night that Jason dragged him there. Then after a few  of those tense seconds he continued. "And your adopted family?"

The man swallowed the bite of his burger, and then took a big gulp of his tea, his throat suddenly dry. He never really liked talking about the others, and them being referred to as "family" made him somewhat queasy, a rise of longing unnecessary emotions he wanted to block. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. Though it might make it easier to explain everything to them if you do." Jason saw how Danny's lips pulled into a small frown, quickly glancing away from the other, and he suddenly felt like he was pressuring him too much. "Of course, you still don't have to. We can sit this one out and chill in my apartment, maybe fix up your room some more."

Danny looked at Jason, his frown now more thoughtful. "Can you tell me more about them?"

"Huh? You mean the people who will be at the dinner?" Jason asked, a part of him surprisingly pleased at there being a chance Danny will want to go. It was either because he wanted to resolve the unavoidable drama that was bound to happen or because he was craving some more of Alfred’s food, perhaps both. It wasn't that he was wanting to introduce them to Danny, or try to make Danny feel more comfortable with them.

"Yeah, maybe if I already sorta know what to expect I might be okay with going." Danny explained, already half way done with his burger and still working on his pile of fries. It made sense to Jason, as he knows how overwhelming new situations and a huge group of people can be. Especially with Danny having been homeless before, there was a possibility that the prospect of being around more than well off people could cause insecurity. Jason knew that personally, having been there once. Danny may need time to warm up to the idea.

"I'm going to be honest, they're mainly idiots." Jason said past his burger, waving his hand, Danny letting out a small chuckle. "Although they can be a lot at times, they usually mean well. Except for Damian, that little brat is evil and he lets you know, so I'd be careful around him until he warms up to you. Kind of like a feral chihuahua really."

That caused Danny's growing smile to become a full on grin. "Wait, if all of you are- well y’know, does that mean he's…" Danny asked without finishing his words, but Jason understood nonetheless. He nodded, a confused look on his face, wondering why Damian being Robin would matter. "Man, I already like him. He's such a good kid."

The anti-hero almost choked on his food hearing the earnest way Danny had just complimented the small demon. After composing himself once more, he looked at the furrowed eyebrows on the teen's pale face. "Are we talking about the same kid here? Damian is literally the most violent one of us, he'd stab you over a cookie if he wanted it."

Danny tilted his head, but a smile formed on his face anyways. "He still means well. I mean, he's a kid, I know they can be a little feisty sometimes."

"I'm sure the highly trained 'kid' would love to hear that. I would never expect a knife in your shoulder by the end of the night." Jason replied sarcastically, balling up his trash, finally having eaten his food. Danny was still eating the last few of his fries, having stolen half of Jason's as well as they were talking. Not that the man minded, wanting Danny to eat as much as he wanted in order to gain some more meat on his thinned figure. He didn't like how sickly Danny had gotten to look after his time stuck in the warehouse and then on the streets, it made a worm of guilt work its way into Jason, knowing he should've done more. 

Danny, not knowing Jason's inner turmoil, laughed, showing a bit of those canines that seemed to have grown since last time. Jason didn't know if Danny could control that or not, so he chalked it up to the nonhuman part of the kid. "He likes me! Plus I can easily heal from any attacks, that is if I don't just plain out avoid them. Who knows, maybe we can rough house a little." Danny said with an easygoing smile, brushing off the threat without any doubts. Jason knew that the other had powers, but he felt like he may need to teach him about self preservation skills.

Then Jason remembered the best part about the dinners, and he knew that this would win the boy over. "Hey, you remember some of that food I fed you while you lived in the warehouse?"

Danny nodded, curious as to where this was going. "Yeah, it was pretty good. Definitely the best food I've had in a while."

Jason smirked, "Well, you'd get more of that food at the dinner. Alfred, the best cook in the world, always fixes everything. Now, imagine fresh food like that." Danny perked up at that, and Jason knew he had found the right bait. After all, it was what Alfred used to get him over there every weekend. It wasn't because he wanted to help cook, feeling like a kid again. "Sounds good, doesn't it? Who knows, maybe for being a guest he might give you an extra chocolate chip cookie. Trust me, they are to die for."

Danny smiled at the small joke, but his mind mainly focused on the promise of good food. Perhaps this dinner wouldn't be such a bad idea, plus, he would be able to see Robin again, or Damian in this case. He wonders if the short tween would act any differently out of the costume, or any of the others for that sake. He was nervous meeting Signal again, and the thought of Tim made him squirm, hating how the constant loom of being watched had felt days before. He could only hope that they wouldn't jump on him with too many questions as soon as he showed up.

After a few minutes of debating internally with himself, weighing the pros and cons, he came up with a decision. "I guess I'll go, but if anything happens I'm leaving."

Jason couldn't ask for any more, already surprised that Danny agreed at all. "Don't worry, I leave anytime they annoy me too much. They know not to fuck with me."

"You sure it's not just because you're a big baby and they don't want to upset you?" Danny asked, raising a teasing eyebrow as Jason's face erupted into red, stammering out some denial that sounded more like complaining.

"I am not a 'big baby', and I can easily pummel you and them. I can already imagine how well you're gonna get along with Dick, it's going to a fucking nightmare." Jason continued to grumble, glaring at Danny across from him, the teen laughing at his misery.

"I'm already starting to get excited for this dinner now. When are we going this weekend?" Danny finally asked after calming down from his giggle fit, which Jason had suffered through. He wanted to make the kid laugh more, to just let the other be a teen.

Jason smoothed out his disheveled hair with a few quick swipes of his hand, huffing a bit before he spoke. "This Saturday, so tomorrow."

Danny slightly freaked out, not expecting it to be so soon. Though he already told Jason he'd go, and he didn't want to back out now. The man may not show it, but he obviously wanted Danny to go with him. A small part of him also wanted to go, to have a chance to be normal again. "Alright, so what will we do for the rest of the day?"

Jason thought about it, and realized he didn't exactly have anything else planned. He shrugged, making the other boy roll his eyes. "What do you want to do?"

At first the raven haired boy seemed taken back, not expecting the question to be turned on him, as he had nothing in mind. He looked at Jason's relaxed posture, realizing that he meant it, that Danny could choose anything. He thought it over, coming to a simple conclusion, one he hoped the man wouldn't mind. "Can we just go back to the apartment? I kinda had enough for today…" It was true, Danny was ready for a nap after the meal and amount of things he did. He may have only spent a few weeks closed off from society, and then a week of being completely homeless, but it was enough for him to no longer feel comfortable in public. It wasn't because he felt like he didn't deserve this, this sense of normalcy in a life he ruined, or the many others he ruined as well.

"That's a good idea, I'll need a bit of rest before patrol later anyways." The anti-hero said, standing up and grabbing both of their trash to throw away, before walking to the door. Danny nodded while following along, being brought out of his thoughts, and he couldn't help but realize he sort of forgot that Jason was Red Hood. It wasn't because it was unbelievable, the two had the same build and attitude, but by how normal Jason was compared to Red Hood. Sure, Jason was the adopted son of a billionaire with a crazy back story, but other than that he was still another civilian. Adding in the whole vigilante stick made it that more surreal. Or too close to something more familiar to him.

Danny remembers whenever he used to do patrol, the insane amount of fights he'd get in, especially at night. He missed doing them sometimes, he really missed his friends. Danny realized that he had been silent for a few seconds longer than usual, Jason looking at him somewhat concerned. "I can always skip one, I know I could do with a bit of a vacation." He said, wanting to make sure that the younger boy would be fine on his own.

Danny quickly shook his head. "No, I'm fine!" The man looked unconvinced, so the other tried to put on a small smile. "Really! I was just thinking about how bizarre my life kind of is right now." The partial lie worked, Jason letting out a small huff of amusement.

"I bet, compared to how most people would react, you've been taking it all pretty well." Jason lightly nudged at Danny, who in turn tried and failed to push the bulky man.

After an annoyed huff Danny straightened back up to walk better, knowing how clumsy he could be. It was what started this all in the first place. "I kinda take things in stride, go with flow y’know." He did a wave with his hand, before thinking about how silly he probably looked and shoving his hand back in his pocket.

"I like that attitude, don't let life drag you down. You know people who have your back no matter what, why worry all the time?" Jason meant for it to be light hearted, maybe even encouraging to a degree, but Danny’s smile quickly faded from it. Before Jason could ask what was wrong, Danny looked away, his expression now carefully crafted to be blank. The older man felt terrible, not knowing what he said wrong. He knew he shouldn’t ever give advice, as he hasn't lived the best life, or try and take care of a teen for that matter.

Danny on the other hand was trying his hardest to not let his thoughts wander to those who he should've been there for, or the fact that he shouldn’t allow people close to him, to let them want to help him. The guilt he's been repressing came back full force, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his rising tears at bay, cursing how emotional he could be from some simple good natured words. Though he couldn't help but feel as if he shouldn’t have 'gone with the flow'. If he thought things through, not have been so impulsive and selfish, then the others would still be here. He would be with his friends, his family, the town he loved but was forced to leave behind because of his mistakes.

It didn't even seem that he learned his lesson, doing everything he regretted all over again. He told himself that he wouldn't be so selfish ever again, and then he goes and decides to pull more innocent people into the mess that is his afterlife life. How could he be so laid-back, so careless, after everything that's happened?

"-kid? Hey, can you hear me?" Danny's haze was broken from the wave of Jason’s hand in front of him and voice.

"Huh? Sorry, kinda spaced out for a second. What is it?" Danny asked, nervously scratching at the back of his neck, keeping his head turned slightly away as he blinked back tears. 

"We made it back and you tried to keep on walking, so I called your name and you didn't answer." Yeah, Danny was so not getting out of this. "Are you okay?" The teen opened his mouth to make up another lie, hoping his luck would work a second time. Before he could get a word out, Jason raised a hand stopping him. "Actually, I know you're not, so don't say you are. I know you don't wanna talk about it, but know that I am here and I'm not leaving, no matter how stubborn you are to not realize that. You can't get rid of me kid, after all I always come back."

The tears began running down midway through Jason's small rant, and he was wiping at them furiously, though he finally turned back to Jason. He was clearly out of his element, not used to comforting, but it made Danny feel a bit better anyways. To hear the words made it somewhat easier to swallow, to put into reality as he forced his other thoughts back down. He wished he wouldn't cry as much, hating how it felt like he was only being a burden to the other.

Jason hesitated to take Danny's arm and lead him into the apartment so that he could cry more openly, not wanting to make the crying teen run away by the sudden touch. He did anyway, seeing how some people passing by were giving them weird looks, and he glared at a few before gently grabbing Danny's arm. He didn't expect for the other to latch onto him in turn, turning his head to sob into the outer part of his arm as he walked slowly to the door of the apartment.

As soon as they entered, Jason wrapped his arms around Danny. Danny didn't hug back, only slightly burying his face into the man's chest as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to cry now, ruining the good mood that they had built back up. He pushed himself away from Jason, yet some of him yearned to be hugged right now, to be told that it was going to be okay. He knew it would never be, and that he deserved that.

Danny sucked in a desperate gulp of air, sounding more like a hiccup than anything as he held his hands above his face, trying to hide it. "I'm- I'm just going to go take a nap." He barely stuttered out, not waiting for an answer as he quickly went to his room and shut the door. This left Jason there, his hand outreached to try and stop the upset teen, but not knowing if he should. This was something that he didn't know how to handle. When it came to comforting, he only knew the basics, such as reassurance and hugs. Complex emotions like this he couldn't handle, and it made him feel guilty that he couldn't actually help Danny through whatever he was going through, even though he promised he would.

The man sighed, slipping off his leather jacket as he wondered if he may have bit more than he could chew this time. He wouldn't ever give up on Danny, but he may not be what the teen needed at the moment. If only Alfred was here, he'd know what to do.

He wasn't though, leaving it all up to Jason, who couldn't do anything. He ran a hand through his hair, not caring if it got messed up as he walked over to his barely standing couch. He laid down on it, enjoying how his body sunk into the well worn cushions, pulling one of the small pillows he had to lay his head on. He wanted to help Danny, but he was somewhat overwhelmed himself, and he had a feeling that giving some space may be better anyways. He wasn't lying earlier either whenever he said he would like a nap, still planning to go out that night. Danny most likely wouldn't leave him room for the rest of the day, so Jason would just leave him a plate of food before he left to go on his patrol.

He'd make it a quick one tonight. His people wouldn't mind if he canceled one meeting and instead checked up on them, as there was no way he would be able to focus for too long anyways. Most of his thoughts would circle around Danny, like they have been for the last few weeks. His worry had eased after wrangling Danny into his apartment, but now it was worse with how sullen the boy looked earlier. He still didn't understand what he said or did to cause such a reaction, but he guessed that it could be anything, though it had to be related to whatever trauma Danny had gone through and that was enough. He wanted to apologize, but that could cause Danny to feel guilty for making Jason feel like he did something wrong.

He was beginning to get a headache from thinking so deeply about something he had little intelligence in, so he shut his eyes. He didn't  bother to take off his shirt with the small wet spot in it, the coldness of it a stark reminder to how he failed Danny was. It didn't really matter though, as no matter what he couldn't block out the quiet sniffles and sobs coming from the other room, or the countless thoughts running through his own head.

They might not make it to dinner tomorrow after all.

[jon-withnoh]

Hello! Hope this isn't a bother, but do you have any tips for thinking up plots? I mean for the whole story. Reading Nie Wirst made me want to try to write something longer, but I'm a bit lost since all I've ever written are short one-shots or drabbles. Again, hope this isn't bothering you, feel free to ignore it! Also, this goes without saying but I'm looking forward to the sequel if you do write it

Hi! I love this question, thank you for asking it 😊 I'm pretty sure you'd get a variation of answers depending on who you ask, so my way might not necessarily work for you. (I'm thinking of this as a fun Pick&Mix of things that work for me and might work for others.)

My strategies differ for different kinds of writing. When I'm working on a poetry collection, it sometimes takes years to accumulate enough individual poems that fit together for me to start working on the arc or through-line of that collection. This just for context, since you did ask me about prose.

Whether for fanfiction or original fiction, I've found that I can only keep up my motivation for a longer piece if I am absolutely obsessed with it. Was wird aus uns was born from the immediate aftermath of me seeing Rebecca in Vienna, reading the book and pretty much every single fic on Ao3 and just needing those two fools to be okay. That one really came out of pure obsession. Nie wirst Du was a lot more considered and since the plot is quite complex, I did plan things ahead of time.

I'm going to try and sum up some of the things that I need in order to sustain my focus for a longer piece of writing under the cut!

I need to be absolutely obsessed with the initial idea. No matter how interesting a concept or fic idea is in theory, if it doesn't have that spark of obsession I might toss it around in my head for fun, but I won't actually write it. If an idea doesn't grip me enough that I'm constantly looking forward to the next plot point I'm "working towards", then I'll get bored and abandon the piece. This is especially true for fic. For Was wird aus uns, the first plot point everything was moving towards was their first kiss. Then Christmas, and then, finally, Danny's collapse and the changes that it brought. With Nie Wirst Du, I was constantly hooked, tbh. It's a little bit like a soap opera in that it has many twists and turns, very complicated relationship dynamics and many big feelings. Some plot points I was working towards there were the tea party and the costume ball. Once I knew what the fallout from the ball was going to be, I had a much better idea of how things would continue to escalate develop.

I figured out how I need to approach plot. A friend of mine is a hardcore plotter with detailed outlines, diagrams and everything. I used to try and approach plot like that with the result that by the time I'd thought everything through, I was bored and didn't actually write the story anymore. The thing I do is apparently called pantsing. It means I know the inciting incident of the story, maybe a few major plot points and I have at least a vague idea of how I want it to end. There is an overarching structure, but it's loose enough that it keeps me interested. I can decide to add or take away smaller plot elements without having to do major rewrites.

There needs to be a drive to the story. I need a sense of movement when I'm writing. Even if a story is set entirely in one place, there needs to be some undercurrent of change or development. If the story feels static, I don't have any way of getting a character from point A to point B.

I write the things I want to see. If you find yourself looking through Ao3 thinking "I wish someone had written about xyz", then that might be a sign for you to write the fic you're looking for! For example, I needed a happy ending for Danny and Ich, so I wrote one. Then I became really interested in learning more about Rebecca as a character. Who is she outside of the stories being told about her? To find that out, I needed a story where she was alive and since I didn't want to write a prequel, the idea for Nie Wirst Du was born.

I hope this was somewhat help or at least interesting! It also really helps to have a person who's just as excited about your story idea as you are. They might ask you questions you hadn't considered and give you a whole new insight into what you're writing. Feel free to ask more questions about this if you want. This was really fun!

[tafadhali]

Yuletide recs, part 1

Cross-posting this from DW. I have >50 works bookmarked on Pinboard so far, but here are 24 favorites.

Asteroid City I hadn't thought to seek out fic for this movie, but I thought both of these captured the Wes Anderson style brilliantly and developed characters and a relationship we only see a glimpse of in the film in interesting (and very different) ways: 

Things That Won't Be Here Tomorrow (Conrad/Jones, 6k)

windows broken and dreaming (Conrad/Jones, 4k)

Bottoms So Bomb (PJ/Hazel, PJ & Josie, 1k) — "Josie helps PJ be a better girlfriend to Hazel"; hysterical

Casablanca The Sentimentalists (Rick/Ilsa, Ilsa/Victor, Rick/Ilsa/Victor, 9k) — post-canon, Rick runs into Ilsa and Victor in Lisbon

Dimension 20

In our midnight world (Leiland/Markus, 5k) — really captures the silliness of Escape from the Bloodkeep and I love all the appearances by the other characters

it doesn't hurt; there's nothing to it(Hob/Rue, 4k)— love them and love them trying to ~*~communicate~*~; hot and sweet first time

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Perception Check (Roll for Romance) (Xenk/Edgin, 6k) —

"I bet Xenk fucks like a metronome, too. You know." Holga makes a highly suggestive, repetitive gesture. "In, out. In, out. No variation. Same exact rhythm every time. Boring." Edgin stares at her, torn between horror and fascination. "You've really thought about this, huh?" (So has he. Unfortunately.)

Frederica - Georgette Heyer A Series of Notable Events (Frederica/Alverstoke, 13k) — "What it says on the tin: a series of notable events in the lives of Frederica and Alverstoke, post-canon."

Goblin Emperor A Private Room (gen, 5k) — Maia learns of a scandal brewing from Csethiro, but she is quite able to manage things

An Unexpected Letter (gen, 1k) — Thara gets a letter from the Emperor after Grief of Stones and I have several feelings

The Good Place The Real Actual Human Life of Michael Realman (gen, 1k) — what it says in the title! cute and fun

Hercule Poirot

The Case of the Distracted Detective (Hastings/Poirot, 2k) — I can honestly say I've never read this particular misunderstanding before, and itw as charming and funny!

The Eye of a Needle (gen, 4k) — a neat little casefic with a daemon AU twist

High School Musical Stick to the Status Quo (Reprise) (Chad/Ryan, 17k) — I was totally charmed by this "didn't know they were dating" classic

Jeeves & Wooster Supporting Partner's Suit (Jeeves/Wooster, Honoria/OFC, 6k) — "Never let it be said that Bertie Wooster will abandon a pal in need, even if that pal is a woman who is temporarily in possession of his body and he doesn’t fully understand what’s going on"

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Fool Proof (Harry/Perry/Harmony, 7k) — this is extremely hot and very funny; captures the tone of the movie perfectly

The Matrix if you'll believe in me (gen, 7k) — "Trinity thinks about anger. Bugs thinks about choices. Both of them think about the future." Interesting fic that picks up mid-Resurrections

Nine Worlds a key that winds through secret wards (gen, 11k) — Kip in the aftermath of the Emerald Conspiracy; a really interesting look into an unexplored part of canon

Ocean's 11 pulse and swing (baby do your thing) (Danny/Rusty, 3k) — fixit for O8 involves Danny doing thief PT and re-figuring out his and Rusty's relationship

somebody else's wallet (Danny/Rusty, 1k) — nicely structured ficlet about Danny and Rusty becoming DannyandRusty

Oz the skin you're in (Dorothy/Ozma, 6k) — "'If we learn magic, you could maybe change your body to be like your old one. You weren’t ever given the choice to keep that boy’s body, were you?' asked Dorothy.

Keep it? The idea jolted Ozma a little bit. Why, how does a person keep another body? You only had the one, right?"

Singin' in the Rain Working Honeymoon (Don/Cosmo/Kathy, 4k) — somehow Cosmo finds himself coming along for the ride on Don and Kathy's honeymoon

Sports Night First Chill of Fall (Dan/Casey, 3k) — all I ever want for Yuletide is more Dan/Casey... this one is set post-s2 and features a slightly oblivious Dan

The Sting the last train to wherever you need to be (Henry/Johnny, 3k) — against their better interests, Johnny and Henry keep running into each other post-movie