#like. In phantom pains

[zukoandtheoc]

the number of possible song variations in stray gods is still so nuts to me. i feel like I need to draw diagrams

[mikashida]

it's a russian taunt

[xxlunawarriorxx]

my pretty princess

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

mold

[andromeda-aim]

Finished persona5 royal with a friend and i'm continually losing my shit over how much the game hammers home to the player that Akechi's life is the most persuasive bargaining chip that Maruki had to convince Akira to accept his false reality. Beyond the lives his friends were living, nothing changes for him. His family never apologies for sending him away, his classmates still make snide comments about his criminal record, not to mention this is still a world that had him tortured and nearly killed in an interrogation room not too long ago. His life is virtually identical, which can imply that Akira has made peace with what has happened to him. None of that changing would ultimately give him his happy ending or ideal world. Akechi being alive is what gives Akira his happy ending, the person who a literal fucking god of control pitted against him. Because at the end of the day, Akechi doesn't see him as the delinquent with a criminal record, or the savior leader of the phantom thieves. Akira is the product of a cruel unjust game, like himself, strung along by happenstance. Neither boys became strong because they wanted to, this world molded them into weapons to fight each other and see who could make a victim of the other. Akira needs Akechi for his ideal world because to look at Akechi bleeding out in Shido's palace, hear his ragged breathing from the other side of that wall, and pause, is to realize that it could have been him there instead. Which is to say, "I am thou, and thou art I."

[zillychu]

Consider this: ghosts are actually exactly what the Fentons think they are.

They're snapshots of a longing so strong, unfinished business so deep it reaches out beyond life. Lingers just a bit longer. And if it happens to meet a dense cloud of ectoplasm (invisible to the naked eye, but omnipresent even in the mortal realm), it coalesces. The ectoplasm fits into the shape of it. Which, when the desire is strong enough, it's got a rough idea of its self-image. This tends to mean a more humanoid figure, though it's more often warped in some way–a self-reflection, skewed by said desire. The warping varies on the dead soul’s perception of themselves, the intensity of their desire, how much time passed after death, and how much ectoplasm was present.

In short… no matter how “normal" a ghost looks or acts, it really, truly isn't human. It's animated ectoplasm with a single goal: an obsession. Nothing else. They're more akin to plants than animals, following a single drive with no emotion. They react to stimuli, recognize threats (including other ghosts), and can even imitate human speech and mannerisms to obtain fulfillment of their obsession.

Not “evil" by any stretch, but they're entirely driven by instinct. A tree doesn't pause to consider the rocks it breaks with its roots. A cordyceps doesn't torture its host for fun, or kill with malice. It just does. It follows code in its DNA to survive and multiply–And ghosts just follow the code in its ectoplasm to fulfill its obsession. The more powerful a ghost, the better it's able to overcome obstacles preventing this–whether through brute force, or manipulation. This power is always directly proportional to the amount of ectoplasm present at the time of formation, and how much time passed since death.

What then, does this mean for Danny? Danny, who's previously come to the conclusion that he's only half-ghost, which surely explains how he retained his mind? His independent thoughts and emotions?

What does this mean for Phantom, who experienced an entire world’s worth of ectoplasm condensed as a singularity, at the exact time of his death? Whose strength only grows and begins to exceed every limit they previously thought possible?

If a ghost was as strong as him… could it mimic a human perfectly? Down to a molecular level?

Could it, in its desire to fill an obsession… trick its own fake mind into thinking it was still human? Or half-ghost?

[abbeyofcyn]

Phantom pain 5

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Transcript

P1

W-wha- Casey?!

Weren't you with Apes working on this school project while infiltrating the EPF or something?

(Casey jr) I was... Mikey and Raph called to ask for my keys since you had apparently portalled into my apartment

Curse Donnie's trackers...

P2

(Casey jr) oh! It's that the Lou Jitsu documentary? I love that one

Well, it was fun! I better get going

Can't have Raph's worry stink KO Mikey

(Casey jr) it's okay if you want to stay a little longer, you know. I can text your brothers to head back home

...

P3

Case, can I ask you a bit about your Leo?

Do you know how he lost his arm?

How well did he deal with it?

[your-local-granny]

fall from grace

[a-selkie-abroad]

I was thinking about ecto-acne.... what if it acted like some kind of autoimmune disorder, with Vlad's immune system going after the cells with ghost DNA?

Thus spawned chronic joint pain Vlad Masters who carries a cane around on bad days so standing doesn't hurt so much. I've drawn him with a super basic cane here but I'm willing to bet he has a whole collection of fancy custom ones to go with every outfit.

[machinecatgirl]

the living dead

[mikashida]

alright that's enough

[starry-bi-sky]

more clone^2

snippet 21: Danny is Bruce Wayne's Clone and--

Star, with the rest of the A-List girls: alright ladies! it's time for our quarterly 'cutest boys' list! Now I'll get straight to the point, in our number one spot is--

All girls, in unison: Danny Fenton

Star, writing it down on a whiteboard: and for our number two spot--

---------- Snippet 22: clone meet clone

Ellie, dramatically: Danny!

Danny, equally dramatic: Ellie!

Ellie, pushing past him and looking around: where is he! i wanna see the little guy!

Damian, with a sword, brandishing it dangerously: *in arabic* don't come any closer, stay back!

Danny, wrapping an arm around Ellie's waist and pulling her back: woah, woah - he's still adjusting to everything

Danny, turning towards Damian with his google translate open: [please don't stab her. this is Ellie my clone.]

Damian, lowering his sword in disbelief: 'there's MORE of you?

-------------- Snippet 23: Ellie has the same epiphany as Danny

Ellie:...hey Danny

Danny, pouring over his arabic book: hm

Ellie: since I'm your clone, and you're a clone of Bruce Wayne, and Damian is a clone of Damian Wayne, does that technically mean I'm his mom - uh. dad-mom?

Danny:

Ellie:...its a fair question

Danny: .....*deep sigh* you're his cousin until further notice.

------------ Snippet 24: wait for me ii (hadestown, live vers.)

(i'm not sure of the context, but i've been thinking of Danny saying this to Damian during a serious moment for days. the snippet title is the song that the dialogue below is from)

Danny, fixing up Damian's wraith suit: the meanest dog you'll ever meet

Danny, zipping up damian's jacket: it ain't the hound dog in the street. he bares some teeth and tears some skin, but brother,

Danny, adjusting Damian's gloves, pausing to look him in the eye: that's the worst of him.

Danny, he holds a finger up to Damian's eyes and points it at him: the dog you really got to dread, is the one that howls inside your head

Danny, grabbing damian's mask and smoothing it over his eyes: it's him whose howling drives men mad, and a mind to its undoing

------------ Snippet 25: Danny is Bruce Wayne's clone-- (Battinson Vers*)

Ember, in the middle of a fight with Phantom + Wraith:

Ember, knocks off Phantom's mask for the first time: lets see what ugly mug you're really hiding under there, Phantom--

Phantom: *the wettest, most pathetic looking pretty boy on the planet*

Ember:

Phantom, dryly: what, did your mic die out or something? all that caterwauling finally make you lose your voice

Wraith, unsheathing his sword: *vibrating with baby brother rage bc he knows EXACTLy why Ember is silent*

----------- Snippet 26: Damian is finally starting to play nice :)

Dany: hey... guys.... whatcha doing

Damian, hanging out with Sam: Me and Manson are plotting ways to crush the Mayor's plan to cut budget funding for the city parks and cut down the native trees

Danny: oh, i see.... is this safe?

Sam: probably

Danny: hm.

------------- Snippet 27: digging up cold case

Danny: ....if Damian is out with Sam tonight with their plot against the mayor....

Danny, turning towards his desk: then that means I can work some more on Mrs. Witherbury's murder case that she asked me to solve without Dames guilt-tripping me into bed :)

Danny, settling down at his desk with a thermos full of coffee: i'm glad sam and damian are finally getting along

--------- Snippet 28: sparring

Damian, frowning: your reflexes are incredible but your combat is downright awful, brother. it's truly a miracle i didn't skewer you upon our first meeting

Danny, got his ass kicked by his 7yo brother: *groaning in pain* not everyone has super secret assassin training, Damian. And I don't really have time to actually practice anything.

Damian: Mrs. Fenton knows martial arts and her form is proficient enough, I'm sure she would be delighted to teach you if you asked. I will join since I need to keep my skills sharp and my training was unfinished when I arrived here.

-------- Snippet 29: daytime surprise

Phantom, fighting Skulker in broad daylight: *under his breath* at least Lancer's english test will get canceled for this...

Phantom, dodging a blast from Skulker: *in ASL, furious* don't you have anything better to do, you fuck!?

Skulker: foolish ghost child, speak! I know you're capable of it - speak before you lose the ability to

Phantom: *flips him off instead*

Wraith, sending back a ecto-blast with his sword: please pay attention, phantom

Phantom, doubletaking: *in a hissed whisper* what are you doing here!? it's a school day, you should be at school!

Wraith: Tt. If the boot fits.

------------ Snippet 30: guilt

Danny with his head on his desk, his elbows propped up as he massages his hands: hn

Damian, lurking to the side with a guilty look on his face:

Damian: can i....

Danny, silently holding his hand out to Damian: hrm

Damian, immediately taking it and doing the massages + finger exercises: ...im sorry

Danny: hm... I forgive you

[shepscapades]

OBSESSED with dbhc doc but is there a reason he only sometimes has his horns? i don’t think they were in his ref so i was curious <3

YEAH!! I did a stupid doodle about it here, but basically he eventually added them in s8 when he got really into the goat thing (and they were non-removable), but when he went into season 9 his player model reset, and he thought he would theme his season differently anyway so he decided to go without them. However, halfway through the season he realized he really missed them and made them again, re-coding himself so that they would now be part of his actual player model (so they won’t disappear every time he enters a new world). In addition to adding them to his code, however, he also made them removable! so they’re like, his default state, but he can manually remove them to sleep or whatever else (like when I forget to draw them n.n )

[chaoswarfare]

dp x dc text message crack :)

✨just because ✨

Bat Chat

danny: bruce

danny: bruce

danny: bruce

danny: dad

danny: dad

danny: father man

danny: daaaaaaad

danny: batman

bruce: what

danny:… do you have this set up just to notify you when someone says batman and nothing else.

jason: don’t be so quiet, answer the question old man.

bruce: what did you need

danny: oh yeah

danny: just about forgot about it

danny: so

danny: i may or may not have

danny: possibly/maybe

danny: ate a chunk of kryptonite on a dare

jason: …what????

dick: danny no

dick: we have better impulse control than this

danny: we absolutely do not and you know it

danny: but also say hi guys, kon is here

dick: why do you still need our help if the supers are there?

danny: kryptonite

jason: oh yeah, almost forgot about that part

tim: what did i just wake up to

jason: go back to sleep replacement

danny: scroll up

danny: i can say with full confidence that this has never happened before

danny: usually when i eat solid objects i can just phase them back out.

danny: like the time i swallowed a fork back at casper high when my parents raided the school looking for my ghost half.

tim: excuse me what the fuck

danny: i know right, they couldn’t have waited five minutes until i stopped eating

dick: why can’t you just phase the kryptonite out

danny: i would, but it’s wedged in there pretty good

danny: it just goes intangible with me :/

tim: i have decided i am going back to sleep

tim: it is too early in the afternoon for me to deal with this

jason: good

danny: well, b-man’s here to save me now so i’ll tell you all about it in a few hours

jason: are we going to bring up the fact that danny called bruce dad like 3 times?

dick: he did what

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

👻✨ 📺✨🐉

[nelkcats]

Allies in unusual places

J'onn J'onzz didn't have much hope of receiving help after he was captured. He spent his nights locked up in those terrible laboratories, surrounded by selfish people who saw him as an experiment.

Still he did not give up, he continued to ask for help from the heroes he had heard about. Heroes who could save him and stop the future invasion. Many of those calls were futile, but there were times when he really felt that someone had heard him.

Perhaps it was because he was distracted that he didn't notice the fact that he wasn't the only "experiment" in the facility. It was only after he was moved that he noticed the teenager huddled in one of the containment units.

The boy looked exhausted, doing everything he could to make sure no one got to him, kicking and biting every time they tried to grab him; J'onn's heart broke. It was obvious that the boy wasn't human, he didn't look like a Martian either, but it was clear that he was a living being. A living being that was constantly being hurt by human greed.

The Martian was an adult, an adult who could endure pain, an adult who understood how horrible people could be, but that boy? He looked like a child, a child begging to be seen as a sentient being. J'onn hated it.

The days when he heard his sobs were the worst. That's why when the heroes came to "rescue" him, the first thing he did was set the boy free. Not caring about the looks he was getting, he wrapped the boy in a blanket and took him away (he was so scared, kicking and flailing, afraid he was going to get hurt again).

Even as they argued about the invasion, J'onn never left the boy's side. The same little boy who told them in a weak voice that he could help them, that he knew people who could help them.

Danny wanted to do something for the Martian who had helped him (and wasn't it amazing? there was a Martian in front of him! Someone who knew space!), and he thought that a couple of ghosts owed him some favors.

Unknown to the halfa, many of his former enemies were looking for him, desperate for the disappearance of the youngest of their own. The ghosts were furious, and perhaps an alien invasion could help them release their anger.