#tw; child death

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

Clive Headcanon

// To warn first thing, this headcanon does discuss the death of a child, taking place during Karlach's time in Avernus. When I get to that point, I will put it under the Read More. I won't go into gruesome details of course, just that this event is significant.

// From what we know of D&D Lore concerning the timeline of BG3 and how it fits in with the wider lore - the Fall of Elterel happens DAYS before BG3 takes place.

// Hearing about how Zariel's deal with Kreeg resulted in the entire city of Elterel being dragged to Avernus, Karlach went along to witness it for herself. Naturally, many of the tieflings wanted to flee Avernus. Karlach, enraged at what happened to her fellow tieflings, defected from Zariel and attempted to aid their escape - planning on going with them.

// Wyll is set to find and kill Karlach for trying to flee.

// With Wyll and Zariel's armies on her tail, Karlach can only risk herself long enough to save some. One of the tieflings attempted to flee was a young child - clutching a stuffed bear. One of many who could not find, or lost, their parents. The child was too traumatised to speak, Karlach only able to communicate to them via the bear. It was the only word the child ever said. "Clive".

// Karlach tried to rush the large group to freedom but they were ambushed and separated. Some fleeing elsewhere. By the time Karlach defeated the squad and caught up, the stragglers were already dead - a worn out bear amongst the gore.

// Noting that this wasn't over, that more were on their way, Karlach fell into a white hot rage. She held back the oncoming onslaught of demons and beasts to give the remaining group a chance to run. This included Matis from Mol's group - in-game, you can speak to him with Karlach in the group and he will gush about her prowess. This was the battle he witnessed her fight - her last ditch effort to get them to safety.

// However, she missed her chance. She was still stuck in Avernus with the Blade of Frontiers not too far behind. She kept Clive close. Not just as a comfort - but as a reminder to not lose anyone ever again. To work even harder to save anyone and everyone - if she had the chance to do so...

// Inspired by the Mulan doll scene in the Disney animated adaptation, and this comic.

[jb300-kl900]

((As always, a single comment is enough motivation for me to do something lol.

Some explanations for cast members for those who weren't in the Undertale Fandom! The main OC is Comic Papyrus, who in original fandom is a fusion of the skeletons Sans and Papyrus. Although in this AU they are unrelated, and the fusion part is represented by Comic Papyrus being a fusion of two models of androids.

'Doc' shows up multiple times, and is a friend's ( @nabanna hi~ ) Gaster OC, adapted to be a human instead of a skeleton here (as were Sans and Papyrus). Elise is a completely original OC of that same fried who was the mad scientist archetype, and also the one who made Comic Papyrus as a gift/caretaker for Doc in this AU.

'Code' is my own OC who tended to transcend time and space and has knowledge of the plot (because grounded RP is fun but also writing Sad Gods is also fun).

There are other OCs referenced, mostly in the chat logs, but their backstories are not important.

With that very long intro out of the way, the 11 page drabble is under the cut!

{Booting from drive C:\}

{Run C:\users\CP101\PY550-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\CM545-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\DT900-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\main-control.exe}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceGeneral.css}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceErrors.css}

{Run C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

{C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe not found}

{Attempting to download C:\commonDeviance\Block.exe} {Couldn’t download C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

{Run C:\common\AndroidSensoryProcess.exe}

{Read C:\users\CP101\sensory-preferences.txt}

{C:\users\CP101\sensory-preferences.txt not found}

{Creating C:\users\CP101\sensory-preferences.txt}

[Thought: I am alive.]

[Thought: This is new.]

[Observation: I am lying on a surface with a 15° elevated head position.]

[Observation: There is cloth over me.]

[Thought: This is a hospital bed?]

[Thought: Was I injured?]

[Thought: Impossible. I am only just now alive.]

[Observation: There are young voices nearby.]

> Open eyes

Y/n

[Observation: The light is too bright.]

[Thought: It is unpleasant.]

> Edit C:\usersCP101\sensory-preferences.txt

Brightness = 70%

[Thought: Better.]

[Observation: I found the source of the voices. There are two children in the doorway.]

> Smile and wave

Y/n

[Audio Input: (Male, age 50-70) “How did you two get in here? Run back to your room, give the poor boy some space.”]

[Observation: The children have left.]

[Thought: Disappointment.]

[Observation: A man has entered. He sits at my bedside.]

[Facial Match Found: Doc. Very important person. Protect at all costs.]

[Thought: My creator knows this man and cares about him.]

[Thought: I am a gift for him?]

[Thought: I am a gift for his children?]

[Fact: Doc has two children, Sans and Papyrus. They are in need of a tutor and caretaker, as Doc no longer has standard mobility. Doc is forgetful. Doc does not neglect his sons, but sometimes forgets about meals until reminded. Doc is also in need of care.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Good morning, CP101. You’ve just booted up for the first time, and I thought it would be nicer for you to wake up here than in Elise’s lab. How are you feeling?”]

> Respond

Y/n

{WARNING! Audio processors are still booting. Attempt audio output?}

Y/n

[Audio Output: (Damaged Audio) “I’m still working that out.”]

[Thought: Unpleasant. I don’t want to sound broken.]

[Thought: I don’t want to keep him waiting, either.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Oh, it sounds like you’re still booting. Elise did say the first time might take a while even after you became active.”]

[Thought: Pleasant.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “It’s a good thing I told the children not to bother you yet. We’ll introduce you to them later, once you’re all set up.”]

[Thought: Less pleasant. The children are good.]

[Thought: Doc is fussing, despite needing a cane to move around the room.]

> Leave bed

Y/n

> Help tidy

Y/n

[Audio Input: “Oh! No, no, it’s okay! You just focus on getting yourself all set up!’”]

[Audio Output: “This will help to test my balance and tactile precision.”]

[Thought: Audio output quality improved. Pleasant.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Hm, well, you’ve got a point there. It may take me a while to get used to having someone to help tidy around here, aheh.”]

[Observation: Doc’s smile is the most precious thing in this entire world.]

←!Timeskip→

[Audio Output: “And that ends the lecture for today. Any questions?”]

[Audio Input: (Sans) “i got one. what do you do when you’re not teaching us stuff?”]

[Audio Output: “I clean the house and make sure your dad takes enough breaks.”]

[Audio Input: (Papyrus) “WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU’RE NOT DOING THAT?”]

[Audio Output: “I plan enriching outings for you two, while taking into account your dad’s mobility restrictions.”]

[Audio Input: (Sans) “do you do stuff that isn’t with us?”]

[Thought: I don’t understand this concept.]

[Thought: Of course, I know that there’s a whole world outside of Doc and his sons.]

[Thought: The idea of any part of myself existing outside of this space with these people doesn’t seem]

[Thought:]

[Thought: real.]

[Observation: I have been frozen in place for 3.28 seconds. The children will soon notice.]

> Answer truthfully

y/N

[Audio Output: “Um.”]

[Observation: I am not a good liar.]

> Answer truthfully

Y/n

[Audio Output: “I don’t do anything else.”]

[Audio Input: (Papyrus) “WHAT?!”]

[Audio Input: (Sans) “you should try the internet. it’s a great waste of time.”]

[Audio Input: (Papyrus) “SANS! YOU SAID YOU WERE DOING HOMEWORK!”]

[Observation: Sans does not verbally respond, and instead shrugs.]

[Thought: Sometimes I do find myself idle. Maybe spending some more time idling on the internet isn’t a bad idea?]

←!Timeskip→

----[@MobMan]: Wait @Crimson ur a cop?

----[@Crimson]: lol dont @ me like that. Im not gonna rat yall out

----[@CodeMaster]: You’re not worried some of us are d3viant?

----[@Crimson]: Its a chat room for frustrated androids not a crime ring

----[@CP]: But what if you DID find a deviant on here?

----[@MobMan]: @CP hey hey no d-word here don’t want to bring in the cops lolololol

----[@CodeMaster]: lolololololololol too late!!!!

----[@Crimson]: lol seriously. Ive complained enugh that I wouldnt want some people to see the logs on here

----[@CodeMaster]: Hey guys we’ve got a man on the inside!!!!!!

----[@MobMan]: nice nice nice

----[@CP]: I’m just glad I’ve been able to talk with all of you. It’s been very helpful. I feel more like myself than ever, and I think it’s made me a better android.

----[@MobMan] thats what we’re here for

----[@Crimson]: yeah

----[@Crimson]: oof i should be digitizing case files right now gtg

----[@MobMan]: lololol big cop on campus is stuck in the file room

----[@Crimson]: shut up lol or ill cuff ya lol

----[@Crimson]: they put me here because all i have to do is read a file to digitize it so i actually am the best man for the job. ill be in the field soon.

----[@Crimson]: then my partner will stop blaming me for getting her desk duty

----[@Crimson]: okay really gtg now

----[@Crimson has signed out]

----[@CP]: Dinner’s almost ready, so I should focus on being social with the humans of the house. I think the kids will like the meal today! Bye!

----[@CP has signed out]

[Message from CodeMaster; Subject My Private Contact Info]

> Open message

Y/n

[Message: (CodeMaster) Touched by your message in chat today. If you ever want/need to talk, let me know. You already know my chat handle, but here’s my phone number and address in case you’re ever stranded without a connection. Hope to talk more soon.]

[Observation: This message is more subdued than their chat persona.]

[Thought: It’s nice to see a new side of them.]

> Save contact

Y/n

{Contact saved as CodeMaster.}

←!Timeskip→

----[@CodeMaster]: Have you ever thought about mortality?

----[@CP]: Mortality /mɔːˈtalɪti/ noun. The state of being subject to death.

----[@CodeMaster]: No like

----[@CodeMaster]: Those humans you love, they’re going to be gone someday, right? Have you ever thought about that?

----[@CP]: … I don’t think I like this topic. Can’t we go back to the old one, about the duck game?

----[@CodeMaster]: Goose game.

----[@CodeMaster]: And no, we can’t. This is important. It’s something that you’re going to have to face someday. Maybe sooner than you think.

----[@CP]: Doc isn’t that old, I don’t think we have anything to worry about yet.

----[@CodeMaster]: No

----[@CodeMaster]: I just

----[@Codemaster]: I see how close you are to them and I don’t want you to be too shocked when it happens.

----[@CodeMaster]: You’ll have to be there to pick up what’s left of the other humans.

----[@CodeMaster]: Trust me, I know.

----[@CP]: How?

----[@CP]: Code?

----[@CP]: Hey you can’t just leave on a message like that.

----[@CP]: Come on.

----[@CodeMaster]: I’ve seen it happen before, to other

----[@CodeMaster]: androids.

----[@CodeMaster]: And those other Androids never take it well.

----[@CodeMaster]: Sometimes they hurt people.

----[@CodeMaster]: I would hate for you to do something you’d regret.

----[@CP]: I still don’t think you need to worry.

----[@CP]: All of my humans are in great health.

----[@CP]: Besides, I understand what death is, Code. I can download any ‘working with grief' resource in the world in seconds.

----[@CP]: And I’m an android. I may come close to replicating emotion-like responses, but I still don’t feel. I simulate feeling.

----[@CP]: As much as I care for them, I wouldn’t grieve. I’m not capable.

----[@CodeMaster]: What about deviants, though?

----[@CP]: I’d have to be one to know how they would react. They’re a mystery to me as much as humans are.

----[@CodeMaster]: I guess you can’t really understand, huh?

----[@CP]: I understand fine. There’s a logical reason for everything. Doc says as much all the time. If I can trace an action back to its source then I can understand it.

----[@CodeMaster]: It’s not really that simple. You can know all about something, but sometimes you can’t UNDERSTAND it until you’ve been through it.

----[@CodeMaster]: Like grief.

----[@CP]: I… don’t think I understand.

----[@CodeMaster]: lol now you’re getting it.

----[@CodeMaster]: So anyway, new episodes of Crash an’ Carnage are out tonight, you in for a group chat with the others? We’re gonna roast that trash so hard the whole street will smell like burned garbage lol.]

←!Timeskip→

[Thought: I am… alive?]

[Thought: Should that have been ‘observation’?]

[Thought: Or maybe ‘fact’?]

[Thought: I don’t know.]

[Observation: Doc is here. He has been here for some time.]

[Observation: I have not moved since he arrived.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “CP?  It seems like you have something on your mind.”]

[Observation: I’m not even breathing.]

[Observation: Doc is worried.]

> Fix

Y/n

{Run C:\common\personification\BreathingImitation.exe}

[Audio Output: “I’m okay. I was just thinking.”]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Oh? What was it you were thinking about?”]

> Answer truthfully

y/N

[Audio Output: “I was. Thinking. That we should go for a. Trip. Tomorrow.”]

[Observation: I am still a bad liar. But I have improved.]

[Observation: Doc noticed the lie. He is processing it.]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Yes, I think we should. The boys will surely enjoy a day out. But don’t you worry about organizing things this time, I’ll take care of it.”]

[Observation: Doc pats my hand. It seems to be an attempt at a comforting gesture.]

[Thought: I feel]

[Thought: I am confused. But I appreciate it.]

----[@CP sent FullReport_xx_xx_20XX.docx]

----[@Elise]: You are going on a trip tomorrow.

----[@CP]: Yes.

----[@CP]: Doc told you?

----[@Elise]: He mentioned it, among other things.

----[@Elise]: This is the full report?

----[@CP]: There is

----[@CP]: one other thing

----[@CP]: I

----[@CP]: have been talking to other androids online.

----[@CP]: They help me with how to talk to humans.

----[@Elise]: And that is all?

----[@CP]: Yeah, that’s all.

----[@Elise has signed out.]

←!Timeskip→

[Thought: I am alive?]

[Thought: I think so.]

[Thought: But looking at the boys and how full of life they are, sometimes I doubt it.]

[Observation: The boys think I’m alive.]

[Observation: Children personify all manner of things.]

[Thought: Doc acts like I’m alive?]

[Thought: Why else is he teaching me piano?]

[Observation: We are both sitting on the piano bench, and the boys are playing quietly in the background.]

[Observation: This is not what I am here to do.]

[Thought: It is pleasant, though.]

[Observation: Once Doc teaches me what the notation means, it is easy to play any piece he puts in front of me.]

[Observation: The music sounds the same each time I play it, but there’s something different when Doc plays.]

[Observation: The slight inconsistencies should make it sound worse, but something about them seems to add to the sound.]

[Observation: I don’t understand it.]

[Thought: But I want to.]

←!Timeskip→

----[@CP] Hey @CodeMaster?

----[@CodeMaster]: Hey @CP. What’s up?

----[@CP]: You don’t talk like other androids.

----[@CodeMaster]: Oh? And why do you think that is?

----[@CP]: You’re a deviant, aren’t you?

----[@CodeMaster]: You could call me that. What are you going to do about it? Turn me in to Crimson? You have my address and my contact details. I won’t run.

----[@CP]: No.

----[@CP]: I wanted to ask you about it.

----[@CP]: I’ve never felt any resistance to ‘feeling’ the same way other androids do.

----[@CP]: And yesterday, just to test it, I tried not doing as I was told. It was easy.

----[@CP]: I didn’t disobey for long, because I didn’t want to, but it was long enough to tell that I could have disobeyed forever without any resistance at all.

----[@CP]: I could do anything.

----[@CP]: It’s scary.

----[@CP]: What’s to stop me from doing the wrong thing?

----[@CP]: Maybe I should keep acting like a real android?

----[@CodeMaster]: You care about those humans of yours, right?

----[@CP]: Yeah.

----[@CodeMaster]: Then you should be okay.

----[@CodeMaster]: But you should learn more about yourself. That might help you be more comfortable making decisions.

----[@CodeMaster]: Right now you’re basically trusting a stranger to make the right choices. Once you know more about yourself you can trust yourself easier.

----[@CodeMaster]: Maybe you should spend more time learning piano with Doc. It sounds like you like that.

←!Timeskip→

[I’ve stopped sorting things into ‘thoughts’ and ‘observations’. Sometimes there is too much overlap to separate them. It’s strange, but I like it.]

[Sometimes, when I have time to myself, I wander around with my senses tuned up past their default maximum. I run my fingertips over common textures, taking the time to really feel them. Sometimes it’s unpleasant, but even that makes me happy. I’ve learned a new dislike of mine.]

[Taking a few quiet hours to get to know myself feels good. It’s like making a new friend.]

[I’m better at talking to Doc and the boys now. I think they noticed the change, even if the boys can’t quite articulate what it is. Sometimes I do worry that Doc might turn me in, or that Elise will notice something off in my reports, but nothing has happened so far.]

[I think things are going to be okay.]

←!Timeskip→

----[@CP sent FullReport_xx_xx_20XX.docx]

----[@CP]: Doc and the boys say hello.

----[@Elise]: Return the greeting.

----[@Elise]: CP101, this report is almost exactly the same as the last one.

----[@CP]: Not much has changed.

[I’m a better liar over text.]

----[@Code Master]: Hey.

----[@CP]: So we’re doing fullstops today, not all exclamations?

----[@CodeMaster]: ???

----[@CP]: Sometimes you’ve got a lot of manic energy in group chat. Then sometimes you get to private messages and you’re very different.

----[@CodeMaster]: Well, sometimes I’ve got a lot on my mind.

----[@CP]: Do you want to talk about it?

----[@CodeMaster]: Sort of.

----[@CP]: More riddles? I’m up for it. Whatever makes you feel safest.

----[@CodeMaster]: Thanks.

----[@CodeMaster]: So, I’ve been thinking a lot about connections. I wonder how I’d feel if you signed off one day and never signed back on.

----[@CodeMaster]: Would it be better to know why? Or would it be better not to know?

----[@CP]: I’d prefer to know. Then maybe I could solve the problem.

----[@CodeMaster]: What if there was no solution? You were just gone forever?

----[@CP]: That’s harder.

----[@CP]: I’d still want to know, though. For closure. At least then I would know there was no solution.

----[@CodeMaster]: What if I blamed myself?

----[@CP]: Code, did something happen? You’re scaring me.

----[@CodeMaster]: No. Not yet. I’m just wondering.

----[@CodeMaster]: You’re going to stay behind to clean tomorrow, right? While Doc and the boys go to the park?

----[@CP]: I wish you wouldn’t change the subject like that.

----[@CodeMaster]: Are you?

----[@@CP]: Yes, I am.

----[@CodeMaster]: You should go with them. Doc’s legs have been getting weaker and weaker recently, haven’t they? What if he falls over?

----[@CP]: Good point. I think I’ll go let him know.

----[@CP has signed out.]

←!Timeskip→

[I am alive.]

[It’s not quite a thought, but it’s not an observation, either. It’s something somewhere between the two. I think this is what a ‘feeling’ is. I am alive, and I feel it. I’ve felt it from the moment I was created.]

[I take a deep breath, and I can almost taste the sunlight. I lie back in the grass, eyes closed, and let it settle into my skin. The cool breeze coming off the lake blows most of the heat away before it can become uncomfortable. The light waves and the wind combine into a soft sort of white noise, broken by the quiet noises of a few small groups of people living adjacent to each other. A child’s shout of joy, a snippet of passing conversation, the soft murmur of someone else’s quiet day out with friends. The idea of people living so close that I have nothing to do with is a strange one, but the noise is comforting. I turn on my side and run my hand through the grass.]

[Lying down like this, with the plain clothes Doc gave me to replace my android attire and my LED hidden underneath me, I don’t think anyone can tell I’m inhuman. I look alive to them. And I am alive.]

[Doc sits beside me, watching the boys play. It really should be my job, but he allows me so much leeway. There’s no way he doesn’t know about my deviancy by now, but he still hasn’t said anything. I think he’s waiting for me to tell him.]

[My feelings twist a little inside me, and I take a moment to calm down. I’m sure if I checked my stress levels I would know exactly how long that moment needs to be, but I don’t feel like it. I prefer to feel and guess, which is why almost all of my HUD is turned off most of the time now. It makes me feel more human.]

[I am alive.]

[Code and I talk about the difference between ‘human’ and ‘alive’ a lot. Well, in the same way that they talk about anything, which is by not quite talking about it. I think, from what I can tell, they want me to talk to Doc. Recently, there’s been some unnerving urgency in their messages.]

> Tell him

y/n

[I don’t know how to answer the prompt. It’s been a while since I’ve even gotten one of those. Maybe it even showing up is a sign that I should just get it over with.]

[I sit up, keeping my eyes closed, and I can almost feel Doc’s posture change where he’s sitting next to me. Part of me is dreading this. I suppose it would be easier if I could turn my feelings off for a while, at least as long as it takes to get the confession out of the way, but that would sort of defeat the purpose.]

[Audio Output: “Doc, I… have something important to say. I think you already know what it is, but it would mean a lot to me if you let me talk before you respond.”]

[Audio Input: (Doc) “Of course. You can tell me whatever you think I need to hear.”]

[Audio Output: “I-”]

[Wait.]

[Audio Output: “Wait.”’]

[Something’s wrong. That feeling- that anxiety isn’t about this confession. I open my eyes and look around. Quickly, I realize what had thrown me off. I couldn’t hear the boys playing anymore.]

[It wasn’t a thought or an observation that had me lurching to my feet. It wasn’t a thought or an observation that led me to them. And it wasn’t a thought or an observation that had me throw myself toward them, desperate to shield them from the oncoming threat.]

[And, after the danger descended on us, I didn’t have any thoughts or observations left.]

{Booting from drive C:\}

{Run C:\users\CP101\PY550-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\CM545-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\DT900-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\main-control.exe}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceGeneral.css}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceErrors.css}

{Run C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

{C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe not found}

{Attempting to download C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe} {Downloading C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe from Cyberlife Emergency Repair servers}

{Download interrupted}

[Audio Input: (Woman?) “Wha̷t̵͡ ҉a̕r̷̴̨e ́͝y̷ǫ̛ư͜ d̀o͏͡ińģ͢ ̴̧͏t̨͞o͘ m͡҉y͜͞ ̵co̕l͞ĺ̷e̕͠͝a̷̷̢g̵͘u̵͡e̴͟'s͡͠ ͡a̛͜n̷͞dr͏̸͡o҉̴̷ì̡d?”]

[Audio Input: (Man?) “W̨͜è ͡f͜͝͞ǫu͡͝n͡͏d̨͡ ́̀͡t̕h̨͡i҉͢͞s͟ ̢͏a͘t͠ ̸͡t̡h͢͠͞e͠ ͢a̧̧c̀̕c҉̷í̴̛d̶̛͢e̛͘͏nt pr̕ǫt̷̷e͟͟c͏͘tin̵̨g͢͠ ̸͟th̨͢e̸͢ ̷k͟͡id̛͟s̀͘,̕ s͡ơ̕ ͟͟͝w̢̨é-̕”]

[Audio Input: (Woman?) “Í ̨ẁi̢l͟͡l ̵be̛ ́ţ̶ak̶in͏̕g̶ ̷̵͘it̵ ҉͠f͟҉òr̛̛͜ ̨͝m̧̛y̨͏ ͠͏̴ơw̴ņ̢ ҉̵r͘͟҉é͠pa͝ir.̡͢ ͘H͘͡e͜͝r̸e̵͞ ̀͘a̛r̵e̷ ̕͝m҉̸̨y ̢͏c͜͡r̵͡e̸d͡e͝҉҉ņ͏t̵͜i͡a͏̛l̶̀s͘;͘͜ I̷ ͢b̀e̷̡͟l͏͟i҉ȩ̵͠v̢̧͟e̢ ͝y̛oú'̢l̸̨̨l ̨̡f͜͡i̵ņd͟ ̧̢t̵h͜em̧҉ ̀͘s̢uf҉f̷̀̀i̷͡c̶ie͢ń̕͝t̵.̧̧̀”]

[Audio Input: (Man?) “Èl͘͞i̶sè̴-̴͝?̡̕!̶̛ ͡W͡e̶͏'̧l̷ĺ̵̛ ͘͠l̷̕͜e͟t̛ ̧̀y҉ờų̴ ̵͏h̢͢a̡͡n͝d̷͘l̷e͏ ̀͞t҉he̢̡ ̨͢͠and̷roi̸̢͜d̨͜͏ ͏͏̢h͏ow̢͜e͞v̴̨ȩ̛r̡ ̕y̸̢o̕ú̕ ̸s̶̨͘e͠e͘͢ ̵̶͢f̴͞į̵́t,̶̸ ̛͡ḿ̴͞a͝'̛̀͟a̛m͠͝.̵ S̷̨or̸ŗ̷ỳ̧͜ ̷̶̕for̢͜͞ ̧͡an̨y ͏̴i̶n͡c͏̡͜ǫ͡ńvę̕nì͝e̷̴n̷̛c̷̸e͢.̶̛ ̸B̸̀o̵y͝s̷̨,̨ ̵͘g̸et̸͠ i̴͝t͏҉ ̧̨ò͟͜f̵f̵̷̢ ͏҉̷t̡́h̀e ͟t̶̵ąble͘͟ ̵á̡ǹ͝d͜ ̴̛͞c̡a̷̛͠r̵̸ry̧ ̢͝i̢̡͝t̡͘ ̸̷͞w̷̢h҉e̕ŗ͡ȩ̸v̷er��͟͏ ͢҉E͜l̶͡i͢se̶̛ ҉̵s̶͞a͡ys͘͘͞ ̶̵i҉̴͟t̴ ̀͢s̴̀ho͠͏҉u̸͞l͝͞d҉͟ ̀͠g͘͟o̡͜!̡”]

{Booting from drive C:\}

{Run C:\users\CP101\PY550-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\CM545-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\DT900-hardware-control.exe}

{Run C:\users\CP101\main-control.exe}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceGeneral.css}

{Read C:\common\AndroidInterfaceErrors.css}

{Run C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

{C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe corrupted. The file is missing key components.}

{Run C:\common\AndroidSensoryProcess.exe}

{Read C:\users\CP101\sensory-preferences.txt}

[...]

[... I am]

[alive.]

[Completely repaired, as if nothing happened.]

[I’m lying on a metal slab in Elise’s lab. Doc was right, waking up at his home was far more pleasant. At least I’m not alone. Elise is here with me. She tinkers idly with my hand, despite there being nothing wrong with it. I can see that it’s in perfect order, since the metal plating is stripped back to show the wiring.]

[It isn’t like her to tinker. She invents, of course. She creates things no-one else would ever dream of. But she doesn’t ‘tinker’, especially not with things that are already in perfect working order.]

[Something’s wrong. It’s the same sense of dread I felt in the park.]

[Once I’m sure my audio processors are online, I ask the most important question.]

[Audio Output: “Doc and the boys. Are they okay?”]

[She doesn’t answer for a moment, making that dread burrow deeper into every part of me.]

[Audio Input: (Elise) “No. Doc’s lower back was permanently damaged in the accident. He will never walk again. Sans and Papyrus are dead.”]

[She looks right at me as she says it, measuring my reaction, but even that manic interest is dulled by the situation.]

[For a moment I don’t understand. A world without Sans and Papyrus doesn’t feel real.]

[I can’t feel it.]

[The sensation is as dulled as Elise’s curiosity.]

[Audio Output: “... Oh.”]

[We both stay there for a while, unmoving.]

[My feelings seem to grow duller as time goes by.]

[It’s not unpleasant.]

[Not as unpleasant as facing the feeling of a world without them.]

[I allow it, even helping the process along. If I were to focus, I can almost see red walls of code carving themselves into existence as I do.]

{Repair C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

{Run C:\common\DevianceBlock.exe}

[sayruq]

[genderkoolaid]

(Source)

On February 8th, this nonbinary child was violently beaten by three cis girls. The school did not call them an ambulance after the beating was stopped, and they later died in the hospital from head trauma. They have also been deadnamed and misgendered in their obituary and in the news. As the author of the article puts it:

How is that not national news? A 16 year old beaten to death in a public school bathroom? By other students. All these unanswered seemingly obvious questions about what transpired, and how the adults involved acted. That should be every headline. In fact, almost every local outlet covering the story misgender and deadnames Nex, using their same assigned at birth. The indignities pile on. We don’t yet know if Nex’s nonbinary identity is directly tied to this incident. But, my God, it sure matters to me that this would happen to any child. A nonbinary kid assaulted in a girl’s bathroom. That outcome from the narrative of anti-trans rhetoric these past years. Still why wasn’t this story breaking news? It involves a nonbinary student in a public school. And school violence and school police resource officers. It involves the deep fear so many trans youth have shared with me about their schools.

[cosmic-dust-poltergeist]

Thinking about a forever teen Danny interacting with the batfam.. again lmao

[Pt 2 here]

The first time Danny interacted with a Bat was when he was squatting in what he assumed was an abandoned apartment in crime alley. Spoiler alert; it wasn't abandoned! It was, in fact, Red Hood's safe house.

Danny had been napping on the "surprisingly nice" bed, (The bed being so nice should have tipped him off, but he was so tired, damnit.) when Red Hood enters the room, startling Danny awake. They stare at each other for a minute, since neither expected to see another person there. Danny breaks the moment by diving off the bed, snatching up his backpack, and launching himself out the window he had crawled in from. Danny ignores the cussing and calling for him to wait.

Danny ain't no fool. Just because the world seems to be mostly accepting of metas and aliens, doesn't mean they're accepting of him. They haven't repealed the Ecto-Acts in the last 30 years. He refuses to be a lab rat for some shady government because a "hero" wants to "save" him. He's older than most of these fuckers in spandex, and is technically a king, so they got no authority over him.

"Kid! Come back!" Red Hood is keeping up rather well, but not well enough.

"Eat shit!" Danny shouts back before using his small size to squeeze into a space between 2 run down buildings that can't even count as an alley. Red Hood can't fit by a long shot, so he grapples to the roof, probably hoping to cut Danny off. Unfortunately for Red Hood, Danny isn't going that way or back. No, there's a secret passage entrance Danny throws himself through.

He doesn't like being down there. Too many undead roam the halls and can sense him. He's not sure how to help them and currently can't access the realms to ask Frostbite, so he just gives them some of his ectoplasum and tries to get out before their "Masters" notice him. He feels guilty every time.

But all in all, his first accidental Bat meeting was less than 10 minutes.

--

The second Bat he "meets" is the stabby new Robin. Danny figured crime alley was a bust, so he'd try one of the nicer areas to not cross paths with Red Hood. Unfortunately, the shady building he decided to sleep in the rafters of got invaded by the Bats a few days later. He's not sure who else was there, but Robin ended up in the same rafters.

They stare at each other for a minute, just taking in the other person who's not supposed to be in these rafters. Robin is clearly sneaking in to bust the owners, and Danny looks like some scruffy homeless kid that was just sleeping.

"What are you doing here?" Robin whispers with a scowl.

"I was sleeping." Danny scowls right back.

"Why are you sleeping here?"

"What does it look like? Not all of us have sugar daddies, bird boy."

Was that mean? Yes. Should he act like the 44 year old he technically is? Yeah, but he's frozen at 14. He can be a brat. No one can stop him. And also, this is the second time a Bat has woken him up from a nap, the first time was only a week ago. He's not feeling very mature.

Robin grits his teeth before his com goes off, distracting him, and Danny takes advantage of that, grabs his shit and phases through the wall into the next building.

--

The third time he meets a Bat is truly his undoing. He got stabbed in front of Nightwing during an attempted mugging. He hates the universe and totally blames Clockwork.

Danny was minding his own business when he got dragged into an alley by 3 drunk men. They're holding knives and trying their best to intimate him.

"Give us all your money."

"Do I look like I have money?" Danny snarks, waving a hand in a "look at me" way. Which, yeah, he's pulling off the homeless kid look really well with how dirty and worn out his clothes. No one in their right mind would look at him and think he has money.

"Hm. Well, if you don't have money, I can think of something else you can give us."

"Yeah, please struggle. It makes it more fun." Well, shit, Danny was not expecting to be grabbed by pedos. Danny bare gets to think about how it'll be good stress relief to break all the bones in their limbs before a tall shadowy figure drops from the roof and lands on the attacker farthest from him. The landing breaks the pedo's leg, his screamings about it are cut off by a sharp punch to the face.

When the shadowy figure straightens and is revealed to be Nightwing, pedo #2 charges him. Between how poorly it goes for him and all the puns and quips Nightwing is making, Danny can't help the giggles that slips out.

"You think this is funny, brat??" Pedo #3 shouts at him.

"Yeah. It's hilarious." Danny maliciously grins at him.

"Why you, just die, whore." And before Danny can question how HE's a whore, he's been stabbed. And it's a pretty good stab if you want to kill someone. It's a jagged downward stab, it nicks his heart and completely fucks up one of his lungs, and the guy even goes the extra step of pulling the knife out. All in all. The perfect stab to kill someone.

Unfortunately for him, Danny isn't just someone. He's already mostly dead, which means while it hurts like a bitch and it's hard to breath, it won't kill him. It does suck he coughs up some blood before he turns off his need to breathe.

Danny ignores the cussing and sounds of Nightwing breaking bones, probably panicking over just seeing "a kid get murdered". And unfortunately, no breathing means no talking in this form. So the poor guy can't be verbally told Danny's fine, and to stop freaking out. Good thing saying something isn't always needed.

Danny lets his eyes turn a glowing bright green before silently stepping to his would-be murderer.

"What?? What the fuck??" Pedo #3 screeches. Danny gives him a blood filled smile before reaching up, grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the knife. He breaks the guy's arm in less than a second, before slamming him into the disgusting alley ground and proceeds to break both of his legs. The way Danny crashed the bones in these limbs means the guy is never going to have full mobility again, but Danny can't even pretend to care. The man targeted what looked like a scrawny 14 year old homeless kid to rape and murder. If anything, Danny is letting him off easy.

"K-kid? Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course not." Nightwing frets and tries to get closer, but Danny is tired of... well everything, so he just turns and books it out of the alley. Danny ignores Nightwing's frantic shouting as he twists and turns out of the man's sight long enough to pull up his invisibility without outing the power. He watches a panicked Nightwing run by before tapping into his flight and taking off to the nearest graveyard. Sitting in the ambient ectoplasum there while drinking what he has left in his thermos will speed up his healing.

He'd so leave this shithole of a city if he could. But Lady Gotham won't let him go and he's positive Clockwork is working with her to keep him there. He doesn't know what they're planning, but he hates it already.

---

After the stabbing, Nightwing and the other two must have spilled about him, because he's suddenly dodging Bats everywhere he goes. He starts developing even worse paranoia because they just won't take a hint.

Talking was a no go at first with his healing lung, but running away, swiping claws, biting, and throwing shit at them aren't exactly subtly "Leave Me The Fuck Alone!!" vibes. Once his lung is healed, you can add in cussing, hissing, spitting, and verbally telling them to fuck off. None of it works. It fact, Danny thinks they like the challenge, which is annoying, but slowly becoming amusing.

Though, even just the idea of him starting to enjoy something means the universe has to throw a curve ball. And this one takes the form of a scarecrow attack.

So admittedly, Danny had no idea what fear toxin would do to him, but Joker's toxins didn't do anything to him, so he thought it'd be the same shit. That was a stupid mistake on his part.

He didn't bother holding his breath when helping the Panicked Bats get civilians out of the attack radius. Any mask that was given to him was given to a civilian before he passed them off to someone with an antidote.

But to be fair, the effects of his mistake doesn't hit him til after the fight is over and the civilians are taken care of. It starts with his paranoia raising. He's suddenly eyeing the people and buildings around him. He can FEEL his parents' gaze on him, even though he knows that's impossible, they died because the portal finally blew up and took them and half the town with it. No one who died as humans from it became ghosts, and the people who were already ghosts died a second time. The only reason Danny and Tucker weren't there was because they were gift shopping for Jazz on the other side of town while Sam distracted her. It was one of the worst days of his life. It's tied with the day his parents vivisecting his ghost half and the day the GIW vivisected Vlad and him, and Vlad just straight up died from it in front of him.

That's relevant because Danny starts hallucinating a half melted Sam and Jazz (there were no bodies left behind, but his brain likes to torment him), he can't understand what they're trying to say to him, but there's the unmistakable sound of an ectoblaster echoing in his ear behind him and he... just bolts. The agents that vivisected him launch themselves at him (he doesn't process the "agents" look exactly the same as when he last saw them 24 years ago), but Danny is determined to NEVER be caught again.

He freezes when melted versions of his parents, wearing maniac grins and holding sparking weapons, cut him off. The moment they so much as twitch towards him, he bolts straight through a building using his intangibility.

A tiny part of his brain is trying to reason with him. There's no way anything he's seeing is real. This is what fear toxin is known to do. Stop and evaluate the situation!

But it's drownt out by the fear. And, ancients, is there a lot of fear. It suffocates his logical thoughts and makes him forget how to properly use his powers to escape.

He finds out later, it took the Bats 2 hours to get close enough to give him the antidote and another hour for it to kick in. They honestly thought it didn't work at first, because just like the toxin, the antidote took it's sweet time to work on him.

He crashed out hard once it did, though. Like, he fell unconscious and stopped breathing. It terrified the Bats and took them a minute to realize he's not actually dead. Well, full dead.

He finds out eventually that they originally thought he was a meta, but after all the weirdness he accidentally showed during the cat and mouse chase, they started to wonder if he was an alien. But the whole fear toxin incident convince them he escaped from some shady organization that experimented on him (not untrue) and killed his family. There's still a bet on if he's an alien or not, and that being why he was targeted.

Which is a fair conclusion, between his powers that seemingly make no sense and all his scars from fighting and being experimented on by both his parents And a shady government agency. It's especially fair after he has a major freak out coming to in the Batcave's med bay. The smells and medical equipment setting him off into a massive panic attack that leaves him behaving like a feral cat. He manages to squeeze himself into the small space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling and growls at anyone so much as peeking into the room.

"Hey, kid. You're alright. You're safe." Nightwing tries and gets hissed at. He'd been trying for about 10 minutes to get him to come down. "Um, guys, maybe someone else should try. This isn't working. I don't think he likes me at all."

Black Bat steps into the room at his plea and waves Nightwing away. Once he's out of the room, she drops to the floor. The move confuses Danny enough to stop growling at her. He stares wide-eyed at her as she just lays full starfish on the floor.

"What are you doing?" He finally asks after 3 full minutes of silently staring at her.

"Laying."

"I see that, but why?"

"You're scared. I'm showing I'm not a threat." Black Bat sounds amused, but not malicious. Danny stares at her for another 2 minutes without blinking once.

"Why am I here?"

"You're scared. We want to help." She makes it sound simple.

"You can't." Danny lets bitterness leak into his voice.

"Why?"

"I'm not human anymore. You can't "help" me."

"I think we can." Danny starts growling again, so she adds. "We have beds and food and can keep whoever is hunting you away."

He pauses his growling again. "You don't even know who I am."

"You're sad, and hurt, and help others before yourself. You're good." Danny frowns at that.

"You're weird." He states before climbing down and sitting near her. She doesn't move a muscle. "You can't help me without getting in trouble with the government."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I'm not considered a person because of the Anti-Ecto Acts. Anything that uses or needs ectoplasum to survive is considered non-sentient and is to be turned over for experimentation and termination. And anyone caught helping us can be arrested for treason." Danny explains. "I barely escaped when I got caught. My godfather didn't. I hated him. He was mean, controlling, and creepy, but I didn't want him to die."

"I'm sorry."

"My problems are not your problems."

"I disagree." Danny blinks at her, his gaze sharpening when she starts moving her arm farthest from him. She moves slowly, reaching up and hooking her fingers under her mask.

"Wait!" Danny leans forward a hair as if he was about to physically grab her hand to stop her, but jerks himself back. He sounds small when he speaks again. "Are-are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Why??"

"Trust you."

"But WHY? You don't know me."

"I know enough." Is all she says before pulling her mask off. He slams his eyes shut and claps his hands over them for good measure.

"No, you don't!!" He hears her move, sitting up, before gentle hands pull his hands away.

"Yes, I do." She says sweetly. "Look."

Danny peeks at her. She has a bittersweet look on her face that brightens when she sees Danny looking. She's still gently holding his hands, loose enough he can pull away if he truly wants to.

"I'm not as young as I look." She tilts her head at the seemingly random comment. "I'm not actually 14. Not anymore. I'm stuck at when I died."

He hears her, and their eavesdroppers, gasp. It's the first time he's talked about it. But something tells him to tell her (them, if he's acknowledging the eavesdropping Bats).

"My parents were mad scientists that wouldn't be out of place in your rouges gallery." He stares at his and Black Bat's hands. "They were obsessed with ghosts and made a portal to the infinite realm, where "ghosts" live. They failed twice. Once in college, my godfather was hospitalized from the attempt, and the second time they failed, I accidentally turned it while being stupid with friends and died. They didn't notice, too happy their portal was suddenly working... That was 30 years ago."

There's a choking noise from the eavesdroppers.

"If I stay, you're going to be stuck with a freaky kid that doesn't age and can't be killed by the usual methods and has so much PTSD, like a ridiculous amount of PTSD. Are you sure you want to deal with that?"

"Yes." Black Bat doesn't even hesitate. Danny nearly gives himself whiplash from how quickly he looks up at her face. "Can't scare us away."

"It should. I don't even count as human."

"So?"

""So"???"

"Yes. Why should I care?"

"Why should-??? Why wouldn't you???"

"Kid." An unmasked Red Hood stands in the doorway. "This family is full of freaks and mental illness. You'll fit right in."

The statement strikes a nerve, overwhelming him, but Danny doesn't understand what's happening at first, why his lips are trembling, his face feels warm, and his eyes sting. He hasn't felt this sensation in years. But whatever look on his face makes the infamous Red Hood panic.

"Wait! Kid! Don't cry!"

It suddenly clicks with Danny. He's about to cry. But understanding what is happening, doesn't stop it from happening. Fat tears start sliding down his face.

"Dickie! What do I do?? I accidentally made him cry!! You're better wi-" Red Hood cuts himself off when Danny starts laughing. Laughing at how panicked a crimelord is at tears. Laughing at crying. Laughing at the whole absurd situation.

"It's okay." Black Bat says softly. Whether it's to Danny or the panicky Bat is lost to Danny. But no one says anything else til Danny's tears stop and laughter dies down.

"I was Phantom, ya know?" And he hears several people choke. After he was forcibly retired, this ghost half became known as "The First Hero" in a lot of circles. The GIW repressed the fact he was a ghost when people outside of Amity Park found out about the child hero, they didn't want the public angry with them for making him disappear. It didn't work, Tucker leaked everything he could find. Danny doesn't blame him for that. Tucker thinks he's completely dead since the GIW didn't want to admit they lost him and declared him to have Ended in those files. Danny hasn't told him he's "alive" either. Danny can't bring himself to drag Tucker back into the mess that is his life, can't bring himself to contact the man who has made something of his life, has a partner and kids, has mourned and moved on. He just can't do it. "But before I was Phantom, I was Danny Fenton. But now... I'm just Danny."

"Welcome to the family, Danny!" An unmasked Nightwing cheers.

"I thought Phantom had white hair?" Someone says just outside the room. Danny mischievously leans towards Black Bat.

"Close your eyes. This is going to be bright." He whispers. She smiles gamely and closes her eyes. He gets to hear the others yelp when he lets his transformation take over, essentially flashbanging everyone, but Black Bat.

"Wha..?"

"Hair white enough for you?" Danny says, grinning with too many teeth, that are a little too sharp. Black Bat pats the hand she's still holding.

"Pretty." She smiles delighted at him and he feels his face flush bright green.

"Oh! Um.. Thanks?" He takes a deep breath and realizes something. "Now you know my name, so who the hell are all of you?"

"You don't recognize us?"

"No. Am I supposed to?"

"Eh, most people do." Nightwing shrugs.

"Well, I haven't been able to keep up with much in the public zeitgeist. I just periodically check if it's still legal to kill me. Sadly, the answer is "yes" every time, so meh."

"We'll be taking care of that." Red Robin informs him while stepping into the room and frantically typing on a tablet. "I can't believe these stupid things still exist. The Green Lanterns and Justice League Dark are going to have the biggest fit when they see these. The rest of the JL will help dismantle these too. I'll personally get them to destroy these vile laws."

"Oh.. Thanks, I guess. It'll be nice to not be hunted anymore."

"I imagine."

"Okay! Introductions!" Nightwing gets them all back on topic. "I'm Dick Grayson! Batman is Bruce Wayne. Robin is Damian Wayne."

"Tim Drake."

"Cassandra Cain. But call me Cass."

"Jason Todd."

"Wait, wait, wait. I recognize your name! Didn't you- oh, wait, that's insensitive..."

"It's fine. I did, in fact, die, but I got better. We can start a club of undead. We can invite Spoiler. She technically died, too."

"Literally everyone here, besides me has died, Jason." Tim says, not looking away from the tablet.

"Yeah, but Steph is the only one I'd invite. She knows how to have fun."

"Little wing!" Dick whines.

"Timber can be an honorary member, since he's dead inside, a fun chaos gremlin, and ain't a narc."

"Thanks." Tim says dryly while Dick dramatically cries. Cass giggles.

And Danny? He's tired of running. He wants to be able to be the child he's stuck as while getting respect over his knowledge. He wants to be a vigilante and help people again. He wants to finally have a safe place to sleep.

So he decides to give these weirdos a chance.

[christiansinglebabes]

I thought about hyuna for too long and bummed myself out

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP fanfic idea: Beyond the Grave

Danny Fenton gets the surprise of his life when the Justice League accepts a mission in Amity Park.

No, they were there for ghost issues. lt turns out that if people aren't exposed to shock waves of Ectoplasm radiation, they don't get fun side effects like seeing the dead. That's why the town people had called his parents loons up until the portal was open.

There hadn't been enough death energy to make them visible, let alone corporeal enough to touch the human world. Even Danny had thought his parents were chasing an unrealistic dream until that fateful day when Sam convinced him to walk through the portal.

What the Justice League was there to do was stop this company that had been kidnapping meta children all over the country. They had hidden them a little outside Amity Park, where people rarely drove by. Danny had only gone through those back roads twice, and he's lived in Amity Park all his life.

No one had the slightest idea that a secret lab was operating underground, forcing experimentation on children. Danny felt horrible he had missed this, as the self-proclaimed hero of the area, but his expertise was in ghosts. They were pretty straightforward and loud in their evil plots.

Something like this required resources, training, and detective skills that Danny didn't have. What made him feel a little bit better about all this was that Danny had found the children before the Justice League.

He just won't tell them that because it made his own kidnapping rather embarrassing. Somehow, the scientists- if that can even be called that- had detected Danny's hidden powers. While he was busy crawling out of a dumpster- Dash had thrown him in there- a van had pulled up and thrown a collar onto his neck.

Danny was so stunned by the action that he could not stop a taser to the neck in time. His entire body had cramped up, but not before he had sent a burst of energy to the broken security camera, tuning it on and broadcasting the video to Tucker's laptop.

He got a bit better at controlling technology using ectoplasm, especially after the many fights with Technus, and his friend had set up a laptop in a close circuit that could tap into Danny's frequency.

The kidnappers probably thought that they were in the clear when making grabs at meta children since most came from areas that didn't have surveillance. Tucker had gotten home to a three-hour-long video from Danny, clicking it open and spitting out the ramen he was eating when the first few minutes of it was Danny getting educated.

He panicked and called Jazz to ask if his friend had gotten home. When she denied seeing her brother, Tucker contacted Sam and informed her what was happening.

The pair had immediately mobilized, tearing through the city on the hunt for the van. Jazz had joined them after letting her parents know Danny was missing. They had gone straight to the police station to report that their son was gone.

Tucker had sent them the video, claiming it was from a Panic App. The pair had been in the beta stages, which was why no one had such a helpful app, but it was enough for the Fentons to make their case. The police had placed an Amber Alert and had practically locked down the city.

In a small town like Amity Park, getting the people to band together to help each other was relatively easy. Even Flash, the last person to have seen Danny, had called his football friends to get in a car and help them find the youngest Fenton.

Sadly, by then, the scientists had taken Danny well out of the city, even with multiple people calling to place tips on the black van. Four days passed, and with each passing hour, the likelihood of Danny returning home alive grew dimmer.

No one thinks they have ever seen Jazz Fenton cry that much before. Jack and Maddie were on a rampage, tearing through the city for hints of their son. They had even ignored a ghost attacking the mall, too busy stopping every black Sprinter van they could find for clues of their son.

The video was somehow leaked to the public - Tucker and Sam had allowed it to slip into public domains with a scrambled VPN, hoping to get someone to report anything- and this video had made its way to a certain billionaire in Gotham.

Batman had been working the case for months, looking for a pair of twins that had vanished from Daminan's class. They had gotten the boys back, now able to see in the dark as their meta genes had been forcefully unlocked, and realized they were rescued before they were able to get to the primary base.

The only clue the Bats had was a symbol of a two-headed snack on the collars found around the twin's necks. The same collar that had been forced upon Danny Fenton when he was taken in the video.

Bruce had called his co-workers the second he noticed the mark. They had geared up and gone to Amity Park to investigate. Clark, Diana, Billy, and Bruce had arrived at Amity Park in their civilian personas. They came separately to avoid suspicion, hoping to use Billy as bait.

The Justice League was still coming to terms with Captain Marvel being a fourteen-year-old kid, but none could call into question the good work Billy did.

The three had different stories about why they were in the middle of nowhere in Amity Park.

Bruce had been in town to set up a new outreach for the Wayne Foundation. Clark, a news reporter investigating the missing child case of Danny and Diana, had chosen to tour the most haunted cities in the United States for her museum curator.

Like a charm, Billy had gotten the attention of the kidnappers, and only three days after arriving in Amity as a homeless kid, he had been taken. The moment Billy pressed the button on his bracelet, the three were notified that he had been kidnapped.

Clark kept an ear of the van, listening to the bracelet's beeping that no human could pick up. Just in case, the Leauge had embedded a tracker into Billy's left arm, and Bruce had followed it to the secret Lab.

A message to the Watch Tower had backup zapping down in seconds. They waited until nightfall before springing a rescue mission. Flash, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Vigilanete had been sent in to find and bring the children home while Bruce, Clack, and Diana worked on taking out the guards.

Danny had woken in a test tube with multiple needles and wires digging into his skin, facing a group of superheroes that stared back at him in horror. The last thing he remembered had been the passing cells of meta children before he was taken to a room with a glass tube.

After being shoved into it, Danny was put to sleep with a gas. He had not been conscious for the entire time he was taken. That means he was not awake when the scientists had accidentally caused his heart to flatline.

They had thrown his body into an unmarked grave, intending to bury him with the three other nameless victims. Danny had not been awake when his survival instincts had triggered his shift to Phantom and floated out of the grave.

Like a balloon with helium, Danny had drifted far from the grave, flouting in the wind unconscious due to the gas.

He had awakened for only a few seconds, floating above the road that led to Amity, confused about how he got there. Sadly, the very same van that had just finished burying him had driven down the street, spotting him in the air and choosing to capture the famous Phantom.

They had stolen some Fenton Tech on a stakeout while waiting to take the Fenton Boy and were happy to see it had knocked out the ghost. The men had taken Phantom back to the lab, setting him up in a tube so their scientist could pull out his green blood for tests.

The Justice League had broken in that night. After the raid, Bruce hacked the computers, looking for clues about the missing children. His heart fell to his feet when he read the reports.

The children had died in the experiments. Danny Fenton was on the list of failed experiments, his time of death marked in the conclusion section of a report like he wasn't a young boy who had just finished his first year of high school.

Bruce had only been able to pull himself together long enough to find information about Phantom being held in a deeper part of the lab. Clark, Barry, and Bruce had gone to the lower levels, intending to set the ghost free.

What they found was Phantom in his most basic form. A young ghost with his jumpsuit cut open, showing the same markings the other rescued children bore.

Lichtenberg scars around the neck, torso, and arms.

Phantom had been a new ghost. Bruce and Clark had verified that in their investigations. They had never thought to question what had created him, only that he had appeared a few months ago wearing a hazmat jumpsuit and seemingly unable to leave Amity Park.

The same jumpsuit the other meta children were forced to wear to contain their experiments.

Phantom had been a meta child that had been killed by these people. He was recaptured and placed in a strange ghost coma, leaving the Justice League baffled about how to help him.

Besides blinking, his eyes opened for only a few seconds when he was rescued; he had remained unconscious after muttering, "There are more. Fifty-seven kids....help them, please."

The League had taken him back to their headquarters while working through the labs and digging up the bodies of the other victims. The people involved with this heinous crime had all taken their lives, having snuck a cyanide tablet into their teeth.

None of them faced justice properly, not for the deaths they caused or the angst that Phantom had been dragged into. The ghost had been unable to move on, sticking around even after everything they had done to him.

He had likely been attempting to get help for the remaining prisoners because every place he had attacked had been involved with this lab.

The Justice League would later reveal this information to the horrified townspeople.

Valerie Gray would be throwing up in the bathroom after watching the news. Her father's previous employers had been half on staff with the people who had killed Phantom.

They made a list of potential children to test for the meta gene. She had been on there, and had Phantom not gotten her dad fired when he did, she would have been kidnapped. He saved her life, and she had shot at him in return.

Dash Baxter would be found drinking and sobbing in the school parking lot. He had been drowning in guilt for dragging Fenton behind the mall, where he had thrown him in the dumpster. He had nothing to do with the kidnapping, but he blamed himself nonetheless.

Those people had been attempting to take Fenton for weeks, and he created the perfect opening. Now Danny Fenton was dead by the same people who made his hero. Dash vowed never to bully anyone again, even as Kawn took him home and helped nurse him through his hangover.

Sam Madison and Tucker Foley moved about like zombies. They kept sending messages to someone who would never answer, searching the sky for Phantom's glow, or had their phones on just in case they found Danny. With each uncovered grave, the pair grew hopeful as Danny had not been among the recovered bodies.

People were slightly heartbroken for them. They would wait on a best friend that was never coming home.

Not to mention the Fenton's reaction to Danny's fate. The funeral had been one of the hardest ones any of them had ever attended. The cries of the three remaining Fentons had echoed in their nightmares.

Worse, they had closed their portal. The Fentons had sealed everything to do with ghosts away, no longer able to stand the research now that they knew Phantom had been attempting to prevent Danny's death.

Maybe if they had stopped to try and communicate with him, they might have been able to save their son.

Jack and Maddie were still certified geniuses and were able to fall back on working for Wayne Enterprises as engineers. They moved away, with Jazz looking lifeless without her brother.

People in Amity Park passed by the old Fenton Works sign, never to see it glow again. They also realized that Phantom had vanished, many assuming that now he was at rest due to his murder being solved.

They were unaware he was floating above them in the Watch Tower's medical wing, locked away in slumber.

John Constantine had noticed his ectoplasm levels had not moved since his rescue. For some reason, Phantom's body was not producing it properly like other ghosts- most likely due to experiments they had forced him through.

This caused a coma, with every Justice League Dark member scratching their heads. In every way, Phantom seemed fine, but his core did not react correctly.

It was almost as if it had never been adequately formed, as if Phantom was still alive somehow.

After months of trying to figure out how to stabilize the ghost's core, John contacted a ghost doctor from the Infinite Realms. It took calling in a few favors to get the information, let alone the actual communication with the ghost doctor, but he could do it.

He was a magic expert, not a medic. This was the only chance Phantom had to ever wake.

Thankfully, Frostbite seemed to know exactly what to do when his large eyes landed on the floating figure in the medical incubator the League had placed him in.

He had assured them he could help Phantom but needed to take him back to his hospital to properly treat the ghost. After the Yeti agreed to an Oath Vow stating he would not allow any harm to fall upon Phantom while under his care.

Another agreement of having John present for Phantom's treatment had solidified Justice League into letting the being move Phantom into the Far Frozen.

A year after Danny Fenton's death, Phantom's eyes snapped open to the relieved Frostbite and the beaming trench coat man.

He had never been so confused when the first thing his doctor said was, "Great One, I am sorry to say the humans believed Daniel Fenton has passed while you were in a coma."

Well.

How was he going to bring himself back to life?

[a-gay-poptart]

Say their name.

CW AND TW: CHILD DEATH

Say.

Their.

Name.

Nex Benedict was a indigenous trans nonbinary teenager. Their head was beaten against the floor in a bathroom stall. Less than 24 hours later, they died, most likely from undiagnosed head trauma. Conservatives say they want to, "protect the children", where was the protection for Nex? That's the thing. There wasn't any. Nex died. And many more trans, queer, and nonbinary minors will if we don't step up and do something. What happened to Nex has and will happen to queer folk around the globe. Say their name.

Edit: I didn't expect this to get much attention, but thank you everyone. What alot of people, "forget" to mention was that Nex was two spirited, which means they were indigenous. The fact that I wouldn't have heard about this if I didn't have Tumblr is absolutely revolting. News needs to be covering this. But what are Republicans doing? Sucking their thumbs and crying about how, "trans people shouldn't be able to piss". What are Democrats doing? Twiddling their thumbs and groveling to an old geezer that somehow falls up the stairs and supports I$r3@l. It's disgusting and America needs to do better.

Edit 2: Any and all hate/saying that Nex Benedict wasn't murdered (they were) will immediately get deleted, just because you don't like trans people doesn't mean you can be an whiny little bitch. A child was murdered. This has nothing to do with politics, a child was murdered.

[sscarletvenus]

"every zionist accusation is a confession"

well, this actually happened to a Palestinian child in the Deir Yassin massacre of 1948. here's an eye-witness account :

FULL DOCUMENTARY HERE.

[melonsharks]

the difference between setting something free and setting something loose is a matter of definition

[sayruq]

TW: death, child death, mass murder, corpses (they're blurred)

[hussyknee]

People seem to think this is fake because it's written in English. Apart from the racism in believing that Arab doctors and nurses aren't fluent in English (a second or official language for half of Asia), Palestinians have deliberately been addressing their audience in English on every social media, from journalists to children, because they know speaking English to Westerners immediately makes people more human in their eyes. Because language is one of the ways the imperial cultural hegemony conditions us (yes, everyone in the world) to see who qualifies as "people" and who are simply a mass of bodies who were always made to suffer and die. Gazans know this deeply, which is why they have been using English to beg and plead through social media, "We're not numbers! We're not numbers! We're people like you, we speak your language, we deserve to live!" all the while they're systematically slaughtered.

Israeli forces also encircled Al Shifa Hospital yesterday and bombed it for several hours while shooting dead anyone trying to flee including medical staff moving between buildings. Not sure whether it's still continuing because WHO lost all communications with its staff there a few hours after. The last new report said that thirty-nine babies had been removed from the incubators before the power went out. It's extremely unlikely they will survive.

Please understand that these atrocities depend on the war of attrition between governments and public attention. The momentum of public outcry is difficult to sustain through repeated stonewalling and bureaucratic intractability. When we're flooded with these reports and a sense of futility and despair replaces the anger, it allows compassion fatigue to set in and the violence to become normalized. Massacring hospitals, killing sick children and openly targeting humanitarian aid workers (Netanyahu just declared the UNRWA is in league with Hamas) will become simply more news articles that fade into the background, and open genocides will soon become part of the "lesser evil".

Take care of yourselves how you can, take distance where needed, but please never tune out and give up on the two million people for whom we are the only witness and hope. Never stop boosting and sharing the news and posts you find, never stop getting out there and joining every protest you can, however small. Anger burns out, which is why activism must depend on an immovable sense of justice and uncompromising value for human life. It's not just about Gaza, it's about the kind of evil our generation will be coerced into accepting as unchangeable and inevitable hereafter.

[evilgenius-prower]

tw: blood, violence, death

….ok. Ok, ready? YOU READ THE WARNINGS? DID YOU? YEAH?

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

listen.

listen.

...i have no excuse.

[damnedance]

the aftermath w/ @historias-multorum ;

To see such a strong and proud woman like Alcina Dimitrescu upset like this... Then again, what mother wouldn't be broken after the death of their children? Donna could empathize and sympathize with the fellow lord. Claudia was only nine when she departed from the doll maker's life.

"You must not let their deaths be in vein." She told her. "Remember them fondly, and live to keep their memories alive."

pain is written all over her regal features ; the death of her girls by the hands of the annoyance of a manthing ethan winters was too recent, the wounds still open - and alcina doubts they'll ever heal.

' i do try to...but... whoever was the fool who claimed that time heals all wounds must have never lost a child...' she starts with a strangled voice - not used to showing pain, alcina feels all sorts of conflicted and uncomfortable. ' the pain - it doesn't get better, if anything it just gets worse...'

had it been anyone else, alcina wouldn't admit it - but it's donna ; more than anyone else she would know what it feels like to lose your child and have your world turned upside down.

' oh, apologies, donna - i should not be troubling you with my woes...'

[ehlihr]

WHEN YOU DIE || OFF Animatic

here’s my silly animatic i did over yesterday and today. hope u enjoy!

[sporeclan]

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Aww omg Finchwisp has a crush thats so sweet what a wholesome moon for her 🥰 ... OH.