#vlad's circle

[carrotcouple]

"In Izar Palace gold jewelry is the sign of special status and royalty. Even though His Royal Highness, Prince Vlad, could not wear gold jewelry until his sister became Queen, he freely gives. Each member of his circle is gifted gold jewelry by Prince Vlad himself. Even though none of them are nobles. Even though, His Highness, Prince Vlad, hardly adorns himself."

Fun lore here we go! For those that do not know, Vlad is one of my antagonists in The Ashen Magus. He's a bit of a personal fave. He grew up in Izar Palace as the second in line to the throne. He and his older sister Hypatia were the only of the many royal children that actually carried royal blood. However, they were neglected by his father as his mother, the rightful queen, started to lose her mind. He was neglected, abused and bullied. He never got to wear any gold jewelry until his older sister, Hypatia, murdered their father and then took the throne.

Who are each of the characters here? So they're part of Vlad's personal circle. A mismatched group of people who ended up serving him willingly or unwillingly. It should be fairly obvious who Vlad is, so lets go in order from the top.

With a large bangle on his wrist is Kalei. He's young, though not the youngest member of the group. He is first because he is the latest addition to the circle. Kalei was born in the Gray Class, a group of humans with no magic and unable to even perceive magic. This makes their lifespans incredibly short in a world that basically runs on magic. He was a slave who was then trained to be an assassin and kill Mehr, another one of Vlad's circle. Mehr ended up catching him and deciding he actually liked him and so asked if Vlad could keep him. Vlad ended up agreeing. The members of the Gray Class are not looked upon well and so Vlad gave him a gold bangle that stood out a lot so that no one in the palace would ever dare to look down on him. Kalei is a bit shy and soft spoken. He likes makeup and mostly blends in the the background.

Second in line is angry boy with the eyebrow piercings, Daire. He's the youngest of the group. He's 14 years old. Daire comes from a fairly normal background. But the only problem was that despite having so much magic inside of him, he was unable to use any of it. Vlad found him picking a fight with people on the streets and took him in because he decided to test and see if he could get Daire to use his magic differently. Daire is loud, very opinionated. He can and will cuss you out. He is somewhat best friends with Kalei and will yell at people for Kalei because Kalei will not. He gets into trouble for being rude a lot.

Third is Brinley. half human, half dura (@maddyisenough's oc). She ended up joining Vlad's circle against her will. She gets arrested for attacking a corrupt noble and Vlad notices her unique magic and decides to convince her to join him. When she refuses, he ends up learning that her lover snuck into Izar Palace to try and save her. So he ends up holding her lover's life hostage and ends up managing to get both of them to work for him (although her lover ends up a death mage in the general army instead). Brinley is hot headed and full of naive justice. She's not a fan of Vlad or his circle, but eventually ends up seeing way too much of who they really are to actually hate them. She struggles a lot as a result. Especially with Aruna. WHO IS NEXT.

Aruna started out as a noble and she was actually against the Vlad Order. She planned on running away with her best friend in order to join the rebel army and fight the Vlad Order. Her family ended up being moved to a city on the outskirts of Ignosi and although they were kind and benevolent, people who said they were part of the rebel army raided their residence and killed, tortured and paraded them like war prisoners. Aruna ended up being the last of her family alive and then as she was on her last legs, Vlad and his circle arrived to quell the rebellion. He looked at her and then asked her "are you going to die? just like that?" and then she realized that he was asking her if she was going to fight back. The entire time she had been trying to beg for mercy and prove her innocence. And Vlad told her to fight back and save herself instead. So she ended up using her magic to murder everyone in the area and then joined the Vlad Order instead. Being a parallel and opposite of Brinley, Aruna and Brinley struggle to get along. In another universe they would be best friends though.

Then is Zal. Zal's super fun. He's carried a one sided love for Vlad for a very very very long time (in another universe vlad finds out and decides to reciprocate but not in this one). He's very quiet and straight laced. He's kind of Vlad's personal bodyguard. (Prince and bodyguard romance anyone?). Zal is a mix of various different races. Kind of a rare one of a kind. His mother tried to kill him a bunch of times as a child and when Vlad was much younger he came across Zal who was escaping a murder attempt and then took him in because he could tell that he would be quite the useful addition to his trusted personal circle (which at the time only consisted of Lamya and Mehr).

Mehr is a personal fave. He's one of the fire folk but he has night folk blood in him too. Well tbh, mostly night folk. He's like a fourth fire folk. The Night Folk are a closed community (the result of almost being completely eradicated in wars). So when Mehr was born with both fire folk magic and night folk magic (which involves their voices), his family decided he could only have one. and since he looks like one of the fire folk they decided he couldn't be allowed to have his night folk magic. So when he was 12 his family held him down and cut out his vocal chords. That's why Vlad gave Mehr a choker like necklace, to cover the scars. Mehr is a feral and absolutely terrifying fighter. If you cut off his arms, he'll use his legs to kill you. If you cut off his legs, he'll bite you to death. He's the strongest in hand to hand combat and no magic combat of the group. But he's also the mom of the group. He makes sure everyone has had their food, he stops fights, he protecc, he makes sure if anyone's hurt they go get treated. This is also why Vlad has Mehr take care of his son, Prince Einar.

And lastly is Lamya, Vlad's right hand and most trusted. She's been with him the longest. Her mother was bribed by a noble to poison Hypatia. She was caught and Hypatia murdered her brutally. Lamya who was a budding spellcaster at the time was horrified. Vlad tricked her into thinking that Death Magic would save her mother which turned her into a Death Mage. This resulted in Vlad having control over her. She's a human and so should have died over a century ago, but because of Vlad's control she has remained alive and still looks youthful. Lamya is loyal and steadfast. There was once a time where she resented Vlad. But since she was his first loyal servant she ended up seeing that this child who was younger than her was treated like dirt even by his own servants, she realized that he had used whatever he could to make sure he didn't die. Even if it meant using her. Lamya eventually comes to understand and value Vlad deeply. Although it certainly didn't start out very well.

And finally, one small character who isn't in the art but deserves an honorable mention. Vlad has a son named Einar who isn't even a teenager yet in canon. Einar rarely receives Vlad's direct attention and always only does as he's told to do. The general consensus is that Vlad is a horrible parent to Einar. I'm not going to lie, he isn't a good parent. But Vlad has had a very interesting life and so the way he views family is interesting. He made sure everything Einar ever needed would be provided for. He assigned Mehr, one of his strongest men and yet most caring to take care of Einar. He gave Einar a sappy-as-hell middle name. He made sure Einar was always fitted with gold jewelry, no matter how quickly he outgrew them. I could write a whole essay about Vlad and Einar's relationship but not here. Yeet.

[savanir]

DP x DC prompt [3]

during one of the final psych evals at Arkham right before he gets to be released, the whole thing wrapped up so tidy, just a little relapse which involved a robbery. Getting sent back to Arkham, but he got to stay at the asylum so long that he no longer has to serve a prison sentence, score!

But during that eval his overseeing psychiatrist recommended him to have a change of scenery, some fresh non polluted air.

Riddler was rather convinced the guy was making this recommendation to everyone in Arkham in their own weird way to convince them to just leave Gotham and become someone else's problem. should he notify Batman about it somehow? nah, it’ll be more interesting to see how this is gonna turn out in the long run.

But can he leave the state? Can he even leave the city? he never really bothered to look into it, at least not legally, up until now if he felt he needed to leave for one of his plans he just did it.

Turns out he can, it’s a whole hassle and a half though, first a judge and then a probation officer and he’s pretty sure both were like “what the hell is this psychiatrist guy thinking!?” but at the same time, shrink probably knows what he’s doing (WRONG) so he’s allowed to go visit out of state family or whatever.

he had to wear this nice ankle monitor though, Wayne Enterprises™ tech, not overly bulky but still very present. real fancy, and a fun extra challenge heh.

now as for a good reason to leave New Jersey he’s going to need distant relatives, and he finds some, great grandpa walker also has a son, who had a son who had a daughter Madeline, who married some guy Jack Fenton, and she lives somewhere out in the boonies Illinois. great he’ll visit her.

far enough away in all sense of the word that there is no way she knows anything about him. it would be best to call her first though, be polite about it.

“hello, you have reached Fenton works, this is Maddie speaking” 

“Riddle me this-” ah whoops, habit, oh whatever, “we don’t share parents, but certainly a part of your life, from laughter to strife. Who am I?”

there is a pause …  he’s going to be a bit disappointed if she hangs up if he’s honest.

“cousins~” comes the cheery reply.

“correct! the name is Edward Nygma, we are distantly related you and I and well-”

“oh you simply must come visit!” 

well this was rather easy, perhaps a little too easy, but she lives in the midwest so maybe just going with whatever some guy says over the phone is normal there? stranger danger not really a thing in a small town where everyone knows everyone?

things start to make a little more sense once he gets there and he’s starting to think some things might run in the family. like a preference for the colour green and weird hyperfixations and genius bordering on insanity. Though that remains to be seen, Jack does not seem like a very bright light after his very enthusiastic welcome.

their kids however are observant and sharp. young Jasmine is wasting no time trying to psychoanalyze him. and the boy, Danny, he had not really meant to and he swears he’s sticking with calling the kid Danny so he wouldn’t seem overly familiar, but he might have called him little bird a couple times now.

but that’s all whatever, he’s playing nice here. and he doesn’t even have to worry about his eccentricities tripping him up because this place is insane.

There actually is a local teen vigilante active but he seems about as loved as he’s disliked. and the ghost boy’s enemies are basically all his own kind, which another crazy thing to now know about. ghost. they are real actually, how is Gotham not completely overrun? and how do they even work? and where do they keep coming from?

Edward might be getting a little sidetracked here. He had fully intended to sneakily get his next big game plan underway all the way out here, ankle monitor be damned. but he hasn’t made any progress at all.

Instead he’s been listening to Madeline and Jack to maybe figure out what the deal is with these ectoplasmic entities, he has to know, at this point he might go crazier if he doesn’t. 

He’s making Jasmine promise him not to get her doctorate in Gotham, he’s going back and forth with space riddles with Danny.

so yeah the whole thing kinda just became a vacation, maybe the psychiatrist had the right idea after all? hmm nah, probably not. but this is fun. He’s thinking about recommending this place to some of the others.

It's different enough to get the vacation feel, but enough crazy shit happens to make it all feel like home.

it is not until Maddie wants to talk with him about potentially switching the position of godfather of Danny to him rather than some weird rich friend of theirs that Edward realizes he might have lost the plot somewhere

Apparently the little bird basically begged them with a powerpoint presentation on how he likes Edward so much more than that Vladimir guy. 

And honestly, the fellow sounds like a Dracula Lutho so even if it’s kinda sad Edward can understand why he’d be considered a better option. Even if the guy has more money and a huge company that makes him said money. And it’s not like the Fentons know about his Riddler activities.

Thinking it over, Edward does think that Danny would like Gotham and Wayne has that space program thing right? The kid is definitely smart enough for that (Nygma certified), and yeah Edward does quite like their space themed back and forth. So, fuck it, why not, what is the worst that could happen?

He doubts Maddie and Jack are gonna kick it any time soon anyway out here in the boonies, it’s just a title thing, a stamp of approval or something.

he should have known he was going to eat those words later… he had this whole beautifully elaborate trap set up for the whole Batclan, and he was just getting to the good part when his phone went off.

Had to put the whole thing on pause cause that particular contact wasn’t gonna get ignored. He did promise to be available.

If the whole thing he had planned now went tits up he could at the very least laugh later at the reactions of the bats as he told them to “hold up one second, I have to take this.” while they were all in various perilous positions. 

Sadly he did have to go, he had a very distressed godson to pick up.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny slowly lowered himself down onto Luther's newest death machine thanks to his bat themed grappling hook. Making special care not to let his heart beat or his lungs take in breath lest Superman hear him and intervene, he used his intangibility to sink into the machine itself to steal its parts.

Yeah, so a full white outfit wasn't the best choice for stealth, but it was better than dressing like a traffic light. Plus the black gloves and boots made him feel nostalgic. It had been only seven months since the accident that took his life, so much has happened since then.

Biting his lip as he smiled as he began gathering up parts and wires with his intangibility and placing them into his bag. Lastly he grabbed the power source, which-surprise, surprise, is kryptonite.

After he grabbed what he wanted he quickly stuck a note on the maintenance panel of the machine for when someone opened it and discovered it now had a large hollow space, then simply sank down through the floor and flew to freedom.

Danny sighed once he was clear. Or, at least he thought he was.

"Young man." Crud. Danny turned around to see big blue floating behind him in all his red underwear glory. Great. "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you." The Kryptonian said, looking pointedly at the large chunk of kryptonite Danny held under his arm.

Instead of an excuse, Danny got an idea. "Uh, hello? Recognize the mask?" He said, gesturing to his face.

Superman narrowed his eyes, staring at his face for a few very long seconds and just as Danny was about to cut his losses and book it out of there, a look of recognition graced the heros face. Sweet. "Thats Nightwings mask."

"Yeah. Just smaller."

Superman nodded, then asked, "Why aren't you wearing a bat symbol? I wouldn't have thought you were a thief if I knew you were working with Batman." Danny had to fight to keep his face neutral.

"I haven't decided what symbol I want on my suit yet." And that was true. Danny wasn't sure he wanted any symbol at all. The mark of the bat would mean that he belonged in the batclan, and Danny was a lone ghost. A wandering spirit if you will. He didn't belong anywhere.

Some small part of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Jazz said that might be one of the reasons he's been behaving so poorly lately, but he brushed it off. Superman just nodded sagely. Danny doubted he actually knew how Danny felt and was just nodding along to appear sympathetic. Adults lie, and they lie often. Danny kinda hated them for it.

"Well, I'm kinda on a deadline, so I should get going. Crime to fight, goth furry to annoy, you know how it is." Danny said, waving the arm that wasn't carrying the kryptonite around in the air before using it to readjust the bags strap on his shoulder.

"Alright," superdude smiled warmly, "Tell Batman I said hi." Danny grinned back at him as he jogged away, "Will do!"

That went better than expected. Thank you, Nightwing~! The boy thought to himself as he ran off into a secluded area and turned invisible and flying away.

Just imagining Supermans face if- no- when Batman finally breaks and tells the Justice League about the little menace thats been stealing all his and his sidekicks stuff for the last few weeks nearly sends Danny into hysterics.

Danny still has Robins sword mounted above the fireplace in his favorite safe house in Costa del Sol. Red Hoods "favorite" motorcycle was in its garage and Red Robins wrist computer and chest harness thing were mounded in a glass case next to the first thing he stole from them:

Batmans utility belt.

Sure, its a pain to remove all the tracking stuff from them, but man is he proud of those accomplishments.

Still. Its better to leave Metropolis after he got caught by Superman. Its only a mater of time before someone finds out about the old switcheroo he pulled at the last museum robbery and that combined with the bodies of those creepy rich guys he had killed (human trafficer buyers) well, surely Batman has noticed he had been gone for a while and would pick up on the matching M.O. in Metropolis.

Time to bounce.

[lainalit]

I literally need to know what Sarah's thought process was in writing a conqueror plotline for her hero characters.

'Cause nobody can truly believe that this is a good idea

[ecto-stone]

it would actually be funny if Vlad have alots of friend out side of the Fenton doe ( most of them are ghost and Mr Western his assistant) he alway have at least one of them tag along with him when he out doing his crazy dangerous routine. "he is afraid of dying alone again just like in the hospital 20 years ago so he alway brought someone to tag along"

[orphyd]

Straud's kids? Yeah, I met them at a work event he was hosting a few summers back. Apparently, they're twins. The boy's a bit of a stiff. Quiet, overly-polite, real book smart but a bit awkward to talk to y'know? He's got a good head for business though, that's for sure. And his girl's a real charmer, face like a lamb with the mouth of a sailor, I'd never seen someone dance for so long. They're a good sort, those Strauds, a little posh for my taste but harmless...One of them's got engaged from what I hear. I image marrying into a family like that would be a pretty boring.

[halfghcst]

/// So here's some VERY low energy doodles of the designs for Vlad and Dan (older evil Danny) that are canon for this blog. Some aspects of Vlad's design are slightly different especially in the face/hair. its just an extremely sketchy lazy doodle. I'll do a better one for him later. This was mainly for a design comparison of the outfits.

And a close up of a better doodle of Dan.

Those cyan highlights normally in scenes with ghosts, I've changed to be red when Dan is around. Because red means scary. :') And under the readmore are some glitch in time spoilers.

My canon only takes bits and pieces from A Glitch in Time. One of those things is the idea of sticking Dan in an empty/unfinished clone of Danny. This stabilizes him so he doesn't disappear despite his timeline being gone entirely. He is sort of stuck with Vlad as a result. This is my blogs take on that.

[aromanticmara]

CUBES??????

i was gonna say diced watermelon but i said cubed in case the poll broke containment

[kazu-naito]

so fucking precious

[c0rpsedemon]

ok fr last one but there's actually a bootleg of my school's anastasia and i'm linking it bc you all NEED to understand that my infatuation with this one girl's voice which started when i was in the 6th grade and still hasn't really worn off isn't based on nothing

[carrotcouple]

I drew this last year but I want to catch up my tumblr with the oc art I like. Tis Lilea and Rhys. LONG TIME NO SEE HUH. This is actually a redraw of something I drew on my phone with my finger in 2020. Which I'll put under the cut.

[vancilocs]

Lets hear it for 1-15 vlad and wrench and arson and karan

fucked up guys and wholesome guys

Who sleeps on the left and right side of the bed?

They have their own coffins and Wrench gets violently ousted if he tries squeezing in with Vlad when he's napping

It swapped so often

Who does most of the cooking?

Wrench made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Demön until he learned to use Wolt

Karan bc he was a chef (and so was Salem eventually), Arson had been self-sufficient since teens though

Who's the little and big spoon?

Wrench if Vlad can't violently oust him since Wrench is much stronger in the end

Karan was big spoon

Who says creepy paper and who says crepe paper?

Wrench says creepy paper and it drives Vlad insane so crepe paper is banned in the household

Arson says creepy paper, Karan says crepe paper

Who screams and who kills the spider?

Vlad squishes it, Wrench eats it while Vlad chases him telling him to spit it out

They're both been to the jungle plenty of times, both scoop it up and take it away

Who's the sun and who's the moon?

Both are moon

Karan is sun, Arson is moon

How do they share chores?

Wrench cleans because he usually makes messes but this also means that when Vlad throws him through the window Wrench cleans bc he technically broke it by having his body hurtled through it

Equally, if Karan cooks Arson does the dishes etc

What are their cooking habits? Who cooks meals and who "cooks" insta-ramen?

Wrench snacks on rats which Vlad finds disgusting, he only eats human

Karan is a great cook (his mom was a chef too so), Arson is fine with noodles

How do they handle arguments? What do they argue about?

They just yell at each other for no reason mostly, they get bored and start a fight about chores or if one left a book somewhere it shouldn't be in or absolutely whatever. Insulting fang size for no reason. Fighting about Wrench's family causing trouble

Arson's kleptomania got them in some hot water at times and he needed some disciplining

What are their love languages?

Physical and verbal affection, gifts, biting

Physical and verbal affection, quality time and adventure

Who says marco and who says polo?

Wrench says marco until Vlad gives in. This might take days

Karan says marco to find Arson in the jungle

Who says "party rockers" and who says "party rock is"?

Vlad says party rock is and Wrench will say party rockers until he gets thrown through the window

Karan says party rock is and Arson says party rockers and then they make out

What's their age and height difference?

Vlad is hundreds of years older and somewhat taller, he looks even more so because Wrench skulks around all hunched up

Arson is a tiny bit older but they've known each other since they were toddlers, Karan is a bit taller and lankier

How does their personal styles differ? Do they share clothes?

Vlad is very refined in clean, white clothes and matching shoes and gloves and sometimes a hat, Wrench wears torn up jeans and a ratty leather jacket and at a club he has a miniskirt and ripped stockings, their styles do Not match

Karan likes layers and comfy and earthy adventurerer clothes, Arson will go to the jungle in leather pants, so fairly different

How do their past relationships (or lack thereof) affect their current relationship?

Wrench cheated on Morgan with Vlad so now Vlad makes absolutely certain Wrench is not wandering around and keeps him on a short leash, otherwise he's not bothered by Morgan having been around. The kids were bothersome though, Vlad is sick of random redheads popping up at their house every 20 years or so

Arson had a casual fling with Bruce but they were just platonic bros, if anything it made Karan kinda sad because he had been crushing on Arson for so long, and because all three lived together Karan didn't really date because a) he couldn't when he was pining for Arson and b) he didn't want to bring anyone to their small place with no room. So Karan is very devoted to the only man he's ever been with and Arson ended up flirting with Bruce when they both were married and Bruce reciprocated...

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

For consideration—

Danny is many things. Student, hero, teenager, tired. Teenager and tired are shared, student is what he wants, and hero is what he has to be.

So when he’s fighting Val—Red Huntress, as dubbed by the general populace—and they get interrupted from their highly dangerous not-quite game of hide and seek by the Justice League offering her all of the training and support any hero could ever want… well.

It’s a good thing he’s already hidden, because he has no idea what to feel and ghost faces are significantly more stretchy and allow for frankly horrifying face journeys. He could just be a kid. He wanted to have mentorship. He wanted Valerie to be a great hero. He hopes she’s not getting dragged into it. He’s been given an out, possibly.

Or at the least, as Jazz would put in during the video call later that night, he could take a vacation.

Her reasons were fairly pure. He overworked himself by necessity, and he deserved time and rest and the ability to go for his own hobbies.

Danny’s were very much in the petty revenge territory. Blob ghost populations would be outright swarms in about two weeks, and that’s if the ectopi didn’t start hunting them as prey, sending them into a tizzy. Any bigger threats—well. Red Huntress was the hero, the only hero, as Superman said in his little ‘join us’ speech. Clearly, she’d been handling it so far. She’d be fine. There was even Justice League backing and support for her.

He still hid during ghost attacks. Everyone always thought he was scared of ghosts anyways and the rogue gallery had no qualms about kidnapping or otherwise targeting him as a regular teen.

Things… quickly spiral.

For Red Huntress, that is.

Suddenly, her new ghost alarm system that Batman helped her build is going off constantly. She expected an uptick, but she’s gotten maybe five hours of sleep in about as many days. It was a good thing that one of the support benefits was a paycheck, because if she hadn’t quit Nasty Burger they certainly would have fired her by then. Her grades were slipping, even with her best efforts, and her mentors who were supposed to help weren’t listening to her.

It wasn’t them ‘challenging her beliefs’ and asking her to ‘really consider if ghosts are always your enemy’ that made her fights suddenly harder. It wasn’t some adjustment period to her new training. There was just ghosts, all the time, constantly, and she didn’t even know what to do with all of them. She always just ran them off, and she had assumed they went home. She hadn’t realized the reason Phantom always captured them was because otherwise they just would not leave.

And Phantom. He was one of her rogues, play acting as hero for people he’d just put into danger. Sometimes he did—kind of—help, but it seemed more coincidental. A giant bobcat in the yard keeping the bears away sort of situation. Still dangerous, still unknown, no matter how similar he looked to something or someone friendly.

But. He’d been MIA since their last fight. And she didn’t know why.

Sure, she could guess that maybe he had heard the whole acceptance into the Junior League, or whatever it was called, that had happened. And with his whole ‘hero’ shtick, he’d maybe be a little weird about it. Not emotional, ghosts didn’t have true emotions. No matter what Black Canary was currently researching on the topic, Valerie was sure of it.

Just like she’d been sure that she was actually helping Amity Park.

If she heard one more property damage assessment, she’d strap one of her ecto guns to the lecturer and let them have a crack at it. Ghosts didn’t care about material things that mattered to other people. They might have attachments to certain types of objects or things they considered ‘theirs’, but if that thing was a living human’s… it didn’t matter, it’d be taken or broken just the same.

Sam was, of course, leading a small protest asking for Phantom’s return. She and Danny had at least three fights about it, and it wasn’t pretty.

Paulina had a different approach to the same issue, asking for recognition of her ghost boy.

Tucker was egging both on, mostly to distract Sam from actually bothering Danny, but also because he loved a good cat fight.

Danny was getting so much sleep, and he’s getting caught up in school. Sure, the school is usually at least a little on fire these days, but he actually read the assignment book for Lancer’s class. That hadn’t happened like, ever! And his Doom stats were getting pretty high, since the only grinding he had to do now was against virtual enemies that didn’t try to snap his spine… Technus notwithstanding.

As these things usually happen, Valerie blames Phantom for all of her woes, again. The Fenton Parents, being thoroughly exhausted at this point as well, completely back her.

And Danny has had a lot of time to rest and think on the actions of himself and others.

He’s been declared a menace, again. And he’s kind of tired of people not realizing that if he WANTED to be a villain, he could be. He wanted his town safe, and honestly, the ghost populace explosion was getting annoying. Red Huntress’s last “big fight” had nearly killed someone.

… He wouldn’t be Dan, oh no. He wouldn’t cause damage, he’d prevent those from being hurt, and he would generally look at the Hero Guideline Handbook he had… temporarily borrowed and copied from Val’s backpack. He’d be campy and totally not serious to anyone who didn’t realize he actually was just playing around. And him actually taking on ‘big fish’ persona in Amity Park’s ‘little pond’ should help get rid of at least some of the lower level guys.

It’s not like it’s be hard, honestly. He’d get to make his own hours, at least. And since Valerie saw Fenton as someone to protect, someone that he well knew she broke up with to ‘keep him safe’, she wouldn’t think of him twice as being Phantom. Danny wouldn’t use their friendship against her, but he could easily admit that it was a little scummy to do. But. Well. He’d always fought a bit dirty, and she had literally tried to kill him. Multiple times.

If Red Huntress was going to be a villain-like Hero, then it was simple.

Phantom just had to be a hero-like Villain.

Prompt

The justice league FINALLY investigates Amity, and realizes that they’ve made a grave mistake by letting a burgeoning hero shoulder a large problem without any training or support. They rectify this immediately by offering a position in the JL along with an assortment of mentors and other teen heroes to bond with. 

Red Huntress receives this invitation in front of Phantom, while actively trying to hunt him down.

[the-stove-is-on-fire]

After School Ghost Theory 101 with Professor Fenton

Switch to light mode or Classic Blue to get the full transparency effect!

[Image ID: A four page comic that starts with Danny Fenton standing in front of a whiteboard holding up a white cat. "Question: Do ghosts purr?” 

Tucker: “Danny when was the last time you slept?” Danny: “Irrelevant.” 

Danny info-dumps: “The answer is yes, but also no. Technically, all beings that possess a core are constantly "purring", a.k.a. Core Vibrations. Core Vibrations are a nonverbal, emotion-based communication system between Ghosts, similar to how some living species use pheromones to communicate. The exact tone of each ghost is different the same way people's voices are different. Humans can only hear these vibrations when the frequency passes through their audible range (20Hz - 20KHz), hence the 'purring' sound. When the range dips into infrasound (16 - 20Hz) it can cause feelings of fear and unease in humans that they often associate with ghosts and the supernatural. Also known as the ‘Heebie Jeebies.’”

Danny, wiping off the whiteboard: “Any questions before we move on?"

Danny’s audience consists of Wes Weston, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Danny’s clone Ellie, and Dash Baxter in a classroom. Wes is seated at a desk at the front taking notes. Tucker is sitting on Sam’s lap playing on a Switch, Ellie is sitting on a desk behind them. Dash is asleep at the back of the room.

Ellie, now holding the cat: “Is this Vlad’s first cat!?” Wes: "Could you tone down the floating eyes before the next part? They're kinda distracting." Danny: "What eyes?" Wes: “Please stop gaslighting me.”

A transparency trick on the last page reveals dark shadows and eyes all around Danny when viewed in dark mode. /.End ID]

An Extended Image ID is available under the read more because it’s over 1k. Side by side light and dark mode versions of the transparency trick is also available under the cut.

[Extended Image ID: The post contains a four page comic. The first page shows two comic panels with white borders. The top panel features a bedraggled looking Danny Fenton from the waist up holding a disgruntled fluffy white cat. There are bags under his eyes, his hair is messy, his arms are covered in bandaids and cat scratches, and his nails are painted black. He’s wearing a white shirt with red sleeves and a red oval on the front. In a large green text bubble he says “Question: Do ghosts purr?” A small orange text bubble under it asks “Danny when was the last time you slept?” “Irrelevant” Danny replies. 

In the bottom panel Danny is standing on the far left side of the panel in front of a whiteboard in a classroom with the cat under his arm. He’s wearing baggy jeans with holes in the knees and his classic white and red Converse shoes. The whiteboard behind him has partially erased doodles around the edges including some flowers, stars, and Phantom’s DP symbol. There are a few balls of paper on the floor. Partially out of frame on the wall behind Danny is a poster of  Einstein and above it a clock. Pointing at the whiteboard with a marker Danny says “The answer: Yes but also no” His words are written on the whiteboard. Under the words is a drawing of a stick figure and a green bedsheet ghost with a circle between them. The circle is surrounded by green squiggly lines radiating out from it. Under the circle, an arrow is drawn pointing to it with the words ‘core vibrations’ written on the board. A green text bubble in the space under the whiteboard says “Technically, all beings that possess a core are constantly "purring", a.k.a. Core Vibrations.”

On the second page there are two blocks of text, each followed by a drawing. The page background is a pale, greenish-grey with subtle scuff marks imitating the look of a whiteboard. The first block of text at the top of the page reads “Core Vibrations are a nonverbal, emotion-based communication system between Ghosts, similar to how some living species use pheromones to communicate. The exact tone of each ghost is different the same way people's voices are different.” Under the text, imitating the look of dry erase marker, is a drawing of two simple ghosts smiling and waving to each other. They both have a small green circle drawn on their chest area with green squiggly lines radiating out from each ghost. Between the two cores, two parallel arrows are drawn, facing opposite directions. Under the arrows is the text “core to core communication.” 

Under the ghosts is a second block of text reading “Humans can only hear these vibrations when the frequency passes through their audible range (20Hz - 20KHz), hence the 'purring' sound. When the range dips into infrasound (16 - 20Hz) it can cause feelings of fear and unease in humans that they often associate with ghosts and the supernatural. Also known as the ‘Heebie Jeebies.’” Under the text a red arrow points from the words ‘heebie jeebies’ to a simple drawing of Dash Baxter holding a flashlight and looking scared. There is a cobweb with a dangling spider drawn to his right and a bunch of green blob ghosts behind him to his left. In blue text the blobs say “you forgot to update your mailing address with the IRS” and “you filed your taxes incorrectly.”

The third page once again shows two comic panels. In the top panel Danny takes up the centre. He’s stretched across the whiteboard in a dynamic pose erasing the drawing of frightened Dash with a big swipe. One hand is braced on the board as he looks over his shoulder and asks “Anyone got questions before we move on?” If the image is viewed in dark mode, there are five, messily drawn eyes of varying sizes surrounding Danny. If viewed in light mode, the eyes are absent. 

The bottom comic panel reveals Danny’s audience to be Wes Weston, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Danny’s clone Ellie, and Dash Baxter. In the bottom left corner, Wes sits slouched at a desk at the front of the classroom with papers and an open notebook spread out over his desk. He’s wearing a red zip up hoodie with white sleeves. His hoodie is unzipped showing a green shirt underneath that matches the colour of his eyes. At the desk beside him Tucker and Sam share a chair with their focus on Tucker’s Switch and not Danny’s presentation. Tucker is sitting in Sam’s lap with her arms around his waist and her head resting on his shoulder. Tucker is wearing a red beanie with short dreads, goldenrod yellow turtleneck sweater, green cargo pants, and white shoes. Sam is wearing a black crop top with a fishnet layer over top, purple pleated plaid skirt, artistically ripped purple leggings, and black combat boots with bright green laces. Tucker has the tips of his dread dyed green and purple. Sam has streaks of purple, green, and orange in her hair. Ellie is sitting cross legged on top of a desk two rows behind Sam and Tucker. She’s wearing a cropped hoodie with the same colours as Danny’s shirt and black track pants with white and red shoes. Her hair is tied in a high ponytail and she is holding the squirming fluffy white cat up in the air. At the very back of the classroom behind Wes’ left shoulder Dash can be seen asleep slouched over his desk. Wes has one hand resting on his desk holding a mechanical pencil the other partially raised with his hand open. In a beige text bubble with red text he replies to Danny’s question with an unimpressed look on his face “Could you tone down the floating eyes before the next part? They're kinda distracting.” Under his text bubble a small blue text bubble from Ellie asks “Is this Vlad’s first cat!?” If the image is viewed in dark mode, there are three visible floating eyes off to the side of the panel. If viewed in light mode, the eyes are absent. 

The final comic page is a single, full body shot of Danny standing in front of the blank whiteboard. He’s looking over his shoulder, slightly turned with his back mostly towards the classroom and the eraser in his hand. He has an incredulous look on his face. If the page is viewed in dark mode, the background looks dark and Danny is surrounded by dozens eyes of in all different sizes. If viewed in light mode, the eyes are absent. In a green text bubble Danny asks “What eyes?” In the bottom left corner Wes replies “Please stop gaslighting me.” /.End ID]

[bet-on-me-13]

Lex is Vlad reincarnated

So! Lex Luther, the greatest person to ever exist, had recently made a discovery.

A few weeks ago, a Cult of moronic simpletons had managed to kidnap him. Him! All for some stupid Demonic ritual where they sacrifice the wealthiest man they could find in return for something meaningless like "No More Poverty" or "No More Starvation".

He had survived, of course, and was unfortunately save by Supermoron.

But before the Man of Steel had busted in, he overheard something from the Cultists. Apparently they had chosen him for more than just his wealth, there was something more about his Soul that they were after. It felt "Divine", as if he had the soul of a God stuffed in a Mortal's body.

And obviously it must be correct. He was already the most intelligent man in the world, One of the wealthiest, and held more political power than any single man on the planet, so of course "God in disguise" was the next logical addition to that List.

Over the next few weeks he studied and prepared.

He needed to make sure that his efforts would be rewarded, that those Cultists had been correct about him despite their idiocy.

After buying up as many Magical Artifacts as he could related to Identity and Soul, he tested himself on Each and Every One. And Lo and Behold, he is truly a God.

Well, the Reincarnation of One. Apparently this was common in immortal beings such as himself, reincarnating themselves into mortal bodies as a sort of Vacation from their Duties. All he needed to do now was find a way to regain his Memories and Power without dying, and he would truly become a God On Earth.

A few more weeks of Preparation, and he was ready.

Apparently the Manchild of Steel had caught onto his plan in that time. His Ego probably couldn't bear another God living in the same City as himself, so he tried to stop Lex's plans of Ascension. Thankfully, in his research he had discovered his Rival's vulnerability to Magical Attacks, and set up countermeasures for him and his Breakfast Club should they attempt to interfere.

He stepped into the Ritual Circle, and began his Ascension to Godhood.

Try as they might, the League could not foil his plans this time. The Ritual Circle lit up with a sickly green light, and expanded to cover his entire body. The Ritual began to finally complete itself.

He had Won.

...

Oh.

...

Vlad stood at the center of the circle for a few moments. He took in all his Memories of his most recent Life, and Facepalmed so hard he was sure The Badger heard it back in the Realms.

Ten Tousand Years of Therapy specifically to curb his egotistical tendencies, and That is how he decides to spend his most recent Life? Acting as a Billionare Supervillain attacking a well meaning Hero for nothing less than Ego?! He even Cloned them!? Had he learned NOTHING!?!?

"Careful Team, we don't know how powerful he is now." He heard his current Nemesis say.

Oh right...they were still there.

He didn't really feel like explaining everything to them, and he technically still had about 40 years left on his Vacation...

He simply turned his back to them, flew back to his Mansion, turned back into his Human Form, and set about his Day. Maybe he could right a few of the wrongs he had done on this life?

It would certainly throw his current Nemesis for a loop. And while he may not Hate him anymore, he definitely still liked to Mess with him.

Maybe this would be more entertaining than he thought?

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny couldn't really explain why he always answered this specific summoning ritual. It was like a feeling. One of warmth. Of a mug of hot cocoa in your hands and a nice weighted blanket dropped around your shoulders as a fire blazed in the hearth in front of you, keeping the chill in the rest of the room at bay.

Danny always lost himself in the sensation and found himself back in that stupid circle of protection with that same wierd guy demanding answers. But Danny didn't know anything about a "Lazarus Pit" or a "Pit Madness" let alone a cure for it. Even if he did he wasn't going to tell Red Robin anything after all the times he'd used the marriage summoning spell to get him here.

Earlier on Red had explained it was the only spell known to thier universe that could summon an entity from "The Lazarus Dimension" Which he guessed was another name for the ghost zone and Phantom was the only one to ever be summoned.

Danny couldn't help but wonder why...

After escaping Bird boy and his supernatural pop quiz (oh look, another test for him to flunk) he returns home only to discover his parents had seen him get summoned and accused him of being a ghost that replaced thier baby boy.

Naturalally the next time Red Robin had summoned Phantom he was angry. He was tired and dirty from being on the run from his parents, his worlds US government, and Vlad. Not to mention his own rogues gallery didn't exactly cut him any slack.

So Danny decided that if Red Robin wanted to abuse the power of a marriage ritual than the very least he can do is put his money where his mouth is.

Danny grinned and exited the magic circle, taking delight in Reds widening eyes before he lunged. A kiss sealed the deal, making sure Danny had a safeish place to stay.

After all, married couples in the infinite realms were obligated and even compelled to protect and care for eachother.