#and yes they faked dannys death

[skylersprompts]

DC x DP Prompt *7*

Robin was staring at the screen of the Bat-Computer, while his mind was trapped in the past.

Damian could still clearly remember growing up in the League. And he remembers that he never questioned Grandfather or Mother, except once.

He had been seven, almost eight, when he was training his stealth. And what would be better practice then to follow his mother around till she spots him.

But this day his mother seemed distracted, something that never happened. He followed her to Grandfathers study and listened.

"The boy is nothing but a hindrance to Damian. He fails to kill and has sympathy that's unbecoming for an al Ghul. If Danyal won't complete his next mission, you will dispose of him", Grandfather sounded annoyed, as if he didn't just spoke about killing his twin, about how their mother would have to kill her own flesh and blood.

He didn't wait for his mothers response, knowing that she wouldn't oppose the demon head. As fast as he could he searched for his other half, they needed an plan.

On their next mission Danyal died. It was tragic, but he had sacrificed himself to save the heir of the al Ghuls. At least that is what Damian reported to the League.

Danyal was on the run and for the next 19 month he was forbidden to leave any clues about his whereabouts for Damian.

At some point he would be able to find him again.

He had searched for Danyal, ever since he stared to life with father. But the little voice in the back of his head kept whispering about how Danyal probably died because of his injuries years ago and that father would see it as his fault that he lost another son.

But know he found one of his clues. An online post from someone with the username 'ghostboi', about a constellation and the story that he himself spun around it. A story only the two of them knew. Well... and a few hundred strangers now, but he would have to talk later with Danyal about that.

Now it was time to tell father about yet another son that mother kept secret from him, oh joy.

.

.

.

The talk had been going as good as anyone could expect, which meant that he and father now sat in a private jet, only two hours after they found out about Danyals whereabouts and three hours since Bruce Wayne knows about his second blood son.

They where going as Civilians, since it would probably go smoother. And because the Brucie Wayne persona seemed to gift his father the ability to talk a little bit easier about emotions. Except for right now, because he was angry at Damian for keeping his twin a secret. Still, Damian couldn't see how he could have handled this better and also stayed silent.

Quietly he goes over the things he found out about his brother.

He now goes by the name Daniel James Fenton

He lives in Amity Park, Illinois

He was adopted at the age of nine by the Fentons

He goes to the local high school

He has an older sister, Jasmine Fenton, who is in college for psychology

His parents are ecto-scientist

He has two friend with the names of Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson

It wasn't a lot, but he didn't have much time and also not the patience to wait any longer. It had been almost nine years since he last seen his other half and even if he was nervous, he just couldn't bear to wait any longer.

After they landed in an airport in the city nearest to Amity Park, the two immediately got into the back of a car and their journey continues.

For a long time it was silent in the car, till Damian couldn't bear his father's brooding anymore.

"I didn't know if he had survived and I deemed it better for everyone involved if I'm the only one with this particular uncertainty and possible grief", even if his own voice was levelled and his father just responded with a grunt, the air in the car seemed now easier to breathe.

~

Yes, Bruce had been livid and heartbroken when Damian had told him about his youngest, but he could understand to some degree where the boy was coming from. And if the situation wouldn't be so heartbreaking, then he could be able to call it sweet of his son. He just didn't want him to hurt, but even so... now it was to late to think about the what if's, in a few minutes he would have Daniel in his sight.

They stopped in front of a house that was a clear violation of every OSHA law he could think of. But the big "FENTON WORK' sign, told him that they were right.

Bruce put on a light smile, before he knocked on the door, Damian on his left side. From inside he heard a little bit of shuffling and a carbon copy of Damian opened the door. Everything except for the eyes were the same.

But before Bruce could say anything, the twins were already in each other's arms. He could hear quiet sniffling.

"You found me, your safe", the words came like a mantra out of Daniels mouth.

"Ahbak, Danyal", was the whispered answer from Damian.

And Bruce felt like an intruder in this moment. He had never seen his son so openly affectionate and it was like a weight had lifted of Damians shoulders.

It took a few minutes till the two brothers let go of each other. Except for their hands, that stayed clasps with each other.

"Hello Daniel, I'm Bruce Wayne. I'm yours and Damians father", he introduced himself with a smile, even though the boy seemed to shrink a little bit into himself.

"Please call me Danny Mr. Wayne. Just Fruitloops call me Daniel", his son gave him a crooked smile and Bruce nodded.

"Of course, but call me Bruce", he answered easygoing.

"Is there a place where we can talk Danyal?", Damian got the attention of his twin with a little tuck on his hand.

"You can come inside. Mom and Dad are out of town to get a few supplies for a new project", his answer was sheepish, as he lead them inside.

It seemed like he had adjusted well to a civilian life. How he wished he could have seen his growth.

They sit down in the living room and start to talk a bit about Danny's life with the Fentons. It's apparent for both him and Damian, that Danny is hiding something from them, but they don't press. Maybe he'll tells Damian, when they have a moment alone.

"Should I help you to pack your possessions now? I'm sure the Fentons won't need to long to come back, so that you can say goodbye", as Damian was speaking, he stood up and looked at a bewildered Danny. But Bruce wasn't really better. As much as he would love to bring Danny home with them, they couldn't just rip him out of his life. And Danny seems to see it just like him.

"Dami... I'm not leaving. I love my parents and my friends, I can't just go and leave them", Danny also stood up and clasped his hands on Damians shoulders.

"Tt... so you choose them over me?", his voice was barely over a whisper.

"No! I-... it's just... give me time? I'm almost done with high school and I want to go Gotham U, so... just wait a bit? Please?", his tone was pleading, as he searched his brothers eyes, whom just answered with a defeated sight.

"Danny is right Damian. We can't just uproot him like that. As much as I want us all together, we found him now, the rest can wait", Damian deflated a little more at his words. And so Bruce couldn't just let the opportunity pass to comfort his children for once.

He closed the small distance between them and hugged both of the boys lightly to himself.

"You know that I always wanted to raise you myself and now that I see you both like that, I wish for it even more", he sighted with a woeful smile, while Damian grumbled about the proximity. But Danny's little smile shifted to a horrified look.

"Your wish is my command~", the feminine voice came out of thin air, but Bruce had no time to think about it. Because just a second later, there were two little Babies in his arms. Two little, screaming Babies.

Bruce never regretted it so much in his life, that he hadn't brought Alfred along.

#skylers prompts #dcxdp #dcxdp prompt #dpxdc #damian wayne #bruce wayne #danny gets deaged #damian gets deaged #now Bruce has two babies! #and one has ghost powers! #he will learn that the hard way #he will also learn that they both hate it to be by anyone but dad #this man will know no sleep #I literally just had the last scene stuck in my brain #and started to build a plot to justify writing it #ups #demon twins #demon twin au #and yes they faked dannys death #but they needed to wound him severely for the plan to work #the fentons won't even notice that dannys is missing #but they will notice that phantom isn't showing up anymore #his friends will be worried sick #and jazz to #as soon as she hears about it #mister lancer is the one adult who will fill out a missing person report #while jack and maddie a running after boxy in the background #yes Bruce took them both home because he panicked

[dcxdpdabbles]

Cave boy Danny has way to much fun fucking with the bats after a while. Jason is too until Danny bites him after some unwanted human contact. Alfred gets a big wave of nostalgia when Danny does it too.

Danny can say that the Waynes have been ridiculously welcoming, all things considered. He still hasn't come clean about not being Bruce Wayne's alternative double, so to throw them off from finding out the truth and have a safe place to crash- he's missed plumbing- he has been invited to the Wayne Manor and has been lazing about when under their watch.

If there was one thing apparent, it was that Bruce Wayne did not laze about. It was mind-blowing to those who knew him to see Danny- a version of Bruce- act like walking across the room for a remote was too much work.

It drove them mad to see such a difference between them, and thus, none of the Waynes noticed Danny's side project to get home.

The Waynes gave him a giant room and helped set up a fake Identity for him while they worked on getting him home. To the public, he was Danny Kane, a long-lost relative recently coming to Bruce for help.

Thanks to the support of Jacob and Kate, they agree to make it seem that Jack Kane- Danny's made-up father- was the result of Bruce's material grandfather having a fling after his wife's death. Jake was hidden from the public eye but had his father's financial support until he was an adult.

Jack was never bitter and told Danny stories of his wayward father, filled with love to prove it. These stories inspired Danny to seek out the remaining Kanes after Jack's untimely death, which led him to Bruce as Martha Wayne nee Kane's son.

The day Danny would be sent home, the Waynes would fake his death, and no one would be the wiser that Danny Kane never existed.

Fine by Danny

. He only planned to stick around long enough to get his ship ready and pinpoint a location that had the vile between the living and dead thin enough to slice his way back to the Ghost Zone.

Unlike Wulf, who could open portals wherever he wanted, Danny had to find points weak enough to punch a hole through. He knows his parent's portal was way out of his set of skills, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give anyone the idea to build their own here. Two percent of portals were already two too many.

He mostly hung around the house- with someone always close by in a poor attempt to hide the fact they were watching him. Most of the time, Danny was either lazing around the house, eating and sleeping, and it felt like a costly vacation.

He refused to help on the coms when the Bats went out to kick ass, even after Dick offered to sit in front of monitors and relay information to the heroes like he was offering the chance of a lifetime.

This seems to disturb everyone else in the house except for Alfred.

If anything, the fact Danny straight-up refused to put on tights and rush into night to fight crime made Alfred adore him. The butler claimed he was worried everyone in the family would forget what everyday life was supposed to feel like.

A few Waynes couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the concept.

"You're not interested at all?" Tim asks, eyes narrowed. He was among the few who thought Danny was suspicious for not wanting to risk his life to fight the corrupted system.

"Nah, man, I'm good here. I got my nachos, I got a movie room and I got the softest bathrobe ever bathrobe." Danny snuggles more profoundly into the pink plush robe that Steph had lent him. "Why would I want to ruin any of these? Sides, I can't even throw a punch."

".....There has never been a single alternative Bruce Wayne that wasn't involved in this life in some way. If not as a hero then he was a villain. Bruce as a villain is one of the most dangerous things that can ever happen across the multiverse" Tim reveals grimly. "We've won every single encounter but only by the skin of our teeth."

"Damn. Let me guess. You guys beat the evil Bruces by sending his kids after him."

"Yes."

"Problem solve. You already know you can kick my ass, so if I try anything, you can take me out, right?" Danny doesn't wait for a answer. He turns away from the teenager to stare at the movie screen showing his picked movie. "I can do nothing but tremble before your bat might."

Tim steps into his line of sight. "I mean it. You do anything to harm this family and will regret it."

"Does that mean I can't bite Jason again? That sucks. It's the only way I can get him to stop trying to drag me to galas. He wants to scare the other rich people with my poor people's manners."

Tim's lip twitches and Danny knows he's fighting to keep his face under control. "You didn't have to lock your jaw in like that."

"I really did. Jason tested me."

Tim tilts his head. "You don't really feel like Bruce. You look just like him at fifteen. Alfred says you act just like him. But for the last three weeks, you've been trying really hard to make it seem like you're okay with doing nothing."

"I am comfortable doing nothing."

"I think you're lying," Tim says, moving closer to stare down into Danny's eyes with frankly a manic glare. Danny's core flares up with the sense of challenge he finds in that dark blue gaze.

Which is a first for a human, and frankly is terrifying. If Tim had been a ghost he would have easily been an Ancient assistant or a baby Ancient. He has to be able to match Danny's power like this. Holy shit.

"I think your parents didn't give you enough love as a child, and now you seek approval from everyone around you while trying to push everyone away because you are too scared to make yourself valuable. You find yourself in an endless loop of self-doubt and self-hate by doing both simultaneously." Danny blurts. He watches Tim freeze, then winces. "Shit, sorry, the psychoanalyze came out as a reflection. Forget that."

Tim is still frozen in a way Danny recognizes as someone hearing something challenging to come to terms with. This is why he needs to break the habit of using Jazz's psyche training as a weapon.

He forgets not everyone insults each other with their deepest insecurities. That's just how he and Jazz love.

"...Do you want to watch the Grey Ghost Marathon with me?" He asks after a long pause. Tim closes his eyes before plumping down next to him.

"I like that."

Neither mention Jason, who is gasping in the last row of seats and attempting to suppress muffled laughter behind the wrist cast that Danny lovingly gave him at the last gala.

On a side note, Danny Kane is called "Rabid Dog." by the elites of Gotham, who watched the boy make three grown men cry after two minutes of talking to him and also witness four Waynes attempt to pry his mouth open screaming, "No Danny drop it. drop it!" while the boy munched on Jason's wrist.

No one has noticed that half of the tech has disappeared.

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #cave boy #Part 3 #Danny is attempting to be as different of Bruce as he can be #Tim thinks he's a evil Bruce pretending to be good #Jason taungted the dog and got bite #Everyone else just thinks Danny is the normal amount of weird for being a bruce

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #61 Part 5

There were two new arrivals to the dining room. Both with black hair but one of them had an odd white stripe, the stripe reminded him of his hair in ghost form. 

The one without the stripe sat next to Tim and the other one sat next to Danny. 

“You weren’t kidding when you said they looked identical,” the guy without the stripe said, “Names Richard Greyson, but you can call me Dick”

Dick had a bright smile on his face, it was clear he was a morning person. 

Damian made another ‘Tt’ noise at his introduction. 

The guy with the stripe in his hair grunted in agreement before holding out a coffee mug for Alfred, who was already standing next to him ready to pour. He took a swig before speaking, “Names Jason, you may look alike but seeing Damian eat meat, even from an alternate universe is weird.”

Danny took a bite of his bacon and swallowed like he was making a point before speaking, “I go by Danny, I faked my death years ago, as far as I’m concerned we were all strangers in my world.” He started, he took a moment to think about exactly how’d he explain everything. He knew it wasn’t exactly a pretty story but he also knew from the stories Talia told him when he was younger that Bruce was all about planning ahead, so keeping information from  him might not be the best way to go about all of this. 

He took another bite and swallowed before speaking again, “My foster family is fine though, I have a roof over my head and food. They spend most of their time in their lab working. They study Ectology, or the study of ghosts.” Jason raised an eyebrow at this but didn’t say anything. Danny continued, “They actually succeeded in building a portal to their realm, the realm of ghosts, or Infinite Realm as we call it.”

“We? You say that like you're one of the ghosts” Tim asked laughing a little bit.

He quickly got silent when Danny wasn’t laughing with him.

Damian made another ‘Tt’ noise before speaking, “Clearly this imposter has lost it, ghosts don’t exist and all of this nonsense is just that nonsense.” He glared at Danny.

Danny smiled at him and it caused Damian to falter a little before he glared at Danny again.

“Yes, Ghosts are real,” Danny sighed before continuing, “Trust me, it sounds crazy but I’ve seen some crazy things in my world. Although now I’m wondering if just showing you guys would be easier… Alright I’ll show you all but know that no one except my sister knows. Secret identity and all.”

“Wait,” Dick interrupted, “Does Robin not exist in your world?”

“Robin existed but there hasn’t been a Robin since Joker murdered the last one.” Danny answered. 

Everyone fell silent at that and the atmosphere got heavy. Everyone, especially Jason was giving each other knowing glances.

Danny cleared his throat before continuing, “Anyways, yes ghosts exist, unfortunately the portal in this world probably doesn’t work like my own world. It’s been about a year since I turned it on and since I was here in Gotham when they tried it in this world there’s no telling what they did after it didn’t work. Actually now that I think about it, I wonder if they exist here,” he thought about the GIW in his world and it occurred to him. If ghosts weren’t running rampant in Amity Park, they probably didn’t exist here.

He brought out his phone from his pocket and looked it up. His eyes lit up a bit at the information he found. Or more accurately the information he didn’t find. Searching GIW in this world brought zero results, so great he wouldn’t be hunted for existing here. 

He let out a sigh of relief at this. He turned to everyone and they were watching him closely. He gave them a small smile, “It’s been a while since I had a moment where I didn’t have to worry about being hunted for existing.” He explained. He figured he might as well get the conversation out of the way no matter how difficult it was. 

Everyone at the table was silent as they waited for him to continue. The tension was thick in the air however, you could tell that even though Danny had just arrived everyone was ready to jump to defend him, even if he wasn’t their Damian he was still part of the family even if he had just arrived into their lives. It cemented Danny’s determination to tell them the truth.

He took a deep breath and then spoke again, “The portal didn’t work at first when they tried it, I of course wanted to help so when they were away I went in to see if I could figure out the problem… Long story short, it helps to build the on switch on the outside of the portal. I’m not proud to admit that even with all of my training, there were just too many cords that even I tripped.” He didn’t have to say much else about that as their faces told him they understood what happened. He gave a dark chuckle and continued, “Yeah hurt like hell but I don’t have to worry about losing anything anymore.” He then took his phone and phased it into his chest.

The room went silent again for a moment, but it was broken by Jason who started cackling. 

He wheezed for a moment before he got out, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t ready for not Damian to make a fucking pun!”

Meanwhile everyone else was still too stunned to speak. Finally Damian surprisingly spoke, “What else can you do?”

Danny smiled, this was going to be fun.

Master Post:

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#dp x dc prompt #dp x dc #dc x dp #danny fenton #danny phantom #ghost prince danny #danny and damian are the same person #my asks are open #all my prompts are free to use #Even if I write these parts if you want it to go different your welcome to write your own fic #My goal with these is to spread creativity #as is my purpose on this earth

[disillusioneddanny]

Enchanted to Meet You

Danny forced a smile as Vlad clasped a hand over Danny’s shoulder and introduced the twenty-year-old as his ward to the older couple in front of him.

It had been three months since the death of Danny’s parents and since Vlad had taken him in. Sure, Danny was in his twenties, but he had still been living at home, and had still been working with his parents for them to better understand him and who he was as Phantom. Things had been going well until the GAV malfunctioned and exploded with the two in it. Suddenly, living in Fenton Works was far too stifling, too lonely and quiet. 

Vlad had decided to step in at that time and take Danny in. He saw the pain in Danny’s eyes after the funeral and offered his home. In that time, they had learned to understand one another. Things were still stiff and stilted between the two but it was getting better, they were understanding one another in ways that they hadn’t before. Not only that but Vlad was trying, he was trying to be a support for Danny and honestly, that’s what he needed. 

Jazz had thrown herself into her work, had focused on classes, and isolated herself, leaving Danny alone and floundering, not knowing how to handle his parents' deaths. Clockwork had been the one to push Danny into staying with Vlad and had said that this timeline was different than the last time Danny was taken in by Vlad. So he had agreed. 

But, his Godfather had been forcing him to be more social than Danny had ever been in his life. The only time Danny had really gotten time for himself was in his dreams when he would finally see his soulmate each night. 

Soulmate dreams were a taunting hell if he was going to be completely honest, Fate had to have been a sick bitch for giving people soulmate dreams. The dreams gave soulmates the chance to talk to one another, spend time together, and get to know one another. The only problem with the dreams was that upon waking up, a person never remembered the name of their soulmate or where they lived.

Danny had taken to calling his soul mate Birdie in the confines of his mind. He couldn’t remember why he called him that, but it felt right, felt important. 

“Daniel, why don’t you grab some refreshments?” Vlad asked, looking down at Danny who tore his eyes away from the ground to glance up at his godfather. He swallowed and nodded his head before he looked at the couple in front of them and forced a small smile. 

“It was nice to meet you both,” Danny said, his voice still didn’t feel like his own. The couple gave him a small smile and he listened as he walked away. 

“It’s so sweet of you Vlad to take him in,” the woman said kindly. “I heard what happened to his parents, so devastating.”

“Yes, well he is my godson, becoming a legal adult does not change anything and he needed someone to rely on. I was happy to take him in,” Vlad said honestly. Danny rolled his eyes as the couple tittered and cooed over Vlad for being such a good godfather. 

Danny stalked towards the refreshments table and sighed to himself. He hated things like this. The forcing laughter, faking smiles. Same old tired, lonely place. The only difference was that this was a gala in Gotham rather than an empty mansion in Wisconsin. 

Here was full of walls of insincerity, shifting eyes, and vacancy. Everyone here was desperate to be seen as something they weren’t. They were desperate to impress everyone, hell, even Vlad was desperate for people to see him as more important. He wanted to be seen as on the same level as Bruce Wayne of all people which if he was going to be honest was impossible. 

Danny grabbed a glass of punch and took a sip when he felt eyes on him and glanced up, meeting the gaze of someone who felt far too familiar. It was like everything vanished the moment he saw his face and Danny’s breath caught in his chest. 

The halfa watched as the man stepped forward. His eyes whispered, “Have we met?”

He took in the silhouette of the man as he started to cross his way towards Danny. His hair was a dark, raven black, had piercing blue eyes and a beautiful chiseled jaw, a small smile graced his face and had Danny nearly tripping over himself as he set down his drink and met the man in the middle of the ballroom. 

“Ghostie?” The man whispered as the two made their way to one another. 

A small smile quirked up on Danny’s lips. “Birdie?” He asked in response and the man let out a soft laugh, running his fingers through his hair. 

“What is a guy like you doin’ in a place like this?” He asked, pulling Danny’s hand in his. 

“Oh you know, evil Godfather who wants to force me to socialize,” he said softly. Birdie frowned at that, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that Danny had seen him do millions of times in his dreams. 

“It’s only been three months,” Birdie whispered.

Danny gave him a forced smile and shrugged his shoulders/ “What about you? It’s only been two months since you know?”

He had remembered the dream clearly. Danny had appeared in their dream, they were sitting upon the shore of a lake, Birdie–Dick’s legs had been pulled up to his chest as he stared out at the water, and a tear ran down his cheek. Danny knew immediately that something was wrong, something had happened and he didn’t think it was something he would be able to fix or help with. 

“Jason died,” he whispered, resting his head on Danny’s shoulder. “I didn’t save him.”

“I’m so sorry,” Danny had said, wrapping his arms around Dick’s waist and holding him close to him as he sobbed. And now two months later he was finally getting to see his love in the flesh. 

“I know,” Dick whispered, giving Danny a sad smile. “But I told Bruce I needed to get out and try. He’s a wreck, still but  I’m hoping this would be a nice distraction for both of us. Would you like to dance, Ghostie?”

Danny smiled. “You can call me Danny,” he said, taking Dick’s hand and allowing the older man to pull him onto the dancefloor. 

“Dick,” he said and Danny laughed and rested his arms atop Dick’s shoulders. 

“Unfortunate,” he teased, the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. “I don’t know about you but this is the best gala I have ever been to,” Danny said softly as Dick spun him around the dance floor carefully. 

“Been to a lot of galas, have you?” Dick asked, his blue eyes sparkling. Danny laughed, throwing his head back as he did. The playful conversation started at that point, Danny managed to counter all of Dick’s quick remarks with his own. It was reminiscent of passing notes in secrecy. Nothing else mattered in that moment. The gala faded away to the background, none of that mattered moment, not the people, not none of it did, not when Danny had Dick in his arms in real-time. He didn’t even care that he could feel Vlad’s curious gaze on them. 

He was far too enchanted with Dick to even care. 

The night was sparkling and Danny didn’t want to let him go. He was wonderstruck, blushing more than he had ever done before.  He couldn’t help but wonder if Dick knew just how enchanted Danny was. 

The two danced through the ballroom for the rest of the night, not realizing that all eyes were on them. How could they when they only had eyes for one another? Danny smiled as Dick spun him with one arm and dipped him low, his lips brushing along Danny’s for just a moment. 

“This is everything I have ever dreamed of,” DIck whispered and Danny let out a soft chuckle. 

“ Lies,” he accused in a teasing tone. “I was there, you never dreamed about us dancing.”

Dick let out a hum and pulled Danny back to his chest. “You’re right, I think our dreams were full of flying instead,” he said, the question in his voice despite the fact that Danny had never voiced it. The unspoken question hung between the two of them and Danny knew what he was asking. Was Phantom real? Just like Danny wondered if Nightwing was real. 

“Maybe I can sneak out of my hotel room tonight, we can fly together. You’ve boasted about your own talents for a while now. Maybe it’s time I get to see them in action,” Danny whispered. 

A blinding smile filled Dick’s face and he rested his chin on Danny’s shoulder. “I need you to know just how much I appreciate you,” he whispered in Danny’s ear. “You’re the only thing that has kept me sane, that has kept me normal and, Danny you’re amazing.”

Danny felt something lodge in his throat at that. How could he get Dick to understand that he had saved Danny in the same way? That Dick’s unflappable love and support had been the only reason Danny hadn’t gone to hide out in the Ghost Zone for the rest of time? The hope of getting to meet his wonderful Birdie one day was enough to keep him going when everything else felt like it was falling apart.  Dick had been the one to hold him each night and keep Danny from falling apart, had been there to stitch up the broken pieces and listen to Danny sob. And then Danny had turned around and done the same for him when Jason had died. They had become the support that they each so desperately needed when no one else could provide it for them.

Danny scoffed and brushed a strand of hair out of Dick’s face as he smiled at the man. “You’re just saying that,” he whispered. 

Dick just laughed and shook his head before he twirled Danny around once again. 

It was two AM and Danny was lying atop the roof of Wayne Enterprises, his hand wrapped around that of a gloved hand that belonged to Nightwing as they stared up at the ceiling. 

“Phantom,” Dick whispered, staring up at the sky. 

“Nightwing,” Danny whispered back, racing the stars with his eyes, memorizing the barely visible constellations that hung in the cloudy sky of Gotham City.

“Who do you love?” He asked quietly. Danny pulled his eyes away from the stars when he heard the crack in his soulmate’s voice. 

“Isn’t that obvious?” He asked quietly, cupping DIck’s face in his hand and wiping the tear that traveled down the vigilante’s cheek. “It’s you, Birdie. How could it be anyone else?” 

If he remembered correctly, his love didn’t hear those words as often as Danny would have liked. Not from his adoptive father, not from anyone in his family. So, Danny would have to mitigate that. So this was Danny now praying to anyone who would listen that this was the very first page, not where the storyline would end. 

“I have to go soon,” Danny said softly. “And so do you, you have patrols.”

Dick frowned. “When do you leave?” He whispered. 

“Tomorrow morning we fly back to Wisconsin,” he said with a sigh. A smile slowly grew along his face, though as he stared at his soulmate. “But, now that I know where you live, you’re just a flight away from me. And as you saw tonight, I can fly pretty fast.”

Dick let out a soft laugh. “Well, my thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again,” he said quietly, memorizing the freckles upon Danny’s face. 

Danny felt his heart lurch and decided to say the words he had back as he was leaving far too soon. “I was enchanted to meet you, Birdie,” he said quietly as they sat up and looked at one another.

Dick slowly leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s lips. “I love you,” he murmured and a blush covered Danny’s face. And he would never admit it, but the blush lasted all the way home. And Danny knew that he would forever wonder if Dick just knew how flawless their first real night had been together, that Danny had been so wonderstruck that he danced around his bedroom all alone, wondering if Dick knew that Danny was so utterly enchanted to meet him outside of his dreams. 

#dpxdc #danny phantom #Batman comics #Danny Fenton x Dick Grayson

[phantoms-world-and-more]

Vlad is Ra al ghul

After jack and maddies death danny and vlad had one final brawl which resulted in the both of them having breakdowns and eventually having a heart to heart so their on better terms now

By the time danny ghost king coronation was coming up vlad was conflicted a part of him wanted to follow in dani's footsteps, leave to explore and no longer live for someone else

But another part of him didnt want to leave his obssession(danny) alone and just cut contact

In the end danny gave vlad a fenton-phone with the ability to teleport vlad to danny and danny to vlad, danny also had one so he could do the same to vlad

So vlad traveled between the infinite realms and eventually setteled in a little universe where he relaxed for a while

Until he started aging again, danny, vlad and frost bite did some experimenting and discovered that because vlad wasent a true halfa if he was removed from ectoplasm for certain amounts of time he'd age again and eventually die

So vlad asked danny to create a pool of ectoplasm in the mountains.

More years passed and eventually vlad created the LOA, danny knowes about it but dosent aprove, vlad never stopped contact with danny he just stopped teleporting him there every month

He had a daughter and a grandson, created a fake name so only a few people knew him real name and was currently being harassed by a group of furries

Yes, danny dose repeatedly, make fun of vlads life

Now where this takes a turn is when during a fight with batman at the LoA

The batfam were all there and watching as Ra al ghul fight bruce to see the fate of their lives

However during the fight Ra dropped something that looked like a phone which bruce picked up

The way Ra reacted to bruce having it told everyone it was important, so bruce was planning to trade it for the batfams lives when he pushed a button on the thing

A *beep* and a flash of light was all the warning anyone got before a white teenager in regal attire was floating there holding the devise

The being looked breefly suprised before turning to Ra

:really fruitloop, you teleport me now

: apologies little badger, but it was the bat that teleport led you

#danny phantom #fic prompt #daily prompt #danny fenton #dc x dp #dp x dc #funny #batman #dc #vlad masters #ra al ghul #ghost king danny #vlad is ra al ghul #the batfam #the batfam are going crazy #who is this??? #and why did Ra fucking al ghul give him a nickname #talia is also confused #the Lazarus pit was created to keep vlad/Ra alive #danny is the one true halfa theory #vlad needs ectoplasm or he's gunna age

[phantom-dc]

Dad Hood - part 11

Bruce knew something was up. He didn’t need the title of World’s Greatest detective to figure that out. And it had something to with his sons.

‘Tim, why are you in my classified files?’

He had caught Tim looking through his personal files on the Bat-computer. There were strict rules not to go into each other’s personal files, yet Tim had broken that rule. Then again, Bruce was certain Tim did this often, which was the only reason he didn’t get angry.

‘I was just… wondering if your contingency files were still up to date!’

At the time Bruce though Tim had been curious if there was a plan for him. But then the week had continued to become stranger.

‘Dick, what are you doing with our Lazarus Pit? You know I don’t want anyone near it unless necessary.’

Dick had been by the Batcave’s Lazarus Pit, with a ruler of all things! Everyone was forbidden of going near it. If that thing wasn’t so fundamental to have Bruce would have gotten rid of it ages ago.

‘I was just… making sure it wasn’t leaking?’

That had been even stranger. Why would Dick think that Lazarus Water was missing? Both Dick and Tim had been walking on eggshells around him, and Bruce didn’t know why. Part of him wanted to be a good father and let them come to him when they were ready, but the other part needed to make sure that they weren’t in any trouble. Why was being a father so hard? And then dinner had been strange and downright awkward.

‘Yeah, remember when Wally faked his own death and went to that sanctuary? I was so upset! I just missed him sooooo much!’

Dick had brought up his friend. It had been unnatural for the conversation. Bruce was concerned. What was Dick fishing for?

‘Oh yes, I remember. That must’ve been horrible. I remember how I felt when Connor died. I missed him so much, I tried to clone him! It didn’t work, but still! Thank goodness he’s back now’

Bruce was getting more uncomfortable, as were his other kids. He wasn’t sure if Duke, Steph and Cass even knew about that. This sounded scripted, what was this about?

‘Ha-ha yeah! Oh well. Who hasn’t tried that? Raise your hand if you tried to bring a loved one back through cloning!’

Dick was looking at the table. Bruce was confused. Did… Did they think he cloned someone? Why would Bruce do that? They have a Lazarus Pit in the basement, and cloning doesn’t work with memories. It would never work. But that is beside the point. Why did his sons think he cloned someone, and why were they shaken enough to be in a state that they couldn’t even be subtle about it?

‘Guys, can you lighten up a bit? I’d rather not eat and discuss dead friends at the same time.’ Duke was very uncomfortable.

‘Yeah, knock it off. Let’s talk about something else. Damian, didn’t you visit Sgt. Byrd at the zoo today?’ Stephanie tried to switch topics.

As the conversation shifted, Bruce knew he couldn’t just let them come to him anymore. This was a case for Batman.

Tim and Dick were arguing. After dinner they had left to Tim’s room, to discuss things.

‘Really? ‘Raise your hand if you tried to bring a loved one back through cloning’? What was that?’

‘Look, we haven’t found anything else. What was I supposed to do? The week is almost up and we have no clue’s. Zero, nada, nothing! What are we supposed to tell Jason?’

Tim put his face in his hands. This investigation was going nowhere.

‘Ok, arguing isn’t getting us anywhere. We need to work together on this.’

After a week of trying to find more information they had come up empty. Tim had scoured every file in the Bat-computer but there wasn’t a trace of any cloning plans. They had gone over every paper file in the Cave itself, but there wasn’t even an anecdote about it. Dick had gone so far as to measure the Lazarus Pit to see if any water was missing! With how infused with the stuff Danny was, it had seemed reasonable. But there wasn’t anything. There was nothing to be found. But both boys knew that wasn’t the end of it. Bruce could’ve destroyed his work. He could’ve kept it in a different location. Jason would know that too.

‘We need to find out for certain if Bruce cloned him. If we don’t, Jason is going to murder someone, or at least try.’

As both boys left to investigate other Bat-hide outs in Gotham, Damian decided he’d heard enough. Dropping down from the ceiling, he went to his father to report this.

‘…So in short Father, Grayson and Drake believe you might have cloned Jason. Most likely after his death as a coping mechanism.’

Bruce sighed. He had no clue where they would get that idea from. However, he needed to talk to them. But if he knew his sons even a little, he knew that neither Dick nor Tim would believe a word he said until their investigation was over. Which means he had only one son he could reason with, as hard as that was even on a good day.

Leaving to figure out which safehouse he was currently living in, Bruce thought about what he was going to say to Jason.

‘Alright, kiddo. You ready for bed? You had your water? You got everything? Your Blankie and Mr. Bun-Bun?’

Jason tucked Danny into bed. Snuggling further into his blankets, Danny gave him a big smile.

‘Yep! Goodnight daddy!’

Jason turned off the lights and closed the door. Hopefully Danny would be able to sleep through the night. He had been doing better lately, but he still woke up a lot. Jason stretched his muscles a bit. He felt like he was finally getting a handle on this parenting thing. As long as Danny didn’t get any new powers…

‘Jason.’

Bruce was standing in Jason’s living room. Jason instantly felt rage, his eyes going fully green just as fast. This shocked Bruce. What had happened? Did this have anything to do with the cloning theory?

‘What do you want, old man? You have a lot of nerve coming here!’

Jason was feeling strange. This was the first time he’d gotten so mad he almost attacked someone on sight since his dip, and it felt odd. He didn’t want to alert Danny to this, but it took almost everything he had not to snap. But if Bruce didn’t own up to this…

‘Jason, I need to talk to you. Dick and Tim seem to be under the impression that I have cloned-’

‘OH, JUST ADMIT IT, BRUCE! I KNOW EVERYTHING! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?’

Jason broke. Knowing that Bruce had not only known that Jason had a son, but keeping it from him just to try and clone the child was too much. He flung himself at Bruce, and attacked him.

‘AWNSER ME DAMMIT! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!’ Jason threw a punch at Bruce, which was blocked. In his rage, Jason was fighting sloppy. Bruce flipped Jason over his head, dropping him onto the couch.

‘Jason, I don’t understand. What are you talking about?’ Bruce was trying to understand. Even if someone had tried to clone Jason, that didn’t explain this anger. He was missing a piece of the puzzle and he needed to figure out what was happening. Did Jason think he wasn’t the original Jason for some reason?

Jason threw a pillow to block Bruce’s vison and got off the couch. Throwing another punch, this one connected and slammed Bruce into the wall.

‘HOW COULD YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME! DO YOU HATE ME THAT MUCH?’

Jason picked Bruce up and pushed him against the wall. Bruce was surprised Jason was able to do that while Bruce was wearing the heavy bat-suit.

‘YOU KNEW I HAD A KID, AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME SHIT! YOU EVEN TRIED TO CLONE HIM! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME-’

‘Daddy, who is that?’

Jason stopped. Danny had woken up and found them fighting.

‘Danny, what do you mean? Isn’t he the frootloop that cloned you?’

Danny shook his head. He’d never seen that man before!

‘Jaylad, I-’

Before Bruce could say anything else, Jason fell slack. He had fainted from the stress.

First - Previous - Next - AO3

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dc x dp #dp x dc #red hood #batman #jason todd #dad jason #dad hood

[tiny-sassy-aggressive]

I am living blogging my reaction to the second watch through of WDAPTEO 4 bc the first run through was so much

00:00- I screamed when I saw the notif. I was alone in the car. Just pulled up to my apt looked at my phone and screamed “ no way “ I still can’t believe we got it

00:01- hi, they are SO BEAUTIFUL I’m squealing. I cannot stop staring it’s embarassing

00:27 what’s going on here? “Nothing” my heart. The smiles

00:50 oh I am LOVING the feature wall. And fish tank reveal project??

01:00 how dare they throw THAT japhan photo up there like it’s just some example. Who the hell do they think they are- also I want that doomed hoodie :( he is snug as a bug in a rug

01:50 terror not even 2 minute in and crack

02:03 I’m sorry Dan asking Phil about TikTok stuff is precious

02:13(What is cba)

02:39 I CACKLED. Phil’s sarcastic ass omg

02:44 dans little pat

02:58 phivorce

03:05 I know the ft, they are friends of course. But seeing the messages really warms my heart. Like it’s so normal why am I emotional

03:52 of course Phil sends millions of memes

04:10 how in the fuck did Phil catch his phone what??? Ft dans face during the whole interaction.

Ad time —— 04:25. Im sorry Dan looks fucking amazing, his hair is so curled and pretty? And he looks so comfy cozy and soft??? My Dannie side is really coming out rn

04:59 handsome devil, damn straight. Love this man he’s too precious for this world

05:23 🍑

05:55 are the Brits okay??? Bone daddies?? I’m too American for this

06:30 perfectly encapsulated Dan and Phil energy

06:35 Dan saying dude scratches a weird itch in my brain

06:55 again! Totally normal to call a friend in a taxi. But this moment makes them so real in my mind like yes. Call that friend. In that taxi. Make it less awkward. Why did I like this moment so much

07:05 A PRETEND CONVO OF COURSE HE WOULD. He’s so real for that

07:34 “these are very dan and Phil”

07:42 I’m in pain. Koala content and ouch I can’t even put into words

08:44 three days without a text sounds exaggerated. Or lie. Like cmon. All those messages and convos and yall went 3 days without a word?? Sounds fake

08:58 asking what he should do for his nails!!? Again totally normal but UGH I love their friendship

09:01 also Phil coming in with a STELLAR idea, hope to see it happen

09:11 Phil’s a little shit OMG he hated the nails Dan got.

09:38: dans precious little selfies

09:44 also who tf is that that does not look like Dan

09:52 wtf do you mean that they had the same weird Swedish bakery???? 10 years apart???? WHAT THE HELL??????

10:35 fuckin nerds ft cute ft selfie

10:52 Dan in Phil’s glasses hi what the fuck? Precious. Phil loves to take photos of Dan sleeping.

11:02 jump. Scare.

11:28 PHIL CALLED HIS MOM. NURSE LESTER.

12:11 Dan stalking the ring doorbell is not something I expected?

12:20 glad to know Phil and I share that we can’t hear someone saw our name bc it’s too intimate

13:16 ordering a roast dinner is so cute idk why

13:35 jump. Scare.

14:26 I hate them :( i so long for what they have

15:04 they didn’t see death note the musical!! Haters!!!!

15:20 HOT

16:00 Phil papping Dan>>>>>>

16:20 I rewatched this part so many times. Thsi entire sequence. This whole. Dare i say SCENE. Disgustingly familiar. Disgustingly cute. I- karaoke game???? What??? It was for them

17:06 omatone :(

18:22 hot? Worrying? Hmm???

18:45 Phil is so dramatic I love him

19:01 genre to dinner? I don’t get them

19:10 DAAAAAN AHHHHH

19:20 SCRIPTS AH???????3@2/9/@/9@22929 more writer Dan

20:17 this is so familiar

20:50 this has “would you still love me if I was a worm” energy? Can’t explain

22:53 “we dan and phil-ed it” we have to steal that! Asap’

23:24 when Dan sits up he is soooo much taller than Phil but he constantly slumps down and looks up to Phil. It’s very cute to watch.

24:30 oh they are fully embracing the joint channel and slowly moving away from gaming and honestly. I’m alright with it. They look so happy

Guys this was too much. So I just started reading fanfic and these conversations were right out of what I’ve been reading which is very odd tbh? But we were fed. This was amazing content and I can’t wait to see what the writers do with this. Cheers

#amazingphil #dan and phil #daniel howell #phil lester #dnp #philip lester #dan howell #danisnotonfire #dan and phil renaissance #Daniel and Philip #Daniel Howell and Philip Lester #Wdapteo 2023

[reality-detective]

* * * Las Vegas Shooting * * *

Part 1

Were there injuries and deaths in the Las Vegas Shooting?

If so, were they a result from Stephen Paddock’s “alleged” gunfire… or the alleged “multiple shooters?”

What about those who may have been “suicided” for speaking up about the event being staged? Were these real deaths?

Did the hundreds of “injured victims” fake their injuries? Crisis actors?

Well…

A surgeon from. Local Las Vegas Hospital spoke up about what he saw…or didn’t see.

All of those 👆 YouTube videos embedded in his letter were taken down…except one.

Do you see the fakery and the acting in this 👇 video clip??

In the next drop below, is a few people who may have been “suicided” for speaking up after the Las Vegas shooting. Their testimonies ran contrary to the “Lone Shooter” narrative.

Were these the real/only victims of the shooting? 👇

Kymberley Suchomel died suddenly, after announcing that she formed a group, who was going to expose the Las Vegas shooting cover-up.

Danny Contreras, another witness who claimed he saw multiple shooters, was also found shot dead in a vacant home.

Dennis and Lorraine Carver, who survived the Vegas shooting, died in a fiery single car crash in Riverside, CA on Oct. 16, 2017...just two weeks after the shooting. The crash occurred less than 1/2 mile from their home.

They also witnessed multiple shooters.

And then there was John Beilman, who was wanted by the FBI following the discovery of a special battery charger.

This cell battery was used in devices, that both the US Special Forces and the CIA used while they were in Stephen Paddock’s room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

The battery is produced by Ultralife, which specializes in military communications systems for the Pentagon.

John Beilman, was the lead engineer that created the battery, and was a person who worked in top secret communication systems for the military.

Fearing that Ultralife’s battery was involved with the C*I*A and the Las Vegas shooting, the FBI raided John Beilman’s home in New York under a Federal warrant.

So the big question is beyond those listed above, were there actual injuries/deaths in the LAS VEGAS SHOOTING…or was it a masterfully planned hoax to keep our eyes off something else?

People heard massive gunfire.

Yes.

But there were sounds of “gunfire” that were piped into the speakers.

People saw shooters chasing people.

Yes.

But those bullets could have been blanks.

Those “victims” could have been actors/actresses.

I'll let you think about that. 🤔

Continued in Part 2 👇

Continued in Part 3 👇

#pay attention #educate yourselves #educate yourself #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think for yourselves #think about it #think for yourself #do your homework #do some research #do your own research #ask yourself questions #question everything #las vegas shooting #rabbit hole #deep dive #Youtube

[batty-pham]

Daily BatPham Fic Rec

Oct 18

Ah, Sunflower

By DisillusionedDanny

Tags: Damian Wayne and Danny Fenton are Brothers, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton is Danyal Al Ghul, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Cryptid Danny Fenton, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Good siblings, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

Wordcount: 63,812

Summary: Danyal Al Ghul faked his death to give his younger brother a better life and to give himself the life that he always wanted. Damian Al Ghul was happy to learn his older brother was dead. No longer did he have to live under his shadow. As the years go by, though, this changes for both of them. Danny Fenton never got the life he always wanted. Damian Wayne has realized he will never see his brother again. That is, until the bats summon the Ghost King and soon two sunflowers finally start to grow the way they were meant to.

Complete: yes

#dp x dc #dpxdc #batfamily #batkids #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #batpham #danny phantom #batfam #batbros #fan fic rec #fanfic recommendation #fic recommendation #daily batpham fic rec #ah Sunflower #daily dpxdc fic rec #daily fic rec

[cae-ruleam]

time's a ticking

rated G - basically a character study of immortal Danny word count: 4405 AO3 link

Danny's seen many loved ones come and go, and he has almost been beaten down countless times. But life goes on, and through the years, Danny's learned to live with that by making new memories to remember, and rekindling old ones.

“Mr. Leverton, it’s already past seven! I’ll be heading out in a moment, you can close up shop soon,” Danny heard a young voice call from the second floor of an old mechanics shop. He took off his gloves and wiped his forehead before mumbling, “Is it really that late already?” to himself. But it seemed that his apprentice still heard him once he started strolling down the wooden stairs.

“Yes, really! Now, please don’t continue working on that and just go home to rest, will ya?” Sawyer chastised the older man with slight exasperation; knowing that if he did not hound Danny, the man may stay holed up here all night and not even realize it until Sawyer returned the next morning.

It’s happened before. Several times too many, in fact. Danny chuckled, “Who’s in charge of who here?” he joked with a roll of his eyes. But he still did as told and started to put all his tools in their right places.

“Har har, you know you’ll get too invested otherwise if you weren’t already, Mr. Leverton,” the young man reiterated once more. He then went and shrugged on his winter coat before saying goodbye and walking out of the shop with a skip. Danny waved at him as he did so, of course.

“Well, he’s not wrong,” Mr. ‘Leverton’ said as he pushed himself up from his stool and cracked his neck.

It’s been a long time since Danny’s gone by the last name ‘Fenton’; it’s been roughly 170 years, in fact. After all, he didn’t have any family when he was a kid, besides his parents, sister, and aunt Alicia, of course. But Jazz and her wife never had any kids of their own, despite fostering many others. Aunt Alicia never remarried after her divorce, plenty satisfied to live her life ‘till the end on her own.

That left Danny, but given the … circumstances of his existence, he quickly shot down any idea of having kids, biological or adopted.

So the Fenton Family’s lineage ended with Jazz and him, some 350 years ago when Jazz passed. He’d faked his death for the public long before then. You could only claim you’re an exceptionally young-looking 40-year-old for so long, after all.

That was until he decided to bring it back briefly, about 200 years ago, for another run and go. He didn’t like the idea of disconnecting himself from his first identity forever, entirely. Even if he had to use a different first name that time.

The second name he’d decided to use was Nightingale. In a hilarious turn of fate, during that 30-year period, there seemed to have been a resurgence in interest in witchcraft.

A lot has changed in the over 400-year period he’s wandered the Earth, yet, not so much has changed at all. And that was why Danny nowadays preferred to keep himself under the radar, and people at an arm’s length.

While he technically retired himself from the superhero business several centuries ago, what, with the amount of his rogues mellowing out and there being less need for Phantom to be able to show up at any moment; he would still help out whenever necessary. Such as, when there were catastrophes from space threatening the entire globe and its attached afterlife, something he’d done before but no one remembers nowadays. Or, when the wrong people got a hold of the rapidly developed technology and weapons of warfare, ones so strong and destructive the humans themselves do not even have any preventive measures for. But that was neither here nor there.

He preferred it this way. He was getting old – albeit not physically, he definitely was mentally – and he’d never been too fond of being part of the superhero business in general. He was merely thrust into it at a ripe fourteen years of age due to a stupid mistake stupid kids made. He was thankful he could mostly part ways with that life, nowadays. Jazz also said that it had made him happier.

“Speaking of…” it’s been a while since he’s visited his sister. The only one from his immediate circle that became a ghost. His parents likely would’ve rather been burned to death than become ghosts in the afterlife, and Sam and Tucker … Danny supposed they’d lived a fulfilling enough life to not return.

He was happy for them, for that fact; even if it had hurt at first when he realized. Even when it still hurt, over 300 years later to know they’d moved on from him. But perhaps love was never meant to be, for a being such as himself.

Jazz, on the other hand, said that she would never be able to leave her baby brother to fend for himself, especially if this baby brother was some immortal semi-godlike being who’s made more than a few bad decisions in his then-normal-lifespan. Danny had laughed at that proclamation at first. Until she really came back to haunt him forever in the afterlife that is.

Danny went ahead and locked up the door of his mechanics’ shop before heading up the stairs to the second floor, personal belongings in tow. He’d rather not open a portal and disappear through it, right in front of the large windows the first floor had.

The halfa took a gentle breath and dipped into a bit of concentration before tearing a hole through reality – its veil was rather thin, all things considered. After all these years and so much experience, creating portals was like child’s play to him – hell, even creating duplicates was.

He then let his familiar transformation wash over him before flying through the portal and closing it off again with a wave of his gloved hand once he was on the other side.

Danny found himself in a familiar area of the Ghost Zone – some small spectral village that was built roughly 700 years ago, if he remembered his history correctly. He shouldn’t let Clockwork know that he’s already forgotten the lessons he gave him; he’d be so disappointed.

Danny looked around in the air briefly before slowly floating down toward the paved roads, and just when he came to a halt, a few inches off the floor, a shrill voice caught his attention.

“Phantom!” it happily called out, loudly – and before Danny was able to turn around he was tackled into a hug by some familiar weight. Once his eyes landed on his assailant, everything made sense. “Hi there to you too, Brianne,” he greeted kindly. The ghost child giggled and kicked her feet before she looked up at him again. “Aunt Jazz has been worried sick!” she continued.

Danny’s eyes widened momentarily, and he quickly tried to hide his shock again. “And why would she be?” he asked as he patted the girl’s head, even though he had several guesses for why Jazz could be worried to the point others would know about it.

“She’s been muttering to herself about how it’s been too long since you visited…” Brianne answered with a scrunched expression, as if deep in thought and racking her brain to remember the details. “Also something about … afraid that frostbite would get to you? Or not get to you? I don’t know why she would be though! You have an ice core,” she continued on.

Danny chuckled and patted her head once more, “She’s probably worried that Mr. Frostbite, chief of the Far Frozen-” “Wouldn’t be able to find this reckless uncle of yours when he inevitably forgot his check-ups again,” Jazz added.

“Jazz!” Danny remarked surprised, but also excited, “Did you really have to put it like that?” he asked sheepishly.

“It wouldn’t be the first time, now would it? It’s a valid concern; you haven’t visited me in two years!” she chided her brother, her always younger baby brother – no matter how old or powerful he’s gotten.

Danny’s expression became slightly pained. He huffed and motioned his head to the side briefly as if to tell his sister, ‘Let’s continue this at your place,’ and it seemed that Jazz agreed. His sister looked down at the girl standing confused between the two of them and quietly told her something or another – Danny didn’t quite catch it – and she immediately went on her merry way.

Jazz started walking once Brianne had gone off, and Danny made it a point to close the distance he had with the ground and walk alongside her. Despite being able to fly, as the skill was part of any ghost’s basic repertoire, Jazz was one of the few ghostly inhabitants of the ‘Zone who had always preferred to feel her feet planted on the ground, even after death. He saw no need to mention it and was always happy to join her; gently grabbing her hand as he did so.

“I’m sorry that it’s been so long,” he started after a moment of not-so-uncomfortable quiet, “It’s just … After all these years-” “Time catches up to you, and you lose track of it instead,” Jazz finished his sentence for him once more. She exhaled, revealing no emotion with that action, not really. “I know, we’ve been through this plenty of times before, I got that by the time you turned 320 well enough,” she continued.

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t still point it out. Who knows what would happen otherwise?” she added after a beat of silence. “What? You’re afraid I’ll forget to visit you for decades at a time, or something?” Danny asked with a chuckle, rhetorically, mostly.

Jazz halted in her steps, forcing Danny to a stop too, and making him turn to see her raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Heh, maybe you’re right,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re the one who said you lose track of time, after all. And I don’t think it’ll ever really get better,” she said, her tone devoid of judgment.

When they continued walking, but Danny didn’t respond for a few moments too long, Jazz spoke again. “You know I don’t blame you, right? It’s not unnatural – it’s just – I don’t want to lose you also,” she said quietly.

“You don’t have to! Isn’t that why you became a ghost in the first place? So we’d never lose each other,” Danny responded.

Jazz sighed and nodded. “Yes, but when you don’t contact me for so long, it’s … hard to not get scared. And before you say anything about me joining you – you know very well that I can’t sustain myself outside the Ghost Zone for long like you can, now that you move around the globe instead of staying put in Amity. Not that you should ever feel compelled to do that, of course.”

Once they’d arrived at Jazz’s doorstep, she removed her hand from Danny’s to find her keys and unlock the door, before opening it and letting Danny through. Doors in the ‘Zone were very much Ghost-proof, after all. But not so much human proof. Danny quickly dropped himself on the sofa with a satisfied “Humph”, making Jazz shake her head at him as she locked the door again.

“Do you want something to drink?” she asked, already making her way to the kitchen.

“Some ecto-jasmine will do,” Danny responded.

“Do I even want to know if that’s a poor attempt at a joke, or not?”

“Why not both? And hey! It is not poor,” a beat went by, “Okay, maybe it is.”

Danny sighed as he watched his sister work, shaking his head, “But no, you’re … right. I should probably be putting more effort into this … relationships thing. At least for others, even if not myself.”

“Oh?” Jazz responded curiously from the kitchen across.

Danny noted long ago how her home in the Ghost Zone – her Keep manifested from herself – resembled the different houses she’s lived in in her human life. That’s nothing strange, not at all. Many ghosts’ Keeps reflected parts of themselves, or their mortal lives. What was notable however was just how akin to the Fenton house in Amity Park Jazz’s was. Despite everything, it meant that her memories tied to it were comfortable and strong enough to manifest like this.

Contrary, Danny’s Keep – besides the one previously belonging to Pariah – was a weird amalgamation of their childhood home from before they moved to Amity, his many houses since then, and hell – it even saw a bit of Sam’s home! And it still changed to this day, as every new house he inhabited for a longer period of time would shift it again, even if it had been happening less frequently or substantially than before. One thing stayed consistent, however, and that was that there was a distinct lack of their home in Amity Park.

Jazz had mentioned before that it likely meant Danny had separated himself entirely from that aspect of his life, and that that was okay. That it was a form of healing as well.

But Danny couldn’t help but feel like it meant he was running away from it. His life and experiences there were what made him into the man he is today, after all. But that was neither here nor there.

Danny nodded, even though he knew Jazz wouldn’t be able to see it, and responded, “Yeah … for you. For Brianne,” a child taken too soon. A young ghost Danny found wandering around, lost in the Ghost Zone, shortly after her death. Now in the care of the community here, “And I’ve … taken on a human apprentice.” Danny finally bit the bullet and admitted it.

Danny then heard some ceramic shatter.

He jumped up from the couch alarmed, “Is everything alright?” he asked hastily.

Jazz sucked in a breath of air through gritted teeth before responding, “Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

She then grabbed a new cup, poured the tea in it, and returned with two of them in hand to the living room. As she set them down, she continued talking, “I was just caught off guard. I mean, you? Of all people taking in a human apprentice? When your only answer to me goading you into establishing more relationships with people again was ‘Nah.’ for the longest time? Sue me for not believing it immediately,” she said sarcastically.

“Very funny, Jazz. But I really can’t blame ya,” Danny responded, accepting defeat.

Jazz’s expression turned softer as she pinned her brother down and sighed, “Of course you can’t. Anyway, care to elaborate?” she asked as she raised her cup of tea to her mouth, taking a gentle sip of the hot beverage.

Danny closed his eyes and shook his head as he picked up his tea as well, responding, “It’s not like you’ll let me out of here until I do so,” he said. “You know me well, little brother,” she teased.

“What caused this change in heart?” Or resurfacing perhaps, that’d be a more accurate description.

Danny pouted in thought for a moment. “I just met this kid, Sawyer’s his name, a few months ago. He has a talent for engineering, but I found out soon after that his family probably wouldn’t be able to send him to college for that. Even after so long, the world hasn’t really become more fair. If it hasn’t gotten worse, that is,” he explained.

Jazz sighed, disappointed but not surprised, “That doesn’t shock me in the slightest. Anyway, so you thought you’d teach him the ropes?” The halfa nodded, “Basically; and maybe he’ll be able to get a scholarship after that, if he wants to, anyway.”

“You saw a part of yourself in him, didn’t you?” Jazz said, seemingly out of nowhere.

Danny huffed, just barely amused, “What made you think that?” he asked with suspicion.

“A young boy with uncultivated talents, really, Danny?” his sister asked in return, unimpressed.

Danny quieted at that. He’s been a lot quieter in general, especially compared to his youth, Jazz noted.

It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, and not a secret for anyone, that Danny changed a lot when his loved ones started passing one by one, while he stayed young and living forever. Jazz wasn’t exempt from that either, as the only one who continued to stay by his side, even if that meant continuing without her wife and dear friends who happily moved on.

The two of them always knew it would come to this, and they’d both made peace with it now. But it didn’t take a genius to realize that Danny’s solution to not experiencing this heartbreak again, was to distance himself from humankind. He stayed close, residing more in the human realm than the ghostly one, but he detached himself from relationships just enough for them to not get too close. For him to not get hurt too bad once he’d inevitably see them for a last time.

Unfortunately, in doing so, Danny separated himself from both communities that he was a part of.

Now, Jazz felt that for the first time in over a century, she saw the care he once carried all around him, emerge once more. This Sawyer kid, no doubt has been a huge part of that.

She saw the need to point it out as such, “I think this change has been good for you, little brother.” At Danny’s puzzled face, she continued, “You seem more energetic, more comfortable in your own body,” she said with a smile.

She set her cup down on the lounge table and walked over to Danny who was on the opposite side, kneeling down and holding her hand on top of his knee. “It must’ve hurt, keeping a part of yourself buried for so long,” she whispered quietly, but without another sound nearby it was louder than clear.

It was this comment that broke Danny’s defenses down, an attack so gentle it wouldn’t even have left a scratch. First came one tear, and then another, before they were followed by many more soon enough until her little brother was sobbing uncontrollably. Jazz didn’t think twice before embracing him in a tight hug.

He hugged back just as tightly, if not tighter. If Jazz were still human, she would’ve had to beg for air soon enough. So it was a good thing she didn’t have to.

The siblings just sat there, crying into each other’s shoulders for Ancients know how long.

------------------------------------------------------

On a clear spring day, Sawyer was prepared to head into Daniel Leverton’s shop early in the morning as he’s done many times before, half expecting he may have to wake up his teacher again; an occurrence that had become quite familiar to him as of late.

Instead, he was met with a decked-out first floor, a cake at his workbench, and a very awake Mr. Leverton.

“Happy birthday, I hope you’ll like your gift!” the raven-haired man had exclaimed.

Sawyer barked a laugh at that. “I honestly didn’t expect you to have remembered,” he said. His tone wasn’t rude, not in the slightest. He was merely stating a fact.

“I didn’t either, but hey, seems like old-timers still run alright once in a while,” he said with a wink.

And that had always been a peculiarity to Sawyer. He knew that Mr. Leverton was older than he looked. Even if he didn’t always act it, he had way too much experience for that not to be the case. But other times he would sound like any of his slightly older friends. Yet on occasion, he sounded like so much more. Even his grandparents wouldn’t have compared when they’d been alive.

Sawyer pushed those silly musings out of his head before accepting his gift – some tools that he may or may not have been drooling over while he was out with Mr. Leverton gathering supplies a few weeks ago, as well as some chocolates he vaguely remembered noting he enjoyed once, offhandedly.

For someone so air-headed – or perhaps, appearing to be on another plane entirely, the elder was attentive like no other.

Daniel Leverton was a curious man, and he continued to surprise the young mechanic.

------------------------------------------------------

It was on a different spring morning, several springs after that birthday, that Sawyer received an important email.

It was an email of acceptance into college – one dictating that he’d be the recipient of a scholarship, no less.

Mr. Leverton was the first person he’d tell about this news. Instead of the immediate excitement that he’d expected of the man, he received a pondering expression.

“Y’know, I was about to ask if you were interested in taking over the shop,” he’d said after he left Sawyer to wander about in his own confusion for a while.

Before he could respond, however, Leverton continued, “I’m proud of you, you should definitely go for it, I know how much it means for you. Just know you’ll always have a place to return to.”

“What are you going to do then?” he responded.

Mr. Leverton hummed with his trademark smirk and grinned, “I was thinking of taking an early pension and traveling the world for a bit. I still have a lot of inheritance left from my too-rich godfather, too. And I’ll keep the building for now, but clients will have to find a new favorite mechanic. Oh, I just know how much it’ll pain them to not find me again though, truly tragic,” he explained dramatically.

“You know, Mr. Leverton, sometimes it really doesn’t feel like you’re the older one of the two of us anymore,” Sawyer teased.

“Oh, but I can assure you I am,” the other said with a wink, “But feel free to call me Danny. Seeing you call me Mr. Leverton to this day really does make me feel so old,” he continued, placing a hand on his heart with a pained expression.

“Heh, okay, Danny,” Sawyer tested the name on his tongue. “I’ll let you know about the shop when I get close to graduating, yeah?”

“We have a deal!” Danny responded as he theatrically shook his hand. “Those stuck-up academics won’t know what’ll hit them.”

------------------------------------------------------

Danny didn’t actually travel the world like he’d told Sawyer; he’d done that plenty of times before. Going on two world-round trips within a century sounded kinda overkill, even to him.

No, what he did in actuality was that he decided to reside in the Infinite Realms for a little longer again – while still returning to Earth on occasion to let the systems know that he had not, in fact, died yet. He didn’t plan on doing that for a few years yet.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Danny’s been planning on his new identity for a bit now. Or, well, old identity.

“Do you think the world is ready for the return of Danny Fenton?” he’d mused to Jazz on a seemingly random day.

“I don’t see why not,” she responded. “What brought you to this decision?”

“I just think it would be nice to revisit some old memories, friends, and places.”

Jazz smiled serenely at that. “I think that’s a great idea, Danny.”

------------------------------------------------------

“Heard anything from Sawyer recently?” Jazz asked him one day, a different random day. Danny shook his head.

“Nah, seems like he’s been living a good life. He hasn’t been updating me as frequently lately, but I like to see that as him broadening his circles,” he responded fondly. But then, his mortal phone rang – techniques to make them compatible with ghost-tech and the ‘Zone courtesy to Tucker, of course – and he laughed. “Speak of the devil.” He transformed into his human form before picking up the call.

“Hey there, Sawyer. How’s school been?”

“It’s … been very great, actually, Danny. I have met someone very great, in fact. But uhm – more on that later. Remember what you said about the shop?”

------------------------------------------------------

Danny returned to his cozy little shop for the first time in roughly four years, not so long after he’d attended Sawyer’s graduation ceremony. He picked up a few of his belongings he couldn’t miss, and threw them inside his pocket dimension for safekeeping.

It was as he did this, that Sawyer entered, and caught him in the act. He’d been planning for this to happen, really.

The young man looked a bit confused but didn’t see any need to press further. If anything, Danny figured this would answer some questions in the long run, once the other thought about it.

“Heh, that’s not something you see any day,” was the boy’s first comment.

“Really? I see it happen plenty of times,” Danny snarked back.

“Man, I’d so want to punt you if I didn’t know for sure I stood no chance.”

Danny hummed, “I think you’ll have to stand back in the line for that.”

Neither man said another thing for a while after that, until Danny’s eyes landed on a small ecto-ornament he’d put on his table when he left for the Ghost Zone those years ago. He picked it up and held it out to Sawyer.

“Here, keep this. If you’ll ever be gone for a while, put this out in the open and it’ll put the area into stasis. Nothing will age for the worse, and it’ll serve as a protective charm against burglaries,” Danny said in a light tone at the end, though he wasn’t joking. Attempted burglars will wake up more than a little dazed if they so much as dare touch upon the shop.

“I … Honestly, I’m not even gonna question that. I just saw you tear a hole in reality,” Sawyer responded.

“That’s probably for the best,” Danny said with a gentle nod of his head before putting the ornament into the young man’s hands.

“Anyway, I’ve got everything I need. You can keep the rest, or throw it out – whatever floats your boat. This place is yours now. I left my key and the spares on my workbench,” Danny explained with a tilt of his head.

“What are you going to do this time?”

“That’s a secret,” Danny replied. “But do come find me again, as a man named Daniel Fenton.”

------------------------------------------------------

Years pass by, with Sawyer finding no such man.

Until one day, into his later years, when his children had already taken over the shop, he heard a familiar voice he’d not heard in decades, but could never forget.

“Hey there, Sawyer,” Danny Fenton said, in the flesh; not looking a day older than their last meeting all those years ago.

…

“I’m proud of you.” And I of you.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #cae's writing #fanfic #phan phic #character study #been a while since i posted my writing here jlkasdf #hopefully i edited it for tumblr properly... #its always a bit hard here bc it doesnt automatically put stuff in italics #damn #dp #fic

[anguishedlurker]

A Twisted Situation

Phic Phight for @bellsandmischief / bellsandmischeif on ao3! Prompt "Board game night! The crazier the combination of characters, the better!"

I physically need you all to know that this just sort of happened in about two and a half hours. I didn't write, I was fucking posessed at 3.4k words. Here it is in Ao3 glory

Sam was gong to kill someone, actually.

Star’s lips peeled back in something that couldn’t be called a smile as she waited for Sam to make the first move, waving the hat menacingly.

“I will start a fight you can’t end. Don’t.”

Star’s eyes narrowed before sense washed over her expression, shaking rage off with a short jerk of the head, proper fake smile bouncing straight into place.

Dammit, Sam needed the excuse to leave. Even if it was in cuffs.

“Nothing?”

“Buy your school charity game night pass or leave. You’re gonna build a line, and I don’t care what your issue is, even if it’s really obvious.”

Sam was probably going to kill Tucker worse than she was going to kill Danny, this time.

Danny was… Danny. If box ghost showed up, then getting ditched wasn’t about her.

But Tucker?

“Not that you asked, but apparently the losers forgot to do their homework and now need to do it last minute.”

Sam was going to kill Tucker for not having a better excuse to ditch.

“They do homework?” Star asked, chipper as she watched carefully.

Case in point….

“That’s what I said.” Sam sighed, finally moving to pull out her wallet.

Stupid damn ghosts wrecking the stupid damn scoreboard and pieces of the football field, making Ishiyama panic to get a budget for fixing it now and not next year.

Begging on her knees to Vlad or Sam’s parents was not ideal, and Sam had to admit that this was a better option.

“You donating extra to add to the community ticket pool?” Star asked, leaning back in the shit chair in disinterest, shaking the hat in a taunt.

“Considering I only have a hundred on me, yes.”

Star’s eyebrows raised at that, but she ultimately didn’t remark on it as she put the hat down to unlock the register and shove the hundred in.

It was definitely a first class problem, but one of these days Sam was going to end up tearing out hair over trying to explain that hundred dollar bills are not appropriate amounts of cash to take to so much as an average middle class outing, let alone a charity event in the school gym.

It didn’t have to be her hair either. Violence on her mother sounded nice far too often.

Star absently tossed down four poker chips right behind a sign reading ‘DONATED EXTRA TICKETS’, and picked the hat back up. The crinkle of the numbered paper bits were a guise for the gods laughing at her, Sam was sure.

“Your move, Sam.”

And yeah, it sure was her move.

~

Group four. Japanese number of death, not that it mattered.

Group four, over on the left side of the gym. Wes and Ishiyama eyed her as she approached.

Nobody spoke as she held her paper piece for viewing.

“You know what, I think dad was right. This isn’t worth it.” Wes informed gravely, moving to stand.

“Sit. It’ll be fine, and you got half in advance.” Ishiyama informed, twice as grave.

“The hell does half in advance mean?” Sam accused, already looking to leave again.

Bite her, this was gonna go badly and she needed out.

“Wes has been hired to take some photo’s to help with paper coverage.” Ishiyama stated mildly, her expression warning that if Sam was anyone else the verbal abuse would be much more severe already.

“Okay. Can I ask why Stevie and-” Sam started, motioning to Wes as she spoke even as she made eye contact with Ishiyama.

“You know the butcher place?” Wes asked, cutting off her solicitation of a scathing remark. Ishiyama’s smile tightened, because Stevie and Logan probably were the original plan. Yet, she remained silent.

Dammit. Just this once, provoke her. Give her the excuse.

Bu yeah, fine. Sure. Whatever.

“The one down on-”

She could play ball. She could totally ace the polite conversation contest she and Wes were definitely having.

“They weren’t inside, technically, but like… it’ll be another week.”

Sam cringed in understanding. Lunch Lady and Skulker had both done their number on the joint.

“Well, everyone knows I don’t miss the place, but… Anyone made a card yet?”

They were an alarmingly destructive pair, and debris is rather dangerous to the average person.

“It’ll probably be the homeroom activity on Monday. Now smile, Manson.” Wes sighed, holding up the camera.

Sam immediately made the ugliest grimace she could, even as Wes scowled at her.

“Don’t give me that. I’m with Ishiyama for tonight, and Ishiyama is is in charge of group four. And like, I want to play! Part of my thing was free admission to play. What’s the point of a fight?”

“It just means I go down with you, idiot. And if I go down, I’d do it swinging anyways.”

“Take a seat and wait for the rest of the group.” Ishiyama finally growled, pointedly not looking at either of them.

~

“Ishiyama. I am begging you with no shame; You know, already, how this won’t work!”

Ishiyama was just as transfixed as Sam was on Paulina’s approach, Wes too distracted with taking photos to know the danger everyone was now in.

Ishiyama finally broke the trance to give Sam the most miserable look she could, right as Paulina looked up or long enough to see who she was heading for.

Wes continued to very narrowly evade losing the social politics required to keep from being punched by Dash over in group six, oblivious.

Paulina carefully looked at Sam, glancing at Ishiyama.

Paulina carefully looked at Ishiyama, glancing at Sam.

Sam grimaced and pointed at Wes, who was rapidly realizing that Dash might actually hit him this time.

Paulina immediately fixated on Wes, wide-eyed.

Wes, making his exit, turned to find out that paulina was staring at him, and Sam had swapped to pointing at Paulina.

Wes was now staring at Sam, and also pointing at Paulina.

Sam very slowly nodded.

Wes turned to Ishiyama, who was refusing to look anyone in the eye.

Paulina turned to look at the gym doors, clearly mentally calculating the danger and not coming to any favorable conclusions.

Before she could simply turn around and walk out however, Jack Fenton came bellowing in.

“Hey-o kiddo! You in group four too?” He asked, not waiting to loop an arm around Paulina and start dragging.

Wes looked like he was dreaming of the nearest breakable window, but there was money on the line. He began the miserable shuffle towards his doom..

Sam moved to stand, stopped by Ishiyama.

“God help us both child, if this has to be my night then it’s going to be yours too.” Ishiyama demanded, breathing just a little too hard.

“You and what blackmail?” Sam challenged.

“The glitter and glue spray bomb on the cheer team a month ago, straight to your parents.” Ishiyama hissed, just low enough Paulina wouldn’t catch it in her rapid forced approach.

Sam contemplated, and sat back down.

If she got Sam that meant she go Danny, and Danny was on some very thin tightropes right now. Tightropes apparently held by her parents monetary support, because even if Sam got punished they’d pull their next donation for being bothered with such lowly activities.

This was fine. This was going to be so fine. Why wouldn’t it be so fine?

~

“The first game, at least before we are free to chose…” Ishiyama started, taking a shuddering breath.

“Is however far we get in monopoly.”

There were multiple monopoly sets donated for this event, and no time limit on playing.

The limiting factor being potential assault charges was not mentioned as Wes clicked his tongue and Ishiyama and Paulina both plastered on smiles for the camera.

Sam was going to hate that tongue click by the end of the night.

“I love monopoly!” Jack sounded off, missing the sheer rage of the other four people tapped here with him.

~

“I…”

The silence of the third doubles in a row was deafening.

“I sit my little piece in the jail, and leave to go take a photo of group two in twister. Yell at me when someone rolls me out.” Wes huffed, borderline slamming the flatscreen TV token onto the board.

It was the second turn.

Ishiyama had made them take the Electronic Banking monopoly set, to hopefully discourage cheating as she now held the little device that could read their fake little cards. Ishiyama herself gave a faintly wistful look as Wes stomped off, likely dreaming of doing the same.

“Six, not a double.” Sam sighed, hauling her little coin case to the Mall Of America. Obviously she bought it.

Paulina glared at her, the purse token sitting innocently on the Saint Louis Arch. Her master plan of getting all of those spots was ruined, truly.

Might even have to buy it from Sam.

“Alright! My Turn! Two, woohoo baby! The airports are like train stations in this one, right? I’m taking it!” Jack hollered, deafening. Paulina cringed as she reassessed her plans yet again, watching Jack take his second roll straight into Sam’s MOA. Small blessings.

“So, Jack. What brings you, but not your wife.” Ishiyama asked mildly after fiddling with the stupid little device to transfer everyone’s money, picking up the dice and rolling.

She got herself another ten, and was sent straight to the parking lot. Where there was no pot to take.

“Oh, Mads is out chasing that box spook and the town menace!”

“Alone?” Paulina asked flatly, picking up the dice. Nine. Straight into a treasure chest, which she seemed pleased by.

She seemed modestly displeased by the card she pulled, but ultimately didn’t do anything as Ishiyama verified if she was supposed to do anything based on it. Clearly not.

“Mads is smart! And we promised we’d do something to help get the school in order, so I’m here!”

Ah, yes. Because they’re about ninety five percent of the reason the turf was ruined.

“Right then.” Ishiyama soothed, giving Paulina a flat look.

Paulina seemed unbothered at least. Ishiyama tossed the dice for Wes and came up with no doubles.

~

“Utilities are always good.” Jack hummed, getting his cards in order.

“What about your son?” Ishiyama asked, passive as ever.

“Hmmm…. Dunno. I don’t think this is his kinda thing, though.”

Sam was suddenly glad Wes wasn’t here, the doubles ever elusive.

By the way Paulina carefully eyed his position at team two, she was in agreement. Just because she thought he was nuts didn’t mean she was unaware the moment his little “theory” breached containment to Danny’s parents was the same moment secen kinds of hell broke loose.

“I see.” Ishiyama offered flatly, taking her question mark card.

~

“There’s no way none of you have rolled me doubles yet.”

“Tell you what, Wes… do you want us to just do a gentlemans agreement that you can come back in? I’m sure our lovely team here wouldn’t be opposed.”

“I… wouldn’t want to impose. And those photos-”

“No, truly. Sam? Jack? Paulie?”

“Really, no trouble at all Wes. It’d be mean to leave you there.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh, sure thing kids! Come on, all in honor of having fun!”

“I… thank. You. Your generosity towards rule breaking is truly touching.”

“No problem.” Ishiyama hummed, faintly pleased with herself about dragging everyone down with her.

~

Jack Fenton was the luckiest man this side of Amity.

Sure, Sam had gotten both green spaces already, but this was…

“That’s the last airport, right?”

“I think we’re done.” Ishiyama decided. Wes didn’t take his face out of his hands, his TV token sitting in jail again.

Jacks face fell.

“Yeahhhh, it’s not fun when one person dominates. I know it’s like, luck, but we’ve also got other games to do.” Paulina absently remarked, examining her nails.

“It’s like you’ve forgotten you hate us. Where’s your fast exit?” Sam taunted.

“Samantha.”

“Haven’t. You’re just more invested than I am. And my brother drove me because my engine blew, so I’m stuck anyways because I’m not taking a ride from any of you.”

Jack seemed to contemplate before making his statement.

“I guess that’s fair. But do you two not really…”

“Worlds most open secret my man, not unlike-”

“Wes. I cannot stress enough that I will simply take the murder charge. Ishiyama is not capable of pulling me off in time.” Sam threatened.

“Principal, are you going to take that!?”

“Yes. Of all the people to antagonize, not him!”

“What?” Jack asked, befuddled.

“Not a problem. Cluedo, anyone? It’s open, now.” Paulina offered, the picture of innocence.

~

Jack really was the saving grace to the whole situation, honestly. Insane luck aside, nobody wanted to pull any social triggers with him around.

Sam because she really didn’t need Danny’s parents to hate her, Ishiyama because Jack was the frontline of a contactable defense in emergencies, Paulina had just mentally checked out, and Wes didn’t want to die by Sam’s hand and Ishiyama’s approval.

“I know I asked about Daniel earlier, but did Jasmine not want to come? Rope, Green, Spa.” Ishiyama prattled off.

Paulina was elbowed not so subtly as the player to the left, pretty much her whole pad at Ishiyama so she didn’t have to ask her to speak again.

“Oh, Jazzy’s out tutoring!”

What? Sam tended to have a pretty good idea of where Jazz was at, given she was backup, and… well...

“I didn’t know Spike was on the tutor list.” Sam prodded.

“Manson, who?” Wes asked, glaring.

“Uhhh. I think it’s Edward? Edward… something. I don’t know what his last name is, actually.”

“Edmund Cox. His parents are like, freaks about Narnia.” Paulina offered, realigning with reality as Ishiyama blatantly cheated off Paulinas notepad in the background.

Nobody said anything for a half beat.

“Why do you know that?” Wes finally bit out.

“Money hides in odd places, and I know many with money.” Paulia said, almost totally tranquil as she gave Sam the stink eye.

She could keep at it, nobody would ever believe her that Sam was rich.

“I dunno that Jazzy tutors any Edmunds… You sure she knows an Edmund?”

Ishiyama cleared her throat, and Wes tossed the dice down to move a few more spaces.

A grand total of two.

“Okay, well, I’m sure Jasmine is helping your son. You know, with his homework.” Wes hissed, trying to kill Sam with his eyes.

“Hell if I know, I’m stuck here with you all.”

Wes deflated as Jack finally made it to the kitchen.

“Green, knife, kitchen!” Jack cheered, pointing at Wes to fork over information.

~

Sam was starting to get the picture of the murder, but something was wrong.

Very wrong.

“You. Scarlett, living room, bat!”

“Nothing! You! Loser! Stop trying to catch me lying!” Paulina screamed, barely restraining herself from throwing the entire notepad at Sam’s skull.

“If he doesn’t have it, and you don’t have it, and SHE doesn’t have it, then who has the god damn-!”

“Peace, children.” Ishiyama warned, clearly not believing that peace would be achieved.

~

“I just find it all odd.” Ishiyama hummed, pressing Jack for answers about Danny.

“Yeah, well… It’s not like he really opens up to us anymore. Me and Mads chalk it up to teenager stuff, but…”

Wes wasn’t even focused on chewing mental glass over the secrets he wasn’t allowed to spill, that’s how fucked up this game of Clue was.

“So we’re just ignoring that nobody can narrow it down to one murderer?” He hissed, inching closer to Ishiyama. “We’re just having a super casual little conversation about the idiots school life?”

Ishiyama finally connected that she was only skating by a shitfit from her captive audience because everyone was in an old western style stalemate, and turned to the board again.

“It is very strange….”

“I give. I fucking give. I give up and I’m looking in the fucking packet and I’m taking the loss.” Paulina ranted, snatching up the little yellow envelope before Ishiyama could protest.

Everyone pretended they weren’t super pissed about it when four cards fell out instead of three.

“We have two murders. Green and Scarlett in the kitchen, with the bat.”

Nobody spoke.

“Well… what’s our next game, then?” Ishiyama asked, slightly strained. Even Jack looked mad at this twist.

~

“Left hand blue.” Wes called, exactly as miserable as the rest of them.

Why twister? Who decided that letting Jack Fenton pick was a good idea?

~

Sam crab shuffled between the apropiate colors for limbs so that her head was closer to Ishiyama’s. Wes gave her an unpleasant look for technically cheating, but remained silent. Taking limb detangling off the option list was lethal.

“Call it.”

“UGH! Right foot green.” Paulina wailed, twisting even worse to make it work.

“You know I can’t. I don’t want to plead with Vlad, and this already isn’t enough. Everyone needs to walk away with perfect opinions so they come to the next one, and how can they do that if the organizer won’t play?”

“What about Vladdie!?” Jack called, getting dangerously close to having to stick his head under Ishiyama’s ass.

“Bullshit.” Sam barked, calling bluff. “Not a damn person would seriously rail at you about it.”

“Yes. They would.”

“Left hand blue.” Paulina called miserably. Jack went stock still as he now had very critical choice about where his center of balance, and thusly his head, was going to start drastically leaning to.

~

“Move, loser!”

“I physically cannot! Get your ass off my back first!”

“Get your thigh off my fucking-”

Jack, having detangled from Ishiyama a bit ago, muttered something about him and his bad decisions.

“Right foot yellow.” Wes informed innocently from the safety of the losers seats, watching as Sam and Paulina tried to break each others spines without falling over.

~

They had a crowd for this lunacy. Wes, so safe and cozy from the chair, was busy imortalizing the event with pictures. Even Ishiyama was openly unamused about her humiliation, trapped under Jack’s massive rear, desperately trying not to get squished by his leg curing back underneath..

Sam didn’t have very appropriate thoughts about the way Paulina was twisted around her, and she really wasn’t trying to be crass about it but god if she could do this in twister then professional level gymnast routines would be a joke for her.

“I think you should like, get tested for joint issues. Before you maybe fuck them up permanently.”

“Suck it, Manson!”

Dash gave an extremely pleased look as the spinner stopped spinning, having taken the damn thing from Wes.

… No.

“Left”

No.

“Hand”

No!!!

“Blue.”

Wes coughed from laughter as all four of them started screaming.

First Ishiyama fell. There was nothing near her that didn’t tangle her worse in Jack’s leg than she already was.

But then Jack, who had to contort into the bridge position just to make it to a blue circle, got a short stocky principal to the leg.

The carnage was immense. You couldn’t see Ishiyama’s head underneath Jack’s ass.

But then, Sam.

Second place wasn’t too bad, she decided as her wrist gave. It just couldn’t do it anymore.

And Paulina, tangled around Sam like she was, came down with her.

Yeowch…

The whole gym cheered, reveling in the chaos.

Paulina stared at the ceiling from beside Sam, expression unintelligable.

“I’m done.” Was all she said, unmoving.

Which, fucking same.

Wes laughed even harder, taking photos of Jack rolling off Ishiyama.

“You can’t stop us from leaving, anymore, Ishiyama. This was it. Nothing can keep me here anymore.” Sam declared, doing her best to detangle from Paulina’s limbs.

“I, too, yield. It was fun while it lasted.” Ishiyama wheezed.

“No. It wasn’t.”

“I think I should go check on Mads and the kids.” Jack decided, not moving from his side despite the declaration.

Wes was still too buy laughing as Sam did a four legged crawl off the twister board.

“You need a ride, kiddo?” Jack offered, still unmoving.

“Absolutely not.”

“I do.” Paulina decided.

But Sam was already heading for the door, trying to erase the whole night from her memories.

Tucker would never let this die once the news broke. Which meant she’d have to kill him even harder than before.

Still, that was a job for tomorrow. Right now? She sword to herself the entire school would burn before she could be coaxed into another charity game night.

#sam manson #wes weston #principal ishiyama #paulina sanchez #jack fenton #board games #prompt fill #phic phight #phic phight 2024 #my writing #funny

[dcxdpdabbles]

I recently had a dream that wouldn't leave me alone so I feel the need to share it with someone else.

I can't remember the name of the fic that had been rereading at the moment but it's a crossover DC/DP/MLB. In the fic Danny, Damien and Marinette are called the three headed beast. At the time I was also reading a fic with Captain Marvel and I got it stuck in my head that what if Danny, Marinette and Billy were the three headed beast and Damien was their baby sibling.

Like hear me out they were made by Ra's without even Talia knowing. He wanted to raise his potential heir without even his daughter interfering. When the three are about 7 some magic bs with a Lazarus portal happened resulting in them living in a separate dimension for decades away from Ra's before being de-aged and sent bad under their grandfather's thumb (honestly I don't really remember what happened, my dream confused me). Once back they quickly jump ship and fake their deaths making sure nobody's are left to try and revive.

Roughly 2-3 years later Talia had Damien. I don't remember why but he knew about the triplets and had been on multiple family bonding trips with them without Ra's or Talia knowing so when Tim said Bruce was alive he just said ok, called his older siblings sounding sad and said find him. And then I woke up (and thought about it a lot).

Sorry for the rant this idea just wouldn't leave me alone.

I can just imagine Phantom and Marvel being entirely different people. Like Captain Marvel doesn't happen until after leaving the league neither does the portal incident so both Phantom and Marvel are completely different heros. The three went their separate ways once out of the league, yes they love each other (and the baby sibling they occasionally pop in on and kidnap for a few weeks to month to for adventures in dimensions that have different time flows) but they are grown adults they have their own lives they want to lead and they definitely haven't needed a parent in decades.

Anyways I'll stop now I just need to share this.

That's honestly such a cool dream. I don't read a lot of Miraculous Ladybug crossovers with DC but I do know the show.

It's interesting how all of them would be extremely powerful for their respective hero personas, but no one would link them as the Three Head Beast.

Also since Danny and Billy would be different heroes, I like to think that maybe Danny would have become more like a meta-human instead of a halfa. Maybe it was due to all his dimension-hopping as I can see him being the triplet that would enjoy exploring the Infinite Realms.

Danny has wanders lust- he hates lingering in one place too long so he is always on the move, always wanting to see new worlds and new timelines.

Maybe he would become Clockwork's human lesion as he can't be King. He happily goes to the living realms of the timelines Clockwork needs him to observe for the stars.

Danny believes the stars are a reminder of his freedom because it's one of the first things he saw the day they faked their deaths. He loves seeing new constellations and can't wait to jump lines again to discover new ones.

Billy meanwhile would fall into Magic again but this time it would be his own magic. He has the highest potential in magic to make him a candidate for the Wizard, but his past of being in Ra's thumb mucked up his purity soul bit.

Still, he finds out that "You're a Wizard, Billy" while traveling dimensions and unlike Danny chooses to stay in a lot of them for long periods just learning all he can of magic.

Marinette, unlike her brothers, is much more willing to stay in one place. Yes, she'll sometimes join them on trips or go looking for an adventure but she wanted to build a home. Danny and Billy see it as a cage, far too used to Ra's locking them up to not get itchy to move about, but she saw it as having control.

She picks her house. She picks the dimensions. Marinette is the one that decides when and where she wants to go. Nothing is bigger "I made it out. I survived you" then staying in their native dimension with Ra's on the other side of the world. If he finds her and tries to bring her back, welp she escaped before she can do it again.

But she didn't want big adventures or conflicts with Ra's, she was comforted. So Marinette opens a bakery in France, living as mundanely as possible but with years of deadly training under her skin and a strong link to Spirits.

Marinette didn't get her Kawami when the Guardian needed to pass them on, because she wasn't there, but years of Lazarus Water, Ectoplasim of the Infinite Realms, and just her aura she can see them.

Alongside thousands and thousands of Spirits that are everywhere. Some get attacked by her and her little bakery. Marinette allows them to live with her and respects them and their domain, so it's not really a surprise when they start bestowing small Blessings on her. She may not possess a miraculous that powers her up but she has a bag of tricks that are close and her own training that practically makes her a miraculous holder anyway.

And that's them the three heads of the Ra's Three-Headed Beasts- monsters, killers, weapons from birth- who lived on as what they wanted.

An explorer with a love of stars.

A mage with a love of study.

A Baker with a love of everyday life.

One day, when a little ninja wanders into Marinette's bakery on a break from his first real mission, the three gain a new love for their little brother.

Damian may not understand his older siblings desire to not be a cape but he respects them all the same. He still trains every day in the hopes of one day besting them but not to prove his worth.

Only to make Danny, Marinette, and Billy proud.

#dcxdpdabbles #mun speaks #I like the potential #Random thoughts on it #sorry if I ran with it #The plot bunnies wouldn't let me be #Miraculous Ladybug X DP X Dc

[cabinofimagines]

Trust and Tribulations

I can't believe we're pulling it off, and here we are. Pairing: Platonic the seven + a bunch of other ones x reader Word count: ~1.1k Warnings: Bad puns, hatcanons from me and Danny -Asnyox < prev. - next >

As the midterms were still ongoing, the monthly meeting was half in real life and half via Iris message. You, Nico and Will had ventured out to Percy and Annabeth, whereas Hazel and Frank called from Camp Jupiter. Jason and Piper joined you from Piper’s house and Leo joined from the Waystation with Calypso. 

I don’t know whether you have ever been on a call with multiple friends, but simply said it was chaos. After everyone was in the IM there and said their hello’s a silence slowly seeped into the conversation. 

“So, has everyone gotten their invites?” Frank softly asked, “You know, as we all knew that Halloween was coming up, just checking whether everyone got the invites now.” He was clearly looking for any facial reactions as he made his statement. Percy was quick to give one of panic, and then school it back.

“Grover gave us one yesterday, he mentioned Apollo delivering them?” Percy looked around at the people in the IM. 

“Yeah, he loves helping Meg out. He also told us that you all seemed like you’re dying, so how’s that going?” You asked as most people in the IM except for Leo suddenly looked more tired. 

“Halloween this year is very on brand with the scare factor,” Percy said, “Saving the world? Easy. School?  The scariest of all. Luckily I got my wise girl here helping me out.” he pressed a kiss on Annabeth’s cheek as she smiled.  

“It did take us by surprise,” Hazel bumped into the conversation, “Frank and I had been very busy with Preator duties and then suddenly Apollo was there.” She laughed as if she was embarrassed, “I genuinely was about to fight whatever he was bringing, luckily it was only the invite.” 

“You could’ve brought it better though!” Frank exclaimed, “We have a quest from Apollo,” he impersonated Hazel, “It scared me half to death!” Hazel laughed at her boyfriend's terror, before shaking her head, “Sorry Frank, just wanted you to know how I felt when I opened the door.” 

“Do we know who else is coming?” Piper asked, “Is Reyna invited? Are there going to be more satyrs because it is in a grove?” 

“Coach Hedge is coming,” Nico said, “Don’t know about any other satyrs though. I do think Reyna is coming, if Artemis lets the hunters partake in the celebrations.” 

“Cool,” Piper nodded. 

“Anyways,” Percy drawled out, “How’s the costumes going? As clearly nobody forgot Halloween was happening. We just ran into uh, a problem with ours.” 

“You forgot, didn’t you?” You accused Percy, “Unbelievable.” 

“We might have,” he admitted, “but we’ll have to figure something out, we can’t disappoint Meg like that.” 

“I mean, it’s on her for sending out the invites that late.” Annabeth stated.

“It’s a Halloween party, on Halloween.” You said, “You knew this was coming all year, don’t blame her for your own tardiness.” Annabeth glared at you. 

“Well, I have a plan.” she said. 

“You did not yesterday.” Percy retorted, “Better yet, you wanted to fake sickness because of your construction deadline on friday.” 

“Are you underestimating me, seaweed brain?” You were glad you were not Percy right now, because Annabeth looked like she was ready to go for the kill. 

“... no?” Percy gulped. 

“I don’t have a costume yet either,” Will tried to break up the tension.

"Yes, you do.” Nico interjected, “I have you covered in my costume plans.” Will looked at him questioningly, and after a moment it seemed like he realized something. 

“Wait, you are still doing the thing?” Will asked and Nico nodded quickly, “Seriously? Then who…?”

“Can’t tell you, it would spoil the surprise for the rest of the people here.” Nico smiled crookedly, “Besides, you know you can trust me right?”

“I am not so sure anymore, my sunshine.” Will looked at his boyfriend skeptically as Nico let out a laugh.

“Love you too.”

“Speaking of costumes,” Hazel said, “Leo, could Frank and I borrow some hats from you? We’ll tell you the specific ones later.” 

“Of course! I should bring spare hats to the party anyways,” Leo grinned, “You never know how many people will come with bad costumes that my hats can fix. If a certain couple needs hats as costumes too,” Leo pointedly looked at Percy and Annabeth, “they just have to ask. I know you all love my hat collection!”

“No, thanks.” Annabeth grumbled, “I have a plan.” 

“I haven’t even thought of getting a costume yet,” Jason looked awfully guilty. 

“Jason, do you want to do a costume with me? I need someone to finish my mys-tree costume” Leo lit up. 

“Yes?” Jason hesitated, “Was that a tree pun?” Leo ignored his comment.

“That is such a re-leaf. Our costumes are gonna have so much chemis-tree together, trust me!” Leo’s grin got wider with each pun, “Fir sure we are going to have the pinest costumes at the party.” There was a mix of groans and laughs. 

“You’re not dressing us up as trees are you?” Jason looked scared. 

“Nope! Good guess though.” 

“Well,” Piper bumped into the convo, “Good things come in trees, so do you have room for one more?” Leo shook his head. 

“Sorry pipes, I don’t be-leaf I do but I can always lend out my hats.” 

“Maybe we should get the hats, Annabeth-” Percy whispered but Annabeth elbowed him.

“No way, seaweed brain. Some of them might be cursed, and besides that I have a plan.” 

“What plan?” 

Ignoring the lover’s quarrel, Piper turned to Calypso.

“You don’t happen to have a bunch of time to help me with my costume?” 

Calypso shook her head. “No, I’ve been so busy with (Y/n)’s costume that I have yet to start my own, sorry.” 

“No worries,” Piper seemed to start thinking, “no worries,” she mumbled. 

After some more discussion everyone realized the time, and as most people in the calls had deadlines to make (and costumes to get) you ended the meeting. You looked at Will and Nico as you smiled. 

“I think most people are royally screwed trying to get costumes this close to Halloween.” you laughed and Nico nodded.

“Luckily we’ve been preparing.” He said and Will sighed. “At least I know I won’t be a tree, poor Jason.”

#request #halloweenverse #halloween 2023 #pjo x reader #reader insert #imagine #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #leo valdez #nico di angelo #requests #jason grace #cabinofimagines #annabeth chase #will solace #piper mclean #platonic #calypso #hazel levesque #frank zhang #admin asja #admin asnyox

[underforeversgrace]

i love you (don't kill me)

Title: i love you (don't kill me)

Words: 4591

Warnings: Major Character Death, (semi) Graphic Depictions of Violence

Prompts:

Sherry_A_H: Tearing up Phantom molecule by molecule is something the Fentons will regret for the rest of their lives.

Nocturnal Starr: Maddie struggles to come to terms with Danny being Phantom.

Astatia Ghast: When Danny’s body is purged of ectoplasm, he begins to waste away. It turns out the Accident changed his body so completely that he can no longer survive without ectoplasm.

Even with as many times as it’s been explained to her, Maddie still just can’t understand. She can’t grasp her son, her black-haired, blue-eyed little boy, being Phantom. It just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t.

Maddie leaned back in her chair, rubbing her gloved hand across her tired face as the heart monitor beeped steadily. At least they were able to handle this at home. Express fake concern that it was high level ectoplasmic contamination, that he couldn’t be admitted to a general hospital because of it. But there was nothing to be done, was there? Not anymore. She and Jack had gone too far, messed up too severely this time.

Maddie just sat there, listening to the monitor. Danny’s heartbeat was far too slow. Even his friends had said this was lower than his normal. Well, Tucker had advised them of that. Sam refused to speak to them. Even Tucker had been short and to the point in his response, his voice cold and hard.

Jazz had been the one to fill them in, Tucker nor Sam could be in the same room as Maddie and Jack for longer than a few seconds, far too little time to go over the events of the past two years. Jazz couldn’t bear to look at her parents either, though. She hated them. Maddie could find no kindness or softness in her daughter’s face anymore, no hint of love for them. And she found she couldn’t blame Jazz for her reaction.

They all knew what Jack and Maddie had done.

A small alarm trilled from her pocket, pulling Maddie back to the room. The blue room with the stars on the ceiling and model rockets littered on shelves along the walls. The blue room with the hospital bed, with her dying son.

She pulled the timer out from her pocket, silencing it with a button press.

“Time for another injection?” A male voice asked behind her, near the door.

The man was named Michaels, he was a bodyguard Sam had hired to watch over Danny, because Sam didn’t trust his parents alone with him. While Maddie could hold her own against most people, Michaels was not one of them. He was an even more skilled black belt than she, an even better shot with the human gun at his hip.

He was a stranger in her son’s bedroom, he was an unwelcome figure in her family’s suffering.

He was her son’s protector while she had been his executioner.

Maddie sighed. “Yes, it is.”

“The red one again?”

“No, the blue one.”

“Is it really already time for the blue one again? He’s already had one in the past twenty four hours.” Michaels responded, his voice light but his eyes narrowed at her in distrust. He didn’t know the full story - what Danny was, exactly what his parents had done to him - but he was no fool. Then again, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize something was wrong when he’d been explicitly told to keep an eye on Maddie and Jack.

“He… he didn’t stabilize with that one this morning. Normally, he has an increase in his vital signs - his heart rate, oxygen levels, temperature - but he had none of that. No use in giving a booster when the shot didn’t take.” Maddie replied, her heart clenching in her chest. 

Her eyes strayed to the bedside table, where a small present wrapped in starry paper sat. Her little Danny had turned sixteen eight days ago. He’d been in a coma for ten. He’d never open that present, would he? See the car they’d bought for him? The keys sat in that little box - a singular key with a NASA emblem on the keychain, to an older model car they’d parked at the Mansons’.

Tears pricked at the mother’s eyes and she blinked them away before they could fall. She still held onto hope that Danny would suddenly awake, happy and healthy and whole in whatever way he wanted, and she didn’t want him to see her crying.

“Here,” Michaels said, handing a syringe over to Maddie. Thick red liquid seemed to bubble in the glass, or was it a gas? Ectoplasm was such an odd thing. Michaels shot her a firm nod then stepped back by the dresser, locking the case with the chemicals back up. Yet another safeguard for Danny’s life, at risk from his parents. Their concoction had been tested by ectologists even more renowned than the Fentons, to make sure it would not harm a ghost. It was kept in a locked case and only the other scientists were allowed to formulate more, based on what Maddie and Jack had created. She never touched them except when it was time for one.

Did the Fentons even count as ectologists, Maddie wondered? Or just monsters with guns, shooting down and destroying anything that didn’t fall on the ‘right’ side of the alive/dead binary?

Maddie popped the protective cover off the needle, turning Danny’s arm so the crook of his elbow looked up at her - covered in bruises and needle marks from where she’d been desperately trying to save him.

Ironic, isn’t it? Maddie had fantasized about doing this to Danny Phantom. About strapping him to a table, cutting him open, injecting every possible substance under the sun into his arm to see how his spectral body would react. She’d already known she would have to ignore the creature’s screams. Not sentient. Not able to feel pain. Not able to die when he was already dead.

Her and Jack had discussed the best ways to slice him open - though, then, they’d still been calling Phantom an it - without destabilizing him. They didn’t want his core to give out before they’d even started, after all. They’d wanted to carve off chunks of Phantom’s ‘fake’ skin, rip their way into whatever he had in his chest cavity. Wanted to cut and take samples and biopsies from every inch of the ghost, inside and out. And it would’ve all started with a simple shot, wouldn’t it? Some sort of suppressant to keep the ghost’s abilities at bay.

So, no, Maddie couldn’t be upset at how her daughter and her son’s friends were acting.

She’d gotten her dream. She just hadn’t realized it could ever be a nightmare.

But this was definitely a nightmare she was in, a hell of her own making, as she gently pressed the needle into him, piercing through flesh and injecting the mixture into him. She looked at the monitor connected to him, all the wires measuring all the signs of life in him, desperate to see an improvement.

But there was nothing. He hadn’t reacted. He was just as still, looked just as dead.

Pain pierced her through the heart as she collapsed back into her seat - she would’ve almost sworn she’d been stabbed, the pain felt so real, so tangible. This was their last idea. Human blood supercharged with ectoplasm, with enough electricity going through it to take out a city block, to try to make them bind together, to mimic what they’d stolen from Danny.

But it failed. They had failed. She had failed. How could this be happening? It just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t. How could they have messed up so badly?

“We’ve got it, Mads!” Jack yelled, running to the glowing form on the ground.

“Nice shot, dear!” Maddie called, a wide grin across her face as the two ghost hunters caught up with their prey.

Danny Phantom looked up at them through the net, eyes unfocused, mouth moving without sound.

“It worked! Whatever brain pattern it has mimicked isn’t working!” Jack said, proudly hoisting the overly large gun onto his shoulder, beaming at his wife. 

“The Fenton Scrambler might just be one of our best inventions!” She said, clapping her hands together as her husband grabbed the net and began dragging it behind them, back towards the GAV. Maddie opened the rear doors and Jack tossed the ghost in. It made a noise and placed a hand against its head, slightly shaking its head, doing a very good job of mimicking confusion.

Jack and Maddie hopped into their seats and Jack floored it, sending them flying back towards their home, tossing any and all driving safety recommendations out the window.

Within minutes, they were home, their catch unloaded and dragged down to the lab, still unable to speak. Unceremoniously, Jack tossed the ghost into a containment block at the corner of the lab, all sides blocked by phase proof glass.

“Hmph, Danny still hasn’t done his chores!” Jack whined, looking at the messy lab. The table they needed was half buried under old, never finished inventions. Mess covered every flat surface - from old pizza boxes to ectoplasm and everything in between.

“We’ll remind him when he gets home!” Maddie said, kissing Jack on the cheek. They began to clean, both shaking with excitement.

Maddie kept glancing over at the corner, licking her lips in anticipation. The ghost seemed to be getting some of its limited faculties back, the net had slipped off when it’d been tossed in. It pressed a hand against its eyes and wrapped the other arm around its center. It’s ability to pretend to be human was so impressive! She wondered if its insides would be as impressive. Was it so desperate to appear human that the illusion would go beneath its faux skin? Would there be bones? Kidneys? An appendix? How cold was it? Would it be colder inside?  Butterflies fluttered around in her stomach, excited anxiety burrowing deep into her very being.

Taking far longer than she would have liked, they got the lab in a semi-acceptable state. The table was cleaned off, the scalpels and syringes were sat on trays to the side, and the rest of the mess was, uh, out of sight and therefore out of mind.

“It’s time!” Maddie hollered, jetting towards the door of the containment area, her hand resting on the handle. “Hit the ghost shield!”

Jack hurried over to the side wall and slammed his fist onto a comically large button with his face on it. The sound of machinery whirring and then the ghost shield encased them, an eerie green that made the air beyond the bubble look fuzzy. Jack held up another gun, ready to shoot at the ghost if needed. Maddie was better at hand to hand so she would be the one getting in close contact with Phantom, Jack would provide back up with an ecto-grenade (that had an area of effect even larger than the room, it was physically impossible for even Jack to completely miss).

They nodded to each other and Maddie threw open the door.

Phantom looked at her, pushing itself to its feet, eyes still unfocused.

“Mom?” It asked, the otherworldly echo sounding out of place for such a simple word.

“Excuse me?” Maddie asked, bewilderment temporarily replacing excitement.

“Mom?” It asked again, stumbling forward. A cold hand grabbed her forearm as Phantom continued to look around, confusion painted heavily onto its face. “What’s going on? I feel weird.”

Maddie turned to look at Jack, wondering if she was hallucinating, but the look on Jack’s face mirrored her own emotions.

The ghost groaned, releasing its grip on her and collapsing to its knees, holding its head in both hands, partially out of the containment cube.

“Phantom, what are you-“ Maddie started, but was cut off as bright white lights encircled Phantom’s waist. She heard Jack begin to charge the gun up, though he didn’t fire as the light seemed to split harmlessly, only changing the clothes between the rings as they moved.

She had exactly zero idea how she was supposed to react when Phantom vanished, her son in his place.

“Mom?” Danny asked, the echo gone. “What’s happening…?” The sentence trailed off as he looked up at her. Maddie’s jaw clenched as she saw his eyes - radioactive green.

“Jack, get the Fenton Ghost Catcher!” Maddie barked, grabbing Danny’s arm and jerking him up. Jack nodded wordlessly, concern and fear etched on his face as he ran towards the sub basement, where they’d stored the Ghost Catcher while they made upgrades to it.

Danny yelped in pain as she pulled him up roughly and her chest tightened. She never wanted to hear that sound again. But that did seem to pull Phantom out of whatever haze it had been in - Danny’s voice didn’t sound as confused when he? it? spoke again. “Mom, what are you doing?” He called, trying to dislodge her grip from him, pulling weakly. 

“Get out of my son, Phantom.” Maddie hissed.

“What? I’m not overshadowed! It’s me, Danny!” Her son insisted, doubling up his efforts to escape her grasp. That net must have worked even better than they’d expected since Phantom had hidden itself inside a human. A human would be having a severe headache, nausea, and persistent confusion. But her ‘son’ had recovered too fast. This wasn’t her son, her son was being used as a puppet.

“I don’t know what kind of weird overshadowing ability you have to completely change forms, but get. Out. Of. My. Son.” She hissed the last few words.

“No, no, no, no! It’s me, Danny, there was an accident and I’m half ghost and that’s why I have two forms and why all your inventions lock on me and -“ He began stuttering. Maddie tightened her grip on his arm, pulling him roughly towards her as she grabbed his other arm as well.

“How long have you been in my son?” She growled, holding him tight enough to bruise. But Phantom would protect her son. It was a side effect of overshadowing - the human host got the ghostly parasite’s durability. “Our weapons have been honing in on him for two years, how long have you held him?”

“No! It’s not like that! Please just listen or ask my friends or Jazz! We’re - I’m - the same person! C’mon, even the name is a pun! Fenton? Phantom?” Danny was babbling now, fear etched into his eyes. Maddie stared into his blue eyes, that for some reason now seemed to be flecked with green when she was this close, anger building up in her. That was her son’s fear she saw, the fear she’d continue to allow Phantom to possess him and strip away his free will.

It was then that Jack lumbered back up the stairs, Ghost Catcher in hand. He brought it over to where they stood, sitting it beside Maddie and the ghost, pressing a newly added on button. They’d made adjustments to it - it would purge all ectoplasm from the human body. Who knew how much ectoplasmic contamination her son had after two years under a ghost’s control? She hated herself in that moment - what kind of mother doesn’t realize her son has been taken over by a malevolent spirit? For two entire years? She’d make it right, she’d fix this.

Danny’s eyes widened. Of course, that’s how Phantom knew about all of their weapons and other inventions! It had heard them talking around the dinner table! It knew the Catcher had been improved!

“Dad, mom, stop! Just listen to me! Please!” Danny yelled, clawing at Maddie’s hands. That must be her true son shining through - forcing his much lower strength over Phantom’s so she couldn’t be dislodged. “That’ll kill me!” He screamed as Maddie pushed him towards the device, Jack’s face uncharacteristically solemn. Even he knew they had messed up, they had missed something huge for so long. “Please, stop!” He continued, tears starting to streak down his face. Maddie wasn’t sure if it was Phantom trying to pull on her sympathies or her Danny crying in joy that he’d finally be free of this monster. She hated that she couldn’t tell.

“Everything is gonna be okay, Danny,” she whispered in his ear.

“Stop!” He called out again. Maddie pinched at a pressure point in his neck and he went limp in her arms.

Gently, she and Jack passed Danny through the center of the Catcher and watched in horror as Phantom split from him, liquid ectoplasm dripping to the floor. How much ectoplasm had Danny had in him? Both were still unconscious.

Maddie carefully sat her sleeping son on a nearby chair, smiling as she watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed. Meanwhile, Jack bound Phantom to the table, triple checking that all of the restraints were tight enough. Both parents were angry at this stupid ghost, this awful, horrible creature that had stolen their son from them for so long.

Jack shoved some fabric into the ghost’s mouth, pressing phase proof tape along the outside to keep it in his mouth.

The ghost awoke before their son did. It cried its fake tears, screaming behind the gag as they took out both their revenge and scientific curiosity out on its body. They sliced and diced as much as they wanted, amazed by the exciting specimen in front of them. At one point, Maddie moved her scalpel towards its eyes, holding eye contact for longer than necessary. As pain reflected in its eyes, Maddie found herself questioning her conviction that ghosts couldn’t feel pain. She lowered her scalpel and began excising the eye, viciously hoping this ghost could feel pain, could feel every incision they were making.

They had ripped apart over half the ghost’s body before it finally stopped fighting and went limp in its restraints.

The joy of righteous vengeance enacted brought her so much pride, made even more delicious by finally getting to live out her fantasy on Phantom. It had always been an odd ghost, different in ways they couldn’t understand.

It wouldn’t be until Jazz came home several hours later and found them in the lab that they realized what they might have done when she explained through sobs, her hands covered in ectoplasm from where she’d ran to the table, screaming Danny’s name.

When Danny never woke up, however, they realized what they’d done, just as how much they’d messed up. They hadn’t listened. They hadn’t thought of all the times they’d seen Danny go through ghost shields, how Phantom had grown older with Danny. They’d never even stopped to consider what if they were wrong.

Maddie felt the wet soil beneath her knees, felt the chill settling into her bones as it seeped through her pants. She hadn’t worn her suit since the monitor went off for the last time, since the coroner had come out for her son’s body. Pain, grief, had settled like lead in her chest. She had no more tears left to cry as she gazed at the headstone in front of her.

Daniel James “Danny” Fenton

April 3, 1993 - July 19, 2009

A beloved hero and cherished son

They’d chosen to release the truth after Danny had passed away, so his DP insignia also was engraved onto the stone, above his name. They’d lied about his cause of death. He died from ghost fighting, after being poisoned. His parents, who loved him more than anything in the world and were among the world’s leaders in ghost science, had immediately dedicated themselves to saving him, no matter the cost. Only those closest to Danny knew the truth, and even then, only his parents knew the extend of it. Knew his last words were pleading with them to stop, that they were going to kill him. Knew that they had tortured another part of him to death. Only Maddie knew she’d taken joy in his suffering.

Jazz had informed them she would not be speaking with them again, to not reach out to her, ever. Sam and Tucker made it clear the only reason they weren’t telling the cops Jack and Maddie’s negligence had actually caused Danny’s death was because they knew he wouldn’t want that. He would blame himself for not telling them. For letting himself get caught.

Maddie had had to come to terms with a lot since the day Danny first went into the coma. She’d had to accept she was wrong. Phantom was a hero. Her son was selfless and kind, and she’d been too prejudiced to see Phantom was so, so good.

Thunder cracked in the sky above her, rain began to fall softly. But she didn’t move. The cemetery was quiet.

The funeral had been yesterday and it had just been too much. Fans of Phantom, people who had come to send off a dead ghost. Originally, Maddie had been so angry. How dare these people? Her son was dead, why were they talking about a damned ghost? But that ghost had been her son. She’d lost count of the number of speakers, all the stories of what Danny had done as Phantom.

Employees of a daycare that had caught fire, saved by Phantom. She had written that off as Phantom’s intelligence - he knew saving children would make him look good.

An elderly woman who’s home had been targeted by missiles from Skulker, the only reason it hadn’t been made into wreckage had been Phantom throwing a shield at the last moment. But he hadn’t gotten out of that unscathed - he’d gotten struck and bled green all over her front porch. Maddie had written that one off, too. That ghost was only here to attack Phantom regardless and Phantom had only caught that missile because he’d forgotten to go intangible, like he’d done dozens of times before. Now Maddie wondered if that had been intentional, though. All the times he’d gotten blasted out of the sky - his body would cause much less damage than some of the projectiles the other ghosts would use.

Someone from the local Observatory, who would sometimes see Phantom stargazing. Who’d talked to him and realized he was just a kid who loved the stars, who saw the way Phantom’s cheeks glowed like constellations the more he saw or discussed he stars.

A jock from Casper High, who had mercilessly bullied her son, who now knew how easily he could’ve died if his target had ever fought back, but Phantom - but Danny - was good and had used his powers for good.

Sam and Tucker had gone together, telling stories of Danny, showing the child behind the hero. They never specified Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom when they talked about him. Because there was no difference. It was always Danny. Just Danny.

A thought that routinely haunted her. Those had been some of the last words of his life and they played on repeat in her mind.

A police officer from the local station was outside the cemetery - to guard Danny’s grave in case any of his few detractors tried to hurt his grave. Even the police loved Phantom, it seemed. He helped in a lot of traffic accidents. And the officer had assured her someone would be there around the clock for a while.

Maddie had no doubt that the only reason she was able to be here - alone, kneeling in front of her child’s grave - was because the officer had kept fans and haters alike out.

She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against the cold, smooth stone. Apparently she wasn’t quite out of tears, she realized, as she began to cry again.

“Are you alright?” Came a familiar voice behind her. She whipped around, unwilling to believe it until she saw it.

There, with a little half smile on his face, floated Danny Phantom, white hair dancing in a way that didn’t quite match the current breeze.

“Danny?” She breathed.

“Yep, that’s me! Do I know you?” He asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

“You… you don’t… know who I am?” She asked, her voice stuttering.

“No, I’m sorry! I just heard crying and could feel you were in pain, so I wanted to make sure you were okay!” Phantom said, an easy smile on his face that Maddie recognized. Danny used to smile like that - carefree, relaxed - a long time ago. When had he last smiled like that? When he was eight or nine?

Maddie was unsure what to say. What, exactly, do you say to your dead son that you violently killed, who has no idea who you are, who just wanted to make sure a stranger in pain was okay? “I… lost someone I love.” Maddie settled on.

“Danny?” A new voice joined in. He appeared in the blink of an eye. A ghost clad in purple, clock staff in hand and clock workings in his chest. If he’d been human, Maddie would’ve thought he was nearly a hundred, as bent over as he was, long white beard nearly as long as he was tall.

“Hey, dad!” Danny chirruped, floating higher up and hugging the ghost.

Maddie’s heart felt like it had been ripped out and stomped on.

“Child,” the older ghost chastised softly, smiling, “I told you to stay near me.”

“I know,” Danny whined, drawing out the ‘o’ sound. “But this lady felt like she was in pain!”

The purple ghost ruffled Danny’s white hair. “I know. Can you head home? I will be there shortly.” He said, waving his hand almost boredly. A portal appeared where his hand passed. Danny nodded then zipped through the portal, which closed behind him immediately.

The remaining ghost turned his attention to Maddie, smile sliding away as red eyes bore into her own. Maddie fidgeted under his gaze.

“I am his guardian now. He will not be returning to this plane.” The ghost stated, answering questions she hadn’t even decided to ask yet.

“Is he…still Danny? Is he happy?”

“Yes, he is still Danny, just without his memories. Due to the…traumatic nature of his death,” the ghost scowled at her, “his life is forgotten to him and will be for many decades. You will be decaying before he remembers. But, yes. He is happy. He is still the same ghost child, still with the urge to help everyone.”

Maddie’s vision was swimming with tears. She didn’t know how to feel. She had tortured and murdered her son. But he had come back - again - as a ghost. But he didn’t know who she was, he’d never be on earth again during her lifetime.

“I… I didn’t think he’d be able to restore his ghost side.” Maddie said.

The red eyes continued to bear down on her, unblinking, as though he could see her very heart. “You only killed part of his soul. This is what remains.”

Maddie nodded, wrapping her arms around herself as the rain picked up.

“Goodbye, Madeline Fenton.” The ghost said, waving his hand like he had done before to open the portal.

“Wait!” Maddie blurted, reaching out for the ghost. The portal appeared next to him, swirling and beautiful, but he did not go in. He said nothing, waiting for her to continue. “Can…when he remembers, can you tell him how sorry we are? We love him and we will never forgive ourselves for what we did, but we are so, so sorry.”

“He knows. He may not know what he knows, but he knows you regret your actions. His love for you is the only reason I’ve brought him here, and to your husband, to give you closure.”

Maddie nodded, at a loss for what to say.

As quickly as he appeared, the clock ghost disappeared.

And Maddie was left with the rain beating down on her, soaking her, with only her son’s grave beside her.

#Grace writes #Danny phantom #MIND THE WARNINGS #Phic phight 2023 #Team ghost #It's 4am and I wrote this in 4 hours #Don't judge me

[hello-im-not-a-possum]

Collecting Identity Shards

Previous Work

Chapter one: Time for Therapy.

"Are you seriously, honestly, trying to bribe me into being your therapist in exchange for three antique clocks, a gemma’s ring, and a pack of tarot cards?" Clockwork crossed his arms as he saw the halfa arrive at the tower with the said objects in hand.

"I was told they were things you liked? Or at least were amused by…" He muttered that last bit before clearing his throat. "Look, I’m trying, but the therapist hunt isn’t going too well and I’m getting a *little* desperate here. I can’t tell human ones about the ghost-stuff and trying to find a ghost one is a nightmare; The only licensed one is a literal emotion-vampire… putting that aside she told me to lock myself in an abandoned asylum and never reproduce for the good of humanity. Some, if not all of the ghosts I know would skin me alive the second I show vulnerability of any kind, let alone figure out that I faked my death. I'm sure Frostbite would betray me and my secrets to Danny in a heartbeat if I talk about my experiences and views that don’t align with his moral codes. And to be honest, I think that you’re pretty shady yourself."

Clockwork’s eyes narrowed at the halfa’s statement about him.

"-But Danny trusts you and I respect that he does." He attempted to backtrack. "And I know for a fact I can trust you with any secret because technically speaking: you’ve already seen my life, right? You already know everything I can possibly hide from someone, you probably already know secrets about me that even I don’t know about myself!"

"I know *of* your life and what you’re capable of doing with it, yes, but I’m not a mind reader." The ghost with the eternally shifting form replied.

"Yes, but you’ve seen my life, the actions I’ve taken, you know that I lied about losing my memories right?"

"No, that’s news to me as in some timelines you *did* genuinely lose your memories from that accident. How am I supposed to tell lies apart from truth when in cases like this, they can be the truth? Again: Seeing the future does not make me the other type of Psychic."

"...Right."

"But continue." Clockwork waved his staff dismissively.

"Well, the thing about me lying was… At the time, I did it because it felt like the only option to ensure my own survival. I did it because why would they help me if they knew I remembered who I was? But… apparently, there are things about myself that I genuinely don’t remember."

"I’m guessing you mean the hospital being burned down?"

"Yes, I can’t remember the fire Jack was talking about at all. But I looked it up and sure enough, I wasn’t transferred from that hospital to a new one, it burned down. I swear I remember every single surgery it took to fix my face, the names of every single speech therapist I went to over the years, I remember how humiliating and horrifying it felt to crawl out of that pit I was abandoned in, how many times I almost…"

He trailed off as he noticed the two statues; grim reapers with sharp scythes, looming over both of them.

While his life didn’t flash before his eyes while looking at them, the twin symbols of death were a reminder of the fact that he had only ‘changed’ because the only other option was a permanent death. And when he thought of that, a question came to mind; If he had only snapped out of the path he was going down because it was a dead end, did he really change at all?

"So, I guess it’s worth asking, is all of this just… hopeless? Is it too late for me to be a better person..?"

"Zero." The titan of time’s expression softened and he put his hand on the halfa’s shoulder. "It is never too late for anyone to try to be a better person. In fact, everybody already has the potential to change for the better, just like how everybody has the potential to change for the worse. While there are going to be people who forgive you and ones who don't, them not forgiving you does not change the fact that you are striving to be a better person."

He took his hand off, turning his back to the halfa with his staff intertwined with his fingers.

"However, do not take this to mean that redemption is an easy, liner path. You will still think in the ways you are used to thinking, both in good ways and bad, you WILL continue to doubt yourself, you may even relapse, and those relapses can have the potential to bring out the absolute worst in you that you once considered as 'going too far'. The desire to change is important for doing it, but wanting to change and actually changing, while intertwined, are still separate things."

The hospital halfa couldn't think of anything to say as he thought back on Clockwork's words. He couldn't help but feel like the Titan was speaking from a place of experience, but he didn't know the spirit's past...

"Zero?" He waved his hand in front of the teen's face as he noticed he was spacing out to check that he didn't unknowingly freeze time.

"Oh! Uh... Same time again next Tuesday? I could bring you anything you want! (within reason...)"

"Yes, that does sound nice I suppose." The master of time gave the boy an amused smile. "I would like you to bring me this."

He handed him a sticky note with the words 'That limited edition holiday cookie dough' on it.

"Thanks Clockwork" He returned a relieved smile as he pocketed the note.

"Oh, and Zero?"

"Yes?"

"This is more of a physical thing than a mental one, but keep an eye on your core. In fact I recommend doing a check up on it when you return. While you possess a strange level of durability, that thing's as stable as a house of cards and that is NOT helped by the fact you currently didn't get rid of the metallic irritant inside it."

"...Will do!"

Clockwork nodded in acknowledgement as his guest left his home.

Once the time titan was assured that Patient Zero was too far away to eavesdrop, he powered up the screens to show different futures from ten years, he mused out loud as he browsed them.

"Still in college, still in college, still in college, accidentally started a ghostly plague, intentionally started a ghostly plague, became an eldritch abomination, traveling the world to find himself, committed murder, another ghostly plague- Wait, this one's from the timeline Frostbite peeled his core like an orange, that doesn't count. Fentonworks Wisconsin Branch, Ghost Doctor... Ironic, but strangely fitting."

While Clockwork himself was both pleased and amused by this variety of outcomes, he knew that his bosses would be on his case sooner or later if half or more of them were 'evil outcomes' and unfortunately, at this point of time, half of them were.

Granted, he and the Observants had different ideas on what 'evil' was. In his mind, botched regeneration attempts turned medical-flavored nightmares don't count as 'a sign he's going to destroy the world' but he wasn't the one in charge here.

He needed something to tip the scales in Zero's favor, give him a little extra motivation, help keep him on the right track, maybe an example..? He knew that Danny meeting Dan helped cut down a LOT of futures where the boy went down a dark path...

As he moved a screen out of his way, he noticed the still trapped ghost in the thermos. While he was more Phantom than Plasmius, surely there had to be just enough of Plasmius in there to relate to Zero and vice-versa-

"No, no, that's a stupid and reckless idea." he shook his head at the thought of it and turned his back to it. "He'll target Danny and the rest of the Fentons immediately before-"

He paused his rant as he saw the screen of the immediate future following Danny: 'Fenton Family Vacation Plans'.

His charge and family would be safely out of the way by the time Dan got there while Zero would remain, meaning that they would HAVE to confront each other first.

It would still have its fair share of risks. The hospital halfa was in a vulnerable state of mind right now, while his anger was defused, his fear remained undealt with and Dan could easily use that to his advantage.

On the other hand, IF this worked, both Dan would get the second chance the fate denied him with a fresh start, and Zero could feel more understood with someone in his corner who truly, fully, knew what he had gone through.

Clockwork nonchalantly whistled while shooing away all the screens with his staff and 'Accidentally' knocking the thermos over.

"Oops!" The time spirit proclaimed just before turning invisible.

The container only opened a by a small crack when it hit the floor, but that small crack was all Dan needed to claw his way out of the prison he was kept in for so long.

"CLOCKWORK!" He shouted as he frantically looked around the tower. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!"

_____

Meanwhile in Fentonworks, Jazz waited in the basement watching the ghost portal swirl and spiral in its typical ominous fashion as she waited for her 'cousin' to get back.

Sure, there were still thirty minutes left in the 'If I'm not back by x, send someone to save my skin' timer, but after the last three 'therapist' incidents, she was a little worried about Jack Masters' ability to tell the difference between red flags and green flags in people.

And while she could understand why he wanted to go to a ghost about this, she was good at therapy! She could help him too!

She checked her phone for new texts to find that Danny and Dani had discovered four secret rooms, two safes, and three mini-fridges in their 'surprise renovation' work so far and promised to keep her updated in their findings. And a cut of the spoils if they took anything in exchange for her silence.

[Remember not to take any medication from anything you find. There's a fine line between moving something for a laugh and putting him in real danger.]

[Don't worry, so far we've only taken food from the fridges. I think this some kind of rich-person tuna with gravy. Kinda like caviar.]

He sent in a picture of the open can with a fork in it before the following text popped up.

[So far I think it's just.. meh? Maybe you're supposed to mix it with something else but unless it's some kind of stew base I don't know what the appeal is.]

A second text popped up before she could respond.

[...I have just been told that this is wet cat food.] [He has two different fridges dedicated to his cats but he doesn't keep them near their food bowls.] [What is wrong with that guy?]

[Well I hope you learned a valuable lesson, little brother.]

[Why did he take the labels off these things?] [Shoot, how old where they?] [Did he try to train his cats only for it to backfire on him?] [Its times like this I wish he wasn't an amnesiac so I could ask him directly and get a clear answer.]

[Maybe he could recall some things in therapy? I'll ask.]

[He's about to walk through, nobody needs to pick him up.]

As she was about to type to ask how he knew that, their cousin walked through the portal with a sigh that sounded both emotionally exhausted but relieved as he switched back to his human form.

"Oh hey J, how did the therapy session go?"

"Good news is that I can finally call off the hunt."

"That's great! So what's your new therapist like?"

"If my Greek Mythology and my current theory is correct, he's probably eaten babies before but at least he gives good advice."

He resisted the urge to collapse on the workshop desk while Jazz noticeably bit her lip and faked a smile.

"I... See... So how do you think it's working out?"

"Well he cares about my health more than the other ones' did, so he's got that going for him." He shrugged while taking his core out of his chest and opening it with a scalpel.

"...What are you doing?"

"Removing metal shrapnel I think, Clockwork warned me about it."

"OH! Your therapist is Clockwork..." She was so relieved that she *didn't* have to text Danny about 'Another red flag Therapist' that her brain ALMOST glossed over that he had the master of time as a therapist. "...How did that happen?"

The older teen shrugged again, making an 'idk' noise before redirecting his focus back on the core.

Jazz was quick to secretly take notes of her current hypotheses on her cousin's mental state.

#danny phantom #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #dp clockwork #dan phantom #jazz fenton #danny fenton #shattered identity #fanfic #epilogue fic

[thenightling]

The red flag book purists

This post can be in regard to many recent book to film (or TV) adaptations including Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, Dead boy Detectives, and Good Omens. Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher. And Anne Rice's Interview with The vampire, and The Mayfair Witches. I am going to address a pattern I've seen and you may associate it with a different book to TV or film adaptation. I used to consider myself a book purist. Maybe I still am. I preferred book to TV or movie adaptations be as faithful as possible. In general I still do but there are occasions where I think the adaption improves the source material. I think the 1994 film Interview with The Vampire has a better ending than the novel. I think Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is more interesting and has more relatable characters than the Washington Irving story. Though updated to take place in the 1990s the version of The Canterville Ghost starring Patrick Stewart is my favorite adaptation of the novel. The stop motion animated musical Nightmare before Christmas, which teeters on being a Danny Elfman Opertta, I like the Nightmare before Christmas film more than the original Tim Burton poem. And though only very, very, very loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem, The Raven (1963) is my favorite Vincent Price movie. And as kind of a guilty pleasure I have a soft spot for versions of Dracula that are both predatory but romantic like Bram Stoker's Dracula and the 1979 Dracula film starring Frank Langella. And, yes, Castlevania. Again, I considered myself a book purist but there are exceptions where I admit that the changes improve upon the original story. Lately I've seen people call themselves book purists and it's become something of a dog whistle for something else. It feels almost like this new breed of book purist discredits the original meaning which wants integrity to the story. I.e. no rape scene just for shock value. (I'm talking about you, Game of Thrones and Interview with the Vampire TV series). This new form of so-called book purist which I have to come up with a name for... Let's call it Book Puritan for now until I can come up with something better.   The book puritan seems like the typical book purist at first. They just really, really like the source material but the more you talk to them the more you realize they are actually upset about something other than respecting the original books. Here are the top ten things complained about by Book Puritans. 1. They get upset if a character's skin color is changed or other race based complaints even though it has no impact on the story at all. "This character shouldn't be black!" They will complain about agenda and sometimes the character in question didn't even have a race to begin with, like Death in The Sandman. She's literally The Grim Reaper. She can be any race she feels like.

2. They get upset about gender swaps. "This character was originally a man!" I understand if you have a particular visual in your head of a character but if you think the interactions will drastically change meaning and feeling because the male character is now a woman perhaps you should consider your own bias on the subject. Or perhaps the original story was something of a sausage fest and even the author wanted to add more women to the mix.

Sometimes this is not actually a good thing. Changing Lestat's lover Antoine into Antoinette in the Interview with The vampire TV series bordered on straightwashing just to make his bisexuality more blatant. Also Lestat making her mutilate herself (cut off a finger) to fake her own death contradicted how Lestat acts with his lovers in the novels and was ultimately pointless since they kill pretty regularly and Lestat could have taken the finger from any woman's corpse. In the most recent remake of Children of the Corn they had the child preacher be a little girl instead of a boy. This attempt at inclusion undermined the patriarchal symbolism of a fanatical Christian-like cult and felt like another crude dig against matriarchal religions like the remake of The Wicker Man. So you see from my own examples sometimes there are understandable exceptions. But *In general* character gender swaps don't usually do any harm to the story. 3. They get upset because characters that were not confirmed as queer in the original stories are now openly queer. "But he was straight in the novels!" Not necessarily. Sometimes characters are queer coded or "overly straight" (compensating) to hide that the character is not straight to the casual observer. You have to consider that some novels written thirty or forty years ago had to contend with homophobic publishers.

Though Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles seem pretty obvious to a lot of people and there are scenes of Armand actually calling Daniel his lover and Lestat asking Louis why he loves him, etc, there are still people out there convinced that Anne Rice's vampires are straight. I can still recall back in the 90s being an Anne Rice yahoo group and someone responding to a post with "My Prince Charming is STRAIGHT!!!" (this was in regard to Louis).

Now, today the flamboyant bard Jaskier (translated as Dandelion in the English language novels and directly translates to Buttercup) was confirmed as bisexual in The Witcher Netflix series. And there are "Purists" genuinely angry about this.

Their biggest shield of "We just want book accuracy" is the fact that there are scenes of him "womanizing" and being a promiscuous flirt with women but never men. So what? So what if The Witcher's sidekick is bisexual? If it supposedly shouldn't matter why are you upset? How does it harm the main story? One argument I was given is “It’s important that he look gay without being gay as to break the stereotype.”  And yet others will claim there was never any hint that he wasn’t straight.   Which is it?   Is it he was a stereotypical queer man who was actually straight or there was supposedly no sign that he was ever queer.  Make up your mind.  Sometimes the LGBTQ+ content was always there such as in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and the person who supposedly read it went into such a deep denial that they genuinely didn't see it when originally reading the story. 4. They get upset if an old bit of sexism in the original story is corrected. i.e. the occasional Witcher fan who insists (despite the video games) that Ciri can NEVER be a "real Witcher" because "only men can be Witchers." I once got into an argument with a Witcher fan who insisted that despite what the video games say, because she wasn't mutated and never went through the Trial of the Grasses, Ciri can never be a true Witcher. And it's "Important" that no woman ever be a Witcher. Really? Why is that so important to maintain?

Just because something always was a certain way doesn't necessarily mean it should remain that way. 5. They question if a character was changed when the character was actually always that way. This could be in regard to a character being gay or it could be in regard to a character being Jewish. I remember when the still from Coraline circulated with her celebrating Hannukah and people thought it was fan made because everyone was just so used to the default that all characters are presumed Christian until told otherwise. 

This sort of thing is common, taking for granted that a character is just like you or fits a “normalcy” unless explicitly told otherwise. This also accounts for a lot of characters being presumed straight until shown otherwise.

When I was watching Penny Dreadful there were people upset that Ethan was “made” gay (revealed as bisexual) in episode 4 of the first season “because there was no sign of it before.   It’s set in 1891.  How was he supposed to “act” bisexual? There were people in such denial that they convinced themselves that the man he slept with, Dorian Gray, had put him under some sort of spell. The irony is Ethan wasn’t even revealed as being a werewolf until the end of the season and his real name wasn’t given until season 2 but somehow him being bisexual and it being revealed in the fourth episode of the fifth season was “out of left field” and “made no sense.”

   Imagine if Buffy The Vampire Slayer fans reacted to the reveal (that I predicted at age fifteen) that Angel is a vampire. They didn’t confirm that until the fifth episode of Buffy. 6. They seem okay with added domestic violence or sexual abuse (i.e. rape scenes) which would also contradict previous depictions of some characters' personalities but will complain if and implied gay character gets to kiss on camera or a woman character gets to do something assertive that she didn't do in the source material and does not contradict any character personality trait. 7. They will argue that something "Is not canon" unless the author put in the original story even if the author confirms it after the fact and can prove where they hinted at (though didn't confirm) the thing in the original content. i.e. J. K. Rowling confirming that Dumbledore is gay.

I understand LGBTQ+ people being angry at this (and far worse things J. K. Rowling has done...) because she should have been brave enough to address it in the story itself but I'm speaking of those that refuse to accept that Dumbledore is gay and will even argue that if they accept he's gay it means Voldemort is gay too and they're all suddenly ped0s. I kid you not, I had to remove someone who went on this very rant from my Sandman Facebook group. This is also true with the elderly lesbian couple in Coraline. There are people angry that Neil Gaiman didn't out-right call them a couple in the story even though there were several pretty blatant hints. But at least with that one there are less people insisting it's not really canon. Probably because they DO behave like an old Hollywood / Vaudeville gay couple.

8. They seem okay with added content that wasn't in the novel until or if a woman or minority gets to shine in the extra portion of story. This can be in regard to a passing-of-the-torch or just a scene that was not in the original books but added to enhance the original story. Somehow this might upset them greatly even if the added content dos not contradict any of the original books. It's just an added bit of story. The only reason I could think of to be upset at an added scene is if that scene suddenly and drastically contradicts the character's established personality. i.e. a scene of Morpheus in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman opening a dance club and favoring Gangsta rap. Thankfully this particular scenario does not exist. 9. They kind of accidentally out themselves as having not read the books that they claim they want to keep pure by whining about "woke" content that was IN the original story. i.e. Sandman fans surprised at all the LGBTQ+ characters. 10. They out themselves as having not watched the thing that they are complaining about. "I refuse to watch The Sandman because I heard that the only character Death is a black woman." Buddy, you misunderstood. The Grim Reaper is played by a black woman. There are lots of white people who die. Or "I don't understand The Witcher: Blood Origin. It doesn't make sense. Geralt wasn't born a Witcher. They're sterile!" Yes... They are. Do I need to explain the plot of the show you decided not to watch even though there are Wikias? It does tell a story that doesn't exist in the books but you seem to have leapt to conclusions by the name alone. These sort of Book Purists (Book Puritans) make me embarrassed for appreciating and wanting the integrity of characterization and story from the original books (in adaptations) kept in tact. It's reached a point where if I complain that Lestat shouldn't be physically abusive to Louis in Interview with The vampire (TV series) and they should never have added a random scene of Claudia being raped by a teenage vampire - someone else will give the kneejerk reaction "You just don't like it because Louis is black now!" Actually I think the Louis and Lestat actors are excellent. It's the writers and showrunner I don't like. I want to be able to explain the parts of the story and character I care about and want preserved without people assuming I'm doing a bigoted dog whistle because of this newer version of book purist. These book puritans are giving us actual book lovers a bad name. End of rant.

#Anne Rice #Andrzej Sapkowski #Neil Gaiman #The Vampire Chronicles #Vampire Chronicles #The Witcher #The Sandman #Mayfair Witches