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#danny would come in between around the same time as tim
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DC X DP PROMPT #13
The world was officially ending. There wasn't much they could do. The Justice League had fought valiantly against the invading force, but they stood no chance. Their king was dying at the hands of these mortal fools and they would have their retribution.
Bruce couldn't find his kids, he couldn't find anyone really. Deep down he knew he was the last one standing, but that thought had yet to catch up with him. Bright swirling green caught his eye through the thick smog of death. A lone figure stepped out, glowing a bright blue with staff in hand.
His name was Clockwork, and he had an ultimatum. He would reverse the timeline, even tweak it a little, if only to take on one extra child and prevent this whole war before it could even begin. Through all of Bruce's contingencies, this was not one of them.
Bruce is now sent back, way back in time where he gets a second chance at his family. The small tweaks Clockwork spoke of? He gets to have his kids as babies.
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A Week (He Will Take You)
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Danny moved to Gotham for school, while there he noticed that Gotham's ambient ecto was really murky for lack of a better word.
This didn't really affect him too much besides a mild headache every once in a while but that also just might be stress from all his school work so maybe not.
Anyway
This murky ecto seemed to effect the people who lived there or more importantly the ghosts,
They were visible to the human eye like most ghosts back in Amity but instead of looking very much like a ghost they still looked like humans if a bit off putting.
They all seemed to be continuing their normal lives as if still fully alive, with the people around them none the wiser.
Danny noticed this and began approaching them to figure out what was going on.
Apparently the murky ecto in the city had made it so that they were strong enough to still continue a somewhat normal life but not be able to cross over to the GZ.
In other words they were stuck in Gotham
Danny was the Ghost King so he could easily fix this problem, all he needed to do was give them a bit of pure ecto for around a week to fully stabilize them them then he would just open a portal into the GZ and they could cross over with all their things also transferring into the GZ for their new haunt.
Unfortunately this looked rather worrying to an outsider,
Imagine you're used to your neighbor being very outgoing so you and others see them a lot suddenly this man seems to appear in their life out of nowhere an at exactly one week, your neighbor and all their belongings in their home disappear no trace to be found.
You tell people and they begin saying the same story they knew someone and them a man with black hair and blue eyes appeared in their life, then they and all their things disappear in exactly one week.
Of course the police in Gotham do the bare minimum so they're no help.
But it starts to begin a trend, especially online.
"Oh careful or the blue eyed man will make you disappear in a week"
This of course after time catches the bats attention, Gordon had already given them all the information he had.
"Young adult early twenties, dark hair, blue eyes"
That was it.
The bats look into it and from their point of view Danny is a serial killer.
But they can't find the connection between all of his victims, they range from young children and the elderly from different backgrounds absolutely no connection,
Worrying enough he doesn't just make one person disappear he has taken entire families up to over a dozen, without anyone figuring out how he's doing it or why at all.
The disturbing thing also being that he seems to take everything in their home, leaving it like it has always been empty
Like no one had been living in it.
People have tried to take photos of Danny get some kind of evidence of his existence, but when they try to do it, it either comes out completely corrupted or their devise simply shuts down fully.
Danny of course has no clue what is happening he's just happy that he's able to help so many ghosts, and is trying not to fail his exams.
~
Danny leaving the house he just helped: "That went easier than I expected!"
Neighbor peeking from the window: "Shit it's that guy! "
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Red Hood marching down into the cave: " The fucker took many from my territory without me even realizing it!"
~
Tim: "I'm pretty sure his kill count is nearing the hundreds and he just started like maybe 4 months ago, this is bad."
Barbara: " I think I got a theory, this matches up with the new school year beginning so maybe their not a Gotham native which narrows down my suspect list."
Bruce: "Hn."
Tim: "Yes thank you B for the insightful commentary"
~
Danny trying not to fall asleep while on his way to class: "Strange I keep seeing shadows following me, oh well must be the stress!"
Bats who are pretty sure Danny is the killer: "Has he done anything suspicious yet?"
~
Just an Idea
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flamingpudding · 7 months
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Fictober23 Prompt: 4 - "Do you even know what this means?"
Fandom: DPxDC
Rating: G
Warnings: -
Tim stared at his family with pure exhaustion before letting out a sigh while covering his face with his hands because of the worried looks they were sending him after his long rant.
It had all started with a stupid school project. It was just supposed to be a stupidly simple school project. Did he think of the whole thing as the greatest nonsense project his school has ever come up with? Yes. Did he still do it? Yes. He needed the extra credits, because of some stupid meetings he had missed other projects which was the entire reason he took part in this one.
Maybe he should have tried buying his grade out of it like all the other snobbish rich kids but then he would feel guilty and the moment Alfred found out, he would have to life with the disappointed™ look. Something he really didn't want to deal with. So instead he took part in this stupid ancestry project his school had organized.
But when he had allowed the school to send in his DNA he certainly did not expect the result he got back. Because when he opened the email, he noted that it was addressed to someone named Danny Fenton not Tim Drake, he didn't even read the rest really. That should have been his first warning.
His second warning was when he had hacked into the that DNA testing facility to actually get his results back and then found a note on his data file about a near 100% DNA match to one Danny Fenton which caused them to assumed that Tim was Danny and just had sent in his DNA a second time after, he peaked through his finger onto the screen, 5 years. That should have been his second warning.
But no, Tim had actively ignored all the warnings and decided to dig into who this Danny Fenton was. Because there were so many possibilities of how they could match but only so little to explain the time difference between them sending in the DNA samples. For dear good Tim hoped to all things that there wasn't someone else to have attempted to clone him before Ra, no worse even, he hoped HE wasn't the clone in this situation.
Really he didn't want to add existential crisis to all the problems and cases he already had to deal with.
So what does one do best when they learn there was someone with nearly the same DNA you have? He looked that someone up. So that was what Tim did next. He had spent nights looking up anything he could find, summarizing all the information he found, branching off when he found other concerning stuff and then stewed in some frustration of the incompetence of some people when discovering other facts.
In the end Tim compiled all the data he had found into a 30 slides long power point. That he had presented to his family and was awaiting their reaction. Bruce had grunted earlier and the demon brat had huffed out something in between slight 25 and 26 earlier. Jason had muttered something right at the beginning and Dick had stayed quiet the entire time, so did Cass. Steph hadn't said a thing either and Duke looked just puzzled.
"Do you even know what that means?" Demon brat finally broke the silence, causing Tim's eye to twitch before aggressively pointing to his last slide still on the presenter.
"Yes, I do know what this means. I have listed all possibilities right here if you haven't noticed. And i explained possibility three, four and six on slide-"
"Replacement. I don't think that's what the brat means." Jason cut in and Tim glared at him.
"Timmy, when was the last time you slept?" Dick carefully asked and Tim directed his glare at him.
"I believe Master Timothy hasn't slept for about 72 hours now." Alfred added in with that disapproving stare of him and time looked away stubbornly. How was the amount of sleep he got relevant right now? There was a possibility of him being a clone or someone having cloned maybe even years before he started to follow B around as a kid with a camera.
Bruce let out a sigh and Steph appeared to try to hide a chuckle leaning on Cass shoulder. "He must be lacking sleep if he doesn't see the most obvious possibility considering the time line he presented on slide 18."
"Oh so, I am not the only one thinking he is missing another obvious possibility?" Duke asked and once more Tims eye twitched. Getting fed up with his family, Tim huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at them all.
"And what is it that I am obviously missing?"
"The screenshot of the mail you put in slide 3 stated that it's not a 100% match but 89%. In addition it stated in the last line a suspected possibility of a familiar relation. I am disappointed, Drake. That you would miss something this obvious."
"What?" Tim whirled around going to the slide to reread the mail.
"Considering that I am pretty sure, we don't have any sort of cloning case here Tim." Dick started his voice now slightly laced with Humor and Tim narrowed his eyes at his older brother over his shoulder. "You just discovered that you had a twin, that we probably still go to rescue."
Tim's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He did not know what to say and before he could even catch up with what his brothers had said Alfred was already behind him pushing him towards the elevator.
"It is time for you to get some sleep Master Timothy. I am sure Master Bruce and the others will be perfectly able to handle the rest of the situation with the information you compiled. You can join them after you have rested."
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dcxdpdabbles · 4 months
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DCxDP fanfic idea: Timeline Prevention Squad
Clockwork is trying to catch up on paperwork because even the gods had to do tedious work. He is flipping through pages and pages of time concerning reports when he stumbles across a particular request stuck between three old Speed Force crimes reports.
A request from Mordecai Wayne asking the time accident for help to his original time. It was filed through a ritual of one of his lost temples.
Clockwork gapes at it, suddenly realizing he forgot to follow up and had left Mordecai Wayne - better known as Bruce Wayne - to fling around the timeline.
Clockwork, when he was young, had allowed humans to set up temples and given them direct runes to send their burned parchment to him for requests. Initially, he designed the request ritual to enable humans to help or prepare for future disasters.
Give them a little warning in the form of deviation.
Then, humans turned it into trying to control the future. Or to change what had happened by having altered the past. They started thinking he would move the times to fit their desired outcome.
Tried to offer people sacrifices when he ignored the requests. Clockwork can watch the timelines like an observer over a parade, but humans put on the parade at the end of the day.
It was their free will that gave him a show. And it was this free will that cost lives that shouldn't have ended because of other humans' greed.
He closed his temples, scrambled his runes, and let his temples rot.
Clockwork thought he got them all, but he obviously left behind some crumbs of his old worshipers.
Those crumbs were enough for Bruce Wayne to painfully piece together and redo his ritual to send him a request for aid in his time placement.
He hadn't even read it, having flung it into one of his filing cabinets to look over later and... didn't.
Clockwork snapped his fingers, pulling up Bruce's timeline. He winces when he sees it too late; it's past the point, but luckily, Tim Drake pulled him out and brought him home.
People don't know that Clockwork can't undo timelines- he just makes new ones that stream off his intervention.
The most recent time he stepped in was with Danny Fenton in a universe created due to Merlin asking Clockwork to save his lover Arthur, and thus, certain events did not come to pass- like the finding of Gotham.
He rescued Daniel's family by freezing them just as the explosion happened, allowing the young hero to think his dark future had never come to pass. That was not true.
There is still a world where Daniel's family died in the explosion, and it existed right allowed side the one that they didn't.
He could do the same and step in to prevent Bruce from ever getting hit with the Omega Beams, but that would create six different timelines, which would be a pain to file for. Daniel was only two, and he-
Wait. Daniel.
That's what he could do!
He couldn't make up the fact Bruce Wayne got lost in time and asked for aid. But he could send compensation in the form of one eager gooddoer who would help him in his ultimate goal.
Make Gotham safe.
And who better than a child with a strong sense of justice and the power of a minor God?
After all, Bruce's request wasn't to get back home. He thought he was going to die from the overlapping beams. Bruce thought there was no more hope for him.
Instead his request was
Please allow me to ensure my kids are okay and will be alright once I pass.
He picks up his sticky notes, scrambling a quick message to Danny. He pauses momentarily, wondering if he should admit his mistake, but that would.....ruin his reputation.
He chooses to lie by omission.
Dear Daniel,
Please come to my Keep. I have a mission that requires your assistance in an alternate timeline.
You must help keep Bruce Wayne and his kids safe. Whatever the costs are, as is his request for aid from a higher being.
Daniel couldn't resist a mission that sounded like he was a hero, and it didn't mention who the aid was requested.
To ensure Daniel will never learn he will....tell him that the Waynes could never see Phantom or......or he be trapped there forever!
Yes perfect.
A few seconds after sending the sticky note through a portal, Clockwork senses Daniel pick up the note.
And suddenly, he sees events flash before his eyes. Scenes of Daniel following Gotham's hero. Rescuing them from their worst rouges while Bats. Circling through the nights to stop the more minor pity crimes that they were too exhausted to handle.
Enrolling into Gotham Academy to ensure their civilian safety and status. Getting close to the younger Wayne and even obtaining an internship with Tim Drake to help him at WE.
Then, Daniel gets more substantial and robust due to all the deaths that drenched Gotham. It would be just like a Kryptonian on a planet of a Blue Sun.
It would make him more robust than a yellow sun, and Daniel would flush there!
Clockwork smiles as the visions end. He did a great thing making this suggestion. Phantom will be fantastic in Gotham!
Now, hopefully, that pesky free will won't ruin his plan-
A vision of Daniel being worshiped as a Phantom as different Gotham natives start to believe him, and an unlock god appears.
Clockwork winces, but he figures if no human ever sees Phantom unless he is there for righteous heroism, he can understand why they were confused.
Which isn't so bad-
A different version of Daniel possibly appears in the future. This one shows Daniel in a bright red suit at WE with Tim Drake hyperventilating not too far away. Apparently, he suspects Daniel of being Phantom, but his hormones are getting in the way of his logical thought.
This wasn't so bad as it wasn't a cult. It was just risking Daniel's secret identity. Then again, he could honeypot his way out-
A different future appears. One where Daniel accidentally convinces the Bat children that he's stalking their Father. They think Daniel fancies Bruce Wayne, despite the alarming age difference, and try to block him at every turn.
This is okay; there were different outcomes, but nothing bad.
And it's already been done. He can't change the past, not without making more timelines.
He sighs.
Hopefully, this will all work out. Somehow.
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bluerosefox · 10 months
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Friendships Between Realms (YJ and Danny Shenanigans Being Peek Friendship)
So the 90s YJ group got into a lot of shenanigans tbh. Like a lot and mostly without their mentors knowledge. And whenever I think of YJ I think of the Core 4 (mainly cause Tim is my fav, and the Core 4 is just so amazing together) anyways I honestly wouldn't put it past them if they had accidentally summoned or were being sacrificed by some cult, or meet Danny who accidentally fell into their world via a random portal in someway. (In this DC and Phantom universes are not on the same world, fyi)
Like Danny, still new to being a hero but getting the hang of it, meets them, learns some things from them, and actually gets along with them to the point that when he has to leave Robin gives him a communication device to keep in touch (and Robin Tim would, despite being the second most paranoid of the Bats this boy lies to Batman to his face and had hidden an entire Batmoblie cost in the Batarang budget and keeps it with YJ) and Danny does.
It's nice to have hero friends who understand the struggle of balancing hero and normal lives. Don't get him wrong Danny loves Tucker, Sam and Jazz but sometimes they just don't... fully get it. The danger, the stress, the anxiety, the relief when things are solved or saved, etc etc that comes with being a hero or at least try to be one. They don't understand the urge he gets at like 3 am to go patrol Amity Park just to make sure everything is safe. YJ on the other hand does.
He talks to them about his problems and they help out and Danny in turn helps them out too when he can. Like they needed help with Secret, call up Danny see if he knows what kind of ghost she is (he turned to Clockwork and Frostbite in that case) and Danny in turn talked to them about Dan (they told him about them having to face their own future evil self to at one point). Danny talks to Conner when Dani came into the picture, he wants to make sure he doesn't screw up like Superman did towards his clone's feelings and self worth. Etc etc.
Point is, despite being dimensions and Realms apart, YJ and Phantom are friends and have been in touch. He's friends with all the YJ at the time and keeps in touch with them all but is very close with the Core 4. (Danny was the one that reassured Tim when Bruce was thought to be dead. Couldn't find his soul or ghost in the Realms and Clockwork was being 1000% more crypticd about Batman when Danny had asked if he was lost in time, Danny (or CW) couldn't do much to help due to certain rules but Danny could tell Tim "He isn't dead. Just lost. You're not insane Rob I promise."
So imagine a few years later, DCverse is under heavy near world ending supernatural danger and it gets to the point someone in JLD suggests they may have to summon the Ghost King in order to stop it (maybe its an old ancient ghost/spirit someone foolishly unleased). Of course there are some that strongly advise not to, that summoning him would spell the end of everything, but someone else points out they're already close to that edge they already got no other choice.
So they try and it fails and everyone is confused.
Bart, because of course it's gonna be Bart, returns from helping evacuations takes one look at the summoning circle and says.
"Why are you using those outdated sigals and symbols? That'd like trying to call an out of service number." Bart says before he speed texts Tim, Conner, and Cassie to come over.
Tim, RR, takes one look at the circle and asks who they were trying to summon. When told they were trying to get the Ghost King, him and the Core 4 look at each other before Tim pulls out his communicator and texts Danny.
It takes less than a few minutes before RR tells Impulse that Danny was cool with the summoning and to bring him in. Impulse nods and quickly runs around and changes the old summoning circle around with new symbols and sigals. Then RR turns to most of the JLD members and says sternly.
"You all better not memorize this, this is Phantom's personal summoning line and he only wants friends to know it. He gave us permission."
And with Superboy (Conner) and Wonder Girl agreeing with nods.
Before any of the JL or the JLD could really ask or even interrogate what that meant Impulse was done with the preparation. the Summoning circle was changed around with constellations and other signs of stars, there was a bag of fresh burgers and three milkshakes in the middle of it, and under it was a stylized symbol of a D and a P.
Its Impulse who starts the... chant and raises his hands up. (its actually the dumbest song anyone can think of. Danny wanted it to be funny and the Core 4 totally encouraged it) the candles shift from red to green fire, the star symbols start glowing before flying around on the floor in a circle like shooting stars, the area starts feeling like a cold winter wind beginning to blow, and the stylized symbol is glowing green before...
Danny pops up in his Ghost King form (flaming crown, galaxy cape, looking more ghostly than human but still a teen), finishing up the song and laughing. When he spots his friends he's grinning and waving hello to them, all of them greeting him back.
The JL are confused as heck but noticed how shell-shocked most if not all the members of JLD as their staring at what has to be the Ghost King...
Basically. I want Danny to be one of the people/things the 90s YJ did/meet during their insane shenanigans that most of their mentors most likely didn't know about. They all kept in touch and if they knew, and were later invited to the coronation, of Danny becoming the new Ghost King and later needs to bring out the big guns against a supernatural entity and stuns everyone else that they have a friend in a very high place well... yeah.
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phantom-0-writer · 7 months
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prompt 01: gotham academy's mentorship program
“Mr. Wayne, thank you so much for finding the time to meet with me.” Principal Carson, someone Bruce, became more and more familiar with as the years passed, welcomed him into his office. 
“I hope my children aren’t causing you too much trouble, Mr. Carson.” Bruce chuckled lightly, sitting in the guest seat. 
“After your generous donations to the school, I would find that difficult to believe.” Mr. Carson laughed conversationally, before getting right to business. “Actually, the reason I wanted to meet with you in person rather than over the phone despite, I’m sure, your busy schedule was to discuss Damian.” 
Damian had come to the Manor about a year and a half ago, and had been attending Gotham Academy for almost 9 months. Bruce had hoped that going to school with other kids his age would help Damian become more sociable and learn about larger society outside of the Bat, Birds, and League, but that was proving to be difficult considering the almost regular calls Alfred received from the school about Damian’s behavior or actions. 
Bruce couldn’t help the weary sigh that escaped him, “I assure you Principal Carson, we-” 
“I think you're misunderstanding, Mr. Wayne. Damian is not in any kind of trouble.” Mr. Carson reassured, “Well, for now that is.” He chuckled dryly. 
“Ah.” Bruce nodded, letting his airhead persona take the lead, while still showing that he was paying careful attention. 
“In the last few years, Gotham Academy started a mentorship program, where the younger kids usually between the grades of 5-8 can get mentored by their seniors. Damian is a brilliant child, concerningly so I believe. His peers often can’t keep up with him in terms of academics, but he lags far behind them in social skills. I think Damian would benefit from the mentorship program, where he can have someone who can truly keep up with him intellectually as well as guide him socially.” Mr. Carson explained. 
Bruce considered this, letting the idea turn over in his mind. Perhaps this is what Damian would need. “You sound like you have someone in mind.” 
“I believe the best candidate for the job would be Daniel Fenton.” Mr. Carson handed him the student profile. “He’s here on a Wayne Scholarship, which he’s held for the past year. Mr. Fenton is currently in the 11th grade, his chosen career path is astrophysics, which he plans to pursue into college. His grades are outstanding despite his difficult classes, and his professors all share the same sentiment that Mr. Fenton holds one of the greatest minds in the Academy. He shares many of the same classes with Tim as well. He has a friendly personality and gets along well with most people, pretty athletically inclined as well. All around Mr. Fenton is what Gotham Academy hopes our student to be.” 
Bruce looked over the profile in his hand. Daniel James Fenton seemed like an outstanding student. Perhaps it was time to put him to the test with Damian Wayne. 
---
When Danny had been called to the office, because apparently they had assigned him a mentee, he had been expecting the worst. All the scholarship students had to sign up for the mentorship program to be on standby if a mentee ever applied. All the other scholarship kids had said it was just a formality and that none of them ever got called for it. But classic Fenton Luck. 
When Danny walked into Principal Carson’s office he was prepared to be faces with some snot-nosed brat who wouldn’t know how to take no for an answer and didn’t care about classes because they would just inherit their parents big shot company was what he was expecting. 
So imagine his surprise when he walks into a room to a liminal kid, probably around 12, who looks like he wants to be there as much as Danny does. Danny takes one look at the kid who’s trying to project himself as angry and menacing, but Danny could easily read the kid's true emotions of nervous-scared-anxious thanks to their shared less-alive-than-one-would-expect status. 
“Daniel, welcome. This is Damian Wayne. He’ll be your new mentee from now on.” Mr. Carson smiled kindly, gesturing for Danny to sit down. The liminal kid - Damian - scowled at him, projecting irritation. But all Danny could feel off of him was nervousness.
Danny was screwed, wasn’t he?
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table of contents
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wolfjackle-creates · 2 months
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Answer My Call Chapter 3 part 1
Happy WIP Wednesday! Answer My Call won by all one one vote last week. I was a bit nervous since I'm starting a new POV and I wasn't sure if I wanted to write from Tucker's POV or Tim's, but I settled on Tucker because it would let me dive into the action a bit sooner.
Story Summary: Danny's missing. The GIW have taken over Amity. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam are under constant surveillance and have been scattered across the country.
When Jazz's messages to Danny go to the wrong number, Red Hood decides to step in.
First, Previous
Word Count: 1.6k
-----
Tucker was alone in his dorm room working on homework. His desk was in the corner in a way that meant his computer screen faced the wall. It meant he had barely three feet of space to sit in, but after everything that had happened, he couldn’t let anyone sneak up behind him to spy on his work.
His roommate hated him for it because it took up so much extra space in their small room, but he was never around anyway, so Tucker didn’t really care what he thought.
He jumped when a loud knocking sounded on his door.
“Coming!” he called out as he took the time to save everything he had open and close all programs. He slammed it shut and squeezed out of his chair, half running to the door. “Sorry ‘bout the wait. Tyler isn’t here right now, I think he said something about spending time with Liz?”
Then he actually looked at the people at his door. The one was a broad boy wearing a spiked leather jacket over jeans. The other had a bulky sweatshirt on and a baseball cap. His face was shadowed as he was looking down at a tablet, typing away.
The bigger one was grinning at him. “You’re Tucker, right? We’re here to see you, not Tyler.”
Tucker blinked at them. “Why?” he asked, confused. People had given up on being friendly with him weeks ago.
The boy with the tablet huffed. “We’re here to invite you to our club.”
Tucker looked between them in confusion. “What?”
Tablet guy still didn’t look up. “We heard you like ghosts. We’re the officers of the student horror club and wanted to offer you a spot. Mind letting us in so we can tell you about it?”
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not interested in joining any clubs right now. Thanks, but no thanks.” He went to shut the door, but leather jacket stuck out his foot, keeping it from shutting.
“Just hear us out. We think you’d be perfect for it as an expert on ghosts.”
Tucker clenched his fists to hide their shaking. What did they know? Who sent them? He glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tablet boy raised his head slightly, revealing a domino mask covering his eyes. He grinned, more a baring of teeth than anything. In a tone just loud enough to be heard, he said, “One of my associates is currently in Boston. I decided to come here instead.” In a normal ton he added, “Let me tell you about the horror club.”
Tucker’s mouth fell open. How? Boston? What had Jazz done? His eyes flitted down the hallway. But they were blocking his path and he wouldn’t be able to get past them. Dumbly, he stepped back, opening the door further.
Leather jacket grinned at him. “Thanks, dude,” he said.
Behind them, Tucker shut the door. His hand fell to his pocket where a lipstick laser was hidden.
Tablet boy was already pulling the blinds down over the window. When done, he handed his tablet to Tucker. It was open to a message that said: “We’re on your side. Turn off your devices. I’m going to set off a EMP and signal jammer.”
Tucker nodded and handed the tablet back.
Leather Jacket cleared his throat. “So, with the horror club, we meet once a week…”
Tucker only half-listened to his spiel. He used his phone to send a coded warning to Dani before turning it off. Then he went through his belongings and did the same to every laptop, PDA, tablet, and gaming system. If he turned on a ghostly recording device hidden inside an action figure, however, no one would know.
As soon as he was done, he nodded to Tablet Guy who pulled out a black cube from his backpack and pressed a button. The he pulled out another device and turned that on as well.
“That’s enough, Kon,” he said, pulling off his cap.
Leather Jacket—Kon?—grinned. “What, you don’t want to hear about my favorite horror movie, Rob?”
“I introduced you to your favorite horror movie. I know it as well as you do.”
Kon just laughed. Then he unzipped his jacket, revealing a blue outfit with Superman’s “S” on it.
“Holy shit,” breathed Tucker. What had Jazz done?
Tablet guy followed, pulling off his cap and removing his hoodie, revealing a red costume with a gold bird medallion in the center of his chest. “Nice to meet you, Tucker. I’m Red Robin, and this is Superboy. I’ve got some questions for you.”
Tucker’s eyes jumped between the two. “Holy shit,” he repeated.
Superboy laughed. “Didn’t expect to see us?”
Tucker could only shake his head. “You said Boston?” he asked.
“Red Hood is with Jazz as we speak. She asked for our help in rescuing Danny. We agreed.”
Tucker tensed. He was lying. They’d talked about reaching out to the Justice League dozens of times, but had decided they couldn’t be trusted. Jazz wouldn’t have gone to them. He reached into his pocked and pulled out the lipstick.
Both heroes tensed, though their wariness turned to confusion when they saw he only had a small lipstick tube.
Good, let them underestimate him. “Jazz wouldn’t go to the Justice League. We agreed it wasn’t safe. Why are you really here?”
Red Robin grinned at him and held up his hands. “All right, you’re right. I simplified for time’s sake. Jazz has been sending messages to a phone number she thought belonged to her brother Danny. But really, they were going to Red Hood. He’d been getting them for ages now, but was…out of town. As soon as he got back, he began looking into Amity and the GIW. When he couldn’t find anything, he brought me in on the case. When that still didn’t work, we called Jazz back. She decided to take a chance on us since Red Hood doesn’t work with the government. And, honestly, I’ve done quite a bit outside the law, too, even if I’m not as public about it.”
Tucker’s grip on the lipstick tightened and he stuck his nail under the cap, ready to flick it off at a moment’s notice. “Prove it.”
Red Robin pulled up his tablet again and tapped a few places. An audio recording started to play.
Tucker stopped breathing when he recognized Jazz’s voice. He closed his eyes and just listened. When he heard her demand a picture and the pose she asked for, he huffed out a laugh.
The recording ended and he slid the lipstick back into his pocket and wiped at his eyes.
“Okay, I believe you. What’s the plan?”
“Right now we want to make sure you, Jazz, and Sam are safe and find out as much information as we can.”
Tucker nodded. “I’m not as closely watched as Jazz. The school keeps close track of us students and the Guys in White rely on their records. Though they do have an agent stationed in admin who checks up on me at least once a week. I don’t keep my most sensitive belongings in this dorm as it’s searched every other week.”
Red Robin grinned at him. It sent shivers down Tucker’s back. “Does that mean your real stuff is kept somewhere else?”
Tucker smirked. “Of course. Cover yourselves back up; we need to go.”
Red Robin did something with his jammer and EMP and then began talking excitedly about the horror club again. “So glad you’ve agreed to come to our next meeting, Tucker! We’ve been trying to build the club.”
Superboy winked at him. “What do you say we get to know each other a bit before then? Want to come play video games with us?”
Tucker bit his lip and looked towards his desk and laptop as if he were undecided. “I should get back to my homework…”
“Oh, come on, it’ll still be there tomorrow,” said Red Robin. “Let’s go.” He looked back down at his tablet and headed towards the door, grabbing Tucker’s hand as he did.
Tucker looked over his shoulder one last time, but let himself be pulled along. They kept conversation light as they exited the building. Red Robin was an expert at angling his baseball cap to hide his masked face from every camera they passed.
Would he be willing to teach Tucker how to do that?
Once outside, Tucker took the lead. One of the first things he’d done after he’d been enrolled was memorize blueprints for every building on campus. On top of that, he’d made himself a good dozen different IDs. Three of those were copies of other students’. Those students he kept close track of to make sure their records didn’t show them in two places at once. Other ones belonged to various faculty and staff members. But his pride and joy was the one that belonged to Gabriel Carter. Gabriel was a janitor at the Academy and so could access any building. Gabriel also didn’t exist.
It was Gabriel’s ID that got them access to the basement level of one of the buildings. Hidden deep in the building was a set of rooms currently not in use. And in one of those rooms was a closet.
Tucker had built the locks on the door himself and, even having all the keys and codes, it took five minutes to get in.
He smirked when Red Robin himself let out a gasp of surprise at his set up.
-----
Hope you enjoyed!
Now, how did Kon get involved? Easy. Tim used the zeta tube from the cave to Titans Tower. Kon happened to be there. When Tim said he was working a case with Red Hood, the guy who tried to kill him once, Kon insisted on coming along. I debated having other members of the Young Justice, but I'm actually trying to keep character counts down for this one, so...
Check out the subscription post if you want a notification when I update!
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annastylepie · 1 year
Text
The Butlers apprentice AU
Dc x Dp au 1. uwu
ok so like Alfred is like Dannys Great Grandpa or something I really don't care tbh.
At a Family reunion Alfred raising and beeing surrounded by detectives quickly picks up that Danny when close to his parents seems uncomfortable especially when they talk about ghosts and the manece Phantom. As the reunion goes on he notices that danny at times would seem to walk a little too silent to be normal. Upon asking Danny about his oppinion on Phantom out of his parents ear shot he praises the hero and states that he is nothing like his parents make him seem etc. etc.
Some time later when danny is around 17, maybe at a different reunion or even the same Alfred wittneses Danny transform and is explained by him and Jazz the situation. Danny procedes to vent about wanting to move out but not wanting to leave family so Alfred procceds to offer him a room at the manor. Danny is hesistent on taking the offer at first. But after a too close call with the GIW and his perents as well as encouragement from Jazz and his friends he gives and goes to live in the menor under the condition, that he doesn't want to just mooch of of his great Grandpa. So he starts his Butler apprenticeship in the Wayne Manor, where he procedes to learn how to properly cook without the food coming to life, keep up in housework and everything a butler needs to know.
The best part Danny seems incredibly efficient within an hour he can have the entire manor from a litteral bomb exploded here to sparcling clean you could eat from the floor. Danny was entrusted with the secret identeties of the Batfam as well as the batcave.
Bruce was first did all type of reseche of course not just anyone even family of Alfred could just know about their after dark affairs noting that beside the ghost hunter parents and not exactly good grades, Danny was a normal 17 something year old however upon the reveal Danny did not seem surprised at all. How?
"I found the cave like a month ago what do you mean it is hard to find? If we didn't dust it as regularly as we do it would be as obvious as hanging a sign"
Bruce then insits that Danny needs to get some training on self defence and fightling so he doesn't pose too big risks in existing on Wayne manor. Bruce is suprised that Danny is actually able to hold his own in a fight, so after some more reserch he makes the connection that Danny is Phantom.
-------------
Danny likes Tim he is a smart dedicated vigilante guy that somehow reminds him of his early days in the way of how little sleep he gets and just doesn't take care of himself all that much. Danny swore to himself to make sure that Tim takes more care of himself and if he goes a little spooky to do so so be it
Tim is certain that something is up with Danny but just can't put a finger on what and it is driving him mad even more now that Bruce seems to trust him. Danny does impossible tasks that just no one seems to aknowlege. Like sneaking him a coffe when he needs to actually survive the day without sleeping in between somehow danny's coffe just works better than any other he can get anywhere else. Danny seems to also be adament on Tim taking breaks and sleeping. Joy.
Danny the menace he is puts his whole chaos energy into confusing the sleep deprivied Tim with the goal to ultimately get him to sleep. What could convince Tim that he needs more sleep? :
-Danny walks by tim 4 times always coming from a Room that has no other exit or enterece what is so confusing? it is on the second floor and after exiting he doesn't enter the room again
-He would at times just fade out of view as if he was never there
-Sometimes he would invisibly follow him around and move things just so slightly that it could be just be his imagination or sleep deprived brain making stuff up
(-Danny also gives Tim 'coffee' when asked because when Danny makes it he can actually survive the rest of the day without getting tired danny won't share his secret on how he does it ( it is totally ectoplasmd) )
After each confrontation on how he does these things Danny denyies everything and tells him: "I am just one hell of a butler. Now go to bed"
-------------
Dick and Danny upon fist meeting could only be considered imediate sibling adopion or whatever as well as a ever since frequent pun off
Dick also tries to brother Danny around, Danny is in a strange in between position of enjoying it and beeing conflicted on if he should get to attached... it is too late he is too far in at this point
-----------------------
Damien is a little shit at the beginning and probably even after a longer time
Damien might do a spoiled kid route at fist asking for more and more outlandish and impossible tasks, however danny delivers every time
You want something from that one store 2 hours away? here you go
Need something from your grandpa's but seems impossible? here you go
You want an ancient catana one of the first ones ever created? here you go
Space rock? "I don't want a space rock as you called it" I will get you a freakn' space rock
I also imagine that damien would spar with danny at first because danny wanted to teach damien some respect for others and damien because he couldn't let it stand that a freakn civilian can beat him in something like fighting when he was training since he was basiclly just a todler.
As time passes Damien gains Respect for Danny and sees him as a Rolemodle as well as something close to a cousin.
Damien knows of Danny beeing a halfa, they agree to not tell Tim until he figures it out himself
------------------
Now half a year into the whole buttler thing, Jason and Danny meet the first time
Danny feels sick something in here smells rotten it makes him sick what is this horrible smell where did it come from he house is clean the kitchen is freshly cleanded and the trash taken out there is no reason for this foul of smell to exist anywhere near the manor that is when he sees Alfred talking to someone with a white streak in their hair.
"Danny why don't you join us? This is Master Jason. Master Jason this is my Grandson Danny"
"It is a pleasure to meet you" Danny states moving further into the kitchen the smell gets worse but wanting to be polite he still holds out his hand for a handshake
"Hi" Jason greets shortly shaking dannys hand but upon contact jason freezes as invisible energie seems to surrouned Danny it is familliar and comforting and suddenly Jason feels incredibly light he could fly if gravety didn't still exist but man did it feel debatable right now Jason holds Dannys hand a little longer then most would consider normal all while danny seems to look right into his soul some form of understanding within his eyes
"A friend of the other side it seems, I still got (insert task) to do, nice meeting you and we defenetly need to talk, till later"
just like that danny is out of view and after a short transformation out of sight, man does he reek of corrupted ectoplaslm he gave him a little of his own throu his hand shake to lessen the smell but it still smelled so strong
Meanwhile Jason looks to where danny left the room hoping he would return he suddenly felt so safe and the Pits have never been this quiet before forget quiet they are silent for the first time in years jason can think entierly clearly and relaxed
he defenetly needs to visit more often and get Dannys number
-------
during his stay danny only tells bruce damien and jason his halfa status the others just kinda figure it out on their own and ask him about it after a while danny would also totally just chill on the cieling at the most rendom times like 2 am tim goes to get a snack after reserch only for danny to throw him an apple from the cieling and dissapearing. Tim went to bed afterwards
that s all I have rigth now have fun I guess :)
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jadedwolf18-blog · 1 year
Text
Mini Phantom Invasion.
Hi, I plan for this to be a series of inter connected one shots based on some of my favorite prompts. I’m a huge Tim Drake/Red Robin x Danny phantom shipper, so for now most of my fics will feature them. Once I’ve end this series, I’ll try branching out to other relationships Danny could have with the bats.
I can’t remember where I got all of them but I’ll try to tag as I find them. If anyone notices a prompt or plot they’ve seen please let me know or tag the person it came from. I’m knew to posting on Tumblr so I’m still getting used to how to tag and insert links. Thank you.
🤍🖤💚💙💚🖤🤍
Chapter 1
Danny was not having a good day. He’d had a fight with his parents about ghost hunting, stating clearly that he had no interest in their bias views on an entire species based on one encounter when they were young. It had escalated to the point where they blamed his lack of interest on the fact that he was spending to much time with his sister and his female friends. 
He’d had enough! He left mid argument and was contemplating just packing up and moving into the Ghost Zone permanently. As he’d slammed the door he could hear his parents shouts for him to come back and once again blaming his behaviour on a ghost.
What did his sexuality have to do with ghost hunting? And what was wrong with wanting to be more feminine sometimes? He honestly didn’t understand why they found it so weird or wrong for him to swap between genders and pronouns? Jazz, Sam and Tucker accepted him as he was, they didn’t but an eye when he would randomly say ‘she’, ‘they’ or ‘him’, they just continued the conversation with the new pronoun and that was that. They understood and accepted that sometime he felt male or female or neither. He was lucky to have them. 
The day just seemed to continue down hill from there. It was summer vacation so Sam was forced to spend time with her parents at some rich holiday resort, Tucker had won a spot in some sort of tech camp and Jazz was still at College working on a finals thesis and was unable to come back for the summer. He was essentially alone for the summer. He could hang out with Val but she was working a lot and he didn’t want to bother her. He still felt guilty about her dad losing his job, even if it wasn’t entirely his fault.
*****
After leaving the house he’d found a place to transform and let the cool rings of light soothe him and took off into the sky. After finding out they could survive in space it became their favourite way to relax, they’d spend ours exploring space, even hang out on the moon. Thank you high speed and portal powers. Their Phantom form had changed in the last two years. People could no longer tell if they were male or female and he looked less human now. Thankfully, they looked nothing like their alternate future self. When their legs melded together their ghostly tail looked more eel like and their ears were longer and thiner, resembling delicate fins. Jazz and their friends had joked about how the acted like cat ears. Lastly their face was now a pale mint color, almost white and translucent, his eyes were still the same luminous ecto-green with deep blue pupils. The only similarity to Dan, that they could see, were the fangs and longer hair both of which were also present in their human form.
*****
They had been flying around Amity, a somewhat lazy patrol of his claimed haunt, it was a calm night. Ever since they had defeated Pariah Dark the other ghost had calmed down and came to Amity less frequently. A few still came to bug them, namely Skulker, Ember, Johny and Kitty. Young Blood and Boxy more frequently than the others and of course Cujo came by often. Their visits were more to do with fulfilling their obsessions than anything else. Danny’s obsession was Space but so was Protection. They needed to fulfil both to some extent or suffer from a form of ghost hunger. It was a win win situation even if they did go back… home? Was it really still a home? 
Before they could go down that dark spiral again their instincts took over and they narrowly dodged a bright green shot that had been aimed at their head. Whirling around and flying higher out of range they looked at their attacker and just stared.
“of course it’s them.” They muttered. Before repeating it with more venom than they thought they were capable of. Which was shocking because not even Vlad had receive as much hatred in the entirety of the time they’ve known him than in that split second they felt it towards their own parents. “Of fucking course it’s them!”
They blink away the shock of such an intense emotion and huffed. Not even bothering to acknowledge them they turned around to leave. That had been a mistake. They’d barely made it a few paces before pain bloomed across their back as an Eco-blast shredded the fins on their lower back and bit deep into their flesh. They bit back a cry of shock as they felt themselves plummet from the sky. It took a moment but they gathered enough concentration to open a portal. He didn’t care where they ended up as their only thought was ‘Somewhere safe.’
They fell through and just before they lost consciousness, they heard their parents yell after him.
“Get back here you ghost scum, so we can rip you apart molecule by molecule!”
“We won’t forgive you for corrupting our Danny!”
‘Of course… It’s always Phantoms fault…’ Danny’s world turned black as he continued to fall. Maybe when they opened their eyes again all of it would have been a dream.
*****
Somewhere in the infinite green a Grandfather clock chimed. A screen flickered. Time flowed on.
“All is as it should be.”
Chapter 2
(I'm Not A Cynic Song by Alec Benjamin)
Danny pulled their little floating ducks out of their personal pocket dimension and set them to gently drift in the hot spring. They had found it while wandering the forest. Their lower back still ached and they were a little worried about how it hadn’t healed completely yet.
*****
They didn’t know where they were or how long they had been in this dimension but they were safe and alone for the time being. When they’d woken up, the first thing they did was try to figure out where they were. thankfully no-one had discovered them, tucked away in the underbrush of the forest they had landed in. They’d let invisibility wash over them and flew high enough to get a view of the land. They recognised asian architecture and flew in the direction they had spotted a small farming village. With a closer look they determined they had landed in some version of Japan. Instinctually they knew they were not in their home dimension. Everything, even the air and feel of the atmosphere felt slightly shifted to the left. It was like that feeling of entering a hotel room, they were all essentially the same but there were the little details that told you it was a different hotel. 
*****
Brushing the thought, and everything associated with the reason they were injured and alone in a foreign dimension, aside. They coiled their tail in the centre of the spring and sank down until their lower back was submerged in the healing warmth of the spring. Closing their eyes in content they began to hum. Their eyes shot open when they felt a gentle nudge against his arm but smiled gently at the little wisp as it bobbed and drifted in the breeze. They continued to hum and watched in amusement as more joined the first. The little orbs of light ranged in color from soft pale blues to vibrant greens and warm reds, oranges and yellows.
They lost themselves in their song as they twirled in and played with the water, creating little floating ice crystals that caused mist to form around them as hot and cold air danced around each other. Humming soon gave way to words as they swayed to the rhythm only they could hear. 
“I'm just bein' realistic, bein' honest with myself
I've tried bein' optimistic but it doesn't seem to help
So I'll just have to admit this is the hand that I've been dealt
I'm not bein' pessimistic, just bein' honest with myself”
They were thankful to Pandora, who had taught them to sing in an effort to train his ghostly wail, for realising he was taking on the form and habits of a triton. 
“I'm not a cynic, oh, today's just not my day
I've tried to spin it 'bout a thousand different ways
But from every angle, oh, the outlook is the same
I swear that I'm not a cynic, my glass just has no water in it today”
They poured all the hurt, betrayal, anger and loneliness into their voice, allowing them to release it all in a more melodic call than his previous wail. That, as pandora explained, had been an unhealthy burst of emotion and they were lucky they hadn’t blown out their vocal cords the last few times they used it. 
“I swear that I'm not a cynic, my glass just has no water in it”
Through their practice they found they could influence emotions but not out right control them. They were glad, influencing them was bad enough, he didn’t want to manipulate anyone. They didn’t want to spend their life wondering if the people around them truly cared or if they had somehow manipulated them into caring. They may me a budding empath but they still struggled to tell the difference between a sincere emotion and a projected emotion.
“You only get that which you're given, it's not always up to you
Not every Sunday is a picnic 'cause the sky ain't always blue
You can't just change the weather by changing your point of view
Some days you have to wait until the storm just passes through”
Danny’s voice grew louder as their emotions poured out into the lyrics. They knew they still had their friend, their sister, Elle and everyone in the Infinite Realm. They were also the Half Ghost son of ghost hunters and scientist with a heavy bias against Ecto-entities. They will be the rulers of an entire realm in only a few short years.
“I'm not a cynic, oh, today's just not my day
I've tried to spin it 'bout a thousand different ways
But from every angle, oh, the outlook is the same
I swear that I'm not a cynic, my glass just has no water in it today”
They gave a bitter sweet smile as they watched the wisps duck and weave between the ice crystals. They looked around for their ducks and their smile turned a little more sad as they waved their hand and the little ducks joined the dancing lights and crystals. Each one was modelled after his favourite comic book vigilante. They’d had to save them from the dump truck once, they’d been looking for them when he’d asked his parents, their father had made an off hand comment about how he should throw out old toys and they’d panicked. They’d manage to find and save them all just before the truck arrived.
“So like a boat on the ocean, I'll rock with the waves
God, I'm so sick of this notion that I have to fake
Fake my emotions and pretend I'm okay
So like a boat on the ocean, I'll just rock with the waves”
Jazz had bought them for them, after they had told her about being gender fluid and pan, they were probably one of their most treasured possessions. Jazz had gone on a whole spiel about how it’s important that she show support and provide a safe and understanding environment. They hadn’t been listening, they’d been crying. To caught up in their overflowing emotions and happiness. It lasted a day, their parents had been less than understanding, with their passive-aggressive comments and actions. 
“I'm not a cynic, oh, today's just not my day
I've tried to spin it 'bout a thousand different ways
But from every angle, oh, the outlook is the same
I swear that I'm not a cynic, my glass just has no water in it today”
Their frown returned. They had shot them, that in itself wasn’t unusual, as Phantom. Isn’t that a sad thought. What was was that there had been no prior warning. It was a sniper shot, from their mother. Only their heightened hearing and instinct had saved them from ending up dead dead instead of a Halfa. That bothered him
“I swear that I'm not a cynic, my glass just has no water in it today”
They returned to humming the last notes of their song as the dunked under the water to rinse off. They popped back up and gathered their ducks, floated up out of the spring and laughed as the wisps twirled around him. They landed on the ground, allowing their legs to form and walked off into the forest, dancing lights trailing after them. Completely unaware of their watchers.
*****
The shadows slunk away to report their findings. While two birds hesitantly returned to their temporary nest, One worried and wanting to help the being that reminded him so much of his younger siblings. The other having felt a connection to a being that had shared similar experiences, someone they wanted to help and if they wanted to end the beings loneliness… that was no one’s business but their own. Both slept little that night, both determined to find the being again and offer what they could to help.
*****
@im-totally-not-an-alien-2
@alinmenttreasure
@blackroserelina
@blacksea21090
@seraphinedemort
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saphushia · 4 months
Note
I know very little about the DCU but everything about DP but for some reason your fic recs intrigued me and now I’m in dcxdp hell and I was wondering if you have more recommendations especially for finished fics 👀 you have opened a can of worms in my brain and I must feed them
ok but i literally got into this shit the same exact way aubdskjfg. literally fell ass deep into this from sheer curiosity barely knowing fuckin anything abt batman and now i've read more batman comics than i ever thought i would in my life.
anyways! yeah i think i've got a couple! apologize if there's a couple duplicates from my last recs i can't be bothered to go check it lmao
⭐= my absolute favorites
=ONESHOTS=
Late Night Talkin' [danny/dick] there-was-only-one-bed get-together wheremst danny n dick r hero partners
The Stiches That Bind Us Together [danny/dick] dick's not feeling well, so danny shows up at his apartment to take care of him. and danny knows well enough what hero-ing injuries look like to take a well-educated guess
Consequences danny + fear gas. bad combo
the case of the serial killer dick befriends wierd homeless teenager danny
It's a Small World Afterall [tim/danny] tim convinces danny to take him to amity on a date. he of course then gets kidnapped- by technus, of all people
Can You Fly Without Wings? circus gothica episode but danny gets taken all the way to gotham with freakshow
Cold nights and warm hands danny's sick, so dick of course invites him to stay at the manor, and they relax together
⭐Hollow the bats encounter one danny masters at a gala, and they're all immediately concerned about how blank the boy seems. danny's missing something, something important to him, and he's missing too much to even know what
Baby it's Cold Inside [tim/danny] danny unknowingly gets hit with cuddle pollen, and tim fulfills his boyfriend responsibility of providing snuggles
Surprise Halloween Haunting jason gets kidnapped to be a sacrifice in a ritual, and hijacks it to dial up a friend
4 Times Dick Grayson met Tim Drake's Partner +1 Time He Met Them All Together [tim/danny/tucker/sam] cute tim dating all the amity trio and confusing his brothers. also furry convention scene <3
⭐Bait and Switch thanks to a cult, danny ends up possessing jason, and neither are very happy about it
=FINISHED MULTI-CHAPTERS=
Last year, I starved. This year, I devour without guilt [danny/jason] danny takes one look at jason and decides he's in need of urgent ghost medical care, so he takes matters into his own hands
The Misadventures of Cosplay Man danny gets stuck in the DC universe for a little bit, so he goes around befuddling every villain and hero he comes across, with the power of bad cosplay.
⭐Satiate jason runs into danny while danny's having a little 'nice to meet you' ravenous brawl with the spirit of gotham. as ghosts do.
Vacation Crashers the fentons' camping trip goes south for all the usual ghost reasons, and that's before the batman crash lands in the middle of all of it. cue a teamup between jazz, danny, and all the bats, to take down vlad
Wanted: Dead and Alive tim rescues an injured teenager he found in a glowing green vat in an unknown experimental facility. proceeds to lose the injured teenager. loses his shit trying to find said teenager who is hiding way too effectively for a guy whose guts were on the floor a few days ago.
ok i'm only like halfway thru my bookmarks but i'm tired now kdsjbfgjkdsfg have fun~
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captainkirkk · 5 months
Text
✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩
All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.
The Magnus Archives/ What We Do In the Shadows (Crossover)
gaslight gatekeep girlboss by thepolysyndetonaddictsupportgroup
"Look, believe it or not, I had no intention of killing the Vampiric Council when I came here,” declares Nadja, sitting alone on the couch. “But Guillermo and I arrived at the first council meeting and did the whole, you know, the whole thing, the first day thing. Introductions and all that, yes hello wonderful to meet you, yes this is my bodyguard, yes he has slaughtered a tremendous number of our kind”--she flaps her hand absently--“normal first day things, you know? It was fine.” She pauses. “It got really fucking weird on the second day."
Or: Nadja and Guillermo seize control of vampiric politics, puppeteer world powers, and have the hottest of hot girl summers.
Unfortunately, they also really miss the stupid assholes they're in love with. With no way left to find them, they have no choice but to consult an Archivist.
DC/Danny Phantom Crossover
Teenage Hero Burnout #56: Interview With A Ghost. by STOVE
Red Robin, (aka Tim Drake) decides to host a YouTube series called "Teenage Hero Burnout'' after he makes a video by the same name talking about his own experiences. He interviews current and past heroes who started their careers as teens and discuss how it shaped their outlook on heroing & life in general.
(This fic is a one-shot. Teenage Hero Burnout is a hypothetical series that I will not be writing, but others are welcome to write their own episodes.)
All For the Game
One More Time (With Feeling) by elesary
Andrew Minyard went to sleep next to Neil Josten in their bed in Denver six years after graduation. He woke up on plane to Tucson between Wymack and Kevin, on their way to recruit Neil Josten, striker sub.
boyfriend privileges by mostly_maudlin
Andrew knows he treats Neil different. So why is it so bothersome that everyone else seems to know it, too?
Five times Neil gets boyfriend privileges, and one time it doesn't piss Andrew off.
SVSSS
The Peace Between Divine Pec- ah-hm sorry - uh…Peaks by AceOfDivineChlorophyll
Well, being kidnapped and tied up had to be the worst part of Shen Qingqiu's day right? Surely it couldn't get worse even if he was being presented to some new and upcoming demonic warlord as tribute after all it would all be mote when Luo Binghe escaped the Endless Abyss right? Well... unless the demonic warlord in question WAS Luo Binghe.
Thankfully... it might not end up going at all how he, or the demons, thought it was going to.
invasive blindfold removal surgery by postcardorigami
Part 1 of side effects may include indefinite photosensitivity
Oh, he thought absently, dizzily. Oh. I love him. I really, really love him.
That wasn’t a new thought—Shen Qingqiu had always known that he loved Luo Binghe. Thinking otherwise wasn’t a concept that had occurred to him. He’d loved him as a fictional character, as a sticky and eager-to-please disciple, as a troubled young man. He loved Luo Binghe the same way he loved the world around him: easily, wordlessly, endlessly, and in full acceptance of all faults and flaws.
But this- this felt like-
I think, Shen Qingqiu thought, for the first time in this life or the one he’d left, I think I’m in love with him.
And- and then-
I want to tell him where I come from.
or Shen Qingqiu, in order: hits the ground, pulls himself back up, and comes out. About several things.
Dreaming of Gardens in the Desert Sand by TGP
Huan Hua Palace master Luo Binghe never thought there'd be any reason to worry about the master that threw him away all those years ago. Surely, he was safe and cared for by the martial siblings he'd so thoroughly enamored.
Luo Binghe was wrong.
(Or, the one where the Jinlan City event doesn't happen and Luo Binghe's plan to slowly show he can be a righteous cultivator actually goes as he expected, with consequences he did not)
starry-eyed by shoutowo
"Shi-Shizun,” Luo Binghe says, going cross-eyed in an effort to see what Shen Qingqiu just placed on his forehead. “What is this?”
“A star,” Shen Qingqiu explains, while not explaining at all.
or, Shen Qingqiu has a sticker sheet.
Clone Wars
(you were) meant to save them by cjwritesfanficnow
The building was only five stories. With the gravity on Melida/Daan, it should’ve been over in seconds... but he—
just—
kept—
falling—
And then there was nothing around him, but he was still falling, down down down, infinitely, through space, stretched thin, twisted and pulled and the Force curled so tightly around him that he couldn’t tell where he ended and it began, and then—
And then he was falling straight out of a clear sky and down down down—
Onto another battlefield.
-
In which Obi-Wan is abruptly transported from the civil war on Melida/Daan to the Clone Wars.
(Alternately, in which I noticed how few clones there are in all my other fics, and this wouldn't leave me alone.)
Tactical Engagements by elwenyere
Even before he managed to open his eyes, Obi-Wan felt the tug against the base of his neck, the snarled thread of energy that only ever meant one thing: something had gone very, very wrong.
-----
Or, Cody, Obi-Wan, and the 212th are sent to Ringo Vinda with Anakin and the 501st, and it changes the field of engagement.
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tomboy014 · 2 years
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It seems like a lot of the DP/DC crossovers I’ve seen have Danny either secretly related to Bruce or Damian or Dick, and if he’s not directly related to one of them, Bats is at the ready with adoption papers.  But if it’s a fic where anyone is related, it’s one of the bats related to Danny, but I think there’s a better candidate.  May I present for the Phandom’s consideration:
Sam Manson.
Hear me out!
Bruce and Sam have a lot in common.  They both
Have black hair
Have eyes in the same color family (Bruce and Sam’s parents are blue, Sam’s are purple)
Are both goth
Come from inherited, generational wealth
Are Jewish
Are intelligent and athletic
Will aggressively fight for causes and the change they want to see
And of course, they both fight superpowered entities that should be beyond their capabilities to handle as normal humans.
The timing also works out for Martha and Ida to be sisters.  Out of ease, the kids use the titles of Aunt and Uncle for Bruce, Pamela and Jeremy even though they’re actually cousins. They don’t really see each other that often, mostly for holidays and big events like graduations or Sam’s bat mitzvah. Every so often, they all get together for more formal galas and charity events.
Plus, it makes it so much funnier if these are the “cousins” Sam refuses to babysit.  Can you blame her?  Would you want to be in charge of keeping Tim and Damian from killing each other?  Plus, the interactions between them and the way they relate would be great!
Bruce (43), Dick (26), Jason (21), Cass (19), Steph and Tim (18), Duke (15-16?), Damian (10), Sam (14)
Dick:  Is the perky ball of sunshine Pamela wishes Sam could be, and she get compared to him a lot.  Sam can’t stand him.  Dick has never seen Sam when her mother isn’t around, so his impression of her is she’s moody and surly.  Doesn’t like being in the middle of their fights or getting his cheeks pinched by Pam every time he comes over.
Jason:  Pamela can’t stand him.  Due to whatever cover story they made up to cover up Jason’s death and return, Pamela is now convinced that he’s some delinquent who’ll wind up a criminal (she’s not entirely wrong?).  Such a shame since he was so sweet as a kid.  His death is what started Sam’s interest in the occult.  Sam’s favorite cousin.  She loves that he’s actually a giant dork and bookworm behind the cool, tough-guy façade.  He keeps Sam well supplied in combat boots.  If they both disappear at a function in Amity Park, they’re probably hanging out at the Skulk n Lurk. 
Tim:  Another problem child according to Pam.  He’s the one who introduced Sam to videogames and Doomed.  Tim changed the Manson’s home theater set-up so they can play videogames on the big screen whenever the Wayne’s come over.  Will go out of his way to piss Pamela off.
Steph and Cass:  Steph doesn’t always come over when the rest of the Wayne’s do, but when she does, she sticks to Cass.  Big sister vibes from them both, scarily insightful, and good listeners.  They’re cool.
Damian:  They have the most shared interests, so you’d think they’d get along, but neither can stand the others’ attitude.  It’s a case of like repelling like.  Sam helped him figure out what kind of vegetarian he wanted to be and gave him a bunch of her favorite recipes.  If the two of them disappear while at Wayne Manor, you can usually find them hanging out with Batcow.
Duke:  The newest addition to the family, Sam is aware of him, but they haven’t met yet.
Part 2
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suppose-i-was-worm · 2 months
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Dragon Landing pt 3
Kon-el woke up slowly, blinking his eyes against the dim light of the room he found himself in. The sun was creeping through dark gauzy curtains, and there was another body in the bed beside him.
With a start, he stumbled out of bed, backing up against the tapestried wall beside the cold fireplace.
“Hm?”
The other person rolled over, patting the bed beside them blearily before sitting up and looking around.
Kon breathed a silent sigh of relief when he realized it was Danny, and that both of them were fully clothed.
“Kon-el?”
“Good morning?”
Danny’s eyes found him in the early morning gray and they lit up, sparkling like stars against the encroaching sunrise.
“Good morning! Did you rest well?”
With a nod, Kon watched as Danny floated out from under the covers, alighting on the same side of the great bed as Kon and padding towards him on bare feet.
“That’s good, I’m glad. It can be disorienting to fall asleep on a dragon and wake up in bed.”
Kon chuckled.
“Disorienting is a good word for it. May I ask where we are?”
Danny flicked his finger and the curtains on the windows blew aside, letting in a wash of light.
“My personal chambers in Gotham Castle. It’s where my lord and I rest when he is squishy like us.”
“The- the dragon?”
“He didn’t think you would appreciate waking to a complete stranger and chose to spend the night with his father’s lounge.”
Kon ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
“I am very confused, Danny. The past few days have been- a lot.”
Danny nodded and took Kon’s other hand, pulling him back to the bed.
“Sit and I will tell you.”
Following willingly, Kon sat on the edge of the bed, and Danny sat facing him.
“Your uncle sent word to our den that you would marry the dragon in exchange for power- knowing some of the circumstances, I was sent to meet you and determine whether you were the same kind of man as Luthor. Clearly, I decided you were not.”
Danny squeezed Kon’s hand from where it rested between them.
“I will not mince words, Kon-el. I fell in love with you- your goodness and sense of justice was so inspiring that I could not help it. I- I continued to lie to you, however, so that the surprise ambush we planned for Luthor would not fall through by any accident.”
He paused, looking away for a moment.
“If you are angry at me for not disclosing the truth I understand, and I will not pursue you if you no longer wish it upon knowing about my marital status. My lord and I discussed it, and we would both like to court you, should you be willing.”
“You don’t refer to the dragon by name?”
Kon couldn’t help the question- it had been niggling at him for some time.
Danny smiled.
“My dragon generally prefers to introduce himself- most of the Gotham lounge does.”
“Can I meet him properly?”
“As soon as he works up the courage to knock on the door, yes.”
Danny tilted his head toward the heavy wooden door, and, sure enough, a few moments later there was a knock.
Kon attempted to pull his hand away from Danny’s but the other man held tight.
“Come in!”
The door swung open, and Kon was a little shocked to see a slight young man standing on the other side, instead of the great dragon he’d seen the day before.
“Good morning, Prince Kon-el, Danny. May I join you?”
They both looked to Kon, and he nodded slowly.
As if sensing his hesitation, the stranger made his way to an armchair near the bed, turned it around to face them, and then made himself comfortable a good few feet from them.
“I understand that Danny has given you the general skeleton of the story?”
“Yes sir?”
The stranger smiled, and Kon felt something flutter in his chest.
“You may refer to me as Timothy or Tim, if it is more comfortable for you. I am one of Gotham’s Drakes, taken in by my father’s lounge upon the death of my sire.”
“A pleasure to meet you.”
Kon bowed as well as he could from his seated position- Danny’s hand around his made it so he didn’t particularly feel like standing up.
“I apologize for any confusion and distress you experienced on your trip here- The circumstances were less than ideal.”
“Understandable. May I ask your intentions with me from here on?”
“You may. Do not be afraid to ask questions, Prince Kon-el. In short, Danny and I wish to court you and bring you into our relationship, if you are interested. If not, you are welcome to reside here at Gotham Keep until King Kent retakes power in Metropolis and it is safe for you to return home.”
“Father is- married. With a child, I heard.”
Timothy nodded sagely.
“He is anxious to see you well- young Jon-el and Lady Lois are excited to meet you.”
Something must have shown on Kon’s face, because Timothy’s expression softened.
“Once my father found the right spell to return King Kent’s memories, he wanted to storm Metropolis castle himself to reach you. When we informed him of Luthor’s plans to use you for power, he was found trying to leave on foot. King Kent is fond of you, despite the past you share.”
Kon tried not to let his voice sound petulant.
“He never showed it.”
“Or was he never allowed to? My impression is that your uncle had great influence on whom you could or could not spend time with during your childhood- if your father had shown care for you, would you have been permitted to see him?”
The dragon’s words rang in Kon’s ears, and he took a moment to truly think about it before shaking his head.
“There, you see?’ Danny squeezed Kon’s hand gently. ‘Now you and King Kent can start a relationship again, without outside influences affecting either of you.”
Nodding, Kon made to get up, but Danny pulled him back down.
“Prince Kon-el- Tim and I would like to hear your response. May we court you properly?”
Kon looked between Danny- beautiful, radiant Danny who had caught his heart off-guard- and Timothy, a powerful being in his own right who was admittedly very handsome himself, and nodded shyly. He could get used to these two, he was sure.
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yetanothergreyjedi · 1 year
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Ghosts of Our Past: pt 11
DP x DC crossover
Danny Fenton and Damian Wayne sibling AU
Ao3
Masterpost Prev Next
It's Wednesday my dudes, here you go
---
Constantine: Ya better not be asking because the pajama party managed to both find one and piss it off.
Batman: That is not the situation.
Constantine: Can you leave it alone? If yes: do that!
Batman: I am simply asking for information.
---
"Coffee buddy!" Danny called as Tim (or did he prefer Drake? He'd heard him called both so maybe it was just whatever?) walked into the cave shortly after Alfred. Who was liminal but in a weird way... Danny was guessing he was just your standard immortal. Anyway! Tim looked like he hadn’t slept in the time between now and when Danny had last seen him.
"Coffee buddy!" Tim shouted, as dramatically as he did, then in more of a whisper, "You have to help me! Alfred has cut me off!"
Danny glanced at Alfred, who had definitely heard him. Nope! Not worth the risk! "I can guess why. I might be half dead, but at least I don't look it,"
Everyone tensed at the joke, the opposite of what Danny had been going for. Scratch that, everyone but Jason tensed. Jason let out a snort. "They don't think those jokes are funny,"
Danny pouted almost as much as Tim.
---
Jazz chose boots instead of heels. Armored HAZMAT instead of a blazer. Hair pulled tightly back instead of free and unthreatening. If her roommate was still awake, she'd probably mistake her for an intruder, but she was not, and Jazz was gone before that could change. Gotham was over a days drive away— but only if she insisted on obeying physics.
---
Danny had waited until later in the night to tell Damian "We should talk." And had Damian stiffened but agreed. Because of the lateness someone suggested that Damian guide his brother back to the hotel. While, again, Damian agreed, the tension did not lift. They moved silently until he couldn’t stand it anymore.
"I'm sorry." Danny "I should've come back for you, I was a coward, probably still am, but—"
"No— you’re not— Stop apologizing! I should be apologizing!"
The air was a swirl of bitter flavors, Danny gave a nervous laugh before starting. "It's fine— I mean, it's really not, but we were little kids and like, super brainwashed. So it's not purely your fault... I mean I don't blame you for it... anymore..."
"Just like that?" Damian's voice was small. Doubt was sour like inedible berries, honey sweet hope did little to balance it.
Danny sighed, "Dami, I've spent the last seven years trying to sort this out in my head. It's not 'just' like anything."
He turned around, his back to Damian as he climbed. "Like this, it freaks me out, and at first I thought you'd been hunting me, but you weren't and intentions matter."
Like all the ghosts who'd been teaching him how to ghost by lightly punting him, or his parents before the ectouranium incident. Damian had waited a moment before following him, putting enough distance between them that Danny didn't feel like his heart was going to leave his chest. Even if Danny wasn't actually that worried about being stabbed, he would be fine, he wouldn't even bleed if he didn't want to. Trauma was dumb like that though, and he appreciated Damian's patience.
His younger brother pulled himself up after him. "But I did. I meant to."
Guilt was another flavor Danny couldn't describe with human terms, but this specific guilt satisfied something entirely in-human inside him, a part that still hadn't let this death go. "And you did. But would you do it again?"
"No!"
"Then we're cool about that."
"And about you remaining hidden." Damian adds. "I would not have responded the same if you had returned to Nanda Parbat..."
"But you got out," Danny marveled. "I hadn't let myself hope, Dami... I'm so proud of you,"
Damian sniffled, and Danny pulled the younger boy into his arms.
---
Back in the cave, Bruce moved to the comms control panel, and silently hit mute. They didn't need anyone else listening in on this.
The league communicator buzzed.
Constantine: And you're sure it's a Doorway Spirit, not just a Barrier Spirit?
Batman: He said Doorway.
Constantine: Who said it?! Bats if someone is fucking around with one, ya lead with that!
---
Cleaning tears out of domino masks wasn't hard, but it did make one feel foolish. Danny seemed way too amused but the fact.
"They're designed to keep outside contaminants out. The usual amount of tears is minimal." Damian pointed out.
"It still seems dumb." Danny finished wiping his on the hem of his shirt. At least they both had hoods, otherwise they'd have to find a more secure location with fuzzy lenses.
"It is certainly an oversight." Damian agreed.
"Makes sense tho?"
"What does?"
"If you're having a crisis in the mask you probably should go home. And if you can't see, then it's gonna be hard to keep working."
"Sometimes we are still needed. It is something to improve."
Danny paused, mask still in hand. He looked Damian in the eye. "Even with all of you? It gets that bad?"
"There are times, it's not— Danny..." Damian took a step back.
"Is everything... oh, it's my eyes again isn't it." Danny flushed, and his eyes returned to blue. "That's just something that happens with me, it's not a sign I'm about to go all murdery or something."
Damian nodded slowly, Danny certainly seemed in control of himself, and earlier with Todd he'd focused on defense. That did not seem like someone under the influence of pit rage.
"I've got it on the list of 'things I need to explain at some point,'"
"You have a list."
"Yeah, I have a list, my life is weird. You should probably have a list too."
"I do not."
"I'm sorry?! Do you think I missed the Bat cave dinosaur?!"
---
Batman: Constantine. What do you know?
Constantine: for certain? Almost nothing. These guys are rare, and powerful.
---
"Why is there a magazine butt plate catch?" Jason asked, completely serious. Tim was too sleep deprived to not giggle.
"Replacement." Jason chided, almost sounding fond... Tim must be getting slap happy. Jason held up the offending piece of metal. "Where did this come from?"
"Probably from when Danny took apart the gun,"
"What?"
Tim was already pulling up the mask footage. They watched the two minute explanation, then, gun bits on the pavement.
"He didn't even look at it..." Tim realized, considering that the part on the table wasn't that easy to remove. He was also 90% sure you needed tools to take a gun apart that completely.
"You know what, that tracks." Jacen said, like he was aware of something Tim was not.
---
Batman: Do you want to have this conversation in person?
Constantine: *Read 1:46 AM*
---
"So... Do you play Doomed?"
"Tt, Of course,"
"Oh, so you're good at it." Danny inferred, hopping down onto the fire escape.
Damian followed, noting how the metal had been silent for Danny, but made a soft clank when Damian stepped. The more Danny relaxed the more effort Damian had to put into tracking his movements. "Of course,"
Danny made a mock-offended gasp, "You're just saying of course to be annoying!"
Damian hadn't been, he had been distracted by the almost unnatural stealth. However he did not say this. He gave a sly smile. "Of course,"
"Well then, I don't suppose you'd want to come in and meet my friends?"
The game had been a trap. Damian was not going to admit defeat so easily... and well, he did want to meet the people his brother chose to occupy his time with. "Of course."
Danny beamed as he led Damian to the hallway window. He pulled it open in a too-smooth way and Damian knew that opening windows from the outside did not work like that. It did not, however, even surprise him at this point.
"They're going to love you," Danny said, right before pain exploded in the back of Damian's head. Then, the world went black.
-
-
-
I've made an executive decision that nights in Gotham are longer than nights in nearby locations. Most people won't notice or will think it's their imagination, Amity kids noticed immediately but shrugged and decided that technically meant they got to sleep in.
I don't think it's actually gonna come up in fic, but like nearly every plot point in Gotham happens at night, and I'm implementing a "magic" system, so Gotham gets quirks.
1. I was gonna have bats find out that Dami did the stab here, but then I realized how much potential there was in Danny just casually mentioning it.
2. Danny figures, he told them what he was, so he's done putting a ridiculous amount of effort into being human.
3. Cliffhanger
4. Why does Ao3 add in automatic spacing in the chapter text but not the notes section? It's weirding me out
Tag list:
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britcision · 1 year
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Listen. Could Dead and Loving It be a fraction of the length and maybe finished by now if I only focused on Danny and Jason?
Possibly
Would it be a better story?
Probably, from several perspectives
But it absolutely would not be the same story, and nor would it be the story I want to tell
Because I am hopelessly addicted to ensemble casts, and I don’t want the boys to exist in a vacuum. I want Jason to run off with his siblings and with Danny’s friends, and I want Danny to fuck with the bats
I want them to touch all the parts of each others lives that existed before they met, and will still continue to exist after even if things change forever between them
I want all the background characters to interact with each other, have their own inner worlds and their own motivations, and yeah, this absolutely means this is not an efficient telling of a slow burn romance
Because the story isn’t the slow burn romance
The story is these two people, and the world they live in, the story is the way Duke and Cass both see Jason differently than Dick and Tim ever could and that matters, and that none of them are wrong
The story is Danny finally telling people who will listen about the Anti-Ecto Acts, and all the fucked up things the GIW do, and being able to ask for help and have that be okay
The story is messy and complicated and will have so many rises and falls, so many pivotal moments that are drama and combat and so many that are just two people talking to each other and finally seeing eye to eye
The story is the way that Jason’s relationships with his family can finally mend, now that he has someone who can get him the help he’s needed
The story is the way that Danny can come to terms with the responsibilities of being a king, the constant question of agency and power and what he’s worth if he’s only Danny and not the Ghost King
The story is Clockwork fucking with the pair of them because he specifically thinks it’s funny (he’s right)
And yeah, there’s a slow burn romance in there. There’s also a coming of age tale, and a story about healing and reconciling and moving forward knowing you cannot change the past, but you can do better
Unless fucking Clockwork decides you can change the past because yeah then it’s fine to just go do that I guess
I was kinda considering breaking the story out into multiple chunks because holy fuck is 100k an intimidating chunk of words, but I’m not gonna
It’s all one story, and you will be my hapless victims as we get to fucking 300k or wherever this beast ends because we are not here for efficient story telling and motion of the plot
We’re here for the connections, the characters, the meaningless bullshit that would absolutely be cut in anything anyone ever wanted to sell, cuz I am not selling this
Imma write every fucking scene I wish I got from books, TV, movies, podcasts, actual plays, every fucking time I scream at the characters to just fucking talk to each other because messy is good too
Messy is okay
Stories don’t need to be marketable to be worth telling, and this one’s gonna be too long and intimidating for some people and that’s okay
But I fuckin’ rolled in from Critical Role which averages around 500 hours of content per campaign and a cast of 7 plus Matt’s NPCs
And I STILL want more goddamn character moments from all of them so I haven’t found a size yet that I can’t manage
I love reading focused stories that I can get through fast, and fuck, look at the rest of my AO3; I will fucking never diss a one shot, or a short story, or a piece that really focuses in on one or two characters
Delicious, I love them, my bread and butter
It’s just not what this mess is gonna be, and that’s okay too
Gods be fucking willing we will not have another six chapters that take place over the course of three hours, but we’ll just have to see how that shakes out cuz I’m being possessed by a seemingly infinite number of plot bunnies and my own tendency for “hey it’d be funny if”
And oh boy has it been funny every time
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twistedtummies2 · 7 months
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Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - NUMBER ONE
Welcome, one and all, to the final entry of Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I have been counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios…with one exception. And it is that one exception that takes the top spot on my little list. “Boys and girls of every age, wouldn’t you like to see something strange?” NUMBER ONE IS…The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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Now, before I get into the film proper, I should address WHY I made this an exception to the rules. Because – especially considering this film is my number one pick – it probably seems like MASSIVE cheating. And…yeah. I make no apologies there, it is. But I’m still going to count this movie, for two reasons. One, and this is the most simple reason… “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” as I’ve said a few times in the past, is a strong candidate for my all-time favorite movie. That fact, alone, is a pretty strong incentive for me to cheat. It’s owned by Disney, after all, so if nothing else, that’s mild justification. But of course, my rule of thumb was that – with this one exception – all of the movies I chose would be from the 60+ films in the lineup of Walt Disney Animation, specifically. However, technically speaking, this movie DOES still count there…if you squint, I suppose. Especially since a lot of “Nightmare’s” identity does, in fact, revolve around Disney. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was envisioned as a short film by Tim Burton, who wrote a poem by the same title in his off-time while working at the Disney studios. Yes, indeed, for those who don’t already know, Tim Burton’s career basically began with him working as a concept artist and in-between animator for Disney; he actually worked on a few films, including “Fox and the Hound” and “The Black Cauldron.” He also was behind a couple of cartoons and television specials, including the stop-motion short “Vincent” and the live-action version of “Frankenweenie.” Burton initially wanted “Nightmare” to be a stop-motion TV special, a sort of homage to the Rankin/Bass specials he had grown up with as a kid. At the time, however, Disney was reluctant to spearhead the project, for multiple reasons. One was that they felt the costs of making the special would exceed any profit that could be made from it. The other was that they were worried the subject matter would be a bit too dark, a notion not helped greatly by the content of Burton’s earlier projects for them. It wasn’t until some years later, after Burton had left the company, that Disney decided maybe it was time to give the old concept a new look.
By THAT time, Burton had been discussing the idea of transforming “Nightmare” into a feature-length film, collaborating with his friend and already frequent colleague, Danny Elfman, to come up with an outline for the story and the characters. They went back to Disney, and the company decided to give their idea a chance…of a sort. You see, the problems that had made Disney hesitant in the first place still existed. So, Disney decided to release the movie under the banner of a subsidiary company, Touchstone Pictures. Burton – who was having to split duties between this film and “Batman Returns” at the time – hired Henry Selick to act as the director. Selick, after having some talks with Elfman and Burton alike, began to work on the project with his own team of animators. The rest is history. When “Nightmare” came out, it wasn’t a massive success…at first. But over the years, the film earned a VERY substantial following. It got to the point where Disney realized they had a cash cow on their hands. And, since Touchstone was already affiliated with the company, it did not take much wrangling to officially declare “Nightmare” to be a Disney film. If you watch the film nowadays, instead of a Touchstone logo, you’ll find it preceded first by the Disney logo, then a credit card that gives the kudos to Walt Disney Studios. So, in essence, Nightmare was ADOPTED into the core canon of their films, retroactively. Yes, counting it is still cheating, but if Disney can acknowledge it that way, so can I.
Plus, like I said before…this is my favorite movie, or at least a strong contender for that title. It’s hard to say exactly what makes “The Nightmare Before Christmas” hit me so hard, but I think it’s simply best to say it sort of fires on all my cylinders. I love its sense of aesthetic style; a perfect blend of qualities that make the works of Tim Burton (and Henry Selick, for that matter) so unique. The animation itself is quite wonderful. The music is fantastic. The story is simplistic, but you can gleam a lot from it by sort of reading between the lines; it’s not a deep, complex piece of socially-focused art, but there’s something else beneath its surface, like a lot of great, dark fairy-tales. It’s contemporary and yet ageless, with an exquisite voice cast and characters that are not exactly deep and intensely complicated, but are still likeable, charming, and at times even subversive. Jack Skellington, in particular, is NOT your typical Disney protagonist, by ANY stretch of the word, and that’s part of what makes him and his story so compelling. When looked at in the scope of all the things Disney has done, “Nightmare” stands in an interesting place. There aren’t too many movies like it in the Disney canon, no matter where you look at it WITHIN that canon. And certainly none of the few that could compare hold a candle to the impact and legacy this film has. It’s no wonder Disney decided to officially declare it a film of their own. For me, it will always be a special piece of work. It’s my favorite Halloween movie, my favorite Christmas movie, my favorite movie for many of the creative people involved with it…and there is no doubt in my mind that this is – however unfairly – My Favorite Disney Movie. Period. And so concludes Two Weeks of Disney Magic! Like I said, I will have AT LEAST one other list ready for founding day (that's tomorrow), so be ready for that. In any case, though, I’m glad you all could join me, and I hope my opinions haven’t been TOO ridiculously peculiar. XD Thank you all for reading!
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