Latest Posts by mae-mae-me - Page 13

Ahahaha

oh yeah, with the new size limit for .gifs this thing can finally be posted

hey,

i follow you and a few others for your round-robin style dpxdc stories. Which!!! I love so much!! Who else is there that you do that with regularly? Are there any blogs you recommend if i want to read more round-robin fic?

thx

There are quite a few people. Sorry it took so long to answer. Kept forgetting my inbox existed. This is by no means and exhaustive list. Just people I know pop up often!

@radiance1 @bluerosefox @zylev-blog @puppetmaster13u

@ailithnight @regonold @angryraptor13 @angryricepudding

@thenightwolf51 @evilminji @nerdpoe @lolottes

@babbling-babull @soniclozdplove @ryoalouette @hypewinter

@charlietheepicwriter7 @freshmiraclecheesecake

@ashoutinthedarkness @bianca-hooks123

@britcision @gaddaboutgriffon @thatrandomsarahchick

@ourrechte-blog @kyrianclawraith

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

DCxDP Idea - Tucker x Tim Soulmate AU:

So the Justice League believes the Fentons and the GIW. Not completely, but enough. That’s the bad news. The worse news is that they have Danny, and are apparently planning to use him in some kind of spell to banish all the ghosts from the living plane. Which, okay, sure, not the worst idea, except that trying to banish a Liminal is a great way to kill them instead, and guess what everyone in Amity Park is? Not to mention what powering such a ritual could do to Danny.

Tucker is not having a panic attack. He might have one later, but right now he has a job to do.

So the thing about the Justice League is that they’re powerful and together they cover each other’s weaknesses, but individually they are, if not manageable, then at least survivable. They can’t take on the entire league, but Ghosts and their ilk have fangs for a reason, and every predator knows how to divide and conquer.

Technus and Skulker are using Lex Luthor’s tech to deal with the Supers. Jazz has got emotional manipulation and FrightKnight’s sword to take down the Flashes. Desiree agreed to start a mage’s duel with the Justice League Dark. Sam, Ember, Johnny, and Kitty hopefully have the watchtower in hand, with Walker playing backup to get Danny free.

Tucker has two jobs. One, work with Technus to take down the Justice League communications without making it look like anything is up. Two, for the love of the Ancients, do not let the Bats realize something is wrong.

And you know what? He’s got this. Duul Aman was the most feared sorcerer of his time. Tucker isn’t him, not really, but he’s no slouch in the magic department. Egyptian magic, the way Duul Aman knew it, was almost like code. Relearning it was as easy as breathing, but the real reason Tucker’s job is to deal with the bats is because he took it further than his last life ever could. Sure, he’s a dab hand at illusions, his curses are almost as nasty as Sam’s, and instant sandstorms are never not useful, but where he really thrives is with tech. Afterall, if ectoplasm can be combined with computers, why can’t magic?

Tucker is the world's first technomage and he’s goddamn proud of it.

It’s his saving grace now. Infiltrating Oracle’s system took weeks, and he still wasn’t able to look at or do anything important, but it was enough of an opening for his magic. He wormed his illusion through every single piece of bat-tech he could reach, whispering in their ear, Gotham needs you. The Justice League is fine. Gotham is where the problems are. 

Weeks of work and sleepless nights, and he still doubts he’ll be able to keep them from noticing anything for more than a few hours. Luckily, by that time Danny will be free and Tucker will be long gone from Gotham.

This confidence lasts until he brushes hands with another guy in the cafe. He can feel the bond snap into place, a soulmark crawling across his body. Tim Drake stares at him, eyes wide but sharp. 

Tim Drake.

Red Robin.

Shit.

Time to see whether fighting ghosts extends to fighting humans, because he is not letting this asshole mess up Danny’s rescue.

+++

The first thing Tim notices when he meets his soulmate is the rage in the man’s eyes.

They’re really pretty eyes. A bright, glowing gold, lined in kohl. Almost certainly a sign of magic. 

They look at him like the man wants to turn him inside out and burn the remains. Tim’s a little offended, beneath the shock and awe.

“Fuck,” the man hisses. Tim’s offense is starting to supersede his surprise. He’s a catch, thank you very much.

He says as much. The man laughs, and it’s almost friendly.  The cafe is empty. The people of Gotham have good instincts, and there’s something in the air around this man that puts Tim’s hackles up.

“You know, I think that’d be more believable if you hadn’t started this.”

Tim’s brow wrinkled. He felt like he’d remember starting something with his soulmate though? What was he supposed to have started, anyway? Saying ‘this’ wasn’t very specific. 

He rolled and dodged to avoid the sudden lash of golden sand. Ah. A fight. He could do that. Figure out why his soulmate was angry later, defeat him now.

He reached up to call for backup and only got static.

Shit.

He was on his own. Time to show this bastard why underestimating a bat was a bad idea.

Notes for what I'm writing are so funny >.<,,

I genuinely think I'm the funniest MF ever LMAOO

This is horrible, but here you go. Part 4 with Bruce's POV and more misunderstandings. I'll be updating on AO3 exclusively after this part, so catch it there!

Batman’s fingers were steepled, his face a mask of grim tenacity.

He looked through the files again, wanting them to miraculously change their contents. The force of his glare bought nothing about except a wide berth of where he was sitting in the cafeteria of the Watchtower.

There was barely any information on the two that had come through a green portal, toxic and swirling like Lazarus Waters.

One had looked like a stereotypical genie, and she was the one that he had been called to handle at first. She’d caused havoc, appearing anywhere and everywhere in multiple cities in America, granting wishes that bred disorder. The second was a boy, a young man of indiscriminate age. He looked to be between 14 and 17, and Bruce’s attempts to pinpoint his age only hit him with blinding headaches.

Magic. How he hated it. But there was nothing to be done for now, except to grab a member of Justice Dark who was able to figure out what was going on. There was no-one on call at the moment, and so after sending a message to anyone who’d be able to come up, he decided to at least talk to the boy, considering that he’d chased the genie back to wherever they’d come from, to figure out who they were.

He wasn’t satisfied.  The answers that the boy gave them were brief and curt; only giving the bare essentials and refusing to give anymore.

Who was she? A rogue of his.  

What was she? A ghost.

Will she be back? Perhaps.

 Where did you both come from? The Zone.

What species are you? Ghosts.

 How did you get here? Through a portal.

Are you dangerous? He gave a smile here, mischievous but with an edge of danger underneath.

“Wasn’t everyone?” he replied.  

Bruce was determined to get more answers out of the unknown, but at the moment Constantine had come in, drunk and looking like he had been dragged through a bush backwards. One look at the unknown and he paled, grabbing Bruce and speed walking – practically running – to another room.

What? It was starting to unnerve him now, the fact that a single boy was able to unsettle John Constantine, someone who was able to get into Hell without flinching.

“What are you doing?” Constantine hissed at him, fear and anger widening his eyes. He paced back and forth in the room that they found themselves in, his hands grabbing his hair. “That’s the High King of the INFINITE REALMS!”

“What does that mean?” he asked, adding this information to the profile he was building up of the ghost.

“He’s King of all of the dead! Anyone who’s ever died, who will die goes into the Realms, and he’s in charge of all of them.” He sighs then, nervous energy leaving him and slumps down into a chair. “Fuck. Fuck. Alright. You need a crash course in Realms Beings.”

Despite the fact that magic – and how he hated it – was involved, Bruce was able to assimilate the information that had been given to him. He’s given a brief history of the Infinite Realms – and wasn’t that a shock, a dimension that was literally infinite and connected to every one – and the major players of the place.

And then he got into recent history. There wasn’t a hierarchy; instead Monarchy seemed to be passed through combat. And this boy had been able to fight one of the biggest tyrants of Realms history, and had beaten him.

How powerful was he?

“About two decades ago, something happened to him. He was – harsher? He wasn’t as kind as he was, and he decided to take his rule seriously. He was fair – but his reputation tanked because his soulmate died, and he couldn’t feel emotions as strongly.” He takes out a cigarette, and before Bruce can do anything except give him a disapproving look, he lights it, taking a deep drag. “That’s bad for Realms Beings – they’re literally built on emotions, so he was named as something like a persecutor because he was stricter.”

He pauses then, eyes unfocused as he looked at something. “But when I saw him, he looked settled? Like he found something that he was missing.” He shrugs then, dismissing it, and looks at Bruce.

“I’m telling you Bats, you don’t want to piss him off.” He gets up stretching, and puts out his cigarette.  “Now I’m going to have to be the one to apologise.”

He walks out the room, hands shoved in the pockets of his trench coat, and leaves Bruce to his thoughts.

A boy who’d died too young, and had been a hero based on his comment of ‘his rogue’. He’d perhaps had been forced to fight the tyrant of an entire realm – perhaps not, and had volunteered to do so. Was powerful, and knew it too, seen when he dodged the question of whether he was dangerous or not. Someone who was able to traverse through portals – and were they made through the entire species or were they naturally occurring?  A boy who had lost his soulmate – was that a literal soulmate? – and so couldn’t feel emotions besides being ‘fair’. Had perhaps reunited with him, based on Constantine’s observation of being ‘settled’.

He still didn’t have as many answers as he wanted, but he had the bare minimum. He still had so many questions he wanted answered. 

He walks back into the room, and sees the rest of his team in the room with the boy king. He counts them – Nightwing, Spoiler, Black Bat. He doesn’t see Red Robin or Robin, so he looks across the room to see them talking to the boy. He tenses for a second, before he relaxes at seeing them unthreatened. The boy is floating, looking relaxed, but with an expression of sadness. Damian has his wrist in his grip, talking softly to him.

He pauses. Damian – talking softly?

He looks at Tim and his heart rate ticks up at seeing him looking shocked. Shocked. What had happened for Tim to drop his mask?

He looks at the other two, and his pulse quickens as he sees them looking besotted with each other. What?

But his mind is making connections too quickly for him to acknowledge, despite the stiff appearance he’s exhibiting.

Soulmate. Damian’s shift in nature. Tim’s shocked face. He looks at the others, and sees that they look tense as they watch the three.

He came to a conclusion, but refuses to acknowledge it. No, not his youngest.

He could not be the soulmate of someone he’d just met. He could not be the soulmate of a King of an entire dimension.

He’d seen what had happened to people who had fallen in love too soon in this business. He refused to let it happen to his youngest. Not to his 16 year old.

He catches Tim’s eye from across the room and his heart drops at what he sees written in his face.

Shit.

Dcxdp #22

Danny's human half dying as collateral during a fight. That human half goes into reincarnation and is reborn as Damian Wayne. He isn't born with all of his memories but he definitely feels that something is wrong. they would get their Memories Back at about 8 and have a horrible time dealing with being an assassin. Danny would try to stick to the personality they already had before but there's definitely slip-ups of them being like yeah this is wrong and Talia thinks they take after their father because of it. 

The first thing Danny does when they're not being monitored by their mom or the bat family is to look for Phantom. Phantom to have run away to the ghost Zone and has built a reputation as a merciless ruler. He's a good ruler and he's not a tyrant but  he doesn't have the reputation of kindness. Damien as the moral compass of the duo is really funny to me.

 There's a situation later that involves ghosts which is where Danny/Damian and Phantom meet again. I want there to be a very big misunderstanding that heroes think Phantom is obsessed with Damien but in reality they are literally other halves of a soul. Phantom keeps doing and saying things that no one else would get away with around Damien. Phantom would be saying things like making fun of his height or giving him nicknames but as far as anyone else sees Davian doesn't even flinch.

Danny/Damian and Phantom have lived Separate Lives for a while so they don't automatically fuse into one person. I think they would fuse for a few hours just to feel themselves be one Soul again but they have Separate Lives so they can't stay that way. The bat family is very concerned with Damien continuing to talk to the obsessive ghost that keeps possessing his body.

Part 3 with Phantom's POV and more misunderstandings:

Updating on AO3 as well;

He struggles sometimes, even now. He’d lost himself for a long while – he couldn’t be sure for how long, decades or centuries. Time was weird in the Realms; a minute in one region could be 3 days in another.

But he knew that without his star, without the literal other half of his soul that he’d go into a spiral. A spiral of hate, of despair. He’d be just, but he couldn’t muster the emotions needed to be kind.

And then he’d come back. Phantom had known it was going to happen – had gone straight to Clockwork when his human side had died, and had been reassured that he’d be reborn. That had been the only thing keeping him from going on a spree, taking the Realms with him.

He’d known the instant that Danny had gotten his memories back. He wanted to tear through the realms, tear through countless dimensions to find him, but Clockwork had stayed him.

Told him to wait, to make sure that the timeline could reach the most favourable outcome. He’d wanted to snarl, wanted to say ‘Fuck the timeline’, but one pointed look at the shrunken core of Dan was enough to stymie him.

So he waited. And waited. And waited. It felt like centuries. It felt like days. Time was weird in the Realms.

But they’d reunited, had laughed and cried and talked about what each of them had missed.

It was weird.

Dann – Damian, had been apparently bought up as an assassin? His retelling wasn’t the most coherent, and there were clearly some things he skirted around, but imagining his human side, who’d been bullied and shoved into lockers by Dash Baxter, as a sword wielding assassin was surreal.

He looked mostly the same – lithe, and the impression of wiry muscles under a ridiculous costume. He laughed when he heard that that was a vigilante costume, and that Damian was meant to be working during the night.

He tracked the other changes too - darker skin tone, but piercing green eyes – the exact same shade of his own. Facial structure was different but not too dissimilar to what he'd looked like before. They looked like siblings now, rather than the exact same. He found that he liked it, despite the changes.

He could feel emotions coming back to him; emotions that he had thought had been gone forever. Laughter, sadness, anger. He’d been numb to all emotions except protectiveness, and justice. He could feel a part of him that had been missing filled in, a perpetual ache gone.

Damian had had to leave then, their reunion too short. But he looked more settled, younger even – as though his trek had aged him, and seeing his other half had soothed him.

Desiree had escaped then, trailing into the natural portal that Damian had found. She found herself in that dimension, wreaking havoc and granting wishes everywhere.

Phantom had gone after her, intent on dragging her back. He’d done it too – but not before they’d been noticed, a hoard of heroes after them.

He’d acquiesced to their questioning, even when they had become pointed and rude.

Who was she? What was she? Will she be back? Where did you both come from? What species are you? How did you get here? Are you dangerous?

He answered the bare bones, before a drunken man had come in, blonde hair swept back and a 5 o’clock shadow. One look at him, and he paled, dragging Batman – and really what sort of name was that? – away, before he came back apologising profusely after a whispered conversation.

He heard the zeta tubes announcing people coming up, and then were far more people in the space station than had been before.

He’d seen Dan-Damian, and he smiled, a soft thing that he wiped after seeing other members of this Justice League staring at him.  

Time passed, and he was getting bored. Damian must have seen it because he walked towards him, and they started talking softly about the past few days. They must have deemed him as not too much of a threat, because aside from a few glances their way, everyone went back to their own conversations.

That was – until Damian had laughed at something he said. He laughed loudly, head tilted back, and he saw from the corner of his eyes the shocked looks of his family. It wasn’t obvious, but with what Damian had told him of the family, he could pinpoint it – the widened eyes, the sudden drops of shoulders, the pause in conversations.

He’d seen one of them square his shoulders as though he was volunteering to be shot. He walked over; false smile plastered on and had grilled him, trying to make it look as though he wasn’t.

Red Robin, he called himself. There was a beat where he had contemplated what to say to him, and his eyes had flickered over to Dan-Damian, where they had a conversation in a glance.

Red Robin was smart – the smartest of Damian’s siblings. If there was anyone who had worked out that they were two halves of a soul, it had to be him. He’d come forward, volunteering, so he likely already knew, and was just trying to confirm.

He saw the mask fall, and was delighted by it; it was a subtle sign, but to Phantom, and to Damian, it meant that Red Robin knew and trusted them!

He continued the conversation, and he heard even more hints – RR definitely knew, but was trying to keep it under wraps for now.

He was so happy that he started floating, relaxing slightly as his hair billows out.

Damian gave out another titbit – and Red Robin makes a small noise, to which Damian widens his eyes.  Their little game of hiding true answers beneath normal ones reminded him of politics in the Realms.

And then he messed up, almost calling Damian by a name he no longer had. He’d stopped himself in time, but the speed that Red Robin had looked at Damian said it all – he knew.

So when Damian had gripped his wrist in a gentle grasp, with a furtive glance too quick for Red Robin to notice, he nods slightly; Damian then gives out the biggest clue, enough to have Red Robin confirm his suspicions.

“نصفي الآخر” “My other half”

Phantom sees by the way his mouth falls open slightly that the clue had reached its mark. He congratulates himself, and knows by Damian’s expression that he’s doing the same.

One day in this dimension and his first couple of steps in helping to reveal their bond was already done.

What a job well done!

Dcxdp #22

Danny's human half dying as collateral during a fight. That human half goes into reincarnation and is reborn as Damian Wayne. He isn't born with all of his memories but he definitely feels that something is wrong. they would get their Memories Back at about 8 and have a horrible time dealing with being an assassin. Danny would try to stick to the personality they already had before but there's definitely slip-ups of them being like yeah this is wrong and Talia thinks they take after their father because of it. 

The first thing Danny does when they're not being monitored by their mom or the bat family is to look for Phantom. Phantom to have run away to the ghost Zone and has built a reputation as a merciless ruler. He's a good ruler and he's not a tyrant but  he doesn't have the reputation of kindness. Damien as the moral compass of the duo is really funny to me.

 There's a situation later that involves ghosts which is where Danny/Damian and Phantom meet again. I want there to be a very big misunderstanding that heroes think Phantom is obsessed with Damien but in reality they are literally other halves of a soul. Phantom keeps doing and saying things that no one else would get away with around Damien. Phantom would be saying things like making fun of his height or giving him nicknames but as far as anyone else sees Davian doesn't even flinch.

Danny/Damian and Phantom have lived Separate Lives for a while so they don't automatically fuse into one person. I think they would fuse for a few hours just to feel themselves be one Soul again but they have Separate Lives so they can't stay that way. The bat family is very concerned with Damien continuing to talk to the obsessive ghost that keeps possessing his body.

guys i wanted this to be humorous, a lttle fun why is it sad why is it sAD????

Part 2 with the misunderstandings:

Tim was suspicious. He was inherently suspicious – how else did he get to live so long in the superhero community? But he was suspicious for a good reason here. He swears.

Damian was smiling. At a joke. There was something so deeply disturbing about that image – his stoic, 13 year old brother smiling at something someone else said – that he had to pinch himself, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The sharp flare of pain proved he wasn’t.

He looked around at his family, in their superhero personas, and sees his disbelief mirrored in their faces. Nothing as large as a dropped jaw or anything resembling a physical reaction. But it can be seen in their widened eyes, the drop of their shoulders. Good. So he wasn’t the only one seeing this; not a hallucination made from a sleep-deprived mind.

He turns back, catching Damian throwing his head back as he laughs. That’s when his curiosity snaps.

There had to be a spell here, a chemical gassed somewhere. Yes, this was the Watchtower, but the chance of something happening was low, but never zero.  Seeing that no-one was going to do anything, he braced himself, preparing himself to save the demon brat from something he wouldn’t thank him for.

Marching himself towards Damian and the unknown, he slips into his Wayne persona.

“Robin! What’s happening over here? We could hear the laughing from the other side of the room!” Jerking his head towards the other Bats, he looks him over, looking for any sign of mental manipulation, any sign that he was feeling unsafe.

His face drops into a scowl, and the unknown laughs at him. “Aw, little –” and here he speaks something in a language he doesn’t understand, “doesn’t like people checking up on him?” he asks, green eyes still laughing at Damian.

The scowl is aimed at the unknown now, and Tim breathes a little easier, knowing that he wasn’t so far gone as to be unable to give anyone a murder glare.

Damian looks back towards him, scowl still in place. “It’s none of your business Red Robin,” he says, chin tilted up stubbornly. Tim internally sighs, knowing that talking to Damian when he was this obstinate was a no-go.  He looks to the unknown, deciding to pursue another avenue.

“So, I’m Red Robin, as you heard the brat say,” he says, fake smile fixed in place. There’s a beat, where the unknown doesn’t say anything and they’re staring at each other. Measuring the other up. The moment stretches on for too long, and Tim thinks that the unknown won’t give the courtesy of giving him a name.

“Phantom,” he says finally – but only after his eyes flick over to Damian. Interesting.

And then he’s back to smiling, but not before his demeanour slips for a second. Not enough for a normal person to catch, but someone obviously affiliated with Robin, and a Meta to boot?

He sees Phantom give a ghost of a smile, fangs peeking through, and internally curses himself.

“So what brings you here, Phantom? It’s not anyone who’s able to be invited into the Justice League’s headquarters,” he asks, doggedly keeping up with the persona.

“Oh, a rogue of mine was able to leave my – kingdom? I guess you’d say, so I had to return her,” he replies, utterly relaxed. In fact, so relaxed that he floats up, white hair billowing around him. It pisses him off, the fact that an unknown was able to be so relaxed in space, amongst the highest calibre of heroes – including Batman. He tunes back into the conversation, compiling the information for a profile.

“Did you have to take her to Walker?” Damian asks, a small frown in place.

Phantom sighs, crossing his arms behind his head. “Yeah, but it’ll only be for a couple weeks at most.”

Damian rolls his eyes, frown disappearing “You know Walker’s a stickler for the rules,” he says, and Tim watches the conversation with bated breath, hoping that they don’t notice him. “She’s going to stay there for at least a couple of months.”

“That was before,” Phantom says, face losing some of the good humour. “It’s my kingdom now; I can say that she doesn’t have to stay for even a day. I’m just giving Walker some goodwill here.”

“Our kingdom,” Damian mutters under his breath snidely. Tim’s stomach drops. Their – kingdom?!

He must have made a noise, because Damian catches his eyes, and his eyes widen.

Phantom looks at him too, and smiles a toothy grin that does nothing to belay the panic he’s feeling.

“Not your kingdom until you’re dead Da-,” he cuts himself off then suddenly, and Tim whips his head to stare at Damian. He’d given out his civilian identity?

But Damian isn’t even looking at him, instead looking at Phantom. His face softens suddenly, and Tim feels his heart drop. He knows he’s not going to like what comes out of his mouth.

“It’s alright نصفي الآخر,” he says, hand going up to catch Phantom’s wrist. “I know you’re still adjusting.”

Tim feels suddenly like he’s intruding on a private conversation, but the panic he’s feeling roots him to the spot. He tunes out the rest of the conversation, translating the Arabic that Damian had spoken.

“نصفي الآخر,” he hears on a loop in his head. “My other half,”

What the fuck?

Dcxdp #22

Danny's human half dying as collateral during a fight. That human half goes into reincarnation and is reborn as Damian Wayne. He isn't born with all of his memories but he definitely feels that something is wrong. they would get their Memories Back at about 8 and have a horrible time dealing with being an assassin. Danny would try to stick to the personality they already had before but there's definitely slip-ups of them being like yeah this is wrong and Talia thinks they take after their father because of it. 

The first thing Danny does when they're not being monitored by their mom or the bat family is to look for Phantom. Phantom to have run away to the ghost Zone and has built a reputation as a merciless ruler. He's a good ruler and he's not a tyrant but  he doesn't have the reputation of kindness. Damien as the moral compass of the duo is really funny to me.

 There's a situation later that involves ghosts which is where Danny/Damian and Phantom meet again. I want there to be a very big misunderstanding that heroes think Phantom is obsessed with Damien but in reality they are literally other halves of a soul. Phantom keeps doing and saying things that no one else would get away with around Damien. Phantom would be saying things like making fun of his height or giving him nicknames but as far as anyone else sees Davian doesn't even flinch.

Danny/Damian and Phantom have lived Separate Lives for a while so they don't automatically fuse into one person. I think they would fuse for a few hours just to feel themselves be one Soul again but they have Separate Lives so they can't stay that way. The bat family is very concerned with Damien continuing to talk to the obsessive ghost that keeps possessing his body.

Literally whipped this up in like 10 minutes, so it's terrible. Anyway;

At age 8, it was like all of the barriers that had been erected had come down in one fell swoop.

He was Damian Al-Ghul Wayne, son of the Bat, Ibn Al Xu'ffasch. He was Danny Fenton, the hero Phantom of Amity Park, King of the Infinite Realms.

He was both. He was neither.

He was an assassin. He was half a ghost.

He was both. He was neither.

Wait. Where was Phantom? Where was his other half? Where was his counterpoint, his soul mate?

He didn’t have time to worry about him though – his personality change had been noticed, despite utilising the rigorous training that had been taught to him in this life. His Mother – Talia? Maddie? Which was his? – chalked this up to his father citing his soft heart.

Ha. What would she think if he told her that he remembered another set of memories? What would Grandfather think if he told them he was half a King?

No, best to hide the information, until he could reunite with Phantom.

He was sent to his Father, the Bat, to receive training. Who was his father? Bruce, with his mission of cleaning up Gotham? Jack, with his mission of hunting down ghosts?

Both. Neither.

Gotham, with its shadows, with its violence was as different to Amity Park as it could be. One man, and his sidekicks cleaning up the grime and the despair that seemed to fill it up to the brim. The rogues here were so different to what he was used to, to what he remembered. Joker, instead of Freakshow. Poison Ivy instead of Undergrowth. Mad Hatter instead of Nocturne.

They were so similar yet so unlike.

He grows up, looking for a moment where he can finally look for Phantom; where he can hunt down a natural portal and embark on a quest to find his wayward partner. He waits, biding his time. Phantom had waited thus far; he can wait a couple more years.

He walks through the Zone, hearing from other ghosts of a ruler who reigns over the Realms with an iron fist; a ruler who although isn’t violent isn’t kind. It makes him smile to think that he – Damian Wayne, titled ‘Demon Brat’ – is the one who was essentially the moral compass of the two.

As he gets closer to Phantom’s Keep, there is so much nostalgia, so many mementos of his old life. A telescope that he loved, a constellation that he was particularly fond of. The love that Phantom had for Danny Fenton was quite literally palpable here.

And then they meet. There is still a bond between them, despite the many years apart, despite the burden of kingship on Phantom.

They were different, sure – unable to fuse as they once could before, but they still knew each other, inside and out. They embrace, talking, crying, laughing. Something that Damian didn’t know was missing was filled in, a perpetual ache gone.

He was Damian Al-Ghul Wayne. He was Danny Fenton.

He was both. He was neither. He knew who he was.

He was one half of Danny Phantom.

Dcxdp #22

Danny's human half dying as collateral during a fight. That human half goes into reincarnation and is reborn as Damian Wayne. He isn't born with all of his memories but he definitely feels that something is wrong. they would get their Memories Back at about 8 and have a horrible time dealing with being an assassin. Danny would try to stick to the personality they already had before but there's definitely slip-ups of them being like yeah this is wrong and Talia thinks they take after their father because of it. 

The first thing Danny does when they're not being monitored by their mom or the bat family is to look for Phantom. Phantom to have run away to the ghost Zone and has built a reputation as a merciless ruler. He's a good ruler and he's not a tyrant but  he doesn't have the reputation of kindness. Damien as the moral compass of the duo is really funny to me.

 There's a situation later that involves ghosts which is where Danny/Damian and Phantom meet again. I want there to be a very big misunderstanding that heroes think Phantom is obsessed with Damien but in reality they are literally other halves of a soul. Phantom keeps doing and saying things that no one else would get away with around Damien. Phantom would be saying things like making fun of his height or giving him nicknames but as far as anyone else sees Davian doesn't even flinch.

Danny/Damian and Phantom have lived Separate Lives for a while so they don't automatically fuse into one person. I think they would fuse for a few hours just to feel themselves be one Soul again but they have Separate Lives so they can't stay that way. The bat family is very concerned with Damien continuing to talk to the obsessive ghost that keeps possessing his body.

thinking about that post of people assuming ao3 has an algorithm and also about how bonkers persistent the view is that ao3 is social media lite. like with startling regularity I get comments saying something along the lines of "it's probably weird to comment on a fic this old--" no it isn't!!!! this is an archive I am literally just assuming you searched for a selection of specific tags or sorted by kudos or looked back on my pseud or any other number of completely normal ways to use an archive site ?? kill the tiktok ghost in your brain and comment on old stuff it's NOT weird

What's my favorite pastime you ask? Absorbing the plot of a show I've never watched via fanfiction osmosis. You think I've watched that show? Wrong bitch.

I read a convoluted fanfic, looking up characters as I went and then binge read half of AO3 and determined the plot based on what stayed consistent.

I will join every fandom and not ever interact with the source material and nobody can stop me

AHHH THIS IS SO PRETTY !! THE CROWN BEING STARS?? AND LOOKING LIKE THE NORTHEN LIGHTS??

stressed about chem exams so I did a ghost king doodle to cope

your posts about Tim being the parent in his time with Bruce+ Richard's parentification + Tim always planning of being a placeholder, got me thinking

What if Tim started off like that, playing parent for Bruce, ensuring he doesn't cross any lines or overworks himself

And just never stop?

His civilian life is starting to crack, and he's doing worse than he could be, but Batman has to be taken care off

In comes Jason who tries to kill him (great another Bruce) so his workload is doubled, and also Damian who has to be untaught murder

Well it's an escalation of what he's used to, but if he can deal with Batman, he can deal with his kids, time to bust out the books on therapy and deprogramming cult teachings

Besides, he's a placeholding for the two of them until they're better like Batman, so who better to teach them the ropes than him?

Let's toss in comments here and there that will clear misunderstandings between the Bats (excluding himself— he's temporary) and what about their interactions keeps the family apart

Like boy is neglecting himself to high hell, only stopping when it's literally impossible, and barely has a civilian life, but it's worth it for Gotham's betterment and the Batfamily's stabilization

Timestream? Well shit, he has to get Bruce back as per his job of keeping the family in order but the family is either not getting better or worse,

Let him just leave a bunch of personalized self-help guides and programmed schedules that'll ensure the bats are getting better while he's away

Oh hey Ra's, midn if I secretly learn everything about how Damian grew up in this fine League of yours so I can teach Damian what is so wrong about his childhood once I'm home?

So everything is getting better post BruceQuest, Richard can be a brother more (because Tim took on his job as parent-brother), Damian and his family are able to bond and understand each other (because Tim untaught an awful upbringing) and Jason feels like a member of the family (because Tim got Jason up to speed with how much he has always been loved) plus Bruce gets to be a father with his kids (because Tim kept the man out of his otherside inevitable self-made grave)

And say Batfamily, in a miracle of communication, realize that Tim has subsumed Bruce's role as caretaker and father

Not to the entire family of course, but even parenting for one sibling or parent as a kid yourself is one too many

And they remember all the comments Tim said to help the family get better subtly suggesting everybody but Tim is family

Like he's said "Your family," never "Our"

He says "You're a Wayne, a member of their family,"

He has to be referred to as Tim and Drake, never Wayne to catch his attention

And also imagine Richard saying "You can't keep being a parent to your brothers and father" and Tim going "glass houses, *tires to parent Rich*"

"NO—"

The shit storm that would happen if the batfamily realized that Tim donned Robin with the intention of always playing parent for Bruce, and then leaving once his intervention isn't need anymore

Yes! I absolutely love the ideas you incorporated with this. I didn't manage to hit all of them in my post, but I tried to expand upon them a bit:

At first, Tim wouldn't realize that's what he's doing. He just wants to help Bruce (even if that includes taking away the Batmobile keys, locking him out of the batcomputer, and using a rewards system when the man successfully takes care of his wounds).

Tim only comes to the realization that he's Bruce's parent when the YJ are being lectured by their mentors. At this point, the team has done far more dangerous stunts and missions than whatever the JL was lecturing them about. When the mentors come, Robin allows Batman to lecture him in front of the others. Tim knows they have to keep up appearances and can listen to a hypocritical discussion from Bruce to maintain the image of Batman Tim has spent so much time propping up.

After the other mentors leave, Tim pulls Batman into a private room for a chat. Bart, fearing that Robin is getting a second lecture, almost bursts in to save Tim. He's slowed down by the glare Tim sends his way. He's stopped by the conversation he overhears.

Tim, with his hands on his hips as he glares up into the cowl, lectures Bruce on all the behavior issues the man displayed the month that the YJ were away.

Bruce is just standing there, head slightly hung, as Tim goes on.

"This is why I feel I can never get away, B. I can't even leave you for a month before your excessive force statistics skyrocket! What am I supposed to do with you?"

Bart quickly leaves as he has a mental breakdown at this discovery. Two hours later, when Batman leaves, Bart asks Robin if he's Batman's father. Tim laughs it off at first, but after Bart lays out the evidence, Tim spirals for a few days at this discovery.

Once Tim accepts that he *is* like Bruce's dad, he decides to just embrace it. He and Alfred can share custody of the man-child (and this is also why Tim has the view of family that he does. His three examples of being a father are his own dad who constantly leaves, Alfred who maintains a professional distance, and Bruce who's his grieving son). Tim sees Dick as his brother, but he sees Bruce as his kid. It's confusing as hell, complicated, and Tim also doesn't see himself as part of the family at the same time.

While the teen is finally settling into his role as Bruce's parent, Jason comes back and tries to kill him. He doesn't know whether or not to laugh that Jason becomes his new responsibility at the same place Bruce officially (in Tim's mind) became Tim's.

The teen treats Jason similar to a grandson and son. He parents Bruce on how to interact with Jason, takes a few college classes and reads a few textbooks on PTSD, and interrogates LoA agents on the Pit. He slowly starts to feed them both phrases and perspectives so that they understand and interact with each other better. He almost wants to hit them both upside the head for their miscommunication.

It's not great, and Tim is so fucking tired, but they are getting closer to being a family. Tim can almost taste his retirement.

Then Damian comes into the family and tries to kill him. Tim wants to scream.

Damian isn't exactly friendly to Tim, but the teen spots a breakthrough when he catches how Dick and Damian interact. He, in what he later calls foolishly, drops some of the weight onto Dick's shoulders. Tim's tired trying to wrangle both Jason and Bruce into somewhat, even unhealthily, communicating with each other.

Then Bruce dies. It's unfair because Tim has lost someone who's both his son and his father to him. No one except Cassie could know about the amount of grief Tim is under because of that. Cassie, who Tim isn't talking to after the whole basement scientist cloning thing.

So, Tim finds evidence that Bruce is alive. He watches as Dick cracks under the weight of Batman and being a father to Damian. He's hurt (oh gods does it burn to lose his self-made but suffocating role that ties him to Bruce), but he understands why Dick gives Damian Robin.

Tim leaves, and he starts to discover himself. He became an adoptive father at thirteen. For once, even though he's heavily lost in the thralls of grief, he's free of that responsibility. He only has to take care of himself (an exhausting task he's never quite accomplished before) and he doesn't rely on anyone.

Still, despite his freedom, he sees Ra's offer for what it is. It's an opportunity to learn more about Damian. Bruce will need Tim's support when he returns, after all. If he takes down Ra's both for himself and Damian, that's neither here nor there.

When Bruce finally returns home, Tim starts to see his retirement again. He sees the progress he's enacting out of the family in all of their relationships. Like Tim's messy relationship with Bruce, Dick is both a father and brother to Damian. Jason and Bruce will occasionally meet at a diner. Damian and Bruce will have father-child outings outside of Batman and Robin. Cass returns home more often. Steph barges into the Manor for food or bugs different Bats on patrol. Babs is able to take time for herself outside of wrangling the Bats together. Duke is starting to join the family, but Tim doesn't imagine too much tension or difficulty with that transition. They'll be fine without him.

It's looking up. Tim can leave behind his the Wayne family.

Then Damian points out how Tim often uses "your" or "their" instead of "our" family.

Godsdamnit.

A year's worth of progress! Instead of doing a straightforward redraw I decided to improve upon the original concept by drawing sequences instead of singular poses. I don't enjoy redrawing old work beat for beat, so this reflects my current skills more effectively and also does the concept better justice than what I was capable of last year!

The 2023 art

Reading amazing fanfiction, then forgetting to bookmark it

request from @devine-fem prompted by her post!

*you opening the love letter* what does your damijon look like, pls pls pls pls pls pls pls, i know it would be so cute, i just know it 🙏🙏🙏

here you go! thank you for the ask, this was a lot of fun to do! they're working on a case together ^^

It's been a while since I painted ghost king Danny. I went with the aurora borealis crown this time. Also more animation experimentation with 2d and 3d stuff.

I struggled with the background a bit. Below is an alternative version, I can't decide what looks better.

I love your Poseidon, he's like that... A pretty.

These blue-black long luxurious hair, elegant beard, weightless clothes, semi-nudity, strong, slender body, small slutty waist, cute face, these little earrings...

even his horse form is beautiful!!

Pelops, I understand you so well and I envy you with white envy.

I made this just for you.

PSA: Don't use Open Office

I keep seeing people recommending Open Office as an alternative to Word, and uh... look, it is, technically, an open source alternative to Word. And it can do a lot of what Word can, genuinely! But it is also an abandoned project that hasn't been updated in nine years, and there's an active fork of it which is still receiving updates, and that fork is called LibreOffice, and it's fantastic.

Seriously, if you think that your choices are either "grit your teeth and pay Microsoft for a subscription" or "support free software but have a kind of subpar office suite experience", I guarantee that it's because you're working with outdated information, or outdated software. Most people I know who have used the latest version of LibreOffice prefer it to Word. I even know a handful of people who prefer it to Scrivener.

Open Office was the original project, and so it has the most name recognition, and as far as I can tell, that's really the only reason people are still recommending it. It's kind of like if people were saying "hey, the iPhone 14 isn't your only smart phone option!" but then were only ever recommending the Samsung Galaxy S5 as an alternative. LibreOffice is literally a version of the same exact program as Open Office that's just newer and better – please don't get locked into using a worse tool just because the updated version of the program has a different name!

so,, sad 😔

Captain...

“But if you forget to reblog Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity.”

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

Time for some BatPham and DPxDC fic recs

I got a comment asking for some recs and I thought it’ll be easier to have a masterlist or something in my tumblr and link that

SOOOOO I asked the BatPham server for recs and I’ll just slap them here and add some that come to my mind in no particular order because it’s 4:20 am (blaze it)(not really, kids, dont smoke) and ill comment some ive read personally

cheers!!!!

Now with Part 2!

Keep reading

Soul-Stitching: The Heir and the Guardian

Synopsis

"I don't think much explanation is needed; the defendant is undoubtedly the villain Hawkmoth!”

An uproar reverberates in the courtroom which the judge silences again.

“That does seem conclusive.” The judge nods. “Does the defense have anything to say?”

“Yes.” Adrien takes the floor, holding up a piece of paper and putting one hand on his hip. “I think we're missing one big point here.” He points at the TV screen, which switches to a masked photo of Hawkmoth. “This is Hawkmoth! He's a grown man and no way a young woman, much less my client. You say that you found evidence in my client's apartment, which could just be circumstantial evidence. The butterflies? My client might be an entomologist.”

-

Step 1: Be accused of terrorizing Paris with magical butterflies

Step 2: Watch Paris fall into chaos

Step 3: Watch the Justice League fall into chaos

Step 4: Attend court trial and-

have Adrien Agreste as your defense attorney?!

[Inspired by #8024 by SimplyAnotherWriter]

Chapter Masterlist

chapter 1: the assassin and his servant

chapter 2: the innocent and the guilty

chapter 3: to remember and forget

chapter 4: freedom and imprisonment

chapter 5: death and revival

Writing Prompt #12

Bruce is reading the paper when the pour of Tim's coffee goes abruptly quiet. It would be hard to pinpoint why this is disturbing if it wasn't for the way the soft, tinny sound the vent system in the manor makes cuts out for the first time since being updated in the 90s. The pour, Bruce realizes, has not slowed to a trickle before stopping. It has simply stopped. And there is no overeager clack of a the mug against the marble counter or the uncouth first slurp (nor muttered apology at Alfred's scolding look) immediately following the end of the pour.

Bruce fights the instinct to use all of his senses to investigate, and instead keeps his eyes on the byline of the article detailing the latest set of microearthquakes to hit the midwest in the last week. Microearthquakes aren't an unusual occurrence and aren't noticeable by human standards, which is why this article is regulated to page seven, but from several hundred a day worldwide to several hundred a day solely in the East North Central States, seismologists are baffled.

Bruce had been considering sending Superman to investigate under the guise of a Daily Planet article requested by Bruce Wayne (Wayne Industries does have an offshoot factory in the area) when everything had stopped twenty seconds ago. That is what he assumes has happened (having not moved a muscle to confirm) in the amount of time he assumes has passed. His million dollar Rolex does not quite audibly tick but in the absolute silence it should be heard, which confirms the silence to be exactly that—absolute.

While Bruce can hold his breath with the best of the Olympian swimmers, he has never accounted for a need to remain without blinking without being able to move one's eyes. Rotating the eyeballs will maintain lubrication such that one could go without blinking for up to ten minutes. But staring at the byline fixedly, he estimates another twenty seconds before tears start to form.

These are the thoughts Bruce distracts himself with, because he doesn't dare consider how Tim and Alfred haven't made a (living) sound in the past forty-five seconds. About Damian, packing his bag upstairs for school after a morning walk with Titus that was "just pushing it, Master Damian".

There is a knife to his right, if memory serves (it does). In the next five seconds—

"Your wards and guardian are fine, Mr. Wayne," the deepest voice Bruce has ever heard intones. For a dizzying moment, it is hard to pinpoint the location of the voice, for it comes from everywhere—like the chiming of a clocktower whilst inside the tower, so overpowering he is cocooned in its volume.

But it is not spoken loudly, just calmly, and when he puts the paper down, folds it, and looks to his right, a blue man sits in Dick's chair.

He wears a three piece suit made entirely of hues of violet, tie included. He has a black brooch in the shape of a cogwheel pinned to his chest pocket, a simple chain clipped to his lapel. Black leather gloves delicately thumb Bruce's watch (no longer on his wrist, somewhere between second 45 and 46 it has stopped being on his wrist), admiring it.

"You'll forgive me," the man says with surety. "Clocks are rather my thing, and this is an impressive piece." He turns it over and reveals the 'M. Brando' roughly scratched into the silver back. He frowns.

"What a shame," he says, placing it face side up on the table.

"Most would consider that the watch's most valuable characteristic." Bruce says, voice steady, hands neatly folded before him. Two inches from the knife. To his left, there is an open doorway to the kitchen. If he turns his head, he might be able to get a glance of Tim or Alfred.

He doesn't look away from the man.

"It is the arrogance of man," the man says, raising red eyes (sclera and all) to Bruce, "to think they can make their mark on time."

"...Is that supposed to be considered so literally?" Bruce asks, with a light smile he does not mean.

The man smiles lightly back, eyes crinkling at the corners. He looks to be in his mid thirties, clean-shaven. His skin is a dull blue, his hair a shock of white, and a jagged scar runs through one eye and curving down the side of his cheek, an even darker, rawer shade of blue-purple.

The man turns the watch back over and taps at the engraving. "Let me ask you this," he says. "When we deface a work of art, does it become part of the art? Does it add to its intrinsic meaning?"

Bruce forces his shoulders to shrug. "It's arbitrary," he says. "A teenager inscribes his name on the wall of an Ancient Egyptian temple and his parents are forced to publicly apologize. But runic inscriptions are found on the Hagia Sophia that equate to an errant Viking guard having inscribed 'Halfdan was here' and we consider it an artifact of a time in which the Byzantine Empire had established an alliance with the Norse and converted vikings to Christianity."

"The vikings were as errant as the teenager," the man says, "in my experience." He leans back in his chair. "I suppose you could say the difference is time. When time passes, we start to think of things as artistic, or historical. We find the beauty in even the rubble, or at least we find necessity in the destruction..."

He offers Bruce the watch. After a moment, Bruce takes it.

"The problem, Mr. Wayne, is that time does not pass for me. I see it all as it was, as it is, as it ever will be, at all times. There is no refuge from the horror or comfort in that one day..." he closes his hand, the leather squeaking. And then his face smooths out, the brief severity gone. He regards Bruce calmly.

"You can look left, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce looks left. Framed by the doorway, Tim looks like a photograph caught in time. A stream of coffee escapes the spout of the stainless steel pot he prefers over the Breville in the name of expediency, frozen as it makes its way to the thermos proclaiming BITCH I MIGHTWING. Tim regards his task with a face of mindless concentration, mouth slack, lashes in dark relief against his pale skin as he looks down at the mug. Behind him, Bruce can see Alfred's hand outstretched towards the refrigerator handle, equally and terrifyingly still.

"My name is Clockwork," the man says. "I have other names, ones you undoubtedly know, but this one will be bestowed upon me from the mouth of a child I cherish, and so I favor it above all else. I am the Keeper of Time."

"What do you want from me?" Bruce asks, shedding Wayne for Batman in the time it takes to meet Clockwork's eyes. The man acknowledges the change with a greeting nod.

"In a few days time, you will send Superman to the Midwest to investigate the unusual seismic activity. By then, it will be too late, the activity will be gone. They will have already muzzled him."

"Him."

"There is a boy with the power to rule the realm I come from. Your government has been watching him. The day he turned 18, they took him from his family and hid him away. I want you to retrieve him. I want you to do it today."

"Why me?"

"His parents do not have the resources you do, both as Batman and Bruce Wayne. You will dismantle the organization that is keen on keeping him imprisoned, and you will offer him a scholarship to the local University. You and yours will keep him safe within Gotham until he is able to take his place as my King."

This is a lot of information to take in, even for Bruce. The idea that there could be a boy powerful enough to rule over this (god, his mind whispers) entity and that somehow, he has slipped under all of their radars is as frustrating as it is overwhelming. But although Clockwork has seemed willing to converse, he doesn't know how many more questions he will get.

"You have the power to stop time," he decides on, "why don't you rescue him? Would he not be better suited with you and your people?"

"Within every monarchy, there is a court," Clockwork. "Mine will be unhappy with the choice I have made," he looks at Bruce's watch, head cocked. "In different worlds, they call you the Dark Knight. This will be your chance to serve before a True King."

Bruce bristles. "I bow to no one."

"You'll all serve him, one day," Clockwork says, patiently. "He is the ruler of realms where all souls go, new and old. When you finally take refuge, he will be your sanctuary." He frowns. "But your government rejects the idea of gods. All they know is he is other. Not human. Not meta. A weapon."

"A weapon you want me to bring to my city."

"I believe you call one of your weapons 'Clark', do you not?" Clockwork asks idly. "But you misunderstand me. They seek to weaponize him. He is not restrained for your safety, but for their gain."

"And if I don't take him?" Bruce asks, because a) Clockwork has implied he will be at the very least impeded, at worst destroyed over this, and b) he never did quite learn not to poke the bear. "You won't be around if I decide he's better off with the government."

"You will," Clockwork says, with the same certainty he's wielded this entire conversation. "Not because he is a child, though he is, nor because you are good, though you are, nor even because it is better power be close at hand than afar.

"I have told you my court will be unhappy with me. In truth, there are others who also defend the King. Together we will destroy the access to our world not long after this conversation. The court will be unable to touch him, but neither will we as we face the repercussions for our actions. I am telling you this, because in a timeline where I do not, you think I will be there to protect him. And so when he is in danger, even subconsciously, you choose to save him last, or not at all. And that is the wrong choice.

"So cement it in your head, Bruce Wayne," the man says, "You will go to him because I tell you to. And you will keep him safe until he is ready to return to us. He will find no safety net in me. So you will make the right choice, no matter the cost."

"Or, when our worlds connect again, and they will," his voice now echoes in triplicate with the voices of the many, the young, the old, Tim, Bruce's mother, Barry Allen, Bruce's own voice, "I will not be the only one who comes for you."

"Now," he says, producing a Wayne Industries branded BIC pen. "I will tell you the location the boy is being kept, and then I would like my medallion back, please. In that order."

Bruce glances down and sees a golden talisman, attached to a black ribbon that is draped haphazardly around the neck of his bathrobe, so light (too light, he still should have—) he has not felt its weight until this moment.

Bruce flips the paper over, takes the pen, and jots down the coordinates the being rattles off over the face of a senator. By his calculation, they do correspond with a location in the midwest.

"You will find him on B6. Take a left down the hallway and he will be in the third room down, the one with a reinforced steel door. Take Mr. Kent and Mr. Grayson with you, and when you leave take the staircase at the end of the hallway, not the elevator."

The man gets up, dusts off his impeccably clean pants, and offers him a hand to shake.

"We will not meet again for some time, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce looks at the creature, stands, and shakes his hand. It feels like nothing. The Keeper of Time sighs, although nothing has been said.

"Ask your question, Mr. Wayne."

"I have more than one."

"You do," Clockwork says. "But I have heard them all, and so they are one. Please ask, or I will not be inclined to answer it."

"What does this boy mean for the future, that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for him?"

There is a pause.

"So that is the one," Clockwork says, after a time. "Yes. I see. I should resolve this, I suppose."

"Resolve what?"

"It is not his future I mean to protect," the man says. "It is his present."

"You want to keep him safe now..." Bruce says, but he's not sure what the being is trying to say.

"I am not inclined," Clockwork repeats, stops. His expression turns solemn, red eyes widening. In their reflection, Bruce can see something. A rush of movement too quick to make heads or tails of, like playing fast forward on a videotape. "Superman reports no signs of unusual seismic activity. With nothing further to look into, you let it go in favor of other investigative pursuits. You do not find him, as you are not meant to. He stays there. His family, his friends, they cannot find him. His captors tell him they have moved on. He does not believe them, until he does. He stays there. He stays there until he is strong enough to save himself."

Clockwork speaks stiffly, rattling off the chain of events as if reading a Justice League debrief. "He is King. He will always be King. He is strong, and good, and compassionate, and he is great for my people because yours have betrayed his trust beyond repair. He throws himself into being the best to ever Be, because there is nothing Left for him otherwise. We love him. We love him. We love him. My King. Forevermore."

The red film in his eyes stall out, and Bruce is forced to look away from how bright the image is, barely making out a silhouette before they dull back to their regular red.

"I am not inclined," Clockwork says slowly, "To this future."

"Because of what it means in the present," Bruce finishes for him. "They're not just imprisoning him, are they."

"They will have already muzzled him."

Clockworks is right in front of him faster than he can process, fist gripping the medallion at his neck so tight he now feels the ribbon digging into his skin.

"Unlike you, Mr. Wayne," and for the first time, the god is angry, and the image of it will haunt Bruce for the rest of his life, "I do not believe in building a better future on the back of a broken child."

"Find him," the deity orders, and yanks the necklace so hard the ribbon rips—

Clack!

"sluuuuurp!"

"Master Timothy, honestly!"

"Sorry Alfred!"

OK I have this idea.

Danny Phantom and justice league crossover except the JL are convinced that Danny and Phantom are two different people. They assume it’s like a Dr Fate or an Exhantress scenario except more consensual and stuff. And because Danny offhandly said that one time he’s separated into Danny and Phantom but fused back at the end of the day, they further believe it.

They also met both “identities.” Fenton was a sort of shy more awkward teen but seemed more resourceful and technologically-based. He slouches and he’s your every day average teen aside from all the ghost bull. Now Phantom? He was braver, he was sassier, he always leapt first into danger. Our of the two, Phantom is the more immature one.

Of course, this is because of years of identity hiding that Danny has a difference stance. And as Fenton, he had to be more resourceful since it typically meant he didn’t have time to transform to Phantom. There’s more strategy. He’s reckless as Phantom since he knows he can take it. Often enough, he doesn’t need to rely on tech and is in high-hostility events that he needs to save people.

This misunderstanding carries on until someone in the League has a question on ghosts and wants Fenton’s input.

“Hey, can you tell me about ectoplasmic weapon cores?” Barry asks. The latest villain has this glowing weapon that Barry swears smells like ectoplasm. (Don’t ask why he knows the smell. They don’t talk about that incident.)

Phantom is startled out of his daydream. “Oh-? Uh- Ectoplasm weapons? Yeah I can tell you-“

Misunderstanding the confusion as stupidity, Barry goes, “Is it okay if I have this, um, conversation wi- Could you transform to Fenton?”

Phantom furrows his brow. “Why? I can answer whatever question you have like this.”

Barry doesn’t know how to explain that he doesn’t trust Phantom’s expertise compared to Fenton’s. A fairly wild thing to think when Phantom was the ghost between the two.

“It would… help me more if you were Fenton?” Barry tried to articulate.

Phantom, far too bewildered and damn exhausted, gives up and transforms. Some energy returns as he no longer needs to maintain ghost form. Barry visibly relaxes and rattles on what ectoplasm can do within a weapon.

It’s when Danny’s staring up to his bedroom ceiling, hours after the event, that he thinks up why it happened.

“Oh Ancients, Flash hates ghosts.”

———

Further after misunderstandings are cleared ->

Danny nudges Superman. “Can you believe that Flash thought I was two separate beings? Like Fenton and Phantom weren’t the same person?”

Superman blinks. “You’re not?”

“I-? How did you not know!?”

“You don’t have a heartbeat as Phantom!”

“I can stop it when I’m human too!”

“I thought it was a ghostly side effect!”

-

Danny flops on the couch of the JL lounge room. “Both Supes and Flash thought I was some Etrigan type with two people in the same body. I can’t believe their that stupid.”

Green Lantern, there for the complimentary fruit gummies, looks at Danny confused. “Wait- what do you mean?”

Danny death stares Lantern. “Don’t tell me- Do you think Fenton and Phantom are different people?”

GL, unwilling to admit that he was wrong, lies, “Of course not. They’re the same person in the same body. Everyone knows that.”

Danny continues staring until GL breaks (damn those creepy eyes).

“It’s your fault for tricking us,” GL accuses, still unwilling to back down.

Danny just groans that these were the people who were earth’s protectors.

-

“Aquaman, who do you like better: Fenton or Phantom?”

“Why, while I enjoy Fenton’s company, you are our main companion in battle and-“

“Stop there, you don’t know that we’re the same person.” Danny was too frustrated to even ask. “Fenton is just my secret identity.”

Aquaman blinks the same way Superman did. “A ghost doesn’t need a secret identity.”

Danny thinks he’ll scream. “Neither does Superman, yet he does.”

“But you don’t need one. I- Could I have this conversation with Fenton? He can explain this better.”

The argument continued the same way with the others.

-

“Hey Bats, you know-?”

“Yes. Hostage situation in Coast City. Be there within the next ten minutes.”

-

Wonder Woman pets his head and says, “You always have a warrior’s spirit, young one. That about you never changes.”

Danny tears up a little.