That's right, you read that correctly, we're officially bringing Patrol Partners back for our second year! We thought long and hard, took the feedback from last year's participants to heart, and have made a number of changes that will hopefully help things run smoother this year. Some of those changes include how signups and team assignments will be handled, others include how check-ins will be managed, and others still include how things are handled behind the mod curtain. We will be sending out more details on all of that shortly, including an updated "Meet the Mods" post and "FAQ" post, so keep an eye out for those!
For now, here's the dates you need to know:
Server and signups open June 3rd at 12am CEST
Signups close June 17th at 12am CEST
Team announcements on June 24th at 12 CEST
Event opens on July 1st
Event closes on July 31st
We will have another AO3 collection set up by August 1st, with posting instructions posted in the server for Tumblr, AO3, and FFN.
If you have any questions, check the FAQs or send us an ask!
Good day everyone!!! Ship Week 2024 is happening!!!
This year organization and prompts will be done a little bit different, so we're putting together this masterpost with information to centralize everything you need to know đ„°
Timeline
January 11th - January 18th -> Suggestions for dynamics and long prompts
January 19th - January 21st -> Release the prompts
February 12th - February 18th -> Ship Week!!!!!
How will prompts work?
This year every day there will be a ship dynamic + long prompt + theme. You'll suggest the dynamic and long prompts, and the theme will be a special surprise!
We are trying something new this year so it's gonna take a bit of time to arrange.
You don't have to use all for your creation. Pick and choose - just 1, 2, 3 or none! Completely up to you.
Tags to use
#DPxDCShipWeek2024
#DPxDCShipWeek
#dpxdc <- This one ALWAYS
Q&A
What kind of works are allowed?
Any! Writing, art, gifset, edits, music, moodboards, etc. All are welcome.
Will there be a AO3 Collection?
Yes. We encourage you to post your creation in the collection, be it art, audio, writing or gifs. If it can be uploaded to AO3, it can be in the Collection.
Will link the collection here when it's created.
Can I tag you when I post in Tumblr?
Yes! That way we can find your work faster.
Can I post out of order?
Yes, as long as you don't post for future prompts.
Can I make content that could fall into M (mature)/E (explicit) categories?
Yes. Tag properly if you do, or we won't reblog your work.
We are planing on a +18 NSFW Ship Week event as well, Ship Week After Dark, so if you plan on making that kind of content you may want to check it out instead!
Can I use ace/aro/aspec characters and dynamics?
Yes! This event is about all representation of ships and dynamics, including the ones in the aroacespec. Headcanon and Canon aroacespec are welcomed and encouraged.
Suggestion Forms
Here's the forms to suggest prompts for the DPxDC Ship Week 2024!!!
Every day there will be 3 prompts: A dynamic + A long prompt + A theme
You really don't need to imagine it, have you ever counted how many buildings in a street are actually accessible? IT'S NOT A LOT YO.
Inherited inequalities work fairly similar in many places, sure, but you really don't need to imagine some exaggeratedly malicious hate towards the handicapped to make a point. The exaggeratedly malicious hate towards the handicapped is very much there and you can see it everywhere if you remember to look
Hi everyone! By this point you all know the glyphs from A Glitch In Time. There is a team of us (running this blog and beyond) who have recently started creating a spoken form of the language, as well as a phonetic version, because we think it would be really cool!
if youâre interested in joining us, or learning the language as we go, please fill out the form below! For more information, follow this blog! Weâll be working on stuff and posting updates here when we can.
Once you fill out this form, weâll contact you with a link to the discord, where you can find all of the super cool stuff weâve been working on!
Thanks for showing interest in helping us create a new language, just for us!
@stealingyourbones you mentioned wanting to be pinged :D
Despite having difficulty with controlling his transformations, Tim hasn't experienced any other major difficulties with his heritage. Sure, he's got some new lizard like quirks, but nothing in his personality has significantly changed.
That's what he thinks until he encounters his first dragon.
He's summoned to a deserted warehouse by Bruce, Jason, and Damian. The three had just busted a Black Market exchange that involved magical animals and they needed his help with one particular creature.
He agrees, he doesn't mind helping, but he can't stop feeling like something bad is going to happen. The closer he gets the warehouse, the worse it gets, and by the time he's outside the building, dark, billowing plumes of smoker are wafting from the corner of his lips.
He doesn't understand what the hell is wrong with him, but all he knows is that something inside this place makes him really, really angry. Taking a deep breath, he tries his best to briskly walk in and act totally unaffected.
Damian, Bruce, and Jason are standing next to a rather large cage and gesture for him to come over. He does, until he see what exactly is nestled behind the bars. A red dragon.
white, hot rage fills his chest and Tim's never changed form so fast in his life. A bellowing roar rips from his throat as fire spills from his jaws. The dragon makes a horrid shriek and slams into the back of the cage, trying it's best to put as much distance as it can between itself and Tim.
Tim wants nothing more than break into that feeble cage and tear the frantic beast apart but he doesn't really get a chance too. Bruce throws a smoke grenade, starting Tim enough for Jason to barrel into him, pick him up like some oversized dog, and dart out the building.
It takes Tim a moment to collect himself and change back into human as Jason tries to regain his breath beside him. "We called you over here to see if you could talk to the damn thing! Not eviscerate it's guts and burn it to crisp!" Jason snaps. He trying to sound nonchalant but Tim can still hear the concern hidden in his voice.
Tim can only let out a small, nervous laugh. "Sorry Hood. Looks like Drakes and Dragons don't get along well."
((Drakes and Dragons do not mix in this AU. While dragons were somewhat big, they were more nimble than Drakes and could fly. However Drake were WAY bigger, way tougher, and way more aggressive. In fact most dragon deaths were caused by Drakes.))
So. I'm not a nitpicking person. I understand that mistakes can be made and typos are a thing and sometimes we are just not the kind of person that can make words work for a variety of reasons (dyslexia, for example).
This is not for that people.
This is for everyone who stumbled into this fandom by mistake and had learned things via osmosis and don't have the energy/time to check the source material for the "correct" thing.
Y'all are valid.
This is a cheat sheet of correct terms and fandom things that are not correct that I've seen in fics.
Disclaimer: while experimenting with canon is fun, this is just to lay down the rules of what's what so it can be the springboard of y'all's beautiful creations.
Given that some people just can't behave online: "If you don't have anything constructive to say, don't say anything." Did I say something wrong? You have resources better than this? You want to make a nitpick? Cool! More info to the mix â But come at me in a hurtful and insulting way and I'm blocking you on the spot.
[Will add more when I think more/have suggestions]
DP SIDE
Sam is Jewish
Sam is ultra-recyclo-vegetarian aka "doesn't eat anything with a face". Is not a real thing.
It's "Amity Park" not "Amity Ville".
Wes is fanon, same as Kyle. Info on Wes here
It's "Casper High", not "Caspar High".
Mr. Lancer doesn't have a canon name. Common fanon ones are William or Edward.
Ghost obsessions are fanon.
Same with ghost cores, which are fanon-ish (there is a mention that Danny's ice powers come from his "core" and is never addressed again, of course) (Episode is "Urban Jungle").
Danny beats the Ghost King Pariah Dark in combat, but faints and that fight is never addressed in the series again. Ghost King!Danny is fanon-ish so go ham with interpreting that. (Episode is "Reign Storm")
Tucker is the reincarnation?? (never stated in canon, but he does look alike) of a pharaoh named "Duul Aman" (Duulaman is also accepted as spelling). Said pharaoh never appears in the series as a ghost, just a picture. Who does appear is his (evil) right hand man, Hotep-Ra, who tries to manipulate Tucker (Episode is "King Tuck"). That Tucker gets cool magic from this event is fanon. But cool.
Sam gets possesed by Undergrowth via a vine straight into her spine (gross). Undergrowth calls her "his daughter" and she tries to lure Danny into "joining her to take over the world". (Episode is "Urban Jungle"). That Sam gets cool plant powers from this event is fanon. But cool.
The Fenton parents are never physically abusive - just comedically neglectful in the way parents are depicted in early 2000s cartoons. Incompetent, misguided, dumb... but they are shown to love their kids. The even accept Danny the 2 canon times they find out about him (Episodes "Reality Trip" and "Phantom Planet").
Jazz is never shown as "mature" in the sense that she had to parent Danny and be the responsible adult. She is comedically the "annoying and meddling older sister" from early 2000s cartoons. She wants to be considered an adult. She couldn't see Youngblood, who is a child ghost that cannot be seen by adults, and Danny had to push her into acting childish to make her see him.
Axiom labs is bought by Vlad's company "Vlad.co" not "DALV.co". DALV.co was the fake company that paid for Maddie and Danny to fly to a conference but stranded them in a forest where Vlad's cabin coincidentally was. (Episode "Maternal Instincts")
Dan is not even older Danny. He is not even called "Dan" in canon, just "Dark Danny". He is Danny's ghost half, who killed his human half, ate/merged with Vlad's ghost side and then tried to kill Vlad's human side. Was losing his humanity what made him evil? Was it merging with the Bad Guy(tm) of the series? đ€·ââïž Take it as you will. (Episode is "The Ultimate Enemy")
DC SIDE
Damian (not Damien or Demian) is never confirmed his religion. Fanon has accepted he is Muslim.
Bruce is from a Jewish family (Martha Wayne was Jewish), but he considers himself an atheist. Same with Kate Kane (Batwoman).
It's "Selina" Kyle, not "Selena" or "Salina".
It's "Talia" Al Ghul, not "Thalia".
It's "Jason", not "Jayson".
Damian is vegetarian, not vegan. It means he doesn't eat meat, but eats animal produces like eggs, milk, etc. He went vegetarian after rescuing Batcow from a slaughterhouse, he didn't arrive at the manor already being vegetarian.
Duke is NOT adopted. Bruce is fostering him temporarily and is more of a mentor to him than a father. Duke considers the others his siblings, though. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DUKE: Part 1 | Part 2
Dick was not adopted as a kid, Dick was Burce's ward. That term is not used anymore, though. Adoption happened later in Dick's adulthood.
It's Gotham, not "Gothem".
Cassandra IS adopted. Legally.
Cassandra's nickname is "Cass", not "Cassie". Cassie is the nickname of another character also named Cassandra (Cassandra Sandsmark, Wondergirl)
"Little Wing" is a canon nickname for Jason from Dick.
"Baby bird" or "Baby bat" are fanon-ish(?). Little Wing, Dickie, Dickie-bird... Canon! Jaylad is not canon, but Jaybird is canon! A GREAT post with receipts about all nicknames. ("Replacement" isn't canon btw).
Stephanie Brown was the 4th Robin. She is not adopted, and was part of the batfamily because she was dating Tim. She is still considered batfamily even if they are not dating anymore.
In Hush, when Jason comes back to Gotham, Jason puts a knife on Tim's throat, but barely leaves a cut. Tim's throat wasn't injured during the Titans Tower attack.
Cass is selectively mute because she wasn't taught any language beyond what she needed to predict people's movements. She doesn't know sign language. She doesn't know how to read and write (more recent comics show her reading a bit). But she could learn, with difficulty. Very in depth analysis of Cass' disability.
Jason's "Pit Madness" is fanon. Canon offers Ra's saying "the Pit alters the mind - could happen for a few days or for years, you never know" or something like that, and that's it. There is reason to believe that the Lazarus Pit can cloud judgement for a while but there is no voice in the back of the head or the Pit taking over.
Tim never expressed special interest in photography or in it as a hobby. Nor he is a coffee addict more than the other bats, who pull all nighters on the reg. He is actually addicted to energy drinks.
There are 2 main Conner/Kon-El/Superboy I portrayed in fics: Young Justice cartoon one (grumpy, same age as Dick, kind of an asshole, has daddy issues, wears black shirt and jeans, has a space motorcycle and a pet wolf) and 90s comics one (leather jacket, piercings, punny guy, same age as Tim, has a #nohomo relationship with Tim, kind of a himbo).
There are a few Ghost superheroes - Greta Hayes (Secret), she was in Tim's run as Young Justice's leader; and Boston Brand (Deadman), who is a member of Justice League Dark (with Constantine and Zatanna and Swamp Thing!). So the DC heroes are familiar with ghosts and ghost powers.
It's "rogues" gallery, not "rouge". Rouge means "red" in french.
Clark is never abusive to Conner, he just doesn't know what to do with him and chooses to ignore the problem; which, yeah, is mean, but not to the levels that fanon has taken it. And this is in the Young Justice cartoons, not across all depictions. In comics, they consider each other family and that's why Conner took a kryptonian name (Kon-El - of house of El, Kal's family)
The whole "No metas in Gotham" is not true. Batman understands that Gotham is very Fucked Up and that if you add metahumans and heroes with powers trying to do good to the mix it could make things worse. Outsiders don't understand Gotham and if they get jokerized or mind controlled, it will get ugly real quick. That's why Signal is cool beans! Duke is a gothamite through and through.
While is interesting that no one in the Batfam knows about Tim's missing spleen, is very probable that Alfred knows - post about this
Constantine is more powerful than it looks like. A post about interesting abilities.
Damian has a metal spine. Yeah I don't know how it works either. They used it as way for Talia to control Damian for a bit :(
Interesting links:
What's fanon in DP
Transcripts of all the Danny Phantom episodes
The whole DP series + the complementary comics
How to pronounce Ra's Al Ghul
BatPham ship names (updated regularly).
What are the canon ages of the Batfam?
In depth guide to everything Batman in one place (be prepared to go down the rabbit hole)
Fanon vs Canon Batfam edition
Superfam family tree
Interactive map of Gotham (Gotham Knights videogame)
Timeline of events (Batfam adoption order and ages when those events happen)
Map of Gotham (made based on various sources, with annotations (check the reblogs for more info))
---
Suggestions are welcome! Please be kind with each other and remember to have fun with this fandom!
would you watch a video recording of tumblr's bug triage meeting?
yes
no
Voting ended onJun 29, 2023
what's a bug triage meeting? it's a bunch of people in a video call looking at recently filed bug tickets, assessing the severity, and setting the priority.
sometimes there are interesting bugs! sometimes there are boring bugs! sometimes there are bugs that are not actually bugs!
disclaimer! we'd probably have to record the meeting + remove sensitive information instead of streaming it live. this idea came up in yesterday's triage meeting and we haven't figured out the details yet đ
this would be very funny and maybe help dispel the notion that we just don't care about bugs / aren't working on them. we literally meet every week and go over dozens and dozens of tickets, and almost just as many get resolved every week. what you see on @changes is only a small glimpse of all the work we do.
Hi there! My Ao3 is Jayden_Writes! I havenât been super active lately (read:havenât written in months) but Iâll be around again soon! Thanks for the ask.
This was Ordered Reported on May 4th to the floor of the Senate, meaning it cleared committee.
It is unconscionable that at a time when women, girls, trans folks, and other marginalized communities are being persecuted in GOP-led states for exercising bodily autonomy and their right to seek information and travel for Congress to enact a law that threatens the right to privacy and which weakens people's ability to use encryption to protect that privacy.
Far from protecting vulnerable children, this law will make it easier for unscrupulous police departments to implement dragnet searches to punish women who seek information on contraception, and will make it much harder for teens especially to access reproductive care without fear of retaliation, and will further have a chilling effect that will cause more suffering and death of the kind we are already seeing in the post-Roe environment.
It will also make it easier for the GOP to continue their anti-trans witch hunt, as basic sexual education material is already being characterized as a criminal act in states like Florida and Tennessee, and the loss of privacy protections will make it easier to prosecute people for these things.
As annoying and banal as interacting with your reps' staff can be (and make no mistake, is often is both), it CAN make a difference if enough people call in about the same issue. They do track that sort of thing, if only for their re-election campaigns, and on a bill like this which is primarily being pushed for the optics of DOING SOMETHING TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN, making enough noise can scare some of the more skittish congresscritters away from voting yes on this.
This will be the only non-poll related post on this account, as this is a pressing global issue, and I have much more reach on this account than my main. Please, if you are in a position to help oppose this, do as much as you can.
If you cannot do anything directly, I ask that you spread this as far as you can, especially to those in the USA.
By popular demand (one anon ask lmao) I've decided to make a Little Baby Men masterpost. I won't go back and add link's to all the old post's, but I'll link the masterpost in all new post's that I'll make.
The Little Baby Loop Saga (Featuring Cat Dad Jack)
Things like this is why I probably should have The Question in some prompts because this is basically his exact schtick; a hyper paranoid crackpot conspiracy theorist who is frighteningly good at detective work. I absolutely adore his character in Justice League Unlimited. (Link)
It can be some goofy aah shit like âthe Girl Scouts are the cause of crop circlesâ to genuine deep conspiracy stuff that is or isnt true. No matter the wild shit he believes, he is still an incredible detective.
Alternative prompt: Wes Weston becomes the next Question
Okay but Question is my absolute favourite DC character.
What if Wes-as-Question joined the JL as a way to get the ecto-acts undone? Maybe Amity Parkers are too liminal and all count as "too contaminated" and therefore under GIW jurisdiction. Maybe Wes is tired of Danny being at stake and just wants to be able to say "yeah he's Phantom" without bringing the GIW on him. What if Wes just decides to Ron Swanson it and take it down from the "inside" and the easiest way to dry that is through the JL?
OH OH!!! What if the GIW is a subdivision of Cadmus (I'm going off of what I remember from Justice Leage Unlimited and a smidge of Young Justice it's been so long). What if the ecto-acts were burried and scattered in multiple laws that on their own won't do much, but put together are the terrifying "any ecto-entity or ecto-contaminated must be brought or captured by the GIW for experimentation and/or disposal" that I've seen in other fics? What if when he's caught by Cadmus that he fully and actually realises how royally screwed Danny Phantom would be if caught? What if it was only his paranoia that saved him from Cadmus realising he was an Amity Parker?
Okay I couldnât stop thinking about this about broke this out in 3 or so hours. Probably out of character because it's my first danny phantom and DC fic ever, and halfway through I realised I haven't read anything with Wes so fair warning.
Post Question's capture and subsequent torture at Cadmus, he sneaks out of the watchtower to return to his hometown.
Wordcount: 815
Years have passed since he walked down Amityâs roads. Question honestly never thought heâd return; he wasnât supposed to. But heâs not Question right now. No, for all his paranoia, his desire to run and hide and never admit to his faults, he knew deep in his bones he had to be Wes for this. Amity didnât take too kindly to Outsiders, after all.
Those who saw and recognised him, well, he left Amity Park for a reason. Too long to learn to see in-between the lines. Too many attempts to out Phantom. Wes wasnât surprised to see ex-friends turn the other direction, and old classmates turn to keep a keen eye on him.
He winced as he stumbled. His injuries from Cadmus werenât healed completely. He knew they would never heal properly. He should have listened when told to stay in the Medbay, but he never was good at listening. Perhaps it was selfish, but he needed to do this.
It took too long and no time at all to end up in front of the Fenton house. And quite suddenly he realised he didnât know if Phantom Fenton was even here. Wes Question tried to keep tabs on the hero, but thereâs only so much a person can do when the whole city is a social media blackout. Wes stood there for what felt like forever before steeling himself. Never let it be said that Wes Question Wes was a coward. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
And knocked again.
And again.
Ten minutes passed and it didnât take a genius to figure out either no one was home, or no one wanted to speak with him. Wes couldnât blame them.
He wandered to a nearby park and sat on a bench. His face itched for his mask. Too long has it been since he was bare-faced with no disguise. Wes Question had cultivated his paranoia and persona for so long, it was a fight to keep calm. An obsession some might say. Not perhaps to the same level as a ghost, who needed to fulfil theirs to live (so to speak), but there was an itchâ a desire to his paranoia.
The thing most Outsiders do not understand about Amity Parkers, is that a vast majority of the town population are scarily good at reading in-between the lines and non-verbal communication, especially with other Amity Parkers. Wes had theorised it was due to all the ectoplasm exposure. Amity Park Herself was liminal, and her inhabitants could only follow. Like calls to like. And perhaps that in and of itself is why Wes was left alone on the park bench. Until Danny Phantom Fenton stood in front of him demanding in all but words why he was here.
Wesâ hands trembled, and he wondered why he was doing this again. But he felt his scars, and bared his heart and soul. âIâm sorry. I didnât understand.â Wes swallowed and looked away from Dannyâs burning gaze. âI understand now.â
There was a pregnant pause before Danny sat next to Wes. âWhat happened?â
His throat ran dry, mind struggling to stay in the now. âThe GIW is part of a group called Cadmus. They donât know.â Wes didnât explain further. He didnât need to.
They sat for a while. Wes enjoyed being able to bask in the ambient ectoplasm. He didnât realise he missed it. But eventually all good things must come to an end. Wesâ Questionâs paranoia was screaming in the back of his skull, and he knew he couldnât stay for much longer.
âFenton.â
Danny looked at Wes and the card he was holding.
âUnderstand that you are the first.â Question left town quickly after that, leaving Danny to stare at the business card.
To contact the Justice League
Call X-XXX-XXXX
It didnât take long to piece together Wes was Question, especially with Tuckerâs help.
[Line break line break line break]
Question arrived back at the watchtower in pain. He knew he pushed himself too far. The other leaguers avoided him. That was fine. His jumpiness was bound to hurt someone. Better for everyone if it was himself.
He was surprised when Batman came up in front of him. He shouldnât have been.
âWhere were you?â he demanded.
Question looked at Batman. Really looked. He saw worry, hidden deep beneath the stern exterior, and for once in his life Question Wes decided to trust an Outsider.
âDelivering a warning.â
Batman blinked, not expecting a fairly straightforward answer.
âCadmus isnât the only group after ânon-standard humansâ,â Question said before slowly making his way to his room. Ignoring Batman would most definitely come back to haunt him, but perhaps that was okay. If thereâs one thing heâs learned from being on the Justice League, itâs that sometimes you canât do things alone. Now, how to leave enough crumbs without Batman realising heâs being led to the anti-ecto acts?
That's all I got. If y'all wanna take it and run with it have at, just credit me. I alluded to a lot of things that I hope make sense, but I can explain my thoughts more. Will post on ao3 as soon as I figure a title. Feel free to recommend.
This is barely proofed, just two read throughs from transferring from paper to Google docs to here.
Hi! Welcome to the Patrol Partner eventâs Tumblr! My name is Jayden, and Iâm one of the mods here! Thereâs also Dusky, and Chimary, as well as Gil from the Batpham discord! This message is an explanation of how the event works, what it is, how to participate, etc. while it isnât required for you to read, I encourage you to at least skim through!
What is it?
Patrol Partners is a co-authoring event! The event spans the entire month of July, with sign-ups . The event is run by myself, Dusky, and Chimary, with Gil from the Batpham discord helping us run things!
Who can participate?
Just about anyone who wants to! In order to sign up, you must fill out the form, which can be found on the Patrol Partnerâs discord server. You can get an invite by one of two ways, one is by already being a member of the Batpham discord, the other is by sending us an ask. Sign-ups close on the 20th of June, and partnerships will be announced no later than the 30th of June!
When is the event?
Sign-ups will be open between May 25th - June 20th, the event takes place during the month of July; starting on the first and ending on 31st, and all writings must be submitted on or before August 8th.
Where does the event take place?
Any fandom space! You can post anything you write for the event anywhere youâd like, so long as your partner(s) agree to it. The actual event will be based out of discord and Ao3, with the actual writing process on either google docs or Microsoft word. The only rule is that the mods (mentioned above) must be able to view the story while it is in progress, and be able to contact you easily without any personal information being leaked (i.e. phone numbers, full names, personal or work emails, etc.)Â
Partners
For partnering, most of you will be assigned partners at random! You will notice a few questions about partners on the sign-up sheet, and thatâs mostly what we base partnering off of. Weâll look at your answers, and group you with people we think youâd both be compatible with, and learn from. In the event that you would like to work with a specific person, we can also try to make that happen!
IMPORTANT
Please keep in mind during all of this that this is our first time running an event like this, and that everything may not run smoothly. If there is an issue or a question you would like to take up with a mod/runner, our Tumblr asks will stay open. There will also be a discord server opening mid-may, where you can talk to other people interested in the event, ask questions, and eventually talk with your partners!
Hi, Dusky here with some last minute info! We will have posts once or twice a week until the event starts with more info as well as FAQ answers! But before I go, and because I know it will be asked, the tag "Patrol Partners Event 2023" tag is the official event tag and we will have an AO3 collection set up July 23rd for early posters.
Iâm very exited, so hereâs a little glimpse of whatâs happening! If any of yâall are interested, follow us on the tumblr because đI đđ cannot đđđ waitđđđđ
The League gets incredibly concerned that their main tech mechanic, Danny Fenton, has instances of his heart or breathing randomly stopping. His skin is cold as ice and his skin is deathly pale.
Danny didnât realize that the League doesnât look at hiring applications. If they did they would have seen that he put being a half ghost on his resume.
Batman absolutely looks at hiring applicants are you kidding me. Heâs the only not freaking out because he already knows. Itâs on the other Leaguers if they decide that they donât need to go over anything Batman does just because they know heâs a perfectionist. Him not saying anything is actually him teaching them a lesson that they ALL need to thoroughly do their jobs even if they think another member can pick up their slack
"Is it me, or are the others acting a little... weird.. around me?" Danny asked, looking up from the project he'd been working on.
Batman looked from him to his colleagues, noticing not for the first time the 'sublte' glances they were throwing Fenton's way. Unfortunately, their brand of subtlety stranded just below the level of a sledgehammer.
So of course, the kid had noticed.
"It's not you. They're just idiots."
Fenton huffed. "Yeah, but compared to you, everyone is."
Batman decided not to address that statement.
"So you know what's going on, then? Care to share?"
After sending a glare in Superman's direction, which the man finally noticed and prompty scurried off, Batman huffed: "They didn't read you resume."
Fenton froze.
"Ah."
"Hm."
"Oh no."
"Hm."
"And you-" Fenton cleared his throat, trying to rid himself of the high pitch his voice had taken, "and you didn't tell them?"
"Hn."
Fenton blinked, taking a moment to process the new information. He blinked again.
"Why?"
Batman huffed.
"Like most educations, I'm starting with teaching them how to read."
As for why Batman didn't invite Danny into the league despite reading the application.
Batman is Batman. He does extremely thorough background checks. So even though Danny didn't mention it, B absolutely finds out that Danny is a retired vigilante.
But B is also a dad. He sees this "kid" (anyone Dick's age or younger is a kid in Bruce's head) who half died because of parental negligence and was subsequently shoved face first into the night life lest he lose his home, his family, and his life.
Who just wanted to be an astronaut, but would never be eligible for NASA again due to a combination of physical abnormalities from his nonconsenual species change and poor grades due to rogue attacks eating his time.
A teenager who took up his mantle, not because he wanted to, but because no one else could. Then proceeded to carry it so well that, even as his enemies grew stronger; his fights became less destructive, his school work steadily improved until he graduated with honors, and not once in his entire 4 year stint was there a single casualty- human or ghost. And after those 4 long years fighting alone, Phantom managed to broker a peace between the two dimensions that were each half of him now.
Batman looks at Danny and sees a child who took up the burden and carried it to completion. Then hung up his cape to pursue the closest thing he could to the dream that was stolen from him at 14.
Batman knows Danny could be an invaluable asset to the team. Bruce can't bring himself to ask that of the boy.
That doesn't stop him from putting a note at the very bottom of his contingencies list.
Dick frantically scrolled through the JL database on his wrist computer, looking for a clue, even a hint of a hope that Bruce had prepared for this.
Bruce planned for everything, so surely he had planned for this: all the Justice League, incapacitated, down for the count; and the Teen Titans, not far behind them.
There must be a plan for this, but the trick was finding it.
Subroutines, contingency plans, back-up strategiesâand then he found it. Last Resort: Danny Fenton.
âŠthat couldnât be right.
Dick was pretty sure Danny Fenton was one of the tech guys on the Watchtower, maybe? Bruce had introduced Dick to him, once.Â
"This is one of our engineers, Robin. If anything happens to the station and I'm not available, ask Danny."
Danny had sort of laughed and played it off, as Dick recalled. We'd be in a sorry state indeed if Batman were unavailable, huh?
Dick couldnât think of a better phrase than 'sorry state' to describe this situation. The tower wasn't in jeopardy so much as the whole world, based on what Dick knew about Brainiac.
He decided he didnât have time to second guess whether Batman really meant Danny Fenton when he listed him as a last resort. If it were a typo, then the world was ending anyway and it wouldnât matter if Dick called Danny Fenton and Danny Fenton couldnât do anything to stop Brainiac.
But if Danny Fenton could do somethingâŠ
Dick flipped through the contact list until he found the phone number.
He tapped his foot until the call connected, relieved when he heard the somewhat vaguely familiar voice of Danny answer with, "what's wrong?"
Dick hesitated, surprised that Danny seemed to know there was a problem without knowing what it was.
âIs this Danny Fenton? Um. You might want to turn on the news...â
âIâm on vacation, we don't get the news here, and this is a âcall only in case of an emergencyâ, so please just tell me Robin: whatâs wrong?â
Dick shook his head and refocused. He should be better at this by now, not be stalling by asking stupid questionsâhow many times had Bruce gone over that with him? At least a dozenâbut he was nervous. He'd never thought he'd ever have to resort to the Absolute Last Resort.
"It's Brainiac. He's got the entire JL incapacitated, and the Titans aren't doing much better. You're listed as a last resort in Batmanâs contingency list."
His very long contingency list, Dick was sure Danny knew.
Danny sighed and muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'I should have known'. "Where?"
"We're in LA next to the Nakatomi Plaza."
"Got it."
About ten feet away from Dick, a green portal opened, and Danny stepped through.
"Huh?" Said Dick, hearing the feedback of his voice coming through Dannyâs phone.
"Do you have a back-up domino mask, Robin?" asked Danny.
Dick nodded mutely, pulling one from his utility belt.Â
This Danny was nothing like the carefree, bashful engineer Dick had met before. He was focused, calm, andâ
Dangerous wasn't the right word, but it wasnât the wrong one either.
"Tell me as much as you can about the situation in as few words as possible."
That, Dick could do. Standard Batman training.
Danny took in the information quickly and efficiently. "I see. Should be simple."
"I wouldnât underestimate Brainiacâ"
Danny placed a hand on Dickâs shoulder and offered him a small smile. "Do you trust Batman?"
"Of course."
"Then trust there's a reason I'm the last resort."
With a blink of the eye, he was off, nearly as fast as the Flash, slamming into Brainiac and lifting him off the ground with one hand.
Dick winced; heâd told Danny Brainiac used nanobots to control the JL and that avoiding touch was importantâ
Oh, and now Danny was completely wrecking Brainiacâs shit. Huh.
"Itâs assholes like you and Boston Dynamics that give all robots a bad name!" said Danny, picking the Brainiac up and slamming him into the ground.Â
âI am not a robot, I am an android of level 20ââ
âIntelligence, yada yada, I read your file, youâre a menace with a microphilia kink, join a subreddit like a normal person and get over yourself.â
Dick was honestly shocked speechless. He just said that? In the middle of a fight?
Danny held Brainiac to the ground with one hand, ice spreading and covering the robot within seconds. "How you like them apples, huh? Where I come from, we call that a blue screen of death."
Dick sighed. So Danny had cryogenic powers. Cool, but he'd told Danny Superman's ice breath hadn't worked, so why did he thinkâ
"Error: anti-glacial properties not functioning." Brainiac stared down at Danny; only his eyes and mouth seemed capable of movement. âWhat are you? Iâve never encountered your pieces before.â
Danny grinned. âIâm from a place youâve never probably never heard of before: Small Town America.
Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't scream at you until you're less than dust?"
"Because it is impossible. Recalculation in progressâ"
âHey Robin,â Danny called over, completely whelmed and traught, âwhat are the odds that this is one of his copies and not the real deal?â
âUm,â said Dick. âDo you want a specific number, orâŠ?â
âBallpark it.â
âPretty high.âÂ
âCool,â said Danny with a nod. âGot anything to say for yourself?â he asked Brainiac.
"I am beyond human comprehension."Â
âAnd yet you keep trying to put our cities in a little glass jar.â
âEven if you stop me here, Iâll be back.â
âSure, sure, classic villain line,â Danny said absently, reaching his handâŠthrough? Brainiacâs? Face? To pull out a chip?
So Danny had cryogenic abilities and matter phasing, that was fine. It might as well happen. If Superman could pull a new ability out of his ass every other week, so could anyone, right?
"Technus would love to study you, and I owe him a favor. Maybe he can fix you. I'm also pretty sure you destroyed Skulkerâs OG planet. And the Yetis. So they might want a few words with Brainiac HQ."
âI donât think he can hear you,â said Dick.
âHis nanobots are listening. Speaking of which.â Danny closed his eyes and frowned as if concentrating, and then held up a hand and created aâŠgreen shield? Over the battlefield?
âThere. That should have fried them. Most nanobots donât like ectoplasm.â
âHuh?â said Dick.
âExactly.â
He stuck the chip in his pocket and went about dragging every single member of the JL into the Javelin and buckling them in. âIâm gonna fly these guys back to the Watchtower. Wanna come with? You can co-pilot.â
Bruce never let Dick fly the Javelin. âIâm in.â
âFull disclosure,â he said, doing the pre-flight checks perfectly (or at least, up to Batman Standards, which were probably more than perfect), â I donât have a license yet.â
âIâm an adolescent wearing pixie shorts and fighting crime, you think I care?â
Danny tilted his head. âA worrying statement, but Iâm on vacation and am therefore not contractually obligated to say anything about it. Letâs go, Robin.â
They did not crash (fortunately) and Danny landed the javelin with practiced ease (though everything did glow green as they came in through the port and Dick was at least 47% sure that the edge of the wing would have hit the Watchtower if it had not, miraculously, phased through the wall instead. Dick wasnât gonna tell anyone except Barbara about it.)
It wasnât until Danny had, somehow, floated everyone into the Med-Bay and left from the same strange green portal he came from that everyone woke up from their nanobot induced nap that Dick was finally able to relax and contemplate what heâd seen.
Last resort, indeed.
Bruce was the first to recover, because of course he was.Â
He sat up, scanning his location, the people around him, the situation. Same old Bruce.
"Robinââ
âIâm here, B.â
Bruce grunted. âYou called Phantom."
âPhantom?â
âDanny,â Bruce amended. âHe left?â
âHe told me to tell you heâs still on vacation and that you and he will be having âwordsâ about his being listed as a âlast resortâ.â
âHn.â Bruce sat up, taking inventory of himself. âBrainiac?â
âAccording to Danny, he was a robot copy.â
âWhere is the bodââ
âDanny took it with him intoâŠa green portal?â Dick sighed. âHe said Brainiac wonât be a problem for us anymore.â
Clark sat up then, rubbing his head. âWhat happened?â
âDanny saved your asseâI mean, butts.â
âDanny? The tech guy?â
âHow was Danny able to save us?â asked Diana.
âItâs all in his file,â said Bruce.
âDanny has weird ice powers,â said Dick. âBut Iâm sure thereâs more information in his file.â
Bruce just sighed.
.
.
.
Later
âWhy didnât Danny just tell us about his ice powers, though?â Clark asked in the Watchtower kitchen. âDid he think we would judge him for it?â
âMy theory is that heâs Mister Freezeâs long lost kid,â said Barry.
Bruce sipped his coffee. One day the Justice League would learn to read. Not today, apparently.
Not today.
In the mean time, Danny was owed an extra week's vacation and a standard "I'm sorry I investigated your past and put you in my contingency plans without asking" apology package.
The concept tho, that the JL have probably had a debriefing on Mr.Freeze and so would KNOW how long Nora has been frozen and subsequently able to tell how old Danny is - eyeballing it maybe but still- and honestly believe that's a viable option is hillarious.
Also Dick just leaving out the mention that Danny knows about planets being destroyed is *chefs kiss*, Dick really went "The technician's business is none of MY business."
Okay but Dannyâs literal actual birthday is probably also in his file and the way they could go and look and know for sure but choose to eyeball him and guess tho
The Justice League (incorrectly) assumed that Batman would share any important information he found, but Batman decided not to so they'd be forced to do stuff for themselves; it didn't work
Salient point the leaguers will never appreciate is that Batman shares pertinent information, regardless of importance.
Danny, possible apex form of a mythical interdimensional hybrid race, can incapacitate any and all JL level threats with ease, AND has technical, combat and negotiation expertise? Not pertinent information, they'll find it if they need it.
...sigh... I sadly have to inform people in this sad day that thanks to my mother, who decided to turn off the internet when I was going to post it, I lost the whole fic...
So I ask to people be patient, so I can rewrite it... but don't worry! In, maybe, 5-8 days I will have it finished and posted!!!ll
What if, when Danny died, it ended up as a sort of Captain Marvel situation, where he could hear the voice of Jason talking to him and giving him advice (idk if it was you but there was a prompt where their souls were connected or something) and vice versa, so Danny and Jason both have parts of their conscious unknowingly in each others souks, and they meet and figure this out
the Batfam is concerned
team phantom is confused
Billy is just happy he can finally talk to someone about the voices without sounding crazy.
ok I can't find the other prompt you were talking about so if anyone knows the link please put it in the comments.
I propose: Jason met Danny in the afterlife. and Jason got revived the moment Danny touched his shoulder and their souls got all rearranged.
I love that this is Old Shazam esque where Cap and Billy are two separate people. This is just lovely
