I was just thinking about Dannys hatred for Christmas and how funny / odd itd be if Amity's citizens start noticing how snappy and overly emotional and aggressive Danny gets in December and start to collectively think it's because he died in December and is still having a hard time processing it.
*If the theory that "ghosts exhibit powers based on how they died." Is popular in amity. Then Dannys Ice powers may also Aid the rumor that He died during the winter.
* Danny's hazmat suit could be mistaken for a ski suit.
I mean....
It would be a more logical leap for what he's wearing than a hazmat suit.
I feel like most people wouldn't even know what a hazmat suit looks like anyway.
* most people headcannon that Amity Park is in Illinois.
That state has like 5 ski resorts
I bet you Casper High even has a ski/ snowboarding team.
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I'm just saying I could completely see people running with the idea 😅💖
Maybe people also start to theorize that the reason why Phantom is always so quick to intervene and finish the fight to save the civilians is that the avalanche rescue never made it in time.
There is a thing called 15 golden minutes, where the buried person can still be saved, so maybe someone out of curiosity tries to time Phantom's fights and they are all less than a quarter of hour...
Do they know about the Christmas truce? Because if they didn’t I could see some thinking that the ghosts leave phantom and amity alone because it’s when he died. Like the ghosts don’t mess with him at that time and they already think that is when he died so it has to be connected in their minds. Also I wonder if they use his appearance in this theory. He died in snow and now he has SNOW white hair. And his eyes are bright green and glow so that he’d be easier to spot in snow? Sorry that it’s rushed.
Black suit with bright green signal-esque highlights... first thought I had with regard to the color scale and his color scheme was something along the lines of "a path that was marked safe and green turned out to be really really not while he was on it (and it buried him in his suit)"
If he's assumed to've been an out-of-town tourist/visitor, it would also explain why they can't find a local grave or obituary. Because he was in the area for vacation when he died, and the evidence, paper-trail, etc, is mostly in the area where his family actually lives.
What if one of the ski resorts is owned by Vlad? Then, if anyone 'casually' mentions the names of the resorts (maybe they want to try and organize some kind of retrieval mission? So the boy can finally rest in peace) he's neutral about all but one. ...the one owned by vlad. For him its bc its owned by vlad. For everyone else? They think thats where he died
Vlad is shady. Vlad's ski resort has no records of a death. Vlad's ski resort also has a bit of suspect record keeping in general, as he used/uses it to launder money. Phantom is pretty obvious about his distaste for Vlad.
Hear me out, there is no way that Jason doesn’t have some sort of lair in the ghost zone from his time being dead. There is no way it doesn’t still exist somewhere in the zones. So imagine you’re Jason, you’re angry and tired and just want to go somewhere safe where you can rest, you want to go home.
And suddenly you’re falling through the floor- but somehow up? You’re floating but not, somehow slipping between the living and dead-
And then you’re crashing into a couch, a somehow familiar couch that had been gotten rid of in the manor years ago. And there’s your old beanbag chair, from before you even came to the manor, old toys you thought you’d lost, weapons in cases along the wall, pictures of your family, old and new- and books. Every book you’ve had or ever wanted to read, books that were never written or books that have yet to be written.
And it feels safe.
Well before a teen crashes in through a window and almost breaks one of the shelves while bleeding green everywhere.
Danny; bleeding profusely, probably concussed, trying very hard to stay conscious and also still trying to fight: Oh Ancients, I'm so sorry. Please just, just give me a minute to kick Skulker's ass and we'll be out of here. Or I can clean up my mess if you'd prefer. Just, please don't disembowel me. I like my insides inside. They don't feel good outside.
Jason; listening to this injured kid plead for his life and apologize profusely like it's his fault for getting thrown through a wall; turns on the mech guy and instinctively draws the All Blades: I'm the Red Hood. You interrupted my first breath of peace since I crawled out of my own grave. And you hurt a kid on my turf. Prepare to die.
Skulker; staring at The Avenger of the Forsaken, Second Son of Gotham and Bat, Last of the All Caste, Child Baptized in the Rage of Saint Lazarus; realizing how much he's just fucked up here: Well, would you look at the time! I've got to go to the library and check out a book on Purple Back Gorillas! Skin you next time, Whelp, goodbye!
#Why yes that is a Princess Bride reference#Jason has no idea that Skulker is a ghost#Nor is he aware or all the very important titles he has been bestowed by various very powerful beings
I see your post and raise you: Terrifying!Sentient Gotham AU (I think I wrote that right) w/ Lady Gotham existing. 1: SOMEONE just DARED to desecrate/disturb her baby Magic Robin's Resting Place, 2: her baby had just gotten off a long day at work (Crime Lording counts, fairly sure) and was just BARELY getting some WELL EARNED REST and Skulker knows damn well that Lady Gotham is territorial/protective of all that is hers, 3: Gotham (the Spirit) is a Place that the Living avoid like the Plague if they can help it: how badly downright dangerous the Infinite Realm's counterpart can be when properly provoked, 4: Red Hood is by and far a beloved Soul in the Infinite Realms due to both phases of his work: what do you think will happen should Spirits hoping for that same release from their suffering catch wind that their savior's Lair (the one, ONE place that he should never ever be disturbed as that is his got dang home that was messed with) got trashed will react (you can pry the Beloved Red Hood in the Infinite Realms hc from my cold dead hands, and even then I'd have glued it to my hands so it cannot be removed), 5: The Red Hood literally declared that WITHIN HIS LAIR that he broke the damn rules.
frankly? even IF Skulker escapes, his problems are just barely beginning. he may have had just a ghost of a chance before, now though? unless he finds a resolution to that problem, he's in for a world of hurt... I wonder what his expression would be, now that the Hunter has become the Prey?
You know I've seen a few variations on "Danny is the one who can make the batfam sleep" now and most of them are powers-based or him being a tiny new orphan who is so so sad if you don't take care of yourself-based
May I propose another variation: Danny, having moved into the manner a month ago and long discovered all of the relevant secrets (without the others knowing) can tell their lack of self-care is weighing on Alfred.
Alfred is the one he's seen the most in his time there - the others have spent time with him, of course, but they all have their night jobs and work or school away from home (Danny is doing online classes so he can work at his own pace) - so he's not at all happy about Alfred being stressed.
Danny calls a family meeting.
He's built an app, he tells them, and each of them can access their own timer on their phones - yes he already downloaded it to each of them.
Yes, those are how long you've been awake, he tells them. Yes, he's sure they have noticed Tim's absence - Tim was on hour 35. The maximum allowed is 24.
If one's timer reaches 24, Danny will find them, and he will put them to sleep manually.
How? Danny hefts the Fenton creep stick pointedly.
Someone points out he could give them a concussion or kill them that way.
Danny says he's had a lot of practice judging swings.
He also maybe bribed Nocturne for a large amount of sleep dust. The bat is just for a deceptive bonk (and they will be getting a bonk, if a light one) as they go out so he doesn't have to explain himself - they'll just think he's really that good at judging swings.
Someone goes to find Tim to prove he's just bluffing. Except Tim is actually asleep.
Danny doesn't use any ghost powers, he's just that sneaky and he's keeping a close eye on the timers. No matter how they try to avoid him it simply doesn't work. He hacks the doors, he's good at combat the one time someone noticed him sneaking up on them, and he's such a good sneak that most of the time they don't notice him until it's too late (even more impressive once they actually start paying attention to their timers to try and anticipate him).
They don't all live together. That doesn't help.
Danny took a bus to Tim's apartment while claiming he was going on a jog to avoid suspicion. He hitchhikes all the way to Crime Alley to put out Red Hood. Nowhere is safe.
It becomes very obvious he knows about their secret IDs. It also becomes very clear that he only really cares about whether or not they're sleeping.
We didn’t start this war internet users have with ads - We might have moaned about banner ads, but it was only when they started making noises when we might be listening to music or a podcast or whatever, causing two sound sorces at once, that we started trying to block ads universally rather than just a specific type of ad (pop ups).
And since then ads have gotten worse - Actual malware rather than merely breaking one of the fundamental sins of web design - though shalt not autoplay anything with sound. And the more aggressive a website is with ‘please turn off adblock’ the less I trust it to bother to vet ads and advertisers to make sure they’re not installing malware.
Not to mention that the idea that avoiding ads is “freeloading” is hilariously backward. Advertisement is a transaction between the platform and the advertiser, the user has no obligation to provide the views/clicks the platform has promised. Using an adblocker isn’t freeloading in the same way that leaving the room to get a snack during a commercial break isn’t cheating the tv network.
Ok y’all, I work as a web developer and I’m here to tell you that you are 100% right and that it’s shit. SO I’m going to tell you how to get around websites that block you from using their website if you’re using an adblocker.
Every website uses a language called JavaScript; long story short it’s a website language that allows developers to do the crazy shit you see on websites. Now the easiest thing to do is to disable JavaScript to stop them from knowing you have an adblocker:
Oh no! I’m blocked from viewing the website. It would be a terrible shame if I were able to right click and select the “inspect” feature
Click the three dots in the top right and open the “Settings” Menu
And then scrolled down to “Debugger” and checked the “Disable Javascript Option”
An AU where Batman when Jason dies, comes up with dark reasons why keeping villains alive is better than killing them. And it continues to get darker and more detailed the longer he’s in grief.
So when Tim become Robin he keeps on accidentally hearing Batman mutter to himself stuff like:
“Death is a mercy they doesn’t deserve”
“My revenge is something hell can’t reproduce”
“Let justice decide their fate”
“I won’t become like them. I’ll become worse, and I’ll do it while keeping to my rules”
and he just has to sit there pretending he can’t hear as Batman lists horrible reasons why keeping all the villains alive is better then just straight up killing them for his own sanity.
so early Tim’s motto when he wanted to kill a villains who was hurting people close to him and 100% deserved to die was:
“If i kill them now my revenge will end and hell’s will begins. I have to keep them alive so mine can continue”
Ofc as Batman recovers from all the grief of losing his son, and training the new Robin, he slowly stops thinking and saying stuff like that. Tim also knows that this thought process is wrong but it never fully goes away….
Years later when everyone is hanging out, Jason is complaining about why they have to keep the Joker alive and Tim just says what he used to say to himself all the time, out loud.
Tim: “if you kill the joker now your chance at revenge ends and hell’s begins, death is a mercy he doesn’t deserve. keep him alive, show him what hell wishes they could.”
And there’s just horrified and concerned looks from everyone in the room.
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just a Au I enjoy exploring every once in a while. This would never happen but I love see a Tim with a slightly darker side to him that comes out every once in a while :p . hope you enjoyed it too
See, but then it gets better- the argument actually works on Jason. Murder is out, pain and torture till they beg for death is in. How much will it take to break the Joker? Who knows? Jason's definitely going to find out now. That clown won't be laughing long!
Tim just sits and stares into the middle distance, still traumatized over what he's become as the rest of the Batfamily desperately tries to keep Jason from a new, far more powerful motivation (read: Dick is sobbing, grabbing onto Jason's jacket; Steph is trying to find a good rebuttal but also that's a terribly good point?; Barbara has a philosophical rebuttal but if Dick can't keep Jason in the room long enough, it's not going to matter. Luckily, that is what Cass is for.)
(This was NOT in the parenting manuals Bruce read.)
Damian eats his Doritos and mumbles that no one heard him when he gave this argument like 2 years ago, but now when DRAKE DOES IT-
And Duke is internally questioning who really is the most messed up in this family.
Bruce sighed, turning to Tim as his eldest tried to hang off of Jason's jacket. "Tim, Timmy, kiddo. Where did that come from?? You've never expressed thoughts like this, to my awareness."
Timothy's eyes were wide. He gazed up innocently at Bruce. "But, B, you were the one I learned it from."
The Cave froze and Bruce remembered the two years from hell.
He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. " Fair enough. Why do you remember everything I say?"
Tim shrugged as Dick launched himself at Bruce.
Bruce caught his son gently, embracing Dick. "What is it, chum?"
"You didn't deny iiiit!!" Dick wailed, coiling himself around Bruce.
Bruce sighed. "Simple explanation. Back when Tim was starting out as Robin."
Dick cringed, springing back and nodding as he stood straight. "Yep, makes sense, I did a bit of that too. You know, you and I are lucky Clark and Tim snapped us out of our funk. Now that we're well out of it, though, what's stopping us from a eensy weensy bit of violence?"
Bruce huffed.
Dick nodded. "Fair enough, Clark would interfere again..."
A throat cleared, and the original Dynamic Duo glanced at the rest of their family. "Yes?"
"What are you two even talking about?"
Tim spoke up in reply, "Probably the separate times where they nearly killed Joker. Uncle Clark stopped B, B stopped Dick. Both cases were stopped for the respective attemptee's sanity. To my guess they were talking about joining Jason in violence against Joker."
"But, B, you were the one I learned it from"- gosh, that punched me in the gut. Only Bruce's now 15+ years of parenting and learning how to deal with his own emotions like an adult prepared him for that gentle response to Timmy.
Also, Dick's bouncing between wild and dramatic to put-together and sympathetic is perfect.
It was a simple mission. Damian was working with Father to confirm the existence of a Lazarus Pit below Gotham, as Ra's Al Ghul speculated. And they had found it, deep in the caves below Gotham. A Pit the size of an Olympic sized swimming pool, bubbling and steaming. He'd only looked away for a moment.
"Kin-slayer."
Standing waist deep in the water stood Damian's reflection. The hair might be white, and the eyes glowing with the waters, but it was his face. But not his face alone.
Danyal's ghost glared at him. "Get in the water."
Father threw a batarang at him, but the metal flew straight through his head like it was air. Danyal didn't even glance at him, his eyes fixed on Damian. "Get in the water," he ordered again. He stepped closer to the shore and the green water sloshed up the bank higher than it was before. "Or I'll raise the tide so high, all of Gotham will die. So get in the water."
Damian's heart jumped into throat. "Wait-"
"Get in the water."
Father shoved Damian behind him, as if it would protect him, as if he could stop Danyal. "Stop this, please-" If he could just explain-
Another step and the waters surged forward, nearly touching Father's boots. "I'll make whirlpools so profound, your entire family will drown," he promised.
"NO!" Not his brother, his kind brother-
"THEN GET IN THE WATER!" Danyal snarled, revealing monstrously sharp teeth and a black tongue from Damian's poison. "G̴̩͍͆͆̈́e̵̹̣͆t̷̬̋ ̸̻̮̎̒ĭ̸̟̰͙̏̃n̵͙̝̟̋͐ ̸̛̳̃t̶̪̣̅ḣ̸̳̇͜è̵̠̲͖̔̑ ̶̢̹̖͗͐̀w̵̜͍̤̌a̵̬̞͝ṫ̴̩̣̣e̶͉̲̯͂̏̎r̴̉͜!̷̡͔́̀̽" He lunged and Father pushed them back down the passage they'd come. "Don't mistake this for a bluff, brother. You've lived more than enough. Just get in the water." Damian swallowed, throat dry. Was this Danyal's revenge? Did he finally have to face what he had done?
"Robin, who is this?" Father snapped, trying to keep retreating down the cave. But Damian wouldn't let him; the waters, and Danyal with them, would only follow.
Danyal looked between them, scowling. "G̴̩͍͆͆̈́e̵̹̣͆t̷̬̋ ̸̻̮̎̒ĭ̸̟̰͙̏̃n̵͙̝̟̋͐ ̸̛̳̃t̶̪̣̅ḣ̸̳̇͜è̵̠̲͖̔̑ ̶̢̹̖͗͐̀w̵̜͍̤̌a̵̬̞͝ṫ̴̩̣̣e̶͉̲̯͂̏̎r̴̉͜!̷̡͔́̀̽" he snapped again. "I'll take your father and gouge out his eyes, unless you want to stop being a coward and choose to die. Now... get in the water."
@victoria-has-no-secret it would be the most traumatizing 15 minutes of his life knowing that danny will drag it on long enough for maximum terror. When he gets there, Danny would be all 'professional-like' and devoid of the resentment that Damian, in his panic, thought this was a different ghost but wore his brother's face for some reason. It doesn't help that Danny assumed a more 'human' form than the mangled more ghostly form back at the pit waters. The whiplash of attitudes, denial, and the adrenaline would convince him that Paperwork! Danny is different from Siren-would-drown-gotham-if-damian-doesnt-kill-himself! Danny
Meanwhile batfam are Panicking. Some weird Pit demon just dragged their baby bat into its waters and hasnt come back to the surface! (Time is a bit weird between the infinite realms and dc-verse) Bruce could feel the immense resentment that was honed in on Damian. The pit demon ignored him with single minded focus to get at Damian. He tried to push his son behind him, telling him to fall back but Damian is just... frozen there. A complicated look on his face before settling on horror and reluctant guilt. Bruce doesn't know what to think about that. The being screeched at Damian again to get in the water. It was making him choose to kill himself and Bruce is not having any of that. He was horrified to see Damian, as if hypnotized, grimly enthralled, slowly steps forward to it despite Bruce's protests. Teeth grit in terror and guilt and frustrations as if his body was being controlled and Damian couldn't fight it. He sees the glowing green waters slowly surging forward worryingly close as if waiting to snatch up his son. Bruce snapped out of it and dropped whatever he was holding and tried to physically drag his son out of there but- but he couldn't?
Damian's breathe hitched and Bruce looked down to see a sickly pale clawed hands holding onto Damian's lower. The rotting mangled flesh of its face that looks so eeriely familliar. That is his son's face. Damian's face. The demon called his son 'kinslayer'. Who is this?
In that split second look down, the demon opened its mouth, showing a dark rotten tongue and screeched,
It made Bruce's ears ring despite all the protections his suit had to things like it and unconsiously loosened his grip on Damian. A mistake. The demon quickly tugged him away from his arms and dragged him bodily through the dirt to the glowing waters. Damian tried to claw his way from it but ends up in the shallow pools shouting and gargling from the waters from each tug that unbalance him and forces his head to fall to the waters, slowly dragging him deeper. Bruce, quick on his feet, tried to chase. Tried to dive in but as he stepped on the shallow waters, his feet slowly sink on the ground. Tripping and slowing him down, not helping his panic and the jackhammering of his heart as his watched his son slowly disappear under the pits.
As his family panics, Damian is suffering paperwork with shaking hands and heavy guilty heart as this being that wore his dead brother's face is smilling at him as he explains each part that he needs to fill up. He wary, worried he'll see his actual dead brother at the corner if his eye.
One is a demon. A Reaper. A bloody and vengeful Siren. The other a mocking bureaucrat. Neither a child. Neither who his brother WAS. The dead do not change, do they?
So why...
Who.....
Who EXACTLY has his brothers soul? He has never wondered. Never considered. But... but surely he was at rest, right? Yet he can not fool himself. These mockery are too well done. Do they have him?
Does Danyal suffer in the clutches of these demons? Lost amongst the restless dead? Because... because he was unavenged? Because of Damian?
It hurts to breathe. His hands shake.
Is... is the only way to SAVE his brother to avenge him? When he was the one who... Must he kill... himself, then? Would that bring Danyal's soul peace?
Or is it a trick? Played by demons? Preying upon the sins he can not forgive himself for? The mistakes of his past?
The Bats? Gonna be IN IT for a looooong while. So much arcana research and magician bothering. Long nights, climbing very, VERY tall mountains to go bother old monks. Leave the monks alone guys, they are busy doing monk business.
All? While Danny is like "well'p! That was fun! Sure spooked him! Glad I got that outta my system!" *promptly forgets about it*
Red Robin and Nightwing had arrived in time to see Bruce screaming for Damian, futilely searching the shallows where he'd last seen Damian's head go under. The bubbling acidic liquid was already eating into Bruce's suit.
Direct exposure to the Pit would kill the healthy and risk temporary Pit Rage for those it heals. Tim had to drag Bruce back out. Then he had to catch and drag Nightwing away to keep him from diving in after Damian.
Once he was sure they wouldn't kill themselves trying to dive in, he jury-rigged a grapple to try to dredge the pool. If there was even a chance... The Pit might revive him if it killed him. He'd dredge the whole pool if he had to. He wasn't giving up on his gremlin brother.
Dick and Bruce joined in with their own jury-rigged grapples as soon as they could.
Time passed differently in the Realms than in the living world. Hours of paperwork was barely fifteen frantic minutes under Gotham.
When Damian finally finished with the paperwork, the Paperwork Demon shoved him out of the room and between one blink and the next, the Pit Demon was back in front of him. His dead brother's face in a rictus viciously mocking grin.
"Time's up," the demon(?) with his brother's death-pale, sunken face mocked as his clawed hand gripped Damian by the collar, yanking him into the air.
Damian scrabbled at his hand, reflexively trying to escape. "Wait! Ple-please," he choked out. "My-my brother-"
The grin twisted into a scowl. "You lost the right to call me your brother when you murdered me, kinslayer." He hissed, sharp teeth snapping at him.
"Let- my bro- Danya-" Damian choked again as the grip tightened and shook him.
"SILENCE! You're not worthy. You never deserved me."
Damian wheezed, trying desperately to ask if this demon truly spoke for Danyal. Was Danyal here? The true Danyal? His brother's kind, gentle soul - too gentle for the League of Assassins and grandfather. The paperwork and Pit demons wore his face and knew too much of him, but they weren't truly his brother, right? Right?
"Dan-"
But the Demon's face twisted and suddenly Damian was launched backwards and through a standing wall-portal(?), and green covered his vision. He thrashed in the thick liquid, instinctively struggling to surface. He had no idea which way was up or out of the liquid.
Just as he started fearing he would drown, something touched his back. He twisted, grabbing at anything solid, and his hands brushed and then grabbed onto a familiar sort of cable. A grappling line.
He pulled at it, desperately hoping, and abruptly was being yanked forward, up and out. The green parted and he gasped in air. Voices shouting but he couldn't parse what they were saying. He was pulled across the pool, hanging onto the line with a death grip. Stone scraped his knee pads and he tried to push himself up and out. But then there were familiar hands gripping him, lifting him out of the Pit and onto dry land.
Damian coughed, breathing roughly as Bruce folded his youngest into his arms and held him close. Dick was right there clinging and fussing over Damian. Tim was right beside them, easing his grapple line out of Damian's grip. Damian switched his grip to the edge of his father's cape.
-------
Danny huffed and then slowly inhaled and exhaled, letting his features morph back to normal. He let go of the spike of old anger and current annoyance. Then grinned. Damian had deserved that prank. It had felt vindicating to watch him sweat and flail out of his depth, nothing like the proud, superior princeling of the League.
But he had a lot of other names to go through.
Danny pushed aside the old memories. He'd never been wanted by his birth family, never been good enough for them to actually care. He'd moved on with his life. He had found a new family that wanted him.
Damian had deserved a good scare after all he'd done.
This fandom goes dark sometimes, but this is brutal. Not that I don't adore a different take than just "Danny forgives Damian immediately because it was Ra's' fault for raising him that way despite that in any Demon Twin AU Danny would be raised the exact same way and came out fine more or less."
Damian can't sleep anymore, every time he so much as blinks he sees the funhouse mirror version of his brother waiting, always ready for him.
Him explaining to his beloved family exactly who Danyal was, and why he would be so furious with Damian was a really bad conversation for everyone. Trying to explain how he hadn't brought it up because he didn't think he had done anything wrong for the first several months, and then continuing to say nothing because he was too guilty, did not help the situation.
Constantine reassures Damian (under the strictest of oaths to keep his trap shut) that "Danyal" was probably a Guilt Demon - never alive, couldn't be his brother at all - just reading his mind and picking the most painful form to paralyse him. Damian protests but John reminds him that it did actually work, Damian ultimately fought off his own father and entered the water of his own free will following the demon. Constantine puts himself on the case of exactly why a demon lord was so desperate to temporarily drag Damian to hell.
Damian still isn't sleeping. Bruce benches him and is more scared than ever when it barely gets a reaction.
The name 'Constantine' begins with a 'C'. After Danny purposefully chose Damian as his first victim, he goes alphabetically for the rest. And returning from the dead isn't as common as you'd think - the Justice League are just outliers. So it doesn't take too long for Constantine's reckoning.
He's missing for a week.
Constantine shows up on Wayne manor's doorstep with terrible news. The being wasn't a demon - a being who had never been anything else. It was Damian's brother. Or it had been, once.
"You grew up around water. " Constantine started his explanation on what had happened to Danyal. From all of Damians accounts he was a kind and gentle soul. One who broke down after being forced to make his forst kill. One who chose to train stealth and quick kills rather than interrogation. One who hadn't made it to double digits. "You grew up around death waters. That has an effect. You had been seperated long enough that it's hold on you is fading but him? He was most likely drawn to the water spirits after death by its essence. They are not kind and being under their care may have changed him. This is all conjecture but he may have been made into a retreiver. They take those who have evaded death to be dealt with. Damian died and came back and it was coincidence his brother was assigned to grab him. However emotions are magnified after death and the most prominent emotion becomes a significent part of them. If what you say is true than he formed in the afterlives believing you murded him and that fear and dislike could have become hate and embedded itself into his spirit. He was given the chance to punish his murderer. He took it. Your brother is suffering, it would take a lot of work to help and even then it would only be if he felt the issue resolved he could release the emotions." The bats were horrified at the fate of a child but they were determined to help him.
In another part of the country Danny, released of his grudge towards his brother, grabbed another soul to bring to the paperwork room and felt like something significant had happened which would bit him in the ass.
Being a ghost is Different, and as much as he's alive he is dead. What if, if they see the one responsible for their death, true or perceived fault, they Need revenge. From a petty prank to long time haunting to a fatal "accident" befalling them. It's instinct. When Sam set up Danny's accident for the second time, it was murder, Danny found out after the fact and he did get revenge. I don't know how but he did. And as soon as he saw Damian's name on that list he Had To. But he chose not to hurt him, physically/ worse. To a ghost I imagine this was fairly tame considering all after the water scene was just Danny's emotional reaction. It was the first part that was the revenge, the change of looks and empty threats (not that Damian knew that)
Ok so imagine if after this it went into one of those dark danny timelines where he gets so hurt he get like de-aged but this time it takes most of his memories because of a damaged core and he is put into a sort of stasis/coma in the ghost zone
They set him up on a hill top mountain looking area with a whole galaxy in the 'sky' and he's bundled up in lots of soft blankets and some pillows
Clockwork, knowing the batfam, would be able to keep him safe and undo the ectopic acts but doesn't know about getting danny to them and explaining things and tries to plan
Only to find out this is the timeline they manage to magic their way into the ghost zone and he decides to improve by using a mixture of half truth and lies
He says thanks to the exposure to the Lazarus waters he came back as a halfa and was immediately pulled into the zone after King Phantom noticed the new phenomenon to look into it
To get them on the trail to destroy the guys in white
He says that because danny a halfa and still had a human life to live the king worked to find him a good home only for the ant-ecto acts to pop up soon after they placed him and Danny being hurt so they brought him back
When asked why danny is so young still if he was still half alive and able to grow, clockwork just says that the infinite realms are outside of time and space so they placed him a few years in the future
To explain to the magic users why he has so much power he tells them that the being they saw with his face was the ghost king basically adopted danny and decided to spite his grandfather who tried to have him killed for not being a worthy heir is to make him the heir to an even bigger throne
And yea this is all my sleep deprived brain has so far
It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:
Kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished - you kudos.
If you liked it, you should comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.
No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it. Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity. Don't ruin that for them.
Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.
There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.
For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.
Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLANTONIC, like friendship or family.
Nothing is banned. This is an implicit rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.
People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.
Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.
Avoid deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - orphan it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to you anymore.
This is a creative fanfiction archive. No essays on your insights or theories please. There are other places for that.
I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.
I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.
To the people in the notes who are insisting that they have the right to leave negative feedback on AO3:
What you’re not understanding is that fandom is not a service, it’s a community. I saw someone compare leaving a comment on AO3 to reviewing a product on Amazon - if you didn’t like the product, you’re going to say so. But fanworks are not products and you didn’t pay money for them. They were shared with you.
Leaving un-asked-for criticism in AO3 comments isn’t like reviewing a product you were disappointed with. It’s like going to a friend’s house when they’ve cooked a meal and telling them all the things that are wrong with the food. Sure, you can do it, but it’s rude as hell and they are probably not going to invite you to dinner again.
("Can you leave crit in comments” has been a debate as long as I’ve been in fandom, but 20 years ago the argument was “I’m helping the writer improve!” and not “I am a consumer with a right to complain.” Fandom has gotten more creepily capitalistic over the decades but jerks are evergreen, I guess.)
These are all great points and guidelines to follow for interacting with Fanmade Content.
I agree with Skellagirl about Kudos though, Kudos are what you feel in your heart. I've Kudos many fics I either could not finish for stylistic purposes or because I failed to understand my limits for my own squicks and triggers. Just because I can't finish a fic doesn't mean I'm not gonna slap a good job on that bad boy.
I, and other authors, thrive on commentary about my fics from <3's to wksjerndfbgf to bro wtf why hurt me? to long form waxing poetic. I'm writing for me bc these are Fic I want to read but motivation to put them out on the web for others instead of just in my brain for personal movie time comes from comments!!!
Negative commentary SUCKS. I've had Crit in comments before and in the days of FF.Net specifically "Flames" were common. ranging from bonefires to burning down the amazon in rude people being vocal about how the writing was bad or the plot was dumb ect ect.
We lost a lot of fan content from that. Not as much as Censorship or Copyright nonsense, but a lot of young or new writers stopped updating or making new content, and most of those deleted old work. : / I will forever be haunted by an old Danny Phantom Fic "Take A Look In The Mirror." for a combination of "Crit" comments and demands for updates. It's been deleted, and I haven't been able to find any hint or copy of it anywhere.
Be Kind. If you don't like a fic close out and look for something else. Don't walk into another Fans personal library and start playing Fandom Karen. We're all just trying to have fun.
This covers Fan Artists too!!!!! Creating works written or drawn take time and effort, and Fanwork is an act of love and appreciation for another person's OIP.
So you know how fics have Danny reabsorbing his limbs and growing back the limb whenever one gets cut off, what if he ate it instead?
__________
During an altercation with a rouge Phantom had unfortunately lost one of his arms in a contraption, not that he seemed to care though, which should've been their biggest hint but they were too busy trying get him back to the watchtower to be treated.
They had been preparing what they needed to heal him when a loud snap caught their attention. The whole room watched in horror as one of their youngest member bit into his arm without a care in the world, biting through his arm with ease as if it was a piece of chicken, eating the bones and all.
"PHANTOM!"
The boy turned to the distressed hero smiling with his cheeks full and painted with his green blood. His smile fell a bit once he noticed the looks everyone was giving him.
"WhAe?"
The flesh in his mouth muffled his wording, they would tell him not to speak with his mouth full but right now they need to get him to stop eating his arm.
I am cackling? This fucker Accidentally A Powerbuild Loophole'd himself? Cause like?
You know DAMN WELL eating another ghost will gain you power. But HOW? Imagine a cup. That's you. You eat another ghost. You are now two cups. But SPIDERS GEORGE over here? He is eating X% of whatever the current "cup" size is... and ADDING BACK ON TOP.
The cup refills before he has time to digest.
He then DIGESTS.
Cup + X
It's the most horrifying pacifist run in history and everyone is appalled. I am CACKLING
John Constantine has been sucked through a badly made summoning circle and into the palace of Pariah Dark, Tyrant of the Dead and Bane of the Living.
He needs to get out, and he needs to do it before Pariah realizes he's there.
But as he's dodging skeletal servants and gathering the materials he needs to rip open a hole back to his own reality, or at least to the House of Mysteries, he comes across a kid.
The kid is being attended by skeletons, and appears to be...having a spa day.
In Constantine's experience, beings like Pariah are only nice to things if that thing is serving a purpose.
He has no idea what kind of purpose that kid serves, but he's definitely a slave of some sort.
John waits for the skeletons to leave, shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the kids shoulders after he hauls him out of the pool of bubbling blue-green water-that-isn't-water.
The kid is spluttering, clearly doesn't understand the danger, and that's fine.
John doesn't need the teen to understand what's going on to save him.
Or; Danny's spa day is interrupted by a mage who's so hyperfocused on "escaping" that Danny's actually interested in seeing how, exactly, the man is going to manage that.
Danny has been awake for more than 72 hours now. At first, he had been willingly staying up to study for his finals. Pulled an all-nighter with Sam and Tucker, both of whom have gotten sleep since then thankfully.
it was around hour 27 (so 11 am) of staying awake that the ghosts thought swarming the town would be a good idea. fight after fight. ghost after ghost. it felt like it would never end.
it eventually did. not because the ghosts gave up, but because Danny had gotten so annoyed at them that he willingly went down to the lab and asked his parents how they had built the thermos.
he already knew how it was built and how to repair it, but he was hoping that with their explanation he would be able to find a way to...expand? the amount of ghosts he could keep inside before having to empty it.
and it worked.
so, 72 hours. Three days and counting, Danny has been awake.
he needed a day off. The ghosts (in the middle of their fight) told him he needed more sleep, so obviously they agreed with him. So, what was a young halfa supposed to do?
He couldn't stay home; he would just end up pulled back to the lab because his parents had been so excited he had asked them about their inventions they decided he needed to know about all of them.
He couldn't go to Sam or Tucker, both of whom were spending time with their families, willingly and unwillingly. Though he was tempted to at least stop by to say hi to Tucker's parents...
Anyway, he couldn't stay in Amity or something would pop up and he'd get dragged into it. So ghost zone it was, and what better to do in the zone than wander around his new keep?
This is how he discovered that he apparently owned a nice little spa. Who knew Pariah had liked spa days? because he obviously enjoyed them if the amount of detail and consideration put into the room meant anything.
Danny had asked one of the attending skeletons if Pariah had any partners he would have added this for, but nope. The dude literally just liked spa days. Which? good for him really.
Anyway, 72+ hours of no sleep and finding out there was a literal spa in his castle? You bet your ghostly tail Danny was going to take advantage of it.
"How good are you at painting nails?" Danny asked the skeleton standing across from him. They froze briefly before practically lighting up, their bones rattling as they started digging through the desk draws. Shrugging, Danny transformed back and settled into his seat, looking around in fascination.
There were about three other skeletons in the room with him, besides the one digging through the desk. A few others would walk in for a minute or two then leave. maybe it was part of their patrol rounds?
the room was a nice light green, which Danny hadn't known could be found in the zone, so that's cool. The desks and other spa things were light purples and blues. It clashed, but then again, everything in the zone clashed. it's hard not to when everything is neon green and deep purple or electric blue.
Another skeleton walked over, stopping just a few feet from him. Glancing over, Danny stared at them. For a second there, it looked like the skeleton was sweating, but then they pointed at him. or more accurately, at his shirt.
blinking, Danny glanced down, finally noticing the blood seeping through the white fabric. "Oh! yeah, I forgot about that." looking back up, Danny sent the skeleton a reassuring smile, "It'll heal, don't worry about it."
the skeleton hesitated for a moment before pointing at the far wall, where a few bathrobes sat. and surprisingly a washing machine. How they had one of those, Danny wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to question it. conveniently, right next to the wall was a bright green hot tub full of bubbling ectoplasm.
now, Danny was perfectly fine having them do his nails, maybe even doing that whole spa mask and cucumber on eyes thing, but undressing? Yeah, he wasn't particularly comfortable with that. However, sitting in a hot tub would do wonders for his sore body...
Glancing back at the skeleton, then down to his shirt, Danny sighed.
"Are they soft?" he asked, glancing up at the worried skeleton. they nodded their head, their jaw clacking with their movement. The skeleton behind the desk finally sat up slapping a pile of books and nail polish and stuff down.
before Danny could say anything, the skeleton looked at him and then jumped to its feet in surprise, waving its skeletal hands at Danny. it turned to the one next to him, then waved its arms at Danny again.
Skeleton Two glanced at Danny, then back to the first one, waving its arms in exaggeration. blinking, Danny glanced between them, and then down at his bloody shirt.
sighing, Danny stood up, "alright! it's just a little blood, I'm fine. skelly, I'm going to go put on one of those bathrobes. If you know how, can you please clean these clothes. I need them for when I get back to the mortal realm. wavy, I'll be back in a minute, we can do my nails then. ok?"
both skeletons stopped and turned to him slowly, giving Danny the impression that if they had eyes they would be wide in shock, or they would be slowly blinking in confusion.
Suddenly, Skeleton One or Wavy threw their arms in the air and screeched. The other skeletons in the room quickly turned to look at them, then joined the first one in screeching as well. Skelly turned to Wavy, threw their arms in the air, and screeched even louder.
closing his eyes, Danny slowly inhaled. This, he had a feeling, was going to be a very interesting day.
~
John dived to the side, dodging the fifth bloody spell in the past two minutes. Scrambling to hide behind the crumbling wall, John peeked out and watched. Batman threw another Batarang, this, just like the others, stopped mid-air and then rocketed back at the bat nearly smacking the man in the eye.
"Stop throwing those blasted things!" John yelled, cursing as another spell slammed into the brick right next to his face. twisting around, John started digging threw his pockets.
Chalk, no. Demon tooth, no. Spell book, no. Moonstone, wizard's eyes, Rabbits foot. No, no, and no! damn, where the hell is that bloody communicator!
aha! Pulling the blasted device out of his pockets, John quickly spun around and clicked the button, "Zatanna, please tell me you have the bloody counter-curse ready."
"I need another minute! Connie, distract him or something, he's getting too close for comfort." She yelled back, the communicator crackling with static. Huffing, John stuffed it back into his pocket, they're acting like he hadn't been doing just that for the past hour.
Peaking out again, John spotted Batman crouching behind a rock. Flash zipped by, his voice strained as he stumbled over the molten asphalt, "Hot, hot, hot!"
Grimiacing, John wiped his face. He needed a distraction, but the bloody mage they were up against wasn't reacting to anything. it was like he had no emotions, basically acting like a brick wall thicker than Batsy...
wait a moment.
Patting his pockets, John grinned. Double checking he had everything, he glanced out again. batman was still stuck behind the rock, the consistent beam of flame magic still rocketing into the rock behind him. he needed to get out of there, the rock wouldn't last much longer.
Pulling out his knife, John cut a large line across his palm and muttered a small incantation. His golden magic flared and sparked before vanishing from sight. it should be enough to do what he needed.
suddenly the flames stopped, allowing Batman to roll out from behind the rock just in time to get out of the blast range. Flash quickly grabbed the man and pulled him to the other side of the street. once he was sure no one was in the way, John glanced at the mage. He was tossing spells all over the place, almost carelessly if it wasn't for the fact the man was aiming for where all the heroes were hiding.
Walking out from behind the wall, he started speed walking his way toward him. "Hey, arsehole!" John shouted, dragging the man's attention to himself. Zatara glanced up and over at him from behind the large concrete slab she had hidden behind. The spell runes around her flared in time with some unknown force, letting John know it would be ready in just a few seconds.
"let's see how you handle this!" Tossing his hand up John started to run as fast as he could toward the man. And just like he expected the mage, fired a spell at him. The spell curved in the air, its trajectory changing from his head to his hand.
Stopping where he was with a grin at the mage's shocked face, John pulled his hand back, the spell following, and then threw his arm in front of him like he was tossing a ball.
the mage didn't even dodge, too surprised by the fact that John had been able to manipulate the man's magic. Using the few seconds the stolen spell (it looked and felt like a stun speel) gave him, John muttered an emotional enhancer curse under his breath and tossed it at the bloody git.
Immediately, the man roared in pain, his calm facade melting away into hysterical anger. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Batman swung past the angry mage and took the man's book. The book that started this all. The book that made the person in possession of it slowly turn insane. The book that would make anyone who didn't possess magic explode.
"Don't touch that!" John shouted, running over to where the bat landed. the bat, to his credit, immediately held the book away from himself. The mage roared again, all the magic the book had been providing, spiraling and siphoning back towards it, making it glow.
"No! you can't! it's mine!" The mage cried, his form slowly shrinking, his eyes widening in panic. He lifted his arm, the last dredges of the book's magic he had control of gathering into a bright green orb. "It's mine!" the man sobbed, tossing the ball right as John reached Batman.
With adrenaline rushing in his veins, John locked eyes with Batman. Quickly, John snatched the book and shoved him away, just in time for the nauseatingly green orb to slam into his side and send him flying.
Crashing into a wall, John collapsed to the ground with a groan. His ears rung like church bells, his vision swimming in black and static. Holding his breath, John closed his eyes and slowly sat up.
When the ringing in his ears stopped, he finally noticed how silent it was. Opening his eyes in confusion, he was met with a dark green wall across from him. No damaged street or angry mage in sight. just a dark green wall covered in weird paintings and somewhat familiar runes.
Blinking, John studied his surroundings, trying to figure out what happened. He was in the middle of a dark hallway, with no windows around so probably underground or in the middle of a building. Suddenly, loud horrifying screeches echoed around him, making his eyes bulge in horror.
He knew that sound.
Glancing down at the book still clutched in his hands, just confirmed it to his growing horror. A guide to the Infinite Realms magic.
Danny, through a freak accident, found out that if he puts a drop of his blood on a thing and then electrifies it, it will begin to gain sentience.
Not a lot, more on par with like, a cat or dog instead of a human, but still.
So he's gonna sentient-ize people's cars.
It's perfect, because the GIW will be tracing his ecto signature across the country, only to realize that they were chasing a car.
The people that own the car will probably realize it start to sort of become a pet instead of just a mode of transportation, and when it's found to be ecto contaminated, they'll argue against the ruling that ecto-beings are just soulless husks.
He starts in the only place that will hire and angry sixteen year old with a chip on his shoulder and no prior work history or certificates.
Gotham.
Seven weeks later, Bruce is waylaid by a wild-eyed Jason who swears his motorcycle turned itself on and saved him from a sneak attack.
Tbh I’m not the biggest fan of de aged characters unless it’s done well but this popped in my head and I’m sure someone will take it and run with it.
Danny is de-aged somehow, is found by the batfam and adopted. Chose how. The important part is that when he was de-aged he became completely human/living again with his memories only going up till the chosen age. When he reaches the age he died the first time he relives his death, regains his full memory, and causes a lot of damage in the process. However, in my mind the reliving his death part comes out of nowhere, as in there was nothing to cause him to even be injured, let alone the whole debacle.
Mini scene: The family is scattered over the manor, Danny is outside setting up his telescope for a night of stargazing while still daylight, when out of nowhere all he feels is agony. All anyone can hear is his screams and by the time they get to him he is in a crater with extensive damage around him. He is extremely dazed and unresponsive (due to the influx of memories). When taken to the medical wing they are shocked at what they find etc.
