5am ⏰
tumblr dot com
h

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
wallacepolsom

⁂
Monterey Bay Aquarium
cherry valley forever
Not today Justin
Sweet Seals For You, Always

#extradirty

roma★
One Nice Bug Per Day
Claire Keane
No title available

No title available

if i look back, i am lost
Today's Document
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
sheepfilms
No title available

seen from Italy

seen from Brazil

seen from United States
seen from Argentina

seen from Malaysia
seen from Argentina

seen from Australia
seen from India
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from Ecuador
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom

seen from Malaysia

seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
@silentjudge
5am ⏰
Years ago I read this one haikyuu! fanfic on ao3 where the five first years all got kidnapped and ended up in Russia somewhere but they had been changed with mecha parts and I can't find it anywhere, but if anyone has any idea of what I'm talking about I would appreciate it! there's a strong chance it got deleted and all I remember from the author is that coffee or caffeine or caffeinated was in their username
I found it! It was When the Crows Call by Compromised_Coffee_Filter
Years ago I read this one haikyuu! fanfic on ao3 where the five first years all got kidnapped and ended up in Russia somewhere but they had been changed with mecha parts and I can't find it anywhere, but if anyone has any idea of what I'm talking about I would appreciate it! there's a strong chance it got deleted and all I remember from the author is that coffee or caffeine or caffeinated was in their username
Jason Todd x Peter Parker Masterlist
Updated: 3/26/26
✸ - complete
⨳ - ongoing
✦ - 10/10 fanfic, please read
✸Friendly neighborhood spider-mechanic - 36k - When Peter Parker ends up in Gotham City, a world straight out of a comic book, only to find out that he’s the one who’s a comic book character, he decides to lay low. Don’t be a hero. Just create a new civilian identity as Peter Anthony Mayson and live. And it works. Until one day he somehow catches Red Hood’s attention and Jason Todd-Wayne crashes his way into his mundane life, leaving cracks in Peter’s fragile mask of normality.
2. ⨳✦The Big Bad Red Riding Hood and the Friendly Neighborhood Spider - 113k - “Red Hood’s the name.”
Peter mulled the name over, turning it in his mind.
“Like legally…?”
The man’s pride deflated quickly. “No! Not legally!”
Or a fic where Peter was found unconscious and injured in a dumpster by Jason after accidentally inventing multiverse travel instead of time travel. He doesn’t know how he did it, but he did.
3. ⨳Spider webs and rocket lunchers - 59k - Peter just wants someone to acknowledge his existence, to look him in the eye and say "Peter Parker exists". So when he tries to tell his friends, team red, his name, its not surprising when it all goes to shit. Damn his Parker luck and damn Doctor Strange.
Though maybe getting sent to another universe isn't all bad, maybe he can build a new life for himself. One with his real name and this cute guy that visits the bar he works at
4. ⨳✦Existential Crisis Mode - 279k - Peter was alone, mid-way through an existential crisis after the Erasure™ and was dreading the upcoming month of May.
Jason was sick of people telling him how he felt. ‘You don’t need us anymore,’ Artemis had told him, as if saying it would make it true. As if Jason needed someone to justify keeping them around. But three weeks back in Gotham and all Jason felt was fucking bored and lonely.
It was a relief, then, when some random New Yorker was thrown into his living room through a portal straight out of some LSD daydream.
Finally, something interesting to deal with.
Cue some wild family misunderstandings, criminal conspiracies and cults.
Because there’s always a goddamn cult.
5.✸ The study of the spider man - 19k - Sexual dimorphism, the difference between different sexes of the same species. In spiders, the females are always larger. So when one quarter spider man sees red hood for the first time, every instinct in his little spider brain is screaming ‘mate’ at him.
Red Hood suffers the consequences for it and the batfam are laughing at his pain
6. ✸Shutterbug - 131k - Waking up Peter finds him self in a new city and no memory of how he got there. The question is, where is Gotham and how did he get there?
Little does he know that his new photographer job will lead him to making new friend and maybe something more.
Join Peter as he takes on Gotham and its rouges- not to mention finding his place as a spider in the mists of bats and birds.
7. ✸Red Flags and Webbed Disasters - 20k - Jason has a problem. A red, blue, and Spider-shaped problem.
It starts with an accidental trip to New York, a mid-air near-miss with Spider-Man, and an argument that definitely doesn’t end with Jason admitting the bug has good reflexes. Then Deadpool shows up, decides Jason is Team Red™ material, and refuses to take no for an answer. And just when Jason thinks things cannot get more annoying, he meets Peter Parker—clumsy, dorky, weirdly strong Peter Parker.
Now Jason has two problems.
8. ✸Caught - 20k - Jason Todd is just trying to do his best for Crime Alley while managing his criminal enterprise with his team. He wasn't expecting to invite the cute, wickedly smart new tenant to work with him, but, well, his life has always been a series of surprises.
9. ⨳Fixing for a living - 83k - It wasn't enough to erase Peter Parker from everyone's minds. Magic like that doesn't last forever. So, to ensure the universe won't break again in the future, Peter was sent away, far from the place he called home.
Where Peter starts over in a new universe, his life is flipped upside down, but one thing stays with him—his ability to fix things.
Let's just say he takes the whole, Fixing, a little too far.
10. ✸Another child assassin?! - 59k - Deception is all he knows. Killing is all he knows. Emotions were one's downfall. So what happens when Peter is thrown into a world and meets people that try to change that? Will he let them?
11. ✸What the heart wants - 15k -
“No matter what.” Bruce's hands tightened over Jason, warm and solid. “I am just… so happy that I could see a day like today.” That you lived, came the unspoken words, and Jason nodded, mouth dry. Neither were unappreciative of just how lucky Jason had been. A few minutes more, and nothing Bruce could have done would’ve saved Jason. And he still bore the wounds—healed but not forgotten—to prove it. “I know that you're going to take this world by storm,” Bruce finished, smiling now, although his eyes looked as damp as Jason’s felt. “I can’t wait to see you terrorise all those snobs.”
Jason Todd — fighter, survivor... omega — steps back into the spotlight, ready to leave his mark on Gotham's high society. His return makes a... strong first impression.
12. ✸whistle in the dark - 6k - peter parker has never made much use of his driver’s license with new york’s frustrating traffic.
however, he changes that when he travels to the dc universe.
13. ⨳Schrodinger's Spider - 82k -
Jason, well-- Red Hood really, has a lot on his plate. It's a full time job to be a crime lord for Park Row for one, and an entirely separate full time job to fend off the unwelcome attentions of his extended (and estranged) family. So when a new vigilante appears as if from thin air in his neighborhoods causing trouble and making both of his other full-time jobs even harder? Well he doesn't have a lot of patience to spare for that. The cherry on top? A small quiet act of charity for a lost soul with big brown eyes has caused a slew of unforeseen complications, upsetting the already precariously balanced schedule. Getting one quiet, pretty, friendly Peter Parker, a crappy studio apartment in his building was supposed to help keep the guy from getting into trouble on Gotham's streets... so how was it possible that he could work for so many villains in-succession completely on accident?
(Existential Crisis Mode AU Fanfic)
Any Peter Parker in Gotham fic recs, other than dark matter or Peter the pizza guy? I’m hungry and just discovered these… thank you 😊
*joint cracking sounds*
You have no idea how happy you made me by asking this :)
The Peter Parker Theory
By nicfics
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50603350/chapters/127830601
☾⋆⁺₊
A wish of survival
By Chaotic_aroace
https://archiveofourown.org/works/55528810/chapters/140921743
☾⋆⁺₊
Peter Parker needs a hug (from the BatFamily)
https://archiveofourown.org/series/3189426
☾⋆⁺₊
Like Real People Do
By Phoenfatale
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50215504/chapters/126825766
☾⋆⁺₊
Set Naked On Your Kingdom
By sassydandelion
https://archiveofourown.org/works/46408882/chapters/116846806
☾⋆⁺₊
A Long Way From Home (And No Way Back)
By Vivia_wants_boba
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49842712/chapters/125822029
☾⋆⁺₊
What's in the name
By ilike_color
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49833709
☾⋆⁺₊
If Violence is a Virtue ( You Must Be a Saint)
By D3ADP00L
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50155738/chapters/126666097
☾⋆⁺₊
Leap of Faith (Catch Me, If You Can)
By alighterwood, ErinWantsToWrite
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54620467/chapters/138404701
☾⋆⁺₊
Dumpster Diving for Treasure
By Clovrtree
https://archiveofourown.org/works/53735629/chapters/136028710
☾⋆⁺₊
Butler Spider
By Danny_shells
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48337528/chapters/121913095
☾⋆⁺₊
Where could I go?
By know_where_usa
https://archiveofourown.org/works/55644937/chapters/141240538
☾⋆⁺₊
The Peter Parker Theory is my absolute favorite after Dark Matter, so I highly recommend you go for that one first. It has a lot of mystery, kida a thriller detective type of fic. It's just *chef kiss*
Aaaaaand I haven’t finished Where could I go? But till now, I've loved the damn fic. It's Peter in Gotham but the Joker finds Peter first. So don't forget to read the tags.
I hope you enjoy them! And if you want to scream over them I'm happy to talk ✨️
☾⋆⁺₊
EDIT TO ADD MORE
☾⋆⁺₊
Phantom Liberty
By Peccati
It only has 3 chapters rn but is part of my top three best fics I've read. Young Battinson, time travel, and Peter tired of everyone's shit? *granted chef kiss 💋*
Any Peter Parker in Gotham fic recs, other than dark matter or Peter the pizza guy? I’m hungry and just discovered these… thank you 😊
*joint cracking sounds*
You have no idea how happy you made me by asking this :)
The Peter Parker Theory
By nicfics
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50603350/chapters/127830601
☾⋆⁺₊
A wish of survival
By Chaotic_aroace
https://archiveofourown.org/works/55528810/chapters/140921743
☾⋆⁺₊
Peter Parker needs a hug (from the BatFamily)
https://archiveofourown.org/series/3189426
☾⋆⁺₊
Like Real People Do
By Phoenfatale
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50215504/chapters/126825766
☾⋆⁺₊
Set Naked On Your Kingdom
By sassydandelion
https://archiveofourown.org/works/46408882/chapters/116846806
☾⋆⁺₊
A Long Way From Home (And No Way Back)
By Vivia_wants_boba
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49842712/chapters/125822029
☾⋆⁺₊
What's in the name
By ilike_color
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49833709
☾⋆⁺₊
If Violence is a Virtue ( You Must Be a Saint)
By D3ADP00L
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50155738/chapters/126666097
☾⋆⁺₊
Leap of Faith (Catch Me, If You Can)
By alighterwood, ErinWantsToWrite
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54620467/chapters/138404701
☾⋆⁺₊
Dumpster Diving for Treasure
By Clovrtree
https://archiveofourown.org/works/53735629/chapters/136028710
☾⋆⁺₊
Butler Spider
By Danny_shells
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48337528/chapters/121913095
☾⋆⁺₊
Where could I go?
By know_where_usa
https://archiveofourown.org/works/55644937/chapters/141240538
☾⋆⁺₊
The Peter Parker Theory is my absolute favorite after Dark Matter, so I highly recommend you go for that one first. It has a lot of mystery, kida a thriller detective type of fic. It's just *chef kiss*
Aaaaaand I haven’t finished Where could I go? But till now, I've loved the damn fic. It's Peter in Gotham but the Joker finds Peter first. So don't forget to read the tags.
I hope you enjoy them! And if you want to scream over them I'm happy to talk ✨️
☾⋆⁺₊
EDIT TO ADD MORE
☾⋆⁺₊
Phantom Liberty
By Peccati
It only has 3 chapters rn but is part of my top three best fics I've read. Young Battinson, time travel, and Peter tired of everyone's shit? *granted chef kiss 💋*
For the past couple of months, I've read so many Peter Parker in Gotham fics that I can't tell them apart anymore. Whenever I get an update notification, I sit there trying to figure out which one this was. Doesn't help that the subgenre has so many established common beats.
For my own sake and sanity, this is a list of some that do stand out, that either break the mould or use it well enough to be memorable anyway. These are the updates I crave.
And When You Fall by @blackbellabu Peter in Gotham, but arrives together with a strange little girl he's never seen before.
Die a Little Sweeter by @forestofbabel Throws the mould out the window entirely. Peter keeps visiting Gotham at different stages of his life.
Existential Crisis Mode by @luciaintheskyainthi Everyone knows this one, right? No transition via snap, or pit, or universal erasure spell, which stands out right from the start.
Home Sweet Home by @queenisdemilo This one hits a lot of the tropes, but it does it so well, and has me on the edge of my seat.
The Mime of Gotham City by @lemongrovesandcloves Peter lands in the hands of the Joker instead of the bats. Longing for the next chapter to this one!
Phantom Liberty by @kpeccati Skips the orientation, and is set when Batman is just starting his career.
Stuck in a Web by AislinnHeart The bats are hilariously incompetent when it comes to being reassuring and trustworthy.
The Unsteady Retirement of One Mr Peter Benjamin Parker by aestorian Peter has had it with hero work and just wants to be Peter Parker, but keeps being bugged by bats.
I've seen a lot of Danny being Ellie's dad but where is the Pariah Dark adopts this sassy ghost child that beat him in a duel and is now prince because why not adopt the overpowered child. Which leads to the JL fighting Danny for whatever reason and when he calls for help he calls his new dad and oh shit is that the Ghost King
Danny was with Sam and Tucker in the Ghost Zone when three seven-man squads of ghost knights found him. They had found an empty island near the portal that they had made into a makeshift training ground so he could safely practice his powers.
The most recent fights had shown him that he was only winning because of his quick thinking and adaptability that tricked his enemies, but he needed to get better if he ever wanted to prevent an incident like the ones at Axion labs from ever happening again.
He couldn't afford to create another arch-nemesis. Plus his good luck and clever mind could only get him so far if his body couldn't keep up.
He was in the middle of shooting the rays from the various drones Tucker set up when the knights landed on his island. Their metal clacking with each step they took, marching away from their skeleton winged horses.
Gojo gives a class assignment
DpxDc #14
Infinite lives glitch
The body on the ground looked so small.
Nightwing couldn't keep his gaze away.
Maybe it was the fact that the teenager was about Damian's age, or that he kinda looked like him, but something inside him twisted.
He felt the need to see his family again, to make sure they were alright.
He lifted his eyes off of it, as he heard steps coming from behind. A young girl, dressed in a complete goth outfit, looked between him and the body on the floor.
Dick was ready to try and calm her down, to take her away from the situation. Seeing a corpse wasn't easy for him, let alone a civilian.
The girl just sighed.
"Don't freak out"
That really sounded like something he should say.
Instead, the girl just walked up to the corpse and knelt next to it, taking out chalk from her purse and starting to draw a circle on the ground.
"He always does this, don't worry. Nothing a bit of necromancy can't solve"
---------------------------------------------
Or: Danny just dies a lot, so the team just learned how to track and resurrect him
this is basically a short horror film
Haymitch and his ducklings
I love your Freelance Inventor Au so much! (And, like, all your other work,, lol) I can't help imagining Danny finding out about the Batfam and turning to Bruce like, "You let our kids be vigilantes?!" Meanwhile Bruce is stuck on the fact that Danny called them "Our" kids. Or the reveal the other way, with Bruce finding out about Phantom first? He'd freak out- clearly he doesn't know Danny as well as he thought he did. And he can't believe Danny never told him! Meanwhile, Danny thought he mentioned the Phantom thing ages ago and that Bruce just doesn't care.
Since Jazz put the idea in his head, Danny has been unable to think of anything else. The idea that he might be in love with Bruce Wayne and had been for so many years but didn't notice because he assumed everyone felt that it was for that one friend.
It was there whenever he was drafting new blueprints, when he traveled across the world looking for inspiration and investors, when he settled into bed for a good night's rest, and most of all, when he finished his weekly phone call with Bruce.
"Get some rest," Bruce's warm, smooth voice says over the speakers. "I'll talk to you soon. Goodnight, Danny."
"Goodnight," he responds softly. He has a request to stay on the line on the tip of his tongue, but with the time difference, he knows it's not a good idea. And have a good day, Bruce."
The Amulet
dpxdc
Damian was nine when his brother died.
Danny had been twelve—older, taller, faster. Wiser, even. At least, that’s how Damian had always seen him. He was the one who ruffled his hair when he was annoyed, the one who taught him the best way to land a hit when sparring. The one who, even in their grandfather’s suffocating world, still managed to make Damian laugh.
And then, one day, he was gone.
Not just gone—erased.
By the time the grief had settled like dust over his shoulders, Ra’s al Ghul had made sure no trace of Danny remained. No files. No photographs. Not even a whisper in the League’s archives. It was as if he never existed.
But Damian remembered.
And he had the amulet.
A small, smooth crystal set into a metal frame, strung on a fine, worn chain. Danny had pressed it into Damian’s palm the night before he disappeared, closing his fingers around it like a secret.
“Keep it close, Dami. No matter what happens—don’t lose this. Promise me.”
Damian kept that promise. Through every sparring match, every mission, every moment he stood as Robin beside his father. He wore it beneath the collar of his suit, hidden but always present. When the world felt heavy, the amulet reminded him he hadn’t imagined it all—hadn’t imagined Danny.
And over time… it started doing more than that.
At first, it was just a feeling—a presence. Every time Damian found himself in danger, the amulet would glow, just barely, almost imperceptibly. He didn’t think much of it. Probably just a trick of the light.
But then the near-misses started.
A blade that should have sliced through his side—dodged at the last second. A bullet meant for his skull—tilted just an inch to the right. A collapsing beam during a mission—falling just shy of crushing him.
Every time, the amulet pulsed, and the next moment, he would move—without thinking, without reason. It wasn’t skill. It wasn’t luck.
It was something else.
And the family noticed.
Bruce had narrowed his eyes every time, watching him with the same calculating look he used when analyzing evidence. Tim had outright asked if he was cheating death. Even Jason—who didn’t believe in magic or miracles—had muttered something about the brat being “too damn lucky.”
Something was wrong.
But then, the real nightmare began.
It started like a whisper—stories of strange phenomena, ripples in reality, beings phasing in and out of existence in small towns and quiet corners of the world. Then the whispers turned into chaos. Entire cities blinked through moments of freezing cold, electronics failed, shadows moved when they shouldn’t.
The Justice League investigated.
What they found wasn’t a rogue metahuman, but an open wound in the fabric of their dimension—and something trying to crawl through it.
Ghosts. Entities. Creatures that bent light and space, beings of ectoplasmic energy that grew restless, aggressive. Some were merely curious. Others were cruel.
And they were looking for someone.
“The King,” one of them rasped through Zatanna’s containment ward. “He is here. We can feel him. His heart beats in this world once more.”
The JL pressed for answers. The ghosts spoke of a kingdom—the Infinite Realms—a place of dimensions layered like veils. Their king had fallen, and now the throne trembled beneath the feet of a usurper. The war had spilled over into this reality in search of the one who might reclaim it.
The king, they said, had been reborn.
But time was running out.
In the weeks that followed, the world became a battlefield. The League, the Titans, the Bat-family—all fought with everything they had. Cities were scarred. Skies turned green under rifts of swirling ectoplasm. And still, the invaders came, stronger, bolder.
Until one night, Damian found himself face-to-face with death again.
He’d leapt in front of a civilian—reckless, impulsive, the way he always was when his blood ran too hot. The specter’s blade moved too fast.
There was no time to dodge.
But the amulet around his neck blazed to life.
Light burst outward in a pulse that made the air shatter. The ghost reeled back, howling in agony, while every other entity across the battlefield froze. A shockwave rippled through them—not of force, but of recognition.
And fear.
Every spectral eye turned toward Damian.
The king is here.
Some screamed in fury. Others dropped their weapons and fled. Those who lingered felt the surge of power that poured from the boy—not his own power, but something ancient, something buried deep in the amulet that now burned white-blue against his chest.
Everything stopped.
The ghosts froze, eyes wide with horror.
"The King," one of them whispered.
Damian barely registered it.
The energy surged through him, crackling under his skin, pulsing with something ancient and vast. He could hear voices—distant, echoing, familiar. The ground trembled beneath him, and for the first time, the invaders fled.
The war was over.
And Damian collapsed.
The League called an emergency summit in the days that followed. Damage had been widespread, but miraculously, there were no major civilian casualties. As cities began to rebuild, questions remained. Chief among them: What exactly had happened?
Robin sat in the meeting chamber, surrounded by the most powerful beings on Earth, saying nothing. His fingers drifted toward his chest—only to find nothing there.
The amulet was gone.
His breath caught, just slightly.
The warmth that had always been there—the anchor to his brother, the quiet hum of protection—it was gone.
Panic swelled in his throat before he even realized he was standing. The conversation around him blurred. Someone called after him, but he was already halfway down the hall, footsteps echoing through marble and steel.
He burst through the balcony doors, heart hammering—and stopped.
The sky was clear. The stars shimmered like tiny mirrors.
And there, leaning against the railing, arms folded, gaze turned upward… was Danny.
Whole. Real. Alive.
He hadn’t aged a day.
The same snow-silver eyes. The same wild black hair that defied gravity. That same presence Damian had only remembered in fragments, in dreams.
Danny turned at the sound of footsteps. His expression softened.
“Hey, Dami.”
Damian felt like the world had shifted beneath his feet.
Danny’s voice was exactly the same. Not older. Not changed. As if he had never left.
"You grew."
The words were soft, fond.
Damian’s breath came sharp and uneven. His body screamed at him to move, to do something—to attack, to demand answers, to hit Danny for making him think he was dead.
But he couldn't move.
Because suddenly, that warm thing in his chest, the one he had ignored for years, the one that had flared to life when he had blown out the candle that morning—
It broke open.
Flooded through him like fire and light, grief and relief, memory and something else—something too big to name.
He had spent years pretending he didn’t feel the ache. Years telling himself it didn’t matter. That his brother had been erased. That he was alone.
And yet, here he was.
Standing in the moonlight. Smiling at him.
Danny existed.
The amulet—the core—had never just been a memory.
It had been Danny.
Waiting.
Returning.
And Damian didn’t know what to do with that.
So he did nothing.
Just stared.
Just breathed.
And Danny just smiled.
Like he had never been gone at all.
May I please ask for more Royal Consort?? 🥺🥺🥺
Danny stares at the piles of paperwork sitting on the desk. They are in perfect stacks, each glowing in different neon lights- representing the territories they come from- and the boxes of scrolls waiting for his review.
There were also piles and piles of parchment. Stacks upon stacks of scrolls. And he thinks some crystals that contain oral recordings of reports. All glowing. All various colors.
It was like a rave barfed all over an office and left an unholy mess.
He can tell by just looking that this will take him days, if not weeks, to go through. Let's not even think about about getting it processed.
DC XDP Fic idea: Gamer Boy
Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are well known for turning objects found around the house into ghost-fighting gear. This was partially to save money on materials and partially because the Fentons were geniuses like that.
They had no trouble changing an object's entire purpose. It was awe-inspiring if you didn't live with them and misplaced something.
What happened to the TV remote? It's now a controller for the defense of house security weapons.
finally giving fem danyal her own au and fulfilling my 'danny is an animal whisperer' agenda at the same time: mother of monsters danyal 2.0
i say "2.0" because TECHNICALLY 'mother of monsters danyal' is an au I made back in June for Dark fem!Danyal (who I promptly named Layal). However, I haven't posted much for her yet, and I like the "mother of monsters" premise too much to leave it only to Layal. Plus Danyal in that au was going to become the mother of monsters anyway, just with significantly less world domination and mass extinction.
'Animal whisperer' Danny has been something I've been thinking about since my latest DP 'wolfpack au' post and it's! So fun to think about, and who no better to assign the idea to than Danyal Al Ghul? Who comes from a family infamously known for their love of animals and nature?
Fem Danyal is just purely self-indulgent. *gestures wildly at her* i just lomvb,,, her,,,, I've only really mentioned her in context of the 'Things in Threes' au/my first Danyal al Ghul au with the facial scar, but she's!!! I love her. She deserves her own au <33
So kill three birds with one stone! Make a post about it.
Anyways, Danny has a large lair. Similar to cult leader danyal, her lair is a giant mountain region resembling nanda parbat with a big temple/palace-like area built into the mountain. It's large, it's overflowing with natural flora, with its own mini-floating islands hovering over some areas, and it's also completely empty.
Danny takes one look at her lair upon first meeting, -- noting that it looked relatively smaller from the outside -- and promptly, with the elegance of an Al Ghul, goes "What the hell??" Because yes, while she does enjoy her own solitude and privacy, this is a bit ridiculous.
For heaven's sake, there's even a massive lake in there! What's she going to do with all this space? Can she make it any smaller? Why is it so big in the first place? This looks borderline like one of the mega-islands!
She finds out later that apparently, the amount of ectoplasm a ghost has can have an effect on the size of their lair. And since she has such a large core, her lair reflects that. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, it's bigger on the inside so it doesn't take up "too much space" on the outside. Don't worry about it too much.
Danyal isn't totally opposed to having such a large lair, she's just... a bit baffled by it. It feels like so much wasted space is all. All this flora and no fauna to enjoy it with. It's practically eerie.
She decorates her temple-palace area, transforming rooms to match her needs as she sees fit. In the center of the inner gardens is a massive tree that she likes to climb, with twisting, winding branches. Sam and Tucker have honorary rooms, even if they can't safely leave the specter speeder for long periods of time, even with proper safety equipment. So does Jazz. Ali (Dani) has one too, but he can actually use that one, and Danny brought him to her lair so he could decorate it himself.
She has a personal garden, but for the most part she lets the flora exist as it is. Too much space to cultivate it en masse anyways.
Skip to a few weeks later, on her next visit to Clockwork. She developed a habit of going to see him semi-regularly just because. She enjoys his wisdom, and he has a lot of stories to tell, and when he's not being the cryptic and esoteric timekeeper, he's a bit goofy.
(pushing my dadwork agenda here,,, i think Danny deserves to go 'hey, Lord Clockwork, do you want me to buy you something' while she's at walmart, only to receive a singular glowing sticky note that says 'cucumber gatorade'.)
(She insists on referring to him with his proper titles even for the most mundane of things because it's proper, but Clockwork sees a future where she eventually calls him "Cee" and by all things in existence is he determined to get there. Anyways,,,)
On her next visit to Clockwork, just as she is about to leave, Clockwork stops her and goes; "Ah, I have something for you. Hold out your hands."
Danny does as such, and Clockwork doesn't give out things often, so her curiosity has spiked to the highest levels. He turns away from her for a moment, using his staff to summon whatever it is he needs, and when he turns around.
He drops a fish into her hands. Granted, a fish in a small glass tank. But a fish nonetheless. A small one, roughly about the size of her finger, with a blue-black, eel-shaped body and four sets of glowing eyes. She can see thin, almost translucent, but spiny fins down its back and the start of bioluminescent markings. It's swimming around in circles in its small container.
"Lord Clockwork." Danyal says all too calmly.
"Yes, Danyal?"
"What is this?"
"That is an adolescent leviathan, Danyal." She’s transfixed onto the tank, but she doesn’t need to see Clockwork’s face to hear the smile he’s stifling.
The myriad of emotions that runs through her all at once threatens to overwhelm her, and she can’t tell if the feelings are negative or positive. So she carefully closes her eyes to breathe in through her nose.
“Clockwork.”
“Ah, I see you’ve dropped formalities.”
She ignores that.
“Why have you given me an adolescent leviathan?”
She's expecting the trickster to look amused when she opens her eyes. Instead, he just looks endeared. "I know you're fond of animals," he says, "and you always look amazed when you come across an animal of the realms. So I thought you might enjoy taking care of the young beast, it's mother is dead so it has no one to care for it."
Oh.
"But, if you don't like it," Clockwork's hands reach out for the tank, "I can simply take it back--"
Danyal shifts the tank out from his reach and hugs it possessively. "I never said that. How do I care for it?"
And so clockwork gives her a list, and when Danyal returns to her lair, she sets up a large tank in her room for the leviathan to swim in -- it's much too small for the lake right now, she thinks. She'll feel better if it's somewhere she can find it. She names him Suhā.
Suhā grows quickly, and by the end of the mortal month she transforms one of the rooms into a large pond for him to swim around in. He's a very loyal beast, recognizing her as it's mother of some kind. Danyal takes great care ensuring that her beastie gets quality care, and Suhā swims to the surface to see her when he senses her in the room.
It spirals from there. Somehow, Pandora catches wind that Clockwork gave her a leviathan, and so the next time Danyal visits the Greater Athens, she gives her a baby chimera. It's eyes are still sealed shut, Danyal can't bring herself to say no. She names the little beastie Firas.
Frostbite hears about it too, and not to be outdone, gives her an animal she's never even heard of. Infinite-realms born, apparently. A fox-like creature with two small horns like an impala, four eyes, and tall legs. The name isn't something she's quite sure how to write down, and she's positive that her friends won't be able to comprehend it. She names her Eira.
Getting the three of them used to each other was... interesting. Suhā tried to eat Firas when Danyal first introduced the two, and they've hated each other ever since. Firas and Eira are seemingly getting along. Her island already feels full enough with the three of them on it.
Of course, that's not the end of it. With her luck, she begins stumbling across other monsters. Realms-borne or otherwise. An injured hydra in the Grecian islands that, through lots of trial and error, Danyal is able to rehabilitate and heal. It routinely comes to visit her afterwards.
A griffin with a broken wing that she moves permanently to the island that likes to keep to itself, but tends to come down when she's near. It gets along best with Firas.
A panther-like monster from the Shades Woods that had six legs and three tails, with ends that reminded her of a venus flytrap. It stuck around the heavy foliage and she can only make out where it was when she saw its golden eyes reflect.
She befriends a young indrik with its leg injured, and much like the hydra it follows her back to her island, and stays there in the mountains. It comes out when she's alone, much like her other beasts.
She receives two more leviathan -- one from clockwork, and one she finds herself while exploring the deeper and darker recesses of the Ghost Zone. It was huddled against the carcass of its mother, and she managed to befriend and get close enough to it to bring it back to her island. Suhā is fully grown by then, with a head bigger than Danyal herself and he still likes to stick her head out of the water for nuzzles when she's near.
He's not very happy with his new siblings, but he's not trying to eat them when she's not looking. So she calls it a win in her book.
And it's not just large beasts either; smaller animals begin popping up when she's not looking. Bird-like creatures and small mammals, and she swears she saw a doe (or something resembling a doe) grazing in the forest while she was walking by.
She takes back with her a lone snake egg once, and it grows so big it wraps around her island and sleeps with its massive head on the mountain beside the temple, like some smaller breed of Jörmungandr.
And on and on it goes. Some of the beasts she comes across never step foot onto her island, some of them follow her back, while others she has to carry back. Not all of the ones that follow her stay, and Danny rehabilitates the injured and releases them when they're fully healed.
It's hectic, and busy, and frankly she loves it. Some of her rehabilitated beasts return to visit her, or to have their children somewhere on the island, or whatever it is they need to do.
She becomes a bit infamous for it. She goes to visit Dorathea once, and as she's walking through the streets she can hear some of the denizens whispering while she walks past.
"Is that her?"
"Her highness' friend? Yes--"
"--that's the one--"
"--Mother of monsters--"
Danny's not sure how to feel about that.
Although, she can't say she's opposed.
Danyal Al Ghul, Mother of monsters, raiser of beasts. It has a nice ring to it.