Danny's Obsession is helping, which means he also helps the dead, not just the living. Some want their deaths solved, or just want to finish the movie they died watching, but others are more complicated. Like; the ballerina who just wanted to dance one more time, or the old woman who wanted to bake her grandbaby her signature vanilla raspberry cake for their 1st birthday cake, or the dad who died before he could build a tree house for his son; for special cases like those, Danny allows himself to be temporarily/partially overshadowed so they can accomplish their goals before moving on.
Because of this, Danny has a lot of skills under his belt, and he has a reputation of being just a very kind medium by the living(because how else could he explain knowing a lost family recipe, or knowing a man promised his son he'd build a treehouse before his death?).
Danny knew that it was rare for a ghost to have two obsessions— even rarer to have three. Ghosts usually dedicate their undead lives to their first obsession and rarely have time for anything else. But really, it should not have been a surprise when he formed a third obsession— one still related to his first but still so different.
Before his death, Danny was always protective over those he deemed his, whether they were his friends or family. He always wanted to make sure they were protected, and while they didn’t understand it, they allowed him to do as he pleased. When Danny died, he died hoping and praying that Sam and Tucker were okay— that the portal didn’t end up exploding or sucking them into it— that they didn’t die because of his stupidity. After becoming a half-ghost, his protectiveness increased tenfold. And Danny? The poor boy was so confused about why he was suddenly more protective over people after his little “accident.”
It was only after a visit to Frostbite— after the fight with Dark Pariah— that he got a rundown on ghost biology and understood that it was his obsession. And not only did he have one, but two.
After that, Danny learned that, yes, his interest in space had turned into an obsession when he died, but he just didn't notice because he had been flying off into space in his free time, therefore satisfying and feeding his obsession. It turned out that to satisfy and feed his protection obsession, he just needed to protect the people around him. As Phantom, that wasn’t a problem, but as Danny? He had to find a more subtle way to do it. Convincing Jazz and Tucker to wear a tracker wasn’t that hard— what was hard was convincing Sam to wear one. She eventually caved once Danny started sulking for a week straight and almost got hit by a car while doing it.
Danny was happy. He got into Gotham University for aerospace engineering and had a part-time job at an old mechanic shop. His sister was in Metropolis getting a degree in psychology, and Tucker and Sam were together in New York— Tucker studying software engineering and information technology, and Sam studying botany.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side on a random Wednesday when he missed his alarm. He ran into the nearest coffee shop, but thanks to his fantastic luck, he bumped into someone the moment he entered. And his core fucking purrs at the sight of the guy. He looks tired, on the verge of death, but oh so pretty. Danny could see the hidden muscles that the well-fitting suit concealed. He could feel his core reaching out, trying to connect with this poor guy, and Danny had to physically hold himself back from reaching out while simultaneously wrangling in his core.
After apologies and a coffee date, Danny learned the guy's name and a bunch of other stuff about Tim. They enjoyed it so much that they scheduled another date, which turned into another, and it wasn’t long before they were in a loving relationship.
Danny was worried. When he met Tim, he was immediately obsessed, and when they started dating, it got even worse. He wanted Tim all to himself. He wanted Tim happy. He wanted Tim safe. He wanted to be there when he laughed and cried. He wanted to be with him during his failures and successes. He wanted so much of Tim, he knew it was unhealthy.
So Danny did the only thing that made sense— he acted normal. He held back all those urges and pretended he wasn’t an obsessed freak who wanted to love Tim like there was no tomorrow. He toned it down to what humans would call normal— no human would ever love someone so obsessively and devotedly. That is only something a ghost would do. He was kind, patient, respectful, and understanding.
After a few months, Danny knew that he had to figure out what was wrong with him. After a quick visit to Frostbite, Danny learned that he had a love obsession. According to Frostbite, a love obsession occurs when he finds a partner who his core approves of. It is as simple as that, and Danny was confused but even more worried.
Danny had seen what a love obsession does to you. Just look at Vlad! He was insane! And one of Danny’s worst fears was turning into that. He had seen what Vlad’s obsession had done to his mom— she was cordial at best and downright disgusted at worst, truly only tolerating him for his dad’s sake.
After consulting with Frostbite, Danny learned that since his obsession wasn’t fully formed, he had time to stop it from fully maturing. The only way to do that was to isolate himself from the object of his obsession for about three to six months.
Which was easier said than done.
Because Danny loved Tim.
To Danny, it wasn’t even an option to not love him. After all, what wasn’t there to love about Tim? Tim was smart, passionate, and intelligent— everything to Danny. To stay away from him for six months, when being away from him for even thirty minutes felt like his core was being ripped out, would be absolute torture.
But it would be worth it if it meant that Tim would be okay. He didn’t want to become Vlad. He didn’t want Tim to treat him like his mom treated Vlad.
So instead of asking for a little bit of time away from Tim, Danny decided that the best course of action was to break up with Tim.
Hopefully, on a bad note— so bad that Tim hated him so much that Danny’s core would give up and move on. Liar, a voice hissed. You know your core will break if that happens.
Or maybe they would end on a neutral note, and Tim would move on and find someone better— someone who wasn’t a ghost, someone who could love Tim normally as he deserved— which made Danny’s core ache.
(I had this idea when I learned that there are some people who give out their phone numbers for people to give to someone who is harassing them/giving creepy vibes/or just plain not interested.
Btw, if you wanna add a ship between Danny and any of the mentioned captured vigilantes, go right on ahead! If you're not a fan of ships, that's fine too. Later!)
✦
Who You Gonna Call?
After the Anti-Ecto Acts were dismantled and the townwide internet/communications blackout is dismantled, Danny's social media for his alter ego blows up. He won't lie either, he loves the mostly positive attention whereas before he'd only been met with fear and hatred.
It isn't until he makes a post where he jokingly mentions the Fenton patented Anti-Creep Stick™ (yes it actually works on ghosts) that he gets loads of comments on how many wish it would work on human creeps giving unwanted attention (it actually does because it's literally just a baseball bat covered in anti-ghost paint, but meh) or really just have Danny himself scare away the creeps because of the whole "being a ghost" thing. Naturally, this sets off Danny's protection obsession and he decides to do something about it.
With a little help from Technus, Danny learns to manipulate and travel through phone connections and then releases a separate phone number for people to use/give away if they're stuck in an uncomfortable situation.
Here's the funny part tho.
Red Hood somehow uses the number kinda as a joke to, well, sic Phantom on the Joker while him, Nightwing, and Red Robin are tied up for another one of the clown's schemes. It works a little too well though. Turns out the Joker is wanted in the Infinite Realms for continued interference on peaceful relations between said Realms and the Living World, i.e. - terrorism. It's then discovered that Joker is in fact considered liminal by ghost standards and therefore falls under Danny, the Ghost King's, jurisdiction.
So basically, Jason calls Phantom's Anti-Creep number as a joke, Phantom actually shows up via phone connection, and all three of them wind up witnessing firsthand the Joker being dragged into a glowing green, concerningly Pit-like portal, bound in chains + kicking and screaming. Phantom even stops long enough to untie them, shake hands with a shocked Red Hood, thanks him for his help, and then leaves like it never happened.
Now. How the hell are they going to explain this to Batman?
✦
This idea has probably already been thought of before but I haven't seen it. If someone has, please direct me to it. 👀
A GIW base that is protected by a ghost with a protection Obsession. And it’s not because the ghost likes them. The ghost hates the GIW agents with their whole heart, but there’s nothing they can do about it.
They’re a protector spirit. By their very nature, they are bound to protect this place. They can no more stop it than a human can stop breathing. To abandon their work is to cease to be.
Maybe if the GIW did something heinous enough in front of them, they’d be able to switch sides to protect something from them, but that hasn’t happened yet. The agents have been careful not to waste this boon.
So for now, they are forced to continue. To actively guard the base against harm, no matter how much their hatred and fury burns them up inside.
Vlad's been a halfa for over twenty years. He's practiced, he's trained, he's learned. He should be sweeping the floor with Danny (and to be fair, he does), but he just can't quite win.
Here's the difference: Danny gets to fulfill his obsession (whatever it is.) Vlad doesn't.
If we all agree fulfilling your obsession or at least working towards it is a fundamental part of a ghost keeping healthy and/or alive, then Vlad's 100% on the worse end of things, twenty years barely even seeing the object of his obsession, and getting rejected every-time he tries to make moves. That would wear down on him so hard.
Vlad is much stronger than Danny. He absolutely could level a city block. He maybe even could've had a chance against Fright Knight.
A/n: So, a while back, I made this little thing about obsession speculations. Well, I made a few oneshots about that even further back and just found them. It's a mini-series that looks like it was attached to another fanfic plan? Well, I have no idea what the plan was, so I'm giving you this. There are 4 parts I made? This and the 3rd part are finished, but the 2nd and 4th are incomplete. Better together but still understandable as a standalone, you know?
Summary: Jazz has finally gotten through to Vlad in their therapy sessions. Danny is a bit on edge but relieved. Then Vlad has a talk with Jack and Maddie. Many things are shared.
TW: Unprofessional and very improvised medical treatment, mention of stalking, mention of attempted murder, intensified canonical death(s) (I made it so much worse, but it's not too detailed), hints at suicidal thoughts, hints as attempts, internalized homophobia, polyamory (I don't consider it a trigger but some people don't like it so whatever), mention of a dead kitten
Vlad/Maddie/Jack; Danny's obsession is Space and Protection; Vlad's obsession is Family; Liminal amity Park; Vlad loves animals; Amity is Danny's haunt and the people, animals, ghosts, and more sentient plants that live there are his people; Ghosts feel things more intensely and it's overwhelming for halfas who are also still alive and not built or used to it; ghosts are empaths, they know what other people around them are feeling
Danny was sitting on his bed with a needle and fishing line in hand, sewing a particularly long and deep enough cut from his last fight, when his door slammed open. He jumped, eyes wide, blood draining from his face, and heart entirely stopping.
He feared the worst, thinking about how to explain to his parents about such a large injury that couldn’t possibly be from bullying, but then he realized who it was. Jazz.
She was more frazzled, hair a mess and panting heavily. But thanks to ghost speak, allowing him to be the best empath a living person could be, he could tell she wasn’t scared or panicking. It was similar in intensity, but it was the opposite. She was excited and enthusiastic.
“I did it!” She laughed. Tears were springing forth from her eyes as she paced around, waving her hands around. “I actually did it! I-I helped him- I convinced- I- Holy shit, Danny! I did it!”
Danny sighed, shoulders slumping without the previous worry he harbored. He allowed his heart to beat once more, finishing his stitches as Jazz let out her excitement and… relief? No, it was satisfaction. Huh.
“It wasn’t- I didn’t think that- Wow! I didn’t know how it was all going to work because of how obsessions work and his seemed like it was leaning towards control but- But it wasn’t! And while the situation is a bit weird now, it’s- I got a breakthrough!”
Danny raised a brow as he looked up, having finished tying the knot and snipping off the rest while she spoke.
“Can I ask or are you implementing privacy protocols?”
Jazz took a few breaths, letting out a few airy chuckles.
“I-... No it’s…” She took another breath. “Vlad- I’ve been talking to him.” she quickly went to clarify once seeing Danny tense. “And yes, I’m fine. He hasn’t done anything. He’s sent me gifts and sent me a bunch of textbooks and all that- but nothing over the moon.”
Danny pursed his lips, making Jazz smile. He always hated how she’d slip in astronomy into the conversation to calm him down. She knew how it affected his ghostly side. It was like a sedative, a drug. It worked every time.
He was worried the addiction would grow like it had for other ghosts. Jazz stated that it was more like a prescription for a health condition. After that conversation, it clicked. She must’ve been talking with Frostbite. Damn her empathetic nature. It wasn’t even caused by some instinct (though he supposed that she may have a mother’s instinct with how she always saw through him).
“When did you…?”
“He wasn’t sure which place to get Maddie from and what would be best suited for them.” It took a moment for Danny to remember about Vlad's first cat.
“But why did he ask you?”
“He thought I wanted to be a vet. And yes, I did for a while just to be around animals. Always wanted a snake- but it wasn’t really… Anyway- The last time Mom talked about me before the incident, it was about me helping a friend with their grumpy cat.”
“Well, he went to the right person, I guess. He officially has 4 of them now.”
“Officially?”
“Remember the whole stray thing?”
It started with Danny finding a dead kitten in a parking lot. His obsession about protecting his people, including the animals and even some plants, had hit him hard. He ended up crying to Vlad about it when the older halfa saw him going on a frenzy to find all the strays in Amity to see if they were ok.
Vlad decided to join him and bought a whole building for the strays they've found. It's a play area open for adoption and just to hang out. But before that, he had to keep them in his mansion. He had to throw out his old wardrobe because of all the fur.
It was funny to think back on. Vlad spoiled them so much but refused to admit how attached he got to them even when he had 3 kittens climbing him, a surprise raccoon on his shoulders, and 2 dogs running circles around him.
“Oh, right.” Jazz snickered a bit before shaking her head. “After approaching him enough times while you were out, I was able to start talking with him. And now, he came to a conclusion!”
“And that is…?”
Jazz hesitated for a moment.
“So… how do you feel about hooking him up with mom-”
He opened his mouth.
“-and dad?”
He closed it, eyes now wide. Jazz pursed her lips, analyzing every micro-expression before falling back into therapist-brain when she found nothing.
“I know you aren’t comfortable with him after everything, but you must’ve noticed how he’s calmed down a bit, right? He’s trying and-”
“It’s related to his obsession. He has one.” Danny interrupted; Jazz could hear his slow relief sneaking in. “It’s not… You said it wasn’t control. It's... it's really not?” His expression held hesitant hope. As if he was trying to be careful not to get his hopes up.
Jazz smiled softly. “No, it’s not.”
Danny let out a small sigh of relief, slumping forward. Jazz could see the energy- something similar to adrenaline- drain out of him. He looked more tired now.
The exhaustion he carried was identical to that of a retired veteran soldier. It made a piece of her ache each time he let loose enough to show it. It made her wilt when she saw the similar expressions on his friends as well.
Val was an exception, but it was only because she acted like a military person during training rather than after war.
It made sense.
She hated how it did.
He looked up again, now with a more appreciative look. One that was thankful and genuinely happy.
“Congratulations on your breakthrough.”
“It’ll be a bit easier now, right?”
Danny let out a small chuckle. “Maybe.” He let out another sigh as his head spun a bit from the relief.
He could feel how fuzzy everything was starting to become as something in him twisted. He could feel his core amplifying whatever emotions he was feeling to the point he felt numb. The feeling made it harder to tell if he was breathing, it made it harder to stay in the moment.
He could see Jazz coming closer and he could only smile. He was happy. He was so happy. It felt like he was a step closer to completing something.
“Maybe…”
---
“Can we talk? Just the 3 of us?”
It was a few days after another session with Jazz when he finally convinced himself to talk with Maddie and Jack. Maddie looked at him more skeptically.
It was to be expected, and it made his core want to cry. But Jack accepted without hesitation, looking more than excited to see him. He smiled a bit, feeling his core mend itself with the acceptance alone that he received from Jack of all people. The very person he wanted to kill until about a week ago.
They shuffled to the living room where Vlad could finally sense Daniel in his room along with Jazz’s liminality along with him. It was always difficult to sense liminals, ghosts, or even Daniel in the household due to how much ectoplasm the scientists dealt with. It was worse than how difficult it was to track Daniel’s presence (ghost form or not) when he left Amity Park while Daniel out with his friends or at school.
It’s why he implemented cameras. He had deactivated them once the second truce came around, instead deciding to call Jazz regularly for updates. She was fully honest with him, it was relieving. It made his core hum with glee.
“So what did you want to talk about, Vladdie?”
Vlad took a shaky breath. He didn’t want to lie anymore. He didn’t talk about this to any of the children, but he didn’t want things to bite him back in the future if this worked out.
“Remember the proto-portal? The one we made back in college?”
“Yes?” Maddie confirmed hesitantly, feeling the tension of the room grow.
“Something happened to me then. I got a disease of sorts. It was fatal.”
The 2 of them stilled.
“But you recovered!” Jack exclaimed, though there was a growing puddle of fear. Of concern.
Vlad took another breath, eyes starting to sting.
“I was put into intensive care. They didn’t know what to do, it was a new field entirely. I kept getting sicker and sicker until they gave up and prescribed pain meds in dosages that should’ve been lethal near the end.”
Their hearts dropping was almost audible. Jack’s expression crumbled and Maddie’s became unrecognizable. There was too much weight in her emotions to try and piece together what she was feeling. He was too scared to find out. He was too scared to regret not saying the words “I wish” when his recovery picked up years ago.
He remembered the months during his recovery after he became a halfa. He woke up feeling a rush of so much that he felt numb until he could process it properly. He was still under immense danger of dying. He argued with the doctors, even begged, to go back into the coma he was placed into. He wanted to die without fear or any more pain.
They told him that he’d heal quicker if he was awake. That he was getting to the top of that hill. That he’d go downhill at top speed to his full recovery. He didn't believe them; he didn't want to hope. But heal, he did.
But it was so different as he did.
Too different.
He felt things so much more and it was so intense. His emotions were so strong that he couldn’t stand existing any longer in his lonely room. A room he thought he’d have to stay in for the rest of his life when his condition would go back to life threatening.
“I-” His voice cracked a bit, turning to Jack. “I thought what I felt for you was hate. That I blamed you for what happened to me.”
He wanted someone beside him then. He craved warmth he had only gotten from Maddie and Jack. The feelings he held for Maddie were so simple to understand at that time. It was socially accepted. What he felt for Jack was different. It was, in fact, much more intense. Shivers and goosebumps each time he remembered how Jack would hold him when he got a small injury or was out of breath trying to catch up to the athlete. He felt so small, so vulnerable.
“Vlad-” Jack started, his heart shattering from the fall and flowing through his voice. Vlad could see his tears at the edge of his eyes, ready to begin a stream.
To Maddie, he felt like he could provide whatever she wanted.
To Jack, he thought he felt like he was being treated like someone below him, that he needed to be doted on to be on par with the 2 of them.
But that wasn’t it.
To Jack, he felt like he didn’t have to shoulder any burdens. That he could be loved without truly doing anything in return, that he didn’t need to do anything but be himself.
“It only made sense in those times that it couldn’t be anything but. However…” He turned to Maddie and smiled softly. “It turns out that it wasn’t just you.”
He hadn’t understood it until Jasmine convinced him into therapy lessons. Practice, she claimed, she swore, she lied. She reminded him of how passionate ghosts were. How passionate he was and is.
It was then that he found that he loved Jack more than Maddie at first. That it was such an intense feeling that he confused it with hatred.
It didn’t help that their relationship would’ve been frowned upon then, that it would’ve been impossible and potentially illegal to seal the deal with a ring or even a simple kiss.
It took a moment for her to understand what Vlad was referring to. Her eyes widened, jaw dropping as she looked over at Jack before back at Vlad. Vlad nodded. She shook her head and took a breath.
“What? What do you mean-” Jack was still in the dark. Though, he always was the dense one. “You… You don’t hate me?”
“No, Jack. Though I hope that after this, you’ll be willing to give me a chance.”
“After- I don’t understand.” Jack turned to his wife. “What does he mean? The illness and ‘not just you’? What is he talking about?”
Maddie placed a hand on his shoulder, lips starting to wobble. She seemed to shake her head for a moment.
“He’s been-” She paused, eyes widening slightly before she let out a broken laugh. “He’s been obsessed with me for a long time. And… well, I guess you’re a target now too.”
Jack took a moment to process her words before his face flushed scarlet red. Though he couldn’t speak a word or react further. He simply froze up, making Maddie smile before her lips wobbled and dropped it.
“Are you normally so aggressive?”
The topic was obvious. It made Vlad hopeful that she’d listen.
“No. I was in denial and it had made me sick. For those of my kind, emotional and mental pain is like physical pain to the living. Denying my… my purpose for existing, my obsession, took a toll on me. Ghosts that attack Amity aren’t actually aiming to hurt people. They tend to go too far and forget how fragile living beings tend to be, especially humans.”
Maddie took a breath, looking down.
“They know.” It wasn’t a question.
“They know.” Vlad confirmed. Jazz and Danny knew about him from the very beginning.
Maddie took another breath.
“Why Danny?” Why did you obsess over him like you did with me?
“What- what about Dann-o?” Jack blinked back in.
“It was easier to get to him than Jasmine in my mind. Not only is he a male, but he was struggling with studies. There was also a sort of… connection I had with him. Perhaps it’s due to that portal downstairs. He has been exposed since the womb. Your children have not been fully human for a long time. Liminals at the very least, just as the city is becoming.”
“The city..?”
“Let’s just say that the ambient ectoplasm is the only thing blocking their signatures while that portal is only strengthening their liminality.”
“...”
Jack and Maddie seemed more sick. But Jack shook his head, getting himself back into the topic at hand.
“So- You-... You’re an ectoplasmic entity?”
Vlad swallowed.
“Yes… I’m what they’d call a halfa. According to a roommate, the long exposure from the proto-portal had forced my body to eventually adapt to it and learn to circulate and circulate it differently until it had… Halfas need to go through the process multiple times before they’re stuck as part of the living and part of the dead.”
“Vladdie…”
“I did not feel the final process. I was put into a medical coma. According to the doctors, I had flatlined multiple times and they had to shock me back plenty of times before I became what I am. I still get reminders, but that is a topic for another time.”
It was silent after that. Jack moved almost robotically as he came over, pushing up a sleeve and checking for his pulse. It was too feint to detect from there. He went for his neck next, looking up to Vlad in case he wished for him to give him space. Vlad didn’t fight back, so Jack started focusing on the pulse rate and translating it.
20 beats per minute.
It used to be a low average of 60-70 bpm. It had slowed over the years. He didn’t want to think what would happen when it finally stopped for good. It was already hard enough to remember he had to give a little thought of keeping some semblance of being alive when he was still so tempted to utter a wish.
Maddie came up next to him, lightly pushing him so he’d move enough to let her continue the silent physical exam. Once he did, she started checking his breathing. Then his reflex speed of his eyes in response to light. Then his joint reflexes.
They did all sorts of harmless tests, Maddie writing them down. After finishing the doctor check-up basics, they gave him some room. It made him both relieved and even more scared.
“Would a concussion show as a normal reaction speed?” Maddie asked.
Vlad blinked.
“Ah… No. While it’s much faster now, pupil dilation while concussed is the same as a normal person. Also, bleeding is less in volume, but I can self-heal.”
Maddie nodded and wrote it down.
“Do… Do ghosts have doctors? What if you get sick? We don’t know enough to help you if you do.” Maddie mentioned.
“What… What are you saying?” Please, please be what I’m thinking.
Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling brightly.
“I think we have some time to make up! I’ll make some fudge!”
Maddie grabbed his shoulder before he could rush to the kitchen.
“I may be a little… on edge about this whole thing, but with time, I think we can be something. The 3 of us.”
Vlad’s eyes widened and teared up, his core practically squealing in delight. He felt as though his body was lighter. It felt easier to breathe, to make his heart beat, to- to exist.
All he needed to do was give it time. He hoped they’d be as accepting with Daniel as they were with him. And Danielle… They’d accept her too, won’t they? He hoped they’d forgive him about that. It wasn’t his… best moment.
He didn’t realize he started crying until he was pulled into a tight embrace by Jack, who had moved him onto his lap to comfort him. Maddie left them to it, deciding her next step.
She had traps to get rid of and weapons to recalibrate.
-----
A/n: Yes, Danny did faint. Why was that? Well, I'm not telling. comment what you think though. Hope you enjoyed.
Also, the next chapter or whatever, it's a dc x dp thing. I'll comment when the next chapter is up and add 2 links, a masterlist and part 2.
I don't like Obsessions. I don't like the way they are used to 'dehumanize' ghosts, depersonalize them. But I was thinking what's the human equivalent of a fundamental species wide drive to do particular actions and, well, you could say all humans are Obsessed with eating food, with drinking water, with all those other things we need to do or suffer the consequence that is painfully dying. And then I thought well, why do ghosts need an Obsession, what function does it fulfil, if it's 'food' is there anything else they could 'eat'.
So. A combined Ghost Obsession and Ghost Hunger AU.
A ghost fulfilling their Obsession generates ectoplasm. And ghosts need ectoplasm to live. But this doesn't mean a ghost has to fulfill their Obsession, it just means that a ghost who isn't following their Obsession needs to consume Ectoplasm instead.
How much this influence ghosts depends on questions like:
Do they need to eat ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone or does it have a background field of ectoplasm that supports their existence?
Do humans generate an emotional energy that can be converted into ectoplasm?
How much ectoplasm does a ghost need to support itself? Can they store up ectoplasm or do they need to feed regularly? Does this vary according to their use of powers?
