If I had one wish, it'd be that Phainon (if he survives) will remember the Cycles. Mostly because I desperately want that version of him to have a chance at a happier ending. More than death, (And the rest that implies) I want Khaslana to live instead of just surviving dammit!
I don't think Phainon deserves to remember them all but rather, I want that version of him to see the fruits of all his suffering. I want Khaslana to see his companions again get that chance he burnt himself to ashes for. I want him to see Amphoreus to be freed (And for him to punt Lygus into the sun)
Khaslana deserves to see his long-awaited Tomorrow.
Ok, so dp x dc/batfam because this AU has me by the throat but what if it's the fake cryptid batfamily AU who never joined the JL.
Just...imagine it. The Batfamily has been protecting Gotham quietly but fiercely by scaring the daylights out of criminals as creatures that go bump in the night. A bit of stage magic, frightening method acting, contortion, a whole language comprised of chirps, growls, and body language, and the best tech possible and you've got a recipe for striking fear into the hearts of everyone.
They've got shrines on the rooftops, vaguely on the JL radar (Cause really, who's gonna believe that Gotham, one of the worst cities has a demon problem? Constantine? Homeboy took one look at Gotham and went Nope.) and they're protected cause any self respecting Gothamite wouldn't go spilling the beans to Outsiders. The Bats keep them safe. Who would believe them anyways?
Enter half dead, half alive Danny Fenton.
Danny Fenton who has a best friend's named Tucker and Sam who find out about the Gotham Cryptids, and go absolutely ham on research because here lies something,a bunch of someone's who are Other. Maybe they're creepy but they're cool and they're Heroes and they help people.
Sure, at first it was an attempt from Sam and Tucker to help their best friend feel less alone in the face of other, more 'normal' heroes and people out there in the world. Maybe they try to further bury the Bats online cause if anyone understands keeping on the down low, it would be Amity Parker's. For awhile, Danny Fenton, sometimes Phantom is simply happy to know he's not alone.
Then he's outed and his sister who's long since been ecto-contaiminated is put at risk there's nowhere that seems safer. Gotham is a chaotic city, even without the Bats factoring in. After all Gotham has (Demons-Spirits-Creatures?) The Bats already. Who would care if a halfa and his sister hide out there? As long as they're respectful of their territory, it'll be fine right? Besides, they've got to warn the Bats anyways about the GIW and government. They're coming after ghosts, who knows if they'll be next? Spooky things have to look out for each other after all.
Cue shenanigans as Phantom who stops hiding all of his creepier traits as a ghost walks up to the Totally Human but Faking it Batman with really thoughtful gifts for all of their shrines (And one fruitcake), no heartbeat and an earnest plea for a safe haven in their Haunt because the Ancients taught him manners and the importance of respecting another entities territory.
Okay but let's talk about Dan and Ghost King Danny. Yeah, sure the angst is well and good but what about the sheer hijinks that could ensue?
Thus, I propose the following: Community Service AU. It's exactly as it says on the tin. King Danny who puts Dan through community service in the zone, doing stuff to help his reign, and improve the realm as a whole. Soup time is well and good, and well, Walker is a possibility but c'mon. It's Walker. Community Service sounds much more reasonable. Danny is the Ghost King, it's not like Dan can get into too much trouble.
He gets banished to the dreaded paperwork realm to help sort through the backlog because does anyone think Pariah Dark was any good at clerical work before he went off the rails? Nah, I don't think so! There's certain tedious things that Danny just Doesn't Have The Time for but look! Here's Dan, who's just enough of Danny to be able to do some tedious kingly duties but also not being Danny enough to actually contest for the throne. Dan gets to help nurture and while it's forced at first, he gets to see a positive impact that he has on those around him (Eventually, with good enough behavior he gets to finally see his sister again.)
Smash cut to a JLA meeting where Constantine is there for Reasons and then the whole of the JL members present gets the shock of their lives when a terrifying mass of vicious teeth, a body that doesn't move right, too many eyes, and freezing cold rips a hole in reality.
Dan was helping Ghost Writer find some books that were never returned years before. Honestly, Danny would've just written them off as Lost but Dan had been really good lately and Danny thought he earned a little harmless fun. Besides, those occultists really should've known better than try to steal from the Dead.
As much as I enjoy the memes, I will always think of Odysseus's first sacrifice to be the most impactful. Strictly speaking, Zeus was (regrettably) correct in that Odysseus wasn't ready for the foe he was meant to face (the infant in this case.)
He did it. Odysseus totally chose to have that blood on his hands but the price carved so deep that I always got the feeling it was too much and so, he never wanted to do that again.
I know there's jokes about him sparing the Cyclops but not the infant but I figured that he was so deeply affected that his ability to sacrifice, to go 'us or them' was compromised. Y'know until it wasn't.
6.3 archon quest....I am now Considering playable Rerir
Call me crazy but I think it could actually happen now!! As well as us getting another boss fight with him as a proper weekly. But, just the interaction with Columbina fed me.
Honestly, at this point I want to believe she might actually help him. She knows his history now, and that bit of kindness she gave him over telling him about Dain was just....I haven't stopped thinking of it. She chose to give him that, after everything he did and let's be real, the Harbingers have done some messy stuff. Is it so far off for her to look at wretched, cowardly Rerir (My beloved) and think, 'Could I give this person a chance?'
Is it so far off to think Columbina might look at the defeated Rerir. With nothing left, after a life of being used, and hurting others, that she might now be the hand that reaches out to him. Not for redemption arcs but an atonement. Where he gets an actual chance to try and be someone better without the abyss whispering madness in his ears. With the king who held not only his life but the life of the only glimmer of hope with Tholindis' life.
He helps Columbina without any guarantee she will actually fulfill the only thing he wanted left in the world. He stopped himself from making it an exchange.
I just so desperately want to see Rerir get that chance to be something more than the monster the world, and he himself made.
I've been thinking about your fake cryptids real ghosts thing nonstop, rent free in my head. That's all
All according to plan! Here's another blurb because everyone in this fandom is a gift.
So, I for one can totally see the Batfamily trying to find out where Danny set up is Haunt in Gotham because Dead Ghost Child and the implications of their first meeting. Actually, let's talk about their first meeting because it's related.
Danny bringing gifts to the biggest shrine to declare his arrival. He brings Robin a cool knife he found in the GZ (Or maybe it was a gift who knows.) Point is, it's a spooky knife, and like...nice postcard of sunrises, blue skies and other Pretty places because man, the Bats don't ever leave Gotham and aren't seen in daylight hours what if they miss it or haven't seen it and some homemade (slightly ectro-contaminated cause it was made in the GZ) Bat-themed cookies. No one Knows they're bat-themed until Danny explains. (They look like those sad misshapen spider-man ice cream cones but god did Danny and Jazz Try and intentions are what matter here.)
They meet, Danny throws them into existential crisis' because Ghosts and of course they're trying to find him so they can (adopt him, make sure he's okay, ask what who's hunting him cause WHAT) And instead of the usual shenanigans of them meeting Danny as human or Phantom, the only one to ever meet Danny is Alfred.
Danny who got help from a really nice British guy when he was trying to figure out what to give as offerings to the Bats and might've been having a small crisis because 'what if they don't let us stay and we have to go to somewhere like eugh Metropolis.' and ends up latching onto the first Nice Adult he meets during said crisis.
Danny & Jazz who just so happen to bump into the the Nice Adult while grocery shopping (Alfred who has a schedule for the family shopping and Jazz who always says having a set routine is Healthy.) and the two keep trying to politely ask how to adult and do cooking because let's be real. While Jazz has done her best to feed herself and Danny a better diet the Fenton kitchen was a disaster zone and there's only so much you can do when you're food keeps trying to attack you. There's much more to your food than striking it back down after all.
My desire to know more about Jon and Martin post-finale verses my intense desire for whatever happened to them being known to them alone whether it was a life Somewhere Else or not FIGHT. I find myself thinking about Adelard Dekker and his letter to Gertrude (KAG 157: Rotten Core)
"May you find your rest where no shadows are cast, and no eyes may see you slumber."
I want whatever the All Devouring Narwhal and Tartaglia have because damn.
The new OST release made me gave me another smack of how intertwined they are when the Narwhal makes it's appearance. Tartaglia's boss third phase is all over that track. Sure, you could argue that it's because his Foul Legacy makes an appearance and the motif does make an appearance when he comes onto the scene but christ.
There's something about a trans-dimensional creature being irrevocably bound to a mortal like Childe. Are they eldritch soulmates? Are they kindred? Two sides of a very strange coin? Is one impacting the other more? I don't know but it hits.
