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shepherdsheart · 8 months

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Forgotten Child

DpxDc

Bruce would admit that he wasn’t near a perfect man. In all truth he was far from it really.

He had made hundreds of mistakes through his life and he had hoped he had learned something from them all but there was one mistake that stood out more than anything else.

The box in his hands had been proof of such, everything in it entailed just how badly he had failed. Failed as a man, failed as a person but most of all how he failed as a father.

It all started a year before he welcomed Dick into his life. It was one of his biggest regrets but also one of his biggest blessings as he stared at the new born baby boy in his arms. Soft blue wrapped around the little boy like tight arms as he held the sleeping baby close.

He had drilled that moment into his memories as he held the soft little bundle. It would be his first and his last memory of the boy in his arms. He knew the moment the pregnancy was announced that he wouldn’t be able to keep the babe. His life as Batman was to dangerous for a baby and as such he had made the decision to hand his baby to someone else.

Nobody but a trusted few would ever know of the young babe, no one would know Batman or Bruce Wayne had a son.

It had taken time and research but he had picked the perfect family. They would take care of his little star, he would be their son and not his. He would grow up safe and protect as Daniel Thomas Marshal.

Or at least he thought so.

Bruce didn’t give up contact with Daniel, each year he would send the boy anonymous gifts for his birthday and the holidays just as the elusive Uncle B. And as the boy grew they often exchanged letters.

His boy was smart, the top of his class and he was ohh so brilliant. He often drew pictures for Bruce where then man would store each with the letters in a box for sage keeping. Things had gone that way for years and Danny and he talked about many things. Bruce talked about life and Danny liked to talk about stars and the things he learned at school.

It had all been going so well till it all fell apart.

Jason had died and Bruce fell apart, losing himself in his grief for his lost child. Somewhere along the line after Jason’s death Bruce had stopped responding to the letters young Danny sent. He couldn’t bear to read them while he grieved Jason and at one point he must have told Alfred to just store them in Daniels letter box in instead of bringing them to him.

Somehow he had forgotten, he had forgotten the letters of messy cursive and doodles of stars and galaxy’s. Stories of school or life in the farm where he was being raised out in Wisconsin.

It was only because of his children that he remembered. A normal day of roughhousing and being shooed away by Alfred to take their antics elsewhere while he cleaned.

The kids had decided to take their games to the halls between there room and Damian and Jason to pick a locked door of a spare room that was never used and always locked. The others would never think to check the room as it was never opened.

The boys weren’t expecting to find a old but well cared for nursery. The walls a soft blue, the The ceilings dark blue with plastic stars in the patters of constellations. A crib in one corner with space themed decor and a small bed in the middle of the room obviously for when the crib was outgrown.

On the far wall was multiple shelves with a few old toys along with books and many other small items. Then there were the picture frames scattered about the shelves and other furniture in the room. All had one thing in common, a boy with soft black hair and ice blue eyes but each photo the boy was more grown.

At first they thought it was Bruce but the photos were to new and Bruce didn’t have ice blue eyes. The boy was in a picture with his parents, a blond woman with blue eyes and a Black haired man with green eyes. Those weren’t Bruce’s parents so who were they and who was the child that was in each photo.

Before they could snoop any further the door had been opened and a Stern Alfred shooed them away.

It didn’t take long for the boys to question Bruce about the room he had long ago forgotten about. Bruce didn’t say a word as he had rushed over to the room that he had long sense abandoned before he closed himself inside.

There Bruce had cried, he had forgotten one of his children and he cried as he looked at the photos.

He had spent hours in that room before a wooden box to the side on a Dresser caught his attention. He knew exactly what that box contained and he dreaded opening it.

When he found the courage to lift the lid he was greeted by hundreds of letters. A portion opened but most were untouched, never opened to be read.

He’d spend the next few weeks slowly going through the letters. Danny wasn’t sure why he hadn’t responded but the boy wrote that even though he didn’t get a response he hoped the letters were reaching him.

He learned soon after Jason’s death when Danny was 10 that the Marshals had died leaving Danny to the State only to be adopted by a family called the Fentons a year later.

After that Danny’s letters became less detailed and more vague about his life but instead asking questions Bruce would never answer. The boy avoided talking about his home life and manly talked about school and his 2 new friends or he’d ask about Bruce, how he was doing? If he was ok? And so on. Somehow Danny never gave up writing to Bruce.

That was until the last letter, sent over a year ago in handwriting Bruce didn’t recognize. Jasmine, Danny’s adopted sister had written that dated letter over a year ago.

Over a year ago Danny had been killed, killed in an accident in the Fentons Lab. No body left to be buried only the address of an empty grave.

Notes

(Danny is 11 years younger than Dick, 4 years younger than Jason, 2 years younger than Tim, 4 years older than Damian)

Damian - 11

Danny - 15

Tim - 17

Jason - 19

Dick - 26

(Danny is Phantom but when he died he decided he didn’t want to deal with an abusive Jack and Maddie anymore so he continued on as phantom only being Danny with his friends and in the realms when he was safe with Allies)

#dpxdc #dc x dp #dc x dp fic #danny fenton #dp x dc au #dc x dp crossover

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avaritia-apotheosis · 8 months

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Shannon Number

Danny and Damian have a conversation. The chessboard has traditionally been neutral ground. 3rd installment of the Hey Brother AU

A DPxDC crossover // Read on [AO3] or [FFN] // Fic Masterlist

◆◆◆

Chess was a game Danny never learned to appreciate until later in life.

It just wasn’t a game that he found interesting. An idea first born from a strange preconception that chess was a game for geniuses and the rich, and then, later on, evolved to hatred just to spite Vlad. Mostly it was to spite Vlad.

It was Dani that ended up changing his mind. As each other’s only constants, time had only driven the two closer together. Early after their first century of living, the two of them began to retreat from society to live an idyllic life in some remote cabin with enough woods for Dani to run around in, and the night skies dark enough for Danny to observe the stars. They still appeared when called—a hero’s work was never done—but for the most part, their existence to the rest of the world eventually shifted from ‘people’ to ‘figures of myth and legend.’

Retreating from the world would do them good. Gave them time to adjust to the cruel reality that everyone who once knew them outside of the name Phantom was six feet below.

One of the many things they did to pass the time was play chess. Dani, apparently, was a huge fan of the game, even as she said that she wasn’t the best at it.

“Vlad taught me,” she said. “Before, I mean. It was, like, one of the first things he taught me that didn’t have anything to do with acting like you. Chess was probably the only time where he treated me as his daughter instead of his experiment.”

The chess set Dani bought from the nearest department store for twenty dollars. It was one of those Classic Game Collections, where the box had ten different board games to play and a dozen others that didn't require a board. Their chessboard was just a thin piece of cardboard with black and white checkered boxes printed atop it, a row of numbers on one side and letters on the other. Printed on the other side were the same checkered patterns, sans the numbers and letters. Probably for checkers.

Danny knew the basic moves of each piece, but not much else. That was Dani’s forte. Throughout their many, many chess games, she taught him about all the different gambits, openings, games, and defenses people have done. It was…interesting, really. 32 pieces, 64 squares, an endless combination of games.

“Do you think chess has a winning strategy?” Danny asked one rainy afternoon. They’d moved to play chess on the floor so that they could give their table and poor hands a break. The back of his own palm still stung after one too many rounds of Slapjack.

Dani was laying on her stomach, chin propped up by her arm, legs swinging. She picked up a white pawn and moved it forward two spaces to E4. “What, like, if you move these pieces in this specific order at this specific time, you’re guaranteed to win 9/10 times?”

“Something like that, yeah.” He responded by moving his black pawn forward one space to C6.

She shrugged, moving her other pawn to D4. “Maybe? Some people believe there has to be one. A way to ‘solve chess,’ or something like that.”

Danny moved another pawn to D5, baiting Dani. It was a classic Caro-Kann Defense, a patient strategy, meant to give him as much control over the center of the board as possible.

Dani continued. “It’s all theoretical, though. Kind of like how people theorize about the ‘perfect game of chess.’” She developed her white knight, A2 to C3, completely ignoring her center pawn. Danny captured it in his next move, taking the plastic piece off to the side. “There’s this mathematician, you know, from way back when, that tried to show people that trying to use brute force to ‘solve chess’ was stupid and impractical, because he calculated that there were at least 69 trillion possible games after the first five moves.”

“Wow. That’s…a lot.”

“Mhm.” She hovered her hands over her knight but drew back. Sitting up, she adjusted her positions so that she was sat cross-legged across from him. “In total, I think he estimated around 10120 possible games? Counting illegal moves and assuming that the game lasts 40 moves as usual.”

“That’s more atoms than there are in the observable universe.”

“Wait— really? How many are there?”

“About, uh, 1078 I think?”

“And you just know that?”

“What, like how you just know how many possible chess games there are?”

“Ok, good point.” The white knight went on the attack, toppling over the black pawn on E4. Dani gave the board one more glance as she pocketed her captive, a gleam in her eyes. “Anyway, the perfect chess strategy is probably in there somewhere, but at that point, who cares? It’d take forever to actually find it. And if someone does figure out the perfect 100% win-rate chess move, then is chess even a game anymore?”

Danny shifted his sitting position, almost mirroring Dani. One leg crossed, the other propped up for his chin to rest on. “I guess not.” He drummed his fingers against the top of his socked feet. “It wouldn’t be as fun, anyway.”

It was time to get his knights out of their pen. Then, he could start freeing up his bishops. He moved his black knight to D7, giving the queen behind it some protection.

Dani nodded. “Vlad once said that chess is a game of errors. In the end, you’re just waiting to see who makes the first mistake and who’s smart enough to capitalize on it.” She moved her queen in front of her king, blocking the bishop next to it from the playing field.

“That’s such a Vlad thing to say.” Knight to F6.

“I know, right?” She laughed. “It was one of the worst parts of him teaching me. I’d make a move and then he’d click his tongue and say something like ‘oh no, that wasn’t the best move you could have made’ which freaked me out so much. But, like, who cares, really about making the best move all the time? If people did that, then every chess match would end in a draw, and what’s the fun in that?” Knight to D6.

Dani grinned, wiggling in her seat. “Checkmate.”

Danny blinked, looking at the board once more. “Aw, fuck.”

His king was completely entrapped by his own pieces and the D6 knight was in a perfect position to capture. Even if he did try to remove the threat with his pawn, he’d still be checked by Dani’s queen.

“It’s 74-30 going to me, and….65 draws?”

“Sounds about right.”

“Want another round?”

“And have you beat me again? Hell no. Let’s just play checkers.”

◆◆◆

Danny wasn’t the one who taught Damian chess. That would be Ra’s al Ghul.

Technically, Ra’s taught both of them. Though while Damian took to it like a duck took to water, Danny…did not. Or, at least, he pretended he didn’t. Ra’s once said that seeing how someone plays can give you a glimpse into their mind, and Danny would rather Ra’s see as little of his mind as possible.

Chess with Ra’s was literally a game of “how long can Danny stay in the game without resorting to any kind of strategy.” Honestly, it reminded him of his early days as Phantom. No thoughts, just punch.

(Ra’s ended up brushing Danny off as strong but with no head for strategy. Talia gave him a strange look in response to that. She had seen Danny’s matches against his brother and had quite a different opinion.)

(When Ra’s found out that Danny never took any of their games seriously…

Well— thank god for his mother.)

Whenever Damian asked for a match, Danny would oblige. Honestly, chess wasn’t his favorite game in the world but it was his little brother asking and there were only so many things you could do in the League outside of training or missions or lessons.

It was also one of the few instances that Damian would willingly seek him out.

Long story short, the chessboard was neutral ground.

So when Danny finally, finally managed to sort himself out (hopefully, probably) enough to return to Gotham, he invited Damian for a game of chess.

Discreetly.

Danny wasn’t sure how bad of an impression he made on the Waynes and he didn’t want to make it worse by tripping their alarm or knocking on the front door. So instead he contacted Damian through more, ah, roundabout ways. A king’s piece he fashioned out of his own ice, clear as glass, with an engraving on the side that spelled out ‘Park.’ He placed it somewhere Damian would be able to easily spot in his room and left.

◆◆◆

A small shadow was cast over him around the time Danny died another round in his shitty mobile game. The ‘High Score’ screen popped up for a few seconds before being overtaken by another thirty-second ad; the fifth one he got in the past fifteen minutes.

Damian placed the king’s piece in its rightful spot, surrounded by the other crystalline chess pieces Danny had made himself. “Kingsway Park. It was child’s play to figure it out, are you underestimating me?”

He turned his phone off, flipped it around with his thumb and middle finger, before setting it face down on the wooden chess table. “Figured I’d go for efficiency, but if you wanted me to set up a scavenger hunt for you, that could be arranged.”

“What, like that escape room you built in Nanda Parbat after mother asked you to test my deductive skills?’

“Hey, I could’ve made it much worse.”

“Danny. You made me translate the entire FitnessGram Pacer Test from morse code to Esperanto to English to decode that last lock. How did you even know about the FitnessGram?”

Danny cheekily grinned. He was actually kind of proud of that one. The solution itself was very easy to people who already had to suffer through the FitnessGram, but considering that Damian (and supposedly Danny, but that wasn’t the point) had never even heard of it back then, it had taken him more than an hour to solve it in its entirety. Sure Danny loved his brother to death and back, but he was not above being petty when Damian was a being a brat.

“Are you just gonna stand there all day, or are we gonna play?” Danny gestured to the empty seat across from him.

“Chess. Tt .” Damian pulled up the seat and plopped himself down with a huff. “Do we really still need a board game to talk?”

“Hey, neutral ground is neutral ground. Gotta make sure you don’t yell at me.”

“I won’t yell at you.”

“Just because I died, doesn’t mean I got amnesia. I distinctly remember you screaming at me to fight you almost every time we met.”

“I was challenging you to a duel .”

“Ambushing me with a sword isn’t very sportsmanlike if you ask me.”

“I was only making sure you weren’t resting on your laurels.”

“Hah. Sure you were.”

One of the reasons Danny chose Kingsway Park—other than it being a public area that had enough trees and tall bushes to give them privacy—was because it actually had decent chess tables. The tabletop was made of a dark-stained wood with a chessboard engraved on top, and a single wrought iron column that held the table bolted to the floor. The chess pieces were lost at some point in time, though, but that wasn’t a problem for Danny. He made his own pieces out of ice. The white pieces were made with barely any mineral content to produce that crystalline quality, and the black pieces made out of frosted ice made it appear cloudy.

Damian eyed the board. “So I get white?”

“We could always draw for it.” Danny opened his hand. “Here, give me your king.” He took both king pieces and hid them behind his hand, mixing them up. When he finished, he presented them to Damian, one piece in each fist. “Your pick.”

Damian picked left.

Danny uncurled his fist. The black king.

“Well,” Damian said. “You’ll need all the advantages you can get.”

He stuck his tongue out. “Shut up and give me your pieces.”

They exchanged their pieces. And with that, they had begun the game with Danny moving a pawn to E4.

Pawn to E5.

Knight to C3.

Bishop to C5.

“I’m sorry.” Knight to A4. “I know I already said it over the phone, but I should probably say it again in person.”

“Tt.” Damian’s bishop captured Danny’s pawn on F2, now leaving the white king in check and with only two ways to escape. “So are you actually going to explain what you meant on the phone?”

Danny’s king took the bishop. “What do you want me to say?”

Black queen to H4. Check. “Maybe start by explaining what you meant about father.”

“It’s…nothing you really have to worry about.” The white king moved diagonally to E3.

Damian placed him in check again, moving his queen to F4. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“I had a realization, I guess. Do you know what made us such good assets to the League?”

“Our skill, no doubt.”

“That, yes, but I’m talking about something else. What makes us so good at what we do is that, officially, we don’t exist . Birth records, legal ID, Social Security, hospital records— all of that shit that people are supposed to get when they’re born? We don’t have that. For the past ten or seventeen years, there had never been anyone by the name of Danyal and Damian al Ghul, and that lack of presence gave us an advantage. The less of a footprint we leave, the harder it is for people to find us. Rumors are one thing, but unless the documentation is there, we’re veritable ghosts.”

“Where exactly are you going with this?”

“I’m saying that Damian al Ghul never existed up until he became Damian Wayne. And as Damian Wayne, that anonymity you have is lost. You exist now, in the world. In official documents, in papers, on the internet— you are real . And because you now exist in the real world, socially and legally, the Waynes have more familial claim to you than I ever will.” King to D3. “I guess I got, heh, spooked at the idea of it all. That if I made a bad impression—which I ended up doing anyway—they’d have all rights to keep me away from you and the ability to back it up too. Well, maybe not completely, but you get what I mean, right?”

Pawn to D5. “You’ll always be my brother,” Damian parroted.

King to C3. “As Talia al Ghul will always be your mother. Doesn’t change the fact that you chose the bat over her.”

Damian glared, knocking over the white pawn as the Black Queen captured the E4 square. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! Nothing, I just…” Danny moved his king again. “I’m not…I’m not trying to antagonize you, I swear I—” He sighed, shoulders slumped. “Damn it. Why is it that neither of us managed to inherit Talia’s way with words? That would have been so helpful right about now.”

He rubbed his face with his hand before setting both palms down flat on the table. “You know what, I— I think I should just, umm… Gimme a sec to figure out what I want to say.”

Damian tried to give off this air of nonchalance, poker face masked squarely in place. But Danny’s too experienced with the different facets of Damian al Ghul—( Wayne. Damian Wayne, now)— to be fooled by it. He could see the cracks in the slight crease between the brows, the way the jaw was too clenched, the shoulders a bit too straight. Not that Damian ever slouched, but there was a certain tightness present in his posture that indicated Damian’s worry.

Danny looked down at the chessboard once more. They’ve been moving pieces every so often during their conversation. Danny’s king was busy dancing its way across the board, always so close to being captured but managing to wiggle just out of reach. Damian’s pieces were more aggressive, all his resources turned to capture the white king. Danny had lost a knight. Damian had lost a queen.

The black knight advanced to C5. Danny nearly wanted to laugh.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I said. It’s…insecurity, I guess? I don’t know. Other than mother, you’ve been my only family for so long. And it’s one thing to know that you have other brothers, but it’s another thing entirely to, you know, see them.”

“Really, you? Intimidated by them?” Damian scoffed. “Grayson and Brown are too silly for their own good, Todd, despite what you might assume from his demeanor, is what they call a ‘nerd,’ and Drake has such a severe caffeine addiction that I’m surprised they hadn’t yet sent him to rehab.”

White king to B4. Black pawn to A5. Check.

“Cain and Gordon are alright, I guess. And while all of them are formidable heroes, none of them could ever match you. And none of them would I consider more of a family to me than you.” The white king captures the black knight. Damian’s second knight had begun to advance. “So I don’t understand why you are so apprehensive about all of this. Did you not also wonder about our father when we were little? Were you not the one that imagined fleeing the League to find him? Well, we found him. And he wants us—”

Danny slammed his bishop down, ice cracking between his fingers. Check . “I was thirteen and stupid and the only thing that was on my mind at the time was getting you out of the League.” He raked his hand through his hair, fringe falling over his eyes. “You’re out now. We both are.”

Damian stared at him. Calmly, he moved his king out of check. “What is this really about, brother?”

Danny didn’t answer.

“You know, I always wondered how you always seemed to be so open but still managed to be so secretive.” He advanced his pawn. Check . “You keep dancing around this conversation and it’s…I don’t…just tell me what you want to say to me.”

The white king stepped away.

“You already said that the League let you go. That mother let you go. There’s no external hurdle that would keep you from joining me at father’s side.”

Danny’s bishop was captured by the black knight. Danny took the offending piece out of play.

“You’ve always been the more heroic one. The one to stand up against injustice even if it meant failing the mission. You would have no trouble settling in.”

Damian’s bishop advanced to B7. Check.

“You’re afraid that father would keep you away, but you’re wrong .”

King to B5. Bishop to A6. Check.

“He grieved for you. He worries for you, even now. Did you know that there’s even a goddamn room in Wayne manor that was meant for you? It was where you would have grown up if mother never hid you away. He kept it . Refused to tear it down even when he thought you were dead.”

King to C6. Bishop to B7. Check.

“I don’t get it. I don’t understand . You want to stay with me but you don’t want to deal with the Waynes, and I don’t understand why .”

King to B5. Bishop to A6. Check.

“They’re good people, Danny. They were good for me and they’ll be good for you, so I don’t—”

King to C6. Bishop to B7. Check.

“I don’t—”

King to B5. Bishop to A6. Check

“Can you stop playing games and just look at me?”

Danny snapped his eyes up, meeting Damian’s gaze. His brother was red-faced, brows scrunched together. His shoulders were wound tight, almost shaking.

He looked down at the board. A three-fold repetition. If they keep continuing, it’ll turn into five-fold, or a ten-fold, or— Well, they could keep continuing till the end of time but it would never change the fact that Danny had nowhere to go that won’t end in a check, and Damian would forever be trapped trying to catch him. The game would go on forever and ever because you couldn’t skip turns in chess. You had to make a move. Had to make a decision.

Danny couldn’t run anymore.

The game would end in a draw.

He took a deep breath. Ran his hand “his face, rubbed his eyes, then wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. Then he looked at Damian, again.

(Sometimes, Danny couldn’t help it. Sometimes he’d look at Damian and see, in his place, someone Danny used to call cousin. Used to call sister.)

Ten years old. So young. Too young, really, to deal with all of Danny’s bullshit. All of their family’s bullshit.

“Do you know,” he began, “how old I am?”

Damian stared at him in confusion. “You’re seventeen.”

“Well, yes, but actually no.” He laughed, inwardly. “It’ll be hard to explain, and maybe I’ll finally figure out how to tell it to you someday, but for now I want you to keep in mind that I’ve lived much longer than just seventeen years.”

“All of this—” Danny gestured to his surroundings. The neatly trimmed green hedges. The passing joggers. The dog barking in the distance. The wide canopy of trees that shaded them. The flock of birds flying in the bright expanse of clear blue sky. “Being born, growing up, having parents, having siblings, making friends. Living and mourning and dying. In another world, in another life, I’ve done all that before.

“I buried my parents with my own hands. Then my sister. Then my friends. I watched everyone I knew grow and age and die . Even the only other person who was like me, eventually they left too.”

When Death eventually came for Dani— (and it did come, the both of them could feel the signs years before Death ever appeared. Could see it in the way Dani would start melting more and more, and each time it’d take longer to put her back together. Her small hands would push the green ooze of her not-flesh into the right spots, holding it in place as Danny injected a larger dose of Ecto-Dejecto, praying that the serum would still work.) — it came quietly. One moment, she was sleeping in her bed. The next— gone.

Danny took her remains off the coasts of Denmark and scattered them in the ocean blue.

(Her favorite princess was the little mermaid.

“She dissolves into seafoam at the end, did you know that? A lot of people like to leave the story off there, called it a tragedy, but— That’s not really true. She became seafoam, sure, but because her heart was so good she became a spirit of the air. That’s— that’s a much better ending don’t you think? It’d be nice if…”)

Drawn back to the present, Danny continued, “The thing about letting people in, Damian, of loving them, is that it hurts . It hurts knowing that one day they will die and you will be left alone. Because you were always the one being left alone.” He locked eyes with Damian and saw his confusion, saw his worry. “It’s inevitable, Damian. One day I will bury mother and one day I will bury you. That, alone, will break me . Do you really want me to add more people to that list? There’s only so much I can take.”

Danny saw how the Wayne family interacted with one another. Observed their little quirks and personalities when he was nothing more than a shade haunting Damian. Danny knew, knew with full certainty that if he joined them he would come to love them. And he can’t—

Not again.

Mother and Damian were enough.

They were already too much.

“Do you want to know something I’ve learned as Robin that I never thought I’d have to learn?” Damian said.

“Being sensitive to other people’s emotions?”

“Shut up. No, I’m talking about the multiverse. Infinite worlds that are so similar or so different to our own, with infinite versions of you and me.”

“The many-worlds interpretation, yeah.”

“I’ve never had to deal with being thrown into another dimension or meeting an alternate version of me, but father and the rest of his associates have dealt with it enough times that they’ve developed procedures and contingencies in case something like that happens. It was no problem memorizing it, of course, but as I looked into the different universes father had encountered, I began to realize just how… vast everything is. So many worlds, so many universes that are shaped by our choices alone. Some are worse, some are better, but none of them are really perfect .

“Maybe somewhere out there, there’s a universe where everything is fine and no one gets hurt. Maybe there’s a universe out there where we all made the right choices at the right time and we all get the happy future we want. But trying to anticipate every future, every ending, to find the best one is—”

“—A fool’s game.”

Damian nodded. “What’s important, I’ve learned, is to focus on the here and now. We can plan for as many contingencies as we want, but at the end of it all, someone’s going to make a mistake and we just have to learn to deal with it. ”

Danny stared at him, then laughed. He reached over the table to ruffle Damian’s hair, and though he could see his brother scowl at his hair being mussed, Damian didn’t try to push his hand out of the way. If Danny squinted, he could even see that the tips of Damian’s ears were pink. “When did you get so smart?”

“Oh please, I had always been the more intelligent of the two of us.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Danny withdrew his hand, and Damian’s face sobered once more. “I won’t— If you don’t want to become part of the family, then I won’t push you. But please don’t try to push out others either. In my experience, doing that just makes you even more miserable.”

Danny’s eyes softened. “I can only promise to try .”

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

#dpxdc #hey brother au #my writing.txt

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samgirl98 · 1 year

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Cain and Abel Wept 6/?

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Danny watched the sunrise on the safe house’s roof. He didn’t move even as the sun got higher in the sky. His parents and Jazz were fast asleep, but Danny couldn’t relax enough to go unconscious. It was a good thing he didn’t need as much sleep as a regular human.

Danny fiddled with the card and cell phone that Batman Bruce had given him.

Once upon a time, Danny had dreamt of meeting his birth father.

Once upon a time, Danny had imagined Batman would appear like a demon in the night against Ra’s Al Ghul and save both Danny and Damian.

Once upon a time, Danny dreamt of being a family with the Detective and his little brother.

Those dreams had been crushed when his little brother thrust a sword through Danny’s chest.

Danny thought he had long since let go of the sadness and anger he felt every time he thought of Damian’s betrayal, but seeing his baby brother again brought those feelings to the forefront of his mind and a new feeling, guilt.

Danny could still see every sad look, every unshed tear from Damian every time Danny flinched away from his brother.

“Ugh, this is so unfair,” Danny yelled at the sky.

He had wanted to be a normal kid with a normal loving family. He had wanted to play with his baby brother without fearing punishment. Now, he was the fucking Ghost King running from the US government.

Danny brought his legs up to his chest and cried for the first time in a long time.

____

Batman entered the Watch Tower’s meeting room in his usual cool, collected manner. Clark would’ve fallen for Bruce’s feigned nonchalance if it weren't for his super hearing. As it was, Bruce’s heartbeat had been fluctuating from his normal speed to heart-stopping fast.

“Oi, Batsy, this better be important. I was in the middle of a game of poker.”

Bruce ignored Constantine and set up his presentation. He looked at everyone in the room and turned on the PowerPoint.

Clark almost threw up when he saw the dismembered body of a five-year-old glowing girl oozing some type of green blood. Batman showed more and more pictures before stopping on a slide that read in big, bold letters: The Anti-Ecto Act Laws.

To say it would be a long day was an understatement.

____

John Constantine had seen a lot of fucked up shit in his lifetime; hell, he’d done a lot of those fucked up shit, but what he was seeing today made him want to crawl into the House of Mysteries and forget he even existed by drowning himself in alcohol.

Batman had not pulled the punches. He showed slide after slide of dismembered body parts, cruel experiments, and cages full of ghosts from the bloody Infinite Realms! How had the fucking US government gotten ahold of such powerful beings? Even the weakest blob ghost was stronger than the average ghost.

Batman’s following words made John want to curse his very existence, “They’re also hunting the ruler of the Infinite Realms.”

Every magic user in the room cursed out loud. John took out a cigarette, uncaring who it pissed off that he was smoking in the Watch Tower. News like this warranted a little rule-breaking.

Batman kept talking and brainstorming with the colorful brigade about how they would repeal the laws the stupid Americans had, in all their wisdom, deemed a good idea to write. John swore Lex being president had been the worst thing to happen to the country. Yeah, they got him out, but only after he had done a substantial amount of damage.

John took his last drag and asked, “So, Bats, why has the new King of the Infinite Realm looked toward you for help instead of one of us magic users?”

That’s what got to John; Bats was notorious for trying to avoid magic and anything that didn’t fit his logic. Why would a powerful being like that go to Batman instead of John or Captain Marvel?

“He was running from the government when he ended up in Gotham. He noticed that Red Hood was also considered an ecto-being and warned me about it. I decided to help immediately after the laws were brought to my attention.”

John squinted at Batman.

It seemed to make sense, but there was something else, something more. John could feel it deep in his guts. And his guts had never steered him wrong (whether he listened or not was another thing.)

They spent the rest of the day going over logistics and strategies.

Wonder Woman wanted to go straight to the GIW’s HQ and destroy it; she got vetoed. The destruction could cause a backlash from the general public and make them fear ghosts. Only Amity Parkers were aware of the spirits and had mixed feelings about them.

It was decided that Lois Lane and Clark Kent would bring attention to the laws and write about them in such a way that they were a danger to the Meta-Human Protection Laws.

Not a bad idea, to be honest.

“And you’re sure the King is all right with his kind being exposed to the world,” John couldn’t help but ask.

It was one thing for them to exist in legends and superstitions and another completely different thing for there to be concrete evidence of the existence of things that go bump in the night.

“He is,” Batman answered in his gravelly voice. Jesus, it made John think the man smoked but didn’t want to admit it.

“All right, if you say so.”

The meeting was adjourned, and John was happy to leave when he heard Batman, “Constantine, Superman, Wonder Woman, there’s something else I’d like to talk to you about.”

Great, he got singled out.

“Make it quick, Bats; I want to research and see if I can’t find anything on our mystery king.”

Batman waited until they were alone before talking.

“I am telling you this in confidence; it doesn’t leave this room, and you don’t tell anyone else.”

Batman glared at them, and Constantine felt he would have more shit added to his plate.

John sighed, “What now, Bats? What could possibly have to say that already didn’t fuck up my worldview?”

“The Ghost King is my biological son I didn’t know existed.”

John waited for Batman to scream out ‘psych’ because the man had to be pulling their legs.

Batman stared at them with a somber look in his eyes.

“For fuck’s sake, Bats, it’s called a fucking condom!”

____

Agent K and Agent O had isolated the ghost child’s ectosignature to somewhere in New Jersey. It had been hard.

The Fentons were great inventors and since they decided to betray the human race, they had used their inventions to hide the abomination.

But they were closing in. Soon, they would have the Ghost King and the Ghost Zone would be no more.

Wow, writing Constantine's POV was hard cuz I don't know British Slang that well, lol. Surprise, the GIW is close.

@spectralstardustandphantomnights @avelnfear @idfk-man10 @blackroserelina @candeartist422 @luer-mirin @mur-ururu @insufferablecrab @skulld3mort-1fan @meira-3919 @aethernorwood @mimilikey @marshmelloe @latheevening226 @ahyesanerd @lexdamo @chrysanthemum9484 @spooky-fm

#dc x dp fill #cain and abel wept #dc x dp #dp x dc

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batpham-discord-highlights · 2 years

Text

Jazz Drake: Part Three of Four

source: #ghosts-and-bats channel

1, 2, 3, 4

So, Tim shows up to the Batcave that night with his little sister in tow

And Bruce just

He can't

He can't be angry around her

She is, like, ten

And she's adorable

An extremely cute but angry eight-year-old appears in ur mancave wyd

Smol Child: Mr. Batman, you're in big trouble if you don't take care of my big brother

Smol Child: If he gets hurt I will [insert creative threat that hints at medical competency]

Alfred: I believe this one is mine, Master Bruce

Oooohh Alfred's protégé

Ok but like would she have a codename

She would wear what Alfred wears as Agent A, but miniature

yoooooo

didnt expect the Alfred twist

Agent J

canonically alfred has a daughter btw

don’t think y'all use it but just to throw it here

I just read about her while on dukes wiki I thin

Julia Pennyworth, right?

agent J

She does but I'm not a big fan :/

Don't remember why

But yes, Agent J

Anyone who is a civilian simply has the nickname agent letter

She continues to pursue an education as a doctor as well

alfred teaches her everything he knows

including where are the hidden guns

Yes

They go to the range every Tuesday

"Batman may have a no kill rule, but we pennyworths don’t"

"we?"

"a slip of the tongue, I’m afraid"

Bruce has an aneurysm when he finds out but knows he can't stop them

Jazz "Pennyworth" Drake

im living for this so much

this is such a gift

Hrmmm what is the canonical age doff between duke and tim

I hate dc

I think Duke is maybe a year or two older

Ok then it is reasonable that Danny and jazz are around the same age

let’s go with WFA ages

It wasn't a twins au so yeah

so 18 or less

The thing is, Talia knows next to nothing about Agent J

She doesn't really go places that Talia has access to

I mean, there's school, I guess

And she'd probably know she's pursuing a medical career

But she's dismissed as any threat to Damian

Which turns out to be a m i s t a k e

But like the thing you said about shooting ranges earlier makes me remember jazzes terrible aim in canon xd

Alfred fixes that

with good teaching and a lot of patience

demon child going down

fighting on the taco bell parking lot

letsgo

im having so much fun A

But yeah, she's suspicious of him in the first place so she lurks like Alfred taught her too

A way Damian isn't trained to sense with his league training

He pushes Tim off the ledge

She shoots him in the shoulder

Him being Damian

Thankfully, Tim is okay

And the bullet didn't hit anything vital

But, y'see, Darling Jazzy's worries about Damian are taken a lot more seriously than Tim's in canon

After all, she is also a child

They can't play the "He's younger, grow up" card on her

^ yes

Damian only tries one more time and is stopped similarly

This time the shot barely misses an artery

Alfred: Nice shot, Miss Jasmine

Alfred: Just as I taught you

Damian learns to respect the agents and adapts a lot faster to the new environment

Because it's made clear that attacking allies is u n a c c e p t a b l e

i love my ONLY sister

best sibling ever

"you are not even related"

And Jason

Oh boy

She isn't in a place to threaten him like she is with Damian

But she holds a grudge like you wouldn't believe

She doesn't talk to him

She only treats him when she has to

She glowers at him

alse she'd feel guilty because if only she'd been there she would have protected her brother

Yes, she absolutely does

#ghosts and bats channel #batman #danny phantom #tim drake #dc x dp #bruce wayne #damian al ghul #jason todd #jazz fenton #alfred pennyworth

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evandarya · 2 years

Text

Seeds of the Father

Chapter 4

A Seed Has Few Friends, But a Tree Has Many Enemies

{Read on AO3}{Chapter 3}

Danny leaned against the car door with his arms crossed and watched the gas pump count up. They were about ten miles outside of Chicago, and they had to make a decision. Either continue north to Wisconsin or start heading east.

Wisconsin had a portal that Grandfather didn't know about. He could use it and ask for help. But from who? Clockwork wouldn't help unless the whole world was in danger. Frostbite rarely left the Far Frozen. None of the other ghosts would help him without cause. And he couldn't risk leading Grandfather right to the portal.

The gas pump clicked at twenty dollars and Danny hung it back up and screwed the gas cap back on before popping the hood and checking the oil. He knew the Corpse Mobile leaked, and they couldn't afford to break down on the side of the road. He topped up the oil and the coolant before shutting the hood with a dull thud. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were heading out of the store with a couple of bags of snacks. They all climbed in.

"Alright, grouchy butt, what's the verdict?" Jazz asked from behind the wheel.

"Head east, toward New Jersey," He said almost reluctantly.

Jazz started the car with a nod and pulled out onto the road.

"What's in New Jersey?" Sam asked.

"Gotham City, and Batman," Danny said, grabbing a sports drink out of one of the bags.

"We're asking the Justice League for help? I thought we wouldn't do that again after they threatened to have us charged with 'misuse of emergency services'" Tucker said.

"We aren't asking the Justice League for help, we are asking Batman," Danny clarified.

"What makes you think he's going to listen?" Sam asked.

"Because Batman is my father," Danny said, not meeting his friend's eyes.

It was silent in the car for a few minutes before "WHAT?"

Sam and Tucker began speaking at once, talking over each other.

"Your dad is Batman?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Your dad is BATMAN?"

"This is a big thing to keep secret!"

"The Batman?!"

"Did you not trust us? After everything we've been through?"

Danny rubbed his eyes. He was too tired for this, and he had a headache from keeping the car invisible for so long. "Will you let me explain?"

Sam and Tucker quieted down and Danny took a few moments to gather his thoughts.

"My birth family, or, my mother and Grandfather, are assassins. They raised me and my twin brother as assassins. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be scared of me, or stop hanging out with me. We didn't have friends in the League, just allies. I liked having friends. I didn't want to lose you."

"You have a twin?" Tucker asked.

"Danny," Sam said softly. "We wouldn't have…"

"Sam. Normal three-year-olds learn letters and numbers. We learned about the weak points of the human body. While you were learning how to write we were learning how to maintain weapons. When is the right time to mention something like that?"

Sam got quiet, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"And Batman?" Tucker asked. "How do you know he's your father?"

"Mother would tell us about our father. It was my brother's favorite story to hear."

"Wait, do you know who Batman is?" Sam asked.

"Yes." It was quiet for a minute while Danny's friends digested that information.

"Who is it?" Tucker asked.

"I shouldn't say. It's not really my secret to tell."

"Danny" Jazz chimed in. "They’re going to find out eventually."

Danny sighed. "Okay, but this is a Phantom-level secret. Swear on the nub." Danny held out his left hand, amputated pinky outstretched.

Sam wrapped her pinkie around the digit immediately, but Tucker hesitated.

"I hate swearing on the nub," He said before wrapping his pinkie around the finger as well.

"Batman is Bruce Wayne."

The car fell silent, the only sound was the rumble of the engine as Jazz drove down the highway. Tucker was the first to speak.

"If Bruce Wayne is Batman, and Batman is your father, then that means your brother is Damian Wayne, who is Robin with swords." Tucker looked at Danny as if asking for confirmation. Danny nodded. "That's badass."

***

"He has a security system that automatically sends a message to him," Danny said, keeping watch down both sides of the hall.

"I can bypass that, easy," Tucker said, typing on a new, clean PDA that had been in one of the go bags Danny had grabbed.

"No, let it go through, but change the message to ‘Borrowing your place for the weekend, Fruit loop.’”

"Ha. Okay, and…done." Tucker unlocked the door to the penthouse apartment and it swung open on silent hinges.

They all piled into Vlad's Gotham apartment. Sam and Jazz went to investigate the bedroom situation while Danny unpacked the three duffle bags he had grabbed before they left. Two of them were go-bags he had prepared and stashed in the lab. They mostly contained clothes for him and Jazz as well as some emergency cash and untraceable phones. The third was the one Maddie had handed him. Inside he found the power sources for what seemed to be all the Fenton weapons. Danny started shifting through the glowing green cores. What was he supposed to do with these? His fingers brushed against something else and he pulled out a cube-shaped object.

"What's that?" Tucker asked from his place on the couch.

"It's an Ectoplasmic Disrupter, but it doesn't work," Danny said, tossing the cube back into the bag before zipping it up.

"What are we going to do, Danny?" Tucker asked, a bit of worry creeping into his voice. Danny didn't know. There wasn't much he could do against his grandfather. But Batman has fought him before and defeated him before.

"Right now, we are going to get some sleep. Tomorrow we are going to ask Wayne to help us. We'll go from there," He said. It wasn't a plan, he was aware of that, but if he had a plan he wouldn't be here; squatting in his evil uncle's apartment and begging for help from a father he's never met. "We'll figure it out."

***

"The benefit is being held on the top floor of the art gallery," Danny said. "Wayne rented out the entire top floor, but the ground floor and second floor are still open to the public."

"I can't believe your dad is Bruce Wayne and you never said anything," Tucker said, awe and disappointment mixed in his voice.

"He's not my dad, he's just a sperm donor," Danny said with annoyance. "And it doesn't matter, anyway. I'm not asking for his help because he's my father."

"I still don't believe he's Batman," Sam chimed in from where she was hemming a dress on the sofa with Jazz. "I've met this man, he's as sharp as a marble."

Danny didn't respond. He finished tightening the final screw on the modified Fenton Phones. It had taken some doing to make them harder to see, but he finally got them finished.

"Why can't we just stand out on the roof and wait?" Tucker asked.

"We'd have to figure out where he's going to be, and there's no guarantee he'd listen, or how he'd react. As Bruce, we know where he's going to be, and he's stuck by social convention not to make a scene in public." Danny said. "How are those fake invitations coming?"

"I'm trying to add us to the guest list, but the security is really good," Tucker said. "We may need to go with plan 'P.'

"I'll keep that in mind," Danny said. "Once we're inside, Sam will need to act as a distraction. I can not be spotted by Damian. He's unpredictable and doesn't care about public image. Sam, you're best suited to distract him if needed. He's a vegetarian and an animal rights activist, so you should have a lot to talk about."

"Danny," Jazz said. "You can't avoid your brother forever."

"I'm not avoiding him. He isn't going to take my being alive well, and I'd rather not have a fight in public," Danny said.

"I got in!" Tucker said with surprise. "I can get us into the guest list… What names should I use?"

Danny paused; it couldn't be that easy. After a moment of thought, he said "Royce and Violet Bryson."

"Danny," Sam started. "We aren't going to pass as siblings, we look too different."

"It would raise less suspicion if you two went as a couple, anyway," Jazz said.

"Okay, Violet Baudelaire, then."

"No. I veto any pop culture references."

"Oh, come on, you love those books."

"Veto!"

***

Danny wound through the gallery, arm in arm with Sam. They were both dressed to the nines, Danny in a navy three-piece vested suit with a light blue tie, and Sam in a knee-length black cocktail dress with a teal sash tied around her waist. He wanted to be upset that Vlad had formal wear made for him and Jazz. He assumed they were part of some elaborate scheme to get them to agree to be his children that either hasn’t been put into play yet, or the fruitloop scrapped at some point. But with the situation as it were, he was just glad to have something that would help them blend in.

“I know that Vlad is a crazy person, but he has taste,” Sam said as they passed a window and caught sight of their reflection. “Are you okay with this?” she asked, gesturing to their joined arms. “It’s not too awkward?”

Danny knew she was referring to their disastrous month-long dating experiment. “Sam, I am about to break into my father’s benefit to ask for his help to save my adopted parents from my homicidal grandfather. I think I can handle fake dating for a few hours.”

Sam giggled “Well when you put it like that…”

Tucker’s voice cut in on the Fenton Phone in Danny’s ear. “I can’t get into the cameras guys. I’m blind.”

“There is also a lot more security than we were expecting,” Jazz said. He could just make out her red hair across the room, milling with the general population as close to the elevators as she could get.

“They’re looking for us,” Sam whispered.

“No, They are looking for Royce Bryson and Violet Jenkins. Not Samantha Manson and Guest,” Danny said as they approached the elevator. Sam handed over her invitation to the guard at the elevator and he let them pass. The elevator ride to the top floor was quick but nerve-wracking. Danny was very aware of the camera in the ceiling, and it took everything in him not to look directly into it.

“Don’t be nervous,” Sam said, patting his arm. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I’m just glad you were able to convince your parents this is why we left in the first place,” Danny said. He was sure Mr. and Mrs. Manson wouldn’t hesitate to charge him with kidnapping.

“You know what they said when I called? ‘Try and make friends with Wayne’s son,” Sam’s imitation of her mother’s voice was spot on. “he’s your age, and of much better stock than the Fenton boy.’” Sam said with a smile. Danny laughed. Actually laughed for the first time in days. It felt good.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, all the good feelings vanished. Bruce and Damian Wayne were waiting there to greet them.

#twins au #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #dc comics #crossover #fanfic #damian wayne

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strictlybecca · 8 months

Text

fic stats!

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

please excuse me bc i was not tagged in this, but i saw this pop up on my dash from some of my non-mutuals and i was OBSESSED - so i did not wait my turn, i've just gone for it :)

most hits: yes, there is a chain and no, you're not on it (schitt's creek) a patrick/david fic i started when there were literally 15 fics for them on ao3 - it's patrick and stevie's text chain for all of the episodes of season four and i still feel smug about some of the things i managed to predict. i think it has the most hits of anything because it was there at the Beginning on ao3, it's got the most chapters, and i did accidentally leave it unfinished for like two years. (oops.) [but it has an incredible podfic!]

second most kudos: the best made plans are your open hands (911) for a fic that kind of walloped me upside the head and made me write it in like... a single evening, the reception on this has been SO sweet!!! an au where maddie takes buck with her when she leaves home at 18. i call it my 'happy healthy buckley verse' and i even have some more headcanons for it in the tag i have for it. in my mind, nothing ever really goes wrong for these two in this verse; it's my emotional support au.

third most comments: i only wanna be alone with you (schitt's creek) another patrick/david fic, this one written for a challenge. (a deadline always increases the likelihood of me finishing a fic.) this is probably (?) the ~sexiest thing i've ever written and it is... like not that explicit lmao. it also had a prompt that made me want to jump out of window bc my secondhand embarrassment threshold is practically zero - but i managed to write something that even my poor little soul could read and enjoy. [technically, 3rd most comments is the previous fic, but this one isn't far off in 4th place.]

fourth most bookmarks: deliver us unto each other (the old guard) this fic is my favorite child. i just think the stuff i love writing and the stuff i'm good at writing collided in this fic in a really lovely way and i'm so stinkin' proud of it. i felt feral while writing it lmao. it's about nicky's complex but deeply earnest and loving relationship with god and how his love for joe actually reaffirms his faith!! plus some great nicky + nile bonding.

fifth most words: i fell heavy into your arms (as the world turns) this is not my favorite of my luke/noah fics but i am very glad one of them made it on the list because all of my longest stuff is for this fandom and i miss nuke an unreasonable amount. those big bang prompts could pull 30k from me, no problem!!! this one's an au where noah is a detective and he has to solve damian's murder - and holden is a suspect :(

and least amount of words: Commandeered (h50) god this one was written so long ago it's still got an uppercase letter in the title 😬 also back in the day when i was still posting individual drabbles as their own fics - i've learned better! this fic represents my intense mcdanno phase, which still lingers in my heart like poison. (or a bomb.) genuinely a delightful prompt tho - an au where danny is the navy SEAL and steve is the jersey transplant. i honestly think i pulled this one off pretty well! they still sound very much like themselves.

i'm sad none of my sparty fics happened to make it in, since that was an Era unto itself but all of these delight me, so!!! here you go!!!

i tag: @cluelessheroes @functionalnihilism @angryfightingjew @woebegone-kenobi and literallly anyone else who wants to do this. you, yes you. i mean it!!! i promise you, if you do this and just pretend like i've tagged you to do it i will EDIT this post and tag you in it like you've always been there. i don't care if we're not mutuals DO IT!!! (sorry this was fun i really liked it and i'd like everyone else to have fun too!)

#meme #fic stuff #my fic #and if you don't wanna you don't have to!!!!

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

Text

We Rise and We Fall

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Y7pdfEo

by Voidborn

After the Nasty Burger Incident, Danny decides the only way to keep himself from becoming the monster that was Dan is to run away. He travels the world, learning everything he can and sending letters to a mailbox that will his family will never again check. His years of travels lead him to the Bat Family, and to Jason, who needs Danny just as much as Danny needs him.

I'll probably spruce the summary up later but for now this is what you get lol I often add to tags later in the story, so please keep an eye on tags as we go!

Words: 1650, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Danny Fenton, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon

Relationships: Danny Fenton/Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Danny Fenton

Additional Tags: DeadonMain, Cass and Danny are best friends, The Nasty Burger Incident Happened, Grief/Mourning, The Batfamily Adopt Another, He's got black hair and blue eyes, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Y7pdfEo

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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damianwaynerocks · 4 years

Text

Ghosts in Gotham

Danny Phantom / DC Comics fanfic

Dedicated to: @dannyphantom-justiceleauge

Summary: The Batfamily has been through their fair share of the supernatural. That’s why they originally weren’t worried whenever ghosts started showing up in Gotham City. Until one day, something happens; Batman is captured and taken into the Ghost Zone. With no way to go in there themselves, the no way to fight the ghosts inside, the bats decide to call the person who can; Danny Phantom. Together, Danny takes Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne into the Ghost Zone before the Batman is lost forever.

Words: 2032

ch 2 Masterlist

Chapter 1:

Every city had its hero.

Gotham City? Batman. Metropolis? Superman. Central City? The Flash.

Amity Park? Danny Phantom.

Amity Park had mixed feelings about Phantom. Some said he was a helper, a true hero, keeping the town safe. Others said he was a criminal, doing nothing but wreaking havoc on the town. Either way, Phantom was known for one specific thing; fighting ghosts.

Which is what he was doing at the moment.

"I am!! The Box Ghost!!" a short, stocky ghost shouted. His eyes glowed blue and an aura of the same color surrounded the boxes crowding the back of a movie theater. "Beware!" he raised his arms and hurled three boxes at a figure who easily dodged.

"Come on, Box Ghost," a teenage boy with white hair and green eyes floating above the ground groaned. "I don't have time for this! I have to order the new Cheese Viking game before it sells out!"

"Beware!" The Box Ghost shouted again, throwing more boxes at the boy.

Danny Phantom rolled his eyes as his body became intangible, the boxes easily passing through it. He raised his arm, and a blast of bright green energy shot from his palm, hitting the Box Ghost square in the chest. The Box Ghost, with a grunt, was blown back into the brick wall of the movie theater.

Not wasting any time, Danny grabbed the thermos that he had strapped to his back and pointed it at the other ghost. In a flash of light, the Box Ghost was sucked into the thermos.

"Finally," Danny muttered as he took off into the sky.

Danny Phantom, his real name being Danny Fenton, was a sixteen-year-old halfa, or a ghost-human hybrid. He could switch between ghost and human form at will. He'd gotten his powers from an accident with the Ghost Portal, a portal in his home that was a bridge between the human world and the Ghost Zone, where every ghost resides.

Ghosts repeatedly escaped the Ghost Zone through this portal for one of three reasons; to wreak havoc on the human world, to kill Danny or both. Usually, it was the latter.

Danny returned to his house, passing through the walls of the building with intangibility and landing in the lab. He switched back to his human form in a flash of light, changing his hair color from white to black and his eyes from green to blue.

His family was made up of ghost hunters- aside from his sister -so they had an entire lab dedicated to ghost technology.

"Back you go, Boxy," Danny said as he released the Box Ghost into the portal. "Finally," he sighed, "Time to get Cheese Viking."

"No!" he shouted five minutes later at his computer. The new Cheese Viking, Danny's favorite game, had sold out.

"Danny!" a large man in an orange jumpsuit burst into the boy's room. "Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?"

"No, Dad, I'm fine," Danny replied to his father, Jack Fenton. "Except for that stupid Box Ghost making me too late to get Cheese Viking!"

He hadn't told his parents about his life as Phantom until he was fifteen. Well, it wasn't Danny who told them. His sister found him in his room passed out with a gaping hole in his side, and she had to tell their parents so they could help him.

Jack paused. "But.. you got him?" he asked cheerily. Danny smiled.

"Yeah. I got him." Jack slapped him on the back.

"Thatta boy!" he said with a grin. "Come on, Jazz got a letter from Wayne Enterprises and your mom wants the whole family to watch her open it!"

Jazz, Danny's sister, had just graduated high school and had applied for an internship at Wayne Enterprises, one of the largest businesses in the world. An internship there would kick-start her career in marketing. That was the reason she claimed, but Danny was sure that part of the reason was that Bruce Wayne, the billionaire who owned Wayne Enterprises, was cute.

"Finally!" Jazz, a girl with long red hair and a blue headband huffed. "I haven't been able to look for three hours! What were you out doing?"

"Uh, my job?" Danny smirked as he hopped over the back of the couch to sit on it. Jazz rolled her eyes.

"Open it, dear!" Their mom, Maddie Fenton, urged. Jazz grinned widely, opening the letter. Her smile grew, and she jumped up and down.

"I got it!" she squealed. "I got it!! I got the internship!!"

"That's great, Jazz!" the other three Fentons exclaimed at once. Jazz seemed to get even more excited as she continued reading the letter.

"And," she continued excitedly, "All the interns are expected to attend the next Wayne Gala with their families! All expenses paid!"

"Yes!" Jack cried. "We're going to New Jersey, baby!" As the entire family celebrated, Danny couldn't help but be suspicious. Jazz had applied late and while she was smart, she wouldn't have been anything special next to the other applicants.

Something was up. _

"So what, you think she only got accepted because of you?" A girl with short black hair raised an eyebrow as they walked through the halls of their high school. "Why, exactly?"

"Because, Sam," Danny responded to his girlfriend. "It's weird. I was looking at the Infi-map, and there's a portal to the Ghost Zone in Gotham that wasn't there a month ago. And get this? It's five miles away from Wayne Manor.”

"You think Bruce Wayne wants you out of the way for some plan?

"It wouldn't be the first time somebody did."

"But how would he even know who you are?" Sam Manson asked, "I mean, there's no way he knows that you're Phantom."

"Um, because he's Batman?" An African American boy walking beside them scoffed as though it was obvious. "Batman knows everything."

Danny and Sam laughed. "Tucker, seriously?" Danny shook his head in disbelief. "That conspiracy? Batman and Bruce Wayne have been seen at the same time in the same place multiple times.”

"Okay, well, you can clone yourself! Who's to say Batman can't? Or maybe it's a hologram! Or maybe it's one of his thousand children in the suit!" Tucker Foley counted on his fingers as he rattled off the various theories. His eyes widened, and he grabbed Danny's shoulders. "Dude, you have to get proof."

"There's no way I'd be able to get close enough to Bruce Wayne to prove anything."

"Then trick him!" Tucker said, his eyes bright. "Most of Bruce's adopted kids are boys with black hair and blue eyes! Just say you're an orphan and I bet he'll be like 'Of course you can stay, I am always down for more children."

"Okay, first of all," Danny began, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder and prying his friends arms off of him. “His son Damian? That kid scares me, he gives off Dash vibes. Did you see how he made that interviewer cry?"

A few months prior, a video had surfaced that showed Damian Wayne insulting a girl who was trying to give him an interview. The two-minute video ended with the girl crying.

"And second of all-" Danny was cut off as he was shoved to the ground. He looked up to see Dash Baxter, a muscular boy with blonde hair.

"Watch where you're going, Fen-freak," Dash sneered, "Before I shove your puny face into a locker!"

Danny gritted his teeth as he sat up. Dash had been picking on him from the beginning of high school. Two years later, he hadn't stopped.

On any other occasion, Danny would have said something in response, but Dash had already continued down the hall.

"Why can't you just zap him or something?" Tucker grumbled. "He's the worst!"

"Yeah, I know," Danny stood up, wiping dust off of his shirt. "But I can't. It isn't right."

"Your moral code is dumb," his friend snapped back.

"If you're going to Gotham," said Sam with a pointed look at Tucker. "Who's gonna be here to help with the ghosts?"

"I've got it covered," Danny replied swiftly, looking up. "Dani's coming down. It'll be fine. I have to keep Jazz safe, and figure out what Brucie Wayne is up to."

"I am sure Father would have a better plan than to invite some under-qualified intern to the Manor."

A seventeen-year-old boy with spiky black hair rolled his eyes. "Damian, she isn't under-qualified. She meets all of the qualifications for the internship."

The first boy, an Arab thirteen-year-old with the same spiky hair and bright green eyes, scoffed. "There is no way a person from some backwater town would have received the internship if we hadn't needed her brother."

Tim Drake and Damian Wayne, the youngest children of Bruce Wayne. Damian currently held the Robin mantle, while Tim used Red Robin. The brothers were in a large cave decked out with a plethora of high-tech equipment.

"Okay, but you think every place outside of Gotham is a backwater town." Tim pointed out as he swiveled his chair to face a massive computer.

"Amity Park is a backwater town. The citizens there are animals," Damian retorted, crossing his arms. "You just cannot see that because you are also a backwater type."

Tim laughed as he realized what the younger boy was basing his opinion on. "Damian, please tell me you haven't generalized an entire city just because of one tourist from Amity Park ran into you and spilled soda on your shirt."

"It was my favorite shirt! And that cretin did not even apologize!" Damian spat. "The nerve!"

"Okay, well, put aside your dumb grudge and think about the objective," Tim responded. "I think, if you look within that thing you call a soul, you can see that letting one intern that you think is under-qualified is worth getting Bruce back."

"Tt. I suppose," Damian admitted begrudgingly. "If this Danny Phantom character truly has the potential to save Father."

"He's the only one who can." Tim reminded him. "We can't get into the Ghost Zone without a ghost, and I don't think any of the ones we've seen so far would be willing to help," He paused. "Plus, don't the Fentons make ghost hunting gear? Who knows, maybe they have a ghost sword."

After a sudden wave of ghost attacks in Gotham, Bruce had poured in countless hours of research to find out as much as he could about ghosts. He had discovered that they came from another dimension and that there was one person who was an expert at fighting them; Danny Phantom of Amity Park. It didn't take very long for him to uncover Phantom's true identity.

"Tim! Dames!" a voice shouted. "My boys!" Tim and Damian looked towards the stairs and saw a taller man with black hair and blue eyes jump the railing of said stairs, landing in the Bat Cave.This was their oldest brother, Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing. He grinned brightly. "How's it going?"

"Making sure that we have every possible outcome of this mission prepared for." Tim replied as he continued typing on the Bat Computer. Damian nodded.

“Yes, and so I have decided that I shall accompany them on this journey."

"Damian, no." his older brothers said at the same time. Damian scowled.

"Why not? I am plenty capable of-

"Because people would get suspicious if Batman suddenly didn't have a Robin," Dick answered, strolling towards the younger boy. "That's why Jason, Tim, and Stephanie are going. They won't be missed," He gave Tim a nervous look. "No offense."

"None taken," Tim replied, waving his hand. "Sorry Damian, you'd just get in the way."

"But I have died before!" Damian huffed, his hands clenching into fists. "That combined with my skills- which are far greater than yours, Drake, I might add -makes me much more qualified than you."

"Little D, dude, I just told you," Dick ruffled his younger brother's hair. "It'll be suspicious if you're gone. And besides, I need you. We're a great team."

"But my father is in there-"

"Master Damian-" their butler, Alfred Pennyworth, interrupted the trio's squabbling. "You won't be going anywhere until your homework is done."

"Homework? Finding my father is much more important than an essay on why the Roman empire fe-"

"Master Damian." Alfred repeated in a low tone. "Now."

Damian scowled as he trudged up the stairs. It didn't matter how tough the person was. When Alfred told you to do something, you do it. "I will be going with you, Drake!" he called behind his shoulder. "I promise you that!"

Dick and Tim exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes.

"Children."

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gokinjeespot · 3 years

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off the rack #1314

Monday. December 28, 2020

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. These few comic books are thanks to the generosity of fellow fan Doug.

Batman/Catwoman #1 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Well surprise, surprise. I really liked this first issue. Someone doubted that I would because I wasn't a fan of Tom King's recent stories but this one I enjoyed immensely and not just because of how Clay draws Selina. My favourite storyline in the Batman run was the relationship between Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Bruce Wayne/ Batman and it still is. I really wanted them to get married. This story jumps back and forth in time and involves Catwoman's complicated relationships with the hero and the villains. I hope I get to finish this new Black Label series.

Action Comics #1027 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). The House of Kent story concludes with the Superman Family winning the day and defeating the Red Cloud. Too bad the new owner of the Daily Planet and mastermind behind the Invisible Mafia, Marisol Leone, escapes justice. I hear Brian Michael Bendis is leaving this book and that some fans are happy with that news. As big a Bendis fan as I am I thought this story sucked. Not even better art would have saved it in my opinion. Even the shocking development on the last page was dumb. I hope the next creative team does a better job on this book.

Iron Man #1 to #4 - Christopher Cantwell (writer) Cafu (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). You can't keep a good Iron Man down. Here I thought Tony Stark was dead. He's back on the racks and teamed up with Patsy Walker/Hellcat in this latest reboot and the first 4 issues were oaky. I stopped reading Iron Man a while back so I don't know who the new A.I. is that he talks to but it goes by B.O.S.S. How he hooks up with Patsy is another mystery to me. Tony has reinvented himself after being resurrected from the dead and he fights a bunch of old foes. His biggest challenge is a new version of Korvac. Remember him? I don't. For straight super hero versus super villains fare, this is okay, middle of the road comics.

Batman Black and White #1 - James Tynion IV, J. H. Williams III, G. Willow Wilson, Emma Rios and Paul Dini (writers) Tradd Moore, J. H. Williams III, Greg Smallwood, Emma Rios and Andy Kubert (art). I call books like this vanity projects. They're written and illustrated in an artsy fartsy way that is pretentious to me. When it comes to Batman I'm more of a blue collar kind of fan and these stories feel more like they should be in a snooty art gallery. The stories are accompanied by creator bios and I found the first two to be worth reading but I didn't read all of them, kind of like how I stop reading the little plaques at the art gallery that goes with the art on the wall after a few. $5.99 US for four short stories in black and white seems steep to me.

Batman #103 - James Tynion IV (writer) Guillem March, Carlo Pagulayan & Danny Miki (art) David Baron (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The cover is a blatant bait and switch. It says "Ghost-Maker vs. Clownhunter" but it's really Ghost-Maker vs. Batman as Bruce tries to keep Ghost-Maker from killing Clownhunter. The best part of this issue was Harley Quinn's appearance.

Batman #104 - James Tynion IV (writer) Guillem March, Bengal, Ryan Benjamin & Danny Miki (art) David Baron (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I like this Ghost-Maker guy. He wears a headband. I wonder if he still wears one under his helmet. So Ghost-Maker sedated Batman, Harley and Clownhunter last issue and now has them tied up in Arkham Asylum. He left Clownhunter unfettered with a sword handy to kill Harley with. Uh-oh.

Batman #105 - James Tynion IV (writer) Alvaro Martinez & Christian Duce, Carlo Pagulayan & Danny Miki (art) David Baron (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Does Clownhunter kill Harley? Does Ghost-Maker kill Batman? Read this conclusion to "Ghost Stories" to find out. Get ready to roll your eyes.

Superman #27 & #28 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Danny Miki (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). The last 2 parts of "Mythological" where Superman fights Synmar came to a grinding, groaning stop. This is the type of story that helps explain why some people get turned off super hero comics. It's just a bunch of big punch-'em-ups and then the good guy wins in the end. And can we get a consistent depiction of the Phantom Zone please? Is it a dimension where the bad guys are phantoms existing in null space or just another dimension where the bad guys live basically like they used to, like in this story? I hate when creators change things to suit their plots. I don't blame fans for grumbling about Bendis after reading this multi-parter.

Detective Comics #1030 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Bilquis Evely (art) Mat Lopes (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Rob Leigh (letters). The grassroots movement to rid Gotham City of masked vigilantes doesn't make me care for the Bat Family more because it sure feels like a contrived plot device. The plotline that I'm much more interested in is Damian's poking around his dad's old case files. That's the kind of detective work I like.

Detective Comics #1031 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Bilquis Evely (art) Mat Lopes (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Rob Leigh (letters). This issue is reflective of events that happened during the recent US presidential election. Anti-Bat and pro-Bat supporters clash and only in comic books can Batman defuse the volatile situation with a noble speech. Meanwhile, Damian quickly finds the person guilty of sweeping the cold cases of the attacks on Bruce Wayne in the past under the rug and brings them to justice. The perp's real identity offers a clue to the villain who shows up at the end of this issue.

Detective Comics #1032 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Dave McCaig (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Father and son set aside their feud to save the rest of the Bat Family from the latest super villain that has them in his clutches. No mystery who the bad guy is with the cover for this issue being a ginormous spoiler. Yes, Hush is back and he's got a great new scheme to hurt Batman.

Superman Special #1 - Andy Lanning & Ron Marz (writers) Phil Hester & Ande Parks (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Flashback sequence Marco Santucci (art) Arif Prianto (colours) A Larger World's Troy Peteri (letters). This is part 3 of "Endless Winter" which is DC's version of the finale of the Game of Thrones TV show. It's pretty straight forward. The heroes fight giant ice creatures. The end. I wouldn't spend money on this rack filler.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

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2019 Hugo Award finalists announced

The 2019 Hugo Award nominees have been announced; the Hugos will be presented this summer at the 2019 World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland.

Normally, I find that I've read and reviewed a huge slice of the year's finalists, but this year is different; I've done a lot less reading lately, partly because I wrote two books in 2018 and partly because the new EU Copyright Directive ate my life for about 10 months in the past year.

I was a little sad to be so far behind the curve when I saw the new list, but then I realized that this meant that I had a bunch of really exciting books to add to my to-be-read pile!

One notable inclusion: the Archive of Our Own fanfic archive -- a project of the Organization for Transformative Works (for whose advisory board I volunteer) -- is up for "Best Related Work."

Congrats to all the nominees!

Best Novel * The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor) * Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager) * Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris) * Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente (Saga) * Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Macmillan) * Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

Best Novella * Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing) * Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing) * Binti: The Night Masquerade, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing) * The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing) * Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, by Kelly Robson (Tor.com Publishing) * The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency)

Best Novelette * “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018) * “The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018) * “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth,” by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018) * The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing) * “The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November- December 2018) * “When We Were Starless,” by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018)

Best Short Story * “The Court Magician,” by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed, January 2018) * “The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018) * “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine, February 2018) * “STET,” by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine, October 2018) * “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine 23, July-August 2018) * “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)

Best Series * The Centenal Cycle, by Malka Older (Tor) * The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross (most recently Tor.com Publishing/Orbit) * Machineries of Empire, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris) * The October Daye Series, by Seanan McGuire (most recently DAW) * The Universe of Xuya, by Aliette de Bodard (most recently Subterranean Press) * Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)

Best Related Work * Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works * Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, by Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street Books) * The Hobbit Duology (documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan (YouTube) * An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953- 2000, by Jo Walton (Tor) * www.mexicanxinitiative.com: The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 (Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, John Picacio) * Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon (Tin House Books)

Best Graphic Story * Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colours by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios) * Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino and Tana Ford (Marvel) * Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image Comics) * On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden (First Second) * Paper Girls, Volume 4, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Image Comics) * Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form * Annihilation, directed and written for the screen by Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer (Paramount Pictures / Skydance) * Avengers: Infinity War, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios) * Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, directed by Ryan Coogler (Marvel Studios) * A Quiet Place, screenplay by Scott Beck, John Krasinski and Bryan Woods, directed by John Krasinski (Platinum Dunes / Sunday Night) * Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley (Annapurna Pictures) * Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (Sony)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form * The Expanse: “Abaddon’s Gate,” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Penguin in a Parka / Alcon Entertainment) * Doctor Who: “Demons of the Punjab,” written by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs (BBC) * Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe, directed by Andrew Donoho and Chuck Lightning (Wondaland Arts Society / Bad Boy Records / Atlantic Records) * The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett (NBC) * The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram, directed by Trent O’Donnell (NBC) * Doctor Who: “Rosa,” written by Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai (BBC)

Best Professional Editor, Short Form * Neil Clarke * Gardner Dozois * Lee Harris * Julia Rios * Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas * E. Catherine Tobler

Best Professional Editor, Long Form * Sheila E. Gilbert * Anne Lesley Groell * Beth Meacham * Diana Pho * Gillian Redfearn * Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist * Galen Dara * Jaime Jones * Victo Ngai * John Picacio * Yuko Shimizu * Charles Vess

Best Semiprozine * Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews * Fireside Magazine, edited by Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, social coordinator Meg Frank, special features editor Tanya DePass, founding editor Brian White, publisher and art director Pablo Defendini * FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editors Troy L. Wiggins and DaVaun Sanders, editors L.D. Lewis, Brandon O’Brien, Kaleb Russell, Danny Lore, and Brent Lambert * Shimmer, publisher Beth Wodzinski, senior editor E. Catherine Tobler * Strange Horizons, edited by Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Vanessa Rose Phin, Vajra Chandrasekera, Romie Stott, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons Staff * Uncanny Magazine, publishers/editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor Michi Trota, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue editors-in-chief Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Dominik Parisien

Best Fanzine * Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus * Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet * Lady Business, editors Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay & Susan * nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla and The G * Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur * Rocket Stack Rank, editors Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

Best Fancast * Be the Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace * The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe * Fangirl Happy Hour, hosted by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams * Galactic Suburbia, hosted by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch * Our Opinions Are Correct, hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders * The Skiffy and Fanty Show, produced by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke, hosted by the Skiffy and Fanty Crew

Best Fan Writer * Foz Meadows * James Davis Nicoll * Charles Payseur * Elsa Sjunneson-Henry * Alasdair Stuart * Bogi Takács

Best Fan Artist * Sara Felix * Grace P. Fong * Meg Frank * Ariela Housman * Likhain (Mia Sereno) * Spring Schoenhuth

Best Art Book * The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press /Gollancz) * Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon, by Julie Dillon (self-published) * Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History, by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer (Ten Speed Press) * Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, ed. John Fleskes (Flesk Publications) * Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie, by Ramin Zahed (Titan Books) * Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, ed. Catherine McIlwaine (Bodleian Library)

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer * Katherine Arden (2nd year of eligibility) * S.A. Chakraborty (2nd year of eligibility) * R.F. Kuang (1st year of eligibility) * Jeannette Ng (2nd year of eligibility) * Vina Jie-Min Prasad (2nd year of eligibility) * Rivers Solomon (2nd year of eligibility)

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book * The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform / Gollancz) * Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt / Macmillan Children’s Books) * The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black (Little, Brown / Hot Key Books) * Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray) * The Invasion, by Peadar O’Guilin (David Fickling Books / Scholastic) * Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman (Random House / Penguin Teen)

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/02/dublin-worldcon.html

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trendingnewsb · 6 years

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Amber Rudd resigns as home secretary

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionAmber Rudd faced criticism over the existence of Home Office removals targets and her knowledge of them

Amber Rudd has resigned as home secretary, saying she “inadvertently misled” MPs over targets for removing illegal immigrants.

The Windrush scandal had heaped pressure on Ms Rudd, who faced renewed criticism after saying she did not know about Home Office removals targets.

Her successor is expected to be announced within hours by Theresa May, who was “very sorry” to see Ms Rudd go.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Ms Rudd had “done the right thing”.

Ms Abbott added that the “architect of this crisis” – the prime minister – must come before the Commons to explain “whether she knew that Amber Rudd was misleading Parliament and the public last week”.

Amber Rudd resigns: Live reaction

What went wrong for Amber Rudd?

Rudd’s resignation letter in full

Rudd’s resignation dominates front pages

Ms Rudd told MPs last week the Home Office did not have targets for removing illegal immigrants, but on Sunday the Guardian published a letter in which Ms Rudd set out her “ambitious but deliverable” aim to deport 10% more illegal immigrants over the “next few years” to Theresa May.

Ms Rudd is the fourth person forced to resign from the cabinet in the last six months – following Sir Michael Fallon, Priti Patel and Damian Green.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling denied the government was in chaos, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today the spate of recent resignations were “unwanted noise” but there were always “up and downs” in politics.

Rudd’s resignation letter to PM

Image copyright PA

Ms Rudd, who had been due to make a Commons statement on Monday afternoon, telephoned the prime minister on Sunday evening to tell her of the decision amid intensifying opposition demands for her to quit.

In her resignation letter, Ms Rudd said she took “full responsibility” for the fact she was not aware of “information provided to (her) office which makes mention of targets”.

In response, Mrs May said she believed Ms Rudd had given her evidence to the Commons “in good faith” but that she understood her decision to resign and take “responsibility for inadvertently misleading the home affairs select committee”.

She should “take great pride” in what she achieved at the Home Office, Mrs May added.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg’s view

Image copyright Getty Images

An inevitable resignation? Certainly there has been a mismatch between what she told MPs last week and the evidence that emerged.

In a different time, and with a minister with enemies, she’d likely have been out on Friday.

This time the Tory party was fighting hard to keep her. But beyond the mess-ups, perhaps part of the issue was also that she was not necessarily in tune with her predecessor’s attitude on immigration – the Home Office’s most politically charged brief.

Related Topics

Amber Rudd

Windrush scandal

UK immigration

Amber Rudd resignation

Home Office

Immigration

Theresa May

Deportation

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43944988

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selcouthrp · 6 years

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0cean

Damian, Favi, and Tony Javachi

“The first step is acceptance. Who would like to start us off today?”

Tony glanced at his niece and nephew. Every time they came here they were asked the same question. And every time, Favi kept her attention focused on her nails - groomed, as usual - and Damian sat with his arms folded across his chest and his signature frown that never seemed to go away. Now, Tony understood why they refused to talk. He was old-school, and he had always raised them to be the same way. Expressing your feelings was just as bad as snitching, so he didn’t blame them for refusing to talk. But after all of the shit that happened last year, after nearly dying and being comatose, Tony was starting to see some things in a new light. So when Lily suggested the three of them see an anger management specialist, he figured why not?

“Favi’s going to start us off,” Tony announced, holding up his hand when Favi turned to look at him. “I don’t want to hear it. Your mother paid good money for these classes.” And he was right. Lily spared no expense finding one of the best therapists in town - Christopher Russo.

She’s not my mother. Favi thought. She pursed her lips and turned to face the therapist. “I guess I have anger issues, sure,” she shrugged her shoulders, crossing her legs.

“No,” Russo smiled, gently removing his glasses and placing them on the small table next to him. “I want you to make a firm statement. ‘I have anger issues.’”

Her eyebrows pushed together but only for a second. “But I’m not angry all the time. Everyone gets angry every now and then.”

“Here we go,” Tony said under his breath, folding his arms and lowering his gaze to the ground.

“I respectfully disagree, Favi. You seem to have a negative outlook on life. Especially ever since Danny-”

“What did I tell you about bringing his name up again?” Favi cut him off, leaning forward in her seat. Her body language still seemed relaxed but the way her eyes were slightly narrowed was like a warning for Russo to not continue.

“Alright, take it easy,” Tony sighed, “He’s just trying to do his job.”

“Yeah, well, you suck at it,” Favi said blatantly, leaning back on the couch. “Every time we come here I get grilled for making one bad decision when this guy,” she nodded her head towards Damian, “Is dating the only woman who has a penthouse in Hell.”

“How is your relationship with Veronica?” Russo asked Damian, turning the attention to him.

The attention didn’t last long. Damian didn’t respond, but he usually never did.

“You can sit at home with a fucking frown on your face for free, Damian,” Tony said to him, shaking his head. “She’s paying good money for this, your mother.” Sometimes Tony forgot he’s already said things before.

“Well, I feel better,” Favi said, grabbing her purse. She held up her wrist to look at the time on her watch, “I need to get to work. I don’t want to be two hours late.”

This time Damian looked at her. “You’re two hours late?”

Tony stood up as well, patting Russo on the shoulder. “Thanks, doc.”

“I had to go get my nails done,” Favi said over her shoulder to Damian, opening the door.

“Jesus,” Damian sighed, running a hand over his face. “I give you one job and you do this petty shit. One week you don’t feel good, the next week you didn’t like the way he talked to you.”

Tony followed the two out of the door and to the cars, listening to their conversation.

“Why don’t you give the job to Ally then? Or have one of your guards work there.” Favi knew he would never give the job to Alessandra, but at this point, she was just annoyed.

Damian placed his hand on her car door and shut it before she climbed inside. When she turned to face him, she was caught off guard by how close he was.

Damian looked at her, his eyes locked on hers. “I don’t want you connected to any of this shit anymore, Favi. If any of this shit goes south, your alibi is the job. So be there, on time, in uniform, and whatever the fuck else Danny needs you to do. Okay?”

Favi kept their eye contact and nodded her head. “Okay.”

He knew she meant it. Stepping back, he opened up his arms. “June’s making pasta tonight so come to see her and the twins.” After they hugged, and Favi agreed to stop by later, everyone went to their assigned cars. Now that things were at higher stakes than before, Damian made sure at least six cars were present whenever any of them had to leave the compound.

Once they made it home, Damian and Tony removed their coats and allowed one of the guards to take it to the coat closet for them.

The smell of homemade pasta led them right to the kitchen where they saw June and Veronica with the twins.

“Jesus, did you eat one of the twins too?” Tony joked with one of the guards, patting his belly before making his way over to June. He approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. “Smells amazing.”

Damian kissed Jasper on the forehead, making a subtle side-eyed glance at Bianca before lacing his arms loosely around Veronica’s shoulders. He kissed her temple, but before he could say anything a guard approached him and whispered something in his ear mentioning something was urgent.

Ally

Vomit spewed out just as Ally reached the downstairs toilet. She didn’t want Max to be concerned, so as soon as she felt her stomach cramping and nausea washing over her, Ally jumped out of bed and ran for the stairs.

Once she felt she was done, she flushed the toilet and leaned her back against the wall behind her. A slight layer of sweat had formed on her forehead but that was probably due to the layers of clothes she was wearing. A sweater underneath a sweatshirt paired with Spongebob fuzzy socks and long sweatpants. Needless to say, she was burning up now.

After cleaning up, Ally made her way back up the stairs to their bedroom and walked into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth with one of the temporary toothbrushes they kept for guests and then climbed into the shower afterward.

For a second, she had completely forgotten about Kebo moving in today. Now she wishes she had since it was sending her stomach into knots again. Max had been vague with most of the information about their past, but Ally knew enough to have a bad impression of the guy. Family or not, Kebo did not sound like a good guy. But how could she say anything about that? She was a Javachi after all.

The shower calmed her down a bit, though. She decided she would at least give Kebo the benefit of the doubt and at least try to befriend him. Perhaps, if she called June and asked her for the recipe to one of her famous homemade Italian dishes then maybe that would impress Kebo. If Ally didn’t butcher the recipe, that is. Or should she make a Hispanic dish? Max’s family wasn’t Italian.

Ally sighed. She wasn’t going to think about all of that right now. Instead, she pulled one sweatshirt over her head - an orange one with “West Forest” in grey letter across the front - and a pair of grey biker shorts before climbing back into bed. Pulling the covers up right above her belly button, she folded her hands ontop of her and stared at the ceiling. One would think she was in deep thought, but really she was just watching the fan go around and around and around and around.

Favi

One hour and fifty-nine minutes late, Favi opened the doors to the ice cream parlor and went straight to the back to clock in. She had left her uniform at home, so she just grabbed a new one and took it out of its package. “Thanks, Rebecca,” she said to no one, reading the name that was engraved in the shirt. As for the rest of the her uniform, she hadn’t brought any shorts to change into so she kept her denim jeans on and kept on her heels. Favi could run in them, so she could work in them. Grabbing her order booklet, she walked back out into the lobby and went to a customer to start taking their order.

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avaritia-apotheosis · 8 months

Text

Bid A Strong Ghost Stand at the Head Ch. 2

A DPxDC crossover // Read on [AO3]

← Previous Chapter // MASERLIST // Next Chapter →

◆◆◆

It had been twenty-four hours since they brought Danny to the cave. During that period, the entirety of Bruce’s assortment of children and associates had come down to visit the cave in order to gawk at Damian’s brother.

Damian, they learned, was quite the mother hen. He refused to let any of the clan crowd Danny’s bedside, with the exception of Alfred—who knew how to care for Danny’s wounds best—and Cass—because it was Cass.

Despite it coming at the cost of Danny’s health, it was rather nice to see everyone under one roof and being someone amicable. Tim, Steph, and Barbara, however, couldn’t stay long. Tim and Barbara both had their own work to prioritize and Steph had some assignments she really needed to focus on. In their absence, Dick, Jason, and Cass decided to drag one of the Cave’s smaller training mats near the infirmary to sit on while they played a card game.

Uno, judging by the amount of swears Bruce heard.

“It’s weird,” Jason said.

“What is?” Dick asked.

“It’s weird to see Danny of all people so banged up.”

“Speaking of, you never really did go into your relationship with him.”

“Well, what’s there to say? He was my trainer. He taught me almost as much as Bruce did— which is really weird considering the guy was like fourteen when I met him.”

“Ok so he’s a ridiculously strong assassin prodigy. Horrifying implications aside, what’s he like though?”

“Well— a +3, Cass? Really? I have ten cards now.”

“Ha!” Dick laughed. “Serve you right for— no, not blue! That’s the only card I don’t have!”

“Fuck you, Dick.” Jason sniffed. “Anyway, there’s not really much I can actually say about Danny. Sure, I spent the better part of a year with the guy but I never really got to know him. Or, at least, he never let himself be known. It’s…honestly a little freaky how good he is at appearing so open and friendly while being so secretive.”

There was a pregnant pause and a shuffling of cards. Bruce couldn’t really focus on the cases sitting in front of him.

“He always looked so untouchable in the League,” Jason began. “He was goofy, yeah. Had puns for days. And the monks loved him; apparently Danny picked up all that inner peace stuff really quickly. But there was this weird, I don’t know, way he looked at things, as if he was nothing more than an observer. Like no matter what shitstorm befell the world, it wouldn’t matter to him.

“You know, there was this one time that the pit madness really got to me and I tried to strangle Danny. Do you know what he did?” A chuckle. “The motherfucker laughed. As if I didn’t have my thumbs digging into his throat.”

◆◆◆

Danny woke at around midnight.

Bruce looked at (your son, the brain supplied. Son is a word he is intimately familiar with. The shape of the letters worn and softened with time, always at the tip of his tongue but never courageous enough to leave it. Son is a word infused with devotion and responsibility. Joy and sorrow. Pride and an endless sea of should’ve-would’ve-could’ve and most of all Love.)

(But this word— this word that is given to him looks familiar but is at the same time not.)

Bruce looked at a son. A son that is his by virtue of blood and genetics and how could anyone deny the boy’s parentage when Danny looks the spitting image of Bruce at seventeen. World weary and lost and looking for purpose.

He watched as the boy pushed himself up onto his forearms, eyes darting across his surroundings—lingering for a moment on Damian’s sleeping face on a nearby cot— before resting on Bruce.

Danny smiled, tilting his head. “Hello, Mr. Wayne.”

Bruce inclined his head “Danny. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, right as rain. Thanks for patching me up. I could’ve done it myself but digging that seed out would’ve been a hassle.”

“It was no trouble at all.”

Silence.

Bruce bit the inside of his cheek.

What exactly was he supposed to say in this situation?

His eyes slid over to the roll of bandages on a nearby table. “Bandages,” he said. “You’re about due to have them changed.”

Danny’s hand flew to his abdomen, pressed against the spot where his wound would be. “Oh you don’t have to do that.”

“I insist.”

“No, really, you don’t have to.”

“It’s important to replace the bandages often to keep the wound clean and free from infection.”

“Trust me, Mr. Wayne, it’s really unnecess—” Danny sighed. “You know what, fuck it.” He quickly began to unravel his bandaged torso, tossing the wad of gauze into the nearest trash can. Frowning at the neat stitches on his side, he turned to Bruce. “Do you have some scissors?”

“What are you—” Bruce bit down on his question.

There was…nothing. The hole that Alfred sutured closed was just gone, the skin unmarred except for the rows of black thread crisscrossing over it.

Danny chuckled. “You know, sometimes I wonder that myself.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Who knows?” Danny shrugged, his hand outstretched. “Now how about those scissors?”

“Not until you answer my questions.”

Danny dropped his hand. “Well Mr. Wayne, while I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, it’s really none of your business.”

“As your father, I’d like to think it is.”

He laughed. “The seventeen years I grew up without a father say otherwise.”

Bruce flinched. “You cannot blame me for your mother’s lies.”

“No, you’re right. I can’t. But it doesn’t change the fact that, well, we’re basically strangers.” Danny slid out of his bed and took the scissors from a nearby tray. “I like you Mr. Wayne, I really do.” He began to carefully snip off the threads. “You’re a hero, you’re a good man, and Damian and mother love you—” he cut the last thread with an air of finality. “But that doesn’t mean that you’re privy to my life.”

Danny pulled out the stitches with careful slowness, and Bruce could see the wounds in his skin slowly knit itself back together.

Bruce’s breath hitched. “You’re a meta.”

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”

“I take it this relates to the green flecks in your blood.”

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.”

“Was this another one of Ra’s al Ghul’s experiments?”

Danny blinked owlishly, tilting his head. “Ra’s al Ghul wouldn’t have been so wary of me if it was. Now, is my shirt still salvageable by any chance? I don’t wanna impose on you anymore than I already have, so if I could just get my shirt back, I’ll be on my way.”

Bruce…Bruce didn’t really know what to think. He rubbed his face, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t you stay for a bit longer? Damian’s been worried sick about you and it would hurt him if you left without saying goodbye.”

Danny paused. For a brief moment his face morphed into something pained; a cross between a grimace and wary resignation. And for all that youth clung to Danny’s features, there was a moment in time where he looked so old .

Then the moment passed, and Danny once again played the stubborn and petulant teenager that pouted when things didn’t go his way. “Fine,” he groaned with an exaggerated whine. With a huff he sat back down on the cot, legs drawn up and crossed in front of him. “I’ll stay, but only because Damian would bite my head off if I didn’t.”

“Alright.”

“And no more questions. If I get interrogated by the freaking Batman then I’m out .”

“Reasonable enough.”

Danny narrowed his eyes in suspicion but said nothing else, settling into his cot.

Bruce sat back down in front of the cave’s computer and began rifling through cases.

The silence between them stretched like a vast cavern.

Faintly, Bruce could make out Danny’s reflection from the monitor screen. His shoulders were rigid, arms painfully straight and clutching at his crossed ankles. The fringe of his black hair fell past his eyes and was aggressively swiped away.

Poison Ivy remained at large, but she had gone underground. A bit of groundwork revealed that she had gone the Synototech research facility because they were experimenting with suicide seeds— technology that’s internationally banned from field testing and commercial use. And considering the controversy of Synototech’s attempts to create a seed monopoly in agricultural sectors of third world countries by patenting its modified seeds, well… Batman was in no hurry to chase after Poison Ivy.

The bed Danny sat on creaked. Through the reflection, Bruce watched the boy slowly pad his way to Damian’s cot. Danny crouched down, hovering his hand over Damian’s head for a moment before gently running his fingers through the short strands.

“I rarely get to see him like this, you know?” Danny murmured.

Like what?

Bruce held his tongue.

“He always has that scowl on his face,” Danny said, a smile in his voice. “Almost makes you forget what he looks like without it. He was really cute when he was a baby. All fat round cheeks and gummy smiles. He always loved it when people gave him attention.”

The corner of Bruce’s mouth twitched. He almost couldn’t imagine it. Damian, a bubbly bundle of joy. Damian, with chubby fists and the infectious bright laugher of a baby. Damian turning and crawling and stumbling through his first steps. Damian babbling sounds until he finally learned how to make sense of words and shape them to his will.

He wished—

If only he could have—

“I would have given anything in the world to have been there.”

Danny looked up. Bruce turned his chair to meet his gaze.

“I know.”

With a soft groan, Danny settled himself on the ground beside Damian, idly petting his hair. “You know, when I was younger I had this crazy idea to take Damian and run away from the League. I thought about it a lot. Had a good couple of plans on how to take Damian out, too. It would have been so easy . I imagined grabbing Damian and scaling the compound walls. I’d strap him to my back and we’d make our way to the nearest village and somehow, somewhere, I’d be able to get a message out. And you’d be able to find us.”

“Did you ever try?” Bruce swallowed the lump in his throat, the taste of the desert fresh on his tongue. Hot and dry and too full of possibilities that could have been.

“Not once. It was a stupid plan with more holes than swiss cheese and more risks than I wanted to put Damian through. Well, the League was risky, too, but that was something I knew. I could predict. Finding a way to contact you when all I knew about your identity was that you were The Batman and having to sit tight while the entire League of Shadows would be hell bent on catching us though?” He chuckled. “We wouldn’t have a ghost of a chance of holding out.”

“And so you stayed.”

“And so I stayed.”

“Will you go back to it?”

Danny shrugged. “Maybe? If mother asked for my help then I will, but the only reason I stayed at the League for as long as I did was because of Damian. Now that he’s out, there’s not much reason for me to stick around there.”

“And…if Damian asked you to stay here?”

There was something almost pitiful in the smile Danny sent him. “You have enough children, Mr. Wayne.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that you are one of mine.”

“In this world.”

Bruce blinked. “What?”

Danny startled, then frantically shook his head. “No— no, ignore that. I don’t…just forget I said anything.”

Before Bruce could press further, Danny pointed a finger at him.” Remember, you said that you wouldn’t interrogate me.”

Bruce huffed, conceding defeat. “I guess I did.”

For now.

#dpxdc #hey brother au #my writing.txt

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

Text

Childhood... Friend?

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/ncorYZl

by thetoyboxs

Bruce gets a letter one morning and it frankly leaves the kids frozen stuck when the man's immediate reaction was to jump for joy. - It's should be noted, for most of the Wayne kid's lives, they've never seen Bruce Wayne, the Gotham Dark Knight, jump for joy. Not even when putting on his Brucie Persona.

Yet there he went, the Batman, grinning widely at the glowing letter Alfred had passed to him just at the start of Sunday breakfast.

Words: 3134, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Other

Characters: Danny Fenton, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Barbara Gordon

Relationships: Danny Fenton & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Originally Posted on Tumblr, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Batfamily (DCU), Good Sibling Danny Fenton, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Silly silly, Danny was Bruce's childhood friend, Except Danny's immortal, Immortal Danny Fenton, He's an eternal 18 year old who picked 13 year old Bruce by the neck and said, does anyone want the emotional repressed teenager, and didn't wait for an answer

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/ncorYZl

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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gokinjeespot · 4 years

Text

off the rack #1292

Monday, December 16, 2019

I sure got a heavy cardio workout yesterday scraping off the ice from both vehicles after the rain on Saturday froze under a layer of snow overnight into Sunday morning. That kind of temperature change will give you whiplash. The frozen blowing snow covered half of our birdfeeders too so I had to clear those off for our feathered friends. It's despairing when the temperature drops during the day instead of getting warmer. Stupid Arctic Air Mass.

The Red Mother #1 - Jeremy Haun (writer) Danny Luckert (art) Ed Dukeshire (letters). The first page with the disintegrating skull will give you an idea of what this beautifully drawn new story is about. Daisy and her boyfriend Luke are walking home from dinner when they are attacked in a scary black space behind an iron gate. Luke is hauled into the blackness and Daisy has her right eye plucked out but survives. By the end of this issue she's seeing scary things through a haze of red. I loved the art in this and look forward to meeting Mother.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #4 - Jody Houser (writer) Adriana Melo (pencils) Mark Morales & Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters). The Floronic Man attacks the girls again. This time in a roadside dinosaur theme park run by a crazy old lady. Poison Ivy figures out how the bad guy is tracking them and Harley fixes that problem with a machete. This is one crazy story.

Punisher Soviet #2 - Garth Ennis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Nolan Woodard (colours) Rob Steen (letters). Frank has reluctantly taken on a teammate in his fight with a Russian mobster. This issue starts that guy's origin story.

Something is Killing the Children #4 - James Tynion IV (writer) Werther Dell'Edera (art) Miquel Muerto (colours) AndWorld Design (letters). Erica goes shopping for monster killing tools and into the woods we go. Time to meet the monster.

X-Force #3 - Benjamin Percy (writer) Joshua Cassara (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The enemy is revealed and they are Xeno. Kind of reminds me of the Court of Owls from Batman. Wolverine and Kid Omega rescue Domino from their clutches while a new Charles Xavier is hatched with a rebuilt Cerebro to lead the war. I liked how Magneto made a sword for Charles from the broken Cerebro helmet.

The Dollhouse Family #2 - M. R. Carey (writer) Peter Gross (layouts) Vince Locke (finishes) Cris Peter (colours) Todd Klein (letters). Maybe I'm wrong but I suspect that the M. in the writer credit stands for Mike. I loved Mike Carey's Vertigo books and this has a very familiar feel. I like how the house is a character too.

The Immortal Hulk #28 - Al Ewing (writer) Tom Reilly & Matias Bergara (art) Chris O'Halloran (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The villain gets the spotlight this issue as Roxxon C.E.O. Dario Agger tries to find a way to fight the Hulk. He goes to find an ally on Monster Isle and I laughed when I saw who it was.

Valkyrie #6 - Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers) Pere Perez (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). What a great read. This is an example of how two good writers can produce a highly enjoyable issue of a comic book. Add to that very nice art and you've got a "pick of the week". Part one of "Strange Aeons" starts a new story where Val needs to put together a team to save Death. Doctor Strange is her first recruit and Night Nurse, Cardiac, Doctor Faiza Hussain AKA Excalibur and Manikin make the journey to the valley of the shadow of death. Talk about D-list, but I trust that Al and Jason will make good use of these heroes.

Detective Comics #1017 - Tom Taylor (writer) Fernando Blanco (art) John Kalisz (colours) Travis Lanham (letters). This is a great one issue story if you want to see why this comic book is on my "must read" list. Batman solves two crimes and I was happy to see Damian helping out. If Tom Taylor did a Robin book, I'd read that too.

Fantastic Four #17 - Dan Slott (writer) Luciano Vecchio, Carlos Magno, Bob Quinn & Sean Izaakse (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was wondering why this story was called "Point of Origin" and this issue explain why. We all know that the Fantastic Four were bombarded with cosmic rays when they took their maiden flight and that's what gave them their super powers. Little did we know it wasn't an accident. It's a subtle change and doesn't make a lot of difference in the grand scheme of things but it is kind of neat.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #13 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art pages 1-2, 16-20) Kevin Libranda (art pages 3-8) & Alitha Martinez (art pages 9-13) David Curiel & Protobunker (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I usually get annoyed when an issue is drawn by a bunch of different artists but Javier, Kevin and Alitha all did a splendid job and the story flowed seamlessly. The awesome colouring job helped too. Say hello to Billie Mariana Morales. Miles is now a big brother.

Superman #18 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). As big a Brian Bendis fan that I am, I stopped reading this title because I wasn't interested in what was happening in the book. Now I'm interested again. Superman drops a bomb that's going to explode into all kinds of repercussions. I liked how Wonder Woman, Batman and Lex Luthor reacted to the news even though they don't utter a word. That's great art right there. The cover will give you a hint to what Superman's announcement is.

Fallen Angels #3 - Bryan Hill (writer) Szymon Kudranski (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Cable, Psylocke and X-23's mission to save some children continues and one of the heroes is captured by the enemy. I hope their next story happens in the daytime because these issues have been very dark.

Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child#1 - Frank Miller (writer) Rafael Grampa (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) John Workman & Deron Bennett (letters). No returning Dark Knight since this story features Lara, Jonathan and Carrie, the kids of the Big Two. They battle old man Joker and old man Darkseid. I loved the art. The writing was annoyingly repetitive. That seems to be Franks writing style now using lots of verbs and choppy little captions. I don't like it. The thing about comic books is that the art and writing go hand in hand and I just couldn't stop reading the words part way and just look at the pretty pictures. Seeing Greta Thunberg on the last page just made me love Rafael even more.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14 - Tom Taylor (writer) Marguerite Sauvage (art flashback) Ken Lashley (art) Marguerite Sauvage & Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Crappydoodles! This is the last issue. I am sad. I enjoyed the entire 14-issue run. It was Juann Cabal's art that got me hooked but Tom's writing kept me reading. His stories were very Mister Rogers and I liked them a lot. He showed Peter committed to his sense of responsibility and ended this issue nicely. I'm going to miss this title.

The Batman's Grave #3 - Warren Ellis (writer) Bryan Hitch (pencils) Kevin Nowlan (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Richard Starkings (letters). Batman is working on a case of murder disguised as a suicide. I like how this issue starts and ends with him working the case with Alfred in the Batcave that bookends 10 pages of wordless solo crime scene investigation and a fight with an intruder for a crucial clue.

2099: Doom #1 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Castiello (art) Chris Sotomayor (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This one-shot doesn't add much to the overall story but I like Chip's writing so I read it. Victor winds up in 2099 fighting his future self. The last page doesn't make a lot of sense so skipping this comic won't hurt much.

2099: Spider-Man #1 - Nick Spencer (writer) Ze Carlos (art) Brian Reber & Andrew Crossley (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I was as confused as the Miguel in this story when I got to the end. We get a sense of what's happening in 2099 that's bad for everyone but there's no connection to the main story as far as I can make out. These 2099 one-shots have been a waste of time, which doesn't bode well for Marvel's next big event. I'll read 2099 Omega to see if there's a point to this story and I'll read The Amazing Spider-Man #36 that ties into this event because that book is on my "must read" list, but Nick Spencer is skating on thin ice with me.

Annihilation - Scourge: Beta Ray Bill #1 - Michael Moreci (writer) Alberto Alburquerque (art) Jay David Ramos (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). This was a good single issue story. Beta Ray Bill goes up against the Sentry and saves our universe from the scourge of the Cancerverse. I liked that he's teamed up with Lockjaw.

Annihilation - Scourge: Silver Surfer #1 - Dan Abnett (writer) Paul Davidson (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I was asked recently if the Silver Surfer was good or evil after the Silver Surfer Black story and I didn't know the answer until now. This tie-in one-shot takes place right after Silver Surfer Black as Norrin Radd breaches the barrier between the positive universe and the Negative Zone to investigate what's causing the mass exodus from Annihilus's realm. Here he finds the means of defeating the Void controlled Sentry and thereby save two universes. He also discovers the ability to merge with another being sort of like DC's Deadman.

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