#liminal biology

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 41

Hear me out, DP and DC crossover where Scarecrow is cousins with the Fentons. 

 His mother was siblings with Jack’s father, and both Jazz and Danny met ‘Uncle Jonathan’ during one of the many Fenton-Nightingale family reunions that happens every few years. Honestly, perhaps it’s what gets Jazz interested in psychology, hearing from her ‘uncle’ about fear and its effects.

 And honestly once they start having to deal with ghosts and having had to deal with their parents for years it’s not really hard to talk with their uncle. Crane still doesn’t know how he became these kids’ favorite uncle, or even all of the family kids’ favorite uncle-cousin, but that’s just how the family is. 

 Really he’s not even the only villain of the family, with both Jack and Maddie being close but not quite, even if they’re definitely mad scientists. Their son becoming a local hero, even if they’re not aware of that fact, is just ironic. 

 John knows. The two kids told him when they found out that Danny may or may not need to feed on fear now that he’s half ghost, and well he’s the specialist about the emotion so…

 At least they have someone to stay with when Jazz goes to Gotham university and brings Danny with her, even if the local vigilantes are concerned as to why Scarecrow attacks have suddenly took a nosedive…

[absolutely-esme]

My Headcanon for Liminals

I've been having a lot of fun posting headcanons, and I'm starting to realize just how many I've built up over the years, so here's another one.

So I've stated before that part of the reason why Danny and Vlad are so different is because Danny was inside of a portal when it turned on whereas Vlad just got a face full of energized Ectoplasm and other assorted nastiness. The still human and already ghostly halves of Danny fused into a cohesive whole in order to survive the opening of the portal and continued supporting eachother. Vlad's human half forcibly integrated his resistant ghost half as it formed in an effort to survive. Rather than a cohesive whole, Vlad is two dischordant halves.

That said, I do not consider Vlad's state the default result of humans being exposed to ectoplasm.

Part of it is because the exposure was violent and his human body was so incredibly unwell that it made sense for the part of him with less emotional attachment to it to want to escape. This illness did not stem directly from the ectoplasm. We know this much because other people exposed to ectoplasm did not get ecto-acne, and figuring out the involvement of the cola was what allowed the Fentons to cure it.

Part of it is because Vlad has a superiority complex. This means that, in any given state, Vlad considers his current way of being superior. As a human, Vlad considers humanity superior. As a ghost, Vlad considers ghosts superior. This leads to a whole lot of clash between the parts of his psyche which each consider the other half to be lesser. Combine this with the fact that each half despises the illness and associates the illness with the other half, and you get a whole lot of internal toxicity.

For the average person with ectoplasm exposure, there wouldn't be so much of a clash. They would take on some ghostly traits (more and more over time, with continued exposure) and maybe start doing some prep-work for ghosthood, but they wouldn't be trying to leave their human lives early. They probably won't have insane healing factors like Danny, but they won't be tearing themselves apart like Vlad either.

They're preparing for the afterlife, but they wouldn't be so eager to discard the human life they are still living. If you've ever had a favorite hoodie that you wore all the time until you loved it to pieces and it came apart at the seams, that's kind of the feeling. It's not the end of the world when you can't wear it anymore; you can wear other jackets when you're cold, but you want to hold onto it for as long as you can.

The more someone is exposed to ectoplasm (in terms of both frequency and amount), the more ghostly they will become over time.

A random person who just happens to live in Amity Park on the opposite side of town from Fenton Works and and was somehow never at the sight of a ghost fight, will probably just experience a slightly increased awareness of ghost-related stuff and perhaps a slightly smoother transition when their time comes.

Other kids at Casper high, who attend school with Danny every day and get caught up in ghost attacks sometimes will probably start to form the wispy beginings of their ghostly self. Sometimes you just catch a glimpse of what sort of ghost they are going to be. They may also develop some slight powers while still alive.

You look at Paulina carefully shaping and lacquering her nails into something both beautiful and dangerous, and for a split second you just know that, someday, she's going to be all claws and glittering scales and passionate pursuit of her goals. She will transcend the human form and shape herself into a work of art of her own design and a powerhouse none can deny. Then she turns to her friend and giggles over a funny story, and the moment passes; she's just another kid steadily making her way to adulthood.

She's just another kid until some jerk at the mall oggles her a little too blatantly and her jewelry flashes brighter than the lighting should allow, blinding him so that he trips into a fountain, and Paulina smugly watches him sputter before turning to walk away with a satisfied spring in her step.

Sam and Tucker, Who hang out with Danny every day and frequently explore the ghost zone with him, will start forming more of the foundation of their ghostly selves and probably develop more powers sooner. They are more likely to develop to a point of being able to take on a ghostly form while still alive.

Typically, a halfa formed through extreme, prolonged exposure like this would have a bit of separation between their human and ghostly halves, but without much discord between the two. However, with Sam and Tucker spending so much time around Danny during their formative period (and having so much less contact with any other ghost than with him), it's entirely possible that they would subconsciously learn the integrated system approach, in much the same way people pick up habits of speech from the people around them.

[soapdispensersalesman]

Berlin, September 2023

[grapeswisherbb]

[indolentinsect]

hey guys :) i’m riley, aka indolentinsect, formerly known as ikeabackrooms, and i wanted to see what you guys thought about a change in this account’s content.

i’m a junior microbiology major and i’m thinking about redirecting this blog towards science related stuff, while still keeping it simple enough for everyone to understand :)

give me a comment with the appropriate heart emoji to let me know what you think :)

❤️- i’m interested in science content

💛- i’m interested, but make a separate blog for science stuff and keep this blog the same

💙- i’m not interested in science content and would be unlikely to interact with it

[aikoiya]

DP HC - Liminality

I recently read an hc about liminality that I liked. It suggested that because organics & ectoplasm are 2 different forms of matter, that you can be 100% ghost & 100% human at the same time & that's how liminality works instead of what I formerly liked to use, which was 50/50.

At the same time, I'd like to put my own twist on it. There is a difference between being ecto-liminal & being a halfa.

For instance, liminality isn't so much being 100% human & 100% ghost as it is being a percentage human & different percentage ectoplasm. Halfas are actually a range of a percentage organic living being & a different percentage of ghost. The most powerful being 100% organic & 100% ghost such as Danny. This 100/100 status of halfa is the utmost rare. So far, there is literally only one in existence.

There's a big difference between having ectoplasm in you & being an actual ghost which is what being a halfa is.

If you are a halfa, then you are also liminal, but if you are liminal, that doesn't automatically make you a halfa.

Anyone can be ecto-liminal with the right background, but not just anyone can be a halfa.

Ecto-liminality is based on a mix of genetics & environment. It's something that builds up over several generations being exposed to ectoplasm or ectoplasmic entities.

However, you don't just become a halfa unless certain needs are met.

For one, you need to die & then be revived quickly enough that either the tether between body & spirit hasn't broken or it reconnects (in Danny's case, his entire body was atomized by electricity, the force of which created a tear in the membrane between universes, his molecules were flooded with raw ectoplasm to the point that a Core formed almost instantly & his body was reconstructed with ectoplasm in each & every cell in his body; done so quickly that his spirit & his body still occupied the same space, then more electricity restarted his heart, causing his Core to be anchored to his body), but not just in any way. It has to be in such a way that a Core forms during the interim & not everyone who dies becomes a ghost. Certain things need to happen.

Some of the reasons why some people become ghosts & others don't have remained a mystery, but what is known is that the individual needs to, at least subconsciously if not consciously, have a will or desire to remain in this life strong enough that they are able to resist the pull of death & of The End.

You also need a purpose or destiny that still needs to be fulfilled.

And you need earthly attachments strong enough to anchor you.

Without these things, you won't become a ghost.

Not only that, but a lot of ectoplasm needs to be in the process, which is what fast-tracks the formation of a Core.

Not to mention, there needs to be a catalyst in you that works as a buffer which would allow you to survive the process, otherwise, what would've made you a halfa, will just kill you & only possibly make you a full ghost.

It's also not as easy as a natural portal forming on top of someone. That would just send then to the GZ, not turn them halfa.

Not to mention, just because someone is a 100/100 liminal while alive that going through this process automatically means they'll also be a 100/100 halfa.

As mentioned before, you need a catalyst. Such can range from you having magic in you, to having a powerful ancestor such as a diety. Death deities are the best as they are adapted to things like ectoplasm & death magic.

Danny, Jazz, & Sam are all Legacies of death deities & thus their percentages will be higher than most. Danny & Jazz were also 100/100 liminal due to generations of Fenton & Fenton-Nightingale exposure to ectoplasmic entities & living in places with thin spots as supernatural hunters.

Sam, Tucker, & Valerie have only had the benefits of living in a thin spot for a few generations, but Amity does have a Lazarus Pit that filters into the drinking water & that has raised the percentage. Sam & Tucker specifically also had the benefit of being Danny's best friends & thus they were exposed whenever they went over to his house & were even more exposed after the accident. As such, Sam would be around 100/75 & Tucker would be 100/60.

Vlad was only somewhat ecto-contaminated due to his workings with the Fentons & has no history of exposure before that. Nor does he come from a line of hunter's or even have a godly ancestor. As such, his percentage is actually pretty low. The only real thing he had going for him were dormant dragon blood, a strigoi ancestor, being revived as a lugat, & his ecto-herpies slowly contaminating him more & more over time. As a result, he's actually 100% lugat & about 50% ghost.

Now, take for instance, Jason Todd. Much like the Fentons, he also had hunter ancestors, & in fact, is a Fenton-Nightingale himself, & his family for at least 3 generations back have lived in Gotham, which has a Lazarus Pit too & is also a thin spot. Even if it doesn't have a portal like Amity, it has a low-mid level of ambient ectoplasm at all times, much like Amity did before the portal. As such, Jason had a higher percentage of ectoplasm than most, all of the bats do. Bruce, Tim, & Damian especially do to also having Fenton-Nightingale ancestry. Dick has higher than normal, but not nearly as much as the others as he'd been a circus boy who traveled around.

Technically, Jason is somewhere halfway between liminal & halfa, & due to the Pit of Nanda Parbat being not only corrupted, but dark magic having been used to keep the corruption from filtering out, his Pseudo-Core's formation has been severely stunted. If I were to guess, he'd be 100/95 ectoplasm in favor of human.

For more on my DP hcs, go to my Ghost Zone Masterlist.

[crabmuseum]

for me you are the real crab museum

Come see us! To get there you need to noclip through space, though…

[arsenic-green]

work pics

[zylev-blog]

“You’re late.” Danny turns around, looking at the space his nephew now occupied.

Batman frowns, then sighs. He runs a hand across his head, where his hair would be if the cowl wasn’t there. “I know, I got caught up with—“

“I’m not interested in your excuse.” He cut off Batman, “You’re never punctual anyway.”

“Mom never cared.” Batman deflected.

“Of course she didn’t. She’s a Fenton; we’re always late, it’s just part of our biology.” He crossed his arms as he tilted his head, the crown on top of his head brushing against his hair with the movement.

“Have you found her soul yet?” Batman—Bruce asked.

“Not yet. I know she’s been reborn, but I haven’t tracked it down. I’m beginning to wonder if she ended up on a different planet from ours.”

“We’ll know it when we see it.” Bruce agreed, “Until then, we do nothing.”

“Hmm.” He grunted. “How are your children?”

“They’re doing good. Damian is adjusting well. You can always meet them, you know.” Bruce offered.

“I can’t.” He denied, “Most of them aren’t blood related. Being around me for an extended amount of time would sap their life force until they were liminal. They don’t deserve that.”

“I know,” Bruce huffed, “I just wish…”

“I know, Bruce.” He put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Being fully dead and the ghost king is…not always fun.” He finished lamely.

“It’s okay. You did what you could after mom and dad died.”

The air between them was sad. He wished he could say something, anything, but there was nothing left to say. As much as Danny wished he could be with his nephew’s children, it just wasn’t possible. Being the ghost king might have saved the multiverse, but the cost was that he couldn’t be around his family. The only one would be Damian, Bruce’s blood son, since ectoplasm in his veins from Jazz would protect against his aura. Bruce’s other children wouldn’t have that luxury, and he would never risk his family’s health like that.

It was a good thing Gotham owed him a favor, and she watched over them for him instead.

[lovesick-syrup-selfships]

O had a dream about one of lols f/o's last night,,,,,,, we barely even interacted in the dream,,,, we were just sitting in a hallway for some reason (Ai think Un was there first and then he just sat down next to spell), Uni was doing something on antl computer, and he was rambling on about something Nit can't remember.

and like,,,,, it was such a simple interaction and yet Fae just lkhjghfgmh,njm

[stealingyourbones]

Short DPXDC Prompts #1013

Damian NEEDS to fight. It’s a part of his ghost/liminal biology. It’s similar to food for humans, if they don’t do it on repeated intervals they’ll “starve”. Well, Damian gets into a fight with Tim. This has happened many times. To Damian it’s a drive he needs to fulfill. To everyone else Damian is just attacking Tim for no rhyme or reason. Bruce puts his foot down and grounds him. Damian tries to prove to Bruce that he can truly not be confrontational.

Big issue: he’s unknowingly starving his liminal/ghost side and it’s visibly apparent too. He’s more lethargic, his cheeks are sunken in, he gets injured more easily. The other Bats realize something is very very wrong but no one knows why. (I wrote this v tired this might not make sense)

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Finally Getting Help (prt 6)

Masterpost

The Wayne family gathered in the family room once Alfred was done setting up the projector, somehow there was also a plate of cookies and a couple pots of tea on the coffee table. How he’d found the time they didn’t know, he always seemed to be doing just a little more than should be possible but they didn’t question it. 

Jazz seemed nervous as she plugged in her USB and accessed the power point on Ghosts and Liminality. The tidal page had a picture of Danny in his Phantom form standing with a group of others, a boy with gray skin and blond hair, a girl with green hair and skin, and a goth with purple eyes and a dark skinned boy who looked around Danny’s age, and Jazz with the title “Ghosts and Liminals!” 

The next slide had simple text: “What are they and How are they made?”

With each slide she read the text on the screen allowed and then added any context or anecdotes she thought of, or had prepared. 

(Next slide)

Ghosts:

Made of ectoplasmic energy and obsession

Made either:

when someone dies with strong enough desires

An idea gains enough traction to take on a life of its own

Immutable concepts and gods

Must be allowed to indulge in obsessions or they will cease to exist

All have basic abilities such as flight, intangibility, invisibility, and minor shape shifting

On top of basic abilities most will have additional powers based on their obsessions

Immortal unless killed 

Love to fight

Liminals

Made when a human is exposed to high levels of ectoplasm for prolonged periods of time

Have some ghostly traits 

Ghostly traits vary person to person

Less susceptible to human illness and injury

“The ghosts on the picture are Kitty and Johnny, we’ve had problems with them but would consider them friends now. They’re the ghosts of two humans who died, but there are others, Vortext for instance is the ghost of Storms. Those ghosts who come from ideas are called ‘neverborns’. There seem to be almost an infinite number of ghosts, however not all of them are interested in having anything to do with us so we tend to get the same faces showing up a lot in Amity.

“I don’t know how many liminals there are. I thought they might be new with my parents' research but as I look into it more I think there are more natural sources of ectoplasm then my parents thought.” Jazz explained before going to transition to the next slide.

“I have a question-” Bruce started before Jazz hushed him. 

“Wait till the end please! I might answer it without you having to ask,” She scolded, and he felt very much like a schoolboy again as his children snickered.

(Next slide including a image of the glowing green viles in the Fenton’s lab and a glowing green crystal)

Ghost biology 

Ghosts do not have any recognizable organs or bones

The only solid part of their being is their Core which is the source of their ectoplasm 

Any injury to a ghosts form not done directly to their core is considered minor and will heal

A healthy ghost is fully capable of mending any damage including removed limbs in a matter of hours or days depending on extent of the injury

All injuries not including the Core are considered minor 

Ghosts are considered young for at least the first hundred years of their existence and are often not considered adults until nearly 500

A caveat to this is ghosts are heavily driven by emotion and will often be the age they feel they are allowing ghosts to mature much more quickly, or more slowly

When this is the case ghosts are treated as the age they present and behave

Ghosts reproduce by shaping ectoplasm and Wanting a child badly enough

“Believe me it was incredibly scary the first time I saw Danny in his ghost form have something go right through his stomach. It took him a long time to convince me it wasn’t a big deal and it barely hurt. He does have to make sure he repairs the damage Before turning human again though or the damage can transfer over and I don’t need to tell you a hole in the gut is a lot more serious for humans!

“If I’m honest I only know ghosts that have stayed younger then they really are, for instance Youngblood who’s a few hundred years old and could be well on his way to adulthood if he wanted but has remained a child. I assume it can go the other way though, if a ghost is very mature for their age.”

Ectoplasm 

Ectoplasm is the energy that makes up all ghosts and the Ghost Zone itself. All ghosts can feed on the ectoplasm around them as well as produce their own by indulging in obsessions. The ghosts Cores produce the ectoplasm like a brain produces neurochemicals when exposed to the right stimulation.

Ectoplasm is a powerful source of energy but unstable. When it is stabilized into an ecto-crystal it is more stable and can be used as a power source safely by ghosts and liminals.

“Most ectoplasm is green like you see in the pictures. But it isn’t the only colour, some other ghosts produce different colours and it is highly tied to what emotion drives them. When it’s pure it usually smells like petracore but it can get pretty foul.”

(next slide)

What are Obsessions

Every ghost has one or more obsessions

They can be very literal things such as boxes, or ideas and emotions such as Love

In rarer cases they may have dual obsessions

Unlike for humans obsessions are very healthy for ghosts

Ghosts need to indulge their obsessions

Sometimes the way ghosts indulge their obsessions might seem evil, however it is almost always just amoral 

Obsessions shape every part of a ghost from their powers to thier physical appearance, to befriend a ghost you Must understand and aid their obsession

In very extreme circumstances a ghosts obsession may shift, sometimes this is healthy, more often it is a result of extreme trauma

“With my interest in psychology this was sort of hard for me to accept. From the outside the way ghosts obsess seems really unhealthy but it’s what gives them life. When not allowed to indulge in their obsessions ghosts will dysregulate and go to extreme lengths to try and get their obsession, if that doesn’t work they either go dormant if their core is still healthy enough or they will melt. 

“Ghosts change their obsessions very rarely, I’ve heard of it happening as they heal. For instance once a ghost has gotten revenge for themselves, if that was their obsession, their obsession might shift to avenging other people, or even protecting them so they don’t need to be avenged.”

(Next Slide)

Ghost Culture

The Ghosts have a monarchy

The title of the Ghost King is not hereditary but passed through trial by combat

Under the monarch is a council of being known as Observants, and powerful and old ghosts called Ancients 

Ghosts respect strength and value power and cunning in combat a lot

Ghosts bond with each other through combat and play fight with family and friends often

“I have down that the ghosts are a monarchy, and technically that is true but the current Ghost King was a tyrant who was locked away thousands of years ago. I’m sure as soon as someone shows up who’s powerful enough to beat him his court will be happy to pick up where they left off with a better King, or queen, though I don’t think the title has to change based on gender.

“I really can’t stress enough how violent ghosts are! Because nothing short of having their cores shattered can kill them, play fighting for them can look Very Much like a murder attempt to a human. A lot of the issues we’ve had with ghosts have come from them just not understanding quite how fragile humans, and for most of them they feel really bad once they know they actually Hurt someone by shooting them. It’s really best for everyone when they’re kept separate and Ghosts can happily tear each other apart in peace.”

Liminals

The result of long term low level exposure to ectoplasm, sudden high doses are almost always deadly

Liminals Can have almost every trait a ghost can, usually having a combination of a few

Commonalities between liminals include

Minor cosmetic changes such as: glowing eyes, pointed ears, and/or sharp teeth 

Increased stamina, strength, and aggression

Increased obsessive behaviour

Liminals sometimes develop powers shaped by the strength and type of obsession 

“Most of the people Danny and I know are liminals. I don’t want to talk about them in case they don’t want to be outed so I’ll talk about myself and my parents. We all had prolonged exposure after all. My ears are pointed,” She said brushing her hair back so they could see them, “And Danny is a little more then liminal but even in human form he has fangs. 

“My parents didn’t realize it but they could to the point they could subsist on their obsession without needing to eat or sleep as often as a regular human would. About a year ago I started developing the ability to tap into and feel other peoples emotions, I can feed on them a little too but I try not to because the Worst ghost we met did that and I don’t want to be anything like her.”

(Next Slide)

In conclusion

Ghosts are not evil even though sometimes their actions are hard to understand

Never get between ghosts when they’re fighting each other but it’s usually safe to yell at them to remind them not to break anything

Never get between a ghost and their obsession

Don’t drink ectoplasm unless you know you’re already liminal

“I have a feeling the section about liminals will be familiar to a bunch of you. I know Damian is liminal though I don’t know how he was exposed to ectoplasm and some of you,” Her eyes skirted across Tim and Bruce. “Are toeing the line. You’ll probably notice Damian and Danny getting really close, and they might get in some really vicious looking fights. I promise Danny is playing at least.”

The family was left silent for a moment, Bruce knew he was thinking about Jason. Who had died, been exposed to.. What certainly seemed to be something like Lazarus water and come back, obsessive, aggressive, and emotional. He wished he’d had this powerpoint a long time ago. It helped understand Damian too but mostly he was thinking about Jason. He needed to reach out again, maybe meeting Danny would be good for Jason?

“So uhhh, ya, that’s the end of the powerpoint?” Jazz said, shifting from foot to foot in the awkward silence. “Any questions?”

Next

[absolutely-esme]

DPxDC Prompt Where Everyone is Confused

What if ghosts mature differently then humans so that there's less of a fixed time frame? It's not about the time so much as how they spend it. Some young ghosts will go decades or even centuries without doing any growing up at all while others steadily work their way toward adulthood. Ghosts that start out the same age may not stay that way.

In this case, it would be entirely possible for ghosts to speed run the process of growing up, especially under high stress circumstances.

So, suppose Danny, Sam, and Tucker brute-forced their way to ghostly adulthood within a year of the accident (could be all three are halfas, could be Sam and Tucker are liminal enough to count). However, they aren't just ghosts, and the human portion of them doesn't work like that. Human biology goes at it's own pace and will finish when it finishes.

End result, the trio are adults on the ghostly side of things but still kids on the human side. Much uncanny. Very uncomfy.

Meanwhile Whatever DC hero you like has recently had a brush with death that turned them liminal. On the human side of things they're an adult, but on the ghostly side of things they're a newborn.

Put these characters together and watch the conflicting instincts confuse the heck out of everyone.

[hello-eden]

Dcxdp #23

Ras is vlad, dani/elle is talia and jason is dan

Idea where Danny stays in the afterlife as king but Vlad and Dan reincarnates. Dan and Vlad reincarnate to help cleanse and balance their course. that of course messed up due to the  Lazarus pit. 

Vlad trains Bruce because reminds him of Danny.

Dan! Jason never goes looking for Sheila  because as they get more liminal they get the more they're biology messes up. as far as the tech concerning DNA they are part Danny part Vlad. this leads to many misunderstandings.

Talia is a cover Ellie uses when they're in the Mortal Realm. Damian was actually created by accident. The bat family thinks he was created because of heirship and legacy but in reality they were just a oops baby.

[halfagone]

I had an epiphany idea

[aikoiya]

DP HC - Halfa Biology

Halfas are an interesting case no matter what you're talking about.

For instance, they have a psychological makeup similar to humanoid Ecto-Forms (a.k.a. spirits of the dead that came to the Ghost Zone & formed an ectoplasmic core & body), but the psychological stability of Ecto-Sapiens (a.k.a. lifeforms that evolved as living organisms inside the GZ & were never part of the living realms) or Ecto-Liminals.

Halfas are actually considered both True Ecto-Liminals & Actual Ghosts while also being something entirely new & separate from liminality.

Liminal is defined as relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. Or occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.

There are many types of liminal. For instance, those with psychic powers are considered Psycho-Liminals while magic-users such as Wizards, Wiccans, Warlocks, Witches, & Sorcerers are Magi-Liminals & Mediums are Spirit-Liminals. There are percentages of liminal & the higher the percentage, the more power you have.

Being ecto-liminal & being a halfa are 2 distinctly different yet interconnected things. Ecto-liminals are ecto-contaminated & have a connection to ectoplasm & ghosts, but no real connection to death as you don't need to actually experience death to be ecto-liminal.

On the other hand, halfas are intrinsically connected to death, having experienced it themselves. You cannot be a halfa without dying. And all halfas are also liminal because that ecto-contamination greatly increases the chances of a core forming between death & resurrection, which is exactly how halfas are created. The higher the percentage of ecto in the body, the higher the chances of this happening.

There is normally no way to artificially increase one's liminality in a single lifetime as it takes several generations of continuous exposure to get a high enough level. Vlad was actually extremely lucky as he'd grown up in an ecto-free area & had no hunter ancestors to increase it for him. If not for the ecto-acne (which was actually a form of ecto-herpies), he would've died for good. Ecto-herpies is the only real way to increase one's level of ecto-contamination quickly enough to maybe become halfa in a first gen liminal, but even with that, Vlad still had very low liminality & it was only due to having become a lugat that he was resurrected & became a halfa.

The yetis of the Far Frozen are full Ecto-Liminals (otherwise called Pseudo-Ghosts), their society was a sort of creature made of magic that had wandered through a natural portal eons ago & began to live in the GZ. The first generation died of ecto-poisoning, but before that their children were born & became resistant. As more generations passed, they adapted & even eventually began to develop pseudo-cores of their own & be able to manipulate the ectoplasm around them so long as they're in areas with high levels of ambient ectoplasm.

There are a couple things that they can do without ambient ectoplasm. Things that directly involve the body, such as stronger base physical stats, the ability to touch ghosts, see better in the dark, slow your fall, effect one's object permanence in regards to one's self, ect. The higher an Ecto-Liminal's percentage of liminality & the higher the ambient ectoplasm, the more powerful or effective these things will be. At full liminality & high-levels of ectoplasm, you basically have night vision, superhuman capabilities, the ability to glide & even hover for short periods, as well as go intangible, for short periods. Plus, they also have access to low-levels of psychic or elemental powers. At medium-levels of ectoplasm, you can go invisible also for short periods.

An area considered to have very high-levels of ambient ectoplasm would be Amity & places with mid-to-slightly-high levels would, surprisingly, be Gotham City & Nanda Parbat. You see, before the Fentons opened a portal to the Infinite Realms in their basement, Amity was a medium. What do these places all have in common? They all have a Lazarus Pit of their own, which are basically Ghost Zone Compost Piles. Though, the one in Nanda Parbat has been corrupted with necromantic & other dark magics while the ones in Gotham & Amity are not & filter into the drinking water & causes strange mental effects. Things like unusually high emotions & slight obsessiveness in things they like.

Obviously, the IR is considered a place with super-high-levels of ectoplasm, so these powers are even more powerful there & they're able to use them more frequently.

Now, they're not Halfas, but the Far Frozen are the closest thing to Halfa you can get without actually being one. By this I mean, that they don't have ectoplasm in their very DNA, nor do they have ectoplasm living in literally every cell in their body thus giving them Ecto-Sapianic alternate forms like Halfas do or even Obsessions. Instead, they have something called Fixations which are like Obsessions, but less compulsive & easier to handle.

Halfas have both. For instance, Danny is Obsessed with protecting people, but he's also Fixated on space. Meanwhile, Vlad is Obsessed with having a family of his own that loves & understands him & he has a Fixation on power (he believes that money gives one power). Ellie is Obsessed with finding a family that will love her (much like Vlad), but her Fixation is freedom & enjoying life.

A halfa's Fixation can sometimes effect how one goes about achieving their Obsession. In Vlad's case, his Fixation on power & his belief that money gives power, as well as his personal experiences gives him the mistaken belief that he can gain a loving family by obtaining power. This is obviously not the case.

On the other hand, Ellie's Fixation with freedom effects her Obsession because by fulfilling her Fixation, which she is under the mistaken idea that freedom refers to the ability to go wherever whenever, so, as she travels all over the world, she ends up actively searching for a family.

Anyway, this makes the Far Frozen the best able to handle Danny's medical problems. Even so, they don't know anything about actual Halfas & are still learning.

This is somewhat inspired by @five-rivers & their ideas on liminality.

Danny is exceedingly rare because he is perfectly 100/100 ghost & human making him not just full Ecto-Liminal with an Ecto-Sapianic alternate form, but he also has a true core rather than a pseudo one & can sustain himself almost indefinitely by converting his own thoughts & feelings into ectoplasm provided he pace himself in areas of low ectoplasm.

By Ecto-Sapianic alternate form, I mean that Danny has ectoplasm in every cell of his body & when he switches to Phantom, that ectoplasm activates. It's something like matter conversion I think.

Actual ectoplasmic cells are something entirely unique to halfas.

Like, even as a ghost, he still has a heart that beats (though a lot less), lungs that breathe (also a lot less), bones, kidneys, even blood, & they all perform the same functions as when he's human. It's just that it's ectoplasmic in nature now.

That isn't to say that he's complety human in human form. There is always a number of ectoplasmic blood cells active. This causes a Halfa's blood to be slightly darker & their hearts beat a bit slower. In ghost form, they have legitimate, liquidy blood, ectoplasm-based though it may be, rather than the thick, goopy raw ectoplasm that Ecto-Forms have.

However, due to having human organs in both forms, halfas still need to breath, eat, & sleep. While they breath much less than humans & as much sleep as a human, they actually require more food than humans in a similar way to how Speedsters do. The reason being their metabolisms.

Ghosts can't eat human food, but they do eat ectoplasmic food. While in the living realms where there is no ectoplasmic food, they fall back on the emotional vampirism that ghosts are known for as the emotions of the living, as well as satisfying their Obsessions, help to sustain them when food isn't available.

Except, halfas need both human & ghost food, as well as to satisfy their Obsessions in order to be truly healthy.

Moving on, Halfas are actually supposed to retain their more human-like appearance with fleshy skin color even in ghost form, but instead of pink or red flushing (like, not only embarrassment, just places where the blood is closer to the surface) their flushing will match whatever color of ectoplasmic blood they have. So, if you were to look into their mouths, you'd see varying darker shapes of whatever color their blood is.

Danny & Dani are both examples of having human-like coloring.

Sure, once halfa puberty hits, they begin to develop slightly more ghostly features such as sharp teeth, which can come out in various ways, including fangs, full canines, shark-like, ect. Also, slightly pointed, elf-like ears, then tongues & claws of varying types, & slitted pupils. Ears & pupils are the only things consistent in shape.

For instance, Vlad grew fangs, a snake-like tongue, & talon-like claws.

The claws are supposed to be retractable while sharp teeth can be somewhat so, however mental instability & moral bankruptcy hampers this.

You see, a ghost's outward appearance is greatly influenced by how they see themselves, but Halfas are more affected by their mental faculties.

When a Halfa loses sight of themselves or their Obsession controls them rather than the other way around, their eyes turn entirely one color, their skin changes color, & they can't retract their fangs or claws. In cases where they become evil, their eyes turn blood red. Oddly, evil & crazy can be mutually exclusive. So, there are instances where one is sane, yet evil, at which point, their eyes are like Dan's are. See, he isn't actually crazy, he's just angry with severe mental issues, & evil. He knows exactly what he's doing, he just doesn't care. Vlad while he is unhinged, is also not insane, but he does let his Obsession control him & he's evil. Dan is different in that he controls his Obsession, but still indulges it far more than he should.

Anyway, even if they regain stability & come back to themselves, their appearance won't go back to what it was. The experience left a visible scar. Yes, they'll regain a more fleshy skin tone, but it'll still hold a slight colored hue to it. Their sclera, iris, & pupil will be able to be differentiated again, but the sclera will never be white again & the iris will also be a different color. Their claws may be able to retract depending on the person, but not their sharper teeth.

This is simply something they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives.

So, if Vlad had never lost his gourd, he'd look more like this:

Also, Halfas retain their deathmark. It's like a birthmark, but it's what caused a Halfa to initially die. Which, yes, you have to die in order to become a Halfa. There is no other way. You don't have to stay dead, in fact that's part of the process, but you do have to die.

It's best done quickly & with electricity. The revival that is. You don't want to wait too long before being brought back or you could remain dead.

So, if you looked, you could find lichtenberg scars under Phantom's suit. They start from the palm of his hand, go up his arm & across his chest, before stopping at his heart. They glow a bright white-green with core-plasm & brighten & dim & brighten again with his every heartbeat.

Not to mention his wail. If you recorded it & used sound tech, his friends would realize that it was the exact sound he made when he died in the portal. It's the sound of an infinity of pain in a single moment stretched out & distorted.

Each created Halfa gets a powerful attack based on that exact moment when it happened.

As such, Ellie might not get one because she was made that way & thus never had to experience death. She could end up getting the Ghostly Wail via inheritance or if you want, you could say that she actually did die when she destabilized. In such a situation, her death attack could be something involving acid.

As for Vlad, it could be difficult to determine what his would be because we don't actually know how he died. Like, we saw the moment he was infected with ecto-acne, but we didn't see what took his life in the end, nor how he was revived (though, I hc that he was revived as a lugat due to his desire to be loved was so great, rather than a human), just that it was likely in a hospital. Though, I think we can safely say that (in the case of him not turning into a lugat) he was likely revived via defibrillator. So, his attack could involve electricity, but it could also involve venom/acid based on the fact that his transformation began when he was sprayed in the face by diet soda-infused portal goo.

Not to mention that neither Vlad nor Ellie are full 100/100 Halfas. Vlad is more 45/100 in favor of human (or lugat) while Ellie is 95/75 in favor of ghost because of the way she was cloned using mostly ghostly methods & not a mix of ghostly & organic. So, they naturally have less potential for power than Danny.

But that's only part of why he's so op. Another reason is because he's always fighting. Vlad is a businessman & Ellie's a traveler. Neither are very likely to encounter opposition on a daily basis the way Danny does & they do say that experience is the best teacher.

Not to mention, Danny was younger than Vlad when he became a Halfa. Just starting puberty in fact & puberty alone results in a lot of growth. Vlad was all-but fully grown when it happened to him, so he had less room to grow & adapt to his new genetics.

All this results in Danny very quickly catching up to Vlad.

For more, go to my Ghost Zone Masterlist.