#now onto more dpxdc stuff >:)

[new-revenant]

Dannymay Day 24: Electricity

She’s back! A redraw-and redesign-of Dani as a Batman vigilante, Bataze! Why did name her Bantaze before. The bat theming was right there. Also Battaze is a good variant, can’t decide which is better.

The story I was writing for her, “Only God is my Judge in Wayne Manor” is on indefinite hiatus, like my other dp x dc story. I just tried to juggle too many characters with no idea of what I was really doing, which gave me massive burnout. If I were to start over the story from scratch, I would have Duke meet her and have him take her in as her sidekick. And by that I mean Dani would force her way into becoming his sidekick. I honestly should’ve focused the story on him more, I don’t think I even mentioned him much in the fic ha ha. I love you Cass, but this wasn’t supposed to be your story. Anyways, design notes, the original drawing, and a link to the original drawing is under the cut. Oh, and an alt version of his outfit with split color is also under the cut. I dunno, I just like these colors better personally, but you might like the alt version!

This is what the original looked like. While it’s not bad, I still kinda like how it looks actually, there are some noticeable anatomy mistakes. What are those legs. I’ve gotten better but I’m still not perfect. But I am better. Also I don’t know why I drew her boobs like that, idk it just looks weird. And while the fit does look good on her, it also doesn’t look superheroy enough. Which is where this new design comes in:

I made her look more like Danny with the suit. I know I have made a ghost form suit for her before, but I wanted her design to be more simple. Her logo is based on Danny’s and Robin’s, more specifically the fact that Robins have logos on them, so it wouldn’t look too out of place for Dani to have one. The logo looks like a D, P, and B, all in one. People-and probably also the BatFam-would be a bit confused as to why her logo looks so weird, but she knows what it’s supposed to be, so she doesn’t really care ha.

The whole suit is rubber like Danny’s suit, with stainless steal tips on her fingers and the soles of her shoes. I also changed her mask to be more in line with the other Batfam’s masks. And her hair is more symmetrical, it looks like she has little devil horns haha.

Here’s the alt version! And here’s the link to the original drawing -> here. I’m glad I came back to this design, I’ve gotten much better at character design since I first made it. Maybe I’ll came back to again, but it’ll be more like deciding with version of this outfit to use than a total rework.

[stealingyourbones]

Question! I have been getting into DC comics cuz of dpxdc, and I saw your tags on frank Miller on a recent post. One of my irl friends told me to read the dark knight returns and while it was occasionally hard to follow I assumed that was a result of when it was written rather than who wrote it? But I did overall enjoy it.

I guess what I'm asking is why you say frank Miller is a bad writer when it seems like the dark knight returns was so acclaimed?

(I saw the nazi thing too but that's something I can google so while it's news to me it's not my main question)

ok so. A lot of this is my personal opinion and I'm not too equipped to say shit about this because I'm not very political but I'm going to give it my best shot. Put under a cut so folks who don't want to hear about comic ranting can simply scroll past

I’m just gonna write a quick thing for the Nazi stuff, He isn't exactly a Nazi but boy oh boY does he set off many warning flags. Frank Miller is also the writer of the comic 300, if that sounds familiar that's because the movie you're probably thinking of is indeed based off these comics. The Spartan's ideology helped create the baselines of Fascism. Fascism is a pretty leading cause of commentary in Frank Millers work. In Batman: The Dark Knight he is a fascist. In Hard Boiled there's swastikas in the background every so often. (I even went back to reread it just to make sure and yep. they definitely were there) In 300 there's a shitton of Fascism... I could go on but still. His comics are incredibly gorey, have a discussion about a world gone wrong that can only be changed using force and weaponry (the whole Dark Knight "I am a surgeon" monologue for example), and the fact that he has Fascism as the main point of nearly all of the comics he's written... it doesn't sit right with me and it's a consistent pattern.

Now, onto the bad writing. I must firstly preface that these are my own opinions and that I didn't grow up reading Frank Miller's work. I think he was a good writer but isn't one anymore. His writing did incredible things for DC and you can see his influence in Batman even today. Works I've read and enjoyed of his are: Daredevil, Batman Year One, and Dark Knight. Nowadays you'll see many folks like myself talk about how Frank Miller has fallen off the deep end. A vast majority of Frank Miller's comics have reoccurring themes: politics, fascism, extreme violence, and so so much weaponry. Politics is in every comic book. There is no unpolitical comic, there ARE comics that are batshit wild with their politics and that's what I'm talking about. I'll get back to this later. He wrote many good comics, ones that first come to mind are Daredevil , Wolverine, Batman: Dark Knight, Batman: Year One, Sin City, Ronin, and 300. All of these comics are still credited by folks as amazing comics and hell, I recommend folks to read them go and check them out. Then 9/11 happened. That along with rampant alcoholism. Those reoccurring themes I mentioned? They become exponentially more blatant in his works. Especially on the political angle. You can see the difference between his works from pre and post 9/11. If you read Dark Knight and Dark Knight 2 back to back. It's night and day. He even made a comic during the post 9/11 panic called Holy Terror. The comic's title was originally pitched as Holy Terror, Batman! with the Gotham hero himself as the main character but it swiftly denied by DC, denied being published by DC, and changed to what it is now. The basic plot of this comic: A Vigilante named The Fixer fights Al-Qaeda after attacking Empire City. He doesn't even mention the word Al-Qaeda until 80 pages into a 150 page comic. The comic is some INCREDIBLY blatant post 9/11 propaganda that's ridiculously Islamophobic and anti-muslim. That isn't even my opinion, Frank Miller has said that's what this comic was. It is scattered with a ridiculous amount of hate speech written by a hate fueled man in 2007. Now onto comics that you'd more likely read. All Star Batman and Robin (2005). Oh boy. Let's compare shall we? Batman Dark Knight Returns (1986)

All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #1 (2005)

mind you this is as Dick is being driven to GCPD for questioning RIGHT AFTER HIS PARENTS DIED. He gets kidnapped by Bruce out of the police car. Not calmed in his arms after the murder and brought to the manor. Kidnapped. All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #2 (2005)

( a brief intermission of this sickass pose of a shirtless Alfred Pennyworth comforting Vicky Vale)

now back to the kidnapping:

[Skipping Bruce getting chased by the GCPD, Jumping the Batmobile ONTOP of a GCPD car, and laughing and talking to his car all the while Dick is absolutely terrified. They then use boosters that propel the Batmobile into the sky.]

Smashcut to #4 where they actually enter the Batcave.

I don't even think I need to explain myself. This is Spider-Man: One More Day levels of mischaracterization. Like seriously. Bruce kidnapping Dick after his parents were killed? Calling him a retard and hitting him during the aftermath (we can go on about how in 2005, the r slur was used commonly but this was just out of pocket), Leaving him in the cold batcave and told to eat rats? Frank Miller used to write some incredible works. Nowadays his writing is as decent as Rob Liefeld's art.

[luxaofhesperides]

Listen. I love the dcxdp crossover. It’s a lot of fun! There’s so much that can be done for this crossover, with all the characters and settings and the many plots that can spring up from them. But as much as I love writing for it and sharing my fics with the community, there’s been a significant uptick in things that are rubbing me the wrong way. Some of these things have to do with canon vs fanon, but others are more about the shifting culture of the community.

(keep in mind that I only see things on Tumblr and am not in any discords, so my experience will be different from others bc I have a more limited experience with the wider community)

(putting it all under a read more bc its long)

Let’s start off with a look at what we’re doing as a group:

Building off of completed fics on tumblr: I always thought the etiquette is to not build off of a completed work without permission. Someone had an idea and executed it, then shared it with us. It should end there. If you want to add to it, contact the author first and see if it’s something they’re fine with; some will say no, some will say yes, some will say yes but be sure to credit them for the original fic. A lot of what I’m seeing is a completed fic gets added on to in a way that completely takes it away from the original idea. Having experienced this myself (on a requested prompt from someone else, no less), I found it kind of rude. Maybe it’s just me, but a completed fic is not a prompt request or something open for building up another story around. It’s already completed. Leave the story as is and let the author know you liked it.

Expecting others to write for you: the prompts are what build this crossover fandom, in my eyes. Prompts are posted and people create something around them, either as a group by adding onto what other people are saying, or as individual fics that one person wrote. Now I’m seeing people throw out prompts that are basically fic outlines, then begging others to write something for it. Like, those prompts are already written! They have very specific details! Why not write it yourself? You’re already halfway there, you can just write the thing you want to see and post it. It’s not about being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at writing, it’s about crafting an idea to share to the world. Why ask others to write it for you when you’ve already practically done it?

But also, you are not owed fic. This might just be general fandom burn out talking, but being a fic author who has been treated like a machine? It sucks. I love writing, but I share what I write because what I wrote made me happy and I wanted to share that with others. I’m not a content creating machine who has to pump out fic after fic for other people’s entertainment. I just want to share what I love and having people pop up in my notifs only going “write more/tag me/sequel?/etc” is tiring. I get that it’s coming from a place of love bc you liked the fic enough to want to see more, but please actually talk about what I’ve already written instead of going “update? More? MORE????”

Hostility to DC canon: I get that DC canon is a mess, but it still is a canon and has a lot of cool stuff! I’m seeing a lot of posts recently about how dpxdc people refuse to engage with the comics, and I need to let yall know that this is not a new thing. DC fans also refuse to engage with the comics (it’s mostly batfam) and it’s very easy to tell who has and who hasnt ready batfam related stuff bc the fanon is incredibly wrong about characterisation and what happened in comics. But that’s for a different post.

I’m seeing both sides of the argument (this is for fun, reading comics isn’t required, don’t like don’t read vs it’s tiring seeing people butcher my favorite characters into ocs with their name/face, I want to share my love for comics but there’s so much pushback, it shouldn’t be weird to expect people engaging with a media to have actually engaged with that media). And I think you should engage with comics! DP is a unique case in which fanon is for the most part better and more interesting than the original show (also death to the author/butch hartman), but DC comics shouldn’t be engaged with in that way. If you like the characters you see in dpxdc, you should read about them in comics! The whole point of a fandom is that you’re a fan of the original media. That’s why you’re engaging with it in this way, writing within the world and characters and canon.

I don’t know how people write for fandoms when they’re not familiar with the source material. I wanted to write dcxdp so I started rewatching DP. I’m reading comics. I want to know the characters and their stories so I can have a foundation to write from, and also to better understand the media so I can share my love for it. The refusal to engage with source material while engaging with its fandom is so strange to me.

Also dc fans who love the comics are great! In my experience, they’re very kind and willing to help you jump into comics! Don’t know where to start? Pick a character or team and follow them! Want a reading guide? We’ve got TONS. want thoughts on a specific character or comic run? Just ask!

Now to more specific points about what I’m seeing in dcxdp works:

Mischaracterized batfam: this is a group of people who are disasters and have complicated relationships with each other. They’re kind, wonderful people who bring out the best and worst in each other. Why is Batman always adopting people. Why is this a running joke with the batfam. I get it being a joke the first few times, but I’ve seen it so often and done like it’s accurate characterization that I just. I can’t. I leave that fic immediately. I can’t do it anymore. Batman is paranoid and tried very hard to keep kids away from him/away from being a vigilante. Unfortunately all the kids he got are stubborn and smart so he was doomed from the beginning.

Superman and Kon: you guys are pretty much only pulling from Young Justice Animated which I think is a terrible adaptation, but that’s my own taste. But seriously. Clark is kind. That’s an important part of his character! He’s the strongest man in the world and he’s kind. He was also dead when Kon first appeared as a experiment from CADMUS in Hawaii. They’re not father-son, but they are family and they do care for each other, once they get to know each other. Also Kon is not an angry broody boy, he’s funny! And annoying! pls read kon comics guys, i promise youll like his actual character

Chronos??? Guys. Chronos is not a god in DC canon. He is in Greek mythology, but in DC he’s a Captain Atom villain and he’s literally just a guy who got obsessed with having perfect timing. He’s themed around clocks. He has nothing to do with time travel or time gods. The Speedforce is Time, basically, and it is not human. It is an eldritch being beyond our comprehension that can eat people. If it chooses to have a human form, it’s going to choose to look like Bart. Please read Flash stuff, it’s interesting!

Lazarus Pit Madness lasts like 5 minutes in canon. Jason having it, and being affected by it for years, is a purely fanon thing from the dc side. Not going to say anything more on this because it goes into Jason Todd discourse.

Repetition: I’m sorry but I’m tired of seeing the same things over and over. I barely see anything out of the dcxdp tags thats new and fun to engage with. Everything is the same variation of “Danny helps Pit Mad Jason”, “Bruce insta-adopts Danny”, “Superman is mean to clones”, etc etc. Think of any popular dcxdp trope and that’s all you’ll see. I get why these are fun and popular, but the way it’s being engaged with now? It literally makes me exit Tumblr and put my phone down.

Not every prompt has to go down the same routes as the other prompts. Please explore more options, branch out, twist those tropes around to do something new with them. And also stop going onto other people’s fics and saying “what about [dcxdp trope]? Cant wait to see [dcxdp trope]! You should have [dcxdp] trope.” If I didn’t include it, it’s not included for a reason. There are hundreds of other fics that write specifically about those exact tropes. Read those, or write your own. (im being super bitter here but please just let me write what i want to write without trying to pull the story into another direction for a trope you like. Im writing for me, but sharing it for you. Not every fic needs those tropes in them.)

Tumblr specific things: this is less about the content and more about general posting etiquette. Please put long posts under a read more. If it’s more then three paragraphs, consider adding a read more if there is significantly MORE than three paragraphs. Tag appropriately. Content warnings and trigger warnings should be at the very top of the post and in the tags so they can be properly blocked. If you’re posting fic/prompt, please double check your spelling and fix any typos you find because posts that are filled with excessive typos are difficult to read.

There’s probably a lot more to talk about, but just getting this much out is tiring and, frankly, I don’t want to think on it any more today. If you reply/add comments, I won’t get to them in a while bc I will be writing ghostlights and yhk fic to lift my mood :)

[luffyrose]

Hold for the Prince - DPxDC Fic to Be

As a quick note before this, I was asking my sister for help naming this prompt/fic and before I could even finish speaking she had gone;

"Felix."

With such confidence that I will now have to somehow get the name in this fic at some point XD

ANYWAY, onto the snippet of the fic I promised for today while I get back on track with my writing overall!

~~~ TW; Death, heavily implied gore, and all the fun stuff that comes with vivisecting a teenager! ~~~

It had been going so well.

Sitting nervously at the table, Danny’s hands tightened, hidden from his parent’s worried few. He opened his mouth, it dry and only a choked noise came out before he shut it with an audible click.

“Baby, I know we say you can tell us anything...and...I know we haven’t been the most, no, we haven’t been very present in a while now. Jazz helped us see that recently. I digress, but you don’t need to tell us anything hunny.”

He could almost laugh at the pure love he could hear in her voice. A part of him had been so close, so so close, to giving up on them. Then Jazz finally got through to the two. Finally, they paused in their obsessive work to look back toward them. The Fenton parents’ had finally turned back to look at their children. Those two little kids who’d gotten so much bigger, so much older, as they ran after ghosts. It had been a shock for them both to truly see their children so big and the entire week after they’d ignored multiple ghosts in turn of being there for them.

They’d even begun to listen.

Danny’s shaking eyes slowly rolled sideways, meeting the cold stare of his mothers.

It was just a few words. He could just say it. Just get it over with. Looking down at the hand that slowly gripped his own, he stared at the familiar nail polish of his sister. She’d promised to protect him, even if their parents didn’t agree. He didn’t want her to ever have to make that choice, but the words and gentle rub on his back had sent him to tears the night before.

Raising his hand slowly, shaky, he tried to reach outward. Tears burned his eyes, a horrible feeling of suffocating enveloping his throat as he-

“Dann-o, we’re here for you buddy! You tell us when you’re ready!”

Maddie nodded with a gentle file along with her husband. She’d never wanted to become like her own father, so enveloped in his work he never truly was her father, and maybe it stung just a bit to think that her kids probably felt at least some of what she’d known as a child.

“Just like the ghosts. It was...a lapse in judgment to believe they were all mindless, though I still believe those like the Wisconsin ghost are beyond evil with the idea that they do have true emotions. Truly, what insane-”

A cough from Jazz had their mother falling silent, a slightly sheepish smile on her face as she dropped it, instead looking back fully at Danny.

“Mom...Dad...I’m-”

His hands shook. Even the gentle pressure of his sister’s hands in his didn’t prevent it.

“Do you, remember when I got the portal working?”

Jack tilted his head, a clear sign of confusion from their brilliant yet simple father. However, Maddie’s face paled. It had been a secret that he’d...died...but it was impossible to hide the symptoms it brought. Even if he could barely remember his mother sitting beside his bed with a gentle hand running through his head as the initial aftershocks wore off...

“I didn’t actually- I, um...”

The words just wouldn’t leave his throat, the choked feeling coming back tenfold from earlier. It seemed as though the meaning began to come across however, both of their parents were much more somber and worried as they glanced at one another. Looking quickly away, he could feel the temperature drop, the way his fingertips were coated with frost. Quickly letting go of Jazz’s hand, he clenched his hands together between his legs. Whether this went well or bad, he refused to let his lack of control over his own emotions harm his sister.

“It may have...um, killed me...”

Now the cold of the room wasn’t from his own ice, but the silence. His voice was weak, terrified sounding he knew, but he quickly fought the wavering of his voice and continued.

“The electricity and ectoplasm both killed me and saved me, and I was really really lucky to not just die or become a full ghost or-” his breath caught, stuttering as his panic took over “-I became what they call a Halfa, half human half ghost and then things just all happened and you all were-”

A hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to tense, closing his eyes tightly.

“Danny...I’m so so sorry.”

Snapping his eyes upward he found tears. Both his parents were crying. Shakily reaching up toward their face, his mom’s other hand gently took his own.

“We never- oh my god, Danny- we never even knew, never noticed...I’m so so sorry, how could you ever stay when-”

Her voice was wet with emotion, arms quickly wrapping around him, much larger ones joining quickly as well. All tension left him as he felt his own chest shake from a sob. Surprised at his own crying, he let his parents hug him, let their warmth, regret, and sorrow just envelop him. It was so much to feel it all at once, but everything felt so real. His fears were unfounded, his pain recognized...his anger rewarded. Danny felt almost wrong to find some joy in their sorrow, but it was easily overpowered by his own grief.

Things would get better.

-tried to reach for his mother. Her body slumped in a pool of her own blood. He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t cry...he couldn’t even scream.

Things had been going so well.

His parents had accepted him and had worked with him and the ghosts. They had listened and they had changed. For once he could relax. Yet things didn’t stay peaceful. The Observants nagged at him to come to the zone, to do what very few things he was required as the Prince of Ghosts. It was only a week in the zone. Just one.

He never would have left if he’d known what would have happened...never would have asked Jazz to come home a few days after he returned.

White hair stuck wet from his own blood, tears, and vomit to his own head. Eyes and arms still desperately aimed toward his mother, he didn’t dare to look toward her hand...toward the one laying loose within it. Danny couldn’t look at both of them, not when he was the reason they were now dead.

The GIW had learned of him.

It was the day he was planning to return, happily parting with the ghosts who’d agreed to leave the town alone for a few weeks so the family could mend. Stepping through the portal he’d been met with so many white suits he’d nearly missed his tied-up parents behind them all. Shaky eyes met his mother’s own.

“Danny run-!”

The words were lost on the boy as something struck him, electricity soaring through his feigns as a scream involuntarily left his throat.

He’d woken later to so much pain. The scientist were nothing like the agents. They didn’t fear getting dirty with his blood, didn’t panic at even the slightest gore as they tore him apart from the inside out. Didn’t’ blink as they simply slit his throat to stop his screams of pain and fear. How they simply decided that once enough pain was dealt with physically, they would continue to experiment while causing emotional pain.

Silent sobs escaped his trembling body, the hands that had been present within his open chest for what he was sure was at least the past few months finally nearing his core.

His parents had been locked away so near yet so far from him, being used to cause him pain. They’d finally decided to see what death would cause. The pure sorrow and distress his core reverberated finally gave them more of an area to search. Danny couldn’t even care about the nearing hands, trying so desperately for any strength to reach his parents. He wanted to be with them. Even if it meant dying, he didn’t want to be alone.

“...If this is the react ...... would it’s ‘friends’ or ..... Fenton girl cause .... solid read?...”

In an instant, his mind became clear, time feeling so slow as everything just changed. The air was cold, and he no longer felt himself shaking, not even his eyes despite the blurriness of his tears still present. It took him far too long to realize he was no longer on the table, far longer to realize he wasn’t actually in control. His mind pulled in on itself, begging him to fall into the much more comforting darkness than the harsh reality around him.

“G̷̡̡͇͆͋R̷͇̻̹͒̓͌A̷̭͋Ḁ̷̰̈́̈̍A̶̯͂̽G̸͇̜̚ͅḢ̶̡͠ͅ”

The loud echoey roar almost pulled him right back from the void he was falling into, and yet he only felt a harsher tug, slipping fully away.

A bright symbol appeared hastily on every available screen within the large meeting room. Silence enveloped it as the shape changed into a video, no noise coming through yet, but clear ongoing destruction present just outside a small town. Nobody spoke while waiting for the audio to come through, yet nobody had been ready for it either.

“G̷̡̡͇͆͋A̷̭͋Ḁ̷̰̈́̈̍R̷͇̻̹͒̓͌A̷̭͋Ḣ̶̡͠ͅ”

The deafening sound had many covering their ears, horrified by it. As the roar ended, a single voice spoke, shaking in what everybody could tell was dawning horror. The words only sparked distress in many.

“Bloody hell, it’s crying-”

~~~

I know that there's not really much DC present in this yet- BUT IT'S THERE! You could call this the prologue to the fic that it will one day become >:3c

As always I love hearing people thoughts or ideas so if you even just wanna say something small please do :D

[avaritia-apotheosis]

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.

[threewaysdivided]

Hi!

Okay, first of all. I LOVE your blog (particularly you Danny Phantom tags). I didn't know this Phandom exist until about a month ago? and I've been having a blast here.

That's and there this one thing. Do you know anything about Duck shaped candle in the Phandom? It's a Fanon thing, right?

I found them in some stories (usually DC x DP fic that have people summoning Phantom) and I just think it's really cute.

Hi, and welcome to the Phandom!

I'm glad you're having fun on my tumblr 💚 A lot of the content in my Danny Phantom tag is reblogged from other users who make excellent stuff (fanfic, art, meta etc) so I heartily recommend checking out the blogs of the original posters to find more things you might like.

Now, as for your duck-shaped conundrum, I think I can give you an answer. It is purely a fanon thing, coming from the DC Comics crossover (DP x DC) space. Specifically, I believe it originates with this story from @noir-renard:

If You Give a Bat a Burger Gen (non-romantic) | Case-fic | Currently updating Strange things are going on in Gotham: A series of crimes linked only by a sentence uttered. A drug that no one seems to be selling, but lots of people are taking. An old enemy reborn, or someone pretending to be him. Graffiti that can't be photographed by normal means. Bartenders disappearing without a trace. John Constantine is also there. Danny wants nothing to do with any of it. He just wants to sell burgers and survive. Actually, he'd like to go home again, but since that isn't possible, he'll stick with burgers. Gotham's vigilante's have other plans. This is why Danny doesn't do favors.

Detouring away from the ducks for a moment, this is a very good elseworld-style crossover fanfic. It has a more traditional spirits-magic-hauntings-psychopomps take on Danny Phantom lore than canon and they use it to create a really cool urban-fantasy mystery setting for the characters. (If you've encountered the Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London novels, this has a similar general vibe and aesthetic).

Our duck-candle friend first appears in Chapter 1 of IYGaBaB, where a reluctant Danny has it very insistently gifted to him by an amateur occultist, and is then quick to re-gift it to an injured Red Hood. As of the most recent published chapter, the duck-candle is floating in a bowl of water on Jason's nightstand and the rest of the Batfam are giving it little hats. Apparently the candle wards away spirits if burned but no-one wants to light Dr Quack on fire just yet.

Fandom being fandom, people latched onto it as a cute and funny concept, and so began the proliferation of the Red Duck Candle through the DP x DC community.

(This kind of wide-spread fanon lore is not at all unusual for the DP fandom, where a good 50% or more of the most widely accepted concepts are fan-creations at any given time. Ghost Obsessions? Danny as King? Summoning Rituals? Liminality? Ghost Hunger? Ghost Nip? Wes? All fanon.)

As for where the recent boom in DP x DC content came from, I'm not sure. DP x Other Superhero crossovers have had a fandom for a long time (I started writing my own DP x DC crossover fanfic back in 2015, when Teen Titans Animated, Miraculous Ladybug, the Early MCU and the original run of Young Justice Animated episodes were dominating), but it's really ramped up in the last year. I know there are a couple of popular prompt blogs and apparently a DPxDC-focused discord running at the movement, but as for which came first (the duck or the egg, one might say) I have no idea.

Either way, hope you have fun!

[new-revenant]

Joker is fully aware of the fourth wall. So he should be aware how outmatched he is along with other fic tropes, so...

Joker: OUTTA MY WAY! OUTTA MY WAY! CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S GOING TO KICK MY BUTT?! *points to Danny*

Danny: Hey there clown people, nice night we're having

Harley: So you like kicking butts, do ya little boy?

And later on

Danny: I love the clown people

Harley: How many times must I teach you this lesson, little boy?

augh, I can’t tell you how much I love this. No hate to any of the great fic writers here, but I’m more than a bit burned out on how the Joker is basically killed off all the time in dpxdc. Killing the Joker will not make Jason feel better, I’m sorry. And also I’d think the Joker would become a ghost and be 10000% more of a maniac. Anyways, enough of that, onto the ask.

The Joker takes one good look at Danny, one of the hostages, and immediately tells his men to free him. Looking at that half-ghost kid gives him the creeps. So now Danny has to stand(or sit if he wants, Joker knows people get tired ya know)in the corner that is furthest away from him, turned away so he can’t see Danny’s face.

And when the Bats come in, he barely pays attention to them, just keeps his eyes on Danny because he knows that he’s more of a threat than Batsy is. The Joker doesn’t even care about the other hostages anymore he just wants that kid gone.

Then his goons end up kidnapping Danny again and the Joker dies a bit inside. He would just shoot the dumb goons, but that stare Danny has(which looks and is completely normal)has the Joker quaking in his boots. And Danny keeps getting accidentally kidnapped, so the Joker just treats him really well, offering tea and stuff. Ugh, this would be such a good The Batman episode, just the Joker being super nice and friendly and scared of just this random guy. A random guy who turns out to be not so normal.

[new-revenant]

Although I love the community interaction and the fun, I don’t think I can accept any more DPxDC prompts for the time being. It’s been getting harder and harder to come with meaningful responses to them. And I know I could probably just post them as is, but providing commentary and adding onto them is my favorite part of receiving them. I’m just a bit burnt out I guess haha. My asks will still be open, and you send me DP related stuff and requests, but I ask y’all to not send anymore prompts for a while, at least until I feel better. I’ll be adding that info to my pinned post(glad I have that now lol). I still got like…around 10? Maybe more DPxDC prompts in my ask box that I haven’t answered yet, and it’s definitely eating me up inside as well. Idk, just. Idk