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loriache · 2 months

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"I've been waiting for ages for somebody to unmask them."

This moment tends to elicit negative reactions in a first read through, and I've got some opinions about why where Kabru is coming from here actually makes a lot of logical sense. So I thought I'd elaborate on that.

I think people hear this and go, "He thinks they must be hiding something because they gave money to someone? What a cynic." Or "he dislikes them because they did charity?? What's wrong with this guy!". And obviously, a lot, a lot is wrong with him. But I think this makes more sense than it seems at first glance! What people evaluating this judgement miss is why Kabru is paying attention to Laios and co to begin with.

Kabru knows of the Touden siblings because (he's a little bit of a stalker-) he is keeping an eye on all the relevant parties in events developing on the island, in order to be able to guide them to his preferred outcome. This includes adventurers because they are the ones actually exploring the dungeon! He's well aware that something as minor as internal tensions between party members could be key to the historical events that are developing. (He would love the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.)

His desired outcome is that whatever the rewards are of breaking the dungeon's curse, whether that's kingship or the ancient elven secrets of dungeons, are claimed by:

A) a short lived person

B) Someone who will be a good, effective leader and/or use those secrets and the power they carry wisely, with foresight, and to establish a political bloc for short lived people.

The person he can best trust to do this is, of course, himself. But due to his PTSD regarding dungeons and monsters, he's not able to develop the necessary skills to conquer the dungeon. Once he realises this, he starts looking for someone else who he can support to that end.

But most of the adventurers don't have any intentions of conquering the dungeon, don't have the skills, or are unsuitable in other ways. In fact, it seems like some potentially suitable people are the Toudens. There are a lot of good rumours about them going around - they actually seem to have a very positive reputation! That's what Kabru means when he says "unmask".

So when Kabru is observing something like them giving money to an old comrade from their gold-peeling days, he doesn't consider it a problem because "they're giving money to this person who doesn't actually need it" or because they must have some dark secret if they act superficially nice. I think he actually understands this situation and what it implies about Laios (in particular) perfectly well.

Laios and Falin gave money to an old comrade who got injured and couldn't work. That person then healed up but kept taking their money. Then he used the money to start smuggling illicit goods to the island.

The key is that for Kabru, the problem here is the same as with the corpse retrievers - people using the dungeon's resources to fuel dangerous, selfish, or violent pursuits cause problems for the island, attract more criminals and people with motives other than breaking the curse, and increase the chances of the whole situation ending in tragedy.

Kabru is willing to work with the Shadow Lord of the island if it gets him to his goal - he isn't scrupulous - but the criminal element of the island increasing is something he sees as a major issue.

Also, when you're evaluating someone as a candidate for power, riches, secrets, potentially kingship - then being curious about how the money you give to people is going to be used is kind of a relevant trait!

Interpersonally, Kabru's actually very easygoing - I mean, Mickbell isn't exactly an upstanding guy, is he! But Kabru likes him and they get along well. These traits wouldn't be a problem at all in a friend, or a comrade, or someone Kabru was confident he could use. But he can't get a handle on Laios, and Laios is someone who has the potential to be a major player!

On Laios' end, this is the same as with the marriage seeker who joined their party. She kept asking for things and he gave them to her, because he tries to be nice to others. He even gives her money! It's the exact same thing.

That's fine, but it became a problem because he basically wasn't interested in her motives, didn't notice she was trying to manipulate him, and it also didn't occur to him that the other party members would notice or be affected. We can assume the situation with the gold peeler is the same. When Kabru says that "It's not that they're bad people, they just aren't interested in humans," he isn't wrong.

The extent to which this is true of Laios is linked to his autism imo, (because it isn't just disinterest - he genuinely isn't able to notice nonverbal cues that people are lying to him or have ulterior motives) but to a greater or lesser extent I think it's a very common trait. Most people aren't actually that interested in other people who aren't close to them. Kabru is the weird one here. It isn't an issue except as a leader - which is why we see an immediate comparison to the Island's Lord, because that's how Kabru is evaluating them.

And disinterest in/lack of ability with people to the extent Laios exhibits it, it does, actually, make him a worse leader... it's just that as we see in the story, people can help him out. The rest of the party tell him the marriage seeker is taking advantage of him so he tells her he can't give her special treatment anymore. They're pissed and it's a crisis point - he couldn't have recovered their trust without Marcille and Falin - but that's exactly the point. With Marcille and Falin, he was able to recover their trust.

And he has other good traits that make up for it, such as his intelligence, strategic knowledge, open-mindedness and sense of fairplay.

Kabru doesn't disqualify Laios as a candidate based on what he sees about him from afar, though - he still tries very hard to get close to him, obviously hoping that if he manages he can steer Laios to defeat the dungeon and make up for his lack of people-skills in the aftermath. (Which... he does eventually achieve that goal!) He completely fails until the events of the story, so... definitely I think "They just aren't interested in humans" could also partially be a stung reaction to Laios' complete disinterest in him.

Anyway, that's my read on what exactly Kabru's "issue" with Laios is. Obviously, once he does find out what Laios' true nature is like - about his love for monsters - he develops an entirely new set of fears about Laios' priorities. But since Laios kept that a secret until the start of the story, he has no idea of that yet.

Given all that, I think it's interesting that he says that he doesn't think that the Toudens are suitable to defeat the dungeon, and that he's hoping they'll turn out to be the thieves. As some of his few potential candidates, people who he thinks may play a big role in the island's future, you'd think he'd hope they would be good people!

I suppose it's better, in his eyes, because it means that he's involved in something "interesting". They haven't just had their stuff stolen by regular criminals (boring, puts them further away from his goal) - they've been caught up in the beginning stages of "a historic event". The desperate and dwindling group forgetting morals in their quest to retrieve their lost comrade probably appeals to his sense of melodrama. Because he also just... loves drama.

Despite it being "uglier than anything he was expecting", he still pursues Laios as the person he wants to conquer the dungeon pretty much as soon as it becomes clear that he won't be able to do it himself and they are out of time. That's because... well, to be fair, there aren't any other options. And he fits standard A: he's short-lived!

and Kabru still hopes he can fit standard B, too, and be persuaded to use the power he wins for good. No matter how many nightmares he has about Laios, or whether he thinks about killing him. He doubts him, but ultimately he puts his faith in him and seems happy after the manga's ending that he made the right decision.

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #dungeon meshi meta #kabru of utaya #laios touden #labru #laios x kabru #dunmeshi #og post #kabru is such a big picture thinker. and he evaluates people more than he judges them imo #the hater jokes are funny but the people he judges most harshly arent laios and co. they're people like the island's lord.#but you don't see that as clearly because he isn't interested in the island's lord. he understands him. finds him contemptible but useful.#whereas laios lives in his brain rent free because he WANTS to understand him but doesnt quite.#even though he sees the elves as a major threat to his ultimate goals and dislikes the way they treat short lived races #he still understands and evaluates mithrun as an individual based on his own merits #he's one of the characters who is least judgemental in that sense because while he's always making judgements and evaluations #he's also constantly revising them whenever he gets more information #my beautiful machiavellian prince <3 #it's genuinely a really laudable way of understanding others imo.#the only problem is that because he's driven towards his goals by his PTSD and survivors guilt #he pushes himself into situations (the dungeon and also interpersonally) that trigger him or even just upset him #without regard for what he authentically wants or his own wellbeing.

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demaparbat-hp · 10 months

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Little Zuzu for an incoming project 🔥

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radiance1 · 2 months

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"I need to find my darling husband!" Said Danny, dressed to the nines in a very elaborate royal dress with a lot of jewelry running through the ballroom after having been on the opposite end of a very worrying phone call.

"Seriously, what do you even see in that mortal!?" Screamed an observant and Danny stopped and leveled them with a glare cold enough to freeze over an active volcano and sharp enough to cut through obsidian.

"He makes me laugh."

Unlike those dead suitors went unsaid, but everyone at the ball (read: search for a bride/groom for the royal ghostling) practically heard it anyways.

Meanwhile over in the land of the living

Okay so Jason may have messed up. Now you see, he hasn't seen his platonic husband for tax benefits in a while, and he's been very careful to not let his identity as the Red Hood slip up before . Not even once in their relationship.

(He's not counting the time his in-laws sniffed him out as a Crime Lord, because Danny never believed them.)

Now, it wasn't exactly his fault he slipped up. You try to fight off an entire group after being pulled up on out of nowhere on the phone while trying to hide said noises of fighting.

Who was he calling? Danny of course since he said he was away for business. What business? Never specified and Jason wasn't going to pry.

So now here he was, bound 'helplessly' as Jason Todd along with a few other random civilians. Which, like, rude.

Wasn't he already good enough for this ancient ritual or whatever?

You know, he really should have walked with that "Anti-kidnapping device" he got that one time. Which honestly he feels like he should be surprised that such a thing exists but considering it was from Bruce. Well.

He's not surprised.

Oh, there's the Justice League now. Shame, he wanted to knock out a few guys himself- Oh, now he's being used to summon a ghost from the Infinite Realms of Royal Lineage.

Yea he probably should have walked with that "Anti-kidnapping device."

Wait a goddamn-

Is that-

"My darling husband!" Danny shouted, scooping him off the circle and away from the head cultist and swinging him around. "You had me worried sick!"

Now, he should ask the question anyone would in this situation when finding out your best friend and platonic husband for tax benefits was apparently a ghost of royal lineage.

"Why're you in a dress?"

"Okay, first of all I rock this thing." Danny huffed.

"That you do." Jason agreed rather easily.

"Second of all, blame those guys over there." He jerked his head in the direction of two very green floating eyeball people.

Not the weirdest he's seen, honestly.

The Observants were whispering to each other and leveling them-Jason in particular-a look.

"Now as you can see, I already have a spouse and I don't need another!" Danny hugged Jason closer for emphasis and he took the time to whisper in Danny's ear. "Did you really marry me to play the husband card?"

"Well, yes." Danny agreed. "But also because of taxes, because I love you and you're my best friend."

"So, we're still done for watching that movie right."

"Obviously."

A pained grunt came from below them and they both looked down to see Batman standing over a very unconscious cultist and looking up at them.

Hm.

He forgot they were there.

"So," Jason began, staring Bruce straight in the eyes. Batman's eyes narrowed. "Don't suppose we can push that forward to right now?"

"Yea, sure why not I'm not doing anything important." Danny leveled the Observants a look, and before either they, Batman, or the Justice League could do anything they both disappeared.

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puppetmaster13u · 3 months

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Another Ghost Dragon Prompt? Indeed.

The Ward had made a mistake. Had stolen something that had caused the very Skies to lash out, entire worlds at risk from their actions.

Time Itself shrieked in rage at the loss of Its child, or at least that's how every magic user- and the speedsters, pale and shaken and looking sick- had described it.

Someone had taken the young prince of the Infinite, and it was not the Tyrant King, long since sealed away, that lead the charge, but the Queen Regent that many had long since forgotten.

Many forgot that it was not the Dark who courted Time, but Time who courted the Dark. That It was just, if not more so, merciless as Its partner, and would Devour worlds should Its child- still with newdeath soft scales- was not returned.

Which meant that for the heroes, there was now a Clock ticking down ever so quietly. They had to take care of what was a government branch, had to deal with consequences of going over the law, or their World would End in dragon fire.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #prompts #My art #ghosts are dragons #clockwork #danny fenton #ghost prince danny #pariah dark x clockwork #Lil Danny is about the size of a horse btw #Nocturne helps by helping CW enter Phantom's dreams to sooth the child #Is Danny technically a teenager? Yes. Is he still a small child to eternal primordial dragons? Also yes #Why yes the picture is in Danny's dreams #Clockwork is far larger than pictured #And yes CW knows how to wage war if he needs to he is married to Pariah & BIL with Fright Knight #Why yes Danny has the same swirled patterns as CW #Clockwork is Dannys Mom/Dad #The GIW's ecto-blocking equipment makes it impossible for them to find Danny themselves #And Danny is immune/invisible to Clockwork's future sight/vision so that's no help #If they can't find him they'll tear the world apart to do so #Clockwork is also threatening to wake his husband again because #he's not afraid to actually Join him in Conquering shit if it gets his BABY back #GIW do not realize that they're hearing boss music #Danny's friends & siblings Would join in but they've gotten kidnapped/bundled up into a nest from paranoid worry #All of amity has technically been stolen for their safety

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dearest-alexander · 1 year

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THERE WAS ONLY ONE CHAIR because presumably, the queen doesn't understand Eric's fascination & servants keep away out of respect for him. So, there's no use having chairs around since nobody hangs out with him here. The implication that he must've felt alone for years until, well, her. They're twin souls. I'm gonna sob in the corner real quick.

AND

This should not be applauded, but that mofo knelt on the floor afternoon 'till evening so she can sit (or not, she might be sitting on a box here) on the only comfortable seat in his library. like a fucking gentleman.

A prince on his knees, literally and figuratively. gddamn it, disney.

#he was so excited to teach her im dying it's not funny anymore #can you tell men haven't been good to me???#like fuuuuuuu #it was the bare minimum #yet i still lost my mind #little mermaid #the little mermaid #tlm spoilers #prince eric #ariel #ariel and eric #halle bailey #jonah hauer king #disney

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joodeegemstone · 6 months

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i love zuko's transformation from homicidal maniac with bad hair to homosexual maniac with great hair

#yes obviously he was gay the whole time but it took him a while to figure it out #and i know he wasn't gonna literally kill anyone but still lol #i actually don't hate his season 1 hair though #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #zukka

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kathaynesart · 6 months

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It is that time of year again, though this one is a little more special, I suppose. Wish I could do more, but I'm super busy with the Replica Holiday Special and a few other projects! A lot of people really liked my TED Talk last year about aging, so I guess I could give an update on that for those interested!

The big 4-0. It feels strange, being here and not feeling like I should be. I was always a Toys R Us kid / Lost Boys brat who never wanted to grow up and did everything possible to make it so! Still do I suppose, haha. The older I get, the quicker time seems to fly. It literally feels like my 39th was a month or so ago. But I also feel like I'm able to retain and understand so much more.

This past year has been intense. I dealt with the loss of a dear friend even younger than myself and went through a major cancer scare that really put my life into perspective. Through it all, being a part of this community has been a bedrock and something to focus my mind on as I grappled with these daunting aspects of my life. To be creative again has brought so much new energy into my life and being surrounded by so many other wonderful, supportive creatives and followers has been the greatest blessing.

Each of you who have sent me art, or words of encouragement, or questions have only added to this wonderful experience. And while I cannot answer them all due to time and shear mass, I still read each and every one of them, and I thank you. Truly.

There is so SO much I still want to do in this life and for this community, and while it's not something I'm really making any sort of money from, it has been so nice to simply create again. Makes me feel like a kid.

I don't know what this next year will bring but I'm just... so grateful to be alive. It's a true blessing and privilege to grow old that many do not receive in their life. And while I may not truly be "old" in the grand scheme of things compared to many, I, WE ALL, will always be the oldest we have ever been in every moment of our existence. Whether that be 9 or 90. So enjoy your oldest moment every chance you get! <3

#I still stand by being F!Leo age since we don't know from the math whether he's 39 or 40 #I'm just sad I can't wear my “Thirties” TMNT shirt anymore #sleep well dear prince #rottmnt #future leo #birthday

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bluerosefox · 11 days

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Little Danny's Big Adventure

New idea.

Okay now hear me out.

-Pulls out AU idea cauldron and tosses stuff into it-

Let's put in some Ghost King/Prince Danny.... But also some deaged to toddlerhood Danny that gets yeeted into the DCverse!

Like imagine, tiny baby Danny with his tiny crown of ice floating above his head and his galaxy cape wrapped around him and uses it like a baby blanket. He didn't mean to fall into a different universe, a natural portal opened up and he was being a curious little thing! He didn't mean to trip and fall in during his nap time.

Nor was he expecting to fall into this realm during a rogue attack and knock out said rogue cause they were being a meanie and harming people and now Danny just wants his nap time cause he spent a lot of his tiny engery and he wants to find a nice spot.

Danny finds a place to crash, snuggling himself into his cape and the astronaut bear Danielle got him during her last visit that he takes everywhere since.

He's out like a light as the door to this safe house that belongs to one of the Bats opens up.

Meanwhile. In the Infinite Realms, Queen Regent Jazz is going into Mama Bear Jazz Mode trying to find her deaged brother, keeping the Realms in check, and is resisting the urge to put CW in time out Soup Time because he's being cyptided again about Danny whereabouts!!! UGH!

#danny phantom #danny fenton #crossover #dp x dc #blue rambles #danny phantom dc #writing ideas #random idea #dpxdc #jazz fenton #queen regent Jazz #king/prince Danny #deaged Danny #Clockwork mention #baby!danny #hes just a tiny little guy #with more powers in his pinky finger and the ability to maybe end worlds #but still tiny little guy #Danny fell into the DCverse during his naptime #could be any city but I do love Gotham and the Bats #anyways hes a bit cranky when he sees someone being mean and harming people so he helps #and then flys aways before someone can really stop him #and gets tired again so he crashes in someones safe house #who? up to anyone tbh #meanwhile Jazz is going Mama Bear mode #CW is playing with fire not telling Jazz where Danny is at tbh #he does likes tempting fate #Soup Time is timeout time #Jazz is regent while Danny is in toddlerhood

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mal3vol3nt · 10 days

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i just know aang be getting on zuko’s nerves with his “lemme see lemme see” nosy ass

he thought he was just gonna teach the avatar firebending but got a little brother instead im crying 😭

#aang may be the reincarnated avatar spirit but he is still an optimistic and annoying 12 year old child #and zuko is an emo teenage boy with anger issues #atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #avatar aang #zuko #prince zuko

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piosplayhouse · 3 months

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"Oh dear," the unicorn thought. "I must've really mucked up the story beyond compare! The Red Bull Luo Binghe is protecting the last unicorn scum?! Unconscionable! He should have driven me off the cliff by now!!"

#dont ask why binghe gets to be a human but sqq has to be a unicorn #maybe hes prince lir in this au actually wait omg that would be good #half human half red bull sxy was freakay #the unicorn turning human to disguise herself is obviously sqqs plant body allegory #binghe sniffing around the castle: where is shizun i can still smell him? suspiciously sqq shaped human: gulp #binghe's tragic backstory in this au i guess is that he meets shen qingqiunicorn as a kid and sqq can sense that hes half fae and so #takes him semi under his wing but is like a prick about it until binghes seal breaks and they find out that hes a red bull fae #and shen jiu stabs him into the ocean something something abyss he comes back gets adopted by haggard kills every unicorn by throwing them #into the ocean as well before picking off shen jiunicorn last. and then sy fucks it all up #it's been like a decade since i read the book sorry #svsss #scumbag self saving system #scum villain's self saving system #bingqiu #shen qingqiu #sqq #lbh #luo binghe #my art #svsss last unicorn au

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sweetvillainjude · 3 months

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it's the way cardan could ALWAYS tell jude and taryn apart and the only time he didn't was when he was poisoned and confused plus taryn was wearing enchanted earrings to make her more beautiful, because to him jude was always the most beautiful, so in his drugged state he assumed it was her..

#like oh my goddd #just end me now? i can’t handle this #and the way he has his head in his hands and just tells jude defeatedly “i trust you” you didn’t have to command me …#hahahahhahaha I CANT I CANT #jurdan #jude x cardan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #i still cant rlly forgive taryn im ngl idk idk #tfota #the wicked king #the wicked king spoilers #taryn duarte #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing

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demaparbat-hp · 5 months

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Fire Half-Child

#atla #zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla zuko #zutara #halfblood au #zutara au #atla art #atla fanart #zuko fanart #prince zuko #zuko art #zuko alone #Halfblood AU art #katara #Here comes the Blue Eye Samurai art style influence rearing its pretty head #Gotta love that show's use of lighting #I know this looks like another good ol' Zuko Alone fanart... And it kinda is... But I swear it's also from the HalfBlood AU #I'm still figuring out Zuko's backstory in this AU but I know he was raised in the EK after escaping the Fire Nation as a child #It was probably Ursa who took her freshly burned son and left with help from the White Lotus #I'm... not entirely sure if Zuko remembers everything from his previous life. Flashes of memories and faces but that's it #He believes himself to be a War Child. Ursa loved him but she was also distant in illness and grief.#She taught him to hide his real name and his firebending at all costs. Agni only knew what would happen to him if he was found out.#The last thing Ursa said to him before pushing him out of the burning cottage was to search for his Uncle in Ba Sing Se #He would help him. Keep him safe. And he had answers.#He could tell Zuko of his past and his memories and shed some light over his strange dreams and his mother's sorrow #He just had to reach Ba Sing Se and find him. Uncle would tell him everything about the monster who had burned her mother's back and spirit #Then Zuko would find him #And no demon other than himself would ever roam the earth again #Change of subject. Am I going to keep dropping the full backstory and plot in the tags? Yes. Yes I will. Sorry guys

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radiance1 · 11 months

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Danny, thanks to a recent invention his parents made found himself as a tiny fucking whisp (Think of Venti's true form from Genshin Impact, he looks like that). Not only that, when his parents were working on something to turn him back to normal, Vlad just had to be a prick and try and capture him.

Safe to say, he was not fucking impressed.

So he ran into the zone, trying to hide out before suddenly being fucking summoned to some random place in front of a bunch of really dressed people who looked like they were going to a Halloween party but fell into a ditch and then got rained on and slipped in the mud trying to get out of said ditch.

Also, it smelt pretty bad.

Then a group of also oddly dressed people burst through the window and beat them up, with one of them screaming at the others to hold them back while he tries and restart the ritual because it obviously failed.

Which, rude.

He's the one that called for him not that other way around. The prick.

Not wanting to go back he sorta just, floated out of whatever they had going on in and standing off the side as the guy gawked at him before getting punched in the face with some kinda, blasty, thing by some guy in a coat.

Said guy who then proceeded to say that the guys who summoned him obviously botched the ritual to summon the ghost king, as it said prince instead.

Which yea, he's the prince so what.

Which they obviously botched too because that's an ice elemental, a rather weak one by the looks of it but an ice elemental nonetheless.

Which. Wow. Danny has never been so fucking insulted in his life.

So he very obviously had the right to freeze the guy's entire body below the head in retaliation before leaving. He unfortunately got caught by magician lady which, cool, but also like let him go.

He just rolled with it honestly when they brought him to their 'hall of justice' or whatever and being stared at by a round table of what he's starting to think are superheroes.

He'll take being stared down over Vlad any day of the year anyways.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #ghost prince danny #Jack and Maddie know his ghost secret and r ok with it #Aren't great parents but their getting better at least #Vlad tried kidnaping Danny only for him to get summoned #And then get called a weak elemental spirit by a fucking smoker of all things #He was not pleased #Still will take that over Vlad anyday

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