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picturejasper20 · 26 days

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Lets talk about how Danny Phantom loves to push the idea of ¨these two characters must be together because destiny said so¨ and the implications of it!

Okay, for starters there is quite a lot of fans that agree how Danny and Sam gets forced into the show, specially in Season 3. They don't have much development in their relationship around the show because it was a 2000's Butch Hartman show and things have to keep the *status quo*

We know that Marmel wanted for more Valerie and Danny development but he couldn't for continuity issues and probably because Hartman wasn't fond of the ship. It took around 20 episodes for Valerie to have another episode about her since breaking up with Danny in ¨Flirting With Disaster¨.

I say that it makes a lot of sense of why Valerie and Danny's relationship didn't last long in this context because Danny was still keeping secrets from Valerie and still involved a lot of lying- not exactly the best condition to be dating with someone. So the best solution is for Valerie to learn who Danny is, and then after things get better, they probably can start getting into dating again, right?

Well, sorry, you can't see any of that because this happens in the very last episode of the series, we don't get to see how Valerie reacts to it and it doesn't matter because now Sam x Danny is canon!

Lets talk about that ring:

What bothers me is how, while this episode is about Danny being into Valerie and dating her, the ring that Jack gives to Danny has the name ¨Sam¨ on it. It is like the universe in show is screaming at Danny and the audience ¨See these two are the endgame! Haven't you realized it yet? Well, we are leaving you 100% clear with this¨.

Sarcastic Chorus made a video talking about the show keeps hammering you again and again that Danny and Sam are ¨meant to be together¨ by having characters commenting how everyone can see that except Danny and Sam, who it isn't clear why they don't tell what they feel to each other. He talks about how it gets really frustrating because nothing is exactly happening, people are just waiting for something to happen.

Let's move to ¨Double Cross my Heart¨ we have Gregor/Elliot and Sam falling in love with each other. They seem to share a lot in common, being into similar things. Danny keeps thinking that Elliot is an spy from the GIW and he is after him. I could get into the implications of Danny stalking Sam in this episode, but the one thing i want to focus on is that by the end of the episode it does get revealed that Elliot had been faking to share similar interests to Sam and was lying to her about who he really was. Was it because he was a spy from GIW? Nope! It was because he was tricking her into falling in love with him.

What frustrates me about this is the implications this episode gives: ¨If anybody else that likes Sam that isn't Danny, then that means that they are faking it! Danny is the only one who can love Sam and everybody else is trying to trick her¨. It is such a bad message and it sucks a lot for Sam to find someone that is a lot like her and then the writing go ¨sorry, they are a faker¨.

At least for Danny and Valerie made sense because it wasn't intended to work in that context, in ¨Double Cross my Heart¨ it just does dirty to Sam by spitting back in her face any chance of liking someone else that isn't Danny.

And episode that leaves a similar bad taste in mouth to me is Masters of All Time.

I have talked about this before, that in the alternative timeline Vlad and Maddie end up getting married together. Because they didn't want the kids in the audience to think about the implications about how Vlad might have been happier and not turned out evil from the proto lab accident, they had to make human! Vlad go against most of his previous established characterization of his regular self (like not allowing Maddie to use ghost gadgets for some reason) and be an abusive caricature of himself.

It couldn't be that maybe Vlad and Maddie didn't work together well, they have to leave obvious that no, Vlad is the terrible option and that Maddie and Jack are meant to be together. So much so that it said by the characters in the episode!

See, the writers made human! Vlad a piece of shit to leave clear that Maddie can only marry Jack. Because destiny told it so! It isn't like Jack and Maddie are their own people and they can choose whoever they want.

Yeah, Jack and Maddie have to get back together so Danny and Jazz don't become non-existent, but it find it so dumb that they made human! Vlad a weird ass copy of Disney Gaston instead of just writing it in a way that maybe these two clash being a couple. It could be that Maddie finds Vlad nice but Vlad is too busy always working or he isn't as fun as Jack was. Then Maddie realizes that she wants to be with Jack instead.

While having some fun elements, Masters of All Time is an episode that gets dumber and with more weird implications the more you think about it. And telling us that Jack and Maddie have to be together not matter what is one of the reasons.

I just dislike how weird this series is about how ¨destiny told these two characters have to be together¨ and not treating the characters as something they choose to do. It is also weird how this seems to apply to the female characters, in how Sam and Maddie, the moment they like someone else that isn't Danny nor Jack, then it turns out that person has to be abusive or be faking it. Itis like the show says they ¨belong¨ to Jack and Danny and they can't be with anyone else because then it would be bad. It is as a whole pretty frustrating

#danny phantom #danny fenton #sam manson #jack fenton #maddie fenton #Valerie gray #vlad masters #human! Vlad #Flirting with disaster #Masters of all time #Double cross my heart #dp rant

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charlietheepicwriter7 · 6 months

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Hey, does anyone remember that one episode of the OG teen titans where it was that contest of champions or whatever? Becuase...

"Welcome, champions all! I am the Master of Games, and you are hereby invited to compete in the Tournament of the Strongest! Each of you have been specially chosen as the smartest and strongest each species has to offer."

"Hey, isn't that a fourteen-year-old?"

#dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #c: danny fenton #teen titans #i'm just imagining this as the best of the best #batman's there aquaman's there wonder woman's there #along with a ton of villains too #and then there's danny who looks like a wet sock of a human boy #is danny there representing ghosts or halfas #bc if he represents halfas then who is representing ghosts #the strongest of ghosts... pariah dark???#but if he's representing ghosts then vlad must be representing halfas #“The Champion of Ghosts Pariah Dark... was not invited because screw that guy!”

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icedghostlatte-art · 9 months

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It was weird.

"V-Man!"

That man was completely blind... and yet. I could feel like he could see me.

I was right.

— Ectolocation AU

#danny phantom #nao's art #danny fenton #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #blind!vlad #he uses echolocation to 'see'#he can see Danny clearly #even as a human #he just can't see him as a human #ectolocation

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radiance1 · 7 months

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The Justice League summon the Ghost King for aid in something.

What they got wasn't the ghost king.

What they got was a boy standing inside of the circle, a mug held in one hand and eyes closed as if he just got out of bed.

"Father isn't," The boy yawned, reaching a hand under his pajama shirt to scratch at his stomach. "Available right now. You can try again in the next, uh. I don't know? Eon or something?"

The boy took a sip from his mug, his face instantly turning sour as he removed the mug from his lips at swallowed, he looked down at his drink with squinted eyes as he reached a hand up to scratch at his black hair. "Of all the thing he could've given me, did it have to be lemon tea? He didn't even add sugar or milk, the fruitloop."

The boy groaned.

The boy then turned his squinted gaze towards them, before blinking rapidly and putting his hand in his pants pocket. "Ooookay, I will admit." He averted his eyes to the shield, a bit of awkwardness leaking into his body language. "You weren't who I expect to be, you know." He gestured with the hand hold the mug. "Summoning an eldritch being of death from beyond the veil and all that, but hey!" He shrugged. "You're the Justice League so you can do that... probably."

The boy took another sip, face turning sour as he swallowed. "Ancients, I really need to ask for sugar next time. Anywho," The boy then stares back at them.

"Are you going to send me back home or what?"

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #I remembered seeing those Danny gets summoned but as human posts and decided #I wanted to do it too #ghost prince danny #Vlad is better here #At least it's like implied #The ghost king is unavailable #Next best thing is the ghost prince

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puppetmaster13u · 20 days

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Prompt 309

Danny huddled beneath the mass of warm scales, trying to avoid the rain that sputtered and hissed into steam whenever it touched the resting form of the older halfa. He choked on broken chirps, burying his head against his tail. Everything hurt, one of his paws and wings gone- what had the wanted them for-

He sniffled, not wanting to cry. At least- at least Jordan had managed to get them out, it could have been worse. Ancients, it could have been so much worse. Mom and Dad were… Ancients he didn’t want to even think about it-

A huff of smoke wafted over him, and he looked up into Dan’s crimson eye- the other gone to do who knows what with. It was time to go- they couldn’t stay in one place, they had to keep moving lest the GIW catch up. They didn’t have a choice, not now, not if they didn’t want to die- if they ever could now. It didn’t matter.

He stayed limp as he was picked up by the scruff, the rain soaking into his fur and scales (and still-healing injuries) as the larger dragon launched into the sky. They just had to keep moving, avoid any people, heroes included, and keep moving. Just keep moving.

#DCxDP #DPxDC #Prompts #Ghosts are Dragons #Dad Dan #He has both Ellie’s & Jazz’s cores #Dead Fenton Parents #Dead Vlad #Halfa Jazz #Halfas have to rebuild their physical form from scratch from inside their core so it’s more like an egg #Even their human forms have draconic aspects like pointed ears- fangs- claws- scales- horns- etc #Why yes Dan has a heavy coat/hoodie in human form he hides said aspects with whenever he’s swiping supplies #Also yes they do have medical torture marks/scars in both forms- the GIW had them for several months #I wonder who ends up finding them first: Heroes Villains or GIW…#Or even a well-meaning civilian who knows

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hughmanbean · 5 months

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Under the Cover of Knight

The High Queen Phantom and her two heirs are doing quite splendidly, so Fright Knight thinks. But he realizes that suitors must soon be screened, even if unwillingly.

Though before, this had been done by specifically trained ghosts, Pariah's tendencys had undone that. Therefore, it was up to him, as the royal family's guard.

He may not be able to create a mortal disguise, but he was nothing if not determined. So Fright Knight sets out to find Lady Gotham, who is delighted to let him stay and search for the potential suitors of the royal family. She wishes him the best of luck!

After proudly announcing his presence to two mortals in an alley, he now had two new workers in his search for the suitors.

He attempts to test many of the prominent mortals and liminals he comes across, though it usually results in being obscured or outright attacked.

Fright Knight sits on the floor of an abandoned house, deep in thought, his numerous soldiers in search working around him. Harold Devita has bought hotdogs.

Perhaps, Fright Knight should not be upfront. Perhaps, he could employ some trickery. Knight he may be, but Halloween is the day of tricks, after all.

Yes, this will work quite nicely. The royal family will be most pleased! No thank you, Harold Devita. I am already full of triumph. This plan cannot possibly fail.

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im-totally-not-an-alien-2 · 1 year

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Danny slowly lowered himself down onto Luther's newest death machine thanks to his bat themed grappling hook. Making special care not to let his heart beat or his lungs take in breath lest Superman hear him and intervene, he used his intangibility to sink into the machine itself to steal its parts.

Yeah, so a full white outfit wasn't the best choice for stealth, but it was better than dressing like a traffic light. Plus the black gloves and boots made him feel nostalgic. It had been only seven months since the accident that took his life, so much has happened since then.

Biting his lip as he smiled as he began gathering up parts and wires with his intangibility and placing them into his bag. Lastly he grabbed the power source, which-surprise, surprise, is kryptonite.

After he grabbed what he wanted he quickly stuck a note on the maintenance panel of the machine for when someone opened it and discovered it now had a large hollow space, then simply sank down through the floor and flew to freedom.

Danny sighed once he was clear. Or, at least he thought he was.

"Young man." Crud. Danny turned around to see big blue floating behind him in all his red underwear glory. Great. "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you." The Kryptonian said, looking pointedly at the large chunk of kryptonite Danny held under his arm.

Instead of an excuse, Danny got an idea. "Uh, hello? Recognize the mask?" He said, gesturing to his face.

Superman narrowed his eyes, staring at his face for a few very long seconds and just as Danny was about to cut his losses and book it out of there, a look of recognition graced the heros face. Sweet. "Thats Nightwings mask."

"Yeah. Just smaller."

Superman nodded, then asked, "Why aren't you wearing a bat symbol? I wouldn't have thought you were a thief if I knew you were working with Batman." Danny had to fight to keep his face neutral.

"I haven't decided what symbol I want on my suit yet." And that was true. Danny wasn't sure he wanted any symbol at all. The mark of the bat would mean that he belonged in the batclan, and Danny was a lone ghost. A wandering spirit if you will. He didn't belong anywhere.

Some small part of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Jazz said that might be one of the reasons he's been behaving so poorly lately, but he brushed it off. Superman just nodded sagely. Danny doubted he actually knew how Danny felt and was just nodding along to appear sympathetic. Adults lie, and they lie often. Danny kinda hated them for it.

"Well, I'm kinda on a deadline, so I should get going. Crime to fight, goth furry to annoy, you know how it is." Danny said, waving the arm that wasn't carrying the kryptonite around in the air before using it to readjust the bags strap on his shoulder.

"Alright," superdude smiled warmly, "Tell Batman I said hi." Danny grinned back at him as he jogged away, "Will do!"

That went better than expected. Thank you, Nightwing~! The boy thought to himself as he ran off into a secluded area and turned invisible and flying away.

Just imagining Supermans face if- no- when Batman finally breaks and tells the Justice League about the little menace thats been stealing all his and his sidekicks stuff for the last few weeks nearly sends Danny into hysterics.

Danny still has Robins sword mounted above the fireplace in his favorite safe house in Costa del Sol. Red Hoods "favorite" motorcycle was in its garage and Red Robins wrist computer and chest harness thing were mounded in a glass case next to the first thing he stole from them:

Batmans utility belt.

Sure, its a pain to remove all the tracking stuff from them, but man is he proud of those accomplishments.

Still. Its better to leave Metropolis after he got caught by Superman. Its only a mater of time before someone finds out about the old switcheroo he pulled at the last museum robbery and that combined with the bodies of those creepy rich guys he had killed (human trafficer buyers) well, surely Batman has noticed he had been gone for a while and would pick up on the matching M.O. in Metropolis.

Time to bounce.

#dpxdc #fanfiction prompts #prompts #dp x dc #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #superman #danny being a little gremlin #villian danny #evil danny #he killed vlad but vlad had something set up to out danny if he ever died so danno had to run into a new world #danny has tasted blood and keeps killing evil rich guys who reminds him of creepy uncle vlad #human trafficing is a huge no no to danny and he will hunt you down #danny steals the bats stuff and made them run around in circles. he even managed to trick the bats into chasing one of thier own #by swaping his tracking signal with thiers. the look of confusion on everyones faces when the bat was cornered was gold. too bad he had to #see it on a screen and not in real time #now...what city to hit next?

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mugwot · 20 days

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rotating this crossover in my brain. again. i am not gonna say that the kitty is unlucky Because it is a black cat But. it sure is in situations often. lower are vague end-game Ghost Trick spoilers, go play the game! (or you know, watch a lets play) its short and sweet and has a good resent remaster for pc.

my current thought is that sissel got lost on a road trip? maybe fell through a portal? and is kinda stuck in the middle of nowhere usa. Shenanigans ensue. that happens when you have an increadibly powerful energy source stuck in a kinda defenceless body (not counting the time powers. which i am sure clockwork has nothing to say about and danny specifically doesnt have any negative experience with.)

#ghost trick spoilers #i warned!!#all of my thoughts on this are incredibly vague i am no writer i just draw silly thingies #if anyone has any thought please do tell!!#i think these two fandoms mesh very well #whos after sissel? who isn't is a better question #i think the guys in white would have a field day with an apparently defenceless halfa cat with a nuclear reactor in its gut #vlad would need only a whif of a knowledge of time travel to go ballistic #sissel is generally bullyable methinks #at east he is witty thats something #if sass could kill #by defenceless i mean he relies on stealth and very specific environmental circumstances for self defence #not every bad guy can be standing under a conveniently placed wrecking ball #in the meantime i imagine he is riddled with background worry that the next time he sees lynn (or anyone else really) she will be dead #like shit just happens to his humans while he is not around #danny phantom #danny fenton #danny phantom crossover #ghost trick #my art

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tanglepelt · 7 months

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Dp x dc 147

The infinite realms houses many souls. New ones are unheard of .

When plasmius fully formed it was felt by all magic users a in every dimension. A sign of a new realms ghost. Whose power level was high but not quite an ancient.

Then a second came nearly 20 years later. A lower lvl one. Still capable of tearing a whole In dimensions to travel.

Then the third. The same year. When phantom formed. It was from pure ectoplasm the very thing that fills the infinite realm. Phantom was created by the realms itself. An ancient in the making.

Somehow a third in a year. But one that felt wrong. Powerful but then it sapped away coming back. It felt unstable before the sensation faded.

The JLD know these have all come from there dimension. Somehow 3 new realms ghost had been created in a year. They had already been trying to track the first. It was constantly coming in and out of the realm.

Then the baby ancient formed. The three newest realms ghost were often felt together. The three frequented an area in Illinois. On the maps a wooded area.

No one was expecting a town. Nor the baby ancient desperately defending a green glowing dog that wasn’t moving. Or the ghost who looked like. Gender bent younger version.

Especially not for the younger ghost to turn back into a living and breathing human.

Why where these guys in white even attacking the realms ghosts?!?!

#dpxdc #they can’t track them when human #hence the thinking they were coming and going #cujo just likes to bug Danny #amity does not exists on maps #info blackout #i always head cannoned Danny was stronger then vlad #vlad just can use his powers better #vlad is also great at manipulating Danny and twisting views #but Danny was made with pure ectoplasm #and Vlad was made with soda ectoplasm #tangles prompts

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ecto-stone · 6 months

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How would ‘Friend from the other side’ Danny + Vlad react to their Canon Counterparts?… Would Teen Vlad be grossed out by Canon Vlad having a crush on Danny’s Mom?… Or would Teen Vlad think it’s hilarious? 😂

A horrible day to smell like cheese.

#q/a #friend from the other side au ??#danny phantom #vlad plasmius #vlad masters #Don't worry the girly would be sitting around campfire and trading stolen maddie album photos once #teen vlad realize that canon vlad is infact not a sentient human size cheese block

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picturejasper20 · 1 month

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Oh, and another thing about Masters of All Time

Human! Vlad is a lot worse than he is for how he acts in real timeline from some reason?

Human! Vlad is terribly abusive to Maddie, not allowing her to investigate nor study ghosts without there being any explanation when Vlad does this in the real timeline. He lied and gaslighted Maddie for years believing that Jack didn't want to see her again and blamed her from the accident (and for some reason Maddie never attempted contacting Jack all those years).

He doesn't hesitate in shooting Maddie (his wife) and what it looks like killing Jack in a matter of minutes with an anti-ghost weapon.

He doesn't take time in trapping Danny and trying to end him after he shoots him. (Something that Vlad in the main timeline could have easily done but never did)

He is so cartoonish evil that it feels like a contradiction to his previous characterization that was established in previous episodes in the show. He almost feels like a different character that was rewritten for the sake of plot convenience

#danny phantom #Dp masters of all time #vlad plasmius #vlad masters #Human! Vlad

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luxaofhesperides · 5 months

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Human/Mer AU + Bioluminescent Siren Duke ; requested by @justwannabecat!

The human hadn’t been in his territory recently.

He wasn’t attached or anything, but Duke had started to look forward to seeing him around. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying to be under the curious, watchful eyes of a human who could so easily be dragged down into the depths.

He knows he shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t be indulging this human’s curiosity, trying to lure him closer time after time. Holding the attention of any human is dangerous; Duke’s heard the stories plenty of time. He’s seen the damage humans can do even more.

There’s just something different about this human, who never dives too deep, who smiles at him and leaves little gifts in the tide pools tucked away from the rest of the beach, hidden from sight. Or rather, usually hidden from sight, since this human is the only one to go there.

It’s foolish, but Duke actually misses his human.

It’s not the first time he’d been gone for long stretches of time, but something feels off. There’s worry curling up at the base of his throat, making him swim to the surface more frequently. Steph had given him a look when she caught him, but didn’t say a word. She shouldn’t, really, when she’s been sneaking up to the surface for her own human friend, some small, dangerous human with dark hair and hands that speak more than a voice.

He’d seen her, just once, when he had gone up to splash water and his human then swim away.

Somehow, things felt easier back then. Like the horrors of the world couldn’t reach them among those tide pools.

It’s reached them now.

Duke’s not expecting to see his human when he swims up to the surface. He’s expecting another quiet night, an empty beach, a dark sky with only the moon casting its lonely light down onto him.

But when he swims up, his eyes go to a figure on the beach instantly.

Even from this distance, Duke knows: that’s his human.

He doesn’t think before he’s swimming over, pushing himself faster than he’s ever gone before. It’s low tide, so he can’t get as close as he wants and can’t reach most of the tide pools at all, but it gets him close enough. Human and merfolk vocal chords are different; he can speak in water, but can’t make more than a few hums in air, and humans can’t really do anything in water at all.

His human is sitting with his knees tucked into his chest on the beach. He’s hiding in his clothes, a hood pulled over his head, but he looks up when Duke drags himself onto the sand.

Duke can see bruises. Dried blood. A stray tear slipping out of his eyes.

He wants to ask what’s happened? But all that comes out is a low crooning noise.

His human laughs, a quiet, bitter noise that makes Duke’s chest tighten uncomfortably. “Hey,” he rasps in a low voice. “Been a while, hasn’t it? I hope you’ve had a better time than I did.”

Duke can’t reach his human. The distance between them isn’t great, but it’s too much. He’s already partially out of the water, hands sinking into the wet sand just out of reach of the waves, and he can’t get any farther out. He reaches a hand out, silently pleading for his human to come closer.

The move makes his human soften, some of the hard edge of tension in his body melt away. He gets up and walks into the water, then sits down next to Duke, taking his hand.

“I missed you,” he whispers.

If they were underwater, Duke would be able to say I missed you too. Don’t ever go away so long again. But his human is in no shape to go underwater right now, so Duke presses his hand against his lips and hums lightly.

They sit in silence for a moment, and Duke realizes that he’s never been this close to any human before. It doesn’t feel dangerous. It feels like relief, to finally have his human in his reach, safe from the rest of the world.

He gives him human another moment, then reaches out and carefully pushes his hood back. His human allows it, blinking at him slowly. Without the shadow of the hood, Duke can clearly see the bruise coloring his cheekbone and the cuts going down his temple to his jaw. His split lip is still red with blood, and what little of his throat isn’t hidden by his clothes reveals more bruises wrapped around the delicate column of his neck.

Duke ghosts his fingers over each of these injuries, hating how easily humans hurt each other. His human leans into the touch despite how it must hurt, something devastating in his expression.

Who hurt you comes out as a questioning trill. Somehow, it gets the point across.

“It’s alright,” his human says. “Really. I’m not even that hurt. It’s just been a long few months. We never talk much, so you wouldn’t know this, but I have to fight a lot of people. Perils of being a hero, you know?”

Duke knows about heroes. More specifically, he knows about mer heroes. He’s considered being one himself, but the currents shifted and he ended up more a loner, banding with the other rejects of the city to live in the fringes and help only those who wander out too far from the marginally safer waters within.

He hasn’t heard of any human heroes, but then again, he doesn’t know much about humans at all. Nothing beyond the stories all parents tell their children to scare them away from the surface, or the horror stories kids tell each other in the middle of the night when they want to scare each other.

He hums again to let his human know he’s listening. His human has such a nice voice. Why haven’t they done this before?

It’s always been a push and pull between them, carefully keeping their distance but always circling back to each other. Duke would let his human swim with him, and his human would let Duke sit safely on the other side of a tide pool, tossing sea shells back and forth between each other.

They don’t even know each other’s names.

He wishes, just for a moment, that he could go back in time and do things better. But he’s happy here with his human and he doesn’t want to lose this either.

He’ll just have to make the best of what he has. It’s how he’s always lived after his parents disappeared.

“This really isn’t that bad,” his human says, “I’ve taken worse hits before. It’s just that I couldn’t transform before the attack started, so now my human form is bruised too.”

…Human form? The more Duke hears, the more questions he has.

Duke hums at a lower octave, placing a hand over his human’s chest.

His human laughs lightly. “Yeah, I guess we’ve never really talked much about ourselves, did we? I’m human, don’t worry, just not all the time. I… actually, I died a few years ago. But I came back partially. So I’m also half dead still and I can transform into a ghost to fight threats. I’m a hero called Phantom. Actually, Danny Phantom since I was stupid enough to just give out my first name when I started out. In my defense, my brain was still a little fried.”

There is so much he wants to say to that. He tries, and makes a series of low hums and clicks in the back of his throat, staring at Danny (he finally got his human’s name!) incredulously.

“I promise I’m fine,” Danny continues. “It was just a bit rough. As soon as I get some time to recover, I’ll be good as new! And I really did miss you, you know. Didn’t even go home first, just come straight here.”

That’s honestly really sweet. Duke hums again, a lighter pitch, and takes hold of Danny’s wrist and tugs him towards deeper waters.

“What? You want me to go in?”

Duke nods, already shuffling his way back out of the sand.

He expects to look awkward during the process. What he most definitely doesn’t expect is for Danny to easily pick him up and walk them both into the ocean.

Listen. Duke is not a small mer. He’s big. He’s got a long, heavy tail and wide fins going down his back, his forearms, and the sides of his tail. It’s a struggle for him to fit into seaweed nests with his friends during the colder seasons, often left to balance on the edge with his tail hanging out. His friends struggle to pull him through the water with his weight. His parents weren’t able to hold him much after he started growing.

None of this matters to Danny, who acts as if Duke weights nothing at all.

To his great embarrassment, his fins flare in appreciation for Danny’s strength. He was not expecting a human to be so strong, but Duke’s not about to lie to himself and say it’s not attractive.

He trills to Danny, who laughs again, then falls into the water, taking them both under.

Duke doesn’t hesitate. He grabs hold of Danny and swims them further out. He stays close to the surface so Danny can rise for air as needed, but he makes no move to leave Duke’s side even after a few minutes.

He glances back, concerned, when he sees that Danny is watching him with dark eyes, not breathing at all despite being conscious.

Danny holds up a finger and closes his eyes. Two rings of light appear around his waist, then split apart and pass over his body. Instantly, Danny’s body becomes lighter, as if Duke’s hand is grasping at a current on the seabed. His hair turns white and his eyes glow from how bright of a green they are, but there’s something inhuman about his features now, something that makes him look different beyond just physical features.

Well. Danny did say he could transform.

Now that they’re underwater, Duke can finally speak. The first thing he asks is, “What was that?”

Danny grins at him. “That,” he says, speaking with ease as if he’s not underwater at all, “was my transformation. And this is my ghost form. Quite the look, isn’t it?”

“You can talk down here?! Also, hi, my name’s Duke. Since I never introduced myself.”

“Ghosts can do a lot of things,” Danny answers with a cheeky grin. “It’s nice to finally know your name. I’ve been calling you glowfish in my head this whole time.”

“Glowfish?”

“Yeah. Because you, you know,” Danny gestures vaguely at him, “Glow.”

Duke glances down at his back fins, which are indeed glowing. They flare a bit from embarrassment, which just makes the dots of light lining the fins more visible. He doesn’t glow a lot, keeping a tight hold of that ability, but sometimes it comes out anyways when he’s feeling especially happy.

And apparently, he’s always very happy around Danny.

It’s a good thing Danny doesn’t know what that means, because if anyone of his friends found out, they’d laugh at how obvious he’s being. Drawbacks of being somewhat bioluminescent: anyone familiar with mers who have this feature know exactly what the glow means.

“Right,” he says just a beat too late. “Well, now that we know each other’s names, can you tell me how you really feel? Those injuries didn’t look too good.”

“It’s fine, really! I take harder hits all the time.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

Danny doesn’t answer for a long moment, then sighs. “Yeah. It still hurts.”

“Stay with me for tonight,” he says. “You’ll be safe. You can rest and heal and I’ll keep you safe from anything that comes looking for you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to.”

Danny doesn’t put up much of a fight. He must be exhausted. “Yeah, alright. Take me away, Duke. You know, this is like those stories about sirens luring sailors down into the depths.”

“Well, I am a siren.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. I take after my mom. She’s the one who taught me how to sing.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we’re friends so I don’t have to worry about being dragged down to my watery death.”

Duke snorts. “Good thing you’re already a ghost then. Not much I can do to you down here.”

He swims down, heading towards a small cavern in a sea rock that he’s claimed as his own, leading Danny into it. The light from his fins illuminates the entrance and the rocks within, a narrow passage that goes in for a few meters before opening up into a larger space full of carefully tended to seaweed and starfish decorating the walls.

There’s a nook tucked away in the back wall where he’s set up a seaweed bed, the plant braided together into something more solid. It’s big enough to fit his tail, which means it’s big enough for him and Danny.

“Here,” he says, helping Danny down. “Get some sleep. Then you can tell me about what happened in the morning and we’ll take it from there.”

“I’m glad you’re here Duke,” Danny whispers, curling up on his side. He holds Duke’s hand, twining their fingers together, and it’s as nice as it is strange to feel how cold Danny is in this form when he was so warm as a human.

“I’ll always be here for you. You just need to come back to me.”

Danny hums, but doesn’t answer. It’s alright; Duke’s used to his loved ones leaving. He knows he can’t make them stay. All he can do is hope they return one day.

It’s been a long time since he’s had anyone in his home. There’s a communal cave where his friends stay that he visits when he gets lonely, but this place used to be for his family. Now it’s just him.

Him and Danny.

The last time there was song in these walls, his mother was still around, singing him lullabies.

Looking down at Danny, curled up and so strangely fragile looking, Duke feels the song build up in his chest. It slips out in low, soft notes, an old melody passed down through generations of their family.

He sings Danny to sleep.

He sings and sings and sings until all his nightmares are soothed and dawn is almost upon them.

It’s all he can do, so Duke sings and hopes it’s enough to keep Danny close to him for just a little longer.

#ghostlights #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp fic #prompt fill #my writing #once again hit by the need to go crazy with worldbuilding #hitting myself w a broom while writing this like KEEP IT SHORT. KEEP IT SHORT!!#this could so easily be 20k+.....#the worldbuilding.... i have Thoughts on mer society and underwater gotham and human/mer differences and so much more #duke's parents were captured by a human (the joker) to use in a fucked up traveling aquarium #danny's still a halfa and a hero but he's not w his parents. they're good parents they just fought the gov for his sake and got arrested #so he's w vlad in a coastal city while jazz is in college #other heroes are still around on land and are not mers so villains are still up there too. and danny had to fight them hence his injuries #he actually got captured a bit and taken to some evil underground gladiator ring he had to fight his way out of mostly in ghost form but #also as a human. and the whole time he just thought abt the only friend he has in this new city which is duke. a mer he visits when he can #there is just SO much i want to write for this but i have to hold myself back....#this whole asking for prompts thing is to make myself writing shorter things... keep fics brief... not 10k+....#anyways. thanks for the prompt!!#i went straight for the hurt/comfort lol

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