Sound On Folks

A story based on the parallels between Superman and Phantom’s secret identity and why it works so well: no one assumes they have a secret identity in the first place.

Daniel Jones and the Lost Artifact

dcxdp fic idea

Danny was running errands. It was his own fault really. He had made the decree keeping Ghosts in the Zone or Amity. He was the one that forbade them going anywhere else-least they cross paths with Hero or villain or Vigilante and get ~ideas~.

Just because it was the preferred option didn't mean he had to like it.

But who else would he send? Box Ghost? Skulker? no thank you.

Regardless, Ghosts were forbidden from going into the living world. But that didn't extend to their possessions and artifacts.

And fuck did the Ghost Zone accumulate a lot of shit over time.

Which even if only .01% of it found its way to Earth-that was still a lot of stuff.

Like Pandora's tablet. A ghost memo of the last day of Pompeii.

It had fallen through a natural portal and was somewhere on Earth.

Thankfully ghost artifacts were drawn to their 'living' counterparts. Which narrowed down the search-though, as Danny was learning- that definition could be incredibly broad, especially when their living counterpart was lost to time or a concept. (sometimes it was a living descendant of the original owner. sometimes it was a Costco at 3am, sometimes it was a random kindergartener who really vibed with clay figurines)

Danny had already ruled out Pompeii and the British History museum (a place he'd rescued to many artifacts from already)

Which left the Smithsonian in D.C next on his list (he was following Percy Jackson logic here ok? D.C was the 21st centuries Rome, so it made some kind of sense that the Tablet would be here. No, this wasn't just an excuse to see the Air and Space Museum Sam. Fuck off).

He'd been doing this long enough that he even had an Indiana Jones esk identity that allowed him access to archives and special collections around the world (he replaced the ghostifact with a living copy where possible or staged a robbery where not) (he had written so many papers for this cover)(it was unbearable).

So it was a matter of an email to get himself an open invite to the Natural History Museums subfloors. and then just flashing his ID once he was there to get in, he'd been there enough over the years that it was more of a formality than anything else, but he understood the caution and never complained. Just followed security down the elevator and down a few hallways until he found the right department and waved them off.

He meets up with his contact, a Diana Prince, and they start exchanging pleasantries and what not. Danny walks by someone working on a translation of what they thought was a variation of The Odyssey but were having trouble making sense of whatever regional dialect it had been transcribed in. Danny looks over their shoulder out of curiosity and starts live translating the piece. Turns out it was a self insert version written by a school aged child. And they were having trouble reading it because of the usage of slang and spelling mistakes.

Danny's easy translation piques Diana's interest, for even she had had difficulty reading the artifact and it was written in her first language! While she's not as paranoid as a certain other member of the Justice League, she wouldn't have survived this long if she didn't do basic checking up on people. And maybe he really was just a professor from the midwest, maybe he was a god testing her, maybe he was also someone from the old world, stuck here, out of place and out of time.

Which is why his particular interest in their newly discovered artifacts had her accompanying him long after she would typically have left him too it. Excusing herself only for a moment so as to send the man's information along to Gotham with an ask to verify his education. They would be able to get back to her far sooner than anyone else. Because the longer she was in his presence the more she noticed, and the greater her suspicions became. He was too comfortable. His often handed remarks to specific. His muttered comments belaying knowledge even a researcher of his caliber shouldn't just know. It spoke of an intimacy she hadn't felt since she first entered the world of man all those years ago. It made her ache for her sisters. For her people. For a life she would never again be able to have.

Who was Dr. Daniel Jones? (she hoped he was like her)

jason's first birthday at the manor

As a prompt Danny after he enters Gotham for any suddenly starts growing again for the first time since the portal incident and his body instead of slowly again decides to catch up all the missing years of growing at once so Danny goes from still looking 14 to suddenly having his father's height and looking his actual age.

Growing pains.... Literally

Since his death, Danny hasn't really... Grown. His parents think he's a late bloomer, that he'll grow later in life. But it's been four years since he's died and he hasn't grown a single inch in that time.

Frostbite is kind enough to tell me that... Well... He's stuck.

He's stuck in this form until something affects his physical form. Amity, even though it's considered the most haunted place in earth, doesn't have enough ambient ectoplasm for Danny. There are too many ghosts from the realm that feed of it, too many nevermores that need it to exist. Amity feeds it's ghosts but it doesn't have enough for a halfa like him.

When he moved to Gotham for the aerospace program (plus the scholarship) he doesn't expect much from it. People still question him about his age, it almost ends with him flinging his ID and birth certificate on people and cussing them out on his height.

He had even started exploring the city. There was this one cafe he found and the owner, Lily, was an absolute angel! With a shotgun. And he met a lot of people in Lily's Eden Cafe, like this weird kid that apparently dropped out of high school. Now, Danny ain't one to judge, so he's pretty okay with Tim. Except for the fact that he was so cool and smooth on a skateboard. Danny wanted one too.

Almost a week after moving, he's suffering. His body hurts, everything aches. It's as if something inside of him was trying to break out and it's making his bones strain. Everything about it hurts.

Many days passed of Danny being delirious from the pain, barely able to register what he was doing. A week and it's like he spent a coma walking around while his consciousness was asleep, practically dead by the lack of his memories.

The next time he woke up, it's been a week since he blacked out from the pain.

There's music in the background, almost familiar. The beat is something he heard Ember compose before his eighteenth birthday, then it was practically blasted through our the Ghost Zone when the day actually came.

"Shhh! Turn that racket down!"

"Hell nah! He likes it, see?"

"The little king seems.... To......change... Gotham..."

His eyes snapped open, gasping when he saw multiple pairs of eyes looking down at him.

"He's alive!"

Danny's instincts took over in that second and he's sending a blast of ecto towards the sudden scream. More screaming. Too much screaming. His head hurt.

"Holy shit, baby pop!"

He takes a moment before he's recognizing Ember... And the hole on his wall... And his glowing hand. Shit.

"Woah, woah! Calm down."

In Danny's confused state, he could barely register Kitty and Johnny in the room. Oh, and Shadow too. But still...

"I— What happened?" He groaned, blinking slowly. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

His voice... OH MY GOD HIS VOICE! Why was it so deep?! What was wrong with his voice? Did he have a cold or something? Or maybe it's just his morning voice—

"Congrats on your dawning!" Johnny congratulated, grinning like a madman.

"What?" ooh, that was weird, "What the heck is an dawning?"

"Ooh, baby pop!" Ember cooed, "Forgot that our little king is still pretty new to being all ghost. C'mon now, baby. Mama Ember will teach you all about ghost puberty."

"GHOST WHAT?!"

Ghost puberty was a thing apparently. He had hauled himself into the Far Frozen after yelling at the four ghosts to steal him some clothes that would actually fit him. Because his entire body felt wrong... So wrong.

He was taller now. Having shot up from 5'4" to a whopping 6'2". Everything still hurt and now all his clothes didn't even fit! Nothing looked right when he'd looked at the mirror. He was almost as tall a shis dad now—he looked almost exactly like his dad now actually. It was almost terrifying how much he resembled his dad. If he went to visit now, he's sure that his mother would have a heart attack from how quickly he had grown.

"Frostbite!" Danny practically growled and oooh... Yeah, now it sounded differently to whenever he'd end up snarling. The deepness of his voice almost intimidated him.

"Great one!" The yeti greeted, looking utterly ecstatic to see him. "Ah, I see you've finished your dawning. I offer my sincerest congrats, your majesty."

"Yeah, yeah. The fuck is a Dawning?"

Frostbite blinked, before his expression morphed into a grim one. "Oh dear... I had thought that the Observants would have deigned to explain this too you upon your coronation... Well, let us sit then, great one. This will be a long one."

To summarize it all, Ghost puberty.

A Dawning was a time every ghost went through, so long as there was enough ambient ectoplasm around them to help their forms morph into their preferred appearances. Usually, a ghosts appearance to their own mentality. Their maturity.

Apparently, Young Blood already went through a Dawning but remained in his child-like form due to his own mental age. He was a child in heart, mind, soul, and body.

Meanwhile... Danny who was still alive yet also dead, had followed on with his mental maturity. His body morphed, it changed, it adapted to how he saw himself, how he desperately wanted to become deep down in his core.

And this Danny Fenton was a 6'2" giant trying to control all his limbs that were suddenly too long, too heavy. Everything felt strange....

Tim Drake's favorite cafe was known for being neutral ground for both rogues and vigilantes. You don't fuck around Lilian's cafe or else she'll pull out a rifle and shoot you dead. So if course, Tim fucking loved the place.

Actually, many people frequented it.

He's familiarised himself with the faces of a lot of people by then. Even that scrawny new kid that arrived three weeks ago. Tim remembers Danny for how enthusiastic he was about going to collage, not even minding the madness of Gotham itself. It was like he thrived in it.

He waves at Lilian after ordering his usual, taking a seat in the corner before he's whipping out his laptop. Duke and Steph arrive soon after, immediately ordering before going off to join Tim.

Mundane things, something they all seemed to appreciate more.

The bell rings, more customers arrive and—

"Danny! Holy hell, what happened?"

Tim paused, immediately snapping his eyes towards— WHAT THE FUCK?!

Steph whistled, "Hot damn..."

Danny Fenton was a scrawny young man, shorter than Tim. Even more slim.

But whoever the hell entered the cafe was 6'2", almost as muscled as Jason, and slouching like Clark—as if he was in the wrong body. He almost dropped his drink if not for Duke gently guiding his hand down.

"Hey, Lils..."

God, what the fuck was that? What was happening? Who the hell was this awkward adonis with a voice as deep as the fucking ocean?

"Tim?" Duke waved his hand over his eyes, "Timothy? Timbers?"

"Duke, leave him alone. He's gone, never coming back." Steph snickered, shaking her head before her eyes went back to Danny, who was stuttering as he tried to order what he wanted. "But damn if I wouldn't act the same. Shoot your shot—"

Shoot his fucking shot he did.

"Hey Danny..." Tim slid up to him with a smile.

Danny blinked—woah was he tall and practically built like a fucking fridge—before his eyes brightened and a smile joined his expression.

"Hi Tim!"

Was this how Bruce felt like when he saw Clark?

Masterpost

bugs

You really need to make non-tragic past for your characters, significant people and events that impacted their lives, non-dramatic mundane moments that shaped them, happy memories, bitter memories, embarrassing memories.

Like yes the space princess lost her whole civilization, but did she have friends before that? Favorite place? Does she miss the sound of her favorite music she use to listen to?

DPxDC Prompt where when Jason dies, his AO3 account goes sadly untouched for an uncharacteristically long time (considering his near-weekly updates prior to his death). His sudden absence does not go unmissed by his dedicated readers, and Danny’s always wondered what the hell happened to xXxNight_BirdxXx.

He mostly forgets about it– too distracted by the portal accident and fighting ghosts– but Danny never unsubscribes.

Years later, Danny just about breaks his phone when he gets an email notification saying that one of his favorite old fanfics updated. It’s one by xXxNight_BirdxXx, who he’d all but assumed fucking died (considering the guy also dropped off of the other community tabs he used to frequent).

When Danny checks the update, the author’s note is… a little strange. He thinks that xXxNight_BirdxXx might be joking about dying, coming back and digging his way out of his own coffin, and then getting sidetracked by revenge for a few years, but… well, Danny’s seen weirder.

Danny decides to take the most obvious course of action: subtly trying to ask this man a few ghostly questions through his comment section. 

The Finished Animatic!!!

I’m so excited to share this with everyone!! This is definitely the biggest project I’ve ever done before and I’m so proud with how it came out

Enjoy the little gay ghost guys!!!👻👻👻

Prompts Master List

Tea on Time

Stop Giving Us Kids

It’s on Fright

Are You Sure You’re Not Amazonian?

War between Warlocks

Net Gain

Phantom Ph.D

Burned Bridges and Pepper Spray

Date Night at Cadmus

For the Bit