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Danny's obsession with protection turning inward into protecting himself from an overtly hostile environment.

Also, tons of cultures present offerings to spirits to bargain for good will, but I've mostly seen that in the context of Danny getting summoned as opposed to more passive offerings, such as offerings left at shrines or as a request for safe passage through marked territory and stuff like that. Not a lot of him getting prayed to either, which makes sense in the context of the show, but again tons of cultures include prayer to spirits in a lot of capacities, not just feeding them.

Taking that in combination with 'ghosts abilities and appearances are so on are governed by their sense of internal identity'....

fic where Danny, after a couple years of largely ungrateful behaviour locally, and being criminalized to a ridiculous extent, senses that he's on the precipice of something not great. He's a guardian spirit who is, effectively, beginning to degrade/become corrupted - something that probably would have happened much sooner were it not for his halfa nature because those offerings and prayers are done for a reason. Spirits are not automatically malicious, but being beings of emotion can make them mercurial and prone to striking out if they feel disrespected. Protectors are not immune to this. For them, it's probably even worse, since their health is so dependant on the health of other people.

He doesn't cotton onto this fact until something shifts in him as he's being fired upon one day - as people laugh like his pain is such great entertainment, just like in school - and suddenly protecting himself becomes the primary priority. He is, after all, fully aware of what will happen if he goes off the deep end. Did Amity Park in that one future even have a sizable enough of a population to avoid inbreeding to the point of extinction? (apparently not a concern for purple back gorillas??? lol)

But Danny realizes one thing in that pivotal moment. Protecting other people requires he protect himself.

So he gives up. It might take him a hot minute to do it, he says, but he can take a hint. If his town doesn't want him (excluding one highschool full of kids) then they don't want him. Simple as.

It's pretty crushing until he gets his first A+ in English since middle school. Until tensions at home unravel dramatically because he's no longer breaking curfew, because he has time to dedicate to his chores, because his parents are so much less stressed (because Phantom is gone). Until his obsession turning inward now allows him to stand up for himself at school and stop the bullying. Hucking Dash Baxter down a hallway after making a show of dodging amateur flailing and warning him thricefold just the once solves that issue neatly!

It hurts, but it hurts in a way that's bitter and satisfied. Amity is not doing well. It could be worse. With Red Huntress, the Fentons, and even the GIW all working on damage control, it doesn't get out of hand, but the town losing its guardian spirit and heaviest hitter is absolutely noticeable.

(maybe in more ephemeral ways too. the city is less vibrant, the water tastes less fresh, it takes longer for plants to grow <- circumstances have returned to normal instead of gaining a spirit's boon)

It ends up being Skulker who explains things to Danny when he can't antagonize Danny into a fight, when even potshotting the ground near someone's feet doesn't provoke him into a protective rage.

Amity Park destroyed its pact with its spirit of protection. Now everybody gets to enjoy the consequences.

It probably helps that any existing pacts wouldn't have been intentionally made, but fan shrines acting as places of centralized worship, small in number they might be in comparison to the greater population, would have muddied the waters. Probably likewise other more generalized forms of worship or prayer.

it also helps that Danny, again, has his human nature to fall back on so he can continue to not only sustain himself but thrive. However, he is still feeling the effects. They're difficult to shake off, but he's dug his feet in now and cannot be moved. His very nature insists that he not fold on this. Global importance etcetc

Things with Sam are probably initially tense because she's always been so gung-ho about him using his powers for good, but LBR, her rebellious 'fuck the system, fuck the man' attitude would probably surge completely to the fore the second it clicks that Danny's been facing systemic discrimination - something that'd be difficult to see from the inside but pretty obvious from an objective standpoint. She is way too protective (excessively so perhaps a symptom of liminality?) to have even let that shit slide before, but now she's fully in support of Danny taking safety (conservation lmao) measures and prioritizing himself over ungrateful assholes. She's outwardly hostile towards Valerie for just that reason - her being a threat to Danny. There's no way she's going to side with an entire town of people who are nothing but threats to her boy.

Cue Tucker pulling off his beret and wiping his forehead with a sigh of relief. Sam is way too angry when Danny's hurt to be much good with medical care so he's the one who gets to practice his sutures. That A+ in sewing came in handy but at what cost, man. Watching Danny destroy himself and potentially ruin his future - something that's becoming increasingly obvious the closer they get to graduation and therefore hypothetically college - for people who hate him? What was fun and cool at first has become an exercise at biting his tongue and swallowing back anger and grief. Danny won't let the world end if anymore Ancients get ideas, and he won't let Tucker and Sam and Jazz etc be hurt either if he can help it, so. Screw'em. lol

Vlad straight up doesn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, truly hilarious and it's always so gleeful when his pawns are so obedient to his whims. On the other hand, hey, uh, wtf? Note to self, coming to rely on one (1) teenager as an anchor for your sense of future, worth, and self identity? Not a great coping mechanism. His Little Badger might not be heroing around anymore, but he hasn't defected to Vlad's 'side' either. There is no victory here, there is only the void of what was formerly fulfilling. He's at a loss and doesn't really know what to do with himself anymore but... helping the kid with his homework now that Jazz has gone off to college may not be a bad place to start?

Jazz: ...So. I'm not saying this to push back against your decision. But.

Jazz: Are you sure you're okay?

Danny: I thought I wouldn't be but

Danny: I haven't broken my arm even once this week? Or even this month! I'm actually kind of digging this! :D Being not in pain is awesome!

Danny: Also turns out that the portal didn't totally vaporize my brain and I can actually focus on stuff now that I'm eating and sleeping? Like what the heck? Wild, right? I swear I caught Mr. Lancer doing a jig in his office the other day.

Danny: It's not a permanent solution but. I feel... good.

Jazz, gritting her teeth: Noted and understood. Proceed, little brother.

Bonus points if it's a dp x dc au where a new JL AI declares Phantom a rogue based on the number of incidents that make it into the news > people yelling on their socials that Phantom is a good person. It's a brief mix up that is shortly rectified (Phantom's been in touch with JLD for years now and keeping them updated but not as a member) but it acts as a tipping point both for public pressure, and Danny becoming demoralized. Rogue lists and JL affiliated heroes are public. Phantom popping up on the former but not the latter? Oops.

Exactly

Like ever since I first read it like a year or 2 ago it's been rotating in my brain in the background. We should dark side the autobots like this more often honestly. Feel like this would fit in well in tfa

I am so curious because that's always a fascinating discussion in fics

I can see this as a thing in certain iterations, and I've been endlessly thinking about if abortion access/attitudes varied across the factions too tbh

Danny is in Gotham for college, and during finals month the Joker goes on a spree. After the Joker breaks out of Arkham for the THIRD time Danny in a fit of sleep deprived pique does a bit of research, breaks into Arkham, and swaps prisoner transfers so that the Joker is taken to a prison out of state.

It’s only after finals are over, and he has slept for two days, that he calls Tucker to check on his half brained plan, to find out it worked? Somehow it worked. The Joker is now at a different prison where he has no corrupted guards etc to help him breakout and is now stuck there.

By swapping paperwork, Danny quite accidentally managed to cut through all those problems. The transfer was already happening before anyone knew anything about it. Therefore, it didn't need some corrupt officials to sign off on it; the receiving prison didn't have to be strong armed into taking him; and probably most crucially, Joker had no time to breakout between learning about his transfer and said transfer happening.

I also think it'd be good if Danny didn't even send him somewhere super high security (ie Belle Reve). Those transfer are probably rarer and come with too much fanfare. Instead, Danny sent him to some random prison in, like, Wisconsin* or something. Which, on top of being narratively funnier, actually works out better because it's so far removed from Joker's normal network of goons and corruption. He either has to wait for his normal helpers to get there, or try to build all that influence back from the ground up while being stifled by being under such close watch and having to fight his way to the top of whatever established hierarchy there already is in the new place (again, alone, without his own established network bolstering him).

Either way it's gonna take time. Months and years even. And, once they know about it, time is very useful to the Bats for cleaning house before Joker inevitably ends up back in Gotham. The more of the Joker's network they can root out and clean up, the harder it'll be for him to breakout again later.

Plus, the longer this random prison can hold him, it helps build very strong evidence for Bruce's legitimate attempts to get Joker transferred. No more other institutions arguing they don't have the means to secure someone like the Joker. Security isn't the issue; Exhibit A, this prison did it for years no issue.

Ratchet: