My Favorite Merlin Head Cannon Is That Arthur Knew Merlin Had A Secret That They Didn't Talk About Because

the funniest part about merlin is the fact that he’s even around for most of the show. like what the fuck is he doing there. no other person with a personal servant is tailed like arthur is. and yet nobody fucking blinks an eye at his presence.

like there are at least three separate occasions where the plot for an episode is uther sending arthur on a super secret confidential mission with the fate of the kingdom at stake, and they have a whole conversation like ‘i need you to understand the importance of the secrecy of this mission.’ ‘understood father, i will take only my most trusted men.’ ‘no arthur, you and YOU ALONE must go.’ ‘i understand.’ and then it cuts to the super secret mission and fucking merlin is just there. like. road trip with my best buddy. what a view. love this horse. like ARTHUR?

everyone always forgets he exists the second a fight happens, too. every goddamn time the knights go on a short patrol that god forbid merlin not tag along for they get attacked by bandits or whatever and merlin doesn’t even carry a fucking sword and after the fight arthur always turns around and merlin is just kinda standing there in the middle of the fight picking at a hang nail. nobody considers it wild that he’s there for all of this. the one time he actually bothered taking a sword off a dead guy to defend himself with arthur saw him holding it and he mocked it like ‘lol the fuck are you of all people gonna do with that’ THEY FULLY EXPECT HIM TO JUST STAND AND WAIT FOR THE FIGHT TO END

Robin found something in the BatCave

Rule

Dc x Dp

Danny is no stranger to time travel. He's also no stranger to fixing the time stream. Well, some magically inclined villain somehow figured out Red Robin's identity and went back in time to when he was in fifth grade to get close enough to kill him. This violates the timeline, so Clockwork sends Danny back in time and at least two weeks earlier and even deages Danny so he can befriend and save Tim from a death that wasn't supposed to happen.

Danny could immediately recognize him.

He was tiny and thin, with an adorable bowl cut hairstyle and he had the brightest, most curious soul in the room. It was just as bright as the other Robins that Danny had seen within the time streams that Clockwork had tried blocking from his vision.

It didn’t really matter much.

Timothy Jackson Drake was in danger.

Danny immediately ran to his side, inwardly cursing his tiny legs as he skidded to a halt beside Tim.

“Hello!” He said cheerfully.

Tim started, staring at him with big, wide doe eyes. “Hello?” He responded back.

Danny took his hand, ignoring the way Tim’s eyes went even wider. Before he could say a proper sentence, he screamed, “Duck!” And tugged Tim downwards, where a magic spell flew over their heads. It landed on the ground in an explosion of pink fire and smoke.

Tim screamed.

Danny turned to glare at the mage that was hunting down Red Robin, who laughed when he saw him.

“How cute, Phantom! You came here to save him? Well, you’re too late!” And he prepared another spell with a cackling leer.

Danny tugged on Tim’s hand. “C’mon! Let’s run!”

Tim abandoned his backpack and they both started running.

However, they found themselves outmatched by the mage. Their short legs could only do so much and Tim hadn’t trained his endurance like when he was a hero, not to mention that Danny’s stamina and endurance as a human was even worse!

“Screw this!” Danny hissed before he turned ghost the moment the crazy mage lost sight of them. He grabbed onto Tim, turning invisible before swiftly flying off. Danny dropped them both on a roof some distance away in the opposite direction, hoping to mislead the villain.

Tim stared at him with stars in his eyes. Danny patted his head absentmindedly. He was so handsome and charming in the future that it was a bit of a shock to see him so adorable now.

“Are you… a hero?” Tim whispered, sounding awed.

Danny blinked at him before he grinned. “Yep!”

“Cool!” Tim squealed. “Are you new to Gotham? Are you like Robin? I love Robin! He’s the best! You must be one of Batman’s new sidekicks! You’re so small, like me! Why did you save me? Who was that chasing us? Who—”

“Kid, shush!” Danny said, his brain spinning from the rapid fire questions.

Tim obediently shut his mouth, looking at him with bright eyes and a wide smile. Danny patted his head again, ignoring Tim’s confused expression before he said, “Okay, listen up, Timmy. You’re the target of that crazy guy and here’s my plan on how to get rid of him…”

It wasn’t really advisable to let a fifth grader help him on hero plans. But well, Red Robin wouldn’t mind too much if Danny gave him a happy memory of his childhood, would he?

Danny had everything handled! He would definitely be able to save Tim!

Phantom of the Manor

AKA "The Batfam unintentionally start giving ritual offerings to the Phantom. Danny, who's been mistaken as the Phantom of the Opera, is wondering why his hoodie pockets are full of tomato slices??" prompt idea!

Headcanon that Ghosts become more powerful the more people believe in them, kind of like deities. Danny's never really had to deal with the whole "ritualistic sacrifices to Bloody Mary" or "superstitious prayers against Davey Jones" because Phantom is a Hafta. Danny doesn't need people to believe in him or worship him.

So, he's never gotten a ritual offering before.

Which is why he's absolutely baffled when he shoves his hand into his hoodie pocket to grab his phone and feels something... squishy. And cold. Both Sam and Tucker scream as Danny jolts to his feet with a squeamish shriek. He damn near Goes Ghost as he tries to tear off his hoodie, regardless of the staring mall-walkers. Danny finally manages to fling the hoodie onto their table, scrambling to Sam and Tucker's sides, trying to breath through a panicked: "There'ssomethinginmypocket!!"

Sam carefully pokes around until she finds... squished tomato slices? They're oily and salted like a tomato caprese without the cheese. Which is an interesting choice for a snack. You'd think Danny would at least use a Ziplock bag or something?

("Ancients! Of course, I didn't put them there, Sam!")

Fast-forward a couple of weeks. Danny's going insane because why the hell are there tomatoes literally everywhere? Every couple of days (or hours, depending on the day), he finds different types of tomatoes all over the place. In bed when he wakes up. In his jean pockets at school. Even in the shower, he'll be blindly trying to find the shampoo bottle and come across a handful of grape tomatoes. He can't. Handle. It. Anymore. Danny's going to become the "Tomato Man" at school from how often he randomly pulls out tomatoes from his pockets. Like he needs another reason for Dash to mock him.

The last straw was when Danny was Full Ghost and felt something... itchy in his suit. He knew before he saw it. Danny tentatively pulled the sleeve of his suit open, silently praying that it wasn't what he thought it was, and- yeah. There's V-8 smeared from his goddamn elbow to wrist. He had to fight with tomato juice in his suit for several hours. And that's it; Danny literally can't take it anymore. He goes to Frostbite, begging the Yeti to help him with his Tomato Problem.

Only to be told he's receiving offerings. Which are apparently incredibly sacred and should be appreciated. (It'd be easier to appreciate if it was, like, cash or something. Maybe a Nintendo Switch. Instead, his patrons are worshipping him by offering... tomatoes. Great.)

So, clearly, the only option is to go straight to the source (i.e., his patrons) and tell them to Fucking Stop Giving Me Tomatoes. The next time he feels something weighty in his pocket (gross!), he follows the thready connection of his worshippers through a portal.

And Danny steps out in his full Ghost Regalia (because clearly they're worshipping Phantom, right? So Danny can't exactly show up in ripped jeans and his favorite NASA hoodie). The family sits at a dinner table... which is a little weird, since he'd expected an altar or something. But even weirder is the beady, predatory that look borderline-violent staring at him from everybody at the table. There's an uncomfortable silence more tense than dinners at Vlad's mansion.

Then, Danny carefully scoops out the soupy, baked grape tomatoes from his pocket and dumps them on the table. He doesn't wait for them to question it, just points to the tomatoes and says, "I appreciate the offerings, really, but it's gotta stop. It's gross. I have to wash tomato juice out of my clothes every day. If you're gonna leave an offering, no. More. Tomatoes. Please."

The oldest man seems jolted out of his stupor.

"Excuse me, but could you please explain why you've come to our home?" The man asks cordially. (As if Danny couldn't see him carefully gripping his steak knife like a throwing dart. And that's just rude, honestly. Danny was invited.)

"Uh, I'm Phantom? You literally give me offerings every day. Again, I appreciate it, I never thought I'd have diehard fans, but I don't even really like tomatoes. I mean, they're fine in salsa and stuff, but even I won't eat pocket-tomatoes."

"I believe there may be a misunderstanding. We don't worship a deity named Phantom nor have we left any offerings." The oldest says. He seems like he's about to continue when one of the black-haired adults interrupts him with a nervous, "Uh, B? About that..."

So. Yeah. It turns out Dick Grayson and Jason Todd forced the family to watch Phantom of the Opera, which spawned the joke of offering any food they don't like (i.e., tomatoes) to "the Phantom" (i.e., their trashcan). More than half the family doesn't like tomatoes and Alfred uses it as a punishment for breaking something, overworking, etc. They'd gotten pretty sneaky about scraping their leftovers into the bin but had gotten into a habit of saying "this one's for the Phantom, a treat for the Phantom," or something incredibly stupid like that.

Danny's just... a little relieved, honestly? Because he's literally fifteen and wouldn't really know what to do with followers if he had them. Plus, now he doesn't have to worry about waking up with tomatoes in his bed or making excuses for all his tomato-hoarding while at school. (Which was not necessarily the right thing to mention to Bruce "Serial Adopter" Wayne. Practically the whole table turned to stare at Bruce when Danny mentioned he's apparently an underage deity, waiting for Bruce to sweep in with a well-executed, "Well, it's getting late. Why don't you stay the night?" Because Bruce apparently can't help himself from collecting another black-haired, blue-eyed kid.)

Dp x Dc prompt (short)1:

Danny learns how to play an instrument and gets a gig at one if the Bats Rouges bar or something. The Bats show up to fight said Rouge and while the rest of Dannys band ran and left he stays playing music. Like the band in titanic did but instead he’s playing some up beat or intense beat to make it sound like their in a fight scene. Better yet if the instrument he learns is the Violin.

That's MY Mom!!!

This was not at all even the fifth time that Danny Fenton had been kidnapped, but usually it was just Vlad kidnapping him so he had never really needed to be all that concerned about it. The thing was that since he had gone with his sister on her small journey to look at colleges. It had been going fairly well, Jazz was pretty excited. Even better Dan and Dani had opted to join them and make it a Family Road Trip. He was so happy to spend time with his children and sister away from Amity Park that he could admit he got complacent.

Things might have been fine if he hadn't been taken by a group of weirdos with makeup caked on and thus unable to slip away without revealing himself. He was quite annoyed, especially with the cheap clown knockoff that he was at least 99% sure wasn't even licensed to be clowning. He was obnoxious and talked a lot about bats, games, and making everyone smile despite clearly having no talent. Danny could have probably waited this guy out, but it seemed his children noticed his sudden absence before this idiot wrapped up whatever stupid show he was trying to put on. Danny couldn't transform or use his powers while they were recording as his existence was still illegal.

Danny really didn't have to worry about exposing himself though, his two wild natured clone children had not taken his kidnapping well and even less so the recording. Dani's ability to create portals for travel had been utilized to transport herself and Dan, already fully transformed, to his location thanks to their familial soul bond. Dan was all fury and fire as he tore through the portal and practically mauled the clown like a feral badger.

"DON'T TOUCH MY MOM!!" Dan shrieked in a somewhat trauma induced haze.

Danny could almost taste his fear. Dan had already violently and suddenly lost one family, it had taken him so long to allow himself to form new familial bonds and build what he had with Jazz, Dani, and Danny himself. Sure the direction of those bonds had been unexpected, but he had been more than happy to accept the new bond not just between he and Dan but Dani as well whole heartedly. Danny hated to see his sweet son so distraught.

"Tear his soul out! Rip it up!" Dani shouted, just as violently angry and shaken as her physically younger but mentally older brother.

Dani had been just as violent in tearing through the group of thugs that had been present. There were only about seven of them and a few tried to shoot the two ghost children, but obviously you can't shoot a ghost without the right equipment. Dani was fast and Dan was merciless.

"Wait! Wait stop!" Danny shouted suddenly, desperately trying to stop their decent into what he knew would be a painfully dark path for them.

"But he hurt you! They stole you from us!" Dani flinched a little her tone a little miserable as she yanked the ropes from his body setting him free.

"He deserves to be ripped apart molecule by molecule!" Dan snarled slamming the clown's mangled body into the concrete floor of the warehouse.

"Come here, you don't need to ruin your whole life over one no-name thug with zero taste and his little brainless pets." Danny spoke softly to them and held out his arms.

Dan grit his teeth his eyes flaring red as he dropped the shattered clown. He rushed into Danny's arms, Dani also throwing herself into the hug. Danny could feel Dan and Dani feeling out their bond to ensure his health and mood, he resonated all his love and adoration to his children, grateful for their presence. Dan's breath shuddered and Dani sniffled a little, Danny kissed each of their foreheads gently.

"It's alright my starlights. I'm still here, I won't leave you." Danny spoke to them softly. "C'mon, let's get out of here before the cops come to try and dissect you for being illegal."

The two nodded and all three went invisible before vanishing from the warehouse completely. Of course the bats arrived only a moment later.

Fic idea number 4 (might actually be 3rd or 5th one idk)

Jason has started giving online cooking classes for free for a bit of fun relaxing community service thing. It goes real well, but there's this one student who one time out of two, closes the camera half-way through and sometimes leaves all together.

Now, Jason's not gonna be offended or anything, he gets it, but he's curious. Is the guy maybe shy because his dishes don't turn out right? Or is it just that he's really unlucky and keeps getting called away? Anyways, one day the guy is clearly going for the close camera button again, but it somehow doesn't work without the guy noticing.

Jason himself doesn't noticse at first but then he looks up from the sauce he's making and sees a green glowing fish trying to maim the guy who's fending it off with a knife. After that, the whole class is treated to a very intense battle between the zombie fish and the guy that looks epic and probably sounds like a warzone.

Finally, the guy manages to skewer the fish to the cutting board and trap it there, still struggling. As if noticing the silence from Jason (who's stopped everything to gawk like all the other students), the guy looks to the computer. Then his eyes grow wide as he realizes they can still see him. He flushes bright red before scrambling for the computer and then his camera feed is gone.

Jason is left reeling, "what the hell was that?"

Ok, I need you to elaborate more about The Menace! Danny's Hero Persona cause I can understand if he's too nice (almost like Nightwing but more doting than funny) or if he's the "normal" one (he comes, beats you but hey! He isn't as violent like the rest so he's the best option)

I'm picturing him in his hero persona petting strays and openly talking about mental health

He's the kind of hero who stays behind after the fights, passing around assistance forms for insurance claims. He makes sure to get the information on the damaged properties so that he can later reimburse or fix them himself.

People took notice, and wherever there is a big fight, it's relatively common to see online postings of "Hey anyone that can help, Phantom is at Adress XXX trying to put in a roof! Gardeners too, for the lawns damage by car. I'll bring my grill and some stakes!" and people just....show up to help??? Turn it into a blog party???

Help each other??? Remember the good times.

Phantom always beams at them, which is just as rewarding. He also helps with several fundraisers. Like he'll stop his patrol to buy Girl Scout cookies, go to school bake sales, get involved in cleaning up parks, visit people in hospitals, and find warm shelter for anyone he comes across.

Phantom also never posts things himself. It's always one of his fans because he thinks that good things should be done without aiming for fame.

No one really knows when or where Phantom will pop up. After being Batman's star, since he glows and is a ray of hope, Phantom slowly developed his own time and rhythm, appeasing both Day and Night crimes.

He still beats the criminals up and cracks jokes as he does it. It's not like Flash, who can de-escalate situations, but more of mutual respect. He also teaches free self-defense classes and walks anyone who's scared at night home (Sometimes people try to trap him for this, but most of the time he has escorted young women and men home).

Phantom has also placed emergency buttons around the city, after clearing it with the mayor. People push them to let each other know that something is wrong, and to send an SOS to Phantom. He will pop in to check on you, even if it's just a street kid asking for homework help.

He's literally an angel without wings......and then there's Danny Fenton-Wayne, who's setting shit on fire while throwing in home-made dolls of his classmates and pointing at people to growl "The spirits want you".

Prompt: Danny goes to Gotham U for college. Whether or not it’s for engineering he has a tinkering habit when not busy with homework. He is also quite broke and doesn’t want to start dismantling the coffee machine in boredom. Slightly sleep deprived he goes around Gotham and unknowingly dismantles many of Joker’s traps. Including the ones that are supposed to go off if his heartbeat stops.