From the wip game, whats 50 Ways to Not Learn Ghost Speak?
(for this tag game)
This one is based on a 2020 Phic Phight prompt by @a-closet-emo, and also a throwaway line @currentlylurking put in their phic, “Still Better Than Google Translate”!
The line in question: “I tried looking stuff up online, but then there was that whole thing with Technus and the duolingo owl escaping the internet, so that was a bust.”
The prompt in question: “As Wesley Weston hurtles in his mud-stained tutu and matching tiara towards the nearest building and his fate as a smear on said building’s side, he reflects on the ridiculous day he’s been having.”
I don’t have anything written prose-wise at the moment - just summary!
Technus unleashed Duolingo Owl upon the world
Wes catches the Owl
Wes makes a deal with the Owl: teach him ghost speak in exchange for freedom
Owl goes on about all these different sounds from all these different languages Wes needs to master
Owl puts Wes through a training regimen which, oddly, includes some ballet dancing. Which he can do, grudgingly - he quit ballet and took up basketball to be more normal, and he doesn’t like it when other kids bring up his ballet days. He wishes the Owl would quit poofing him into a tutu and tiara for the work - his dad has nearly caught him like three times today - but at least the Owl lets him keep this embarrassing ordeal in his room.
That is, until the ballet-parkour training.
And that’s what I’ve got! It’ll be phun to turn this into a fully fledged ridiculous story!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/33432019/chapters/83047291
Summary: Danny Fenton, struggling through his last year of high school, begins to face a monster of a different kind. As 'King of the Ghosts' his ghostly side is growing more and more powerful and starts to slip into his human side. Danny Fenton starts to appear with ghostly side effects, including fangs, pointed ears and periods stuck speaking in the ghost language. Danny Phantom begins to look ever more malevolent, and acting like it too. Plagued by fears and nightmares, unable to be helped by his his sister or best friends, Danny starts to study under his previous arch-enemy and all-round fruit-loop, Vlad Masters. Danny's romantic crush towards part-time ghost hunter Valerie Gray blossoms, despite her sincere hatred of all things ghostly. Everything seems to be going okay... until it goes wrong. Danny cannot control the seemingly limitless power flourishing inside him. In fact, he finds that he doesn't want to control it. Why shouldn't he crave the power to protect those he loves? Why should he, the Ghost King, be constrained by puny human standards? Why does he need a human side at all? This violent and insuppressible being is dangerously near to hurting the people closest to him...
My fic for Invisobang 2021! Featuring the amazing artworks by @quartergremlin and @sailor-toni. Thanks so much guys for making such wonderful pieces based on my fic!
Summary: Pariah has recently acquired a son and wants to get to know him better.
This is a sequel to Fool's Errand!
You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut
Pariah leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom and watched him sleep. After all the things that had happened in his afterlife, he never expected to find himself in this situation.
Never in all his wildest dreams, and he had his fair share during his entombment in the sarcophagus, did he picture himself as a father.
His son sighed in his sleep and rolled into a new position. The boy’s mouth fell open and the small breath that escaped made his fringe billow slightly.
Pariah couldn’t help the fond smile that graced his features and crinkled the scar under his eye. There was so much he wanted to teach the boy, so much he wanted to see the boy do for the first time.
There were so many ‘first times’ he had already missed.
Adoption was both a blessing and a curse in that way. He wasn’t sure what the child had experienced already. He really didn’t know what things he didn’t know about.
Although that was in itself its own challenge. It could even be fun to discover these things.
Pariah was drawn from his musings as he felt something encroaching on his territory. The boy gasped in his sleep and woke instantly. He jumped up from the mound of overstuffed pillows and blankets and hovered above the bed, awake and alert.
“You sense that too?” he asked.
Phantom looked to him and nodded, “Please tell me you were expecting visitors?” he asked with worry tilting his brows together and mouth into a frown.
Pariah simply shakes his head, “Let’s go see who this intruder is then, shall we?”
The boy nods and floats along in Pariah’s wake.
Once they reached the entry hall they could hear some fool shouting at the closed doors. Their words are muffled by the thick wood and stone bricks but the intent is easily grasped.
“Doesn’t sound like a welcoming committee.” quips the boy, “I was kind of hoping it would be someone with presents.”
“Why would there be presents?”
“Well, I was recently adopted so that’s like a birthday, right? And I was crowned Prince, so maybe a party for that too?”
Pariah laughed good-naturedly, “I suppose a coronation ball could be arranged, but we should wait on that a little. I did raise a bit of hell when I woke up after all. Let them lick their wounds before telling them to celebrate our good fortune.”
“I guess that’s fair.” the boy relents.
“Good. Now, wait here while I greet our unwelcome guest.”
Pariah waits until Phantom has landed silently on the stone floor before finishing the journey to the door.
It opens with a thought and reveals a small band of animalistic warriors. Their bright white fur glistens just like the snow from the frozen wasteland that they call home.
They hesitate upon seeing him there.
Good.
He makes quick work of the small army but decides not to finish them off completely. That’s an awfully violent thing to do with his son watching.
It was also completely unnecessary. He merely needed to show them that he was still the king. He was still just as powerful as he had always been.
It would be easier to let them run away and spread the news than to let the rumor spread slowly if they didn’t return.
He waited until the last of the icy beasts had disappeared on the emerald horizon before he turned back to his keep.
“Were those yetis?”
“Yes? They are the denizens of a region called the Far Frozen. Old enemies of mine from before your time.”
The boy simply nodded before changing the subject. “I don’t see many ghosts use ice. Is that a common or uncommon thing?”
“I would say uncommon. Fire tends to be the most common elemental aspect.”
The pair walk back into the keep and Phantom continued his curious line of questioning. “What do you think I’ll be?”
Pariah paused in the hall and thought, “It’s hard to say,” he paused again and looked down at the boy, “You haven’t shown any inklings towards anything? Wait,” he looked the smaller ghost over, “When did you achieve ghosthood?”
“Uh, if you mean when did I become a ghost?” Pariah nodded and the boy continued, “I guess that was about a year ago, I think? Maybe a little less.”
Pariah just blinked as he tried to process the information. How could such a young ghostling be so strong? He couldn’t believe that something the equivalent of a baby had nearly bested him in a one-on-one battle?
And he’s so little.
Where does he even store all of this endless bountiful power?
And there’s no reason why he wouldn’t get more powerful as he ages.
“Uh, Dad? You okay?”
Pariah blinks and refocuses his attention on his overwhelmingly powerful child, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He takes a breath to recenter himself so he can stop worrying his son, “I just hadn’t realized you were so young.”
Again, the joys and surprises of adoption.
“Let’s get you back to bed.”
“Aw come on! I just had a nap. I’m not tired.” the boy pouts as he floats to sit cross-legged in the air.
That was unexpected. The boy had been so obedient earlier, what changed?
The battle.
Had he been that ready for a battle he now was wide awake? That must be it.
“Have you ever used a sword before?”
The boy crosses his arms so his elbow resting in his hand and a finger to his lip as he ponders, “Well I’ve held the Fright Knight’s sword a couple of times and there was this one time I used the neck of Ember’s guitar to fight Youngblood when he had a sword. Other than that, no.”
If anything was constant about this boy, it was how full of surprises he was.
“Well then let us see how much you have to learn.”
The boy floated upward and beamed, both literally and figuratively, with excitement.
How was it that this child was exactly what he had always wanted despite having never wanted one before he found him?
He was both powerful and graceful. The fluidity of his movements as he flew along besides Pariah as they walked to the training grounds made him wonder if maybe the boy was made for this. Was it his destiny to be a ghost? Born only to become something greater?
So rare and seemingly impossible. He was a perfect dichotomy.
Pariah grabbed two short swords, tossing one to the boy, “Let your training commence.”
===============================================
The pair dueled for several hours. Pariah made sure to hold back just enough to not overwhelm the child, but not too much so that he wouldn’t learn anything.
“I’m impressed with how well you are picking this up.” Pariah encouraged as he went in for a quick counter-strike on the boy’s unguarded left side.
“Really?” Phantom replied as he just barely dodged out of the way.
“I don’t give compliments just to stroke egos.”
“Isn’t that a waffle?” the boy says as he parries
He nearly misses the easy block in his confusion, “What?”
“Oh wait, I’m dumb.” The boy lowers his sword as he floats backward in thought, “I’m thinking of Eggo’s. Am I hungry?”
Pariah doesn't think he can continue this lesson if the boy is so distracted. Although it was very wise of him to float out of range while he lowered his guard. He sheaths his sword into the course dirt beneath him, “Are you hungry?”
“No?” He hums to himself in thought, “maybe if I think about it more.”
“Are you often unsure of your own needs?” he asks gently taking the sword away from his son and placed it near his own.
“Sometimes. I think I just get distracted by other things, you know? Like if I’m super focused on something I literally can’t think of anything else. Bodily functions included.”
“Ah, I see.” Hyperfocus was great for battle, but could easily be an Achilles heel if not monitored.
“Wait that actually made sense? I’ve tried telling other people that but they didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“I’ve felt the same way myself. A good way to keep that in check is to be around people you trust. That way if you work yourself too hard, they can pull you out of it.”
The boy smiled. He had the sweetest smile.
But then he wavered, his body sinking to the dirt below as he tried to steady himself.
“Whoa, I got kind of dizzy for a second there.” he blinked and shook his head as if that would make it go away. Instead, he stumbled forward into Pariah’s waiting arms.
Pariah brushed back the boy’s fringe and noticed he was much warmer than before. They might have been training for an extended period but he was sure he hadn’t worked the boy that hard.
“The suit.” the boy’s breath was shaky as he gripped onto his father for support. “I think it’s still on. I, it,” he stammered and his words started to slur together, “gotta get it,” he was panting now, as if the effort of standing was more strenuous than an uphill run, “get it off. Gonna,” he looked up and his eyes were full of fear, “please?”
Before he could finish the boy passed out. Pariah easily scooped him up and took him back inside.
He took the boy into his bedroom and gently lay him in the nest of blankets and pillows. He ghosted his hand down the boy’s arm. The energy of the armor buzzed and he could feel it as it tried to leech from him as well.
The boy was right, the armor was poison. Donning it was dangerous, but the thought of leaving him exposed seemed even more so.
Especially after they had already been attacked once before since he had been here.
There was only one ghost he could think of that would have the answers, but he wasn’t someone he was ready to see just yet.
Phantom whimpered in his sleep and Pariah sighed. He really hoped this wouldn’t backfire.
Pariah went to his study and picked up the broken pocket watch. He clicked the release on top to open the small timepiece. The glass was cracked and the time was stopped. Stopped at the moment he had been betrayed.
Pariah pushed down his resentment and wound the clock.
“I didn’t think I’d be receiving a call from you so soon,” a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.
“So soon?” Pariah turned to face his guest, “Was it truly inevitable that we would meet again?”
Clockwork smirked that knowing smirk of his, “Of course. Now, what’s the question you want me to answer today?”
“Don’t you already know?”
“Yes, but I do prefer to hear it from you.” he admitted then added, “In real-time.”
Pariah shook his head, “It’s easier to show you.” he led them to the boy’s room and waited.
“Do you really need my advice on this?” Clockwork asked. His tone wasn’t demeaning, just curious.
“I don’t know which would be better for him. I feel both options are equally terrible.”
Clockwork hummed to himself as he floated closer to the boy.
Pariah tried his hardest not to get defensive. He did his best to not attack someone he had just invited into his lair. It was difficult to just stand back and let someone as powerful as Clockwork be so close to his child.
Difficult, but not impossible.
“Remove the armor.” He turned to Pariah, “Unless of course, you wish to kill him outright?”
“If death is the result of inaction, that doesn't sound too terrible.”
“For you maybe, but he isn’t going to like it.”
“He’s already a ghost.”
“True. But he’s also a child, he’s still alive. The living aren’t all that excited about the concept of death.” Clockwork floated back over to Pariah, “besides he’s currently the most perfect anomaly. Would you really wish to destroy that?”
“I suppose that is true.” Pariah easily walked past the other ghost to his son’s bedside. Certainly, he was strong enough to keep the boy safe without needing to swaddle him in such dangerous protection.
He reached forward and through the armor. He pulled the boy up and out of the cursed metal and relaxed with the child.
Using his other hand he waved the offending armor aside with his ghostly energy and placed the boy back down to rest.
Once he was settled in, he transformed back into his human form.
This didn’t make Pariah feel any more at ease but he resisted putting the armor back on.
“Let the boy rest. He’ll be alright.” Clockwork consoled as he hovered dangerously close to Pariah himself. “You know, fatherhood looks good on you.”
Pariah turned to the purple-clad timekeeper, “And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means it’s been an awfully long time since we were alone and I think there’s a lot we need to catch up on.”
Pariah did not miss the coy implications of that statement. He was merely taken off guard by them.
“And what makes you think I forgive you?”
“Time heals all wounds.”
“Even the sting of betrayal?”
“Especially that.” Clockwork’s smile softened, “Now come, let’s give the boy some privacy while we get reacquainted.”
Surely a private conversation wouldn’t be too bad. He had missed the company of the other, but he didn’t think they would ever be as close as they once were.
Clockwork wasn’t one to move too quickly, there was no reason to worry about any trickery or line crossing.
They walked back to his study, it was Clockwork’s favorite room after all, and talked casually, like old friends.
16) Would you rather Danny be an astronaut or the Ghost King? 11) Most underrated fic trope? 12) Most overrated fic trope?
16) I love Ghost King stories but like I want Danny to be happy, so I’d much rather have him be an astronaut and go on space adventures! There’s no way he’d get through the space program without people realizing his wild vitals, so he’d probably be contracted by the government or something in case they have any “worse case scenarios” like running out of oxygen etc.
11) Post reveal fics !!!!! Reveal fics are so common, but so many of them just leave you hanging. What happens in the long term?? I love all the awkward phases between the initial revelation and normalization. Give me that t e n s i o n.
12) fucking. Dan. I can’t STAND stories that use him as angst material. It feels overdone and just... our version of Danny never did anything besides cheat on a test. like even in the original timeline Danny never actively killed his parents. That, and Dan from TUE was a fusion of Danny and Vlad - not even Danny himself. The bitterness and power-hunger from him is arguably rooted in Vlad's half of Dan. I love the idea of Danny being afraid of what he could turn into, I love him fretting becoming evil, but I don't like Dan being used as that medium because Danny himself has never truly and solely been Dan. if you like him that’s valid tho.
Oh btw I know your not drunk any more but tell me what u think of me.
You're a really fantastic editor. Yougive such good, constructive and detailed feedback on anywriting/comics that I've seen you critique before. I can tell thatyou really are thoughtful and passionate about helping others perfecttheir works, and I admire that you be out here going all out likethat, sometimes for total strangers too. Absolutely inspirational.
I've found someone who also loves the live action beauty and the beast!!! What's your favorite part?
i wish i had a more interesting answer, but i honestly full-on cried during the ballroom dance scene each of the 8 times i saw it in theaters. so i would say that.
