(a clip from Reign Storm I’ll be referencing - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x3EwfbWH0DuFXKfwlta1bYHkO7wXefpg/view?usp=sharing sorry for the google doc link, copyright kept hunting me down)
So! If you know me, you know I have Several Feelings about the Ancients. For the Folklore portion of today’s World Building Week prompt, I’m going to over-analyze this brief bit of hearsay-history and a few other scenes to explain who some of the most likely canon candidates for the Ancients are.
Now, starting from the beginning:Skulker’s first lines are “it was many years ago. Before you,” (the shot focuses on the trio) “before me,” (the shot focuses on him and the Box Ghost) “before most of us.” (the shot focuses on Walker, Sidney, and Dora.)
Sidney is from the fifties. We are told this. Walker speaks with a southern drawl that can’t place him more than a couple hundred years back - something easy to hear. But Dora? Dora, the dragon-shifting princess who lives in a realm trapped in the past, who spends her earlier episodes upset and enraged that her mother won’t let her go to a ball, and has allegedly spent fourteen thousand years being oppressed by her brother? Skulker said most, and Dora fits the bill to be the exception perfectly.
But that still leaves the issue of her missing mother.
Obviously, Beauty Marked takes place after Reign Storm and suffers a case of unaddressed missing mother syndrome. It’s also worth noting that Dora spends the entirety of Reign Storm as a dragon, implying that she is furious. Ember also states that Pariah, while only being free for a day, has already started to destroy their homes.
It’s reasonable to assume that Dora fled because her realm was targetted. It’s reasonable to assume that not everyone else managed to.
I’d like to introduce our first likely Ancient: Dora’s mother, and potentially her other parent as well, who were killed by Pariah in an act of vengeance during Reign Storm.
Of course, depending on the shot, there are between six and seven ancients, so that’s not much of a dent in the mystery. Granted, as you can see in the clip, there are only seven in the final shot - the implication there being that one was in Pariah’s Keep. The question is, why? Were they a spy or a prisoner? Or perhaps... something worse?
I’d like to introduce you to our next potential Ancient: Fright Knight, the traitor.
Vlad refers to Pariah’s Keep as “home of the Fright Knight, and before that, the Ghost King.” Here he implies that Fright Knight occupied the tower after Pariah was sealed away. Given that Fright Knight himself was eventually sealed away as well, it’s reasonable to assume that he did something awful to warrant it.
It’s worth noting that the Crown of Fire, aside from colour, matches Fright Knight’s aesthetic more than Pariah’s. The legend also shows Fright Knight riding in to present it to Pariah, who does nothing but sit on his throne and wait. This can explain how despite the Ancients taking away the Crown of Fire from Pariah, he is still locked up with it.
It’s also worth noting that Fright Knight and Pariah have very minor struggles for control - when Fright Knight tells the skeletons to act “on my orders” Pariah cuts in, much more forcefully, “on MY orders.” Fright Knight is quick to abandon Pariah for Vlad, and past that, for Dan.
Fright Knight, for whatever reason, gave Pariah the crown. The other Ancients, for whatever reason, still believed him to be on their side. I don’t have an answer for whether they thought of him a prisoner or a double agent, but they did not consider him a threat. Inevitably, he proved them wrong and was sealed away in a pumpkin.
For our next two, I’m going to talk about scars
Here’s Pariah, our local tyrant.
Here’s Clockwork, our next Ancient (and a very popular pick for one).
And finally, Nocturne - yes, I know there’s no E at the end of his name. Unfortunately, I do not care. I think it looks so much better with one, so the E stays.
Clockwork is the Master of Time and demonstrates that by constantly shifting ages. It’s not unreasonable for his scar to still be fresh.
Pariah was locked away. The mark on the eye he still has could still be fresh. But on the eye that matches the other two, as you can see, there’s a faint outline of a scar under the eye patch. It could be a coincidence - or it could be a consequence of turning against the other Ancients.
(it’s worth mentioning here that, obviously, we never see any hint of Fright Knight’s eyes beyond the glowy orbs under his helmet. Who knows what marks or scars he has?)
Now, Nocturne does not have time powers. He was not shoved in a magic box for who knows how long. There is no reason his scar should be fresh.
Clockwork, as he appears in the show, seems to be under contract work with the current judicial, if not full-blown ruling power of the Ghost Zone. If that’s his relationship with the Observants, it could have been the same with Pariah - or maybe it never was. Maybe the Observants pointed their Master of Time at this new ‘Ghost King’ and told Clockwork to get rid of him! Or maybe Pariah and Clockwork were close once, and this was personal.
And then there’s Nocturne.
Oh, Nocturne. Why would he be an Ancient? He proclaims himself to be the ghost of sleep - something that is to a blade of grass as the Master of Time is to one of those ancient redwood trees. Nocturne wants to be all-powerful, as he says in Frightmare. Ergo, he wants to become equal in power to Clockwork. He also calls himself the King of Dreams, despite being unable to fight without any dream energy to harvest.
You could say that Nocturne was the true traitor and Fright Knight was in the way - that he helped Pariah, and let Fright Knight take the fall. Or you could say that he wanted to learn from the Ancients who were, as Skulker said, powerful. With Nocturne, there’s a lot of uncertainty - an unfortunate consequence of being a season 3 villain and having most of his episode dedicated to Danny and Sam’s budding romance. Regardless of his intentions, he was the fifth Ancient.
Of course, that still leaves two to reach our final seven. Now, as I mentioned before, Pariah has Nocturne and Clockwork’s scar. He could have been one of them once, and that fact could have been lost to time. But even then, even if we want to consider that, there is still one spot left. Who was the last Ancient?
To that, I say; Fright Knight had to do something particularly awful to be sealed away, and the Frostbite’s people had to be so ecstatic about Danny’s defeat of Pariah for a reason. The last Ancient was a member of the Far Frozen - maybe even the leader before Frostbite.
So, those are my picks for the Ancients! Dora’s parents (particularly her mother), Fright Knight (the perceived traitor), Clockwork (the mercenary), Nocturne (the shifty, power-hungry one), a member of the Far Frozen who was unfortunately killed (maybe while defending the Infi-map), and Pariah (who simply was never taken off the register of Ancients, even when they were fighting him).
Pariah Dark is both a fun evil character, with a cool, iconic, but historically confusing costume, and a boring character. He’s an evil king. There are hundreds of evil kings throughout television, movies, written works, and video games. For Christ sake, video games have thousands of evil kings with in the medium itself. From Bowser, to Loghain, to every evil king in the Fire Emblem series that is secretly being controlled or manipulated by an evil dragon. That is one stereotype that Pariah Dark does not fall into by the way. Owning an evil dragon, or being controlled by an evil dragon. Pariah Dark and the race of evil dragon ghost seem to be separated according to Danny Phantom Cannon.
But according to Danny Phantom cannon, Pariah Dark fits into every other stereotype of an evil King. He is
Big
Powerful
Wears all black
His methods to control his subjects include fear and torment
HE RULED WITH AN IRON FIST (I have read/heard this line so much it has lost all meaning to me)
There is a rebellion to overthrow him
He owns powerful artifacts that allow him to be all powerful
Controlling, ruthless, strict, malevolent, and arrogant.
I could go on, and on about how generic and almost frustrating flat the giant ghost king is. He like an armored cardboard cut-out. Expect when he tells Danny “Power is a burden”. Most evil kings are cowers or warriors who obtain power for the sake of being powerful. Very rarely will an evil King reflect on the influence of power beyond the effect it has on others. If we were to just take this line and run with it (Which I will do.) we could elaborate that Pariah Dark is not so much an evil king but a fallen hero?
Launching myself off the cliffs of Butch Hartman's chin and into the sea of insanity lets make a case for fallen hero Pariah Dark. An idea I see talked about, but never elaborated on.
First a foremost, why would Pariah be considered a king and was his name originally Pariah? Pariah is a harsh as fuck name bro. Like your mother naming you scar and calling your brother mufasa levels of harshness. The only thing worse than that is being named abcde. If Pariah was not born with this name, that would mean he would have to earn it from somewhere else. Was he banished? Cast out by other ghost? If so, then why didn’t he return to his birth name after becoming a hero? My theory? He never returned to his birth name because it was no longer his name.
For some reason Pariah was cast out of his family or group and left to fend for himself. Maybe he was a normal boy who was a little too headstrong, challenged authority a little too much, and tried to go somewhere he was not ready to be. Maybe he was a prince who tried to overthrow his own father but failed? Maybe he was cast out due to his malevolent ways? Either way, he became a pariah, and that title became him. A myth of an outcast who would rise above it all and become king of a land who once betrayed him. Harden by a world, or a ghost zone where dangers whispered in every corner. A very compelling myth, one that has been heard before. One that was overshadowed by his fall.
An outcast who became king, and a king who returned to being an outcast. Trapped in a coffin of forever sleep.
I do wish there was more to go off from. Besides one episode, and a few myths and information we get second hand from Frostbyte and Skulker. Who seems to be quoting myths. Another Ironic thing about the Pariah. He will never be able to tell his own tale.
Halfa Constipation - Why Shouldn’t a Halfa Remain in One Form Too Long?
I’m late! But I’m doing the thing! Have an essay I wrote musing over halfa ectobiology for World Building Week Day 1: Sandbox Characters! The character in question is, of course, our beloved Danny Fenton! We know very little about how ghosts work, let alone about how ghost physiology interacts with human physiology in the body of a halfa! I was talking with @andiezir, @planetgalactica, and @unluckyalis on Discord, had to leave for a couple hours, and wrote this essay in thirty minutes from my musings from that conversation! So here is that essay!
Regarding halfas staying in one form for too long: I like to think that there are things the human and ghost body need to do that they can’t do when the halfa isn’t in that form. The human body is kept mostly in stasis by the ectoplasm, so there wouldn’t be too many consequences to staying in ghost form for a while (besides really needing to pee). There is a limit for how long you can stay in ghost form before actual harm comes to the human form, but that limit is on the order of tens or hundreds of years. That limit extends greatly when put in a thermos for a long time, because the thermos adds another level of stasis.
When a halfa is in their human form, however, the human form can’t hold the ghost form in stasis. Instead, the ghost form enters sleep mode, turning off everything except nonessential functions and base functions that the human form can call up, like intangibility or invisibility or scary eyes. Because those base functions are there, though, the ghost form can’t be said to be in stasis. It’s just operating at a lower level of power. That’s why the human form experiences ghost hunger, for example.
But ghost hunger only covers the input aspects of the ghost form while in human form. What about the output? Using powers while in human form outputs energy, yes. But what about the output of other molecules and forms of energy that the ghost form doesn’t need, but intakes anyways? How does the ghost form dispose of that waste? In other words, how does the ghost form “pee”?
I like to think that ectoplasm, a form of matter/energy/stuff from a different dimension of dead people and other denizens, is “packaged” as matter and energy that can convert itself freely, usually based on what the core of a ghost wants to do with it. Because of this, ghosts don’t need to expel waste as matter - they can easily do so in the form of energy. That energy often has an electromagnetic component, which is how most humans detect it, and why it’s termed “radiation”; but it also has components that aren’t like energy from our universe. Why should it? It comes from a different dimension with different rules.
And that’s why the human form can’t dispose of the waste energy the ghost form generates. The electromagnetic component alone is dangerous because it could knock molecules out of alignment, causing things like cancer; but the other components are even more dangerous, because the human form is of a world that doesn’t know how to deal with that energy.
Because the human form can’t dispose of the waste, there’s a buildup of waste energy in the ghost form. Going ghost alleviates that buildup - perhaps a reason why the rings are so bright is because the ghost form is unleashing a wave of waste energy. But if a halfa doesn’t go ghost for a while, that waste energy builds and builds until something breaks, and the energy starts leaking out of their core. Think a burst bladder, except it’s the whole ghost form, leaking into the only opening it has. The waste probably plays havoc with a halfa’s ghost form before the burst happens - at the very least, it’s a buildup of energy and matter that the halfa doesn’t need in their body, impeding on the matter and energy that the ghost form does need from doing what the core needs them to do. This would probably result in a slowing down of all functionality in the ghost form, and in the human form trying to do ghost things. The burst is incredibly dangerous, though - it unleashes dangerous energy and matter into the human form, and post-burst, it makes it easier for leaks of ghost energy and waste to happen in the future.
Regarding how ghosts treat the expulsion of waste: I like to think that release of waste energy is treated like farting in the GZ. Everybody does it, and no one really comments on it unless they’re immature or someone unleashed a “loud” (read: more energetic) one. The energy dissipates and is absorbed into surrounding ectoplasm pretty quickly, so it doesn’t really make a huge difference when everyone expels waste at a typically relatively low rate. Everyone glows, so everyone “farts”, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Bonus:
Danny: goes ghost after spending a long time human
Surrounding ghosts: “oh ew why ya gotta be like that Phantom do that somewhere else if you’re that constipated”
Hey, we’re coming back around to the post from day 2!
Casper High’s got a portal in the basement like the Hellmouth in BtVS, except it was physically built over, so ghosts just keep coming out of it and no one knows where they came from or how they got there, especially when the Fentons’ portal is locked up tight.
The ghosts have caused a number of deaths, and CHS’s mortality rate was at 18-20% before Danny started fighting ghosts. After that, it steadily dropped. Eventually, though, the school was abandoned and a new one was built. Students at the new school take dares on spending a night at CHS and usually regret it.
That’s right! After last year’s break, World Building Week is back for its fourth year!
It’s a common sentiment among us that while Danny Phantom had some amazing concepts, the execution of them and lack of consistency left much to be desired. World Building Week was created to share and grow everyone’s headcanons on various characters and subjects from the show! Feel free to write, draw, or simply make posts explaining your headcanon - or whatever else you’d like to do!
This year, the event will take place from July 21 - 27! All participants are free to participate however and whenever they want, just as long as they make sure to use #World Building Week when tagging their submissions!
July 21 - Sandbox Characters
July 22 - Folklore / Urban Legends
July 23 - Amity Park / Everywhere Else
July 24 - Casper High
July 25 - Guys In White / Ghost Hunters
July 26 - Blood Blossoms / Ghost Plants
July 27 - Portals
Sandbox Characters is our regular opener, which simply refers to characters with limited canon information and extensive room for fanon interpretation. Arguably, most characters could fall in this role, from Skulker to Wes!
If you would rather, you can use an AU for this event, as long as it is an AU of Danny Phantom. Go wild and have fun!
If you have any further questions, my ask box is always open!
(Originally written for Phic Phight, edited and posted for World Building Week Day 1: Sandbox Characters)
“Danny finds out that the Master of Time is actually an automaton created by the Observants. Clockwork still is his own person, but without using the key the Observants have to wind him up, he would stop working and 'die', if only temporarily. He doesn't want to work for them but has to. Danny doesn't like any of this.” Phic Phight Prompt by Ghostlyhabato.
Or: Danny commits treason in the name of helping a friend.
-
So. Danny had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but for the most part they’d worked out pretty well! Accidentally tripping Dash in elementary school had gotten him a determined bully, but also a best friend in Sam. Turning on the portal had gotten him electrocuted, but also given him superpowers.
Breaking into the Observatory was highly illegal and would probably get him killed, but if it worked, then Clockwork would be free.
.-.
Clockwork hadn’t told him about, well, anything to do with his body. Danny didn’t blame him, not really - Clockwork wanted to protect him. The Observants were power-hungry eyeball dicks, and they’d already made it clear that they were fine with killing him. Despite that, Danny would have preferred to find out any way other than he did.
It was the evening of a massive mission to figure out what exactly Vlad’s latest plan was. ‘World Domination’ was a weird and unsatisfying answer, so while Danny and Jazz got their parents to trap him in a family dinner, Sam and Tucker snuck in to copy all of his files and see what the state of his lab was like. The plan had gone successfully - Vlad had been too busy being a creep to realize there was an ulterior motive - and the trio met in Sam’s batcave (also known as her audio/visual room) to check out the files. There, while trying to deal with a malfunctioning remote, they found a security clip from several months ago, back when Vlad still lived in Wisconsin.
The Fright Knight carried a limp and unconscious Clockwork into Vlad’s old lab and dumped him unceremoniously on the floor. Vlad took a moment to float and gloat as he waved a large, green key. On the second watch through, Danny recognized it as the same key that he’d used to lock Pariah up.
After far too long of just letting Clockwork lay there, Vlad finally placed the Crown of Fire in a ghost-proof cabinet and stopped his monologue. He turned to Clockwork, and pointed the key at him. After a moment, Fright Knight came over and the two bent over Clockwork.
Suddenly, Clockwork gasped, and the two pulled back. He sat up, a hand on his head, and stared at Vlad in confusion. Then he saw Fright Knight, and the confusion became fear.
“Hello,” Clockwork said.
Vlad didn’t return the ‘hello,’ because he was a jerk. “Arise, automaton,” he said instead because again, he was a jerk. “I am your new master.”
Clockwork looked unimpressed. “I have a name.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore,” Fright Knight said, “it hasn’t mattered since you turned your back on our king. Stand and face your new master, unless you’d like to spend a few more centuries forgotten in a closet.”
Clockwork gave him a long look before he floated off the ground. He frowned at Vlad, his arms crossed.
“I’ve been told you were created by the Observant Council to monitor time.” Vlad circled Clockwork like a stupid, creepy shark. “Explain that.”
Clockwork didn’t say anything. Vlad whirled around and grabbed Clockwork by his chin, and squeezed his cheeks as he pulled Clockwork closer.
“Don’t forget,” he held up the key, “I hold the power of your core in my hand.” He released Clockwork and went back to circling him. “We can do so much for each other, as long as you do what I say. So make this easier for all of us, Automaton, and just tell me how you work.”
“Clockwork,” Clockwork said. “My name isn’t ‘Automaton.’ It’s Clockwork.”
Vlad scowled for a moment before he lunged forwards and shoved the key into Clockwork’s case. For a second, Clockwork looked shocked, and Vlad whispered something in his ear. Clockwork collapsed, and he didn’t move again.
Vlad snapped his fingers, and Fright Knight came over to help drag Clockwork out of the camera’s view.
After the clip had ended, there had been a moment of silence among the trio. Then Danny had screamed and Sam and Tucker had to convince him that overshadowing the TV would not be a remotely functional way to save Clockwork.
.-.
When Vlad had released Vortex on Amity Park and Danny had to clean up that mess, he’d returned Vortex to the Observants. Not because he wanted to, but because as Tucker had said, if they wanted to help Clockwork they needed to know the enemy territory. Sam and Tucker had covered his suit with a hundred tiny cameras and sent him in. The Observants had welcomed his ‘show of faith in their council’ and been thankful that Danny returned Vortex without them having to lift a finger. He’d taken his time getting to the room the jailer Observant was in, and at the time had been sure he’d gotten a decent map of the place.
Now, he realized he was an idiot.
He was also lost.
The Observatory was one big pretentious maze, and nowhere near as cool as placed named ‘the Observatory’ should be. He hadn’t been caught yet, but he’d also had to turn human and dive through five walls already to avoid Observants in the halls. Even if his map was right originally, he was so far off from it that he might as well burn it for warmth instead. Plus, someone had the bright idea to draw a bunch of eyes on the walls, and that just made Danny paranoid. Every step he took made him hate his stupid plan more.
But for Clockwork’s sake, he kept going.
.-.
It took just under an hour to find the next time in the security footage that Vlad and Fright Knight dragged out Clockwork. Again, they dumped him on the ground, but this time the second Clockwork started to stir Vlad passed the key off to Fright Knight and dropped a metal disk beside him. A domed shield sprung up around Clockwork before he’d even sat up.
“Did you have a nice nap?” Vlad asked, “Perhaps you’ll be willing to be a bit more reasonable now that you’ve rested.”
Clockwork said nothing. He stared at the floor.
“Hm, have you used up all your quips?” Vlad asked, and slowly took a few steps closer to the dome. “How incredibly unfortunate. I was almost hoping you’d make this interesting, but this works just as well.” He glanced at Fright Knight, and on the other side of the screen, Tucker had to hold Danny back from flying into the TV to punch Vlad’s stupid, evil smile right off his face.
“What do you want me to do?” Clockwork sounded so defeated, and Tucker didn’t manage to hold Danny back this time.
They were right; overshadowing the TV did not help.
.-.
An Observant came around the corner.
Danny froze.
The Observant froze.
Danny caught sight of a bright green key in their hand.
“Guards!” The Observant screamed, and Danny coiled his ghostly tail like a spring. The second the Observant looked back at him, he launched himself forwards and switched back to his human form. His hands curled around the key as he passed through the Observant, bending them back, and ripping the key from their shocked fingers with the weight of his entire body. He tucked, rolled, and tried to dive through a wall. The key wouldn’t follow. It wasn’t a real world item.
Uh-oh.
Danny poked his head back into the hallway to see seven furious Observants floating there, glaring at him, and reaching for the key in his hand.
Danny pointed a finger gun at the nearest one. “Sup?”
“Step out of the wall,” they demanded, and Danny did. “Drop the key.”
Danny switched right back to his ghost form and took a deep breath in. If we was going to be caught anyway, he might as well go out in style. “NO!”
.-.
After they had, er, ‘fixed’ Danny’s attempt to overshadow the TV, Tucker found where they’d left off.
Vlad had smirked, leaning in towards Clockwork like the jerk he was. “Very good! And they say old technology is obsolete. Now, I’ve been told you have time powers?”
Danny expected a sarcastic comment, something along the lines of ‘my name is Clockwork. No, I have space powers.’ Failing that, a glare. All he got was Clockwork giving Fright Knight an anxious glance.
“That’s right,” Clockwork said.
“Can you travel through it?”
Clockwork was silent for a second. “I’ll... need to make a portal - a mirror. It’ll take some time. But yes.”
“Can you take people with you?”
Clockwork glanced at Fright Knight again. “...It’ll take a bit longer. But yes.”
“Good,” Vlad said. He sounded exactly like the smarmy dick they all knew he was. Sam whacked Danny with a pillow when he stood up, ready to fight the TV once again.
On the screen, Vlad continued. “Get started on that then. Don’t try and leave this lab.”
Clockwork’s lip twitched in the faintest trace of annoyance. “I can’t just do it,” he said. His voice was carefully neutral. “I need tools. And a work space.”
“Of course you do,” Vlad said, and stepped away from Clockwork. He turned towards Fright Knight, and Clockwork looked down.
They hadn’t skipped a section of the footage, they’d made sure of that. Besides, Vlad was still in the same pose. It was Fright Knight and Clockwork who had changed positions. Halfway across the lab now, they were both engaged in a vicious tug-of-war over the key. The footage of Vlad whipped around to face them as Fright Knight brought up his knee and smashed it into Clockwork’s case. Glass shattering pierced the poor quality audio, and on the other side of the screen, the trio’s excited whoops turned to terrified screams.
Clockwork was knocked back, into a bench at an angle that looked like it had nearly broken him in half, and he fell to the floor in a lump. But he had the key in his hand.
Fright Knight bent down as Vlad ran over, spitting Russian curses as he reached their side. Fright Knight’s fingers grazed the key, and Clockwork pulled it under his broken form.
“Y-you,” Clockwork’s voice caught and dragged. Some syllables he struggled with. Others stretched out for far too long, or were distorted to the point they barely sounded like anything but clicking and grinding. Despite the trio’s best effort, they barely managed to translate any of what he said. “N-n-no. This - it’s -it’s mine. Minemineminemine -” Clockwork jerked with a gasp, and the words stopped.
Vlad switched to his ghost form and smacked Fright Knight. “You’ve broken it!”
“It just needs to be rewound,” he kicked a shard, “and that case replaced. If you’re as smart as you say, that should be easy.” He kicked Clockwork aside now, and reached for the key once more.
It was then that perhaps twenty Observants all appeared in Vlad’s lab.
On the footage, Vlad screamed. Danny would have enjoyed his fear, it it wasn’t for the fact that he’d just watched someone he considered a friend being seriously assaulted. None of the trio took any joy from Vlad’s fear as he backed up, hands raised. Fright Knight followed suit. He hadn’t managed to grab the key. That was still on the ground next to the beat, broken, unmoving form of the Master of Time.
“Observant High Council,” Vlad said, trying to regain all the control over this mess that he’d lost the moment he screamed. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
One Observant grabbed the key. Another two carelessly lifted Clockwork off the floor by his arms. Clockwork’s limp head lulled forwards as they pulled him up.
“You are charged with damaging property belonging to the Observant High Council.” Five of them said at once, “What is your plea?”
“Wha- that’s yours?” Vlad tried to regain his composure. He turned to Fright Knight as a furious snarl began to climb up his features. “My apologies. I was unaware. Of course I would have returned it to you if I had been informed -”
“Be silent,” an Observant said, and miraculously, Vlad shut up. “Do not push the blame for your actions onto another. What is your plea?”
“Again, my apologies,” Vlad said. “I have done nothing wrong, I merely wished to understand this strange automaton. If I had known of your ties to it -”
“So you are guilty?” The one holding the key interrupted.
“I have not -” Vlad didn’t get to finish his sentence. The Observants raised their hands, and everyone in the lab disappeared. All that was left was a long, green stain where Clockwork had laid, many shards of broken glass, and a few small gears. After a day of empty footage, an Observant appeared to collect them.
The next time Vlad was seen in his lab was nearly three weeks later. He came through his portal frazzled, furious, and alone.
.-.
The trio didn’t know a lot about Clockwork. Danny knew the most, and from that he knew he couldn’t just show up and say “hey, I know about you potentially being a robot or something? Just wanted to say I’m totally cool with it.” Not only would Clockwork freak out at him, but that wouldn’t solve anything.
It was difficult to tell how that evolved into ‘let’s rob the ruling power of the Ghost Zone’ but there had been a few common themes. All this had taken place before Danny and Clockwork met, and Clockwork had been repaired by then. He’d had his own, albeit tiny, place. Danny had never seen Clockwork and the Observants together, but from the way Clockwork talked about them he definitely didn’t like them.
Everyone had been calling Clockwork ‘it,’ like they were just some thing. Vlad had said the Observants created them, and they’d called him ‘their property.’ They hadn’t handled him like they were worried about hurting him worse. Fright Knight had told Clockwork to listen to Vlad unless he wanted to be forgotten in a closet for a few more centuries.
It hadn’t been a decision, really. They’d pooled everything they’d learned together, and the trio knew without a doubt that none of them would be another person who treated Clockwork like garbage. They were going to help him, no matter what.
No matter what.
.-.
Danny dropped to his knees and his human form. Injured Observants had been blasted through the walls that had been caught in his wail, and an alarm blared in the distance. He glanced down at his hands; the key was still clasped tight enough in his left hand that his knuckles had turned white.
He’d gotten caught. They’d know he’d stolen the key. Danny would have a warrant out for his arrest long before he got to Clockwork’s - if he even got out. If they didn’t catch him first. But Danny had the key, and the second he got to the tower it would stay with Clockwork, right where it belonged.
Clockwork had saved his life, and now Danny was going to return the favour. He was going to do this. He was going to get out, get to Clockwork’s, and save his friend. He was going to do it.
Danny picked himself up off the floor, one hand on his ribs, and started to limp down one unshattered hall. The alarm blared above him, and he swore more than before that this time, the eyes on the walls really did follow him as he left.
(Written for Phic Phight, crossposted for World Building Week Day 1: Sandbox Characters)
"Danny decides that he has no choice. He must find a way to prank Clockwork, or at least make him laugh. Clockwork finds this supremely amusing, but he is determined not to lose." - Phic Phight prompt by fiverivers
-
The tower was peaceful. The soft but rhythmic ticking of clocks filled any uncomfortable silence, and the occasional whoosh of a mirror shifting its view provided a nice variety to the background soundtrack. The fabric of Clockwork’s gloves rubbed against itself as he placed a hand on a mirror, and provided the perfect amount of friction between his movements.
In all, it was quite concerning.
A floorboard behind him creaked and Clockwork raised his staff to block the hand filled with white foam before it could reach his face. “I’m going to have to request that you don’t do that.”
Danny Phantom pulled his hand back with a scoff and started to lick the whipped cream out of his hand. “I almost had you that time.”
He really hadn’t. Clockwork had been wary from the moment Danny had stopped snickering in the other room. “If you insist,” he said vaguely. “I believe you still have English homework to do.”
Danny pulled a face. “Fine, fine.” He tried to clap Clockwork on the back - again, Clockwork blocked the assault with his staff, and flipped it around to see the piece of paper proclaiming ‘free hugs!’ the boy had tried to tape to his cloak.
“If you really want to trick me, you shouldn’t lump these all together after you’ve already been caught.” Danny pouted, and Clockwork removed the tape before depositing the paper back into Danny’s hands, now folded into a slightly lopsided origami crane. “If you spread your efforts out, you’ll be more likely to find success.”
Danny huffed and slipped the crane into one of his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, don’t patronize me. I’m not making this easier for you.” He pointed a finger at Clockwork, who shifted to his elder form. “I’ll get you one of these days.”
“Of course,” Clockwork said, “as long as your homework is done.”
Childishly, Danny stuck out his tongue before he flew off. Clockwork waited approximately ten and a half seconds before he called after him.
“Oh, and Danny?”
“Yeah?”
“Please remove the bucket you’ve propped up on my door. I wouldn’t want you to have an accident.”
Danny’s groan and his elder form’s beard were perfectly adequate cover for both Clockwork’s smile and his amused snort.
.-.
“Hey Clockwork,” Danny said, some days later.
“Yes, Danny?”
“If you fly backward are you flying clockwise?”
Clockwork hummed and put on a thoughtful expression. “I suppose. I don’t often fly backward.”
Danny crossed his arms, and Clockwork switched to his elder form. Danny had grown bored with pranks and switched to clock puns. Many, many clock puns. It was genuinely impressive how many he had.
“Fair, I guess. Does it help you unwind?” He wiggled his eyebrows. Clockwork cleared his throat.
“Generally, I find knitting to be a more relaxing hobby.”
Danny stared at him for a good twenty seconds before he shrugged. “That’s fair, actually. I’m not going to tease you for that.”
Clockwork frowned and returned to his adult form. Pity, that could have been an interesting train of puns. He returned his attention to the Timeline: Danny floated beside him and rested his chin on Clockwork’s shoulder. For a few peaceful minutes, the only sounds were the ticking of clocks, their cores vibrating, and the fabric of Clockwork’s gloves brushing against itself.
And then a door was thrown open with absolutely no effort to knock whatsoever. “CLOCKWORK!”
Danny jumped. Clockwork did not. He spun around and pulled Danny behind him. “You don’t need to shout,” he called, “I’m right here.”
The two Observants stormed in through the door Danny had left open, and slammed it behind them hard enough that the doors swung back open a couple of inches into the hall. Clockwork frowned as the bucket Danny had precariously positioned on it wobbled but did not fall.
“What is that doing here?” One snapped and pointed to Danny.
“As I’m sure you remember, given that you were the ones who insisted upon it, he is my ward now.” Clockwork said. A bit of irritation dripped over his words. “Is that enough of an explanation?”
“Do not use that tone with us,” Two hissed. “There are important matters to discuss. We will not stand for this abomination distracting you.”
Clockwork’s scowl grew as behind him, Danny whispered, “Rude.”
“He is simply observing,” Clockwork said dully, “it is no more of a distraction now than it is when you do it.” He turned his back to them, and carefully tried to guide Danny farther behind him. “What did you need from me?”
“Do not turn your back on us,” Two said. Clockwork sighed and turned back around. “Show us respect.”
Clockwork didn’t bother to answer that demand. “What do you want?”
They both narrowed their eyes. “There are matters to discuss,” One said. “Plasmius has continued to cause dangerous ripples throughout our realm with his experiments, and the false hybrid has hidden herself from our view. This can not continue. They must be eliminated!”
A quick glance confirmed Clockwork’s suspicion that Danny had started to glare at the Observants. He placed a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Dani hasn’t done anything wrong,” Danny snapped.
The Observants glared right back. “Beings who are blameless do not cause the timestream to glitch around them.” Two said a bit smug, like that was some huge revelation that would turn the tide of this not-an-argument in their favour.
“Of course,” Clockwork replied, his voice as dull and bored as was physically possible.
“So we’re ignoring that if someone’s using the Infi Map or natural portals to travel through time the timestream gets confused for a bit, then?” Danny matched his tone perfectly. Clockwork blinked in surprise and squeezed the boy’s shoulder.
“Do not involve yourself in this!” Both Observants snapped.
“He’s right, though.” Clockwork said.
“Be silent!”
Danny continued. “And Vlad would stop messing with the Ghost Zone if you let Clockwork go get the Crown of Fire back from him.”
“Absolutely not!” One hissed.
“We will not endorse an act of treason!” Two added.
“Treason against who?” Danny pressed.
“He’s still right,” Clockwork said.
The Observants glared at Danny for a moment longer before they both pointed a finger at the door. “Leave.”
Danny huffed. Clockwork gave him a small sympathetic smile and pulled his hand back. Danny switched to his human form and walked through one of the Observants on his way to the door, which he passed harmlessly through as well.
“The boy must be dealt with,” Two said.
“You doubt me far too much,” Clockwork replied, and focused on his staff now. “He doesn’t come here to run wild, he’s playing catch up on the knowledge his circumstances denied him for too long. Have some faith for once. Everything is the way it’s supposed to be.”
The Observants narrowed their eyes. “Do not use that phrase with us,” Two said, “each time you say it, you cheat our orders and weaponize our trust in you.”
“Then I am unarmed.”
The Observants didn’t deny it. They glanced at each other, then back at him. “We will return,” One said, “and we expect the problems to be dealt with.”
“Of course,” Clockwork said dryly and turned his back to them. “Mind the door, by the way.”
He heard the Observants scoff and heard them shove the door open. He turned just in time to watch two buckets fall on their heads. Water dyed blue soaked their robes and coloured the flour that now caked their forms. Danny stood only a few feet away, still human, still annoyed.
A little paper crane slipped off the top of the door, landed on One’s head, and slipped down their back as it unfolded. The piece of paper proclaiming free hugs! found its place stuck to the back of the Observant’s robes.
There was a long moment of stunned silence.
“I did warn you,” Clockwork said.
“YOU!” The Observants dove for Danny. He was still human. They passed harmlessly through him - they did not pass through the wall behind him, however, and two dyed-blue flour outlines of Observants pressed themselves into his walls.
Clockwork’s facade cracked, and a smile broke through his deadpan expression as he floated over the mess. “Don’t blame Danny for your refusal to listen to me.”
Danny’s face lit up. Behind him, the Observants picked themselves off the ground.
“You have betrayed us for the last time, Clockwork.” Two said.
Clockwork turned his snort into a cough. “I warned you. I made an effort to stop you from making fools of yourselves.”
One pointed a dripping, challenging finger at him. “Yet this amuses you!”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Clockwork replied. He bit his bottom lip. “We can continue this argument after you have cleaned yourselves up. You are making a mess.”
The Observants gave him a damp scowl and turned to glare at Danny. “We will return,” they said. They left a trail of wet flour on the floor as they flew off.
Clockwork took in a deep, long breath he didn’t need. He was calm. He was fine. The mask was back on, and he was in control of his emotions once more.
“Aw,” Danny said, and picked up a stained piece of paper between two fingers. “They dropped the free hugs sign.”
The mask shattered into several million pieces and calming breath came out in a choking wheeze. Clockwork bent forwards, gripping the stained door frame to keep himself at least somewhat upright. The staff slipped from his grasp and hit the ground with a splush that turned Clockwork’s wheeze into snorts.
Danny approached slowly and looked horrified. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay. Are you allergic to food coloring? Or flour?” A pause, “Are you allergic to water?”
That did not help calm Clockwork’s laughter. Wheezing and snorts turned into the sound reminiscent of a terrified donkey screaming for help, and Danny gave Clockwork a few awkward pats.
It felt like a long, long time before Clockwork had calmed down enough that he stopped laughing. He picked up his staff and let damp flour stain his gloves. He placed that hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Danny,” he said, “you are my favourite hybrid.”
Danny glanced at his now stained shoulder and copied the motion to shove the free hugs sign onto Clockwork’s shoulder. “Clockwork,” he said in the exact same tone, “you have the dumbest laugh I have ever heard.”
They stayed like that for a moment before they both pulled their hands back, snickering. Clockwork didn’t bother to hide his smile as he tapped his staff on the ground, and let it shift into a mop.
“Seriously,” he said, “don’t ever do that again.” He dropped the mop in Danny’s hands and wiped the smile from his face. “Next time they won’t let you off so easily.”
Danny frowned at the mop for a second before he shrugged and reached down to grab a bucket. “It was worth it to see you laugh.”
Blood blossoms are not roses. You can tell them apart by the scent and where the flower comes from. Blood blossoms have a rich pungent and distinct smell. It's not sweet but not sour, while roses have a sweater sent.
Roses also come from thick bushes, while blood blossoms are considered weeds that grow on long vines that can quickly kill any other plant in a yard. If you see them, you should be prepared for a long battle, as growing blood blossoms are hard to kill.
The last difference between the two plants is that when cut, blood blossoms stems and leaves turn pitch black.
Blood blossoms are a mystery to scientist as their genetic makeup and origin are an enigma. Several reports have been made about what the media has called "ectoplasm" that can be found in the plants DNA. And the flowers started to appear in the late 1200's.
European folktale, tells a story of a queen who, after a long and sickly death. Came back to her husband as a ghost and used her body as a seedbed for the new flowers. In order to show him that even in the afterlife she loved him.
Other legends tell of a wicked queen who created the flowers from the blood of her sterile wowb, in order to ward off possible suitors.
Whatever the case maybe these flowers, if contained make a lovey addition to any garden.
