#clockwork/nocturn

[five-rivers]

Dreams of Time 1

[For the phic phight! Based on prompts by @ventisettestars and @bubblegumbeech]

Danny would say he knew Clockwork fairly well.  Both in the sense that he knew Clockwork better than he knew other ghosts, and in that he knew Clockwork better than other ghosts knew Clockwork.  He knew from speaking to Poindexter, Skulker, Ember, Johnny, and Kitty (both during fights and during rare truces) that Clockwork was considered borderline mythical.  Both in the sense that a lot of people didn’t think he was real, and the sense that he was regarded as a deity.  Which was a weird thing to find out about someone you knew, but Danny didn’t have any room to comment.  He was half dead.  

All this to say, Danny had never seen Clockwork sleep before.  Or act sleepy.  Or even tired, except in an ‘I'm tired of your crap’ kind of way.  So, the addition of a massive, curtained bed to three main room of Long Now, his lair, seemed distinctly out of character.  

Out of theme, too, unless he was aiming for some kind of extended bedtime-based pun.  Which was… possible.  Not likely, Clockwork preferred irony as a comedic device, but possible. 

Although, he also liked pranks.  

Danny had no idea what kind of prank this could be, though.  

He lingered in the doorway, looking over the room, trying to spot any other clue as to what was going on.  Some other object, maybe.  A time viewer left on a particular scene.  A clock showing a notable time.  Clockwork himself, floating silently in a corner.

Nothing.  Nothing that stood out, anyway. 

Danny slid his backpack (stuffed with social studies homework - Clockwork never gave Danny answers, but he'd give hints) off his shoulder and put it quietly on the floor.  Cautiously, he approached the bed.  He remembered the time Clockwork had slammed him repeatedly into a bell, and while it hadn’t hurt that much, and Danny had arguably deserved it, Danny didn’t want a repeat.

Just like before, nothing seemed out of place, other than the bed itself.  Danny reached it, and lifted a hand to touch the curtain.  It was multi-layered, with the top layer a lavender gauze and the deepest one a dark, heavy, purple.  Brass stars were sewn into all the layers and they jingled against one another as Danny drew the curtains back.  

The bed was occupied.  Danny thought he might have known this, or at least predicted this.  Clockwork lay there, beneath the blankets, perfectly still, not moving, not breathing.  He wasn’t wearing his usual cloak and robes, but something more like a bathrobe or nightgown.  His long white hair was braided over his shoulder, looping over the comforter.  

But the most striking change to Clockwork’s appearance was the black and glittering ooze dripping from his eyes.  It looked like there were stars trapped in it.  

That… didn’t look good.  

Danny bit his lower lip, then shook Clockwork’s shoulder.  “Clockwork?” he said.  “Clockwork?  Can you hear me?  Wake up.”

Yeah.  Maybe not the most polite thing to do to a guy when you just showed up to his house uninvited, but Danny was worried.  This was massively out of character for Clockwork.  If Clockwork had just decided to take a weird nap in the entryway, fine.  Danny could apologize.  But if this was a sickness, or an attack of some kind, Danny couldn’t just leave.  He had to check.  

Clockwork didn’t stir.  

Danny didn’t know enough about how ghosts slept to know if that was normal.  

He stared down at Clockwork, stymied.  ‘Sleep like the dead’ was a common phrase, as was ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ but he’d never seen any ghost asleep.  Unless he counted Nocturn that one time.  

Speaking of Nocturn…  The black stuff under Clockwork’s eyes was familiar.  It looked like the substance of Nocturn’s body, made liquid.  Sort of liquid.  It looked distinctly gooey.  

Could this be–?  No, before, Nocturn had used bulky helmets.  But that had been when they were trying to keep the whole city under their control.  Maybe the rules were different when they were only putting one person to sleep.  

Actually, they hadn’t even needed the helmets to put people to sleep.  They’d used sand for that.  The helmets had been to collect dream energy and maybe to control the dreams and keep people asleep.  

Okay.  So, this might be a Nocturn thing.  Which meant Danny should…  Do what?  He should do something.  With his friends, he had overshadowed them to jump into his dreams, but, historically, him overshadowing another ghost, or another ghost overshadowing him, hadn’t exactly worked well.  In fact, one particular incident was downright apocalyptic.  

But what else could he do?  

He shook Clockwork again, fruitlessly.  

Maybe he should go back home and get some backup.  But then he’d have to leave Clockwork, and Nocturn might be around somewhere.  Could he bring Clockwork with him?  No, that wouldn’t be safe for Clockwork, with the trip through the Fentonworks lab and all.

Well, if the overshadowing looked like it was going poorly, Danny would just… disengage.  It wasn’t like he wanted to fuse with Clockwork or take over his body, he just wanted to wake him up.  

He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.  This… was probably a bad idea.  Almost certainly.  But he wasn’t sure if there was a good way to deal with this.  

(Danny might have been freaking out about someone - even Nocturn - being able to beat Clockwork.  Just a little.  Internally.  As one did.)

Still, he stood there, looking down at Clockwork, hoping that a good idea would come to him.  

It didn’t.  

He took a deep breath.  “It’ll be fine,” he said to himself.  “How it was meant to be or whatever.”

Overshadowing was a deceptively simple power.  Go intangible and slip into something.  But there was more.  When Danny phased through something he could overshadow, he could feel something like a spiderweb.  Something delicate, connecting it to itself.  Something Danny could tangle himself in.  Or, when he was sliding into a dream or video game, something he could travel down, spiderwebs turning into highways with a shift of perspective.  

But in a ghost, the lines were less spiderweb and more chain net or root bulb. Dense, thick, and focused on a single point.  When Danny forced an overshadowing ghost out of a human, he had to push that knot out.  When he fought Poindexter, he’d lost that fight.  When he’d jumped into Nocturn’s dreams…  Well, Danny was glad he’d been trying to go after his dreams, because he’d been practically sucked in.  

Jumping into Clockwork was the same way.  He was just so strong, his will so solid, that the shift in perspective was automatic.  He was swept away, inwards, and emerged tumbling into Clockwork’s dreams.

He took a minute to orient himself.  Dreams were… strange.  And personal.  They didn’t really exist far away from the dreamer, the landscape forming and dissolving around them in a sort of bubble.  But even in that bubble, the rules of cause and effect, permanence, and persistence were suggestions.  

After the first time with Nocturn, Danny had asked Tucker how he’d perceived his dream, and it turned out that he’d thought there was only one Star, instead of the legions that Danny had seen.  It was just that Star was everywhere.  

Danny was apprehensive about what kinds of dream logic would prevail in the dreams of a person who could see time.  

But this looked…  Normal.  It looked just like Long Now’s entryway, actually, minus the bed.  

Good.  Normal was good.  

Okay, Danny’s next steps were clear.  Find Clockwork, figure out how to shock him or otherwise wake him up, and then work out what had happened in the real world.  Easy.  

Except for the part about shocking someone who could see the future.  That wasn’t going to be easy. 

Why didn’t he ever think these things through?  

He shook his head.  First, find Clockwork.  Then deal with the other stuff.  Who knew?  Maybe telling him he was in a dream would be enough.  

“Clockwork?” he called.  His voice echoed, but he got no other response.  He flew deeper into Long Now, calling out periodically.  Clockwork didn’t answer.  Long Now continued to look normal.  

Except–  Was it getting darker?  And were those stars moving in the dark?

That was all the warning he got before the shadows swirled around him and contracted, forming a sort of starry bubble.  Sleepwalkers, cloth-covered ghosts with stitched-shut eyes, rose from the black like swimmers from a pool and swarmed him.  

Danny fought, but the sleepwalkers were numerous and they were on their home turf.  Much like during his very first encounter with them, they pinned him and dragged him into place so their master could have a better look at him.  

Nocturn emerged from the darkness, and it clung to them, merging smoothly with their long robes.  They glared down at Danny with deep disfavor.  

“You,” they said.  “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to stop whatever you’re doing to Clockwork!” snapped Danny, angry at Nocturn for doing this, and furious at himself for not being able to get away.  

“What I am doing to Clockwork?” said Nocturn, rising up, their body elongating and looming over Danny.  They had to curve so as to avoid the low, rounded ceiling.  “What I am doing to Clockwork?  Better to ask what everyone else is doing to him.  Uncountable petitioners, begging for this favor or that, kings seeking to use him as a tool, those cursed Observants.”  Their lips curled.  “You.”

“Me?” repeated Danny.  “What did I do?”

“Paradox on paradox,” hissed Nocturn, circling Danny.  Danny craned his neck trying to keep track of them.  “Do you think your little jaunts through time are without damage?  Without consequence?”

Well.  No.  Danny knew his trips through time made work for Clockwork.  That was one of the reasons he started visiting.  But that didn't explain–

“Why do you care?  You attacked him and put him to sleep!”

Nocturn laughed.  “You seek to take me to task, but you know nothing.  Less than nothing.  Eons, I have been by Clockwork's side, and the oldest of your histories is younger than our relationship.”

Danny… blinked.  “Relationship?” he asked.  “Like- like a romantic–?”

“Of course a romantic relationship!”  Nocturn paced through the little bubble of starry darkness, back and forth.  “We have been lovers since before your kind had writing.”

“Okay, I kind of got that from the history thing, but–”

“I have had enough of this world harming him.  I have had enough of watching him work himself to his gears, trying to satisfy cruel masters.  I will have him rest in peace.  You will not disturb him!”

“And did you ask him before you did–”  Danny tugged at the sleepwalkers holding him in an attempt to gesture. “--All this?”

Nocturn scoffed.  “Do you ask your right hand whether it is acceptable to hold it with your left?”

“Oh my gosh,” said Danny.  “This is a domestic violence thing.  Are you even dating, or–”

“Our love transcends such distinctions.”

“You’re a stalker.  I can’t believe this, no wonder Clockwork never mentioned you–”

Danny’s words died on his tongue as Nocturn gave him a particularly poisonous look.  Okay.  Yeah.  Sometimes snarking at the person who currently held you captive wasn’t a good idea.  

“Why would he mention me to you, when our relationship far exceeds anything you could even dream of?” they asked.  It was only barely a question.  But then their expression slid towards contemplation.  “But he does care for you.  Somewhat.  He dreams of you.”

“And I dream of infinite tacos,” said Danny.  “What’s your point?”

“No, you don’t.”

“Huh?  I think I know what I dream about.”

“I am the Master of Dreams and Nightmares.  I know what you have dreamed of, and it is not tacos, infinite or otherwise.”  Nocturn leaned close, looming.  “You dream of stars.  Of tragedies that never happened.  Of your own death.  Of being loved in ways you never will be in waking life.”

“Uh, I think I know what I dream about,” said Danny.  “Also, excuse you, I am loved in real life.  Even Clockwork likes me.”

Oh, heck, that’s where they started.  That’s what Danny was trying to distract Nocturn from.  

“Yes,” said Nocturn, tapping a clawed finger against painted lips.  “You might be useful.  But not with that tongue on you.”  They snapped their fingers and the sleepwalkers moved, pulling at Danny’s lips and teeth.  “Oh, stop struggling, child.  I’m not going to cut off your tongue or whatever you’ve convinced yourself of.  I’m not a monster.”

Danny snapped at one sleepwalker’s fingers.  “Could’ve fooled me!  Augh!”  The sleepwalkers got their fingers firmly into Danny’s mouth and pulled his jaw open.  Their fingers tasted sandy.  

Nocturn held their hand out, and one of the idle sleepwalkers, standing behind them, pulled towards it, like it was being sucked into a black hole.  Its body warped, turning green, then inky, starry black as it swirled into a dripping orb a few inches across.  Dark liquid dripped onto Nocturn’s palm and disappeared, absorbed into their skin.  

Danny did not like the look of that.  Should he try a wail?  He hadn’t before, because this was Clockwork’s dream, and he didn’t know what would happen to him if Danny did something so damaging in his dream.  

“This servant of mine,” said Nocturn, “will make sure you do not say anything against the rules.”

What rules?

Nocturn leaned close, bringing the sleepwalker orb with them.  Danny felt something cold drip on his lips, and then press against his back teeth.  The orb was far too big to swallow and he gagged, trying to throw off the sleepwalkers one more time.  

But ‘too big to swallow’ was a problem for rigid humans.  It wasn’t an obstacle for ghosts whose bodies could vaporize or stretch like putty.  Not when that stretching was reflexive.  Danny’s throat expanded as Nocturn pushed.  But Nocturn didn’t push it all the way down to Danny’s stomach.  Instead, the sticky, gooey ball lodged somewhere in Danny’s esophagus and compressed when the organ seized around it, but didn’t move.  

Danny gagged and heaved, but the thing didn’t move.  All that came up were a few splatters of black that were lost in the black that surrounded Danny, Nocturn, and the sleepwalkers.  

But the sleepwalkers were fading away, disappearing, and soon only Danny and Nocturn stood there.  Or, rather, in the case of Danny, knelt there.  Without the sleepwalkers holding him up, he’d collapsed as he coughed.  

Nocturn grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him up as the darkness around them dissolved and Danny saw… Clockwork’s workshop?

And Clockwork.  

Danny tried to call out, but black liquid bubbled out over his tongue and past his lips, staining the front of his suit.  

… That was gross.  

But it also gave Danny time to realize that Clockwork was talking to… him?  To Danny’s doppelganger which was–  

Not that weird, actually.  He’d been in Sam’s dream and Tucker’s dream, and Nocturn had just said Clockwork was dreaming of Danny.  It was still a little unsettling to see.  

“I would tell you the rules,” whispered Nocturn, “but they are the rules of a dream.  You will figure them out…  Or not.”  They pushed Danny forward, and Danny experienced a brief moment of vertigo before finding himself sitting on the stool the dream double had been on, listening to Clockwork as he explained the function of a particular type of gear.  

Okay.  Danny didn’t know what game Nocturn was playing, but now that he was in front of Clockwork, he could just tell him that he was in a dream.  He opened his mouth and even more black ooze spilled out.  The action was completely silent.  

Okay.  That wouldn’t work.  Could Danny speak at all, now that Nocturn had forced an entire sleepwalker down his throat.  

“Clockwork,” he said.  

“Yes, Daniel?” asked Clockwork, looking up.  

Danny pointed over his shoulder.  “Nocturn.”

Clockwork’s gaze followed Danny’s finger, and then his entire face lit up.  “Ah, my love.”

“My love,” said Nocturn, significantly more possessively.  He leaned down as Clockwork reached up, and they kissed.  

Deeply.  

Ew.  Just.  Ew.  That was– That was going on way too long.  Way, way too long.  

(And some of Nocturn’s claims must be true, because if they weren’t, Danny was sure this would count as shocking.  It was certainly shocking to him.)

“I believe we are scandalizing your child, my dear,” said Nocturn. 

“Our child,” corrected Clockwork, absently.  “I am sure he will become used to it.  In time.”

“In your dreams,” said Danny, horrified, and not really processing the rest of the conversation, such as it was.  

Clockwork patted Danny on the head, ruffling his hair, then planted a kiss on Danny’s forehead, which was about ten times as intimate as Clockwork had ever been with Danny, and Danny felt his thoughts grind to a halt.  

What– What?

No, no, this was a distraction, he had to get Clockwork out of this dream.  

“Is there something the matter, dear?  I thought that you were working.”

“The problem was easily solved,” said Nocturn, carefully placing an arm around Clockwork’s shoulders.  “I thought that I would come watch you teach, if it is not an imposition, love.”

“Of course not.  And I am sure Daniel will not mind.”  He looked at Danny expectantly.  

Danny tried to form many words around a mouthful of inky ectoplasm (it had to be ectoplasm, right?) but the only one that managed to come out was, “No.”

Clockwork smiled.  “Very good.”  

Nocturn smiled, too.  Much more sinisterly.  

Danny swallowed.  This… was going to be a lot harder to deal with than he thought.

He really should have brought that backup. 

[leafyeyes417]

This just popped into my head lol

———————————————

Wishes

Batfam fighting cultists but they are actually somewhat competent at magic. They manage to hold them off and finish the summoning.

Danny: *is summoned*

Head Cultist: Great Ghost King, we have summoned you to grant our wish. Please cleanse this world to add to your kingdom.

Danny, full King regalia: *immense power crushes down like increased gravity* You wish? You wish?! I am not a d*mn genie!!! Be glad I am a Benevolent King who isn’t inclined to kill you for this slight! Take heed that when you die and join my kingdom I have already marked you for punishment! *poofs away*

Cultists and Batfam are frozen.

Danny, later: Hahahaha the looks on their faces!

[3motionally3xhausted]

Listen Guys..

I've had these designs cooking for ages now (Undergrowth was my nemesis) for an AU/jumble of multiple AUs that sprung up from a larger analysis of the Ghost Zone's more powerful ghosts. The thing is... since Ive had these designs sitting for a minute, Im not happy with several of them anymore :((

So... I don't really feel like explaining my whole analysis + apprenticeship AU, BUT I also didn't want to let these just sit and rot on my computer.

(Now these are sorta top-to-bottom my favorites of the designs but not really & hopefully it's obvious which ghosts each one is based on. or check my tags, they're in order)

And now... my UNDERGROWTH Danny...... I struggled. On the left, I got all the way to competing the character page before realizing I hated it, decided I had to go back to the drawing board, then the final that I landed on.

Also, I think I should say the one with the purple cloak and green wings is based on the Ancients bc its the only I feel isn't obvious enough.

[nightingale-prompts]

Ghost Courting is Dangerous-DC x DP prompt

This post comes from the Accidental Ghost Courting AU > HERE

Warning: Graphic Descriptions

One thing the other ghosts didn't tell Danny was the phases. The infatuation is strong but it happens so early in the courting that the other phases rarely have time to kick in before the bond is made.

So what comes after intense infatuation?

Obsession.

Not the cute or romantic kind.

The kind only ghosts had and were dangerous to humans.

Danny felt the first stirrings after spending the night at Tim's apartment. They ended up falling asleep on the couch mostly because Danny leaned on Tim's shoulder. Now he was resting on Tim's chest. But waking up the immediate thought that entered Danny's mind was to bite. Not in a cute nibble way. Danny wanted to take a bite out of Tim. To taste his blood and feel it run down his chin.

Danny wondered how perfect Tim would look when the light left his eyes.

Immediately Danny beat those thoughts with a bat back into the darkness. He would never want to see Tim hurt or dead.

What Danny didn't know was that courting was way more complicated than he thought. It doesn't follow human logic.

This mantis like behavior twisted Danny's thoughts.

Just looking at Tim caused them to return.

"I wish I could carve open his chest and crawl inside. Feel his warmth around me. I want to hold his heart in my hands." Danny thought.

Clockwork decided to give him the talk.

It wasn't that Danny wanted to kill Tim. Not at all.

It's just that ghosts are nebulous with blurred lines of their physical forms. Their energies mingle without physical touch. That's how they communicate on a deeper level. That was how Nocturne constantly told Clockwork that he loved him without saying a word. The more ancient the ghost the stronger the project was.

Danny's thoughts were just a projection of his desire to get closer to Tim.

Clockwork was still critical of Danny's choice to court a moral.

"The next stages only get worse. You must find a way to satisfy these urges and quickly. Your partner seems to be getting cold feet. He moves too slow."

Tim however was still unaware that he was being courted and was just as little sad that his good friend Danny had been acting weirder than usual around him.

[bet-on-me-13]

Death, Destruction, and Danny

(disclaimer: I have the barest bones idea of what the Endless are or their personalities, so this is just a quick blub of something I thought of at Work)

So! The JLA have just had an encounter with a member of the Endless, and called in Constantine to explain what exactly they are.

"Okay, so it's like this. Before Existence, before The Universe itself, the Personification of Time had a group of Children. These Children each Represent an Aspect of the Universe, and they are as Immortal as Immortal can get." Constantine explained.

"These children are called the Endless. They are, Dream, Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium, Destruction, Death, and Danny."

"...Danny?"

"Oh yeah, Danny's a cool guy. He was adopted later on by Time Itself, and he represents Balance. But that's not a word that starts with D so he just goes by his Mortal Name, Danny, to fit in."

[puppetmaster13u]

Another Ghost Dragon Prompt? Indeed.

The Ward had made a mistake. Had stolen something that had caused the very Skies to lash out, entire worlds at risk from their actions.

Time Itself shrieked in rage at the loss of Its child, or at least that's how every magic user- and the speedsters, pale and shaken and looking sick- had described it.

Someone had taken the young prince of the Infinite, and it was not the Tyrant King, long since sealed away, that lead the charge, but the Queen Regent that many had long since forgotten.

Many forgot that it was not the Dark who courted Time, but Time who courted the Dark. That It was just, if not more so, merciless as Its partner, and would Devour worlds should Its child- still with newdeath soft scales- was not returned.

Which meant that for the heroes, there was now a Clock ticking down ever so quietly. They had to take care of what was a government branch, had to deal with consequences of going over the law, or their World would End in dragon fire.

[a2remedy]

DPXDC Prompt# 2- Stop Giving Us Kids!

The ancients are higher than god entity of concepts. It's incredibly rare to hear a mortal utter their name. If anything, Clockwork and Vortex come up for what they're known by. But now, they're occasionally referred to by Team Phantom to other people. They take it as their king asking them to look over these people one. They just keep doing it. And they aren't wrong? They just aren't right.

The Ancients: STOP GIVING US KIDS! Danny: You know I meant to help with one thing, ONE TIME! The Ancients: ... Danny: Frostbite, I can get. You do know you can just say you like helping people, right? The Ancients: ... Danny: Oh my god, you like your kids.

[da-owo]

lil break to draw nocturne an clockwork

[dinoserious]

months old skpg of a furry leaning clockwork design i was futzing with

[zekewavev2]

When you visit your husband at work

[eman0neb]

The four remaining Ancients of Eidolon after Pariah dark was banished

Their personalities are drastically different from canon (except clockwork)

[corkinavoid]

By the way, when ghosts and Ancients appear, should there be any visual effects and sensations? Like Frostbite? A drop in temperature? Surfaces becoming crusted with ice?

For example, a headcanon on Danny who is a cosmic Ancient, an eldritch, a cryptid, a ghostly entity. How would all of this affect him showing up next to a human?

Ooooh, that is a good question, I like it!

To start, yeah, I think there would be plenty of visual and sensory effects when Ancients appear in the living world. I actually think it goes for all the ghosts - you know, the eerie feelings and static and all that - but it's more noticeable with Ancients.

So, in my head, Frostbite makes the space around him colder, and he is always standing on a thin layer of snow. Like, it doesn't start snowing when he appears, but there's always this snow under his feet, so when he walks, you can hear his steps creaking over it. Imagine how that would feel on a silent summer night when you just feel the temperature drop and the steps coming from somewhere.

Next, Clockwork is pretty self-explanatory, he has time either stop or slow down around him. Pandora would have this weird feeling of thousands of eyes looking at you - like you are standing in a gladiator arena, and everyone's waiting for your next move. I feel like she could also bring sand with her in the same way Frostbite brings snow.

Vortex has winds blowing, little hurricanes forming and stuff just wildly flying around, and Dora has the temperature around her go up, actually. Standing next to her is like standing next to an open fire, and when she walks, she leaves burning footprints on the floor, only they are not human, they are dragon.

Nocturn brings night. Like, wherever you are, even if you summoned him at noon, when he appears, it's suddenly night, and everything is dark around you. He can also make people fall asleep if he is too close.

As for Danny, Ancient of Space, I feel like when he is present, everything becomes silent. Not eerily quiet, but kind of like the feeling you get in the absence of all sounds, like in space. Maybe there's also this weird, low hum of cosmos present. It also gets cold, like with Frostbite, but it's a different kind of cold. Comparatively, standing next to Frostbite is like standing in a walk-in freezer, when standing next to Danny feels cold on the brink of hot, like you're already experiencing hypothermia but there's no source where it's coming from. Also, with Frostbite, you can wear a coat and be fine. With Danny, you're going to feel the cold no matter the amount of clothes.

Also, his voice is getting distorted differently to other Ancients, but, errr, I think all the Ancients have different voices. Nocturn's voice is a lullaby, Clockwork's is a whisper, Pandora's is thousands voices in one. Danny, then, speaks like he has a very good radio overlay on his voice - it's perfectly clear, but you can still hear it's not a normal human voice.

I'm not sure if I mentioned all the Ancients, but that's as far as I got, so if you want me to add anyone, comment it <3

[nightingale-prompts]

Loving Spirits - Beholder AU- DC x DP (Tim X Danny)

The rest of the series

So Tim and Danny are at an impasse. Life was comfortable. But they weren't progressing.

It wasn't stale, no never. Every day Tim could only guess what was waiting for him when he got home. If Danny was distracted with his blueprints or pouring over star charts. He could be laughing over a mythology book.

Danny had a habit of redecorating, not that Tim minded. The apartment was kind of bare before. Now it felt like he walked into the wrong house everything he came back. Boho, retro-futurism, and maximalism. Each style blended haphazardly. Tim was just glad it wasn't black everywhere. He was cool to let Danny take over the space.

There was currently one little problem. Well, several but one was more glaring than the others. He didn't know how he managed this but Danny didn't know he was a Wayne. He knew who the Waynes were but he spent so much time focused on his job, school, and hobbies he didn't care about gossip. Add that no one could casually approach him without losing their nerves and no one could tell him.

This was working out great for Tim until-

"Tim...you know I've never met your family. You've met mine and I kinda want to know what I'm getting into." Danny half laughed as he moved his rook on the chess board.

Tim panicked. He could tell Danny he was an orphan so he had no family but Danny was dense, not stupid, and knew damn well that Tim had a family. How else would Tim vent about his brothers and praise what siblings he did like? (Duke and Cassandra)

But right now Danny knew that Tim got a great position at Wayne Industries due to nepotism and brains. He also knew that said position meant a lot of late nights and overwork due to how underprepared he was. The latter was a lie to cover up his Red Robin identity

All these things he could use to get at least some sympathy from Danny and only a few compliments.

Tim didn't like lying but it's expected. Who in this family liked lying about their secret identity besides Dick who probably gets off on that sort of thing deep down. Okay, so Tim liked having a secret identity too but that didn't mean he liked lying to Danny. Okay, he would totally be okay with lying if it was easier and had no consequences but there would totally be consequences on a long enough timeline just look at Bruce's relationships.

Well Tim had to bite the bullet this time.

"I don't know. My family can be so busy. And well... I had a bit of a fallout a few years ago with my brothers. I was practically abandoned. That's why I moved out. Sorry...I don't really talk about it. Family dinner night is the most I can stand."

Timothy Drake you absolute fucking coward! That's so cheap! You manipulative little shit!

"Oh...you poor thing. I didn't know it was like that. I promise I won't bring it up unless you want to talk about it." Danny frowned sympathetically bringing up a hand to cradle Tims cheek soothingly.

Like I said, you're a genius, Tim! Greatest plan you've ever come up with! Absolutely flawless!

***

Danny guessed that Tim side of the family won't be present at the wedding. That's okay but not ideal. That allows Danny to fill up the roles with his side. Youngblood was going to be the ring bearer. Clockwork is the officiate but did Tim want a specific denomination? Danny was sure he could ask any diety to show up for the ceremony.

There was so much planning for these events, years even if he didn't just elope.

Danny just felt bad that they were this deep into their relationship but its really Tim putting in so much effort.

Tim invited Danny into his nest of all things and they are sharing a space.

Nocturne was scandalized when he heard.

"But you're so young! Even Clockwork and I don't share our nests every night!" Nocturne said dramatically pulling out a fan and cooling himself like he heard that Danny was now a fallen woman in Victorian England.

He wasn't wrong though. Ghosts don't often share a nest. It's a sacred and off-limits place of their haunts. Even ancients like Clockwork and Nocturne whose original haunts have long since been lost to time (ehehe) had their own domains in the infinite realms and were careful about crossing into them carelessly so they don't muddle them.

Nests are charged with so much of your own energy, that letting them be tainted by another's energy was an uncomfortable idea. There was so much vulnerability in feeling exposed like that.

Thankfully, Tim hasn't asked them to share a room. Danny wasn't quite sure he could handle it without panicking.

Clockwork wasn't happy either witht he news.

"Moving into his nest is one thing. I respect the boldness but he hasn't even bonded with you." Clockwork was traditional at his heart but it all came from a good place. "When I claimed Nocturne as mine I at least -"

Danny nodded but tuned out the rest of the lecture.

"The future is now old man!" That was all Danny could think.

Seriously Danny was not listening. All he could hear were the butterflies in his stomach and sappy love songs.

But now Tim had proposed! That changed everything.

He asked Danny to stay by his side forever! It was a promise at that. There was nothing more binding. All they needed now was to make it official legally and get bonded.

But still, Danny would like to announce it to both their families. Although Danny hasn't told Vlad because he'd try to chase Tim off again. Seriously, ever since Danny "accidentally switched his original insane and corrupted Vlad for the alternate future non-ghost side redeemed Vlad he had been the ideal godfather. But the new Vlad was overbearing in his own way. How Dani survived is a mystery with a dad like that. Vlad was too ambitious right now and was discussing bringing Dan back to hopefully fix him. Vlad's ghost half made from his hate, anger, isolation, and obsession was to blame along with Danny's unresolved grief and fear of himself. That created Dan.

If the plan goes through Danny has to worry about more then just the wedding planning.

Danny already had so much on his plate. He needed to resolve the issue with the ecto pits soon. He had been getting complaints from the Infinite Realm residents. Being the high prince meant plumbing issues like this fall on him to resolve.

It's all so exhausting. But Danny can't help.but feel like he forgot something.

...Must not be important then.

[the-midnight-nightingale]

They Should Be More Than They Are

OK! so first official post on this hell sight we all love. I have absolutely no idea on how to structure a post, or wright out my thoughts soooo good luck. So for the last three days this thought has been stuck in my head, like non-stop genuinely will not let me sleep kind of stuck. The thought is this. Is Nocturn the death of the first dream to ever dreamed? because of so he should be so much more than he is in the show. If he was the first Dream to end then what was he of? Personally I think it was of stars. I think people have been staring up at that endless sky, dreaming, Wondering of the worlds beyond ours since people possessed the ability to see. So why wouldn't the first dream be of the stars? Is Undergrowth the Ghost of the first plant to die, or the collective of all plant's that have ever wilted and withered away. If so then he should be so much more than he is, If he is the first green thing to die, the first green thing to wither and decay. if so that should mean something more than it does. Is Vortex the end of the first storm to ever be? a single, incandescent point erupting into existence, a cosmic dawn that unleashed a symphony of light and sound. Raging and untameable. If so he should be so much more than he is. Is Clockwork the death of time or is he the death of the first second to ever be? he is the relentless rhythm of time, I know that he Is/Was/Will Be. the steady tick-tock that fades into silence. The hands that stand still, no longer charting a course through the hours, days, and years. centuries, millennia's and Eternity. Or is he is that first, Vast, burning second. single point of light. Before the dawn of stars, before the flow of time, only the promise of creation, a potential yet to be. If so then he should be so much more then he his.

Danny Phantom is Not alive, Danny Phantom is Dead, He is the ghost of a boy electrocuted to death by his parents invention do his friends peer pressure and his parents recklessness and poor lab safety, And him not refusing to do something he KNEW was dangerous. and because of that. He is Dead. Danny Fenton is Not Dead, He entered that portal and accidentally turned it on from the inside and was spat back out alive, his skin flushes, burses and scares and is not tinged blue with the touch of death, his lungs breath, his blood rushes thru his still beating heart, Danny Fenton is fourteen and reckless and a fool, But is not dead. Danny is both. Danny Is neither. He straddles the lines between, walking and rocking an a loos tightrope that should give way, snapping beneath his feet, He should not exist. It should not be POSSIBLE for him to EXIST. But... He does. And That Should Mean More Than It Does. I just feel like this should mean more than it does. That the potential that is there is somehow lost. And I understand that this is a kids show, I shouldn't be getting worked up over it but there is so many ways you could take this for an adult show that I don't really know ware to start. what are your thoughts on any of this? I also posted this on ao3 with more in-depth writing. checkout DarkestMother on ao3.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 90

So apparently getting ghost-adopted has an effect on one's form. Danny isn’t complaining, he’s not! He just uh, has five ghost parents. Who all look rather unique and have wildly different abilities. Not to mention his own. 

He’s quite uh, not exactly annoyed, but uh… is this a secondary puberty? This is like a secondary puberty isn’t it. 

Like, he’s getting horns, and wings, and a whole other pair of arms and who knows what else! Mothers, Fathers, help how will he hide this, it’s bleeding over into his human form! He was going to go to college, how is he going to hide this?! 

[lord-of-dorks]

- AS ABOVE, SO BELOW-

It's been a long while, but I had the itch to draw. Digital is not my strongest art form but it's a lot of fun!

Clockwork and Nocturne are my favorite Ancients, parental vibes to my King Danny... hmm...

Also have some Variations!

Depending on your personal favorites...

Nocturne is Owl coded, I swear...

This composition is very... awkward family holiday photo somehow, that's hilarious.

As always, click for better quality. <3