#danny fenton is a huge nerd

[kokoa-la]

Prompt from @help-i-need-a-cool-username

Jason has once again snuck into Gotham University. Now, before any assumptions are made onto why the crime lord would break into a college, the reason is because he likes the library. That's it. The public library is trashed and small, barely taken care of, but Gotham U's? It's beautiful. Multiple floors, organized and in sections, taken care of, alphabetical order, it's magnificent. The chairs were a reason alone to sneak in, but the students here added an extra charm. 

He had gone to the very back of the library on the second floor. This area was  pretty well hidden and enclosed. He would come here to read without anyone questioning him, even hiding the books he wasn’t finished with yet to continue on later. Jason wasn’t expecting someone to be so close to his spot though. A few tables across stood a student, thin, tall, with pitch black hair, baggy cargo jeans, and a white t-shirt. The other hadn’t noticed him yet, so he remained quiet and just watched. He was in front of a large white board on wheels, seemingly taken from the rooms he saw down the hall. 

“That doesn’t work, goddammit.”

On the white board was lines upon lines of equations- at least he thought they were equations, with most of them being letters and symbols rather than numbers. It made the vigilante’s brain hurt. The student - assumed STEM major - just kept mumbling to himself.

“Stupid physics, won’t allow interdimensional travel”

What? Jason may have been out of school since 15, but he knew no courses were asking for the answer to traveling between dimensions. It seemed the student had a habit of talking to himself when worked up or focused, possibly why he isolated himself from the rest of the library. 

“If your parents could do it, why can’t you? Think Danny, think!”

That sentence wasn’t concerning at all, but at least Jason learned the boy’s name. Danny seemed to have a strange background, what did he mean by ‘if your parents could do it’? Had his parents managed to travel between dimensions? The other was chewing on the cap of the white board marker, his other hand resting on his hip as he swayed back and forth.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! That! The thing! That thingy!”

Jason could practically see the lightbulb go on above Danny’s head. Just then the other erased a solid portion of the whiteboard and dropped to his knees, ouch. He started frantically scribbling, fast and messy, barely cohesive. Though, Jason was sure that if it was Tim sitting where he was instead, the boy could probably understand everything on that board. He’d stick to English literature, thank you very much. 

“That’s it! Oh my ancients! I got it!”

Danny practically jumped in the air, punching the air in triumph. Jason almost felt proud of him, this complete stranger he’s been watching, wow he was being creepy, huh? Danny shot both of his arms straight up, the marker gripped tightly in his right hand fist. 

“I did it!”

He looked so happy, so excited. He began to buzz, even spinning, before stopping mid loop and turning around slowly. Shit, Jason had been caught. To be fair, Danny hadn’t exactly turned around the whole time, meaning Jason was just watching his back the whole time as he worked through his… problem? It’s such a shame, Jason was thoroughly entertained by this random kid. 

“Uhhh, hi? How long have you been there?”

Oh shit, Jason had to talk now, didn’t he?

“Not very long, but long enough to know you were trying to solve interdimensional travel before apparently succeeding.” 

The color drained from Danny’s face. Whoops?

“Uhm, no I didn’t.”

Now that he got a closer look, the student looked like someone Bruce would adopt. Black hair, clear blue eyes, tan skin, sharp features, the whole nine yards. He was actually fairly attractive, maybe even cute. 

“Really? I could have sworn that you said ‘stupid physics won’t allow interdimensional travel’”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah sure, and I’m a student here.”

“Wait, you’re not a student here?”

“That’d only be true if you were lying.”

“Well I’m not so-”

“Uh huh, sure you’re not.”

“Look dude-”

“Jason.”

“Look Jason, there’s no way that I could solve interdimensional travel, the multiverse doesn’t exist.”

“Look Danny-”

“How do you know my name?”

“I won’t tell a single soul if you explain how you did it to me”

Curiosity won his gambit. Would he regret what he was about to say? Perhaps.

“Maybe over a coffee?”

He knew it was worth it when the marker hit the floor and Danny moved his hand to cover his red face. Well, it wasn’t the first time he’s done something he regrets, maybe this time it’d be a cute STEM major who knows the secrets to the multiverse. 

[pricklenettle]

I’m so excited to finally show the illustrations I did for this year’s invisobang!

These are from the first chapter of @wingedflight’s story, Something Rotten

It’s based around Hamlet, and it is so cool and tragic to read the characters in their roles, please go check it out!

[samuelcolon]

was recently thinking about The Awakening by Kate Chopin and realized there’s this adorable parallel between something Edna (the main character) said to Madame Reisz (one of her friends) when describing her lover and Danny/Valerie when describing each other in Flirting with Disaster

When asked ‘"Why do you love him when you ought not to?"

Edna, with a motion or two, dragged herself on her knees before Mademoiselle Reisz, who took the glowing face between her two hands.

"Why? Because his hair is brown and grows away from his temples; because he opens and shuts his eyes, and his nose is a little out of drawing; because he has two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he can't straighten from having played baseball too energetically in his youth. Because - "

"Because you do, in short," laughed Mademoiselle.”’

And when Danny and Valerie are asked by their respective friends what they see in each other, Danny says “I know she wants to waste Danny Phantom, but did you know she's a ninth-degree black belt? That her favorite fruit is kumquat because it's a funny word?” and Valerie says “Do you know that he wants to be an astronaut? That he bowls with a 150 average?”

Facts like these seem mundane to their friends, but are so important to them bc they are in love!1!1!! Danny loves Valerie because she’s Valerie and Valerie loves Danny because he’s Danny!!

[five-rivers]

Season of the Skies

I started playing a game called Sky: Children of the Light recently, and although this isn't a crossover, it's definitely inspired by the vibes of that. It's a cute game!

Also, based on the feedback I got on AO3, there seems to be a significant overlap between the Phandom and Sky: Cotl players? Is that the case?

.

Reality had broken a month ago, and Danny was having the time of his life.  

He leaped lightly from rooftop to treetop and back again, gravity a dreamy afterthought.  The tiles and bark were rough beneath his bare feet, but not so rough he regretted not wearing shoes.  His impacts shook loose pollen, glitter, and a few stray petals, but did the trees no harm.  On the roofs he was silent, and no one came out to yell at him, but the window glass chimed with flashes of light.

The colors around him were bright and soft. Easy to look at, easy to fall into. The sky above was marbled with dawn-colored clouds and stars caught among distant nebulae.  Light and color were some of the first things to break, and Danny wasn't sorry to see light pollution go.  Most Everything glowed, now, and stargazing would have been terrible if eyes still worked the same way.  

At his next jump, this one taking him up a good ten feet, the feather-soft edge of the shawl he was wearing flared out behind him, brushing his arms.  The shawl was huge on him.  An old project of his great-grandmother's, it had been made with the typical Fenton girth in mind.  Honestly, it fit him more like a cape than a shawl, but he liked it that way.  

He landed safely and straightened the cape.  His dad’s needlepoint hobby had been inherited from her, so the dark blue fabric was covered in fine embroidery, lace, and tiny glass beads in shades of clear, pale blue, and white.  Great Grandma Fenton hadn't been into ghosts the same way the current Fentons were, but she'd been into something, so the patterns were strange.  Icicles, snowflakes, stars, clouds, and trees competed with lightning, runes and sigils, and strange, spirit-like creatures.  

“Hey!” shouted someone from the street below.  “Hey, Fentwerp!  What the hell do you think you're doing?”

Ah.  Dash.  Charming.  Danny leaned over the edge of the roof.  “What does it look like I'm doing?” he asked agreeably.  

“Getting your dumb nerd self killed is what it looks like,” said Dash, glowering up at Danny, his face turning red.

There.  See.  That's what Danny didn't understand.  No one else seemed willing to experiment with how the world was now.  They were all operating under the old rules, or, worse, looking for ways to fix things, as if the new world wasn't better than the old.  

Sure, it had been scary the first few days.  The suddenness.  The uncertainty.  The way systems they had relied on for so long had stuttered or failed outright.  Danny knew people had been hurt, that, in some places, they were still getting hurt.  He had been one of those people, having been in the hospital when the change rippled through the world, a result of an equipment malfunction in his parents’ lab.  

Maybe his opinion would be different if he was still getting hurt.  But as it was… why would he ever want to go back to how things were?  Why would he want to leave this world, where the colors were soft and bright, and the light sang?  Why would he want to leave this world where the air itself seemed to bear him up?  Where the possibilities seemed limitless?

There was so much more potential for good, with the world as it was than as it had been.  So much less potential for harm.  This was a more finished version of the world.  All the rough edges were gone, and filled with wonder.  He could feel it.

“Get down here!” demanded Dash, when Danny didn't respond.  

“No,” said Danny.  

“Get down here or else.”

“Or else what?” asked Danny, genuinely curious.  Dash couldn't get up here.  No one else could, as far as Danny knew. They hadn't taken the time to work out the new rules for gravity. 

Dash clenched his hands into fists, then stooped to grab a fairly large rock.  Danny, seeing no reason to just let Dash throw it at him, left.  

“Hey!” shouted Dash.  “Hey!  Freakton!  Get back here!”

Names like that were a lot less distressing when the people using them had no power to hurt you.  

Danny continued on his path upwards, touching on higher and higher buildings.  It was tough to get the proper amount of momentum to make some of his jumps, especially since he'd stopped to talk to Dash, but he managed to make all of them, and soon he was standing on top of the tallest building in Amity Park.  

In the center of the roof was a small tree, a sapling.  It hadn't been there the first time Danny had made it up here, and it had grown rapidly since then.  Next time he came, it'd probably be taller than he was. 

For now, though, Danny knelt to check the roots where they grew through a widening crack in the building's roof.  He'd warned the people in the building (he had warned everyone in buildings that had suddenly found themselves with roof trees), but he hadn't heard that anyone had done anything about it, and the roof trees felt friendly to him, so he hadn't pushed the issue.  From the descriptions and pictures Sam had given him, this one seemed healthy enough.  

He pulled a bottle from his backpack and gave the tree a generous sprinkle.  Then he stood up, gave the crown of leaves an affectionate ruffle, and made his way to the edge of the roof.

The city spread out in all directions below him, vibrant and changing.  Towards the edges of town, some buildings had lifted off their foundations, becoming floating islands.  Across the viridian, iridescent forest to the north, he could see blue-bright-gray flashes of Lake Eerie.  Fentonworks was easily visible off to the west, silver dishes and spires chased with green halos.  The parks bloomed with flowers both alien and familiar, vines trailing up into the air, trees growing explosively fast.  A breeze from behind turned his attention south, and he saw high clouds letting down shimmering curtains of rain.  

It wasn’t like Amity Park had been drab and horrible before, but why would anyone want to go back?

He looked away, back down at the street far below him.  Steeling himself, he grasped the edges of the shawl, he spread his arms wide.  

“Time to lift off,” he said, quietly.  “T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two–” Where he would have said one, he instead inhaled deeply.  Where he would have said zero, he jumped.  

For a heart-stopping moment, he wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake, if he’d made an error in his calculations, if reality had chosen that moment to reassert itself and he was about to drop like a rock.  

The moment passed quickly.  He was flying.  Or, at least, gliding.  

He laughed, and flapped his ‘wings.’  The shawl snapped behind him and gave him a small amount of lift.  

He was doing it.  He was doing it.  

And now that he was doing it, it felt as natural as breathing.  All that planning, all those calculations, all that running, climbing, and jumping–

He could fly.  

Oh, maybe it wasn’t as impressive as it would have been in the old world, where gravity was a cruel mistress.  But it was still flight, unpowered, human flight, and no one he knew of had done this before.  

He laughed, and banked to the side, flying in spirals.  He wasn’t brave enough to try a loop, yet, but he would, eventually, when he learned more about this.  

His spirals took him over the park, the school, the mall, even the Nasty Burger.  But he was losing altitude, his arms were getting tired, and he knew that if he got too close to the ground, gravity would get him again.  Not to the point of hurting him at all, but he didn’t want to land just anywhere after all this work.  

He tipped his wings westward, and started gliding home, pumping his ‘wings’ as infrequently as he could get away with.  He didn’t quite make it all the way back to his front door, but he got close, just a few houses down the street.  He rubbed his shoulders.  That was going to leave him sore.  He’d have to work out and practice more if he wanted to fly any real distance.  He'd also need a way to take off that didn’t involve climbing the tallest building in town. 

The front door of Fentonworks slammed open, revealing a pale Jack and a furiously pink Maddie.

“Daniel James Fenton!  What do you think you're doing?”

Danny looked down at his bare feet, then back up at his parents.  “Walking?”

Maddie sucked a breath in between her teeth.  “Inside,” she said

Danny hurried to obey, taking the steps up to the door two at a time and squeezing past her and Jack to get into the house.  Maddie closed the door behind him. 

“So, um,” said Danny, shuffling from foot to foot.  “What, um.  I thought you guys were going to be working all day today?”

“On the Ops Center,” said Jack.  “Not in the la– Not downstairs.”

Danny made note of the near-slip but didn’t comment on it.  He was already in trouble.  He didn’t need to remind them that the lab didn’t exactly exist anymore and make their mood worse.  

“Oh,” he said.  “What were you–?”

“Never mind what we were doing.  What were you doing?  What were you thinking, jumping off a building like that?  You could have died?”

“Or been seriously hurt!”

“But I wasn’t!  I’m fine.  I planned it all out, and it worked.”

“And it shouldn’t have!” shouted Jack and Maddie at the same time.  

Danny blinked up at them.  “What?”

Jack explained.  “We’ve been tracking the changes to gravity, too, Danny.  We’ve been measuring it, measuring all the changes, to see what those darn ghosts did.”

Danny held back a sigh.  There still wasn’t any sign that ghosts had done this, or even that ghosts existed.  

“Gravity might have changed a bit,” continued Jack, “but not enough to keep a human being airborne like that.”

“There are whole buildings floating,” said Danny.  “I’m a lot smaller than a building.”

“The rules seem to be different for different masses, as well as different altitudes,” said Maddie, making a face.  

“Yeah!  It’s really exciting.  We’re trying to measure the ectoplasm levels– It has to be related, but we haven’t been able to detect any yet– Those ghosts are tricky, son–”  

“Well, yeah.  But the rules are also different for things that are alive.”

“Really?” asked Jack, leaning close.  

“Uh, yes?  Otherwise I wouldn’t have done, um.  That.  I tested it.”

“You tested it?  Did you write it down?”

Danny nodded, cautiously.  Jack swept him off his feet.  ��Our boy has been doing science, Mads!”

“He’s been jumping off of buildings!”

“Putting his research to practical use!”

“He’s been jumping off buildings without being peer reviewed!”

“Oh, yeah, son, you should have had someone check your work.”

“You never get peer reviewed,” said Danny, scowling.  

“That’s different,” said Maddie, quickly.  

“If anyone else believed in ghosts, you’d be sure we would be!”  

Hanging limp in Jack’s arms, Danny grumbled.  

“Danny,” said Maddie.  

“Yes?” he mumbled.  

“No more testing theories without checking in with us first.  Safety first.  You should know this by now.”

Danny hunched his shoulders and tried not to think too hard about his scars.  They weren’t very visible, and the doctors had said that they’d fade away, probably entirely, eventually, but they were still there now, if you knew where to look.

A month ago, reality had broken.  

A few days before that, Danny had almost died.  Lab accident.  It turned out that his parents thought portals to other dimensions which may or may not exist needed a lot of electricity and chemicals to function.  Danny had been curious.  He’d wanted to explore, to investigate.  He’d stepped on a loose wire that had led to a capacitor.  He’d been horribly electrocuted, and then exposed to a chemical cocktail.  Sam and Tucker, who had been in the lab with him, had called for an ambulance, and he’d been brought to the hospital.

At least, that’s what he was told, later.  He hadn’t woken up until he’d been in the hospital for a few days.  Of course, when he had woken up, he did so because a bunch of the medicines going into him had started to do weird things while reality restructured itself, and that had been… incredibly unpleasant.  Everyone had been grateful that only a very few things - like whatever Danny had been on to take care of the chemicals he’d picked up in the lab - had acted like that.

Later, Jazz had told Danny that for a brief period of time between the accident and reality breaking, Jack and Maddie had sworn off ghost hunting.  Presumably forever.  But once the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology started to rebel and twist, they’d taken it back.  Well, to be fair, apparently they didn’t take it back until the lab disappeared.  And the Fenton Stockades.    

Although, to be fair in the other direction, it was more a case of everyone’s basements disappearing and being replaced by weird misty caverns than ghosts specifically targeting his parents.  It was a whole thing. 

(Personally, Danny was glad to see them go, although it had sounded like Sam was mourning hers.)

“Danny,” said Maddie, “tell us that you understand.”

“I understand.  I don’t test theories without you,” said Danny, grudgingly.  “Not even about cool things like flying.”

Maddie scowled.  Jack beamed.  

“Great!” shouted Jack.  He whirled Danny around again.  “Let’s go see your data!  Where is it?”

“Upstairs,” mumbled Danny.  “I’ve got a notebook.”

“A notebook, Mads!”  

Maddie sighed.  “Alright, let’s see the notebook.”

[swamp-spirit]

Gritty Danny Phantom Netflix Reboot

It's inevitable. Here's my pitch.

So obviously the title is ‘Phantom’. It’s reboot inevitably that it’s gonna be the edgy, one word version of the original title.

For tone, leaning a bit into the dark/horror elements and getting a bit worldbuilding heavy, but also trying to keep a fun action feel that’s not too scared to be silly. Obviously, with me writing, being ‘half-ghost’ is a lot about being a community outsider and a lot about going through something traumatic and feeling like the you from before is gone.

Characters:

Danny Fenton

In the main show, he’s a bit of an ‘everyman’, so I want to get a little more specific with him,

He’s supposed to be a huge nerd, but he doesn’t act that nerdy. He’s pretty confident and straight laced.

I like the idea of Danny as a character who, especially growing up with Jazz and his parents fighting, wants to keep everyone happy, even when it isn’t practical. He focuses on trying to get people to get along and not taking sides, even when it’s a bad idea. He often ends up trying to make peace between Tucker and Sam and pulling the ‘both sides have points’, even when one of them is clearly wrong. He goes along with his parent’s ghost hunting while not believing in it, and tries to convince Jazz to ‘be reasonable’.

In Phantom form, his actual opinions start to surface. He’s frustrated that people can’t just be nice, and frustrated at feeling like he’s always cleaning up other people’s messes. He’s free to be opinionated, aggressive, and take action for what he believes. On the flipside, Phantom is prone to making irrational, emotional decisions and following poor priorities.

Besides being caught between two emotional extremes, he’s physically and metaphysically ‘caught between’ living and dead. His ghost form feels unstable and insubstantial, but, in his human form, Danny is hyperconscious of his own death. His heartbeat and pulse feel wrong‘.

Sam Manson

So I think the trick with Sam is every CW/Netflix teen show’s attempts to write very political characters, especially women, is… very bad. Very surface and ham-fisted. First, instead of updating Mall-Goth to E-Girl, go for a crunchy goth/punk/grunge look, especially for a rebelling rich kid. Shoes held together with duct-tape, big jackets she wrote on in sharpie, but keep the stompy boots.

Avoid the whole ‘haha she’s going too far’ and vegetarian jokes, and give her some specific local politics to be involved in (that can help inform later plots). 

As an ‘outsider’ teen activist, she probably doesn’t have many people her own age who don’t see her as weird and pushy, so maybe has an older group of acquaintances. Teen goth with phone contacts full of old activist ladies maybe? 

She has a very strong moral compass, but is insecure about her own wealth and privilege and compensated by being a bit blind on certain issues. She can also be unempathetic to people’s personal circumstances.

Tucker Foley

The teen Cassanova bit gets a bit cringy, so first I want to change this from ‘hanging outside the girl’s locker room’ cringe to ‘oh no, this 14 year old just read a wiki-how article on how to be confident’ cringe. He’s sincere and good hearted, but much more of a teen boy trying to be cool and it just highlighting his insecurity. As the show goes on, he becomes more confident as a Teen Hero and stops trying to impress assholes.

He’s a tech nerd from a middle class family, so is an expert at working with the supplies he can get. He is also prone to going to ‘hang out with Danny’ and then ditching Danny and Sam to obsess over Maddie Fenton’s latest tech. All attempts to be cool are lost in the face of Neat Electronics.

Jazz Fenton

Pretty much the same situation as canon. Her parents are immature, so she’s decided she’s Danny’s parent, but she’s also a teenager herself and not as mature as she’s decided she is. She barges in to fix problems when it’s not helpful/wanted, but she is also the only reason Danny lived to age fourteen.

Maddie and Jack Fenton

Mostly the same as canon. They do everything 100%, and don’t always notice the world around them. Jack is pure enthusiasm, and tries hard to connect with his kids while utterly failing to notice that they have their own interests and lives. Maddie is a little more perceptive, but easily distracted by her passions.

The family has a decent fortune on a previous Fenton Thermos prototype getting sold as the next Hydroflask. It’s a super trendy, high-class thermos, and Jack and Maddie are endlessly frustrated that their money comes from their world-saving ghost capture device being used as an actual soup thermos. It also means there’s a handy yet unreliable ghost thermos around whenever the story needs it.

Vlad Masters

A lot of Vlad’s goals stay the same, but a slightly more serious tone means he needs to be a bit… less stupid. He’s just as manipulative and self-centered, but he’s a bit better at putting on a polite face to get what he wants.

His ghost form gives him powers, but, like Phantom, it’s much more emotionally volatile. Vlad will often carefully set the stage, only for Plasmius to ruin it all for a chance to get one over on Jack or impress Maddie. If Vlad is trying to convince Danny to work with him, Plasmius will lose his temper. If Vlad is trying to attack, Plasmius will fall to base emotional manipulation.

Valerie Grey

Like Jazz, I pretty much like what she’s already got going on. Get pissed, join the villain, become a reluctant ally as a super and a protective GF in normal life.

Some Major Shifts:

-Tucker and Sam are not initially aware of Danny’s death and find out mid-way through Season 1

-When the story begins, Vlad and Jack are already ‘reconciling’, and Vlad is present around the Fenton house

-The sci-fi elements of the world belong purely to the human realm. The ghost realm is dreamlike and magical, while things like portals and shields are human ways of interfering with the metaphorical and metaphysical.

-Speaking of which, Danny is less ‘gene-spliced half creature’ and more ‘dead ghost possessing his own living body’

-Danny takes longer to become a known presence, managing to keep hidden for most of the first season, then going from ‘legend’ to ‘oddity’ to ‘yeah, the ghost hero, we all know him’

Ghost Powers:Keeping some Phandom lore here. Since it’s not a kid’s show, most ghosts can be actually dead people with regrets. Also keeping ghost cores and Obsessions because it gives an excuse for weird, campy undead on wild missions. (cores - a ghost’s center organ, and also sorta their soul, Obsession - the tendency of ghosts to become wholly focused on their passions or regrets to the point or irrationality)

For Danny specifically, I’m switching from Magical Transformation to Astral Projection. Part of this is for tone shift reasons, but it also adds a few narrative levers. There’s a ticker timer for Phantom to return to his body as Danny could perma die and leave Phantom stuck as a ghost. It also leaves Danny’s body open to possession while his ghost is away. (On the helpful end, it means his body can rest while Phantom does the teen superhero thing)

Phantom is naturally invisible and intangible, but becoming tangible forces him to become visible and neither is easy.

In human form, Danny retains access to extra strength and healing and, eventually, his ice powers, but lacks most of his more ghostly abilities.

Other Worldbuilding Things

The Ghost Zone serves two functions. First, it makes a cushioned pocket between life and death so the realms don’t damage each other. Second, it gives a place for those not ready to move on to dispel regrets. It’s intentionally separate from the human realm because watching the living world tends not to dispel regrets. Concepts from the human world tend to ‘echo’ there, and there’s a second society that some ghosts choose not to leave, sustaining a second life in the Ghost Zone. Most of the non-dead entities (like Clockwork) that live there exist to protect the Zone and keep it stable and functional.

Besides moving on, the way to escape the Ghost Zone is ripping through the border. It takes incredible will, so is usually only doable with a very meaningful ‘unfinished business’. It also does extreme damage to the spirit, leaving them weakened and confused. Entities in the ghost zone also work hard to prevent this as weakening the borders could lead to the collapse of the entire Zone.

The Fenton Portal created a weakened spot between the Zone and the living world and Danny ripping through it turned the weak spot into a permanent gap. Ghosts can cross full without damage and at full power, even if their goals in the human realm are mundane. It’s the gap in the fence all the local teens know, and it can’t be patched.

Stylistic

This will get me eaten alive, but I like switching the jumpsuit for pajamas so the ghost form has kinda loose, simple clothes.

Overall, the show brings big budgeting issues. I like the idea of using underwater footage to get ghost movement and get that floaty look. The ghost zone in general, use everyday sets, but with a strong purple light and a teal kick light. Using sets from other things and taking advantage of the nature of sets to wander between locations in ways that don’t make sense is a plus, but shoots could be at night pretty much anywhere.

I also suggest using different locations for the same location, for example, shooting a scene at a ghost zone diner at various diners, even mid scene.

Romance Thoughts:

It’s the CW reboot. There’s got to be romance, but I’d prefer to keep it on the back-burner. 

Personally, I think Danny/Val has that good ‘conflicting identities’ thing, and it’s a romance arc that isn’t obvious from page 1, which I like. Before that, I think Danny should have at least one tragic romance with a ghost.

Lesbian Sam feels stereotypically predictable, but I also enjoy the idea of shipteasing Danny/Sam before it’s revealed that Sam having a ‘crush’ on Danny has been a long series of misunderstandings as she attempts to hide her huge crush on Jazz. 

Tucker gets an internet girlfriend who nobody believes is real for a solid season. They met getting into petty forum wars over an MMO they both play. Once he has a girlfriend, he switches from Casanova to just constantly bringing up his Girlfriend, Who is Real and Hot and Plays Video Games.

Episode 1: Origin Story

Episode opens with Danny clearly stretched too thin. Sam has managed to force Tucker hiking and wants Danny there too, Tucker wants him there for emotional support, and Jazz thinks Danny should stay home and work on homework. Danny has promised his parents he’ll join them on a ghost hunt. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all point out that Danny doesn’t even believe in ghosts and he always lets himself get dragged into this stuff, while Danny insists this hunt is extra important to their parents.

It’s revealed that the reason for this importance is the Fenton parents reconnecting and reconciling with their college friend Vlad. Vlad is polite, but keeps subtly avoiding saying anything nice about Jack while paying attention to Maddie. (“It’s wonderful to see you again” vs “It’s been a while”) He brings gifts for the kids and asks about their lives.

Jazz is immediately taken with Vlad. He talks about her school life and seems polite and educated, an example of an adult who can handle himself. Danny is a bit more hesitant, pointing out that he doesn’t seem that happy to see Jack.

The Fentons excitedly show Vlad the new portal. Vlad makes an excuse to get everyone out of the room. Afterwards, he excitedly asks Jack to demonstrate the portal. (A later episode confirms he intentionally sabotaged the portal for revenge, but him getting people out of the room should be as plausible as possible so viewers can feel proud for putting it together). Before they can show Vlad, Jack rushes them out on a ghost hunt. He says the portal takes time to warm up

It’s a long, boring car ride. During the ghost hunt, there does seem to be an actual ghost. Danny keeps seeing glimpses of the haunting and is getting genuinely scared. The adult Fentons, meanwhile, are excitedly chasing various non-paranormal occurrences, certain it’s ghostly activity.

They come home late and Maddie insists the portal be left until morning so they can eat and get some rest. Danny decides to get online with friends instead. He realizes the computer won’t work because the portal’s on and tells his friends he’s going to go shut it down while he plays, then sneak down to boot it back up.

We see the ghost from earlier watching and static building on the portal. He reaches out to touch it and the scene becomes surreal. We hear Danny’s heart racing. Danny collapses and, at the same time, is pulled across the portal.

In the final shot, we hear dead silence, no heart beating, and Danny lying lifelessly on the floor. The camera pulls out and his ghost form floats on the other side of the portal, away from the body. He looks confused and frightened and, as the show ends, he’s pounding on the door.

Episode 2: The World Without You

Danny pounds on the wall between him and his body, panicking, and is pulled away by a female ghost (later revealed to be Ember). He’s angry with her, but she points to the guards coming to see what the disruption was about. She tells him he’d never make it through anyway, because he’s not angry enough.

She tells him that she’d never cross over herself, preferring to avoid the madness that comes with breaking through to the human realm, but his case is different. His body is still alive, and, if he returns, he could live again. She asks him what he’d regret if he died now, and Danny talks about his dreams to go to space. It’s not enough, so she attempts to get him angry, but it’s not working. He’s just sad and scared. Finally, she seems to have an idea.

They enter a ghost town and she walks him to an old-style theatre. There is only one movie showing, “The World Without You”. The ghost tells Danny everyone comes here at least once, even though it’s not anything good, but it might help him. She hands Danny his ticket and goes to wait outside. Danny sits down to watch the screen.

We cut to Sam and Tucker. Sam’s trying to text Danny to see what’s taking him so long and Tucker says he’s probably asleep. After an hour, Sam starts to panic, but Tucker points out he had a long day and keeps insisting fell asleep.

Jazz comes down in the morning and finds Danny dead beside the portal. She goes into fix-it mode, refusing to admit he’s dead. Maddie tries to force Jazz away and let the EMTs do their work, Jack looks confused and frightened, and Vlad looks shocked and a bit ill.

The scenes get faster and we see Danny’s community fall apart. Sam blames Tucker for saying it was fine, Tucker points out his death was instant and is sick of taking the blame. Sam runs away and Tucker loses energy for his passions. Jazz is furious with her parents, saying their obsession killed her little brother. Jack becomes obsessed with trying to contact his dead son, leaving Maddie alone to deal with the reality of death.

We cut back to the theatre. Danny sits in an audience of ghosts. All, including Danniy, are crying glowing green ectoplasm. He rushes out and towards the portal. He thanks his guide, and she smiles and tell him to ‘remember he owes her’

The same guards arrive, forcing Danny to fight his way past them. He makes it to the border between realms. Ripping back to reality seems even more violent than the fight, an act of rage against the unfairness of death. He goes to his body and attempts to line himself up with it, muttering hopefully.

There’s a pause and then we hear a strange, sludgy noise that isn’t quite a heartbeat. It speeds up, sounding more like a heart and more like static, building to a frantic roll, then stops again. There’s a single beat, then another, until there’s a strangely slow and shallow, but constant, heartbeat.

Danny’s eyes open with a gasp and glowing green fades to blue.

[torscrawls]

Out of the Loop ch.2

Wordcount: 2,801

Can be read on AO3!

--

When lunch rolled around fifteen minutes later Wes had come to three conclusions.

One. People here thought that ghosts were real. He was unsure if this was because of a huge misunderstanding, a result of mass hallucination, or if Wes had actually managed to stumble upon the only town in the US where people were more into conspiracies than he was. Or maybe it was only a result of poisoned lunches.

Two. The Guys in White were the people behind the security cameras that were everywhere in the school. Everyone seemed to fear them. No one would tell him what they wanted. This couldn’t be legal, right?

Three. Bathroom-boy’s name was Daniel Fenton, called Danny. Or Fenturd, Fentonail, and a variety of other increasingly absurd and childish nicknames if you asked the jocks. Son to the local ghost hunters, best friends with Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, and a huge nerd.

So far he hadn’t been able to combine all three into a configuration that made sense—did Danny work for the GIW? Was the school a test-sight for a government led drug program? Was Danny working for the GIW? Or the supposed ghosts? Who even is the GIW?—and his confusion wasn’t helped by everyone refusing to answer his questions.

Wes stumbled out of the classroom and tried to decide on where to go now, who was most likely to give him some information.

He saw Danny, Sam, and Tucker huddling further down the corridor. Tucker was gesticulating wildly and Sam was nodding along as Danny laughed and shook his head.

Before he had the chance to approach them and get some answers, he was intercepted by Star and several of the more popular students in his class.

“As you know, my name is Star.” She gestured at the people next to her. “This is Paulina, Kwan and Dash.”

Wes noted that the last jock was the one who had tripped Danny when he got back into the classroom earlier.

Dash gave him a once-over before giving a short nod. “You might do. You play any sports?”

“Basket.”

Dash shrugged. “Not football, but good enough.”

“You wanna eat lunch with us?” Kwan asked with a big smile.

Wes sent the trio down the corridor another look, but Star was still the only one who had given Wes any kind of information, however little that might be, so he nodded and decided to try his luck with them first.

As they sat down at a table Wes stared at his lunch with suspicion. He really hoped it wasn’t drugged, even though that would explain a lot.

Star sipped her drink and said, “Okay, so. Here’s the deal.” She placed her hands on the table in front of her and leaned in towards Wes. “We have to be a bit careful when we talk since…” she paused and raised one eyebrow, eyes shifting to one of the security cameras on the walls, “the ghosts can listen in.”

Oh, so they were talking around the issue. That was no problem; Wes was good at reading between the lines. He would make sure the ghosts didn’t find out anything! “Of course.” He winked.

Star pressed her lips together as a furrow appeared between her brows.

Paulina leaned in and causally asked, “You know about ghosts?”

Wes pursed his lips in thought. “I know they’re dead people?”

Paulina shook her head and then said, in an overly enunciated way that Wes had never heard her use before, punctuating each word with a jab of her fork.  “Yeah, no. They're not people. They're monsters.”

“Oh,” Wes blinked. “I thought the whole idea of ghosts was based on the fact that they'd been humans?”

Paulina and Star exchanged a glance before Paulina shook her head. “No. They're all just bad. No personality. No emotions.” She raised her eyebrows and gave Wes a meaningful look. “They are bad. Evil.”

“Okay, alright,” Wes nodded. He understood what they were trying to say; all ghosts were evil and they had no personality. Finally he was getting some useful information!

Kwan joined in, “They’re very much not like people.”

“Yeah, I mean, sure,” Wes agreed with a nod. “They're ghosts. They're not humans anymore.”  He understood what they were trying to say; all ghosts were evil and they had no personality. Finally he was getting some useful information!

Star paused, a small frown on her face. “Right… It's just important to know that they're all very evil.”

She placed a weird emphasis on the last few words and Wes hesitated. This must be her telling him that the last part is extra important. So ghosts are, at the very least, very evil, probably even worse than that but she couldn't explain more because of the surveillance. That had to be it.

Wes patted himself on the back for his quick thinking.

Dash jumped into the conversation with half a potato in his mouth and unnecessarily added, “Yeah, so evil. No exceptions.”

Wes frowned as something occurred to him. “But you didn’t seem to hate the guy with the white hair?”

Star blinked before sending another pointed look to the nearest surveillance camera. “Yeah, no. Of course we don’t like him. He’s a ghost.”

Wes narrowed his eyes. He felt like he might be missing something. He turned to look at one of several cameras on the wall but Kwan reached out to stop him from turning fully in his seat. Wes hesitated and then slowly asked, “Sooo… What’s up with the cameras?”

“It’s the GIW. They make sure were safe,” Paulina said with the same conviction as Wes uses against his dad when he says he’s not going to stay up past midnight reading on conspiracy-forums.

Kwan nodded. “They’re watching and listening in the school to look for… evil ghosts.”

“So who are they?”

Dash, somehow still with a potato in his mouth, said, “The GIW stands for the Guys In White.”

Star smacked his shoulder. “It stands for the Ghost Investigation Ward, idiot.”

“I knew that!” Dash exclaimed in outrage.

Wes nodded. “Ah. So they are a group of ghosts that investigate things, got it.”

Star blinked. “Eh?”

Kwan snorted. “No, man, they investigate ghosts.”

“Oh,” Wes blushed. “Of course. Yes.”

“And hunt them,” Paulina added with badly concealed disdain, “Don’t forget the hunting part.”

“They hunt ghosts?” Wes asked as he finally started on his lunch to try and hide his red face. “Like, for real?”

“Yeah,” Star said before rolling her eyes and sarcastically saying, “Someone has to keep them in check.”

Wes nodded. “Yeah, sure,” he paused. “No, wait, what? Like whacking weeds? Or pest control?”

They all stared at him as if he was crazy. Then Dash gave a slightly strained laugh. “You’re acting as if you’ve never heard of ghost hunters before, man.”

“We don’t… Really have that where I’m from?”

Star blinked and tilted her head. “But then, who fights the ghosts?”

“No one,” Wes said as he wondered what alternate reality he had landed in where he was the sensible one.

Kwan tapped his chin as he asked, "Doesn't ghosts work the same way where you're from?"

"Don't be stupid!” Dash said as he punched him in the arm. “Of course they do. Maybe they just use different words?"

“Right! So,” Kwan said and here the whole table turned to face Wes, “Who controls the ghosts that escape from the Ghost Zone? Wait. Maybe you have another word for that too. What do you call the dimension the ghosts come from?”

They were crazy. This whole town was crazy. Absolutely bonkers. Wes itched for something to write all of this down on. It was too good.

But first he had to try and get this conversation back on track if he wanted more information. “We don't… Have ghosts? Like, at all.”

This statement was met with a stunned quiet.

Then Kwan laughed. “Right. Right. We didn't always have them either.”

Star shook her head. “It feels like such a long time ago.”

Wes saw his chance. “So when did ghosts first appear and how—”

He was interrupted by several people screaming down a corridor, followed by a sudden commotion by the doors leading into the cafeteria.

A group of people burst into the room, pristine white suits gleaming beneath the fluorescent lamps. Only outshone by the raised weapons in their hands.

Before Wes had time to do more than blink, all the students in the cafeteria were suddenly on their feet, displaying a creepily fast reaction time in response to people interrupting their lunch with drawn guns

All the people at his table glanced to the same corner. Wes followed their line of sight but could only see Danny, Sam, Tucker, and a few other students huddled around a table.

One of the men in the white-clad group raised his gun and fired a glowing bolt into the ceiling. Wes squeaked in fear and ducked under the table for the second time that day.

Star looked down at him with clear disappointment on her face. “Seriously, Wes? This again?”

The man that had fired the gun screamed, “We know the ghost that calls itself Phantom is hiding in this school!”

“We saw Phantom on the cameras! Where is he hiding?!”

Wes poked his head out from under the table and hissed at Star, “Why do they come now?! It’s been like half an hour?!”

Star winced. “Yeah… They’re not exactly the most… effective hunters in town.”

One of the people in white, a woman holding some kind of large and beeping device, pointed and screamed, “The signal came from in here! There! In the far corner!”

Wes glanced back to the corner where Danny and his friends had been, but now it was crowded with people; a majority of the students seemed to have moved over to that specific corner and surrounded the table like a barricade. There was still no ghost in sight.

This didn’t seem to deter the men and women in white suits as they scrambled towards the far corner of the cafeteria, ignoring the protests of the students around them.

Wes watched as several students tripped and spilled their food in their way, tripped over stools so they sprawled in front of them, two girls even managed to tip a table to block their way with a giggling excuse of “being so clumsy”.

As the white-clad group passed by Wes' table, one of the maniacs’ eyes landed on him and they paused. “You! I haven't seen you before! Who are you?!”

Wes instinctively raised his hands, bumping into the table above him. “My name is Wesley? I'm new in town?” He didn’t mean to make it a question. But he suddenly had several guns pointed in his direction and felt more than a little nervous.

The woman who had stopped to interrogate him narrowed her eyes. “Hmmm, convenient.”

“Is it?” Wes squeaked out.

She tapped the trigger of her gun, aimed right at Wes. “Why are you hiding under a table?”

“Because you have guns? And ran into the room screaming?” And I don’t know what the fuck is going on, he thought but didn’t add.

“You’re saying you don’t trust the GIW?” She frowned. “I would call that suspicious.”

“You’re the GIW?!” Wes gaped and then managed, “I didn’t even know who you guys were like five minutes ago!”

“How can you not know who we are?” Another man in white spoke up, real confusion in his voice.

“This is my first day in this school! I just moved into town three days ago!”

The woman narrowed her eyes further, grip tightening on her gun. “Maybe that’s exactly what a ghost would say to throw us of his trail.”

Wes was starting to get angry. How dare they accuse him of being something he wasn’t?! The indignity! He would never do something like that to anyone! “How can I be a ghost when I’m not even sure what they are?!”

The woman opened her mouth to no doubt spout even more nonsense, but they were—once again—interrupted by a group of people bursting into the room with drawn guns. But this time it was only two; a man and a woman in aggressively colorful jumpsuits.

Wes distantly recognized the woman carrying a bazooka from when he’d first arrived in town. It didn’t make him feel any better.

“Where is he?!” screamed the woman in a blue jumpsuit.

The man in orange followed it up with an equally aggressive, “Where is the ghost boy?!”

The woman looked around the room. “There was a spike in his ectosignature from the school!”

Wes looked around in dazed confusion, distantly noting that the students around Danny and his friends drew in closer around them, effectively shielding them from view.

The two groups of gun-wielding maniacs—one white and one colorful—nodded to each other in greeting. The woman who had interrogated Wes spoke up, “We think we might have found the bastard!” And then she gestured to indicate Wes.

Wes gaped as the man and woman in colorful jumpsuits perked up. And then immediately raised their guns in Wes’ direction.

Wes shrunk back, trying to fit himself completely underneath the table.

The woman raised some sort of device in Wes’ direction and it screeched and hummed. Wes said his prayers and cursed the moment they had arrived in this insane town.

The woman pocketed the device. “He’s not a ghost.” And she sounded so disappointed by that fact. But then she paused and frowned as she studied the device in her hands. “In fact, he has a lower ecto-contamination than anyone I’ve ever seen…”

She stepped closer, too close. Wes tried to scramble backwards but the man reached under the table, grabbed Wes’ arm and dragged him out and up. Wes squeaked as he dangled in front of the woman, the white-clad maniacs and the whole of the student body of his new school.

Jack hummed, “That’s interesting, maybe we should take him back to the lab to see why—”

Danny poked his head up from the mess of students huddled around him. “Hi mom! Hi dad!”

Jack dropped Wes’ arm and started waving intently at Danny. “Son!”

The woman turned away and smiled wide from underneath her threatening goggles. “Hi honey!”

Wes stared as he massage his arm where the man had gripped it—where Mr. Fenton had gripped it.. That’s Danny’s parents? The towns ghost-hunters?! They were all so screwed.

Star grabbed him by the shoulders and ushered him backwards, covering his retreat with several well-placed students who stepped in without any hesitation. Kwan stepped up to his other side, keeping a steadying hand on his back.

Wes glanced over his shoulder at the man and woman and asked faintly, “Are they the most effective hunters in town?”

Star snorted. “Oh, Ancients no!”

Kwan laughed. “But they are the loudest.”

Star pointed at him. “Can’t argue with that.”

“But…” Wes tried to make sense of what had just happened. “If they’re ghost-hunters, how come they can't even differentiate between a ghost and a human?”

Star pursed her lips in thought, tapping her chin. “You know, it can be surprisingly hard sometimes.”

Wes wasn’t even surprised anymore. He had thought being dead meant being dead and that it was pretty clear-cut, but he had also thought that you weren’t supposed to threaten students with guns, that ghosts weren’t real, and that

Jack’s voice boomed over the chatter of the cafeteria, “We'll let you go this time, but we'll keep our eyes on you!”

Wes turned to see him looking right at him. He scowled. He would be the one keeping his eyes on them.

Wes turned back and caught Danny watching him from across the room, a laugh dancing over his face.

Wes narrowed his eyes at him. He knew something.

Wes would find out how this all fit together and how it connected to Dan—

He froze.

Danny had left the room before the ghost attack.

The hunters had followed their readings, right towards Danny, before they had gotten distracted by Wes.

It was so clear, so obvious. Why had no one else connected the dots?

Danny and Phantom was the same person! The same way his old teacher and the big, scraggly and unkempt dog Wes had seen behind the school had been the same person. He was sure this time! He would prove it.

And he would bring the proof to the whole school; freeing them from being tricked into protecting an evil ghost!

Star looked back at him with concern in her eyes. “You okay, Wes? Did Jack pull on you too hard?”

Wes smiled wide. “No worries. That was just what I needed.”

[empressofthesunwriter]

Cosmic Phantoms

What do you get if you put a sassy Half-Ghost, a bubbly Magical Ghostly Girl, a strongwilled Goth and a skirt-chasing Tech-Nerd together?

Well, the greatest Ghost Hunting Team on Earth!

Join Danny, Julia, Sam and Tucker on their crazy adventures.

Puberty is a joke against the forces they are up to

Shades of Gray

#NO COMMENTS NO CHAPTER

I had fun writing this chapter, even if it took a while to finish it.

For all of you who also read Beauty Is A Curse, I am currently struggling with it, I hope I will soon break the Writer's Block there.

Now please enjoy the chapter!

(*)

Danny's day just kept getting better and better!

First, Dash wanted to take out his frustration on him because the football star received a D in English.

Then, he accidentally spilt Paulina's coffee all over Valerie Gray's new shirt, and now she wanted revenge on him too.

As a result, Kwan was chasing after him as well!

The two football players nearly caught him when Danny felt hands on his shoulders.

Suddenly, he turned invisible and intangible.

He looked up to see Julia holding onto him, and she quickly took them out of the school and into the parking lot.

"Oh, Julie, you are a lifesaver!", Danny exclaimed as she landed beside him.

She giggled and patted his back. "Forgot for a second that you had ghost powers, huh, Danny?"

Crap! She was right!

Danny facepalmed hard at his stupidity while Julia continued to pat his back. "It happens, Danny, it happens."

Just then, both of their Ghost Senses tingled.

Ready to fight, they turned around and saw...

"Oh my gosh, a puppy!", Julia exclaimed.

"A ghost puppy," Danny clarified.

Julia picked up the ghost puppy, and it licked her face, making her laugh. "Aww, you are a sweetheart!", she said.

They both noticed a tag on its collar with an “A” and four electrons orbiting it.

Curious, Julia flipped the tag to see if their new puppy friend had a name.

"His name is Cujo! Aww! So cute!", she gushed.

Danny patted Cujo on the head and smiled. "He is like Dash but with better breath. Now this we can handle."

Suddenly Cujo jumps from Julia's arms and transforms into a huge and unhappy-looking version of himself.

The Halfa's pale.

"Or not."

(*)

For the next hours, Danny Phantom and Julie Cosmos try to catch the crazy and huge turned Cujo around Amity Park, leaving a trail of destruction on their way.

Cosmos hopes everyone is insured.

They chase after Cujo to the Axion Laboratory.

Great.

What does he want there, in a place Adeline Axion-Masters owns?

As they try to pull Cujo away from the lab's titanium armoured doors, the ghost dog makes huge dens in it and sends them flying into the lab.

They land painful on their backs before Valerie and other people.

"What are you two?!", asks Valerie shrill.

Then Cujo enters the room and shakes his head, spraying green glowing slobber all over, but particularly on Valerie.

"I'll tell you what I'm not: coated in dog saliva.", grins Phantom amused, while Valerie screams in anger and disgust.

Without a care in the world, Cujo runs deeper into the labs.

"No, bad dog! Come here!", shouts Cosmos.

She and Phantom run after him.

The ghost dog and the Halfa turn intangible, phasing through an armoured door. Cujo then begins to destroy the lab, knocking over expensive equipment and causing significant damage.

Phantom and Cosmos grap Cujo by his collar, but the ghost dog just drags them along in his path of destruction.

The guards try to stop them and even their security system fails, because they turn all just intangible.

Cosmos, Phantom and Cujo phase out the lab, while Valerie's dad gets fired.

Not that they know it, but they will soon.

For the moment Cujo has outpowered himself, which means Cosmos can grab him now.

The Halfa's fly with their little charge to the Fenton Homes and Cosmos puts him gently into the Ghost Portal.

Phantom closes it with a sign.

What a day!

(*)

The next days word spreads about how Valerie's father lost his job and with it their wealth.

Our quartet drives past the Gray Mansion on their scooters.

Without a word, they stop.

"Whoa! Talk about rock bottom.", says Sam, as they all climb down from their scooters. "They're selling everything they own in a yard sale."

"I feel bad. If I could have stopped that ghost dog none of this would have happened.", signs Danny.

Julia nods in agreement.

"Cujo was for us both a big number, I feel so bad too. We really messed up this time."

Mr Gray walks out of the house carrying a box marked "Family Photos" and goes back in, glumly.

"She's having a hard week.", points Tucker out and then brightens. "Which means, I can catch her on the rebound! Suh-weet!"

On point, Valerie comes out of her house carrying a large box marked "Val's Clothes".

Tucker goes up to Valerie to make a pass.

"Hey, Val. I heard what happened."

"Oh, great.", she huffs. "Word's already oozed down to the bottom of the social grapevine."

Danny and the girls walk also up to them.

"Hey, come on. I know you're upset. But he just wants to help. We all do.", tells Danny.

"I don't.", makes Sam clear, crossing her arms.

"Samantha be nice.", tutts Julia.

"Most of us do. More than three-fours.", says Tucker.

"Thanks, but I'll pass.", gritts out Valerie.

Of course, that's when Danny and Julia's Ghost Senses go off and with a lame excuse they jump on their scooters and drive away.

Only to return to the Gray Mansion as Danny Phantom and Julia Cosmos.

They phase out of the ground and there is Cujo in his big angry form.

"Cujo! What are you doing here?", wonders Cosmos.

"And how did you get out of the Ghost Zone?", adds Phantom.

Cujo growls at them, but Phantom scratches him under his chin.

Happy the ghost dog barks and turns into his puppy form.

"Well, ghost dogs are a lot more entertaining than regular dogs.", musses Phantom to Cosmos, before he lands and looks in disgust at his boot. "Oh, great. Invisible dog poo."

"I stay better up here in the air.", makes Cosmos a disgusted face.

An angry Valerie walks up to them.

"Whatever you two are, get out of here! You and you're stupid dog have done enough!"

"Wait, Miss, this is not-"

Cosmos can't end her sentence as Cujo bites down on Phantom's ankles and drags him around.

"No, bad, Cujo!", calls Cosmos.

"Come on, not again!", groans Phantom.

Cujo doesn't care and drags Phantom into the moving van, where they destroy anything before Phantom can catch him.

Cosmos joins them and they fly back to the Fenton Ghost Portal.

"Okay, Cujo, in you go.", tells Phantom and throws the ghost dog into the Ghost Zone.

"Danny! Poor Cujo!"

"Ah, don't be like that Julie."

The boy stares at his ghost dog's saliva-covered hands.

"Bleech, that's it, I'm getting a hamster."

The two Halfa fly out of the lab, but not with Cosmos saying: "You still shouldn't have thrown him."

(*)

At lunchtime at Casper High, Sam and Julia look on in disgust at how Danny and Tucker wolf down their food using both hands.

There goes their appetite.

However they and probably the whole school see how Valerie gets kicked out from the A-Listers since she isn't rich anymore.

Sad she sits down alone at a table.

"Whoa, brutal.", sums it up Tucker perfect.

"Did you see that?", asks Danny. "Valerie just got scorched by her friends."

"Maybe she needs better friends.", finds Sam.

"My thoughts exactly!"

With that Tucker is up and going to hit again on Valerie.

"Well, he doesn't give up, I give him that.", musses Julia.

Long they can not watch Tucker miserable flirt since Cujo, again, appears and destroys nearly the whole cafeteria.

Everybody runs away in fright, besides Sam, Danny and Julia who are still sitting.

"You two aren't much of a dog catchers.", tells Sam dry.

"Yeah, no kidding. Who let the dogs in?"

Sam was not amused, while Julia snorts.

"See, the song is "Who let the dogs out?" but I said, "Who let the dogs in?". I'll be right back."

Danny ducks under the table to transform.

"Bring some new jokes."

"I better help him."

Julia ducks also under the table to transform.

"Bring a better sense of humour."

Phantom and Cosmos fly up to Cujo who has the lunch lady in his mouth.

"Nice doggy. Easy.", coos Cosmos.

"That lady isn't edible, and neither is anything she cooks.", adds Phantom.

Cujo drops the lunch lady, happy to see them again.

"And neither are we!", they shout together, but too late Cujo tackles them and they phase out of Casper High.

(*)

Danny Phantom and Julie Cosmos stand together on a hill in one of the parks of Amity Park discussing their dog problem.

"I'm telling you, this is one bad dog! No matter how many times we toss him into the ghost zone, he digs his way out through the Fenton Portal and he comes back to us!", laments the boy.

"We are the only Half-Ghosts around her, no wonder he got attached.", reminds Cosmos with her hands on her hips. "We need to train him, ghost or not he is still a dog."

"And how, pray and tell are we supposed to do this, Julie."

Smiling Julie holds up a book.

"Dogtraining for dimwits?"

"It's worth a shot."

Phantom signs and nods at her.

"Okay, let's do this."

Smiling more Cosmos read aloud the first instruction: "A dog's hearing is much more acute than a human's."

"Which means...", humms Phantom in thought and then whistles loudly.

Indeed Cujo appears and runs up to them!

"Hand signals, along with vocal commands, can be a powerful combination.", continues Cosmos.

Understanding Phantom pulls a hand out and shouts a loud stop.

The little ghost puppy stops.

"That's weird. This dog is already trained.". thinks Phantom a loud.

"I don't like in which direction this is going.", gulps Cosmos.

She has a bad feeling in her stomach.

However, it's forgotten as Cujo tackles them both and they roll down the hill.

The puppy licks Cosmos' cheek.

"Well he is kind of trained.", corrects Phantom amused.

Out of nowhere, they hear and then see missiles coming towards them!

Cosmos grasp Cujo and she and Phantom jump in time out of the way.

When they land back down Cosmos places Cujo on the ground.

"Sit, boy!", she commands.

Like a good dog Cujo listens, so the two Halfa can turn to whoever attacks them.

It turns out to be a female in a stylish red suit on a hoverboard.

They can dodge most of her weapon attacks, but the little saws actually cut them!

This shocks the Halfas and makes them realize what danger this Red Huntress is!

Cujo comes to their aid and helps them to dodge the attacks of the Red Huntress.

The Red Huntress smashes against a tree which gives Phantom the time to make a little energy ball which Cujo should catch.

"Julie, we have to detransform!", shouts Phantom in panic as they see how the Red Huntress is back up.

"Trust me!", Cosmos just yells and tackles him into the bushes.

"No escaping me now, ghost boy and ghost girl!", cackles the Red Huntress only to stop and blink before the scene before her.

Julia Heinrich, the pretty red-haired girl who could be with her looks an A-Lister, is pinning Danny Fenton, the biggest loser in all of Casper High, on the ground by the hands and kisses him!

What the heck?!

Suddenly with a loud gasp, Julia stops to kiss Danny and turns pissed at her.

"Excuse you, some privacy?!"

"Uurgh, believe me, I didn't wanted to see that.", groans Valerie. "I always thought the loser would end up with the goth loser, but you? You are clearly way under your liga. Gross."

With that Valerie flies away.

Meanwhile, Julia tries to get her blush under control and not turn into a puddle.

She kissed Danny!

On the lips!

Oh my god!

Okay, it was to distract the Red Hunteress, which worked, but still.

"That sounds like Valerie.", she tells Danny, still breathless and turns to him.

He looks quite lovesick into the air, which makes Julia blush even more.

Did...did he like it?

"D-Danny? You there?", she stutters and shakes him by the shoulder.

This gets him out of the daze.

"H-Huh? What? Yes, I am here!"

"Well..the fake-out make-out worked.", giggles Julia nervous and wanting at the same time to slap herself.

Why did she say that?

She should tell Danny her undying love for him and not find an excuse!

"Fake-Out Make-Out?", repeats Danny...and is she only imagine or does he sound sad?

Nervous Julia plays with her fingers and looks away from him.

"Y-Yeah, to get her off our back, worked wonders, heh."

"Y-Yeah it did."

Both look like tomatoes and can't look each other in the eye.

(*)

The next day in school they tell their friends what happened and how apparently Valerie is now a Ghosthunter.

But Sam and Tucker only care for one thing.

"Wait. You guys kissed?"

"No. It was a fake-out make-out!", correct Danny and Julia blushing.

Sam sends her female friend just a knowing grin, which makes the redhead frown.

Tucker isn't having it.

"But that still has the words "make" and "out" in it, right? Maybe I should try that out on--"

Valerie walks in from a connecting hallway while Tucker is looking back at them.

They collide, and her books go flying.

"--Valerie! Hi. Okay, guys. See ya."

Angry the other three leave but watch how first Valerie is dismissive of Tucker before he says something, which makes her act all girly and cute to him.

And the techno-nerd falls for it hook, line and sinker.

"Great. My best friend has a crush on a ghost hunter.", groans Danny.

"That's life. Well, your life, anyway."

"Harsh, Samantha, Harsh."

Later the three are watching the basketball game together.

Well, Sam tries to make Danny and Julia watch, but they are too nervous.

Cujo could appear out of nowhere again!

And how did Valerie become a ghosthunter in the first place?!

"Hey guys, can we join you?", greets Tucker with Valerie by his side.

From the other three comes a loud and clear no!

Valerie looks down, hurt.

Tucker reassured her. "Of course we can."

They sit down and Valerie turns with a friendly smile to Danny.

"So, Tucker tells me your parents hunt ghosts."

"Did he now? What else did he tell you?", growls Danny and sends Tucker a glare, who at least smiles sheepish at him.

Because of course, they can't have a break, Cujo, in his big bad form, appears and scares everyone away.

Valerie and the Halfa's run in different directions to change into their Alter-Ego.

Cujo phases through the bleachers and begins making digging motions on the floor.

Danny Phantom and Julie Cosmos phase from the floor next to him, Cujo sees them and gets small and happy again, then returns to digging.

"You're looking for something? What are you looking for?", asks Phantom aloud. "Julie you were right. Ghost dog or not, he is still a dog, and he looking for something."

A pink blast was shot which hit Cujo and threw him far down the gym.

"Say goodbye, ghost boy and ghost girl.", snarls the Red Huntress aka Valerie and tries to open a Thermos, like the Fenton Thermos, but fails miserably. "Oh, come on, you stupid thermos!"

The Halfa just stared at her.

Then Tucker lets himself fall on the Red Huntress, which gives Phantom the chance to take her to a basket hoop and wedge her inside it.

When they have chemistry Danny chest Tucker for liking Valerie and he shoots back that finally a girl likes him back and doesn't Danny trust him?

Yeah, Danny trusts him, however, his hormones not.

That's when again loud barking is heard outside.

The Halfa's and the new ghosthunter ask to be excused.

"280 girls at our school, and he's got to have a crush on the one with the weapons and the grudge.", grumbles Phantom to Cosmos, as they and Cujo try to avoid the Red Huntress blasts.

Phantom shoots an ecto laser at Valerie's gun and knocks it out of her hands as she falls off her board to the ground, not catching her this time.

Finally, the three ghosts can breathe.

"Well it's kinda our fault.", reminds Cosmos.

Phantom agrees: "I suppose we should do something to help Valerie after we figure out what to do with you."

Cujo in his puppy form blinks at them cutely.

Cosmos gets out the dog training book.

"Okay...Cujo, fetch!"

Cujo runs off yapping with the halfa's following him.

The ghost dog leads them back to the Axion Labs, where he scratches at a wall.

Phantom and Cosmos wonder what Cujo wants from here when they hear people coming.

They grab Cujo and turn invisible.

So they learn how the lab had guard dogs before and now only one security guard, who is none other then Valeries dad.

Ouch.

Sam and Tucker say the same as they meet up with them before a hill of the Axion Labs.

Since bringing Cujo with them into the lab is not a good idea, Sam and Tucker should watch him.

Phantom uses the Fenton Fisher as a dog leash and binds Cujo to a tree.

With that, both half-ghosts are off again, while Sam and Tucker climb up a tree to not get eaten by Cujo.

Cosmos and Phantom fly slowly around the Axion Lab not knowing what they are looking for.

What does Cujo want from here?

However, they can't discuss this more as Valerie in her Red Huntress get-up attacks them!

They can dodge the blasts of her weapon, but the girl is armoured to the teeth!

One weapon gets knocked down another appears!

Suddenly Cujo comes to their help, but it doesn't help them much as Valerie hits them both with her biggest weapon, making them land in an old Dog Kennel.

"Okay, I know, I wouldn't like what this means!", shudders Cosmos.

It paints a terrible picture.

The old security dogs, Cujo who was part of them and still a puppy...put down...for what?

Phantom pets her shoulder in comfort, which earns him a small smile.

They look around and well Phantom finds what Cujo probably searched for.

An old squeaky toy.

They return it to him just in time before he really hurts Valerie.

Happily, Cujo catches his squeaky toy and then turns into mist.

He can finally rest in peace.

Cosmos feels a bit lighter in her heart.

Phantom tries to explain to Valerie how Cujo wasn't their dog and not all ghosts are evil, sadly she isn't having it and points wrist weapons at them.

Thankful for them her dad is coming which gives the halfa's the chance to flee.

(*)

Our quartet sits the next day in the cafeteria enjoying their lunch.

"Know where the dog went?", asks Tucker.

"Nope.", answers Danny for him and Julia.

"Gonna play it a little safer now that Valerie the Ghost Slayer is around?", asks now Sam.

"Yep."

"Still though...", says Julia. "I wonder where Valerie got all the anti-ghost weapons."

"Or that costume. A costume that stylin' had to cost something, you know?", adds Tucker dreamily.

Sam gives a little smile and tells them: "Well, I don't know where she got the weapons, but I think I know where she got some extra cash. Remember those concert tickets she sold on the internet?"

"No way, you bought them?!", exclaims Julia, with Tucker and Danny letting out little happy shouts.

So we find the four in the evening rocking out to concert of Dumpty Humpty, while Dash, Kwan and Paulina sit beside them looking glummy.

"I can't believe we're sitting next to those losers!", shouts Sam over the awesome music.

The four friends laugh and dance till the last song to their heart's content.

(*)

#NO COMMENTS NO CHAPTER

[ashboy-3]

Someone Believes in You

Written for Dannymay event 2023 Day 24 Prompt: NASA Fandom: Danny Phantom Character: Danny and Lancer Words:1,054 Summary: Danny wants to get into a good college for Space, but he doesn't think he's able to do it. Lancer believes in him.

“Alright, kids. Today we will be discussing jobs. What do you want to be when you grow up?” an older lady asked her classroom of five-year-olds.

“I want to go to space!” a small five-year-old Danny yelled, jumping up and down for joy.

“That’s nice Danny, but we are talking about Jobs today, not plans,” she said gently, trying to not hurt his feelings, as the class laughed at him.

During free time Danny decided to angrily color space and the planets to get his feelings out. “I think space is really cool!” a dark-skinned boy said, walking up to Danny, sitting next to him.

“Do you really!?” Danny asked, eyes shining with excitement.

“Maybe not as much as you, but I think it’d be cool to go to space one day.”

“My name is Danny!” the small black-haired child said, holding out one of his crayons for the other boy.

“I’m Tucker!” Tucker smiled as he took the crayon offering. A friendship was born.

“Alright, class we’re finally starting our section on space,” a tired teacher said, clearly not ready to deal with the middle schoolers before him.

“Finally!” Danny shouted excitedly, cheering in his spot.

“Quiet Fenton. This will not require a discussion,” the teacher rolled his eyes as Danny blushed, Tucker patting his back supportive as Dash and Kwan laughed at the two.

“What nerds,” the Jocks teased.

“Don’t listen to them. I think it’s pretty cool how excited you are for space,” the new girl with short black hair whispered, sitting behind him.

“Really?” Danny asked.

“Hell yeah,” she smiled at him.

“Manson! Fenton! Watch the video and stop whispering!” the teacher shouted as they paid attention.

After class Sam walked in front of the best friend’s desk. “I’m Sam Manson,” she held out her hand.

“Danny Fenton,” Danny shook her hand as she looked over at his best friend. “Oh um, I’m Tucker Foley.”

“Want to go to the Nasty Burger after school and do some research on the different planets within the solar system?” she asked as Danny’s eyes went wide.

“Oh um sure!” Danny shook his head excitedly as Tucker teased him.

“Don’t know what you’re laughing about. We can’t research the whole thing alone,” Sam rolled her eyes as she walked out of the classroom to her next class.

“So what do you want to do when you get out of high school?” Sam asked as Danny showed them the portal his parents had just finished building.

“I want to be an astronaut and work for NASA. I’m good at science and mom is always willing to help me out, but I’m not so good in the math department. I think that’s what’s going to give me the most trouble,” Danny shrugged.

“Makes sense. Your parents did build this huge portal,” Tucker said.

“A portal that doesn’t work,” Danny scoffed.

“Since it doesn’t work let’s get a few pictures,” Sam asked.

Later this day Danny Phantom was born, of course, he did spend two weeks in the hospital but that’s more because of the electricity that he was shot with.

“Alright, kids! College applications time. If you need help come see me after school or during my lunch period,” Lancer said, passing out applications to the seniors, and waiting for them to hand them back in.

It was a week later that Danny was called into his office. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Lancer?”

“Ah, Mr. Fenton yes. Please come in,” Lancer said, Danny, closing the door behind him as he sat down in the free seat. “I’ve reviewed your applications and you want to apply for an Astronomer?” Lancer asked.

“Yeah I’m not fully sure what I want to do, but if a college will accept my horrible grades I would like to go into something space-related,” Danny shrugged.

“Danny you’re grades are not as bad as they were your freshman year. You have done an excellent job of bringing them up. I fully believe that you will be able to get into a space program, that’s not why I called you in here,” Lancer said carefully, looking at the boy who thinks he has already ruined his chance at higher education. Lancer watched as the boy looked up at him with a look in his eyes. A look that Lancer has seen in many of his students that he has tried to save from an edge. A look of surprised hope.

“You really think that I can do it?”

“Danny you are a smart kid. I’ll admit you’re grades gave me a small scare when you were a freshmen, but you have been doing good. I believe that you could be a part of NASA with how good you’re doing,” Lancer praised him.

“Thank you, Mr. Lancer. Really,” Danny beamed at him.

“Now I called you here because you didn’t write down a college, you just wrote down a few states,” Lancer put the application in front of him.

“There are so many options I couldn’t decide,” Danny shrugged.

“Well if you want to get into a good science program I recommend this college here in California,” Lancer said writing down the name. “It’s in one of the states that you wanted to attend so I think it’ll be perfect for you. Just be warned that this course is meant to challenge you it will not always be easy,” Lancer warned.

“I want in,” Danny said, determination burning bright in his eyes.

“You will need to study harder. Take the ACT again and try to score better. I am willing to help you if you are willing to make the time,” Lancer suggested.

“I am. I want to get into this school,” Danny said again, writing down the name of the college on the application.

“Meet with me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for your lunch period and we will get you ready to take the ACT. As a just in case we will also study for the practice exam.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lancer! Really,” Danny smiled, grabbing his book bag to walk out.

“I expect great things from you, Mr. Fenton,” Lancer smiled back. He knows that the young boy will put in the effort and he knows that Danny will truly be a brilliant student meant for the field of astrology.

[phantom088]

Weird Ass Danny Phantom ships

Danny Phantom is one of my most favorite shows, and it has a place for others as well. The character pairing is a bit rough in the show, and admittedly the love line was a bit boring. (Plus the fact that Sam is one of my least favorite character due to the fact she's toxic af.) But it is what it is, and apparently people agree with me on their hate on Sam, so they have started to pair Danny with different characters like Ember, Val, Kitty,... Vlad... wait what?! Vlad? Seriously? Okay that just ain't right, and trust me, there are a whole bunch of ships that just are not right and here's my list on them and why they shouldn't exist. (And these are ships I found people supporting online.)

Danny x Vlad: 1: They are arch enemies (And don't hit me with the enemies to lovers shit.) 2: Vlad wants to fuck Danny's mom! 3: Danny is like 14 while Vlad is a grown ass man somewhere in his late 40s to his early 50s, just like.... WHY?!

Danny x Jazz: Yes, this is a thing and all I gotta say is Sweet home Alabama. (Seriously, they are siblings!)

Dan x Jazz: 1 2 3 go! Sweet home Alabama, Where the skies are so blue, Sweet home Alabama, Lord comin' home to you. (I mean, Dan is still technically Jazz's brother, just from a different timeline.)

Danny Phantom x Danny Fenton: 1: It's pretty much narcissistic 2: It produces weird ass fan art 3: It's basically impossible anyways

Danny x Dash: It's just seems wrong, okay! It's just my view, but I never liked bully/nerd dynamic to lovers, it's just toxic.

Danny x Clockwork: The same thing, HUGE age gap, like I'm talking billions upon billions of year. Clockwork is better off as Danny's mentor then lover

Honorable mention:

This one belongs in the Nicktoons Unite catergory, where people go for Danny x SpongeBob. Yes you heard, SPONGEBOB, a seasponge! It's the worst of them yet, not only is there like a 20 year age gap between Danny and SpongeBob, it's also crossbreeding species! (No offense furries.) It just seems so wrong.

And I've notice the ships I went over is mostly just Danny x _______ ships, and that's not on purpose. I just couldn't find and weird and appalling ships between two characters who aren't Danny and someone else. But I suppose since Danny is the main character, alot more people pay more attention to him and who they want him to love or something, idk.

Other then my random rant of frustration at people who like weird ass ships, this is it lol

[void-multimuse]

Muse Profile: Danny Fenton

Name: Danny Fenton / Danny Phantom

Age: 16

Pronouns: He / They

Orientation:  Biromantic Ace

Height: 5'6"

Occupation: Part-Time Superhero

Moving From: @hybrid-phantom-archived

Character Bio:

Danny is smart-mouthed and generally sarcastic around people he doesn’t trust. He also has a sense of humor and loves to use wordplay to insult any opponents who challenge him.

In human form, he’s known to slouch and sit out in the background to most situations, keeping to himself, his close friends and his sister. He’s generally shy and dorky in public as long as there are no ghosts around.

He’s a huge nerd. When he has free time, it’s often spent playing his favorite video games like Doomed or reading comic books, mostly involving superheroes. (He doesn’t really like picking between Marvel and DC because he has equal fascination in both.)

In ghost form, his personality does a one-eighty and he’s cocky and confident. The freedom of not having to be anyone society constrains him to be, as well as having massive amounts of power allows him to express himself without fear of retribution.

Though he does have an image to upkeep as a ghost too, a fearless hero, and there are some instances that prevent him from keeping up his masks in either form.

Constant ghost hunting when the town is in danger has caused a slip in Danny’s personal life, leaving him tired at all hours and more prone to falling into ghostly instincts.

But overall, Danny has a softhearted disposition, and is ready to take the fall for anything if it means they day is saved and people are safe. Snarky as he is, he always puts other’s lives before his own in every way.

TAG DUMP:

[josnhoes]

Aunty, I like hearing from you because I like you, alright? Anyways, I never watched Danny phantom growing up. My parents thought it was demonic... but yeah. I'm happy it brings you joy. What is the series even about? Sincerely, a wolf.

The series focuses on Danny Fenton a boy who has Ghost hunting mad scientist for parents. His parents built a portal into the 'ghost dimension' (also known as the infinite realms) but the portal doesn't work.

Danny's friends Sam (goth girl social activist and ultra recycled vegetarian) and Tucker (tech nerd who is a carnivor) want to explore the parent's lab (which is in the basement of Danny's home) and while doing so see the portal. Sam convinces Danny to go into the inactive portal and pose for a picture.

While in the portal he trips on some wires and hits the internal on button and the portal activates with him inside. Which essentially kills Danny. But due to the flood of ectoplasm rather then staying dead he comes back. He is now half Ghost, something they call a halfa (dumb name I know) and with it comes a bunch of powers and a ghost form he can take at anytime. It's Danny but inverted colors.

Now that the portal is working a bunch of Ghost start slipping out of it into the mortal plane and after they attack his friends Danny takes it upon himself to become a ghost hunting vigilante with a catch and release into the ghost zone policy.

The show focuses on Danny and his friends lives as Danny learns to control his powers, juggle his school life, family life, and trying to keep his vigilante self secret. Which is a struggle because his parents are unknowingly hunting him in his other form. While most of their inventions don't work on occasionally they make something that does; those things *can* hurt him. But he can usually manage safely with the help of his friends and later his older sister who stumbles on the secret.

The show is a lot of shenanigans and as the series continues gets more complex. Like when the government issues an anti-eco acts (all Ghost and ghost like being Aka liminals are classified as not human and to be hunted down and experimented on) and an introduction of the ghost investigation ward. Or as everyone calls them the guys in white. Because they wear full white suits and act like the men in black rip offs. Though MiB doesn't exist there.

He also has a cast of regularly returning villains, some of which slowly kinda become friends but still fight him and cause chaos.

Then there is Vlad Masters which is a *huge* plot point that I can expand on but the tldr is he was friends with Danny's parents in collage and a smaller but similar accident happened to him as Dany just not as serious. He's obsessed with Danny's mom (Maddie) and hates his Dad (Jack) and plans to steal Maddie from Jack. But he plans on using Fanny and Jaz to do is by winning them over. The fact he too is a halfa is revealed and he and Danny fight. Vlad becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming Danny's new father for a few reasons: they are the only two beings like them to exist, scorn Jack, and with Danny's help win his mother and sister over. When Danny refuses he starts trying to kill Jack and Danny struggles to fight him off and again keep his identity a secret.

Meanwhile Danny's parents have *no* clue about what Vlad is thinking, planning, and doing so they continue to treat him like a close family friend. Much to Danny's pain.

There is sooo much more but those are some of the major plot points which is impressive for such a short series.

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

Not Enough

has anyone else just wanted Danny to go completely fucking feral at Dash? anyone?

yeah me too

this is some truly self-indulgent shit y'all

"Hey Fenton!"

Danny slammed his locker shut, sighing as Dash clapped him roughly on the shoulder.

"I'm throwin' a huge ass Halloween party this weekend, ghosts are all about Halloween right? You should totally come!"

It wasn't the first party Danny had been invited to since being outed as Phantom, but somehow Dash didn't seem to get the hint that he wasn't even remotely interested.

"No." Danny snapped, he threw his bag over his shoulder and turned his back on Dash, walking away without another word.

"What's your problem?"

Danny stopped, turning back around with a face of utter disdain.

"Excuse me?"

"I've been trying to be nice, but all you do is just brush me off! Like you can't even pretend to be busy or something?"

Danny stared, mouth halfway open as he tried to find the words to respond.

"Are you actually serious?" he finally choked out, almost too bewildered to be angry.

Almost.

"You're not still mad about all that stuff from before right?" Dash asked. "Like, I don't even do that shit anymore, it's over."

"Is it?" Danny's eyes flashed brightly and Dash took a half step back as the air went cold. "Because I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday that I pulled Mikey out of his locker."

"Well, yeah but that was Mikey." Dash laughed. "C'mon man, I wouldn't do that to you. We're totally cool now, so why you gotta keep blowing me off? You talk to Kwan like it's not big deal, and he used to wail on you all the time!"

Danny took a deep, slow breath, then another.

"Have you considered that maybe it's because I don't like you?" Danny said through gritted teeth.

Dash huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring at the ground.

"Look, I get it, I was a jerk, but it's over! I'm actually trying to be nice, now you're the one being an asshole."

Danny looked as though he'd been slapped.

"You're such a fucking idiot Dash." Said Danny, his voice trembling with barely restrained rage. "You can't just treat someone like shit every single day for two years and then expect them to get over it because you invited them to a few parties."

"Then how come Kwan gets to hang out with you?" Dash could feel his face heating up. "You're just gonna let him off the hook? That's not fair!"

"HE APOLOGISED!"

In one thunderous moment, every locker in the hallway slammed open, sending papers and books flying across the floor. The few students still packing up their things got the fuck out of dodge, whether this was a ghost thing or a Fenton thing (was there even a difference at this point?) they wanted no part of it.

Dash couldn't move, his feet felt heavy, he wasn't entirely sure if Danny had done something to him with his ghost powers, or if he was just afraid.

Because he was certainly afraid.

Even after everyone found out, Danny still didn't use his powers at school unless it was a ghost emergency. He didn't use them for pranks, didn't use them to get even, didn't even use them to show off.

But he was sure as hell using them now, and Dash suddenly realised why he was always holding himself back.

He was terrifying.

Danny took a few steps forward, stopping barely an arm's length away from where Dash was rooted to the spot, trembling.

"Kwan apologised to me." He said, quietly this time. "He apologised to my friends, he even apologised to some other kids, and when I told him that I wasn't ready to forgive him, he accepted that and left me alone until I was ready to talk to him again."

Dash wanted to speak, but he couldn't seem to make his brain form the words he needed, it was too busy buzzing with danger run danger get out run run RUN.

"You made every single day of my life miserable for two whole fucking years, and that isn't even counting the bullshit you pulled in middle school. How do you feel right now Dash? Does it scare you to be around me? Does it scare you to be at the mercy of someone that you know damn well can hurt you?" Danny leant in, grabbing a fistful of letterman jacket. "I hope it does, because now maybe you'll have an idea what it was like for me going to school every fucking day knowing that you would be there, ready and waiting to hurt me. Every single FUCKING day."

Dash found himself being thrown backwards, his feet finally able to move again as he caught himself.

"I'm s-sor-sorry." he mumbled, his lips felt numb and tingly and his head swam with panic as he struggled to get the words out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Are you?" Danny's voice cracked, his face wasn't twisted in rage anymore, his eyes were blue once again, and shining with tears. "Are you really sorry for hurting me? Or are you just sorry that the guy you were beating the shit out of turned out to be Phantom?"

"I didn't... I didn't know." Dash gasped out, he could barely hear his own words, all he could hear was his own heart beating loudly in his ears as he struggled to draw in breath. "I didn't know it was like that, I just thought-"

Thought what? What had he thought? That he wasn't really hurting anyone? That it wasn't that big a deal?

No, he hadn't thought that, because he hadn't thought at all.

"And you're gonna stand here and tell me I'm an asshole." Danny was almost sobbing as he raggedly spat out each word. "Because I won't forgive you for something you never even apologised for. This is the first time you even acknowledged that you were an absolute jerk to me, and you followed it up by demanding that I just get over it."

Dash stared down at the floor, it sounded terrible when Danny put it like that.

"I wasn't... demanding anything." he said, he was embarrassed by how whiny he sounded. "I was just trying to make it up to you, I was trying, I just thought... it's not fair that I can't have second chance. I was trying so hard and all I wanted was a second chance-"

"I DON'T CARE." Danny's eyes were screwed up tight, but it didn't stop the tears of fury from pouring down his cheeks, his voice so shredded with pain it was barely recognisable. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT. I DON'T OWE YOU A SECOND CHANCE. I DON'T OWE YOU ANYTHING. YOU FUCKED ME UP AND YOU. CAN'T. FIX IT."

Dash didn't know what to do. Danny was openly sobbing, his breaths came out in grunts as he couldn't hold the rage and misery back.

He was still standing within arm's reach, Dash cautiously put out a hand, to comfort him? He wasn't sure, but he barely brushed Danny's shoulder before Dash found himself spinning violently and his cheekbone exploded with sudden pain as he hit the floor. Cold hands drew away from him roughly.

"DON'T TOUCH ME." Danny screamed. "DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING TOUCH ME EVER AGAIN."

Dash watched as Danny grabbed his backpack and his footsteps disappeared down the hall.

It was over, just like that it was over.

Dash sat up and touched his face, he wasn't bleeding but he knew it would bruise pretty bad. It hurt, he would be squinting through one eye for a few days.

Danny could have done this to him at any time, he could have done it to him every day if he wanted, and maybe he would, now that he'd done it once.

The thought made Dash feel cold as dread pooled in his stomach.

The next day Dash told people he'd gotten his black eye from playing football, his team knew it wasn't true, but they didn't ask. He kept his eye out for Danny, wondering if he would pop up invisibly and knock him off his feet, or drag him through the floor, or hit him when nobody was looking.

He clung to Kwan's side all day, afraid to be alone.

Phantom could be anywhere, he could get him anywhere, if he wanted to hurt Dash nobody would be able to stop him.

Nobody had been able to stop Dash, and he didn't even have superpowers.

But in the end, nothing happened.

Dash went through the day untouched. Danny didn't even look his way. Not once. He just acted like yesterday never happened.

But it did happen, Dash still had the bruise on his cheek, and the terror set deep in his bones.

In the following days, weeks, months, Danny still never touched him, never looked at him, never talked to him. Dash realised that Danny probably wasn't going to do anything else after all, that maybe he hadn't even meant to hurt him in the first place.

He was a hero after all, he protected people, even people he didn't like. The only time he had ever come into contact with Dash again was to haul him out of the way of a ghost, and he did so with the same care as he would with anyone else.

Danny wasn't like him, he didn't gloat about hurting him, he didn't revel in the fact that Dash was scared of him. He just went about his day, acting for all the world like Dash didn't even exist.

Dash never gave him a true apology, it was clear Danny didn't want one, it was far too late for that.

It left Dash with a sick feeling of unfulfillment. He understood now what Danny had been going through, the pain, the terror, he wanted Danny to know that he was truly sorry, that he really had changed this time.

But he couldn't, because forcing an unwanted apology on him would just make Dash the asshole all over again, he was trying to steal a forgiveness that he could never have.

So he had to find his closure somewhere else.

He stopped picking on Mikey, and Nathan, and all of the other nerds he frequently hassled. He even tried apologising to them, some forgave him, others didn't, and he had to be okay with that. He struggled not to lash out, it still felt unfair, the world had always told him that you were supposed to forgive people when they apologised. It always happened that way on tv, in the cartoons he grew up watching. The mean kid would apologise, the other kids would forgive him, and they would all become friends.

He was realising that the real world was a whole lot more complicated than that, he didn't earn forgiveness just because apologising was hard, he was learning fast that he didn't earn any brownie points for taking responsibility for his actions. He was just doing what any decent person should.

It took him a while to come to terms with that, to stop being angry at people for not letting him make it up to them. For not letting him prove that he had changed.

All it took was to occasionally pass by Danny in the hallways for him to cool his jets and think more clearly. To remind him that he was the bad guy, he was the one who hurt people, that his victims did not owe him anything.

In his last year of school, he had found himself watching the juniors below him falling into the same behaviours, the same struggle for power and control. Pushing other kids around without so much as sparing a thought to how it made them feel.

After a lengthy chat with Mr Lancer, Dash was given permission to pull out younger students from detention one day a week. He would talk to them, ask about their lives, ask about their feelings. He would ask why they lashed out, why they thought it was okay to treat people that way. Most of them didn't have an answer, or simply refused to give one, but he would push, he wouldn't let them hide in ignorance like he did.

Some of them did feel guilt for the way they treated people, and they only needed someone they could talk to who could understand what they were going through, so they wouldn't take it out on whoever was around at the time.

Others would take more effort, they need a far stronger push in the right direction, they were defensive and combative, selfish and unapologetic.

Dash had been one of those kids, he knew they would be hard work, but he did his best. He couldn't help all of them, some were simply unwilling to change.

So he contacted the school-board, he pushed for better protection for students, more programs to help troubled kids, he volunteered to keep running his own counselling groups even after he graduated.

It still never felt like enough.

After graduation he turned down his favoured college to attend one closer to home so he could continue his volunteer work. He joined petitions and rallies for change across entire school districts, he spoke at other schools' anti-bullying campaigns. He'd attended enough of them in his own childhood that he knew they did next to nothing, but it gave him the opportunity to reach out to kids for one on one support.

He found more volunteers for his counselling groups, he helped people start them up in other local schools. It was a lot of work, especially when he was also juggling his college studies. He was taking a major in psychology, it was brutal, Dash had never been good at studying, but he'd decided that this was what he needed to do, this was important to him.

It still wasn't enough.

It would come at him in the night, as soon as he laid his head down on his pillow. He would see the faces of all the kids he hurt, it felt so much worse the older he got, they just looked younger and younger every time the memories came back to plague him.

He had beat the shit out of children. Kids who were the same age as the students he now counselled. He beat them until they were bloody or bruised, he shoved them into lockers, pulled pranks that humiliated them in front of the whole school, and he had laughed.

He'd laughed at their pain.

When the guilt weighed him down, he would begin searching for new programs to volunteer for, new petitions or rallies to get behind, always finding another way to help protect kids like Danny from kids like him.

And to protect kids like him from doing things that would one day haunt them.

He had spread himself thin across every school in the district, barely keeping afloat at college, but it wasn't enough.

It was never enough.

Kids still slipped through the cracks, schools were still too lenient, there were too many kids, not enough volunteers.

Casper High was holding another anti-bullying assembly. It had been a few years since Dash had attended one at his old school. This year they had excitedly announced that they'd even secured an appearance from Phantom himself.

Dash's blood ran cold, his hands shook as he went over his notes, he was slated to do his speech alongside Phantom's, they would be sharing the stage for a solid 75 minutes, barely a few feet from one another.

When Danny showed up he was already in Phantom form, Dash spotted him discussing emergency exit plans with one of the organisers in the event of a ghost attack.

He was so different from when they were in school.

He was tall, and broad, he stood with confidence and had a good natured charm to him. He was a hero, he was strong, he was brave. He could fight monsters ten times his size with a smirk and a witty one liner. He could take on anything, he wasn't afraid of anything.

He was a kid, running down a hallway, screaming words that still pierced through Dash's mind every time he saw the hero's face.

"DON'T TOUCH ME."

Dash's hands clenched around his notes, shaking so violently that they barely even looked like words.

"DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING TOUCH ME EVER AGAIN."

"Dash?"

A deep voice cut through the chaos in Dash's mind as cold hands closed over his tremblings ones.

"It's good to see you again."

Phantom was smiling at him, his hands still closed around Dash's.

"Good... good to see you too." Dash mumbled, not able to meet the man's eyes.

Phantom paused before releasing Dash's hands.

"I've heard all about your work." Phantom grinned as Dash finally looked up and met his eyes.

"Yeah." he said, and then before his mind could catch up with his mouth, he blurted out, "I'm sorry, for everything."

Phantom's eyebrows rose for a moment, before he gave a gentle smile and clapped a hand on Dash's shoulder.

"I know." he said warmly. "Thank you."

They gave their speeches, Dash had told his story many times before, the victim that he'd pushed to breaking point, the boy whose words drove the change that made him the man he had become.

For the first time ever, that boy was listening.

After the assembly had packed up and the volunteers were heading home, it was Danny Fenton who approached Dash and asked if he wanted to go grab a beer together.

Dash thought it would be rather awkward, but Danny had plenty of experience socialising with the public, awkwardness slid right off him, and soon enough Dash found himself laughing alongside Danny as he told a story about the new misadventures of the Box Ghost.

He returned to his dorm that night, head still swimming from one too many beers, and he had the best sleep of his life.

He pulled back on some of his volunteer work, hunting for new people to take his place as he focused on college. He was falling far behind, but he would work hard to make his way back. As a volunteer he could only do so much, but with the right education and training, he could do so much more.

The guilt still haunted him, every so often when the pressure and the stress weighed heavy, it would creep back into his mind. It would probably never go away, not entirely, but at least now he had his closure.

Finally, it was enough.

[imekitty]

Star Error VII

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Star investigates Danny’s glowing freckles.

-----

"Star, where have you been?" asked Kwan.

Star took her normal seat at the A-List table in the cafeteria. "Nowhere. Sorry. Just had a thing I needed to take care of."

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Paulina, taking a bite of her chicken salad.

Star looked down at the empty table space in front of her. "Oh. Uh, actually, I already ate."

"What did you eat?" Dash grinned, chewing his food as he spoke. "Fenton's face?"

Star balked. "What kind of a question is that?"

"He walked in literally a minute before you did," said Dash, looking over in Fenton's direction where he was sitting with Manson and Foley a few tables away. "His loser friends were here on time as usual, so that means he was also 'taking care of something.' That 'something' probably being you, right?"

"So you and Danny are really hitting it off, huh?" Paulina playfully elbowed her in the side.

"No!" shrieked Star. "You guys have got it all wrong."

"Star, you don't need to keep denying it." Dash took a huge bite of his burger, a glob of ketchup smearing above his lip. "Paulina's dated him, too. Clearly that nerd's got something going on you girls like."

Paulina made a face. "I don't know what you're talking about, but could you please use a napkin, Dash?"

Dash wiped his mouth with his hand. "Paulina, we all remember that week when you were attached to Fenton's hip and we had to temporarily kick Kwan out of the A-List to make room for him."

"I could never forget," sighed Kwan with a pout.

"You're all crazy," said Paulina. "That never happened."

"Come on, Paulina." Dash took another bite, even more ketchup dribbling down his chin. "Just tell me what that nerd's secret is already. I mean, why would you date him of all people before me?"

Paulina pursed her lips. "Well, for one, he's not gross."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Stop talking with your mouth full, Dash! See, Danny's not a pig like you are."

"That's because Fenton barely eats at all. He's a twig."

"He's not a twig." Paulina looked in Fenton's direction and twirled a lock of her hair. "He's put on some muscle this past year. Don't you agree, Star?"

Star rolled her eyes. "Who's keeping track of that?"

"Look, all I'm saying is, I could kick his ass from one end of this school to the other." Dash sighed. "God, I actually kind of miss whaling on him. Coach said I had to knock it off or I'd get kicked off the team."

"Does Fenton know that?" asked Kwan.

"No, and I'm not gonna tell him." Dash smirked. "I'd rather him live in fear that I could pound him any day now."

"He's not afraid of you, you know," said Star with a shrug.

Dash furrowed his brow. "What did you say?"

"Fenton's not afraid of you," said Star more slowly.

"And just how do you know that?"

"He told me."

"Oh, did he tell you yesterday on your little date?"

"It wasn't a date, as I keep trying to tell you, but yes, it was yesterday at the cafe."

"He was probably just trying to impress you." Dash laughed. "You know, act like he's tough for his new girlfriend. But I think it's real cute that you two are starting to get to know each other so well."

Star wrinkled her nose and pouted.

"So how is he?" Paulina nudged her.

"What? How is who? What do you mean?" asked Star irritably.

"Danny," said Paulina. "I mean, is he a good kisser?"

"Shouldn't you know, Paulina?" asked Dash. "Surely you sucked face with him at least once when you were dating him."

"Shut it, Dash." Paulina glared at him. "I'm asking Star a question."

Dash rolled his eyes and stuffed the last bite of his burger into his mouth. "Yes, Star, please tell us what it's like to kiss one of the biggest geeks in school. We're all dying to know."

"I just want to know if he's better than me," said Kwan anxiously. "He's not, right?"

Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting. Star chewed the inside of her cheek as her eyes darted between them.

And a few tables over, Fenton was chatting it up with his friends, all smiley because he had the upper hand again.

And then Star got an idea.

"Well, actually…" She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "We haven't kissed yet. Fenton—I mean, Danny says he wants to practice a little more first. You know, to make sure our first kiss is perfect."

"Practice?" Paulina tilted her head.

"Yeah," said Star, grinning. "He has all these dolls and pillows in his room that he likes to practice on. They all have pictures of girls at our school taped to them. He says it makes it feel more authentic."

"Ew, are you serious?" Paulina crossed her hands over her chest and shuddered.

"No way, he doesn't do that, does he?" Kwan's eyes were wide.

"He's got at least a dozen of them," said Star. "He mostly uses pictures of cheerleaders."

"Oh, I have to tell everyone right now." Dash whipped out his phone and began furiously typing out a text message.

"Cheerleaders, so does that mean he has a doll or pillow with my picture on it?" asked Paulina.

"Oh, yeah." Star nodded. "I think he might practice with yours the most."

"Ugh, gross." Paulina stuck out her tongue. "But is it at least a good picture of me?"

Star's smile dropped. "Is it—what?"

"Just tell me it's not that picture of me after I ran that marathon last semester, is it? Where I'm all sweaty and my eyeliner is running?"

"Uh—"

"I know it's been circulating between all the boys, so please just tell me he's not using that one because I really hate it."

Star rolled her eyes. "He's using a great picture of you, don't worry."

Paulina sighed. "Okay, good." She also pulled out her phone. "The other cheerleaders are going to want to know about this, though."

Star smirked triumphantly as Dash and Paulina busily typed away on their phones, then she turned to look at Fenton across the way, catching his eye after just a few moments. She waved at him and flashed her most dazzling smile. Fenton's brow furrowed, his bottom lip sticking out slightly in a puzzled frown.

Star flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned away. The game was back on.

Part 8

[artistfingers]

I’ve realized after reading EVERYTHING in the Undercover AU that there is very little mention of Dash. How is he in this au? Just as bad? Worse? Better? Still a Phantom fan?

[Undercover AU]

oh my god i’ve literally never mentioned dash in this au have i?? Which is wild because i actually really like him as a character.

Hmmm. Dash is a big Phantom Phanboy, of course. (like Paulina, he really wants one of those coveted color-swapped DP hats). And on the whole, he’s still a bully, but… not to Danny. I’ve pictured Danny leading an extremely isolated life as his human self in this au; he doesn’t have a strong connection to anyone, not even Dash, and Dash doesn’t have any reason to push Danny around when he doesn’t even really know who he is, let alone if he’s a weird weak nerd or not. In fact, the only blip Danny is on his radar is as Jazz’s little brother (who is kinda cute); even Jazz he only thinks of in terms of “that girl who’s tutoring him (and is kinda cute)”

Reason being, since Danny does as much as he can to stick out as little as possible as a human—both before and after having a huge half-death secret to keep—and that includes being low-key about his family’s professions, so not even that name means much to a lot of kids for a long time. People in their grade barely know who Danny is at all.

until. Until. Danny starts having more and more of a presence around the school, around ghost attacks, visible friendships with Known Entities, the Local Goth and Geek Freaks. rumors eventually get around that the three of them are friends with Phantom, and you know Dash is trying to convince them to give up their secrets as to how they met and befriended him so that he can replicate it because why should those three weird nobodies be the only ones who get to hang out with Phantom??

(oh ALSO i posed the Dash question to Jube and we started kicking around the can on dash having a bi-awakening crush on Danny in this AU despite having only ever spoken two words to him while being tutored at the Fenton household which honestly, i love that jsadhflksd SO,,, take it as canon or don’t but i just might)

[kitkat-4772]

@obsession-broke-containment @tu-turu-turuh amazing job both of you. I decided to post these screenshots as well because I feel like the two would mesh very well together.

Danny takes Kon and RR back to the Watchtower for medical care and stays with them until Kon is better. This gives him time to cope with this new revelation, and Constantine has enough time to gather the JL and JLD together for an emergency meeting. Batman comes in to call RR in to join and sees a slightly more animated R-13 (does he have a name yet? Did he bother giving it? Maybe a temporary nickname?) and gets a summarized report that the clone kid finally broke out of his own mind and is ready to give answers.

R-13 joins the meeting. Constantine walks into the room and immediately recognizes Danny as King of The Infinite Realms and asks what the bloody he-(*bat-glare of Doom*)-eeeck happened that made the glue of reality bug out like that?

Much trauma dumping ensues.

I don’t know how to write the hellfire that rains down on the GIW after this so I’ll let someone else do that. But I imagine that later once all the dust settles and the multiverse isn’t on fire, R-13 recovers enough to relax around the other heroes and maybe even make some death jokes with Jason and hopefully nerd out with Tim. They finally get to see a side of him they didn’t know existed until now. And it’s a huge relief for everyone.

Then he gets found by his old friends and they must now face both a hard truth and an even harder decision. Danny Fenton is dead. Truly, fully dead. He got neither a grave nor a burial, and he couldn’t even have a peaceful death. His friends/family only found out through the internet when rumors of a clone with very familiar powers got out.

And since we established back in the second post that this is (probably) a Good Fenton Parents au, I imagine they’d probably want shared custody of their reincarnated son (None of the bats are letting that happen. Not after all they learned.) but may resign to visitation (only because R-13 would be upset at not being able to see his old family again).

Would he want a grave for his past self? Or would he simply let himself continue living? Not letting himself grieve his lost innocence in favor of choosing to give himself a second chance with whatever’s left of his “childhood”.

Speaking of childhood, I feel like the Kents should get main custody of R-13. They would probably be the ones to give him a name. They’d probably have some midwestern name that sounds enough like home to be comforting but not enough to bring bad memories. Probably something related to apples or birds. Maybe both?

DP x DC Prompt/Plotbunny #6

After days? weeks? months? years? in this mercy-forsaken lab, Danny finds himself slipping; his core straining under the weight of what he's been subjected to. In a last ditch effort to save his fracturing soul, his brain simply stops processing the pain and allows his mind to escape into a waking dream.

Danny knows it's a dream. If he thinks about it; he can still hear, see, feel the scientists at work. He doesn't think about it; instead embraces whatever false world his mind decides to concoct for him.

.

Several states away, a young boy opens his eyes to the inside of a strange pod in an abandoned lab. Though he cannot see it yet, a strange metal tag dangles from his ear, stamped on one side with the word 'CADMUS' and on the other with 'R-13'.

[jknerd]

Danni Phantom AU: Tulie Foley

Gender: Female  

Age: 15  

Species: Human  

Occupation: High School Student  

Residence: Amity Park  

Aliases: Tully, Technogeek  

Interests: Technology, meat  

Friends: Danni Fenton, Sam Manson, Jass Fenton 

Love Interests: Valiant Gray (formerly), Skylar   

Enemies: Dash Baxter, Paulo Sanchez, Ghosts, Vlad Masters  

Relatives: Maurice Foley (father), Angela Foley (mother)   

Character  

Tulip "Tulie" Foley is one of Danni's two best friends and a huge techno-nerd. She uses her expertise in the field of technology to help Danni fight ghosts. Having stated she is Danni's close friend "since forever", she usually helps Danni through the use of her PDA and phone, which she uses to hack into various technological systems such as Skulla's armor or Nicole Technus' techno-suit. It was further revealed that she is a reincarnation of Egyptian Pharaoh Hotep-Ra's beautiful wife "Anck-Su-Namun" whom she has strong resemblance with as well.   Very optimistic, talkative and light-hearted with jokes, her cloying geeky, and appealing nature is not popular with the other students of Casper High, but she is clueless of Skylar's feelings for her. But her "true love" is technology as she "lives" for her phone, PDA and laptop. She is also highly observant of the situation, catching Sam's feelings for Danni.