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Easier When Unknown

Summary: Danny could have imagined his life would be interesting after everyone learned his secret, but he didn't think it would be this different.

Author's Note: A phic phight fanfiction! Here are the two prompts:

AU where no one knew Danny was Phantom until PP (or some alternate big reveal of the author's choice). Sam and Tucker are sure that a famous hero like Danny Phantom is too cool to be their friend again, especially since they haven't talked since before freshman year of high school. Danny just wants to be part of the trio again and has no idea how to ask.

Danny finds out that Sam's been being bullied at school and has been hiding it from him and Tucker out of embarrassment.

...

Danny’s life definitely didn’t get easier after his identity was revealed, but it didn’t get that much harder, which was good. Right?

Or, well, that was a little bit of an oversimplification. His life definitely got harder in a lot of ways. People stared at him wherever he went. Suddenly all of the popular kids at school wanted to be best friends with him, like he couldn’t see through that change of pace from a mile away. There were news stations constantly vying for the first interview with the half-ghost kid who defeated the Ghost King.

But his parents stopped hunting him. And they were going to try to work things out. And Jazz revealed that she’d actually known for a while now, and that made her more ready to adapt to everything, and she didn’t treat him like anything had changed.

And all of that kind of evened it out, at the end of the day. Even if he wasn’t exactly sure he was ready to go from town’s enemy to world’s hero.

Because that was another part of this: word of Amity Park, ghosts in general, and what he’d done had been spreading like wildfire since he’d put Pariah Dark back in his coffin. Suddenly everyone was talking about him, and everyone knew him, and, as stated with the aforementioned journalists, everyone wanted to talk to him. He woke up every day to see news trucks that were local and ones that were very much not right outside his house. He’d flown intangibly to school every day for the past month.

Ancients, all this fame needed to die down soon. He wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take.

He was often so caught up in everything changing all at once, however, that he didn’t have much of a chance to think about things he might want to happen. Which was why he was a little caught off guard that morning. He was running from the daily mob of screaming girls who wanted his autograph (which was never something he thought he’d get sick of), and after getting at least a little bit of a lead on them, he turned intangible and dove through the door to the janitor’s closet, then turned back to normal and rested his hands on his knees, panting slightly to catch his breath.

“Uh,” came a very familiar female voice, and Danny’s head shot up. He found standing on the other side of the closet the one part of his life that hadn’t changed.

And for a long, long moment, he and Sam and Tucker just stared at each other.

Danny’s feelings about Sam and Tucker had never been more mixed. They really were the one aspect of his life that stayed the same post identity-reveal-to-the-entire-world, and he couldn’t decide whether to thank them for the consistency or be pissed at them for the audacity.

Because he hadn’t talked to Sam and Tucker since the beginning of Freshman year.

And then his secret was revealed to the entire world.

And he still hadn’t talked to Sam and Tucker since the beginning of Freshman year.

“Uh,” Danny said finally, because they couldn’t just all keep staring at each other. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Tucker said. Sam nodded in acknowledgement.

Really, guys. Work with him a little bit, please?

“Are you hiding from people too?” Danny asked, pushing himself up using his knees.

“Yeah,” Sam said.

“I didn’t think you’d be hiding from anyone anymore,” Tucker said, and Danny didn’t miss the tinge of bitterness in his voice.

“Um,” Danny said. He didn’t seem to have any more words for Sam and Tucker than he had a year and a half ago.

“Danny!” came from outside the closet, and Danny whirled around instinctually. “Get back here! What makes you think you can run from me?”

“Hey you mind if I hang out here for a bit cool thanks,” Danny said, moving across the closet until he was right across from Sam and Tucker. A second later, the door handle started jiggling, and Danny turned intangible, even though he could feel Sam and Tucker’s stares.

The door swung open and Paulina poked her head in.

“Oh, it’s just you two,” she said, disappointment obvious in her voice. A second later, she perked up. “Hey, you haven’t seen Danny, have you?”

“No,” Sam said, crossing her arms. “Would you back off? We’re trying to hide in a closet here.”

Paulina laughed. “Sure, okay. Have fun, losers.” She slammed the door after herself.

Danny dropped the intangibility as soon as she was gone with a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” he said to Sam and Tucker.

“Don’t mention it,” Sam grumbled, and leaned back against the shelf behind her. “I’m surprised you didn’t want to see her, though.”

“Honestly, yeah,” Tucker agreed, giving him a weird look. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d turn down Paulina.”

“It’s not that,” Danny said. “I mean she… she’s not…”

The warning bell rang, and all three of them looked towards the door, where they could hear it outside. For a second afterwards, none of them moved.

Sam did first, pushing herself off the shelf. “Bye,” she said, starting towards the door. Tucker followed her closely.

Danny tried not to make his deflation obvious. “Yeah, okay,” he muttered. He turned intangible again, and slipped through the floor, rather than try and go past them.

It was only when he actually made it to his homeroom that he realized he still had no idea why Sam and Tucker were in that closet.

…

“Hey, Fenturd— I mean Fenton!”

Danny heaved an internal sigh and looked up from his tray of food to find Dash and Kwan walking up to his table.

“Are these seats taken?” Dash asked with a grin, gesturing at the as-of-yet empty table around him. He’d gotten to lunch early in order to try and hang on to one.

“Yeah,” Danny said to Dash, leaning over to rest his chin on his hand in what was intended to be a representation of how little he wanted them here. “I’m holding it for all of the ghosts that are going to show up during lunch and blast you across the room.”

“Ha, you’re a riot Fenton!” Dash said, completely ignoring Danny’s tone and face and sliding into the seat next to him. Danny cringed and didn’t bother to hide it, sliding as far away from Dash as he could. Unfortunately, Dash just slid right down after him, which resulted in Danny nearly being pushed off the bench and Dash not noticing.

Kwan followed his lead and took the seat across from Danny, meaning Danny was forced to look in boredom to the side to avoid both of their gazes. He waited a couple extra seconds, but eventually it became clear that neither of them were going to move. So, Danny sighed, resigned himself to his life, and picked up one of his terrible school-lunch chicken nuggets.

“So, we were both thinking that maybe you could come watch one of our practices!” Dash called, slinging an arm around Danny’s shoulder. “The football team’s, I mean.”

“Why would I do that?” Danny asked, making his shoulder go intangible just long enough for Dash’s arm to fall through.

“Well I mean, it would be neat to have you there,” Dash said, glancing across the table at Kwan. “Right Kwan?”

“Totally,” Kwan agreed with a grin of his own. “And I mean, you’re pretty good with athletic stuff. You know, when you’re a cool ghost fighting superhero and not a weak dweeb. Maybe you could come as Phantom, you know, show us some tricks!”

“Gee, that sounds great,” Danny deadpanned. “So am I just supposed to ignore the insults in there, or…?”

“Hey,” came Paulina’s voice, and Danny turned around to see her walking up behind them all. “Can’t you two leave him alone? It’s clear he doesn’t want to be bothered by you.”

Danny blinked in surprise. He really hadn’t expected Paulina to pick up on that. Maybe she actually—

“He’d clearly rather be sitting with me!” Paulina said, reaching down and pulling Danny up by his arm.

“Okay, that’s it!” Danny went intangible again and slipped out of Paulina’s grasp, then grabbed his lunch and walked out of the room, straight through the doors without bothering to open them.

He made his way out to the front steps of the school and sat down, and managed to get through at least a couple bites before he remembered the reason eating outside was also a bad idea. The reminder came in the form of a reporter and a camera man leaping out from what he thought was a normal van sitting across the street.

“Mr Fenton!” called one of them as he ran up towards the steps. “Or would you prefer Mr Phantom?”

“I’d prefer solitude,” Danny snapped, leaning back and away from them both.

“Oh absolutely! Just a couple of quick questions first of course, you wouldn’t mind.”

The door slammed open behind them, and Danny prepared himself for Dash or Paulina again when, to his surprise, Mr Lancer stepped down the steps and stopped right in front of him.

“You’re on school property,” he said, crossing his arms. “You have two minutes to get back in your van and drive away or I am calling the police.”

“Sir, can I ask, how long have you known that one of your students is dead?” the reporter asked, shoving a mic in Lancer’s face.

Lancer raised an eyebrow and pulled out his phone, then started dialing 911. Thankfully, the reporters turned and ran back across the street before he could finish.

Lancer turned back around as soon as they were gone. “Are you alright?” he asked, casting a concerned look down at Danny.

“Fine,” Danny muttered, picking up his tray and climbing to his feet. “You know. Great.”

Lancer looked at him for another second, then said, “Mr Fenton, come and eat your lunch in my classroom.”

“What? Why?”

“You can sit out of view from my door,” Lancer said. “It’ll give you a break from the crowds.”

Danny felt a knot in his chest loosen. “Really?”

Lancer gave him a sympathetic frown. “I can’t imagine it’s an easy thing to deal with all the time,” he said. He opened the door again and gestured for Danny to go first, so he did.

And for the first time in a while, he ate his lunch in silence.

…

He wasn’t expecting to see Sam and Tucker again that day. Most of the time his time at school was spent avoiding every single person he possibly could. The morning incident in the janitor’s closet had been a once in a blue moon event.

But, as fate would have it, there was a ghost attack during the last period, and after going and taking care of it (just the Box Ghost showing up as an irritation), he landed behind the school to find Sam and Tucker leaning against the wall and talking.

And while he’d originally come back here to try and avoid all of the cheers he’d get going right back into class, he was sort of regretting that decision now.

Sam and Tucker were clearly deep in conversation, but they noticed when he landed right in front of them, and then they all got to do a lovely repeat of that morning’s staring at each other.

“Hiding again?” Tucker asked eventually.

Danny nodded. “You too?”

Sam nodded.

Danny gave them a curious look. “From what?”

“Danny!”

Danny groaned audibly this time, as Star ran around the side of the building and straight for him.

“That was so cool the way you just flew off like that!” she called. “Not a second thought to how you might be putting yourself in danger!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Danny said, already starting to fly away. “Make my excuses in class, will you? Got to get this really dangerous ghost back to the portal right away and send him through to the ghost zone. Great thanks bye!”

He flew off maybe a little bit too quickly for the given situation, but he couldn’t stand another second there, and school was basically over anyway. He made it home pretty quickly, and thankfully wasn’t stopped by any news outlets on the way, though that was likely because he made the whole trip while intangible.

But while he made it inside without any fuss, as soon as he flew down to the lab he was greeted with his parents working on what looked like a weapon of some kind.

He winced. He was never quite able to stop the touch of fear that came with his parents working on a ghost weapon. After a second, though, he floated down to the ground anyway and changed back from his ghost form.

Both his parents startled and looked over at him.

“Danny,” his mom said. “You’re back early.”

“Yeah uh, ghost fight in last period,” Danny muttered, heading over towards the portal and attaching the thermos to it. “School was already basically over, so I just came home.” He hit the button on the side of the portal and sent the Box Ghost flying into the portal, crying out dramatically all the way.

“Well that’s nice,” Mom said, the tension in her voice obvious.

“Yeah, uh, anyway I have homework,” Danny said, starting for the steps. He had a feeling flying up through the ceiling wouldn’t be a great idea right now.

“Will we see you for dinner, Danno?” Dad asked. “We were hoping to all eat together tonight.”

Danny tightened his grip on the railing of the stairs. “Okay.”

He considered asking what they’d be having, but given the tension in the room he really didn’t think he could spend much more time in the lab.

So instead, he just said “See you later,” and headed upstairs.

It’s not that his parents had reacted badly to the Phantom news. They’d done the important stuff, they’d given him a huge apology and stopped actively hunting him. But none of them seemed to really know where they stood with each other anymore. Danny didn’t logically think they were going to hurt him anymore, but it was difficult to get rid of that fear response that for the longest time, it made sense to have.

But at the same time, he could tell it made them feel guilty to see him be scared of them. Jazz said it wasn’t his fault, and she was probably right. But he still hated it.

He started first for his bedroom, and made it part of the way through the living room when the front door opened and Jazz sprinted in, slamming the door shut on nearly a dozen reporters. Danny could still hear their voice through the door after it shut. Some were asking how it felt to be the brother of a hero, some were asking how long she’d known and how she’d found out, and some were asking how it felt to know her brother was dead.

Jazz heaved out a breath, though all of the reporters were still easily heard through the windows. Then she looked up and met eyes with Danny.

“Oh hey,” she said, clearly still exhausted. “How was school?”

Danny didn’t respond, instead gazing out the gap in the curtains to the people shoving cameras in it.

“Sorry,” he said to Jazz.

“Oh, don’t you dare,” Jazz said. “I know you hate them as much as I do.”

Danny sighed and looked down. “Yeah.”

“Are you doing okay?” Jazz asked hesitantly. “I’m sure it’s… a lot.”

Danny snorted. “Understatement.”

Jazz smiled a little. “Yeah.”

Danny turned to face her more directly, chewing on his lip. He’d avoided the topic with her so far, mostly because too much was going on, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been desperately curious. “Can I…” he said hesitantly. “Can I be like one of those awful reporters and ask you how you found out?”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not a reporter, you’re my brother. And I know if I tell you it’s not going to end up on the 5:00 news.”

She paused, and turned and glanced out the windows for a moment. “You want to go upstairs, though?”

“Yes,” Danny said immediately.

So they both ended up in Jazz’s room, sitting next to each other on her bed, with the curtains drawn tight in case the helicopters came back.

“I found out during the Spectra thing,” Jazz started. “I spotted you transforming.”

Danny nodded, thinking about that. “Okay,” he said quietly. “And… why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted to wait until you wanted to tell me,” Jazz said. She sighed, and glanced towards the windows. “I guess that didn’t really work out.”

“No,” Danny muttered. “But… I appreciate the sentiment.”

Jazz turned to look at him, concerned. “Are you doing okay? I mean, obviously not, just… you know.”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Danny said, rolling his eyes. “I always hoped that everyone would learn my secret in the aftermath of an exhausting battle when I was definitely not prepared for them to learn, and then I’d be hounded by literally everyone who suddenly feels entitled to my attention and my time. Dream come true, this is.”

“I’m really sorry it turned out this way,” Jazz said quietly.

Danny sighed. “Me too.”

“Is there anything I could do to be helpful?” Jazz asked.

“Do you know if anyone’s figured out time travel yet?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Dammit.”

There was a moment of silence, and Jazz said, “I mean it.”

Danny shook his head. “There’s nothing you could do that you aren’t already doing,” he said. “You’re not looking at me different. Like your entire worldview’s been flipped on its head. Which, I mean I guess for a lot of people it has, but… still. It’s nice that you’re not.”

Jazz was quiet for a moment, and then she reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. And despite how totally lame it was to hug his sister, Danny did the same back.

“Still, if you want me to stand in between you and anyone, just let me know,” Jazz said.

“I wouldn’t ask you do that,” Danny said, pulling back, though he was smiling a little. “I can just fly away from the news vans, and go intangible to get away from the helicopters. And Lancer already gave me permission to hide in his office during school hours if I ever need to.”

“Good,” Jazz said with a nod. She paused for a second, and Danny got the feeling she was about to ask something delicate. He was proven right when a second later she said, “And what about Sam and Tucker?”

“What about them?” Danny said, glaring away. “We’ve said about ten words to each other since everything happened. And about half of them are ‘um.’”

…Okay, so maybe he’s a little more bitter than he realized. He sighed.

“I can’t expect everything to suddenly change,” he said, turning back to Jazz. “Our falling out had nothing to do with Phantom.”

Or, it technically did. Their falling out had been because he constantly ditched them and left mid-way through hangouts. Because he was Phantom, and had to go fight whatever ghost had shown up. But they didn’t know that at the time. And it had been over a year since they’d talked. They had probably moved on.

“You should still talk to them,” Jazz said. “And I mean really talk to them.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see much of an opportunity for that in between getting interrupted every ten seconds, either by classmates or reporters,” Danny said. He paused, and turned to look at Jazz as a realization struck him. “Hey, how are you doing with all that, by the way? It doesn’t look like the reporters are leaving you alone.”

“They’re definitely not,” Jazz said. “But I can handle myself. Besides, they tend to leave me alone as soon as they see you.”

Danny smiled a bit. “Glad I can take that off your shoulders for you.”

“Oh yeah, if anything you owe me,” Jazz said with a smile. “After everything I did for you?”

“I think I’ve saved your life three times now.”

“Do my dishes for a month and we’re even.”

Danny snorted. “Sure, you got it.” He took a deep breath, feeling lighter than he had when he got home.

“Hey, thanks, Jazz,” he said, looking over at her. “You’re surprisingly easy to talk to.”

“Anytime,” Jazz said, smiling warmly at him. “I mean it.”

…

The next day didn’t start much better, with flying invisibly to school and hiding in various places until first period starts, but Danny found himself in a better mood despite it. Talking with Jazz had helped, and knowing he’d have a quiet place to eat lunch helped too.

He still didn’t love being swarmed in the halls on his way to his first period after the warning bell rang, though. Maybe he could use his well-established reputation for being late for everything and just hide until the halls were empty between classes.

…Or would that not work anymore because everyone knew the reason?

Well, he’d give it a shot anyway.

First period was uneventful, thankfully, aside from everyone spending the period staring at him while he was trying to focus, which was nothing new. He could tell it was irritating both him and the teacher, however, because eventually he set his chalk down from writing math equations on the board.

“Anyone who doesn’t stop staring at Mr Fenton loses an entire letter grade on the next test,” he snapped. “This is school, this is not your free time. Mr Fenton, thank you for at least trying to pay attention.”

“Anytime,” Danny deadpanned, because he wasn’t about to turn down a compliment from a teacher, and he really was trying.

Apparently the threat of losing a letter grade was only enough to sway a couple students, though, likely the ones who hadn’t entirely given up on their grades like he had.

(Although maybe the administration would go easier on him now…?)

Either way, he managed to get at least some of the notes down by the end of the class, and going up to the teacher to ask if there was anything else he absolutely needed to have written down seemed to put him on his better side. Being a teacher’s favorite was also something he wasn’t used to.

And as a second bonus, staying behind and finishing the notes resulted in a late pass, meaning he could wait until everyone had filed out of the hallway.

Or at least, he thought that’s what he was doing.

Instead, as he turned a corner towards his next period, he stumbled across Dash shoving someone inside a locker. And instead of adding him to the bunch like he used to, when Dash spotting him he brightened.

“Fenton! You want to help me stuff these losers in here?”

“Not really,” Danny said, starting over towards them to help out whoever he was bullying. “You know, if you’re really trying to get on my good side, you might try—” he stopped as he reached the locker.

Well, apparently Dash really didn’t care about getting on his good side, because staring back out at him were Sam and Tucker.

“Uh, hey Danny,” Tucker said, waving at him from inside the locker.

Danny turned back to Dash, raising an eyebrow in what hopefully came across as “are you fucking kidding me.”

“Aw, come on, you’re not trying to say you still care about these losers,” Dash said, like the very idea was ridiculous. “You can hang out with anyone you want now! By the way, you’re still coming to football practice later, right?”

“Probably not,” Danny snapped. He held a hand out to Tucker, who grabbed it. Danny turned him intangible and pulled Tucker out until he could stand on the floor.

Tucker looked a little off balance after he let go, but Sam still grabbed his hand when he offered the same to her.

“Okay,” Tucker said as Danny set Sam down. “A little warning next time maybe?”

“Sorry,” Danny said. He glared back over at Dash. “Beat it.”

“Aw come on Fenton, you know I didn’t mean anything by it, I just—”

“Beat it or I tell everyone about that time you wet your pants after I saved your life from the Box Ghost.”

Dash went pale, and then quickly left.

“Wait,” Sam said. “Really?”

Danny snorted. “Oh yeah,” he said, turning back to face them. “I could tell you stories about what Dash is like when he’s in danger.” He paused, looking at them both in concern. “Are you guys okay?”

Sam glared away, crossing her arms. “Fine,” she muttered, a note in her voice that Danny couldn’t read.

“Thanks for the help,” Tucker said. And then they both turned around, clearly about to leave.

“Wait!” Danny yelled after them. “I— please.”

They both turned hesitantly back around.

“We’re late for class,” Sam said.

“I’ll tell them you got caught up in a ghost attack,” Danny said. “Just, please can we talk? Just once, and then we can be done. Okay?”

They both exchanged a glance, and seemed to say something to each other with their eyes that Danny couldn’t read anymore.

Finally, they turned back to face him, and they both nodded.

“Where?” Tucker asked.

Well, eventually the bell was going to ring, and then the hall would flood with people who wouldn’t leave them alone. And if they went outside, they’d be met with a similar problem, just with the news crews instead of students. And if they were going to pretend a ghost attack happened, they should probably go somewhere to make it at least a little more believable.

“How do you feel about the roof?” Danny asked.

“Uh,” Tucker said. “Have you been there?”

Danny nodded. “It’s… quiet. Sometimes.”

They were both quiet for another moment, then Sam nodded. “Okay.”

Danny started over to them, glanced at Tucker and said, “This is your warning,” and then grabbed them both by the arms, transformed, and flew them all up through the ceiling and onto the roof.

Tucker stumbled a little as Danny let go of him. “Okay,” he said. “Needed a different kind of warning there.”

Danny smiled a little bit. “Be glad you’ve never fallen through the floor in your sleep.”

“That’s not really something I’ve ever thought would happen to me,” Tucker said.

“Tell me about it.”

There’s a couple seconds of silence, and Tucker and Sam exchanged another glance.

Finally, Sam turned back to him and crossed her arms. “So,” she said. “You’re Phantom.”

Danny sighed. “Yeah.”

“Can I ask…” Tucker started. “I mean what— like how did you become— it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” he added quickly, holding up his hands. “You don’t have to.”

Danny looked at him for a second. It was definitely the same question he was sick of getting from other classmates and the reporters. But Tucker at least had given him an out. And if this really was going to be the last time they talked, he wanted them to know everything.

“You remember the portal in my parent’s lab?” he asked. “How I told you it just started working one day?”

Tucker nodded.

“That’s… not actually true. I turned it on. From… from inside.”

Tucker’s eyes widened. “Dude.”

Danny gave a short laugh. “Yeah.”

“What happened with the ghost fighting?” Sam asked. “I mean did you get pulled into that, or…?”

“What? No,” Danny said. “I mean, kind of, sure, but someone had to do it. I wasn’t going to let people get hurt.”

“But— you got hurt,” Sam said, gesturing at him. “All the time. We talked about it around you. Back when— when we were still talking.”

Danny shrugged. “I can take it. Normal humans can’t.”

The phrasing seemed to throw them off, which was fair, but he didn’t take it back. He wasn’t a normal human anymore.

“Still,” Sam said finally. “You should have told us. We could have helped you.”

Danny’s shoulders slumped. “I know,” he muttered. “I— I really didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“On the news?” Tucker asked. “Along with everyone else? Like we weren’t any different from them?”

Danny winced. “Yeah.”

A pause.

“If I knew everyone was going to find out, I would have told you first,” he added. “For what it’s worth.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Sam asked.

“It just… it felt so big,” Danny said, shaking his head. “And I didn’t know how you’d react. And… I’m sorry.”

Neither of them said anything for a minute. Danny wasn’t sure what exactly they were waiting for, but eventually he had to help fill the silence.

“How long has Dash been bothering you?” he asked.

Both of them immediately looked away.

“Oh, come on. You can’t make this conversation entirely about me.”

“We can’t?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow.

“No. That’s not fair to me or you.”

Sam glared away again.

“Pretty much since everyone found out,” Tucker said a second later. “I guess he figured he couldn’t mess with you anymore so he moved on to easier targets.”

Danny clenched his fists. “Asshole. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tucker said.

“No, I just mean,” Danny gestured vaguely with his hands, not sure what he meant. “God, I’m so sick of him. Of all of them.”

Tucker gave him a look. “You really don’t like all the praise?”

Danny shrugged. “I dunno. I guess it beats being hunted.”

Tucker and Sam were both silent for a minute. Danny looked at them for a second and saw slight horror on their faces.

Oh. Maybe they hadn’t quite realized that part yet.

“You could have told me about Dash, you know,” Danny said, trying to stop them from thinking too much about that. “I would have helped.”

“We… kind of didn’t think you’d care,” Tucker said hesitantly.

Danny blinked. “What?” he asked.

“I mean, you are kind of a big deal now,” Sam said, gesturing at him.

Danny crossed his arms. “I’m sorry? Did you miss the part where I didn’t want to be?”

“No, I just mean—” Sam started.

“Yeah, I should go hang out with Dash, huh? Or start dating Paulina? Wouldn’t that be just great?”

Sam blinked at him. “Would it not?”

“Of course not,” Danny snapped. “None of them actually give a shit about me. They all just think it’ll get them something if they’re best friends with Phantom. They still don’t like Danny. I don’t want to be friends with people who only ever see one side of me. That—” he looked away. “That already didn’t work.”

“Oh,” Sam said quietly. “Sorry.”

Danny sighed. “It’s okay,” he muttered.

There was another long stretch of silence.

“That wasn’t the only reason, you know,” Sam said.

Danny looked up at her. “What wasn’t?”

“That we didn’t tell you. Or— I guess I can’t speak for Tucker. But it was just kind of embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?”

“I meant it when I said I noticed you were getting hurt all the time,” Sam said, looking down at the ground. “You’re fighting actual ghosts, and I’m supposed to come up to you and say ‘hey Dash is being mean to me?’”

Danny stared at her. “Sam,” he said. “Don’t be ridiculous. I would have put the ghosts on hold.”

“I don’t want to call you for backup every time I need help,” Sam snapped. “You’re not like— my bodyguard. Even if we had spoken in the last year.”

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment,” Danny said, because he did. “But you— I hate it when you guys are hurt.”

“We hate it when you’re hurt too,” Tucker said, looking pointedly at him. “It’s why we didn’t exactly love it when you pushed away while you were so obviously dealing with something.”

Danny winced. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I should have told you.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Tucker said. And then all of them stood there, none of them saying anything.

Tucker broke the silence again, this time with a sigh. “But for what it’s worth?” he said. “Thanks for saving everyone all the time. And for recently, with that weird ghost king guy.”

Danny nodded. “Anytime,” he said. He didn’t have to tell them the part about how he thought he was going to die. Again.

“And, you know, for what it’s worth?” he said instead. “Thanks for trying. While I was being an idiot. Sorry I didn’t let you help me.”

“How about this,” Tucker said. “We’ll be there to help you as Danny and Phantom if you kick Dash across the football field once or twice.”

Danny blinked, confused. “Huh?”

“That sound good to you, Sam?” Tucker asked, glancing at her.

“Yeah, I wanna see that,” Sam said with a nod. “And I’d like to learn how to kick some ghost butt.” She smirked over at Danny. “Maybe I’ll start with yours.”

“Wait, I thought,” Danny said, looking back and forth between them both. “I thought we said we’d be done after this.”

“Are you kidding? You think you’re getting rid of us again?” Sam asked. “Now that we finally know what’s been going on with you?”

“Sorry, you’re stuck with us this time,” Tucker said, crossing his arms with a grin. “Like we’re gonna let your total loser half go unacknowledged. You can’t be Phantom all the time. Sometimes you have to get teased for how much you like NASA.”

“Or get your butt kicked in Doomed,” Sam chimed in. She raised an eyebrow. “Sound good?”

Danny didn’t try to hide his smile at all, and instead he closed the space between the three of them and wrapped his arms around Sam and Tucker in a hug.

“That sounds great,” he said, meaning every word.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #jazz fenton #dash baxter #maddie fenton #jack fenton #phic phight #my fic

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fangirlwriting-stories · 15 days

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Yayyy more Avatar Meta! I'm thinking about leitmotifs!

So I watched that Sideways YouTube video on the music in Avatar, and how the show's leitmotifs are used more for conflicts and themes other than characters, and it got me thinking about that music from the finale. The big, sweeping, triumphant music after Aang finally defeats Ozai, that is. This music.

For anyone who doesn't know, here's my very much not expert knowledge on what a leitmotif is: it's a short bit of music paired with a story element of some kind, that you repeat at appropriate moments.

Now, if we're talking ideal, absolutely perfect scenario for Avatar's music (which, watch the Sideways video if you want to know why that wasn't really possible), this leitmotif would be great to use repeatedly throughout the show, in order to build a relationship with it and have it hit that much harder every time it's heard, especially in the finale. And the showrunners seemed to realize it's really good! Because this music is repeated, though slightly differently for a different Avatar, at key moments throughout The Legend of Korra. For example. They knew they'd written a really powerful bit of triumph music there.

So, if we're looking at other places to put this leitmotif throughout Avatar, it needs an identity. I'm thinking one that fits it, and that fits good for the other ideas I have in mind, is "This is the way things should be." This would be the leitmotif that plays when things go right in a way that the characters have been working for, or a way that fits the overarching narrative of the show. So, if that's it's identity, how about places to put it?

I can think of only one other place in the show where it should be played at full power and triumph, the way it is in the finale, and that's in season 2 when the Gaang is reunited with Appa. Specifically, the theme should be played right here. I have no editing skills, just picture that with the finale music.

But two times does not make for a fully utilized leitmotif, and there are other ways to use it that can make it more effective overall, as well as more complex and nuanced. I think it would be really interesting to play a minor key version after Zuko lets Appa go, right around here. And maybe a similar minor key one during the Blue Spirit episode, after he firebends at Aang and scares him off.

And there are definitely quite a few places where it can be used in a softer, more subdued way, closer to how it sounds right here. It can even be used for the first time in the first episode, as a background sound when Sokka agreees to go with Katara to find Aang and says "Are you gonna talk all day, or are you coming with me?" (Which I can't find a link for, sorry.) I'm also thinking probably a similar one when Toph joins the group, though she'll probably need her own variation on it that's a little more "Toph." It should definitely be played when the Gaang (at least mostly) accepts Zuko into the group as Aang's firebending teacher, probably the first time we should hear it in major key for him.

And of course all the placements in the finale stay right where they're at. Knowing how leitmotifs tend to affect me if they're meant to evoke emotion, if it was all set up this way, and I heard that huge triumphant leitmotif in the final battle, there would have been tears from me. Heck, I might have cried every time it showed up in the finale.

But mostly, this is just an idea I've been thinking about for way too long, and wanted to put out there in some way shape or form, even if I don't have the editing skills to actually put the music in the scenes. Anyway, if anyone else has thoughts on where it might fit, or if you want to argue with me about my placements, feel free! This is far from comprehensive, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts!

#avatar the last airbender #anaylsis #avatar the last airbender meta #media analysis #music #music analysis #atla zuko #atla aang #leitmotif #my writing #my meta

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fangirlwriting-stories · 17 days

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Side Note To Fan Fic Authors

Here’s the thing.

I read a lot of scripts. A lot. From professionals to aspiring writers to complete newbies. Features and pilots. Specs and treatments.

And 8 times out of 10 the fan fic that I’ve read over the last, oh, 15 years is leagues better than this stuff. It’s more inspired. It’s more compelling. It’s genre bending and creative and heartfelt. It’s well-paced and intense and funny and sexy and meaningful. It’s smart and thoughtful and good. It’s novel-quality. Better than, sometimes.

Rare is the script I don’t want to put down, but how often have we stayed up until 3am to get to the last chapter of a 100k fic? And it’s not even a fan fic author’s day job. This is what they do on the side. In their spare time. For free.

So my point is, fan fic authors, you’re good. You’re good writers and great storytellers. I know it doesn’t always feel like it, especially if you’re one of the authors who’s not a BNF and doesn’t get the notes/hits that a few do. And because some people still view fic as “not real writing.” You guys know the shit that gets made into movies. You’re better than that. So be better than that. If writing is what you think want to do, then just know you’re already doing it. You’ve already started.

And you’re more talented than you might think.

#a good reminder to have handy #writing #not mine

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fangirlwriting-stories · 17 days

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Before I Go

Chapter One

AO3 Link

Author's Note: Hey, for anyone who got worried at the long break between chapters, I promise I haven't abandoned this story! It's probably going to come out a lot slower because I have many different responsibilities right now both fandom and real life, so I haven't had much time to work on it. I'm also definitely finding myself more of a casual fan of Sanders Sides than I used to be. But I want to finish the series, whenever that happens, and I want to finish this fic. It just might take a little bit longer than it would have, so I'm going to thank you in advance for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Nine:

Roman sat on the couch with Virgil for a long time after sending Janus back in to Remus, and neither of them said anything. Virgil laid against the back of the couch with his eyes closed, breathing in a clear effort to calm himself down.

Roman wasn’t sure what to say to him. He hadn’t heard all of what Janus yelled at him, just the end about both of them invading his life. But it had clearly gotten to Virgil, if the look on his face said anything.

Oh, maybe that was something to talk about.

Roman leaned back hesitantly next to him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Shut up,” Virgil said.

Roman sighed, exasperated. “Okay,” he said.

Virgil looked over at him and groaned. “No,” he said. “Obviously not. What do you want from me?”

“It wasn’t a question, it was an offer to talk,” Roman said.

“Then why not just say that?”

“Because I kind of had a feeling saying ‘Do you want to talk about it’ to you would go about as well as Remus’ first coming out.”

Virgil snorted, and Roman took a moment to just be glad the joke didn’t fall flat.

“That’s probably true,” Virgil muttered. He leaned back against the couch and shut his eyes again. Roman wasn’t sure if he was going to say anything else, but he didn’t push.

Finally, Virgil did speak again. “I’m so fucking worried about him.”

“Remus?”

Virgil shook his head. “Janus.”

Roman blinked. “Janus?”

“He’s not…” Virgil said, and trailed off, opening his eyes again. “He’s a selfish person.”

“Uh. What?”

“It’s not an insult, it’s a fact,” Virgil said, turning to look at him. Roman saw worried sincerity in his eyes. “Janus is selfish. He values personal time and self care and he puts himself first. He’s not built for being someone’s caretaker while they slowly die next to him. I mean— no one is, really. But he’s especially not.”

Roman nodded slowly. “I could believe that,” he said.

“And he’s such a prick,” Virgil said, seemingly more to himself than to Roman. “Like, sure, yell at the guy who’s trying to admit he was in the wrong for not realizing in a timeframe that’s convenient to you. I didn’t leave because I didn’t care. I— fucking hell. He’s such a goddamn asshole and I can’t—” he stopped, burying his head in his hands. “But I’m worried,” he said, muffled by his hands still in front of his face.

Roman didn’t say anything. He didn’t know Janus like Virgil did, he didn’t know what to say or how to help. He’d had one solution in his book before all of this when he started getting sad about Remus, and that was to distract himself. That wasn’t exactly an option anymore.

Or, actually, maybe it was, just a little bit. In a different way.

“Hey,” Roman said, leaning forward towards Virgil again. “Do you want to go do something?”

Virgil turned to him in confusion. “Like what?”

“Something fun,” Roman said. “Remus and Janus are gonna be resting today, and I think it would probably be easier for both of them if we weren’t here.”

Virgil winced, but didn’t disagree.

“So let’s just go do something. Something fun, so we can think about something else for a bit.”

Virgil turned to Roman with a smirk. “What, you mean like a date?”

Roman sputtered. “Wh- no I didn’t mean— I meant like—”

“You asking me on a date, Roman?”

“I’m engaged—”

Virgil laughed, leaning over slightly, and Roman stopped talking and watched him, feeling that same spark of something in his chest from karaoke.

“Relax,” Virgil said, pulling up with a grin. “I’m kidding. That sounds like a good idea. In fact, I know what we can do.”

Roman shook himself and stood up. “What’s that?”

“I’ll introduce you to Logan and Patton.”

…

Virgil’s apartment was much much smaller than Janus and Remus.’ The kitchen was small enough to the point of practically being useless, or at least it seemed like it to Roman. It was connected to the living room, and there wasn’t really a dining room at all, just a table they’d set up in front of the stove. There was a tiny hallway, and Roman could see the back of it from the entryway, with two bedrooms and a third door that must have been a bathroom, and that was it.

“Logan!” Virgil called. “I’m back! I brought the prick for you to meet!”

Roman balked, turning to look at Virgil. “Excuse me?”

The door on the left of the hallway opened and “Logan” stepped out, and Roman was met with the most boring looking gay person he’d ever met.

He was wearing a polo shirt and a tie, for Pete’s sake, and a pair of jeans. He had the most function over form glasses Roman could imagine, and even his facial expression was blank and boring.

“Hello,” Roman said anyway, because he was polite, and he held out a hand. Logan shook it, raising an eyebrow.

“So you’re the one who let your brother live in the streets,” he said.

Roman pulled his hand back instantly. “What— oh honestly, is that how everyone is going to know me?”

“Yes,” Virgil said, patting him on the shoulder as he walked over towards Logan, not seeming all that sympathetic.

Roman gave a long sigh before turning to face Logan again. “Well hello anyway,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you. Virgil’s spoken highly of you.”

“I cannot say the same,” Logan said plainly. “So you’re here for your brother, then?”

“I… yes,” Roman said, looking away. He cleared his throat. “Or I’m trying to be.”

There was a moment’s pause, and then Logan said, “Very well.”

Roman turned to face him and saw Logan’s judgmental look had faded a little.

“I would not wish to judge you based entirely on something that happened before I met you ,” he said. “Would you like to sit?” He turned to gesture towards the living room.

Roman hesitantly made his way over to the armchair and sat in it, and a second later Virgil moved over and flopped onto half the couch, taking up way more space than Roman would have expected of him.

Logan, however, just gave a fond sigh and moved to sit on the other part of the couch. “Well, Virgil, I hope things have started going better?”

Virgil winced, and sat up again, looking more like Roman was used to from his admittedly small knowledge of him. “Uh, not exactly,” he said. “I… I really don’t know what I’m doing, Lo. It’s like Janus is an entirely different person from what I knew. I mean I know we haven’t talked in a long time, but still.” He sighed. “I really don’t want to think about it right now. We kind of came here to get away from that for a bit, can we just talk?”

“Of course,” Logan said, giving Virgil a small smile. Virgil smiled back and relaxed back into the couch, and for a moment, Roman’s chest ached with jealousy at the obvious comfort and safety between the two. Then Logan started talking and he refocused on him.

“Work has been exciting lately,” he said, his face brightening. “We have been working with the science center in order to make the Chemistry exhibit for the fall.”

“Yeah?” Virgil said with a grin. “I bet the kids are going to love it.”

“I think so as well,” Logan said, his lips turning up in a smile of his own. “After all, what child doesn’t love exploring chemical formulas and science?”

Roman exchanged a glance with Virgil, who gave a firm but subtle shake of his head, but then said, “So your partner is in charge of design then, right?” he said with another pointed look to Logan. It wasn’t really needed. Yeah, Logan wasn’t seeming like he’d be the most creative designer in regards to making science fun, but it was pretty clear he wanted to make something the kids would enjoy.

But then Logan responded with, “Indeed. Marianne is in charge of form and I am in charge of substance. It is where we work best.”

Immediately Virgil wrinkled his nose and turned back to Logan. “Wait, Marianne? They stuck you with her again? Has she at least stopped hitting on you?”

Logan shifted uncomfortably and sighed. “No.”

Virgil groaned. “Ah, hell. Sorry, Lo.”

“It is alright. I have not led her on, and if she continues to be this insistent anyway, well, at least she makes for a good cover.”

Roman winced and looked away. He knew what that was like.

“Still,” Virgil said. “If you want her to leave you alone—”

“There is not a way you can safely intervene,” Logan said, giving Virgil a look. “Besides, she is more or less harmless. And I do like her, she is incredibly bright and interesting to debate with.”

Logan turned to Roman the next second, and Roman startled, surprised at the sudden motion. “I apologize Roman, we seem to have started talking about things you may not understand. Do you know much about chemistry?”

“Uh, not really,” Roman said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, Remus always wanted to learn how to build a bomb back in high school, but not since then.”

“Well I cannot help you there,” Logan said drily. “I am not in the habit of making bombs.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Roman said with a slightly amused smile. “I wasn’t asking, I just… I’m not a scientist, I’m an artist. That’s what I was getting at.”

“Well, I am afraid I do not know much about the arts,” Logan said. “Aside from the horror movies Virgil has made me watch. We might not have much in common on that front.”

Roman bit his lip. “No, probably not on that front,” he said, and didn’t elaborate. “But I am glad you get to do something you like so much,” he said, shifting to a smile. “You sound like you’ve got a good thing going.”

“It is enjoyable,” Logan agreed with a nod. “I am well satisfied with the way my life has gone.”

“Now all we need is a bigger apartment,” Virgil said with a roll of his eyes.

“I’m kind of surprised you can’t afford one,” Roman admitted. “You’re a scientist, aren’t you? Don’t they make decent money?”

Both Logan and Virgil went quiet and turned to look at him.

“…what?”

“We can afford it, Roman,” Virgil said. “That’s not the problem.”

“Wh- then what—”

“Our current landlord is a private person,” Logan said. “He does not ask questions. He takes payment that we can always afford and that’s that. We cannot afford to give up that safety for the potential of a larger apartment.”

Roman realized what they were saying, and bit his lip, looking down. “…oh.”

He really didn’t know anything, did he?

There were a couple awkward seconds of silence, and then Logan cleared his throat. “It is not a large issue,” he said. “We are comfortable here. We have the space that we absolutely need. We each have our own bedroom. It is not unsustainable.”

“I still want to put some kind of painting up in the kitchen,” Virgil said, in a transparent attempt to change the subject. “I want some kind of nature scene that makes it feel like we have a window there.”

“Oh!” Roman brightened. “I could make you one! Do you have a preference on season, or landscape, or what’s present in the scene?”

They both looked at him for a moment, seeming surprised. Roman cleared his throat.

“I like painting,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t get to do it too often, but I really enjoy it. Just, if you want me to make you one. I won’t charge you or anything.”

Virgil smiled at him just a little. “Okay,” he said. “You’ve got yourself a deal. If you’re good with that, Logan?”

“It sounds amiable,” Logan agreed with a nod. “I would not mind something with stars. Perhaps aurora borealis?”

“Huh?” Roman asked, tipping his head.

“Northern lights,” Virgil explained. “And I’d like that too. How about that with some mountains? And can you add a bit of a spook vibe?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Roman said with a bright smile and a nod. “I might get Remus to help me with that part, if he’s up to it.”

Virgil’s smile widened a little bit. “Heck yeah,” he said. “Remus is good with that stuff.”

“He is,” Roman agreed, smiling wider himself. It felt really nice to talk about Remus with people who actually liked him. He hadn’t realized how much he missed that.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and Virgil jumps up and runs, actually sprints, over to the door when Roman had barely processed it happened.

Roman turned in surprise to see Virgil yank the door open and pull someone in, someone wearing a baseball cap with a NASA logo on it and sunglasses that covered his face.

Virgil slammed the door shut behind him and then the person let out what sounded like a relieved breath and pulled the hat and sunglasses off to reveal a kind face with other glasses underneath.

“Virgil,” he said, turning to wrap Virgil in his arms. “You doing okay, kiddo? I’m sorry I haven’t seen you since all this happened.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Virgil said, pulling back and giving the person a serious look. “Did anyone see you?”

“Nope, I’m all good!” the person said with a bright smile. “Or I’m ball good! Thanks for the hat, Lo!”

Logan sighed, though he seemed to have been expecting the pun. “Hello, Patton. It is, somehow, good to see you.”

“It’s great to see you too kiddo!” Patton called as he and Virgil started over towards the couch and chair.

“And you must be Roman,” Patton said, turning with a smile towards him as he approached. “It’s great to meet you.” He stuck out his hand, and Roman smiled back and stood to shake it, though he still felt a little off balance.

“Good to meet you too,” he said. “Can I ask why you seem to be sneaking over here?”

Patton’s smile didn’t fade, but it did turn a bit sad as he replied. “I’m a priest, kiddo,” he said. “For a group of not very accepting people. It wouldn’t be a good thing if they saw me out and about with Virgil and Logan.”

Roman blinked, looking Patton up and down and finding a light blue polo and a cardigan. “You’re a… priest?”

Patton had an amused smile when Roman’s gaze landed back on his face. “Were you picturing a long robe with a stole and a cross necklace?”

“Uh,” Roman said. “Maybe?”

Patton laughed. “Stop by on Sunday then,” he said with a wink.

Roman wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Thankfully, after a second Virgil took up the conversation again by asking if Patton wanted anything to drink.

“I’m alright kiddo, but thank you,” Patton said.

“So you three know each other pretty well, then?” Roman asked curiously.

“I’d say so!” Patton said. “Virgil and I met a couple years ago, but Logan and I have known each other since we were kids. And it feels like we’ve known Virgil way longer anyway.”

“You’ve known each other since you were kids?” Roman asked in surprise.

“Well, we lost touch for a while after high school,” Patton admitted with a slightly sad smile. “Before either of us realized we were gay, unfortunately. We met again after I became a priest and after Logan had become a chemist.”

“It was quite relieving when he turned out to be gay as well,” Logan admitted with a quiet smile. “It was… deeply worrying.”

“I’ll say,” Patton said with a laugh of his own, but Roman heard the slight tension in both their voices. He had a feeling figuring this out was a little more difficult and stressful than the two of them wanted to remember.

Roman thought, for the first time in a long while, of when Remus first told him he was gay. The way Roman had started to sob in relief, because Remus being gay meant that he would understand. That Roman wasn’t going to lose his brother.

And then he lost his brother anyway. Through no one’s fault but his own.

“Anyway,” Virgil said, and Roman snapped to attention, realizing he’d zoned out of the conversation. “I don’t know about you guys, but I want lunch. Roman, do you have a standard pizza order?”

“As long as it’s not Hawaiian or anchovies, I’m good,” Roman said.

“Easy, I like it,” Virgil said. “Lo, come make the phone call while I write down the order.”

“You know, one of these days you’re going to have to learn how to make phone calls by yourself, Virgil,” Logan said, even as he stood.

“And yet that day is not today, Logan,” Virgil said as they walked into the kitchen.

Patton laughed a little as he watched them go, then turned to Roman as they walked out of view.

“So, I’ve heard a bit from Virgil about you,” he said with a sympathetic smile. “It doesn’t sound like you’ve had an easy life.”

“Who has,” Roman muttered, looking away, but then he paused. “Um, Patton?” he asked, turning back around. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure kiddo, go for it.”

“Why did you become a priest?”

“Oh, that,” Patton said with a laugh. “I was trying to pray the gay out of myself.”

Roman startled. “You— what?”

Patton shrugged, a sad smile on his face but still seeming relatively at ease. “I was trying to fix myself,” he said again. “It wasn’t a very good time in my life. But you don’t have to worry, I’m in a much better headspace now.”

Roman looked at him for a second. “…How did you do that?” he asked, finally. “I mean— not that you have to answer, like it’s private and we just met, and—”

“Kiddo, it really is okay,” Patton said with a smile. “I don’t mind talking about it. Though honestly, it was just a lot of self reflection and a lot of listening. Meeting Logan again helped, and other gay people too. Realizing what I’d been taught as a kid wasn’t accurate. And that the gay community needs my help a lot more than my parish does most of the time, even if they’re part of my personal community too.”

“So you stayed a priest because you wanted to?” Roman asked in slight surprise. “Even though it’s putting you in danger?”

Patton smiled at him. “Well, first of all, I believe in a God that went as far as to die for me,” he said. “And in that regard… well, I would hardly be the only member of my community dying if I ended up doing the same, would I?”

Roman didn’t say anything.

“The church can do good,” Patton said, leaning forward to rest his hands on his knees. “And I believe we can also do more than that in doing better.”

Roman looked at him for another moment. He bit his lip. “Can— can I talk to you again?” he asked hesitantly.

Patton lit up. “Of course, kiddo!” he said. “I’d love that.”

“Alright,” Virgil called, and Roman and Patton both looked over towards the kitchen as he and Logan walked back in. “Pizza should be here in thirty. Until then, Patton, it has been too long and we need to catch up.”

Roman sat back a little bit as Patton smiled brightly and moved to face Virgil and Logan, and instead watched the three of them talk. They were all very clearly relaxed, and they seemed easygoing and happy as they talked with each other. None of it was something Roman tended to think of when he thought of other people like him.

Well, that would probably continue to be the case once he got back home, but still. The respite was nice.

#sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #creativitwins #platonic prinxiety #for now #platonic analogical #platonic royality #tw dying #my fic

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fangirlwriting-stories · 22 days

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Do you still dream of catching those stars? Then grasp them and hold tight. Never let go of your future.

Happy 20th year anniversary, Danny Phantom.

#aaaaa it’s so pretty #art #not mine

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fangirlwriting-stories · 22 days

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Spedran this for the anniversary! Can't believe Danny Phantom is 20 years old.

It's been very cathartic to me to be honest to see a show about a character who can't keep up with everything in his life, but he keeps trying anyway. It helps with that neat autistic burnout.

Happy anniversary Danny. You did good. I hope you got to visit the moon.

#oh this is gorgeous #art #not mine

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fangirlwriting-stories · 1 month

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TS Fandom Survey!

Hello all!

I'm doing this survey for one of my universtiy projects for which I am doing some research into the Sanders Sides fandom, focusing on the sustainability of the fandom!

This survey is fairly short and entirely anonymous, and I would greatly appreciate anyone taking the time to give a response!! It'll really help out with my university project!

I will be accepting responses for about a week from now!

(I'm not super good at surveys, if this doesn't work please let me know xP)

Reblogs for a wider range of responses would be greatly appreciated if you are so inclined!!!!

#have at it #not mine

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fangirlwriting-stories · 1 month

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Growing Closer to Revelations

Summary: Everyone Knows AU, Danny navigates the easiest problem he's had in a while.

Author's Note: You know what's super helpful when you already don't have a lot of time to write? Getting sick!

Also though check the tags for this one there's potentially triggering stuff near the end

...

Danny has a problem. He has several problems, actually. And most of them have something to do with Valerie.

The two of them have taken to eating lunch together in a classroom that Valerie says is almost always empty at this time. And Danny tries to feel bad about bailing on Sam and Tucker. Theoretically, he wants to hang out with them. And they’re still his best friends, in a very non-theoretical sense. But it’s hard to want to see them when Valerie is actually someone he likes spending time with, and when she’s not constantly telling him how terrible he is to his face— even if she wouldn’t know that’s what she’s doing either.

Thankfully, she hadn’t seemed to have heard anything that they were saying the first time she dragged Danny away from the lunch table, because Danny wasn’t sure if he’d be able to avoid a Phantom rant from her if she had. Valerie had dealt with a lot as a result of him. She had the right to be angry. But so far she hadn’t mentioned Phantom once, and it was a more than appreciated reprieve.

But the fact that she hadn’t heard what they were talking about meant she really had just noticed him looking miserable and dragged him away to make him feel better, which was leading to… the problems.

The first of which being that he’s really starting to enjoy spending time with her, more than he has with Sam and Tucker in a while. He’s pretty sure Valerie’s picking up on that too, which has to be the reason she keeps asking him to hang out after school any days they both have free.

Sometimes Danny has to bail or arrive late because of a ghost fight, but amazingly, she never seems to mind. In fact, more often then not, she says that something happened to come up for her too and she would have to cancel anyway. So apparently they’re both very busy people constantly being pulled in a hundred different directions, which weirdly enough makes them work for each other. It’s so relieving, he feels himself waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never does. There’s an ease to all of it that makes the idea of hanging out with Sam and Tucker instead just feel even more exhausting.

That’s the second problem, though. Sam and Tucker notice. Because of course they do. The three of them are very used to spending time only with each other, of course they’re going to notice when Danny stops doing that. He spots them a couple times in the hallways, and he still has class with them and he’s talked with them before school once or twice, but they’ve never mentioned Valerie. At this point, he kind of wants them to. It’d be better than all of them never acknowledging it and him waiting anxiously for them to say something.

The third problem is similar— Jazz notices. There’s been an awkwardness between the two of them for a while that Danny doesn’t know how to breach, but he can tell she’s noticed. Mostly because she smiles at him whenever she does ask how his day went and he tells her that he spent most of it with Valerie. Danny doesn’t like the feelings that come with Jazz being proud of him for ditching Sam and Tucker. He already feels guilty about it, the fact that Jazz thinks it’s the right thing to do just adds another layer of that guilt as well as irritation at her (which also makes him feel guilty, because really, he knows she’s just trying to look out for him).

Danny spends most of the time, however, dealing with the simplest of the problems, because even though it’s really not simple at all, it’s completely disconnected from Jazz-Sam-Tucker-Phantom bullshit, which is such a nice difference that weirdly enough, it’s a problem he’s enjoying having.

That being he’s pretty sure he’s developing the lamest crush of all time on Valerie.

Not lame because Valerie’s lame, mind you. Lame because he’s lame.

Valerie started as, and probably still is, significantly more popular than him. Even though she’s lost quite a few friends because of losing her money (which was because of him), she’s still nowhere near the bottom of the totem pole Danny’s dangling at. She could probably still ask someone to beat him up if she wanted to, not that he thinks she wants to anymore.

But while hanging out with a total loser is one thing, dating him would be a total other thing.

…Not that he thinks she wants to date him. He’s not still not a hundred percent sure why she’s doing the first one.

But that means his last and simplest problem can be summed up as “I like a girl who’s out of my league.”

Which is nice. It’s so nice. What he wouldn’t give for this to be his biggest problem. Heck, he’s used to this problem. He’s had this problem since he noticed Paulina, which was way before Phantom stumbled onto the scene.

So, rather than complaining to anyone about how his love life is doomed, or how unfair it is or how she’d like him if she got to know him, like he did to Sam and Tucker about Paulina, he finds himself just enjoying time in Valerie’s company. Because even if the idea of actually dating her is doomed, she’s a nice person to like. Spending time together proves that to him well enough.

“Okay no way, now you have to tell me the story!”

“Sure, as soon as you get done trying to deny that you’ll use it as blackmail material for Dash later,” Valerie says, smirking at him.

“Hey, that is not true,” Danny says, crossing his arms. “Why would I bother trying to deny it?”

Valerie snorts. “Believe it or not, I do actually still like some of the people I’ve been friends with my whole life. Even if I know they’re not perfect.”

Danny huffs a laugh. “Oh, don’t worry, I believe it.”

Valerie winces. “Right. Sorry.”

Danny grins at her. “Know how you can make it up to me?”

“I am not telling you the fourth grade vomit story!”

Danny groans overdramatically and leans back against the desk he’s sitting at. “Why do I even bother with you? Clearly you do not care enough about me to give me the things I need in life.”

“Yeah, because that’s my job,” Valerie says with a roll of her eyes.

Danny sits up, considering. “Tell you what,” he says. “If you tell me the fourth grade vomit story, I’ll tell you about the time Sam tricked Tucker into eating a vegetable and the disastrous consequences.”

He sees Valerie perk up, and knows he has her.

Unfortunately, before Valerie can say anything, the bell rings overhead, signaling the end of lunch.

Danny sighs, defeated. “That’s not even fair.”

“Sorry, guess you’ll have to bring your bargaining skills next time,” Valerie says.

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny says as they stand up to gather their stuff. Valerie, unfortunately, had the foresight to stuff her lunchbox in her bag when she finished, meaning she stands up already ready to go.

“Hey, uh, wait!” Danny calls, stopping her at the door. “You wanna… walk to class together?”

Valerie smiles. “Sure. Long as you don’t mind carrying my bag.”

Danny smiles back as he stands. “You got a deal,” he says, and takes Valerie’s bag from her as he reaches the doorway.

“Don’t think this means I’m telling you the story on the way, though,” Valerie says as she pushes the door open.

“Dang it!”

…

“Look, I’m just saying, if I could fly, I’d get places much faster,” Danny says as they round the corner of the park trail and start back towards the entrance.

“I mean, I guess I can’t deny a statement that vague. How fast are we talking?” Valerie asks.

Danny thinks back. “Across the country in a couple hours.”

“No way.”

“Planes do it!”

“Planes fly hundreds of miles an hour!”

“Who’s to say I can’t?”

“You’d have to actually be able to fly, first,” Valerie says, giving him a look.

“That’s not the point! This is all hypotheticals anyway!”

“Well if it’s all hypotheticals how about you just give yourself the ability to teleport places? Then there’d be no travel time.”

Danny snorts. “Man, I wish.”

“Look, being able to fly fast doesn’t mean you should,” Valerie says. “There could be buildings in the way, or people.”

“Well…” Danny hesitates, unsure how far he should go. “Then I’ll just turn intangible like a ghost,” he says, keeping his voice light and casual and ‘this is all a hypothetical, Valerie!’ in tone.

“See, and then I would turn back to ‘just give yourself the ability to teleport’ if you’re adding whatever you want to this hypothetical,” Valerie says. “Look, I wasn’t disagreeing with your first statement. Yeah, you could probably get places faster if you fly there. I just don’t think it would be that fast.”

“Oh, because of your in-depth experience with flying places,” Danny says, crossing his arms.

“And your in depth experience with turning intangible like a ghost?” Valerie asks, crossing her arms right back.

Danny sticks his tongue out, and Valerie does the same a second later.

There’s a moment of silence while they’re both thinking, and then Valerie says: “Now, the sunsets on the other hand…”

“Oh my god, the stargazing.”

…

“Dang, you weren’t kidding about picking things up quickly,” Danny says, from his spot on the chair he’d dragged down to the lab. His parents had been more than a little surprised when he told them who he’d invited over, but he wasn’t grounded anymore, and he isn’t in any kind of current trouble for once, so they didn’t object.

“I have a natural talent for kicking butt,” Valerie says with a grin, without looking away from the computer screen.

“No kidding. Try not to beat my high score, would you?”

Valerie knocks out another Doomed enemy without breaking a sweat. “No promises.”

A chime rings, and Danny glances down to the corner of the screen to see that Sam has signed on.

“Who’s Chaos?” Valerie asks, peering at it.

“No one, don’t worry about it,” Danny says, hoping Valerie won’t ask.

She looks at him for a minute, and he can tell she’s guessed something, but after a second she shrugs, and goes right back to destroying all of the enemies Danny struggles with in this game. Now he just has to hope Sam doesn’t talk to him either.

But while he sees her Avatar show up on their level after a while (he and Tucker had found out she was Chaos a while ago and they’ve been begging her to teach them her tricks ever since), she doesn’t talk to him, which is weird, because Valerie’s playing with his Avatar.

He’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though, and instead just watches as Valerie attacks without knowing who’s on the other side of the screen.

He’s not surprised when she starts struggling a bit. Sam is better than him and Tucker combined, and while Valerie is good, it is her first go around with the game.

“Man, this guy is good,” Valerie says, leaning into the screen.

“Yeah, I don’t know anyone who’s ever been able to beat Chaos one on one,” Danny says with a shrug. “I can’t do it either.”

For some reason, however, right as Sam is about to finish Valerie off, she instead stops and leaves.

Danny blinks, confused.

“Wait, why’d they leave?” Valerie asks. “Is that a strategy or something?”

“Not one I’ve seen her use before,” Danny says. “We’ve allied a couple times, maybe she just wanted to spar without actually killing me.”

“I guess so,” Valerie says. She turns the avatar around looking for Chaos a couple more times, but nothing is there.

Though that doesn’t sound like Sam either. She’s definitely toyed with him by beating him up in game a couple times, but she usually finishes him off for lighthearted gloating rights. He doesn’t know what’s so different this time.

They don’t see her again, though, and eventually Valerie gets back to kicking enemies’ butts and gets her health back up.

She beats the level she’s on just in time for there to be a knock on his door and Jazz to stick her head in.

“Sorry to bug you,” she says, as they both glance over. “But is Valerie staying for dinner?”

“No,” Danny says immediately at the same time Valerie says “Sure.”

Danny winces, and glances over at Valerie, who’s looking at him confused and slightly hurt. “What, you don’t want me here?”

“No no,” Danny says, waving his hands. “That’s not it at all. My parents’ food just has a tendency to… come to life, partway through the meal. It’s not exactly their best foot forward.”

Valerie’s look shifts, and she gives him a smile. “Aww, you want me to like your parents?”

“I don’t know if ‘like’ is the appropriate word,” Danny mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was thinking more along the lines of ‘view as normal.’”

Valerie laughs a little. “I already know you’re not normal, Fenton,” she says, nudging him in the side. “That’s what I like about you.”

“Yeah?” Danny asks, smiling at her. “Really?”

Jazz clears her throat. “Hey, still here. So is she staying for dinner or not?”

“Uh,” Danny glances at Valerie. “Sure.” He looks back at Jazz. “But tell Mom and Dad to use the meat that doesn’t have eyes yet.”

Jazz huffs a laugh. “I’ll do my best,” she says, and ducks back out of the room again.

“Seriously,” Danny says, turning to Valerie. “If you really want to stay, prepare yourself for it to have eyes.”

Valerie hesitates. “Is it harmful to eat?”

Danny pauses. He wouldn’t really know. Jazz seems fine. “I don’t think so?”

Valerie nods. “I’ll take that.”

Danny smiles a little, caught off guard. “Maybe I should stop thinking about you as normal.”

“Maybe you should,” Valerie says, smirking right back.

Thankfully, when they’re called downstairs later, the food looks relatively normal, apart from the chicken being slightly burnt. Danny glances over at Jazz as they all sit down, but she gives him a nod. So it really is normal then. Maybe they do want to put their best foot forward, with Valerie here.

But they might not have needed to bother. Because for Valerie’s part, she digs right in as soon as they all start eating, not seeming at all phased by the potential for the meat coming to life in the middle of the meal (though this stuff is probably less likely to).

“So,” Dad says, grinning at Valerie. “Danny hasn’t brought you around before. How long have you two known each other?”

“Oh yes, did you meet recently?” Mom asks, thankfully giving Valerie a moment to swallow her bite of chicken. “Danny doesn’t really have a lot of friends.”

“Mom,” Danny hisses, narrowing his eyes at her.

“We met pretty recently, yeah,” Valerie says, seeming unbothered. “We were uh—” she glances at Danny, and they both realize simultaneously they probably shouldn’t say how they actually met. “Hiding in the same spot during a ghost fight,” Valerie finishes, breezing smoothly past the pause. “It was a long one, so we just started talking.”

“A ghost fight you say?” Dad asks, leaning forward.

“You kids weren’t doing any of the fighting, right?” Mom asks before Dad can continue. “If a ghost attacks, you should make sure you’re safe and let the professionals handle it.”

“Oh, no of course not,” Valerie says, waving her hands dismissively. “That’s what I meant. You know, ghost fight, ghost attack, same thing really.”

“Right, right,” Dad says, leaning forward again. “Now back to the ghost part. Do you have opinions on them?”

Valerie glances to the side, seeming a little uncomfortable. “Uh, I should hope so? I mean, that Phantom prick kind of ruined my life,” she says, and Danny goes still.

“Oh, well you don’t need to talk about that if you don’t want to,” Jazz jumps in immediately. “We understand if that’s personal. Ghosts are just kind of a topic around here, but we don’t have to talk about them.”

“Of course not,” Mom says, and Dad nods in agreement, even if he looks slightly disappointed. “Just know plenty of people have been in your position,” she says to Valerie with a sympathetic smile. “Phantom is one of the larger menaces we have to deal with.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Jazz calls, leaning towards the center of the table. “Let’s talk about anything else! Valerie, what’s your favorite subject in school?”

Danny laughs a little, partly to make it seem like he’s unbothered by what just happened and partly because that’s such a Jazz thing to say. “Of course you jump right to school,” he says.

“It’s something we can all be sure we have in common!” Jazz protests, sounding a little intentionally overdramatic with a glance at both their parents and Valerie.

“No that’s fine,” Valerie says. “Uh, I don’t know. Does gym class count?”

Jazz wrinkles her nose, and Danny can’t help but laugh. “Not to her,” he says with a grin at Valerie.

“I like being active!” Valerie says, holding her hands up in defense.

“Ugh, you would,” Danny says with a smile, making sure Valerie can tell he’s joking.

“And what’s your favorite subject, lunch?” Valerie asks, her tone just as teasing.

“Well, I mean, they took away recess years ago, what else is there to compare it to?” Danny says with a casual shrug, and Valerie laughs.

Plus Valerie’s there during lunch, and he doesn’t sit next to her in any classes, making it a definite plus, but he’s not going to say that aloud.

He glances over at Jazz to try and include her in the conversation again, only to find her looking very uncertainly right at him. He blinks at her. “What?”

He turns to look at his parents, and finds them both smiling. “What?”

“Nothing, sweetie,” Mom says. “Just thinking about dessert. I’m afraid we don’t have anything fancy, would you be okay with some ice cream, Valerie?”

Danny glances at Valerie to see if she knows why everyone’s being weird, but she just shrugs and says, “Sure,” in response to Mom’s question.

Mom brings in ice cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles, and they all talk a bit more as they eat, but Danny can feel the energy of the night wrapping up, and he’s not surprised when afterwards, Valerie says she needs to start heading home.

“Do you need a ride, sweetie?” Mom asks her as they start for the living room. “We could drop you off.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Valerie says. “I can take the bus.”

“Absolutely not, young lady, we can’t just leave our guest to take the bus home,” Mom says. “Hang on, I’ll go grab the keys to the Ghost Assault Vehicle.”

“Uh, thanks?”

“It’s just a souped up RV,” Danny explains as soon as Mom’s out of earshot. “And if Mom’s driving, we’ll be fine.”

“Aww, are you driving me home, Danny?” Valerie says. “I didn’t realize I needed two escorts.”

“No, he’s not,” comes a sudden voice before Danny can say anything back. They both turn in surprise to find Jazz standing there with her arms crossed.

“We need to talk, Danny,” she says.

“What? Why?”

“About your homework,” Jazz says with a subtle glance at Valerie. “Do you have any idea how much you’ve missed this week?”

Danny groans. “As a matter of fact, I do, Jazz,” he says. “You say it like I don’t have the knowledge constantly looming over my head.”

“Well, I’m going to help you come up with a plan to get it done,” Valerie says. “You definitely don’t have a half hour to waste to drive Valerie home.”

“So I’m just going to let Mom drive home the friend that I invited over? That’s kind of rude, Jazz,” Danny says.

“Too bad,” Jazz says. She grabs Danny’s arm and starts pulling him for the stairs.

“What? Jazz!”

But Jazz is insistent, and Danny only has enough time to look back and mouth ‘Sorry,’ to Valerie before they reach the stairs.

Valerie waves him off, thankfully seeming unbothered, before Jazz drags him up the stairs and out of sight.

It’s only once Jazz pulls them both inside of her room that she lets go of him. Danny starts talking before she can turn around, though.

“Okay, seriously, what is with you?” he says, raising his hands up in exasperation. “I wasn’t kidding about that being rude. And why are you suddenly being a stickler about homework, you haven’t done that since you learned… you know.”

“How long have you known that Valerie hates Phantom?” Jazz asks quietly, crossing her arms and completely ignoring his question.

“Uh, I don’t know, I always kind of figured after that whole ‘ruined her life’ thing? Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”

“Because I’m tired of seeing you hanging out with people who bad mouth you right to your face.”

“Hey,” Danny says, narrowing his eyes to a glare. “First of all, Valerie doesn’t know that’s what she’s doing, so it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Second,” he continues, “since when is that any of your business? It’s not like I don’t have a lot of experience with that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, and that’s a problem,” Jazz says.

“It’s hardly my biggest problem. It’s not one I can’t deal with. And Valerie never brings up Phantom unprompted anyway. It’s okay.”

“Danny, it’s not—” Jazz takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Just because she doesn’t talk about it doesn’t mean you won’t know,” she says.

“Like how I know Mom and Dad would rip me apart molecule by molecule if they found out? It’s really not a big deal. I can handle it okay? I promise.”

“It’s not about whether or not you can handle it.”

“Well, what’s it about, then?”

Jazz opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by Mom calling “Danny!” from downstairs.

“Where are you, we’re driving Valerie home!”

“See, Mom knows it’s rude too,” Danny says, gesturing back at the door. “I’ll be going now.”

“Fine, but we’re going to talk about this when you get back, right?” Jazz calls after him.

“I don’t know,” Danny says, sending one last glare over his shoulder. “Probably not.”

He walks off before Jazz can reply.

…

“Okay so uh, here’s the thing,” Valerie says as the three of them climb into the GAV. “I don’t exactly live in the greatest apartment.”

“That’s okay,” Danny says. “We’re not going to judge you.”

“No, I just mean, you guys live in a house with a bunch of fancy lab equipment and have an entire Ghost Assault Vehicle with gadgets on it as your car. Don’t… expect that.”

“Don’t worry about it sweetie,” Mom says from the front seat as she pulls away. “I know Jack and I might be a little out of touch from time to time, but we certainly don’t expect everyone to be rich.”

Except she used to be just that, hisses a voice in Danny’s head. He tries his best to shake it away.

Valerie gives a slightly bitter chuckle. “Just a bunch of leftover ghost problems really,” she mutters, and Danny winces, looking away as he fidgets with his hands.

“We’ve certainly had our fair share of those,” Mom says. “Danny’s right, we’re not going to judge you.”

Well, judging is one thing. He’s definitely not judging. But a lack of judgment doesn’t stop Danny’s stomach from curling up in guilt when they pull to a stop in front of Valerie’s clearly falling apart apartment building. He makes sure it doesn’t show on his face, lest Valerie take it as something else, but when she climbs out and waves at him, he still feels very small as he waves back.

“See you tomorrow?” Valerie asks, clearly still nervous.

Danny shoves the guilt down and smiles at her. “Definitely.”

Apparently he’s hidden his feelings well enough, because Valerie’s smile turns a little more confident. “Next time, we’re hanging out at my place.”

“Deal,” Danny says with a nod.

Valerie grins at him and heads off towards the front door, waving as she goes.

Danny climbs up to the front seat as soon as she heads inside, and then Mom turns to him before she pulls away.

“Well then,” she says, and she has a knowing tone in her voice that makes Danny realize he’s in for something embarrassing. “She’s a cutie, isn’t she?”

“Oh, my god, Mom,” Danny groans.

“I’m just saying, teenage crushes can be very sweet!” Mom says, turning to pull away.

“Mom!”

“You have my full support if you want to go for it, sweetheart.”

Danny buries his head in his hands. “I’m getting out and walking home.”

“Just make sure you’re both comfortable with whatever you want to try!”

“Kill me twice.”

…

The inside of Valerie’s apartment isn’t much nicer than the outside, but Danny can see effort to make it more of a home. There’s Christmas lights hung up in the living room, though that could also be because there’s no overhead light built in. Either way, the lights look nice, and there’s a couple of posters hung up on the walls, though most of them seem to be referencing something called Scalpels and Secrets, which according to the posters looks like it’s exactly as good as it sounds.

They aren’t there for long before Valerie and him both end up in the kitchen, helping Mr Gray make potatoes. He washes them and passes them to Valerie, who cuts them up and slides them to the other side of the cutting board, and Danny puts them on a tray and shakes some spices over them, and the tray will go into the oven as soon as they’re all there.

“Do you guys make dinner like this together a lot?” Danny asks, picking up another handful from Valerie’s cutting board.

“Yeah. We both tend to get home pretty late, so it just makes it go faster,” Valerie says.

“It’s nice,” Danny admits. He smirks a little bit. “And none of it’s glowing.”

“I’m sorry?” Mr Gray asks, looking over at him in bafflement and slight concern.

“My parents’ food has a tendency to glow green and attack you,” Danny says. “That’s kind of just what happens when you live in the same house as an interdimensional portal.”

Mr Gray stares at him for a moment, then seems to shake himself. “Well, I can assure you none of these potatoes will try to attack you,” he says, passing the last one to Valerie.

“We’re already off to a great start then,” Danny says, and Valerie laughs a little.

“Your parents’ food wasn’t that bad,” she says.

“I’ll be sure to tell them you said that,” Danny says. Valerie laughs again.

“You two seem to get along well,” Mr Gray says with a smile at them. “How did you meet?”

“We got stuck together during a ghost attack,” Valerie says, likely for consistency’s sake so they can tell both sets of their parents the same story. “It went long, so we just started talking.”

“Sometimes life happens that way,” Mr Gray says with a smile and a nod. “I’m glad you two met. Valerie seems happier since she’s started spending time with you.”

“Dad,” Valerie grumbles, looking away. Danny does the same, feeling his cheeks warm.

“What, am I not supposed to take note of someone who makes my daughter happy?” Mr Gray asks. “I don’t know if you know this Valerie, but I like it when you’re happy.”

“Dad.”

Mr Gray chuckles a little, and Danny takes a moment to be glad that Valerie wasn’t in the car last night when Mom was teasing him.

He turns and notices he’s picking up the last of Valerie’s potatoes, so he adds the spices to them and does one more shake over all of the potatoes, and then passes them off to Valerie, who carries them over to the oven, which Mr Gray has pulled open.

“That’s gonna be delicious,” Valerie says as Mr Gray shuts it. He sets a timer for half an hour, and then turns to face them both.

“Well Danny, since Valerie seems to have gotten a crash course in dinners at your house, you should know that we have a tradition when we eat dinner here.”

“Oh?” Danny asks.

“I hope you’re ready for cheesy medical dramas,” Valerie says with a grin. “We’re watching Scalpels and Secrets.”

…

They manage to get part of an episode in before the potatoes are done, and when Mr Gray heads into the other room to get them, Valerie pauses the show and turns to him.

“Thoughts?”

“Oh, uh,” Danny says. “It’s, um…”

“We like it because it’s bad, Danny.”

“Then it’s really bad,” Danny says in relief.

Valerie laughs. “That’s the fun part,” she says. “I’m almost never having more fun than when I get to sit here and make fun of Kelly for being an idiot and Stacy for being a bitch.”

“Valerie!” is heard from the kitchen,

“For being a jerk,” Valerie amends without missing a beat. Then she mouths to Danny ‘She’s a bitch,’ and Danny muffles his laughter.

Mr Gray comes back in with three plates of potatoes that look smothered in butter, and sets a bag of shredded cheese and salt and pepper on the ground in front of them. He hands Danny, then Valerie their plates, and takes his seat again in the armchair. Valerie immediately goes for the cheese, so Danny picks up the salt and pepper and shakes some onto his potatoes, then trades with Valerie when he’s done. They both pass what they’re holding up to Mr Gray afterwards, and he takes them and starts on his plate as Valerie plays the show again.

They eat the potatoes as they finish the episode, which ends on the most ridiculous cliffhanger of all time (Kevin is trying to decide whether or not he’ll tell Kelly he’s cheated for what is, according to Valerie, the fourth time).

“We can watch the next one tomorrow night,” Mr Gray says as it finishes. “I have some work to do. But I can do the dishes if you two want to head up to Valerie’s room to talk.”

“Uh,” Valerie says, leaping up. “Give me a minute first! It’s… really messy.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Danny says. “You should see the state my room is in most of the time.”

“No, I just need to put some— things— away! Won’t take two seconds!”

And with that she all but runs off down the hallway next to the kitchen, leaving Danny alone with Mr Gray.

Before it can start feeling awkward, however, Mr Gray chuckles and turns to face him. “Don’t worry about it,” he says. “She gets like this when she wants to impress someone.”

“Impress someone?” Danny asks, surprised.

Mr Gray smiles knowingly at him and doesn’t say anything.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just know typical shovel rules apply, and you better not hurt my daughter.”

“Wait,” Danny says, holding up his hands. “I don’t— she’s not— I mean we’re not—”

“Okay!” comes Valerie’s voice, and she appears at the entrance to the kitchen. “You can come back now.”

“Keep the door open,” Mr Gray calls, as Danny heads after her into the kitchen.

“Dad!”

Danny looks down to hide his face, which he’s sure is bright red. He keeps his gaze firmly fixed on the floor until they reach Valerie’s bedroom.

“Sorry about him,” Valerie says.

“That’s okay,” Danny says, finally looking up. “You’re lucky my parents didn’t—” he stops.

He has no idea what Valerie was putting away during the tidying of her room, but she left up the countless newspaper clippings and photographs and drawn up targets of Phantom. There are conspiracy articles, like ones about who Phantom is dating, and ones that are closer to accurate, like pieces about public opinion on him shifting. There are also tons of photos pinned and taped to the wall, some of which he doesn’t have the slightest clue how she could have gotten.

If this is everything she feels comfortable with him seeing, what did she feel the need to hide?

Danny feels a little sick to his stomach. He tries to shake the feeling off, but after a second of him not saying anything, Valerie notices.

“Oh god,” she says, turning to follow his gaze. “Okay I uh, I understand how this looks, but I swear I’m not creepy and obsessive. I figured you wouldn’t mind because your parents are ghost hunters, I just… please ignore these. I swear I don’t spend all of my free time thinking about Phantom.”

“That’s okay,” Danny says, trying to force as much of a casual tone into his voice as he can manage. Even his parents don’t have a hate shrine to him.

Then again, he didn’t completely ruin his parents’ lives. Maybe it does make some sense.

“I just…” Valerie sighs, sitting down on her bed. “I’ve been meaning to take some of these down too. I mean, Phantom’s not this much of a thing with me anymore. Like, he’s still a dangerous ghost and I— someone needs to stop him, obviously, but… just, especially after everything first happened, I was pissed at him. I still am pissed, I’m just not as lonely as I was.” She looks up at Danny, and then jolts upright and looks away. “I mean uh, because my old friends aren’t being quite as huge of jerks anymore. Obviously.”

“Yeah,” Danny mutters, looking down at the floor, as the only place he can put his gaze and not be met with a picture of Phantom.

After a second, however, Valerie sighs again. “And you too,” she admits in a mumble.

Danny looks up. “What?”

Valerie shrugs, looking embarrassed. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I like hanging out with you, Danny,” she says. “It’s nice to have a friend I can just spend time and do normal stuff with,” she says.

Danny keeps her gaze and smiles a little. “I like that too,” he says quietly.

Valerie smiles back at him, and neither of them say anything for a moment.

Finally, Valerie clears her throat. “So uh, ignoring all of the Phantom stuff that I’m taking down anyway… sorry about my dad. My life is way too complicated right now to date someone anyway. I don’t think he gets that.”

“Huh, that’s different,” Danny says before he thinks it through.

Valerie blinks at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, my life is crazy complicated right now too,” Danny says. “That’s why I want to date someone.”

Valerie gives him an intrigued look. “Okay, again, what do you mean,” she says.

“I mean, I have so much going on,” Danny says. After a second, he moves forward and sits down on the bed next to Valerie, and Valerie easily shifts aside to let him.

“It sounds nice to have a break from all of that, I guess is what I mean. Not in the long term committed partner way, just in the going on dates to have fun kind of way? I don’t know.” He shrugs. “It’s not like it matters anyway, my options are pretty limited in that department.”

“What makes you say that?” Valerie asks, tipping her head.

Danny stares at her. “Uh, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Valerie, but I’m not exactly as popular as your old friends.”

Valerie blinks, like the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “I mean, that’s not what I—” she stops, and they both look at each other for a moment. Danny can’t tell if she wants him to ask or not.

Then after a second, he sees her look away, and he knows that answer is “not.”

So instead, he shifts his position to dispel the awkwardness and says “Like, can you imagine me walking up to Paulina and asking her out?”

Valerie snorts and covers her mouth, meaning he’s succeeded in moving the conversation on. “Okay, no, I can’t,” she says. “She’d definitely laugh at you.”

“See, that’s what I mean,” Danny says with a grin. “I have to make my choices on more of a ‘who’s low enough on the totem pole to be a real option,’ basis.”

“Well, you sure know how to charm a girl,” Valerie says. “I’m astounded they’re not all falling at your feet already.”

“I know right?” Danny says. “With all of the loserness and unreliability of scheduled activities to offer?”

Valerie narrows her eyes slightly. “That’s not all you have to offer.”

“It is to someone like Paulina,” Danny says.

Valerie rolls her eyes. “Because Paulina’s too shallow to pay attention to anything else,” she says, and Danny… doesn’t know what to say to that.

Thankfully, Valerie keeps going. “I mean honestly, even before she kicked me to the curb the second I had any hardships in life, she wasn’t exactly my best friend. She just… isn’t exactly the most supportive person.”

“I don’t imagine any of them would be,” Danny admitted. “But I can relate. Not having supportive friends can really suck.”

“Yeah, I guess you’d know too, huh?” Valerie says.

Danny doesn’t agree, but doesn’t deny it either.

“Well, whoever it is you’re talking about,” Valerie says. “And of course I don’t have the slightest clue who it could be. I think they’re crazy to not be treating you well. You deserve it.”

“Uh, thanks,” Danny says, though what goes through his head is She wouldn’t be saying that if she knew.

He glances up at her wall. She really wouldn’t.

He shakes it off and turns back to her. “You too, by the way,” he says. “Everyone who treated you like that is a jerk. I just uh, thought that before too.”

“Thanks, Danny,” Valerie says with a smile. “I like to think I’ve upgraded a little.”

Danny smiles back at her. “Me too,” he says. He tries not to feel guilty about the fact that he means it.

…

Mom comes to get him not long after that, and Danny spends the drive home trying to work out his thoughts.

It’s definitely nothing new, caring about someone who hates Phantom. He knew Valerie had an issue with him before. The only thing that’s changed is now he’s aware of the intensity.

When he thinks about it, he can’t blame her. When she says he ruined her life as Phantom, he can tell she means it, and he can tell why. It’s just another of the increasing list of screwups he doesn’t know how to make up for. Losing Valerie’s father his job, apparently dropping Sam from a highwire during his time with Freakshow, blasting Tucker into a wall and giving him a concussion. If any of them want to hate him, well, they definitely all have their reasons. He could be doing better as a hero.

And honestly, if he can deal with his parents talking loudly about wanting to rip him apart molecule by molecule, he can deal with Valerie hating him enough to decorate her room with that hatred.

At least she’s never tried to kill him.

…

He’s out late on patrol, partly because he gets back home late and partly because he doesn’t want to ask Jazz for help and keep them both up, which means he’s out even later. But as a result, despite all her best efforts Jazz can’t get him up in time to drive them both to school. Instead, he runs out the door with toast in his hand, yelling back to his parents that he’d run to make the bus.

A ghost sense throws a wrench into that plan. He sighs, ducks down a side street, and transforms, then takes to the sky, casting his gaze around.

After a second, he spots an octopus ghost a street over, diving towards a car parked on the side of the road. There’s a mother and daughter cowering inside it.

Danny heads quickly for the ghost, but the octopus soars straight through the car, pulling the girl along with it. Likely by accident, judging by the way the octopus starts shaking its tail.

Shifting gears, Danny ignores the ghost and heads for the space right under the child.

“I’ve got you!” he calls. “You can let go!”

The girl stops screaming just long enough to look down at him, and the second she spots him, her face brightens. She lets go of the octopus and lands safely in his grip, and Danny lowers them both to the ground. The octopus heads towards the sky, meaning it’s probably not going to cause too much trouble, so he lets it go for now.

Danny feels a sudden jolt from the girl in his arms, and looks down just in time for her to throw her arms around his neck.

“Hey, easy there,” Danny says, shifting his grip. “I don’t want to drop you. You’re alright.”

He turns back towards the car to see the girl’s mother running up the sidewalk.

“Daisy!” she calls as soon as she spots them both. “Oh, thank you, thank you!”

“Mama, he flies!” Daisy calls. She turns to grin up at Danny. “Can you do it again?”

Danny laughs a little. “I don’t know if your Mom has another one of those in her,” he says, passing Daisy back to her mother.

“Oh thank you so much,” the woman says, hugging Daisy close to her chest. Daisy hugs her mother just as tightly as she hugged Danny. Hugs are a thing for her, it seems.

“No trouble,” Danny says, giving the woman a smile. “I should probably go grab that ghost now.”

“Thank you so much,” the woman says again. She sets Daisy down on the ground, and grips her hand tightly.

Daisy waves back at him as the two of them start towards their car. “Bye Mr Invis-o-Bill!” she calls.

Danny holds back a groan and manages to smile back at her. He watches the two of them for another second with a small smile, then turns and takes to the air again, heading after that octopus.

Before he can get very far, however, he hears “Hey, ghost scum!”

He spins around to see the Red Huntress raising a blaster at him. This time he doesn’t bother to hold back a groan.

“Look, I’m busy, can we do this another time?” he says. “I do actually have somewhere I need to be.”

“Yeah, me too, but you don’t see me complaining,” Red Huntress snaps, and she raises her blaster again.

“I wasn’t even— I’m kind of dealing with a different ghost,” Danny says, turning intangible as the blast shoots through him and up into the sky. He stays intangible and turns to look after the octopus ghost that’s definitely long gone.

“Only ghost I see here is you,” Red Huntress says, and Danny sighs and turns to face her again, dropping his intangibility. She doesn’t try to fire her blaster again, but she doesn’t lower it either.

“That’s because you have amazingly terrible timing,” Danny says. “Where are your new sidekicks, did you drop them?”

“It’s not like they follow me everywhere,” Red Huntress snaps.

“Heck of a team, you three,” Danny says. “Look, seriously. I’m tired, and I have places to be. Can we just skip this for today?”

“Not on your afterlife,” Red Huntress says, and fires her blaster.

Danny sighs again. “Yeah, I figured,” he mutters. He dives out of the way just in time to avoid it and darts back the way he came, though he stays clear from his house. The last thing he needs is his parents to notice the fight and join in.

He hears Red Huntress chasing him, but there’s too many people around for him to feel comfortable using intangibility, lest the blast go through him and hit someone else. So instead, he turns so his back is facing the ground and flies backwards, keeping his gaze on the Huntress as she chases. What he really needs to do is to get away long enough to change back and just start heading back to school, but Huntress is right on his tail. He’ll just have to get to a less populated area first.

He starts flying for the end of the street, trying to keep an eye on Huntress while also avoiding slamming into any buildings. Just as he reaches the turn, Huntress fires a blast at him. Danny gives a quick glance down only to see people looking up at him, so he groans, braces himself, and takes the hit in the chest.

Thankfully he manages to hit the ground next to the people instead of landing on top of them, which would have defeated the purpose. It does, however, give him a chance to go intangible and sink below ground.

He can’t see anything underground, so he doesn’t fly too far before heading back up, this time just staying intangible.

The Huntress is looking around, but makes no sign of having seen him or knowing where he went, so Danny lets out a small breath and heads down a side alleyway. He ducks behind a dumpster and changes back. A peek out from behind reveals no one in the alley.

Danny sighs. He’s definitely going to be late for school.

Right as he’s about to step out, however, the Red Huntress lands in the alley with a loud sigh. She looks back out towards the street, and it must be satisfyingly empty, because she hits a button on her suit, and her armor retracts back into a backpack.

And then Valerie Gray looks up and locks eyes with him.

Valerie’s eyes immediately snap wide open, and her hands go to her mouth.

“Oh god,” she says faintly. “You— you didn’t see that! I’m not here!”

Danny stares at her.

Valerie groans and drops her head into her hands. “No no no,” she says. “That’s not— ugh, what are you doing here?”

“I was hiding from an octopus ghost,” Danny says weakly.

“No,” Valerie groans again. “Okay, okay, look, you—” she stops, and moves quickly across the alleyway, then pulls them both behind the dumpster. “I can explain.”

“That you’re the Red Huntress?” Danny says. He grabs the straps of his own backpack to hopefully keep it from being obvious that his hands are shaking.

“Kind of?” Valerie says weakly. “Look, I… back when Phantom first destroyed my life, I got the suit in the mail from… an anonymous benefactor. It started out as a way to get revenge, but then I saw how many people were getting hurt by all ghosts, not just him. I— I had to do something. No one was supposed to find out.”

Danny’s pretty sure the backpack plan isn’t going to work out. He shoves his hands in his pockets instead.

So, nothing new. He’s used to people hating him. He was just wrong about the intensity. Again. It’s fine. This is so fine.

“Danny?” Valerie says, and Danny looks up to see abject terror on her face. “Please, I— I wasn’t trying to lie to you. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Danny definitely can’t breathe right, but Valerie’s scared, so he tries to tap into that to force the feeling away from himself for as long as he can. He clenches his hands into fists until he can feel his nails digging into his hands, and focuses on that to ground himself.

“Hey, of course I’m not going to tell anyone,” he says, proud of how steady his voice comes out. “Val, that’s— that’s amazing.”

And it is kind of amazing, to hear his own motivations echoed so plainly back to him. He hadn’t realized the Red Huntress had any motivation apart from destroying him.

Apart from… oh god.

Valerie looks up at him, a nervous hope on her face, and Danny shoves his own feelings down again.

“You… it doesn’t change how you see me?” Valerie asks.

Danny opens his mouth to say no, but can’t get it out, so he switches gears instead.

“Of course it changes how I see you,” he says, and rushes on before Valerie’s expression can change. “It makes you that much more amazing. I mean you… you don’t have to do this, no one’s making you, and you don’t owe it to anyone. And it’s dangerous, but… but you do it anyway.”

Yeah, he can focus on that. That’s a good part to focus on.

That, and how terrified he’s going to be to be fighting the Red Huntress from now on, because he knows he’s fighting a human and more than that he’s fighting Valerie—

No no, that’s not a good part to focus on right now.

“And that’s amazing,” he says turning back to Valerie. “Sorry I— I feel like I’m just repeating myself but—”

He’s cut off by Valerie wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. It’s barely a second before she stops and pulls back though, looking startled at what she just did.

“Oh shit I shouldn’t have done that without asking,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”

Danny swallows. “It… it’s okay,” he says, giving a smile that comes out much more confident than he feels. “I mean, Val, I would have thought my feelings are pretty obvious by now.”

Valerie laughs. “Yeah,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck. “Neither of us just ever said them out loud.” She smiles widely up at him, looking a mix of grateful and ecstatic.

“You’re amazing too, you know?” she says. “You just— wow, you just rolled with that.”

“Yeah,” Danny says weakly. “I’m a little amazed with that myself.”

Valerie laughs and takes a step closer. “Can I kiss you again?” she asks.

Danny takes a deep breath and shoves this realization far, far down so he can process it later, and instead smiles back at Valerie. “Yes.”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #jazz fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #uh what do i put a tw for #tw slight non con?#like Danny's not in a good place when the kissing happens #that kind of situation #everyone knows au #my fic

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