#but yeah I was feeling in a DP mood and looked at AO3 and man....that fandom is so far removed from the source material its bizarre

[ectoimp]

Why do majority of the Danny Phantom fanfics these days have the Fenton parents be evil?

Instead letting them have an arc where they can learn and grow and be interesting characters on their own, they are just written off as evil abusers? So much fan work now is "And then Danny runs away to live with BATMAN and batman makes it so he never has to worry about his evil parents again."

Them being just evil is so much more boring then them being good hearted but flawed people. Like its just leaving so much juicy drama on the table. Like lets start with....Maddie and Jack are FASCINATED by ghosts....but also they hate them? Why is that? Do they have a reason? Why do neither Danny or ESPECIALLY Jazz ask them this? Why if they think ghosts are so evil and dangerous, did they open a door to their world?

The boring evil fenton answer is "because evil mad scientists"

Like clearly people have not rewatched DP in a LONG time because people have forgotten that danny loves his parents and his parents love him? I literally saw a fic that involved them abusing danny after an identity reveal and is was tagged "canon typical violence" ?????????? Um no???? The fentons beating their children isnt canon?????????

[castleofshit]

just, i want the marble hornets gang going to six flags. i want alex complaining to sara about food prices. i want jessica, amy, and jay making fun of the couples with the awful matching hoodies. i want brian trying to bribe seth and tim to go on superman with him. just all the good fluff. all good times. i hope you feel better soon, and don’t feel bad taking breaks!!

((It might take me three weeks but it's here!!!!!!!!!!! Link to the hoodie referenced in this fic :3 https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Matching-Hoodie-Sweatshirt-Unisex/dp/B08CLYFND4/ref=sr_1_39?dchild=1&keywords=couple%2Bhoodies%2Bpink&qid=1626150560&sr=8-39&th=1&psc=1 ))

On AO3 if that is your preference

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32547058

It had been at Alex’s insistence, surprisingly. He had said that it was to help them bond, make their acting seem more natural. That some fun would finally get them in the headspace to perform well.

Some of the cast thought it was an excuse to spend time having fun, which was ultimately a good thing with how stressed Kralie had become.

Yet his mood did not seem to be improving as he sat across from Sarah at a dirty picnic table. “Five dollars for a pretzel?”

His voice was incredulous, as if the pricing had personally insulted him, rather than simply being what it has always been.

“Well, no one is forcing you to buy it,” Sarah leaned back amused by Alex’s anger for once. “But I will admit that $5 is too much for a mostly green hot dog. You could get a pack of Hebrew National for less.”

“Exactly! And the audacity to restrict outside food. It’s designed to force you to starve or pay for shitty food.”

Sara dutifully nodded her agreement as someone that Alex failed to notice settled in beside him on the chair.

“Alex, could you hand me my bag?” She asked once he had finished talking.

He reached under the table to grab the bag at his feet without hesitation, handing it to Amy, who took it and dug around for her sunscreen.

As she reapplied it as she spoke, having missed the majority of the conversation, “I think I’m going to get a snack from the concession stand, do you want anything Alex?”

Sarah knew in an instant that his tune was about to change.

“No, but I’ll grab something for you,” He spoke immediately, as though he had no problem with the overpriced nature of the water park food. “I think the pretzel is probably the safest bet,” Sarah smiled casually as she put in her two cents.

She swore Alex’s eye twitched ever so slightly despite the charade of cheerfulness he put on for Amy.

-

“I swear that’s the third sweater I’ve seen like that today.” Jay groaned as a woman, roughly the same age as them walked by in a black sweater that read “The Real Boss.” By now he and his two companions already knew that the matching one worn by her partner, neither of which they had seen yet, read simply “The Boss.”

Jessica sighed, “I don’t get why you would waste money on those. They’re incredibly tacky at best, an awful reminder of a break up at worse.”

Amy hummed in agreement, holding up her hand to pause the conversation as she finished chewing her pretzel. “Or a great break up reminder. Nothing screams failed relationship like the realization you were never equals.”

Jay made a choked noise where he sat while Jessica laughed freely. “You don’t think Alex would wear one of those would you?” She asked innocently.

Amy rolled her eyes, “That doesn’t matter. I’d rather be caught dead than in one of those. I bet they’re made out of that cheap shitty fabric that falls apart after one wash.”

“I don’t know,” Jay drew out, “Maybe we should go check the gift shop and find out.”

It was that easy to convince the other two, with Jessica and Jay both tired of the kid rides, but unwilling to try out any of the larger ones; Amy on the other hand was ready to spend time with other members of the group, at this point tired of helping Brian try to convince Alex and Sarah to ride the Superman with him; she knew it was a losing battle, and quietly abandoned the pair to his pestering.

That brought the group into a chilly gift shop, looking at a display of couple hoodies.

“Huh, it actually doesn’t feel too bad,” Amy commented, after holding the sleeve of one, “Kind of thick for summer though.”

“A jacket’s a jacket.” Jessica sang, “Hey check out this one!”

She pulled a grey pair off the rack.

“Think we could get Brian and Tim to wear these?”

The three exchanged looks- it might force them to attend club events across university to eat for a week or two, but it would be so worth it.

-

“Come on, it'll be fun,” Brian drew out the words to Tim, Seth trailing not far behind them, having already been convinced into the upcoming shenanigans by the star of Marble Hornets.

“And I already said no.” Tim stated firmly, unamused by his best friend's request. He hadn’t really wanted to come on the trip in the first place, and had spent most of it tailing near Brian, when he wasn’t busy fidgeting with the lighter in his pocket.

He ended up coming as it would be out of place for him to be the only cast member missing, and because Amy had asked him nicely (and promised to make the oatmeal cookies he adored for snacks on the drive up). Brian having listened in on the conversation, offered to even drive for him, which sealed the deal; despite Tim fully expected he’d drive back with Brian being thoroughly exhausted after the day outside.

“But I won’t be able to survive without my bestie,” Brian whined.

Seth snorted behind him, “Leave him be if he doesn’t want to go.”

Tim nodded his thanks, “Seth will make up for me, he’ll make sure you live through the experience.”

Seth mock saluted from behind Brian.

“It’s not the same though,” Brian pouted.

“What? Having an actually enjoyable experience rather than being covered in my hurl? Yeah I imagine it is quite different,” Tim was only half joking, but Brian couldn’t tell.

“Well, you’ll have to come on with us and prove it.”

Well...Tim was never one to back down from Brian’s almost dares- even if he already knew the outcome. Sometimes it really was about proving a point with that man.

Seth glanced between the pair, concern evident on his face. Just in case, he’d have to make sure he sat two rows in front of them.

-

“To be fair, I warned you.” Tim spoke leaning heavily against the bathroom wall, flannel damp and draped across his arm from where he had rinsed it. He was lucky to have a plain undershirt that had been unaffected.

Brian, not so much. “I didn’t think you were serious!” he exclaimed from behind the bathroom stall. He stuck his hand out under the stall, holding his t-shirt out for Tim.

Tim took it, handing Brian the still wet flannel, “That’s as dry as I could get it with the hand driers,”

Somehow the flannel had ended up less of a mess than Brian’s shirt. Brian swore it was intentional as he buttoned up the blue-black patterned shirt.

“You sure you don’t just want to throw this out?” Tim asked as he began to rinse off the green t-shirt, doing what he could to save it. He could already tell it was going to stain pretty bad.

Just as he began, a familiar shape slid up to the sink next to him.

“Hey- is that Brian’s shirt?” Jay asked, pumping soap onto his hands. Tim nodded solemnly, while Jay’s face lit up.

It was slightly concerning. “Hey Bri?”

After receiving the most irritated “What?” either had ever heard from the man, Jay almost sang.

“Jessica, Amy and I got something for you.”

Tim ended up leaving the bathroom with his still damp flannel, while Brian now wore a grey hoodie that read in bold text:

“I get us into trouble.”

Alex laughed harder than any of them, even Amy, had heard in weeks when Seth gave him the simplified version of the story.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Verboten 5 | (T)

ff.net | AO3

Fandom: Danny Phantom (DP)

Summary:   AU. When Danny was five years old, he went missing for 2 weeks. In the years that follow, his family tried to make sense of what happened, only for the truth to be discovered years later.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, language. Be prepared for some very weird things. 

Chapter warning: there be death and blood. Tread at your own risk

Parings: Danny/Sam

Notes: originally uploaded to Ff.net. Cross-posted to AO3 and tumblr. This fic is very heavily inspired by folklore surrounding mysterious wilderness disappearances

Chapter 5

"Yo, Fenturd, funny seeing you here."

"Last time I checked, our entire class is supposed to be on this trail. I don't know why you're so surprised," Danny quipped before he could stop himself.

Dash grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What was that?"

"Could you deal with your beef with this loser later? I'm all sweaty and getting covered in dirt. My designer clothes will get ruined at this point," the one girl, Paulina whined. The other girls in the group, her satellites, quickly tried to comfort her.

Danny caught sight of the scowl on Sam's face as she took a step forward. His friend held distain for the popular girls on the best of days, but it was situations like this which really upset her. They didn't care about anyone outside of their group, and often stood by and laughed as the jocks bullied others.

Paulina, who was the unspoken queen of their grade, was often outspoken about girls who she thought was beneath her, but she had also begun her own form of bullying in their sophomore year. She used her beauty to make guys fall for her and give her items. Once she was finished using them, she often publically embarrassed them or had Dash and his cronies throw a few punches. She had tried to go after Danny once, but after encountering his parents and their eccentricities once, she wanted nothing more to do with him.

"Can't I at least get one punch in?" Dash requested as he sized up Danny. "I mean, this is my last year to wail on him."

"You can't argue with that," Zack added as he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby tree. "Why deny a man a simple pleasure?"

"Fine, but hurry it up," Paulina finally agreed as she and her friends moved to the side.

"You hear her. Grab him," Dash instructed has he pushed Danny backwards. He barely had time to catch himself before his arms were grabbed by two of the jocks.

Before he had a chance to throw his punch, Kwan grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, is this really the best place to do this? That one Ranger wasn't that far behind us."

"So?"

"Your buddy has a point," Sam spat as Tucker tried to hold her back. It was clear she was itching to hit someone in the shin with her combat boot. "If a Ranger catches you assaulting someone, not only could you lose your spot on the football team, you could get jail time."

Before Dash could make his decision, a scream rang out through the area. Everyone glanced around, but it didn't seem as if anyone found anything unusual. "Didn't that sound like Mikey?" Tucker asked after a moment.

"Drop him. That will definitely draw attention we don't want," Dash told his friends. "Mikey was up ahead of us, wasn't he?"

"I think so. Why?" Kwan questioned.

"We should go check on our other punching bag. Make sure he's not too hurt. Besides, maybe we'll learn something we can use to scare him with later. Come on." He beckoned them forward as he began following the trail again. The girls quickly followed him. The jocks holding Danny shared a look before letting him go.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Danny looked up to see Kwan watching him. "Yeah. I know you were trying to help out there. Thanks."

The football player nodded before he ran after his friends. Although Danny didn't exactly trust Kwan, he knew that he was a much kinder person than most of Dash's friends. Kwan really didn't want to be involved with the bullying, but was forced to go along with it for reasons Danny didn't quite understand.

"Do you think we should follow them?" Danny turned to see his friend's responses.

"Absolutely not!" Tucker shouted before Sam could respond. "Dude, didn't you notice that Dash is in one of his moods?"

"You're such a coward, Tucker." Sam grabbed his arm and began pulling him along the path. "He could need our help."

"Or we could get beaten to a pulp too."

"I'm with Sam on this one." When Tucker sent him a look a betrayal, Danny amended, "I mean, we don't have to get close if nothing is wrong, but if they need help, we can go get a Ranger. Didn't Kwan mention there should be one not too far away?"

"Fine, but don't expect me to get killed along with you."

…..

After a few minutes of walking, Danny and his friends first caught sight of Dash and his friends. They seemed to just be staring at something in the woods. The girls were nowhere nearby. Mikey was sitting on the ground at their feet and was crying inconsolably.

"What… what should we do?" Tucker whispered as they hid behind a nearby tree and monitored the situation.

The hair on the back of Danny's neck felt as if it was standing on end. As soon as they got to this area, something felt extremely wrong. "Although this goes against my desire for self-preservation, something's not right."

"You noticed it too?" Sam asked as she stepped out from around the tree and approached the group. "Hey! What's wrong?" Danny and Tucker shared a look before they followed her.

Mikey noticed them first. His glasses were somewhat foggy because of his tears. "Lester…" he choked out.

"What about Lester? Mikey, talk to us." Danny kneeled down so his distraught classmate wouldn't have to look up at him.

"He… he… we lost sight of him for just a moment," Mikey whispered as he grabbed Danny by the arms. His wide eyes almost made him look insane. "He didn't answer when we called him, and we didn't see any signs of him. After… after searching and not seeing him… Jimmy and Clark went off to tell Mr. Lancer. I stayed put just in case… Then… then something fell over there… and… and…" The sob that escaped the boy was somewhere in between a scream and absolute despair.

"What are you talking about? What happened?"

"Danny… I think you need to see something," Sam whispered as she shook his shoulder.

After gently prying Mikey's hands off of him, he stood up and looked at his friends. Both were incredibly pale, which was quite the feat for Tucker due to his naturally dark skin. Sam glanced at him before she pointed at something off the trail. At first, he had no idea what he was supposed to see, but after a moment, a soft dripping sound caught his attention. As he focused on that, he felt his blood run cold.

The dripping was coming from blood falling from a figure in a tree that was about thirty yards off. After a moment, he realized the figure was Lester. It almost looked as if someone had thrown him onto the branches, but with how limp his figure was and the strange pallor of his skin, Danny was convinced he was dead.

The sound of retching caught his attention. He turned to see Tucker wiping his mouth as he weakly straightened his posture. "That's… that's so messed up."

"We… we need to get help," Danny stammered as he glanced at the jocks. They all seemed to be in a trance. He snapped his fingers in front of Kwan's face. "Hey, hey! Come on! Snap out of it." The jock shook his head for a moment and glanced around before stumbling backwards into Dash. That seemed to break the rest of them out of their trance.

After a moment of confusion, Dash spotted Danny and once again grabbed him by the shirt. "Alright, Fenturd, you better have a good explanation of what happened!"

"Get off of me!" he snapped as he wrestled out of Dash's grip. "I don't know what happened either. You got here first, remember? I do know we need to alert the Rangers."

"Dash, what happened to the girls?" Lucas asked as he glanced around before he glared at Danny and his friends. "If you losers did anything to them…!"

"We haven't seen them since we got here," Sam replied as tried to help Mikey stand. He wasn't complying and had opted to stare at the ground. "Tucker, what are you doing? Don't tell me you're taking pictures."

"I am," he shakily told her as he tapped his phone. "I… I still can't get a signal. This way… we have a record of where we are… and, what the?!" As he spoke, another scream broke the silence of the forest.

"That sounded like Star!" Kwan yelled as he took off to investigate.

"Hey, wait up!" The rest of the football players quickly ran after him leaving Danny, Sam, and Tucker alone with Mikey, who still seemed dazed.

"I vote we try to get back to camp." Tucker had put his phone away and was glancing around nervously.

Danny nodded as he and Sam picked up Mikey. His frame was small and lanky, so he thankfully didn't weigh too much. Although he wasn't exactly responding to them, they were able to get him to walk by tugging on his wrist.

The group headed down the path as quickly as possible, but it wasn't fast enough for Danny's liking. The uneasy feeling he had when they first reached the area where they found Lester hadn't left. It felt like they were being watched and followed, and it made him want to run. As uncool as it was, he wanted to run away as fast as possible, but he couldn't leave his friends alone with whatever was lurking out there. He also couldn't just leave Mikey.

A glance at the shocked boy told Danny that he was having a hard time processing exactly what happened to his friend. Although Danny really couldn't say that he and Mikey were friends, he knew the boy enough to know that he and Lester were almost like brothers. It was understandable he couldn't function after witnessing that, but he really did wish the boy would move faster. They needed to get to a safer location, preferably sooner than later.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Sam hesitantly asked as they moved.

"Nah uh. No way. We're still out in the woods with something without any adults around. You saw what happened!" Tucker sounded frantic as he looked around the area.

"It can wait until we get back to camp," Danny agreed as he kept his eyes on the trail. A strange noise caught his attention, and after a moment, he stopped to listen.

"Dude, what are you doing? You can't stop now."

Danny shushed him as he listened. A strange sound, almost like a bird call but almost metallic, was coming from somewhere behind them. He turned to see if he could catch sight of whatever the source was, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. After a few moments, the bird call was joined by the sound of rustling wings, but that also sounded almost metallic as there was a strange buzz to it.

"It's back!" Mikey suddenly shouted, causing the rest of them to jump. He then wrestled out of Sam and Danny's grips before he took off down the trail.

"Mikey! Come back! What's back?" Before Danny had a chance to go after him, Sam grabbed his arm and pointed to something in the trees.

A silvery flash caught his attention. As he watched it, he realized it looked like a skeletal bird made from some sort of metal. It finally came to a stop on a tree branch a few yards down the trail from them. Its eyes were an eerie red. After it appraised them, it let out a horrifying screech.

"I see you found the target!" an excited voice rang out from the woods.

Danny and his friends formed a tight circle with their backs on the inside as they scanned the area. No one seemed to be nearby. Other than the sound of the strange bird and their breathing, there were no other sounds. After a moment, a figure emerged from shadows of the forest.

The figure was the size of a young child and was carrying something over its shoulders. As it came closer, they could tell that it looked like a young boy, expect his skin was abnormally white, seemed to have green hair, and it almost seemed like he was glowing.

"Is that Mikey?" Tucker whispered as he pointed to what the strange glowing figure had over its shoulder.

"Get away from him!" Danny shouted, uncertain if it was even able to understand him.

"And what are you going to do about it?" The boy laughed as he watched them. "I was told I could take a playmate if I helped Plasmius get his target, so I'm not giving him back!"

"What should we do?" Tucker whispered as he took a few steps backwards. "I don't know what that thing is, but I don't think that's a person."

"I think you're right, but we need to help Mikey," Danny told him. "But I have no idea how to safely do that." Before he had a chance to make a decision, Sam threw a few rocks at the strange boy. However, they passed through him without any damage.

He stuck his tongue out at the group. "That was mean, but luckily for me, stuff like that can't do any damage." A devilish grin crossed his face as his hand began to glow a sickly green. "Although I'm not allowed to touch Plasmius' target, I'm allowed to have some fun with anyone else who gets trapped."

"Run?"

"Run!" Danny and Sam yelled in response to Tucker's question. The three of them quickly ran off down the trail.

As they moved, the forest around them seemed to grow darker and more menacing as the trail became harder to follow. After what felt like hours, the three of them finally came to a stop in a decently sized clearing as Tucker and Danny had reached their limit.

"Guys, I don't think this is normal." At Sam's strange statement, the boys looked at their surroundings. The trees appeared dead and were a strange and unnatural gray color. The sky above them was a radioactive green mixed in with swirls of a neon purple.

Someone behind them began clapping. They turned to see a figure wearing white approach them from the trees. Instead of being a child like the previous one, this one was clearly an adult male. Its skin was a sickly blue, and its dark hair almost looked like horns.

"You've led me on a merry chase," it told them. Its voice was cultured and confident. Danny caught a glimpse of fangs as it spoke "However, I was only supposed to take one of you. What exactly should I do with the extras?"

"You could let us go. Pretty please?" When Danny and Sam shot Tucker an incredulous look, he quickly defended himself. "What? It doesn't hurt to ask."

"I appreciate your attempt at civility," the creature told him. "However, it that is not something I can easily do. You see, it's fairly difficult to bring over more than one human at once with normal techniques. That bird of Youngblood's is something to behold. Its magic is just subtle enough to distract someone just long enough for one of us to take him or her. I must find out if I can get one of my own."

"Where are we? What are you?" Danny demanded, sounding a lot braver than he felt. This things was terrifying.

"It's rather rude to ask that, but you're clearly frightened, so allow me to explain. "I am called Plasmius, and this is the realm of the dead."

===========================

Note: shout out to anyone who caught my unintentional Superman reference.

For the international readers, 1 yard is about 91 centimeters, and 1 foot is approximately 30.5 centimeters.