#so this was a fun exercise | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maxattax · 4 months

Text

Meet Me Halfway - Holiday Truce 2023

Happy Holiday Truce! This gift is for @dannyphannypack :) I hope you like it! I used your prompt #4, identity reveal.

The second hand on my watch ticks forward slowly. I’m waiting for my most troublesome student to show up for detention, and it is now five minutes past when he should have been here. I shouldn’t be surprised; Daniel Fenton is rarely on time for class, so why should this be any different? I’ll be calling his parents if he isn’t here soon.

Ten minutes past the hour, the door finally opens. “Sorry I’m late, Mr. Lancer. I… uhm…” Daniel’s face scrunches while he searches for an excuse.

I sigh. “Mr. Fenton, I was starting to think you wouldn’t show.” I gesture to the chair I’ve pulled up to my desk. “Have a seat.”

He sits. At first, I say nothing. He squirms in his seat, fingers dancing across the desk. I’ve known many students who are perfectly content to sit in silence, and many who will fill every second with words. But Daniel just waits, uncomfortable. He stares at me, his face grim like a man condemned. I finally break the silence.

“You missed half of my class today. Care to explain why?” I ask.

Daniel picks up a paperclip off my desk and straightens it out, then bends it back into its original shape. “Why bother asking?” he says, shaking his head. “We both know you won’t believe me.”

“Maybe if you told the truth…” I trail off, pinching the bridge of my nose. I lower my hands to my desk and look him in the eye. “I know you’re a good kid, Daniel. It’s clear there’s more going on. If you ever feel comfortable confiding in me, I want to help. Just meet me halfway.”

Daniel meets my gaze. I can’t tell what he’s thinking as he examines me. Is he weighing whether he can trust me? Is he trying to figure out if I know more than I’m letting on? I wish I did. Is he just waiting for me to dismiss him?

After too long, he says, “I’m just going through some stuff. You wouldn’t get it.”

“I might. I was a teenager once, too. I do remember what it was like.” He cocks an eyebrow. I choose to ignore his disbelief. “Is this about Mr. Baxter? I have been too lenient on him. I apologize for his actions; I only recently learned the extent of how he’s been treating you and your peers, and I will be cracking down on his behavior.”

Daniel’s eyes go wide for a moment. “Uh, yeah, that’s it.” Okay, so that’s not it. He’s not a very good liar. “Thanks. He’s been a pain in the a– uh, butt, for a while now.”

That I do believe. Dash has been cruel to several of my students, and I still can’t believe how blind I was to his bullying. I won’t let him get away with it any longer.

But if this isn’t about Dash, then what is it? “I’m happy to help,” I say. Daniel gives me a half smile, but says nothing. “Well, if there’s nothing else, why don’t you get some homework done? We still have forty-five minutes.”

Daniel deflates. “Yeah, fine.” He eyes his preferred seat in the back of the room, but slinks to a desk in the front row. He sinks onto the chair and plops a notebook onto the desk. Hunched over his book, he chews on the back of his pen as he reads. He scribbles something in his notebook, shakes his head, and turns the page.

He looks up at me. I hastily look away and start organizing the papers on my desk.

A few minutes later, I hear a gasp. “Is everything alright, Mr. Fenton?”

His fingers grip the side of his desk. “Uh, yeah. I just have to go to the bathroom. Can I go?” He taps his toes, unable to stay still in his seat. I can’t tell whether he urgently needs the restroom or if he is just eager to get away. It’s probably best to let him go just in case. I open my mouth to respond.

CRASH! The classroom door explodes inward, shards of wood ricocheting off the wall. An enormous glowing green bear stomps into the room. Saliva drips from its razor-sharp teeth, and it lets out a bone-chilling growl.

The bear takes a step in my direction. The floor shakes as its feet hit the ground. “The Winter’s Tale, I’m being pursued by a bear!” I stand up from my chair and back away slowly. My heart pounds in my chest as it takes another step.

“Hey ugly, leave him alone!” The bear rears its head towards Daniel. What is he doing?! It slowly makes its way towards the boy, rage in its eyes. What do I do? I can’t fight a ghost!

I glance towards the door. The phone on the wall has been crushed and is hanging off the base by the cord. It’s times like these that I regret not having a cell phone.

Daniel pulls a thermos out of his bag. This is not the time for soup! I want to shout, but the words are stuck in my throat.

The bear lunges towards the teen, but he nimbly dodges the attack. Daniel skirts around the ghost and points the thermos at its torso.

I drop to my knees and hide under my desk. I hate to leave a student in danger, but I am honestly terrified, and he seems to have this handled, somehow. As I watch, I remember that his parents are ghost hunters. It makes sense that he’d know how to capture them, although I was under the impression that he is scared of ghosts. He is usually the first out the door during ghost attacks.

Daniel dodges another attack, but drops the thermos. It rolls across the classroom floor and bounces off the leg of my desk. The bear notices the movement and turns to face me. Oh no.

The bear takes a few steps in my direction and raises its paw a foot away from my face. Time freezes. This is it. I’m going to die here, and Daniel won’t be far behind. I’ve failed in my duty to protect my students. My muscles tense, bracing for the impact.

In slow motion, the paw comes careening towards me. Daniel leaps across the room. There is a flash of light, and ethereal white rings appear around the boy’s waist. As the rings travel across his body, they transform my young student into the town superhero, Danny Phantom. What in the world?

A glowing green dome appears around me, and the bear’s claws scrape against the light. I’m unharmed? How?

“Okay, now you’ve pissed me off,” the ghost boy says. His voice echoes ominously.

The bear growls in response. It turns to face Phantom, who is floating over my desk, eyes glowing with the intensity of his anger.

Phantom whips around and flies behind the bear. He wraps his arms around it and lifts it over his head, slamming it into the ground behind him. The bear crumples, dazed. Phantom unceremoniously picks up the thermos and activates it. The bear stretches towards the thermos, a growl ripped from its throat as it is sucked into the machine. Phantom caps the thermos with a soft click. The air is still and quiet; the danger is gone.

The teenage ghost floats before me. He stares at me, silent, examining. His deathly pale face is frozen, twisted in an expression of anxiety. He searches me, although for what I am uncertain.

He takes a deep, unsteady breath. Do ghosts need to breathe? “So, uhm,” he says, his voice shaking. “You didn’t see any of that, right?” His hands are trembling, his form vibrating in the air before me.

“I saw a student turn into a ghost and suplex a bear,” I say bluntly. I stand and look up at him. His glow illuminates the area around him, and it’s uncomfortable to look directly at him. “Is that really you, Daniel?”

“Oh.” He lowers himself slowly to the ground. Another blinding flash of light summons rings around his waist, transforming him back into the boy I know. “I guess I have some explaining to do…”

“Yes, you certainly do. You’re a ghost? A Christmas Carol, how did this happen? Are… are you dead?”

Daniel grimaces. “No! Uh, probably. Jazz says no; I’ll trust her on this. Technically, I’m only half-ghost.” He runs a hand through his black hair. “Generally ghosts don’t like to talk about how they died, but I’ll just say there was an accident in my parents’ lab.”

I raise my eyebrows, but before I can speak, he continues. “No, my parents don’t know. Please don’t tell them.” He picks up a pen from my desk, uncaps it, and caps it again. “They wouldn’t take it well.”

This poor boy, having to hide who he is from everybody. That can’t be easy. I word my next question carefully. “Are you safe at home? As your teacher, I am a mandated reporter. That means if you’re in danger, I have to tell somebody.”

Daniel does not meet my eyes, staring intently at the pen in his hand. “No – I – uhm, no. Like, yeah, they’re ghost hunters, but they’re really bad at it. They miss half the shots they take.”

“That means they still hit you with half their shots,” I point out. “I may be an English teacher, but I’m not that bad at math.”

He finally looks up at me. “I’m good at this, Mr. Lancer. I’ve been doing it for a while. If you call CPS, then the Guys in White – sorry, the Ghost Investigation Ward,” he rolls his eyes, “will get involved, and they’re much more dangerous than my parents. Do you think they’ll care that I’m half human, if they even believe me?”

I think back to the last few times the government agents were in town. They haven’t been quiet about their hatred of ghosts. He’s right; they’re not exactly compassionate or careful. “Okay,” I say. “I believe you. You said Jasmine is aware of your… condition?”

Daniel laughs. “I’m a superhero, it’s not a disease. Yeah, she knows. Sam and Tucker do too; they were there when it happened. I’ll, uh, have to fill them in on this.”

A superhero. He’s so young to be throwing himself into danger on a daily basis. No wonder he’s failing his classes. “Why were you late for class today? I expect honesty, this time.”

Daniel blinked, expressionless. “Not the question I expected.” He sighs. “It was a ghost, of course. On the other side of campus.”

“Ah. Is that always the reason you’re late?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He shrugs. “The ghosts don’t care that I have class. I have to take care of them. Nobody else is gonna do it.”

“What about the Red Huntress? Isn’t it better to let an adult take care of it?”

Daniel barks out a short laugh. “She cares more about capturing me than any other ghost. She shoots first and asks questions never. I can’t leave her to do it alone. Plus, she has sc– other responsibilities too, outside of ghost hunting.”

“You know who she is.” It’s not a question.

“I do. But it’s not my secret to tell.”

I nod respectfully. He really is a good kid. “Okay. I wouldn’t have asked, anyway. She’s not my responsibility. You, however…”

“Yeah, I know,” Daniel says. “I haven’t been the best student. I’ve been so busy fighting ghosts I haven’t had time for anything else. I’ve barely been sleeping. But if you could meet me halfway, I’ll do my best to bring my grades up.”

I appreciate that. He must be incredibly busy, considering how many ghost attacks Amity Park sees every day. “I can’t excuse too many absences, not without the school getting suspicious,” I tell him. “But now that I know about your… extracurricular activities, I can cut you a little slack. And I won’t tell anybody. You have my word.”

Daniel lets out a long breath of relief. “Thank you, Mr. Lancer. That means a lot.”

I smile at him. He smiles back, then gasps. A wisp of cloudy breath escapes his mouth. “Oh no, another one?” he says, annoyed.

“What was that?” It’s not that cold in here, certainly not cold enough to see one’s breath.

“My ghost sense. There’s one nearby.”

A booming voice shouts as a ghost fades into view. “I am the Box Ghost! BEWARE!”

Daniel rolls his eyes. “Can I have a minute to deal with this guy?”

“Of course.” Daniel grins and transforms into his ghostly alter-ego once more. He punches the ghost, confident in every move. He seems to know what he’s doing. I’m glad to finally know what’s going on, and I’ll be here to support him every step of the way.

And maybe even get him to do his homework.

#danny phantom #phandom truce 2023 #my writing #fanfiction #ive never written first person present tense before #ive also never written from lancer's POV #so this was a fun exercise #i'm happy with how it came out

21 notes · View notes

brother-emperors · 10 months

Text

DO NOT BE AFRAID

this is combining Ovid's Heroides and the Excidium Troie because I can't stop thinking of Hermes telling him not to be afraid. what the fuck!! Ares is wearing the crown that Paris gave him.

I have. thoughts. about Paris. he's almost got this Troilos parallel in my mind, that the event that defines him in detail exists in a lost narrative that we don't have (the Cypria), but everyone else knew. the event that defines Troilos is his death (murdered, butchered by Achilles, the violence of which haunts everything after. Achilles, child killer, you can't escape that!), and the event that defines Paris is the Judgement. what's a lost text but a kind of grave!!

idk I don't think that Paris before the Judgement would recognize himself after bc when you become god touched, it rearranges your guts. you become transformed in the worst way possible! how could you recognize yourself! but I also think that all the Parises after the Judgement would recognize each other because that event is so locked into the trauma of war and the scar it leaves on the land, it's like a scar on the narrative too. it exists like this forever, over and over again, so you exist like that forever too. Troy collects grief and despairs.