⟢ One-shot Danny Phantom — Genre: Angst / Hurt — TW: Emotional Distress — Rating: T — AU? — First Person’s POV
———————
There he was—there it was.
My reflection stared back, the green glow of my eyes erratic, flickering like a faulty lightbulb. I wasn’t just looking at myself—I was looking through myself, and I hated what I saw. Not just the face staring back, but the endless spiral behind it—pulling me deeper into some unknowable abyss.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the battle. That one battle. Not with a ghost, not with some lurking threat—but with myself.
The dark part of… me.
The part that had escaped.
Again.
I’d won, of course—I had to believe that. I was the good side of myself, wasn’t I?
The hero.
But winning didn’t feel like triumph. It felt like a delay. Some whispers of the future lingering behind me, leaning over my shoulders, suffocating me with their burden.
I was afraid of becoming him.
That dangerous, older me. That monstrous version of myself that had been waiting all along.
All the—what ifs—it claws at the edges of my thoughts, unraveling my already frayed mind.
What if I couldn’t stop it? What if I was already becoming that monster? What if it was inevitable?
I stared deeper into the mirror, my fists tightening until my nails bit into my palms through my white gloves. I thought about my family, my friends—the people who had always been there. I’d already pushed them away, hadn’t I?
Maybe they aren’t even my friends anymore. Maybe I don’t deserve them.
Sam and Tucker had gone to college, following their dreams like normal people. Jazz was too busy carving her own path to stay. And me? I had stayed behind in the crumbling town I couldn’t abandon, giving up my dream of going to space. Protecting people was my purpose now. At least, that’s what I told myself. But deep down, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Was it a noble choice—or a coward’s excuse?
You could still go. You could leave. You could be an astronaut. Fly into space. Fulfill the dream. Your dream.
But it wouldn’t be the same. Nothing ever would.
I gritted my teeth, my reflection rippling in the glass like a warped painting.
Happy thoughts, I told myself. But they didn’t come. They never did anymore. It was always easier to sink into the darker ones, to let them drag myself down into the undertow.
The mocking voices of ghosts, the weight of battles fought and won—none of it mattered in the face of the gnawing feeling in my chest.
My core.
It purred softly, a dissonant hum, both comforting and sinister.
It felt… so freaking wrong.
As if it didn’t belong to me anymore. As if Phantom—him was bleeding into me, hollowing me out from the inside.
My breath hitched. My fingers trembled as I gripped the edges of the sink. My eyes clenched shut, but it didn’t block out the image of myself—the warped, flickering, monstrous reflection staring back. I felt like a glass that was about to shatter, cracks spidering across my soul.
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.
I punched my palms tighter until the pain jolted me back. But the ache in my chest was worse. Phantom wasn’t just part of me. Phantom was me.
My breath staggered in my throat—a sob trembling on the edge of release. My knuckles ached, my chest burned, and that pressure—that suffocating pressure—kept building on.
“Get out of my head!” I screamed, my voice raw, ripping through the suffocating silence.
The sound reverberated in the tiny room, crashing into the walls and returning to me like a ghostly echo. My reflection flickered again—glowing red of Phantom’s eyes overtaking my own for the briefest moment before fading back into green.
But it wasn’t enough.
“Leave me alone!” I shouted again, this time so forcefully that my throat hurt, as though I was tearing myself apart. The sound cracked into a wail—an uncontrollable, heart-shattering release.
Green tears left cold trails down my cheeks as I screamed again, and again, and again… until the room seemed to quake.
The mirror shattered.
Shards exploded outward, raining onto the counter, the floor, my arms. A jagged piece nicked my cheek, drawing a thin line of green that dripped down onto my trembling hand.
I didn’t care.
My reflection was gone—splintered into a thousand fractured pieces scattered at my feet.
My knees buckled, and I barely caught myself against the sink. My hands shivered, slipping on the porcelain.
I sank to the floor, my back pressed against the cold tile, knees pulled to my chest. My hands tangled in my snow-white hair as sobs wracked my body. Every shuddering breath felt like it might break me further.
The shards of glass caught the dim light, a kaleidoscope of chaos surrounding me, reflecting parts of me I couldn’t escape from.
I clutched my chest, my core still purring that discordant frequency—like a faint, mocking laugh echoing from deep within.
“I’m scared,” I whispered to—no one. My voice cracked. “I don’t want to become… him.”
My words dissolved into another sob as I curled tighter, the shattered mirror fragments glinting like stars against the dark void I felt, pulling me under.
“I will never turn into you.”
———————
Okay. First time I drew Dan. I was scared. Scared of those eyes. Those eyes that pierced the whole time into mine—no, through mine. I should’ve waited with his eyes until the end, but of course, I didn’t.
here's a bunch of my absolute favorites for anyone who needs a distraction from the election <3 i will make a second post with shorter ones as well, this post will just be fics that are over 10k
Inheriting Love by Fictropes (22k)- Dan is a lawyer who executes wills in a small town in the English countryside, and Phil's aunt leaves him a house. One of the cutest fics I've read recently tbh, lots of banter and cows<3
Silver Arrows to the Heart by @evermorepeyton (137k, WIP)- How could i POSSIBLY make a rec list without including this masterpiece??? Dan and Phil are Formula 1 drivers, chaos ensues<3 sooooo much fun (and there are some really beautiful cool women in there too, just as a treat)
dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) by kishere (123k)- Dan is an amateur figure skater who scores a spot at the famous Lester training gym, where he meets the legendary Phil Lester and of course they fall in love... this one has sooo many cute fetus moments and wonderful cameos from Kath<3 absolutely love it
Like a Bowl of Oranges by cloej88 (@bitchslapblastoids) (47k)- Phil is a filmmaker looking to amplify queer stories in the media, Dan is a ghostwriter who's been writing a memoir on the side, you can guess what happens next. very VERY fun fic, lots of drama and lovely reflection, as well as the softest scenes between them. love this one (and the author :3)
The Odd Uneven Time by @yikesola (20k)- A 2009 fic from Phil's perspective, falling in love with a boy over the Internet. Absolutely WONDERFUL vibes, so so so cute (and it probably happened in real life ahaha)
Live Incidentally by yikesola (37k)- Phil makes novelty t-shirts and Dan buys them :) really funny, also some great Lester family moments
The Pianist Everyone Is Talking About... Is My Husband by @natigail (25k)- Dan is a famous pianist, Phil plays his songs on the radio, but nobody knows that they're actually married. Lots of chaos ensues, crazy fangirls can feel super represented, and Dan laughs at Phil about it all<3 this fic is so funny lol, highly HIGHLY recommend
Kick Me While I'm Down by jerserker (14k)- Dan and Phil join an adult kickball league! Phil just wants to make friends, and Dan... kicks everyone's asses <3 Really funny competitive Dan, fun times honestly :)
missing the obvious by Fictropes (14k)- Dan plays videogames in an anonymous Discord server at night, and during the day he goes to his boring office job and hooks up with his coworker Phil in bathroom stalls... I wonder how these two things could possibly be connected...
Our House by sierradeux (50k)- Dan is a real estate agent, Phil is a Youtube house flipper, they team up to cohost an HGTV renovation special and fall in love. With the house, obviously. But also with each other <3 this is one of my favorites guys I think it should be required reading for everyone on phannie tumblr
maybe this christmas by blackbirddan (13k)- it's November, im allowed to rec christmas fics now, right??? anyway, this one is HUGE for fans of the Lester and Howell families, just so so so soft and sweet and awesome<3
Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY by natigail (176k)- i mean this one has a pretty self explanatory title... read for super hot dancer Phil, awkward celebrity Dan, and so so so many beautiful outfit and dance descriptions :3 seriously, I wish I could watch this season irl :( this is for sure in my top 3 fics of all time to be so honest
they grew up so nicely, didn't they? by natigail (15k)- Cornelia pov on meeting the boy Phil brought home, and then throughout the years. SO CUTE!!!!! really big for fans of outsider pov (me)
okie dokie<3 i will be making an under 10k rec list as well, so be on the lookout for that one!
I wrote this fic a few days ago but I thought I'd link it here 🐰🖤
Bunny Up
Dan is recently back from We're All Doomed and after all of the excitement, he and Phil decide to spend a lazy day in. However, Phil has a little surprise for Dan, that they both end up really liking.
Summary: Six years after Dan and Phil's university relationship ends in flames, they find themselves unexpectedly reunited when Dan is set to have an author's signing at the bookstore where Phil works.
Pairing: Dan Howell/Phil Lester (+references to a former Phil Lester/male OC relationship)
Rating: Explicit
Word count: ~18k (completed)
Tags: alternate universe, bookstore, author!Dan, neither of them are youtubers, exes to lovers, eventual smut, getting back together, a bit of angst, different first meeting, references to depression, references to internalized homophobia, discussion of a suicide attempt (nondetailed), alcohol, hookup, happy ending
💖
ps. - just wanna say a MASSIVE thank you to @incogniphan , whose thoughts, suggestions and feedback made this story about a million times better (and about 3k words longer lol) than it originally was!!🙏❤️
Summary: Side effects may include: dry mouth, increased appetite, sudden growth and sharpening of canine teeth, glowing eyes, minor levitation, and an odd rumbling sound that emanates from the chest when pleased. If you experience any of theses, or any other symptoms, please contact the Fenton’s immediately.
WC: 1, 618
Prompter: @phantomphangphucker
You can read on AO3 or down below the cut!
The Fentons loved their children. There was no doubt about that.
They did however, get a bit caught up in their work sometimes.
Luckily their children were pretty self-sufficient teens, so the parents hardly worried much if their attention went elsewhere.
They did notice recently that maybe they need to refocus on their kids. Or more specifically, their son.
He was having a bit of a rough patch starting high school which they had been hoping would work itself out but perhaps more direct action was needed.
Once they shifted tactics they couldn’t help but notice how ecto-contaminated he was.
No wonder he was having such a hard time. His health was not at it’s best.
Luckily they had just the thing to fix it.
Or at least they had an idea to anyway.
=============================================
After a few weeks of work, which was much longer than most of their projects these days, they had a viable product.
They each took turns testing it and found it worked wonders for them.
Now they just had to get some for him.
=============================================
“Hey Danno!” Jack called cheerily from the kitchen table.
“Hey Dad,” Danny said as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
“Here sweetie,” Maddie said as she set a plate with a freshly made omelet and a single dose of their latest invention at Danny’s normal seat.
He took his seat and merely raised an eyebrow at the small capsule next to his breakfast.
“It’s just a vitamin dear,” Maddie explained as she started fixing up her own omelet.
Danny shrugged and took the vitamin in one quick go, washing it down with the glass of water that was waiting for him.
“So how’d it taste?” Jack asked before Danny could get the first bite into his eggs.
“Uh? Fine? I guess. I didn’t really taste it.”
“Ah okay. Well just keep tabs on how your feeling today and let us know if anything comes up.”
Danny slowly removed the fork from his mouth and stared as he chewed.
“You know, since it’s new. We want to make sure it’s doing what it’s supposed to.”
He swallowed his food and asked, “should I be worried about what I just took?”
“Of course not,” Maddie reassured, “you know we just like to have all the data we can on our inventions.”
“You made that vitamin?" he asked, sounding oddly frighten.
“Yeah! We just want you to be the healthiest best you, you can be. And that starts with working on those incredibly high ecto-contamination levels you got there sport.”
Danny stared at his breakfast for a beat or two before he spoke again. “Are there any things I should be looking out for? Like an upset stomach or bleeding out of my ears?”
“Well hopefully none of that. Although if you were to notice that please let us know asap, okay?”
“Yeah of course.”
“You might be a little extra thirsty once it kicks in. I know I was.” Jack said with a laugh.
“How long til it kicks in?”
“Oh about an hour or two.”
“So did you guys just finish making it recently?”
“Yeah! Your Mother and I just finished our trial run the other day.”
“But you waited until today to give it to me?” he took another bite of his food as he thought and came to a realization before he finished.
“It’s because I have a 3-day weekend isn’t it?”
“You betcha!” Jack said enthusiastically.
Danny merely nodded in acknowledgement before returning to his breakfast.
=============================================
To better keep an eye on how Danny’s reaction to the vitamin was going they asked him to stay nearby.
He sighed, but did as he was told.
“Would it be okay if I went upstairs to get something to do.”
“Of course, bud.”
“If you've got any assignments to do I'm sure your father and I could help.”
Danny nodded and got his things.
=============================================
It was Maddie that noticed something first.
“Sweetie?”
“Yeah mom?”
“That's the third glass of water.”
He looked at the empty glass in his hand, “is that bad?”
“Well no. But it's only been an hour.”
“Oh.” He slowly set the glass down, “That’s the side effect Dad was talking about then?”
“Yeah.”
Several hours later Danny was nearly caught up on all of his homework.
“Hey, can we have pizza tonight?”
“Oh pizza sounds good!” Jack agreed.
“I suppose,” Maddie started, “but I'm going to wait until you finish that worksheet before ordering.”
Danny groaned dramatically but then doubled his efforts to finish.
Jack chuckled as he went to fetch the local pizza place's menu. Nothing like being food motivated.
=============================================
Jack and Maddie watched as their son devoured an entire extra large pizza in an astonishingly short period of time.
"Looks like someone was hungry,” Jack said.
Danny looked down at his plate, the now empty pizza box, then his parents.
His cheeks flushed once he realized what he had done.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to eat the whole thing.”
“It’s okay sweetheart,” Maddie said, “why don’t you wash up and get ready for bed.”
Once he was out of the room Maddie pulled out her note pad and jotted down the latest symptom.
“Increased appetite," she said as she wrote.
“Gotta say I’m kind of impressed with how quick he was about it.”
“It certainly was something.” Maddie agreed, “Sure hope that one goes away soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Mads. Besides Fenton men tend to have bigger appetites anyway. Maybe this means he’ll finally hit that growth spurt.”
=============================================
Later, after everyone had said their good-nights and fallen asleep, they were all awake again.
Danny said his mouth was hurting.
Which was an odd thing for a teenager to complain about.
Maddie went with him into the bathroom while Jack was still working on waking up all the way.
“Oh my gosh!”
Jack immediately woke up and dashed into the bathroom.
What he found was not something he ever expected.
His son had grown fangs.
“Well that explains the pain.”
“Are fangs a normal side effect?” Danny asked as he shyly covered his mouth.
“It’s not a typical one.” Maddie said diplomatically.
Which was much better than Jack’s answer.
Unfortunately he still said it.
“Not at all!”
“Jack!”
“Sorry.”
“Can you make them go away?”
“It’s fine. I’m sure no one will notice.”
“Are you sure?”
Jack bit his lip instead of responding.
Those chompers were pretty noticeable.
The tips of his fangs stuck out past his lips even with his mouth closed.
Although it was only a little bit past. So maybe people wouldn’t notice?
“Have you noticed anything else?” Maddie asked cautiously.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Alright, well why don’t we all go back to bed and we can see how things are in the morning.”
The three agreed and filed out of the bathroom.
Danny was last and he flicked off the light switch.
Jack didn’t remember the light being on in the hall, yet somehow it wasn’t that dark.
He turned towards the source of the light and stopped dead.
“Mads.”
She looked at Jack before following his gaze.
Danny was behind them. Looking very confused as to why they were staring at him.
“What?”
“You’re eyes,” was all Jack could get himself to say.
Danny reached up on instinct to check but paused when he saw the light bouncing off his fingers.
He immediately went back into the bathroom but closed the door behind himself.
Maddie was at the door in an instant. “Sweetie, open the door.”
“But I can’t make it stop.”
“It’s okay, Honey. Just open the door.”
The was a few seconds of silence before the door opened.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Cuz my eyes are glowing like a, like a, you know.”
“I just want to make sure you’re all right.”
Jack slowly leaned his way into view of the bathroom. He didn’t want to crowd the poor kid, but he did want to know what was going on.
“I’m alright.”
“Nothing hurts? Or feels weird?”
“No.”
Maddie placed her hands on Danny’s shoulders and gently pushed downwards.
That’s when Jack noticed Danny had been floating about a foot above the floor.
And that’s the same time Danny noticed too.
In shock he jerked backwards, but since he was still floating, he just glided backwards, almost as if he were on ice.
Jack saw the way his boys eyes darted back and forth from Maddie to Jack to the doorway that they were both standing in.
“Hey Mads lets give him some breathing room.”
Danny immediately looked at Jack in surprise.
Jack smiled to reassure him as he took a step back with his wife.
Danny smiled back. Just a little, but it was enough.
It took about a minute but Danny’s eyes stopped glowing and he was finally able to put both feet on the ground.
The next thing Jack new the boy was wrapping his arms around him as best he could.
Jack returned the hug and was happy when Maddie joined in too.
Then there was this odd rumbling sound.
For a second, Jack thought it was coming from a car outside or perhaps one of the many machines in the house.
But then Maddie was staring at Danny.
That’s when Jack noticed that he could feel the sound.
The sound that was coming from Danny?
Why was his son purring?
Also how?
He looked at his wife and raised an eyebrow when she looked at him.
She simply mouthed, “side effect?”
Jack nodded and really hoped that was the last of the side effects. Because they were getting really weird.
