Fanfic / Danny Phantom: Mistaken

Mistaken is the 11th story in Stranded. Poindexter, under the belief Star is the reincarnation of a former crush of his, abducts her.

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Tropes:

• Abduction Is Love: Poindexter kidnaps Star after mistakenly believing her to be the reincarnation of his high school crush.
• Abhorrent Admirer:
  • Donovan Loadman is introduced as one to Star. He regards her a possession he's entitled to and ignores her repeated rejections or that she's now dating Danny.
  • Also Poindexter. Star is incensed that he tried to force her to be with him by kidnapping her, as well as put off by how he's projecting another girl onto her, finding it sexist and controlling. Unlike the above example, Poindexter learns better, apologizes, and backs off.
  • Downplayed with Theodore. He briefly flirts with Star at the mall but she instantly shuts him down.
• Accomplice by Inaction: Poindexter is called out for not trying to stop Walker from kidnapping Pierre despite his opposition to it, nor trying to help the baby afterwards.
• Achievements in Ignorance: Poindexter admits to Star that even he doesn't know how he was able to steal Danny's body, but he's certain that it likely wouldn't work again if he tried it a second time.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Even Vivian and Theodore join in on laughing at and mocking Donovan's underpants when Poindexter pulls his pants down at the mall. Until the ghost spills smoothies on them.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Unlike in canon, Poindexter eventually makes amends with Danny by apologizing to him for what he did in "Splitting Images" after realizing he was wrong about Danny being a bully. He even helps Danny and Star deal with the obnoxious Donovan Loadman by humiliating the latter at the mall and eventually becomes allies with Team Phantom.
• Alpha Bitch: Stacy Morgan, Poindexter's crush in high school, was the typical beautiful and popular mean girl who bullied other students, including him.
• Anti-Villain: Poindexter isn’t really evil, just overzealous in his crusade against bullying.
• Asshole Victim: Poindexter completely humiliates Donovan and his spoiled friends at the mall in retaliation for harassing Danny and Star by pulling Donovan's pants down, then dumping smoothies on Vivian and Theodore's heads.
• The Atoner: To atone for his mistakes and hypocrisy, Poindexter helps defeat Skulker, and later humiliates Donovan and his friends for harassing Danny and Star. He also begins reevaluating his afterlife and promises to be more cautious when dealing with bullies in the future.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Donovan Loadman is introduced as an even more arrogant jerk and worse Abhorrent Admirer to Star than Dash Baxter and Kwan Li combined, but her and Danny just consider him an annoying creep not worth their time that they’re happy to ignore while at the country club. At the end, Sidney Poindexter embarrasses Donovan and his equally snobby friends, Vivian and Theodore, at the mall by exposing Loadman’s Goofy Print Underwear and dropping smoothies on their heads so everyone will laugh at them.
• Big Sister Instinct: Star is far more hostile towards Poindexter upon realizing his lack of backbone when the ghosts he worked for kidnapped Pierre.
• Badass Bookworm: Poindexter uses his knowledge of science and his school's inner workings to help Danny trick Skulker into using Ember's guitar near the outdated electrical system, setting off an overload that fries Skulker's ecto-suit.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Poindexter becomes more helpful to Danny after he saves him Skulker.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Star is very open about her disdain for Donovan and how she'll never give him the time of day.
  • Star doesn’t waste any time on calling Poindexter out for being a pathetic, narrow-minded jerk to Danny without even hearing his side of the story and despite all the good he’s done.
• Bully Hunter: Deconstructed as this is what makes Poindexter enemies with Danny since he's under the mistaken assumption the ghost boy is a bully. At the end of "Mistaken", Poindexter promises to work on this. He rightfully gets back at Donovan and his stuck-up friends for harassing Danny and Star at the mall by exposing Donovan's Goofy Print Underwear, then dumping smoothies on his friends' heads, causing everyone to laugh at their humiliation.
• Bullying a Dragon: Star points out to Poindexter that Danny Phantom is going to be FURIOUS when he learns Poindexter kidnapped her since she's Danny's girlfriend.
• Casanova Wannabe:
  • Star finds Donovan Loadman even more annoying and obnoxious than Dash Baxter ever was because of his elitism and entitled attitude with her.
  • Theodore thinks he’s being suave when bragging about his physique and class to Star, but she makes it clear she’s just repulsed by him.
• Character Development: By the end, Poindexter drops his grudge with Danny and his misguided crusades against bullies to live a happier and more peaceful afterlife.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Poindexter comes from the 1950s, when girls were meant to behave differently than how they are now, and thinks it's wrong for them to fight. He wishes Star acted the same, which she considers sexist.
• Didn't Think This Through: It isn't until Star points it out that Poindexter essentially kidnapped her, and that Danny Phantom will be looking for him, does he realize he's in serious trouble.
• Dirty Coward: Poindexter, just like in "Protected". His first instinct when Skulker shows up is to hide while Ember, Danny, and Star take him on. Subverted when Danny saves him and he's prompted to help, proving himself a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Ember has her own vendetta with Poindexter, so she agrees to help Danny find him to rescue Star.
  • In the end, Ember, Danny, Star, and Poindexter work together to defeat Skulker.
• Entitled to Have You: Donovan Loadman quickly establishes himself as an even worse Abhorrent Admirer to Star than Dash or Kwan by being an elitist jerk who harasses her at every opportunity while not caring that she blatantly hates his guts or is already in a happy relationship with her boyfriend Danny. He even calls Star his when Theodore tries to flirt with her despite Star's protests otherwise.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Donovan Loadman has a very low opinion of Kwan Li for being a “moron football player who can’t tell the difference between pigs in a blanket and actual pigs in a blanket”, and wonders why Star would ever date someone that dumb (aside from jealousy, of course).
  • Ember is appalled to learn Poindexter did nothing to stop Walker from kidnapping a baby. However, Poindexter himself calls out Ember's sudden moral compass as she had no problem making unwanted advances towards said baby's older sister's boyfriend. Ember defends herself by stating she wouldn't have let babies get taken from their homes.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even during her A-Lister days, Star found Donovan and his snobby friends too unpleasant to be around. The fact that he felt entitled to be with her clearly didn't help.
  • Poindexter is usually against hurting women but makes a serious exception for Vivian by dropping smoothies on her and her snobby friends' heads for harassing Star and Danny at the mall.
• Eviler than Thou: Star considers Donovan Loadman to be an even bigger jerk than the boorish Dumb Jock Dash Baxter because he’s an elitist prick who treats her like property.
• Evil Nerd: Downplayed and eventually subverted with Poindexter. He is an antagonist and huge nerd, but generally doesn't mean any harm and drops his feud with Danny after Star helps him realize he severely misjudged her boyfriend.
• Expy: According to the author, Donovan Loadman is based on Warren Lawford from the Batman: The Animated Series episode "The Terrible Trio". And it shows, with both Donovan and Warren being elitist jerks that look down on others, the only difference being that Donovan does not become a criminal for kicks. Donovan even mocks Star for thanking a country club employee by name, like Warren to Bruce regarding his caddy.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Star makes it clear to Poindexter that the torment he went through in his youth doesn't excuse him hurting Danny or not helping Pierre.
• Goofy Print Underwear: When Poindexter pantses Donovan Loadman at the mall, everyone laughs at his boxers with hearts.
• Grew a Spine: Poindexter decides to help Danny, Sam, and Ember fight Skulker after Danny saves him.
• Hate at First Sight: Donovan Loadman loathes Danny instantly because of his romantic relationship with Star and middle-class upbringing. The feeling is completely mutual.
• Heel–Face Turn: After realizing how much of a jerk he's been to Danny after Star spells it out and Danny saves his life, Poindexter apologizes and makes peace with Team Phantom.
• Heel Realization: After learning what really became of Stacy, Poindexter realizes he's only been making himself miserable by clinging to the past while his former classmates have moved on and become happy with their lives. Thus, he buries the hatchet with Star and Danny, then decides to actually enjoy his afterlife in peace.
• Hidden Depths: Stacy may have been an Alpha Bitch, but she was also an honors student with an interest in cars.
• His Own Worst Enemy: After learning how much Stacy changed, Poindexter begins to realize how he has spent decades as his own prisoner due to his single-minded obsession with taking down bullies to deal with having been a victim, to the point that his afterlife is a visage of his school while his peers have long since moved on.
  Poindexter: Have I been bullying myself without even realizing it?
• Horrible Judge of Character: Poindexter quickly jumped to the conclusion that Danny is a bully because he saw Danny using his powers on Dash. Star actually questions how he can mistake a muscular jock like Dash for a bully victim.
• Hypocrite:
  • Star calls out Poindexter's belief of standing up to bullies when he refused to hear Danny's side of the story, along with being too afraid to stop Walker from having Pierre kidnapped.
  • Poindexter calls Ember out on being disgusted with him for not stoping Walker from kidnapping the baby Pierre in “Protected” by pointing out she’s done questionable things herself, like making extremely unwanted advances towards the boyfriend of said baby’s older sister.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: While Ember doesn’t deny Poindexter’s above point that she’s hardly a moral person herself, she does retort that she at least doesn’t let babies get kidnapped from their homes like how he allowed Walker to take Pierre.
• I Let You Win: Ember asks Danny what really happened in his fight with Poindexter because she doesn't believe the latter is capable of beating Danny like he's been bragging about. Danny admits he took a dive in their fight to make Poindexter feel better and get his classmates to respect him.
• It Only Works Once: Poindexter admits to Star it was only 'cause of a fluke that he managed to steal Danny's body the first time and it's unlikely that it'll work a second time since Danny is stronger now.
• Jerkass: Donovan Loadman is an even worse one than Dash Baxter since he’s an elitist asshole who constantly harasses Star despite her obvious disinterest in him.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Donovan is correct that Kwan Li is an idiot and it doesn’t make any sense why Star would date someone so stupid. Despite her absolute loathing toward Donovan, Star doesn’t even bother trying to defend her ex-boyfriend from him.
  • Poindexter is right that Ember isn’t a paragon of virtue herself since she’s been harassing another girl’s boyfriend by making unwanted advances toward Danny.
• Jerkass Realization: After Danny saves him from Skulker's rocket, Poindexter finally realizes he jumped to conclusions regarding him and that Danny isn't a bully.
• Just Following Orders: Poindexter insists he couldn't do anything to help Pierre since Walker was his boss and ordered him to not stop him. That only angers Star more.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Poindexter gets back at Donovan and his stuck-up friends for harassing Danny and Star by exposing Donovan's Goofy Print Underwear in a crowded mall, then dumping smoothies on his friends' heads, causing everyone to laugh at their humiliation.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Poindexter tells Star that the term "Halfa" was not meant to describe half-ghosts, but an alias he made for Danny, akin to calling Batman the "Caped Crusader", and that it somehow became accepted by everyone as the official term. This can be seen as a reference to how "Halfa" was only said in one episode of the series and ended up being accepted by most of the fandom as official, when it was actually made to describe Danny specifically because he's "half a boy and half a ghost".
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Chapter 14 opens with Sam saying this after Danny and Star explain what Poindexter did.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Sam asks this of Jazz regarding the latter's plan to get into the movie theater in spite of the couples only rule.
• Loving a Shadow: Poindexter knows very little of the former classmate he had a crush on and it comes as a surprise when he learns she became a race car driver and married a classmate that used to be a "tinkerer" instead of a football star.
• Meaningful Name: Star describes the Loadman family as "one of the richest in the state".
• Malicious Misnaming: At one point, Star calls Poindexter "Jerkdexter".
• Nerdy Bully: Star accuses Poindexter of being one for using his powers to get back at people just because he thinks they deserve it.
• Never My Fault: Poindexter's stubbornness, wounded pride, and jealousy of Danny initially prevent him from admitting how much he misjudged the situation between Danny and Dash.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Ember gives one of these to Poindexter offscreen as payback for getting her in trouble with Walker.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Poindexter is generally non-threatening but let's remember that he did steal Danny's body once and can use his powers to humiliate humans, like Donovan and his spoiled friends. Plus, he was a school nerd and can apply his knowledge practically in battle when properly motivated, as Skulker found out.
• Obliviously Evil: Poindexter doesn't see anything wrong with kidnapping Star until she points out his crime.
• Pants-Pulling Prank: Poindexter exposes Donovan’s heart boxers at the mall as revenge for bothering Star and Danny.
• Pet the Dog: Poindexter apologizes to Danny for everything he did and accepts that Star is Danny's girlfriend. Later, he comes to the couple's defense when they’re being harassed by Donovan, Theodore, and Vivian at the mall by humiliating the trio so they’ll run away embarrassed. He also arranges for Danny and Star to have a movie marathon since their date in the beginning was interrupted.
• Reformed Bully: After Poindexter's death, Stacy reevaluated her life and eventually started a charity to encourage bullied kids to seek help.
• Rejected Apology: Downplayed, as Star and Danny don't accept Poindexter's apology but don't reject it either, so instead they're giving him the chance to earn their forgiveness.
• The Resenter: As Star tears apart his arguments, Poindexter finally snaps that it's not fair Danny has a wider variety of powers, fame and respect in both the human world and Ghost Zone, and a beautiful girlfriend, lamenting that his own life "wasn't like a comic book". Star realizes he's Driven by Envy over Danny Phantom being a better superhero than him, including with the people Poindexter aims to protect, and points out this is why he is not as righteous as he claims to be. In the end, Poindexter is forced to admit she's right and letting his resentment control him even in death is just making him lonely and miserable, and caused him to ignore Danny's heroism to justify his actions.
• Rich Bastard: Donovan Loadman is just as much of an elitist snob and Abhorrent Admirer as Colette given his rude, possessive, and sexist behavior toward Star, with his stuck-up friends Vivian and Theodore being pretty close to his level.
• Skewed Priorities: After finding an unconscious Star, Poindexter kidnaps her and brings her to his realm instead of making sure she is okay or getting her medical attention. Star and later Jazz call him out on this.
• Spoiled Brat: Donovan is just as much of an overly pampered pest as Colette and his two snobby friends, Vivian and Theodore, are almost as bad as him. His rude, sexist, and possessive attitude towards Star makes him even more unbearable for her to deal with than Dash and Kwan combined.
• Title Drop: While recalling events from "Unprepared", Star comments how she was unprepared for her father's new relationship.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Poindexter drops his misplaced grudge against Danny after being saved by him and Star setting him straight. He even protects the couple from Donovan Loadman by humiliating the Spoiled Brat and his snobby friends at the mall.
• Ungrateful Bastard: After Poindexter slips that Danny let him win their fight in "Splitting Images", Star is furious that he never even apologized for trying to steal Danny's life and still deems him a bully despite Danny helping Poindexter gain his ghostly classmates' respect.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Poindexter doesn't like using violence against women, which is why he refuses to fight Star.