#danny phantom fandom video essay

[alrightoddity]

IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S FINALLY HERE

it's what we've all been waiting for!! the thing that has taken (checks watch) five months out of my life!!! hope y'all like it!

👻💚🖤🤍

[halfagone]

Hey! So I haven't watched Danny Phantom series for literal decades now, but somehow stumbled my way on this Fandom recently. Found DP x DC crossover is a thing and having absolute blast enjoying all those AMAZING fics, fancomics and arts!!!

What i want to ask is, since when DP x DC crossover is a thing? Sorry, i'm just really confused lol

One of us, one of us, ONE OF US!!

But in all seriousness, it's great to have you here! Always happy to see someone fall into endless pit with us (don't worry, it's a nice pit. Much better than the Lazarus Pits for sure). To answer your actual question, I will have to admit I'm not quite certain myself. I've perused DP/DC crossovers for quite some time, but haven't been around from the start. So if anyone knows any better, feel free to add on!

I know this was a very simple question, but I don't do simple. I write essays. So, sorry for that!

From my estimation, I would say most of this crossover starts with DP and Teen Titans. As you probably already know, FF.net has been around since before Ao3, and if you check the pages for DP crossovers on FF.net you can see that the DP x Teen Titans crossover has the most stories. You can also see that some of the very first DP x Teen Titans crossovers appeared in 2005. Which makes sense, seeing as DP and Teen Titans aired around the same time. This very likely contributed to some of the earliest crossovers between these two fandoms.

It definitely helps that Danny is, as we like to say, prime Wayne-adoptee material, and it all kind of goes nuts from there. I think early on there was a lot of either Danny/Dick fics, or Danny and Dick being twins or siblings of some sort. However, as more content aired with other Batboys, I'm sure that also helped with the variety of surprise (and/or mystery) siblings fics popping up. And then, of course, there's the ships. But we don't really need to get into that now.

I remember a time when DP x DC crossovers only had, maybe 100 fics on Ao3? Probably a little more than that? And this is with other fandoms thrown in there for some of these stories. I wasn't writing fanfiction for this crossover back then either, but as you can see it's grown a lot since then.

I don't know if this is technically correct (and perhaps an exact timeline would be helpful, but I wouldn't know how to find an accurate one anyways), but I think it was when Ghost Kings and Gotham Bats got popular, that I saw this huge surge in fanfiction for this crossover. Suddenly there were so many fics that had similar concepts, aka Damian and Danny being siblings/twins.

At this time, some of the most popular (by Hits, not Kudos) were:

Lazarus Green Eyes by Keetajet *One of the biggest fics of that time that really tapped into the potential of Jason's connection to the Lazarus Pits in conjunction to DP's ectoplasm.

A Ghost in Gotham by SassyAngel *Definitely one of my fav Damian/Danny fics. I hope the author's video game has been going well!

I Don't? Work Alone by DomesticatedOpossum *I think this was one of the only Jason/Danny fics I could find for a LONG time.

and

Crash Course by Carmic *aka the very first Anger Management fic that I know of!

(Do keep in mind this is not a full list, but simply some of the big titles from early on in the crossover days on Ao3 that I can recall.)

But if this tells you anything, back then the fics with the most hits only had... maybe 20-30k hits? Which is still a lot for a crossover, but when you think about how the top three fics of this crossover today is at, like, 300k? That's a huge incline of popularity.

All this is to say that I have no idea how it happened. I think it was a steady progression at the beginning, and then at some point it just blew up and never stopped blowing up? Not yet anyways. Tldr; it started with Teen Titans, it's never stopped. We have grown more powerful, we consume more souls into our fandom!

It's great to have you here, I hope this answered your question! Somewhat. lol

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

👀 :3

doodle i am holding your shoulders. i am staring directly into your eyes. run away now i am going to talk about danny phantom at you.

i have. ELEVEN. YEARS. worth of danny phantom headcanons built up in my brain. canon is nothing to me i have written and rewritten the show like 4 times over. but also i love canon so it gets to stay. im just improving upon it. i allow myself to be pretentious about ONE (1) piece of media ever and it is danny phantom . so im the only person in the world who is correct about this. ok. shaking you.

do u want to know the backstory of nearly every ghost . what they were like when they were alive/how they died and how it relates to their role in the afterlife. I GOT YOU. do you want a full rundown of dannys powers and how they work. I GOT YOU AGAIN. DO YOU WANT. an ESSAY on the MYTHOLOGY of the ghost zone. do you want me to talk about the way the ghost zone royalty system works. because my god. ive got you.

trips and falls and like a bazillion sticky notes and pictures and papers spill out of my coat and scatter in the wind. oops sorry that was just my in depth analysis on Danny's relationship with nearly every character in the show. teehee <3

NOT TO MENTION popular fanon aus that live in my brain forever and i have my own versions of. i love you ghost king danny. i love you ghost hunger. hey can we talk about ghost hunger? i think the fact that i discovered ghost hunger the same year fall out boy released the young volcanoes music video did something irreparable to my brain. did you know i also like hannibal. these facts are completely unrelated.

FUCK torture fics FUCK dissection fics. fuck anyone who says the fentons are not good parents. the fentons are EXTREMLY good parents and i WILL die on this hill. every time someone in the modern dp fandom writes about how horrible the fentons are i lose like 3 years off of my life. how can you be so wrong. they are not evil they are not horrible they would not dissect their own son . i will die on this hill. im in the fucking trenches out here. someone recently posted a fic series (series!!!!) of oneshots specifically about jack fenton discovering dannys secret by accident and also being a good father and i swear to you i almost started crying on the spot. i havent even read the fic yet.

hmmmmm. what else is there. theres so much. i could go on about danny phantom.for so many hours. i havent actually read a glitch in time yet its been burning a hole on my nightstand because i KNOW as soon as i finish it we are going to be in 24/7 danny phantom lockdown for like a month and i want to do that when i have energy to make art. now that i have my new laptop this time may be sooner than you think. beware!

[chatonnoir]

hi i wanted to let you know i have been into miraculous literally since PV days but have strayed from the fandom since around season 2-3 when "salt" stuff started getting really popular. i was tired of seeing my favorites being mangled beyond recognition to fit some weird revenge fantasy, so i just stopped. recently though i missed the blorbos. its people like you who genuinely love the show and the characters that have made my more recent experiences incredibly lovely and fulfilling. thank u :]

Aw thank you honey :’) truly as someone who got a little in to ML in 2016 and enjoyed the cute fan content and saw how much fans praised it but didn't keep up with it, only to come back to it a couple of seasons later and see how insane the fandom had become over those few years .... it is truly exhausting and baffling to see what people do to the show now. Ig this is the danger of too much self-projection and a lack of critical thinking. Even people who claimed to be done with the show in season 4 continue to run blogs obsessed with """criticizing""" the show for the stupidest and most petty things possible on a daily basis, instead of just ... walking away from it if it doesn’t appeal to them anymore. It can really give you a headache.

But it all makes me think of that one quote from the end of Ratatouille (the movie which is indisputably Pixar Animation Studios' magnum opus): "the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." ML as a show means so much to so many people of all age groups and backgrounds across the world. ML is far more meaningful and loved and contributes far more to the world than any random schmuck's salt post/fic/comic/video essay about it on the internet. ML is a sweet show! It's a cute and fun show! It's a kind show about emotions and relationships (platonic and romantic) and the power of love but isn’t designated as a Girls Show(TM), as shows with these themes often are, so boys are watching it too! And it shows us a male superhero being soft and sensitive and a hopeless romantic and in touch with his emotions without shame and a female superhero who loves him for it! Which is so important!

Similar kids cartoons when I was growing up, things like Danny Phantom, always had the romance as not an A or B or even a C plot but basically a Z plot. Literally on the back burner. An afterthought. Not something that was created out of passion and a belief that the characters would love each other and rather just thrown in because a main heterosexual relationship for the protagonist Has to be there, for some reason. Romantic moments would be limited to The Romance Episode(TM), wherein the "romantic development" is just like ... the characters accidentally held hands or kissed or something, and would often boil down to "this boy and girl are friends so OBVIOUSLY they have to like each other," without ever really showing me why they actually love each other. And don't get me started on allll the pieces of media with a forced heterosexual romance that is little more than "this male and female character have romantic and sexual tension because they're a male and female character." Or all the pieces of animated kids media where the main male character immediately likes the main female character because she's The Pretty One (As much as I love ATLA and k/ataang, even ATLA did this in the first episode). This all always felt so lacking to me as someone who was so enamored by love even as a kid.

Then comes along ML. Chat Noir didn't fall for Ladybug because he saw her and was taken with how she was Pretty. We know he thinks she's beautiful but he was completely unaffected by this fact when he first met her!!! It wasn't until he saw her stand up to evil that he fell for her! A male character falling for a female character not because Wow She Pretty but because of her bravery and cleverness and determination to stand up to evil and do good? That shouldn't be groundbreaking but it is!!! And it's beautiful!!! And Marinette didn't fall for Adrien because he was The Hot Guy or The Cool Hero or just because he's the male character and she's the female character so she just Has To. She fell for him when she saw his vulnerability and kindness!!! I would've LOVED to have grown up with a show like ML.

God the romance? I’ve never seen so much delicious Yearning in any other western kid’s cartoon. The door scene? Hoowee.... The way each of them so desperately wants the other to see both sides of them. The ending scene of Glaciator, when Ladybug is supposed to be “rejecting” Chat Noir and Chat Noir is supposed to be giving her a platonic cheek kiss, and yet it’s one of the sweetest and most utterly romantic scenes in the show. The sad undertone of Ladynoir, of being best friends but not being able to know a single thing about each other’s lives. The pure romance of the umbrella scene. The coup de foudre.

And it doesn't matter if the episode is romance-centric or not because ML has given us a male and female hero duo with so much genuine love and affection for each other that it's palpable in every episode from the very first season (especially if you’re watching in French lmao). Just... the sweet way they talk to each other, where you can hear their fondness for each other in their voices. The way they tease and roast each other. The petnames. The way they support and protect and take care of each other in and out of battles (specific moments like Ladybug looking after and reassuring Scaredy-cat Chat Noir in Reverser and Chat Noir putting Ladybug’s yo-yo over her mouth for her so she could breathe underwater in Truth make me so insane). The whole concept of “them against the world.” The way that even while loving Ladybug, Chat Noir has no problem telling her when he disagrees with her. The way they will have disagreements/conflicts that are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses, but aren’t able to stay mad at each other for more than a minute because of their softness for each other, and always come back from it because above all else they care about and love each other. It’s so unmatched. That’s love bitch

Speaking of how their conflicts are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses - the characters are incredibly deep and human and consistently written with motivations and personalities and flaws that all make so much sense! And they’ve developed so much since the start of the show! And the two protagonists mean so much to and resonate with so many people, kids and adults alike. Plenty of people have gone in to the depth of Adrien’s character and why he’s meaningful to people for paragraphs on end so I won’t repeat that, but I rarely see people talking about the beauty of Marinette’s character so I just have to point out like... A female superhero who is not a Strong Flawless Girlboss Who Needs No Man but one who is basically a female Peter Parker? A female superhero who is awkward around her crush and kind of Ridiculous and a hopeless romantic who makes stupid lovestruck faces at pictures of said crush and likes girly things and the color pink and wants to hold her boy’s hand and barely has her shit together and sometimes makes bad choices but is ultimately trying her best to balance her Great Power and Great Responsibility with her civilian life and relationships? Like, I’m not in to comics so sorry if this is inaccurate because I’m only pulling from Spider-Verse, but even Marvel’s attempt at making a girl Spider-Man through Spider-Gwen made her this cool badass with an undercut. I don’t want another Black Widow or Captain Marvel or whatever!!!! I love that ML basically gave us a female Spider-Man who is just as much of a complete disaster as Peter Parker was (talking specifically about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions). I love the way both Peter and Marinette fuck up and make mistakes and bad choices and struggle to balance their two lives and accidentally end up hurting or pushing away the people who are close to them while they’re trying so hard to do what they think is right and protect the people they love with no real guidance. The loneliness of keeping their identities a secret through all that knowing that one slip up could put everyone they love in grave danger. Not to mention Marinette’s very blatant neurodivergent coding that is so clear in everything she does? Seeing her ADHD brain basically become her strength when she’s Ladybug through the bizarre connections she can make with random objects in a split second, just like how someone with ADHD would go on seemingly bizarre and random tangents mid-conversation because their brain latched on to something and quickly made a whole bunch of connections in a short amount of time while the other person was talking? Chef’s fucking kiss baby.

And I love the episodic adventures format!!!! Lots of people do!!!! The rewatch value of every episode is so good!!! Not everything has to be a 10-ep-per-season HBO drama where each 1 hour long episode is solely focused on moving the plot? People who ask for which episodes are important and which ones are “filler” that they can skip when starting ML are so weird. The fun of ML is watching all of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s fun adventures together in every episode? I love watching them just Being Ladybug and Chat Noir while they fight bad guys and have their banter. Episodes can just be Fun!!! Episodes can just exist to BE fun and silly or to explore a specific friendship or relationship rather than being focused on the main villain plot and that’s not a flaw!!!!

tl;dr: ML is a fun and cute show with very relatable, human characters and shows a beautiful, deep, powerful loving relationship between its male and female superhero leads that a lot of similar cartoons and even movies aimed at adults can’t pull off and a lot of people genuinely love this show because of it.

[maniacwatchestheworld]

So fun fact! I have a document where I have recorded more or less every fanfiction idea that I've had ever since I was in middle school! (That's some 12 or so years of fanfic ideas!) I would love to talk about them! So here! Have the document's table of contents!

Not on the document but still worth mentioning:

Old Collaborative Projects

Transformers

Transformers High Shattered Glass

Original Pokemon Region

Outline graduated to their own document

Cursed Fic (Resident Evil Village)

Fish Family AU (Resident Evil Village)

Brief write-ups/Ready to be written

Pokemon stuffs

Celesticacones for Two Plateshift Meeting Thing Psychopomp AU Coordinator!Emmet When the Truth Met a Former Love

Gravity Falls

It was his gun Oh my God there was only one bed bunker edition A letter from Emma-May Dixon to Stanford F is for...

Current Works in Progress

Looking Off (Gravity Falls)

Shameless (Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated)

A Forgotten Promise (Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated)

Beautiful Monsters (Resident Evil Village)

Toxic Shock (Pokemon Legends Arceus)

A Pale Reflection/Chasing Shadows (Pokemon/Submas)

-

I also write video essay scripts sometimes.

I also have original stuff that I've tried to write before but those documents are much more scattered to the winds and this document is solely focused on fanfiction.

-

Now do keep in mind that this is a living document, so I do update it on a semi-regular basis. The version shown here will undoubtedly become outdated in time.

Also again, some of these ideas are very VERY old! Some are for fandoms that I am not particularly active in, nor would I write fanfiction for anymore (in particular I don't think that I would touch Achievement Hunter nor Hetalia fanfiction ever again. Though I wouldn't mind talking about it). Many of the things on this list more reflect the kind of kid I was at the time of writing these ideas down and don't necessarily reflect the person I am today. I like to keep the old stuff around kind of as a reminder of how I've grown. And some ideas still have merit, even if I've grown past what I had in mind at that time.

Also also, fic ideas that I'm presently working on aren't featured here. So no summaries for Looking Off, Shameless, Beautiful Monsters, or A Pale Reflection here. There are also a few Transformers and Pokemon ideas that I have on a separate document. And the most cursed fic idea that I've ever had gets the honor of having a document all to itself because the outline just got too damn long! (It's an RE8 fic idea.) Fish Family AU also got the honor of being banished to a separate document for being too long too lol.

Also also also a note: Most of the Pokemon fic stuff is SubMas stuff. Similarly, yes, I like Vlad from Danny Phantom, most of the Doctor Who section is for UNIT, and most of the Gravity Falls section is about Fiddleford. So sue me.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Lowkey convinced a lot of bnha’s “bed rep’ online is because of the homophobes.

Yeah that is very possible. Both directly and indirectly. Dudebro types control a lot of the mainstream opinion on the plot, so like if you do a youtube search for video essays, theories, news, etc. it's mostly them. If I was looking for a new anime to watch/manga to read, that would be a turnoff for me. Probably contributes to people thinking it's predictable and derivative or whatever. Indirectly, they contribute to a lot of the internal drama that makes the fandom such a shitstorm which is also a turnoff even though not liking something because of its fandom doesn't really make sense.

Also, you know why I think this fandom is so wild? It's because bnha has a little something for everyone. That means it attracts lots of different people who want different things. Some of the best fandoms out there belong to source materials that are both niche and underwhelming. Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug come to mind. Both shows have concepts with a lot of untapped potential that the fans can generally agree on and build an extensive fanon from there, fostering actual community. Bnha is not so niche and very popular, so it attracts a lot of different kinds of people, and those different kinds of people have wildly different ideas about what the untapped potential even is. So there are several groups with fanons so different they're practically like alternate dimensions.

I think that's the root of Horikoshi infamously saying he isn't sure his manga will stay popular. Eventually when it ends, most of those who came into it expecting something Hori didn't deliver will lose interest. I hope y'all will still be here after the manga and anime are over because it's probably gonna be so much nicer lol

That said, I hold y'all to the standard of leaving people in other sub-fandoms be and not bothering them in their own spaces or trying to bully people out unless that particular person is harassing others, m'kay? Even then it's still best to just block and mute. Curate your bubble and stay positive!

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, April 20 – Thursday, April 21

DAWN: Are we the International House of something? BUFFY: Nope. Got up early, and it felt like a breakfast kind of morning. (puts pancakes from the pan onto a plate) Okay, what kind of syrup do you want on your pancakes? DAWN: (amazed) Syrups have kinds?

~~Entropy~~

The Sunnydale Herald is still looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Temporary Allies (Buffy, Spike, PG) by badly_knitted

I Want a New Drug (Giles, Oz, Giles/Buffy, M) by TheScholarlyStrumpet

A Weird Gig (crossover with DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Spike, Spike/Drusilla, T) by SeaSpectre160

A Love in the Darkness (Buffy/Spike, not rated) by ialwayscomewhenyoucall

Bleeding Poetry: October 30, 1997 and November 25, 1997 (Spike/Buffy, worksafe, collection rated NC-17) by Dusty

Poker (Spike/Buffy, worksafe, collection rated R) by EllieRose101

Heart (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by Holly

[Chaptered Fiction]

Ghosts in Sunnydale, Chapter 1 (crossover with Danny Phantom, Scoobies, G) by Kree_Minory

Перемирие, Chapter 1-6 (Angel/Buffy, Angelus/Buffy, T, in Russian) by B_E_S. COMPLETE!

Come Back to Me, Chapter 28 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

En hurlant à Une Lune de Béton ; Le souffle des mots comme tel de la poussière chantante dans le soleil comme brise caresse.... L'histoire d'un poète Vampire, Chapter 9 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17, in French) by Violette-Milka

Enemies with Benefits, Chapter 10 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Ifeelittoo21

The Fairytale, Chapter 24 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dusty

Falling in Love, Chapter 6-8 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by Wonder and Ashes

Mortal Allies Series, Episode 5: War and Roses, Chapter 15 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

Of Monsters and Men, Chapter 3 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by feedingthefire

Seven, Chapter 19 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Holly

Soul Purpose, Chapter 6 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by B_Red

Teach Me How: ReMastered, Chapter 3-4 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

Unliving Conditions, Chapter 4 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by MrsAkers

Use It or Lose It, Chapter 19 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dynamite

What Lies Within, Chapter 2 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by cawthraven

Why Are There 26 Letters?, Chapter 9 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Indi_Shaw

Death Is Buffy's Next Great Adventure, Chapter 80 (crossover with "Harry Potter", Buffy, FR15) by Sharie

Last Days of May, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Manips: My favorite character (Willow, worksafe, flashing gifs) by emmatheslayer

Pencil drawing: Buffy (worksafe) by johndibiase

Video: Buffy & Angel || I Fall Apart (Buffy/Angel(-us)) by Tifa&Rinoa

[Reviews & Recaps]

I don’t hate 1x6 the pack... by womanaction

Which [episode] do you prefer and why (cont'd) by TamsinValencia and others

What Season Would You Rewrite? (cont'd) by atiredonnie, Cohen, epimetrius

Any Deaf or HOH Buffy fans also absolutely love the episode Hush? by DeterioratingHuman

If you do rewatches, which episodes do you skip? by potterhead123456

Finally finished the whole Buffy universe with the Angel series finale by Lobothehobosexual

PODCAST: Pop Culture Role Call: Lickin' Bones - Angel S02E08 - The Shroud of Rahmon

PODCAST: Buffering the Vampire Slayer 7.11 Showtime

[Recs]

Fandom history: Buffy/Spike Fandom Circa 1997 AKA The Start - Uphill Both Ways Essay by Mala shared by aleababe

Buffy ReVamped (a live show in the UK) recced by Auzzymm

Looking for a Spuffy fanfic that is more of a non Spuffy by TigerJean

[Community Announcements]

Multifandom: Beta Post 2022 (if you're interested in providing feedback on someone's fic, leave a comment; fandoms include BtVS) at fandom5k

[Fandom Discussions]

Blackbeard, Ed and Izzy; Angel, Angelus and Spike by alas-poor-cesario

what Warren did with April was so wrong. by melinoephilia

obsessed with Angel’s place. by labmem002

Meme image: Moral Alignments of the 9 characters with the most screentime by mrsmess

it’s not like btvs vampires can’t eat food, it’s just that all food is junk food for them by july-19th-club

also in triangle when spike is like buffy will you pleeeeeeeease pay attention to me by july-19th-club

I still can’t believe they gave Ethan Rayne over to the US military by layer-of-slayers

having characters that don’t age… can be hilarious by bleedingastigmatism

The way Hush forces Giles to stop hiding behind words [and give and receive physical affection] by calamitys-child

Wesley and Faith by nightshade and others

Would Amy still feel an animosity toward Willow if the latter had welcomed her back into the Scooby gang? (cont'd) by Kendar, VampireSlayer07, Bop

Where does Angel get his blood money? by HairyTofu

Gwen (AtS) by gnataliebb

Buffybot by 2stonedNintendo

If you had your way, who would still be standing and who met their demise at the end? by mokajilly

Does "Angel" have any queer characters? by Barbarian100

Spike and Drusilla aren’t perfect but... by sabrina_marcante

Why do I feel so sorry for Darla?!.... by AJ_Babe

I love Spike, but it had to be said by rednax2009

Bringing Buffy back -season 6 by athena1103

Darla (Do we know how much time it takes for the soul to truly take its place in someone’s psyche?) by chemeli888

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[fungalnebula]

I might make a video essay about Danny Phantom and it's flaws. Some things I'm gonna touch on is the anti feminism present in Sam and how that's justified with the beauty pageant episode, the concept of Ultra Recyclo Vegetarianism, the rampant sexism, as well as stuff that is related to butch and the show but not story. Stuff like butch's allowance for the show and what he did with that, fan interaction when it was airing, drama within the team, etc.

I'd love to talk to someone who was in the fandom and active on message boards while it was airing and if any of you know anyone who worked on the show, even if they barely had a role in it or even worked nearby and heard what went on at the show, I'd love to talk

If the video does okay, I might make another one about how cool the phandom is now and how creative and talented all of you are, and if that one also does well then I'll do an entire video about how shitty bitch fartman is and go into oaxis and that garbage fire.

So basically, can you guys reply or dm me or send asks about what sucks about Danny phantom and maybe title ideas for the first video?

Title ideas so far:

Danny Phantom Sucks and here's why

Danny Phantom could've been great; here's why it wasn't

What happened to Danny phantom: a post mortem

Everything wrong with Danny phantom

[sporesgalaxy]

I now have no idea who you are but you have cool art so I probably followed for that

i was mysteriie until earlier this evening and u may know me from hit niche fandom content such as 

• unironic analytical essays about Gir Invaderzim • extensive Danny Phantom lore forgery • some Smile For Me comics • shipping the 2 guys from the Mystery Skulls music videos • stanning Garmadon Ninjago • shipping Danny Fenton and Ben Tennyson because I had a dream they joined the MCU • funny self insert ocs and many more!

[lightlyscathing]

SOMETHING IS UP WITH BUTCH HARTMAN...

...And it might not be what you think it is.

(VERY long post/sort of essay, a lot more beneath the cut.)

TLDR: Butch is not the devil, he is flawed, and there’s almost certainly someone else behind a lot of what’s happening right now.

I’d like to start this off with saying that even though this blog is Pretty Empty and doesn’t have any other content from Butch Hartman’s shows (Danny Phantom, Fairly Odd Parents, etc.) on it, I watched his work as a kid and loved it. I’ve been a fan of Danny Phantom for years, and I’ve seen a lot of Butch hate.

Today I’d like to offer you another perspective on what might be happening with Butch, and why we should, I don’t know. Maybe lay off on the hate just a little...? He is by no means a perfect person, and has made mistakes, but the same can be said of any person.

After a friend of mine (@sarasanddollar) mentioned having mixed feelings about recent events (specifically, the OAXIS controversy), we had a conversation about it. She was coming from the perspective of someone who has defended Butch in the past, and I asked her about that as someone who has disliked Butch for a long time. I was curious to see what she had to say.

She made several good points, which I will summarize. You can also view the most important snippets of that conversation HERE.

One of the reasons many Danny Phantom fans (or Phans) dislike Butch so intensely is because of the terrible writing and overall execution of Season 3 of the show, especially the finale (Phantom Planet). 

Many Phans attribute this directly to Butch himself. And it’s true that he had a much heavier hand in Season 3 than the first two seasons! But he’s not the only one at fault here. As far as either of us could see, Nickelodeon basically axed his show (as they have with many shows), leaving Butch without most of his skilled team while creating the third season.

Butch is by no means the BEST creator or writer out there. His greatest skill seems to be in coming up with creative pitches for shows, and the execution of these ideas is best left to a team who knows what they’re doing. But that’s the thing: Butch had a team. Can you imagine suddenly losing the team you’re working with and trying to handle an entire animated show almost entirely on your own? No wonder it was a mess, that sounds terrifying.

Many people believe that Butch is anti-LGBT, and most of those people frame it as an intentional thing. That honestly seems unlikely, though.

Butch’s work has many scenes or even entire episodes that have sexist undertones or demonstrate a lot of toxic masculinity. Often, this is even the joke in and of itself. 

This seems to be more the product of the way he himself was raised than anything else, though. As far as either of us are aware, he’s never outright said anything for or against the LGBT community. Honestly, he’s not LGBT, so why should he?

Butch also seems pretty ignorant or uncomfortable when it comes to things he hasn’t directly experienced for himself, leading to comments like the one he made about introversion.

Beyond that, he allegedly kicked any people posting/liking LGBT content off of his Danny Phantom forums. The thing is, back then, almost ALL slash ship content was Pompous Pep (Danny Fenton/Vlad Masters). Making no comment on my personal feelings about the ship, it should be noted that this depicts an explicit sexual relationship between a 14-year-old boy and a man in his 40s. It’s understandable that Butch wouldn’t want explicit content of a pedophilic slash ship being associated with his show.

His way of dealing with it may have been excessive, but almost all of the LGBT content he was seeing was also pedophilia.

It’s also worth noting that almost all details about the Forum Days of the Danny Phantom fandom are now being passed around via word of mouth. Even in text form, people’s biases do change the tone of a situation.

Given recent events, many people are spreading around anything connecting Butch to religion. This deserves a closer look too, though.

Here’s something I didn’t know until Sara told me: Butch Hartman was not always a Christian. He wasn’t raised into it, “brainwashed” as a child and blindly following those values as an adult. He allegedly converted a year or two into the production of Fairly Odd Parents, well into his adult life. Before that, he was apparently an atheist. 

This man has one show about magic and another about scientists and ghosts. His shows have sexual jokes, witchcraft, violence, and all sorts of things you’d expect a super-conservative Christian to avoid. So why do we all act like he’s always BEEN that super-conservative Christian?

It may have something to do with how people tend to associate Christianity with the corrupt or incompetent white men who run a significant portion of the planet. The exact reasons are probably different from person to person.

This, of course, DOES NOT give Butch any reason to act like Christians are oppressed. He is not the “living embodiment of ‘one of these things is not like the other’” as he put it. 

That being said, it seems as if his shows are largely detached from religion (until now). They have morals, sure, but all Nickelodeon shows have lessons for kids, many of which also happen to be mentioned in some form somewhere in the Bible.

So it seems kind of fishy that Religious Values are suddenly such a huge deal for him... which leads me to the point of this entire thing.

When it comes to the OAXIS scam, we might not be the only ones who are being played.

It seems very likely that Butch Hartman himself is also being played.

Hear me out.

With the context of Giving The Children Jesus, some of the more confusing parts of the way OAXIS was pitched make more sense. But at the same time, I find it very difficult to understand how this man created so much content for children (and RAISED a child) with such a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to how families and society work.

After thinking about it, I realized that this feels very familiar.

Someone I was once very close with had a similar experience about a year ago. For both of them, it seems to have gone something like this:

The person in question starts off not knowing/caring about a cause. At some point, they are introduced to this cause and join, but it does very little to change their work or public life. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they have a radical change in lifestyle and behavior, while screaming an extreme or radical version of that cause’s message from the metaphorical rooftops.

For the person I used to be close with, this “cause” was Isogenix. (For more information on operations like this one, consider watching this video.) For Butch, it seems like that cause is... saving young people with religious lessons and “pure” media.

With the person I knew, this whole process started when a group of people who were already working with Isogenix befriended her and gained her trust, then told her repeatedly how good Isogenix would be for her. When she started considering it, they told her it was about self-empowerment and pursuing her true self. This kept going until they’d pushed her into dismantling her circle of friends (anyone who wasn’t working with Isogenix), and the last I’ve heard about it is that she left her husband and children to dedicate herself to “self-exploration” and being a Good Example of Isogenix’s successes.

With Butch, it seems likely that something similar is in the process of happening, though with different results. I wouldn’t be surprised if he met and befriended someone (or several people) who believe that modern mass media is corrupting the youth, and that limiting their media intake to Christian-approved content will fix a lot of the issues in modern society.

I mentioned earlier that Butch seems to have a pretty limited understanding of things outside his own little sphere (based mostly on his unintentional sexism in shows, lack of understanding of healthy male friendships/physical contact, and complete misunderstanding of the 16-50% of the world that is made up of introverts). Considering this, it seems like he’d probably buy into this mentality pretty easily, especially if these people “spoke his language”.

While I personally have a lot of resentment for the people who fall for this sort of tactic, it’s not really the victim’s fault when they become the Face or Voice of the cause. The recruiters often know exactly what they’re doing. Most of them seek out people who are lost, desperate, low on self esteem, or somewhat narcissistic. People who want to make a future for themselves, and sometimes others, usually as “their own boss.” Sound familiar?

Some people are more than one of those things. Butch, given that he recently left Nickelodeon after working there for literal decades, could understandable be a bit lost on what his next step should be. And honestly, he’s shown narcissistic tendencies in the past (have you SEEN his self-insert from Fairly Odd Parents?).

So, as easy as it is to stay mad at Butch Hartman, there’s almost certainly someone else involved... which would also explain some things about his Kickstarter.

The way these things are pitched is designed to make the “victim” believe that it’s all their own idea. THEY took control of their life to make these changes, THEY are the brave example of the Future of the industry, THEY are a self-made person. And most of all, showing other people how they can succeed by joining the organization/school of thought is THE BEST THING EVER.

Which... to me, that seems like it’s a logical reason for Butch’s Kickstarter not actually mentioning anyone else, when he insists other people are involved. Someone likely took his already self-absorbed and narcissistic tendencies and intentionally built them up to make him into the Face and Voice of this project. 

Bonus points to them: they also picked the perfect person to use.

Butch is a well-off, reasonably well-known person. He has a pretty large following that is almost exclusively made up of young adults, teenagers, and even children (a detail many people cited as the reason his Kickstarter shouldn’t have worked at all). Many of those young people grew up watching his shows and seeing his content on social media, assuming that the loyal followers we’re talking about are the several hundred thousand people following him on social media platforms. Many of them would take his word as something more important than some random person they’ve never heard of, or so the theory goes.

With this context, his line makes perfect sense:

“You trusted me with your childhood, won’t you trust me with your future?”

He probably does honestly care about what happens, and he’s not trying to maliciously brainwash children with Jesus. It’s far more likely that someone else convinced him that he’s the person perfect for saving “lost” young people, given that many of them trusted him as children. He’s obviously the best person to show them Pure and Good content, away from the “poisonous” aspects of mainstream media.

Butch Hartman isn’t a demon. He’s not evil. He’s not... Trump, or anything like that. He’s a naive man with very little actual understanding of how the world works, who believes that he’s helping. 

Which is not to say he’s perfect at all. He’s made lots of mistakes, and he’ll continue to make them. 

I just seriously doubt he’s actually the “mastermind” behind this whole operation. He’s little more than a figurehead, probably. And from how he’s acted in the past, he seems to crave the attention and trust of young people. He needs to be someone important to them.

And the worst part of all this might be that he’s not going to get out of this without a disaster. I pity the guy, as much of a mess as all of this already is.

You don’t get out of this kind of position unless it falls out from under you. And when you fully believe and trust in what you’re doing, you’re not prepared for the fall. 

You hit the ground hard.

~Ren

[alrightoddity]

if I have to hear another damn sound effect from danny phantom I am going to lose my marbles

[maxattax]

... on a scale of 1 to 10 how mad would you be if I asked you to answer... ALL the questions .. from the identity asks

0 :D have i ever said how much i appreciate how you’re all up in my asks all the time it makes me feel so noticed(senpai) ;P

Here’s the original post for reference. Answers under the read more :)

1. Danny Phantom, it shows the kinds of shows I loved as a kid, and it’s really shaped me. Phantom of the Opera shows what I aspire for as far as voice goals. And read Dresden Files, cause it shows the kind of sense of humor I have.

2. I don’t know. I’m not sure I have.

3. Danny Phantom - I always related to Sam because of her all “oh I’m not like other girls” thing but now I find that kinda cringy because I’m not 14 anymore.Steven Universe - I’ve always liked Pearl. Like me, she feels she needs to be perfect and logical all the time but slips up to emotion and ends up being deeply flawed but still a lovable character.Harry Potter - As a kid I related to Hermione. For a lot of the same reasons as Pearl, she feels she needs to be perfect and logical and, to an extent, better than everyone else. But ultimately she’s emotional and human and flawed, and that makes her more relatable than if she wasn’t (cough cough the movies).

4. Yeah, I like my name. When I was younger I kinda wanted to be Samantha (Sammi for short, with an i because I’m different), but now I appreciate my name for how it’s pretty and not super common but not super uncommon either.

5. Uhh, I’m not really sure. I’m a combination of who I am and what I do, because they both influence each other.

6. Definitely not religious. Spiritual, maybe? I want to believe in an afterlife, and I feel like ghosts might be a thing. Maybe there’s a god who created us? It’d make as much sense as anything else in this confusing world. But I don’t really believe in any specific god, and I don’t follow a religion.

7. Not really. I’m of mostly Italian and Irish descent, I think, but I’m mostly just a white American. Which is kind of bland and boring. I identify more with being a New Yorker than anything else.

8. Definitely Evanescence. I really felt those songs when I was a teen, and I still love their music. I was going through a lot of hard times and that helped me feel like I wasn’t alone.

9. Not really? I like to sing, and I think I do so pretty well, but I’m not really a creator. I’ve tried to write stories and draw and stuff but… my imagination is pretty lackluster, and my technical skill is too. The latter is a lot easier to improve, but less important IMO.

10. Not really? I guess just like, accepting things and moving forward. Trying not to dwell on the past. I’m too busy to have regrets, and all the mistakes I’ve made have helped me to be who I am today.

11. Oooh. Hanging out with a ton of friends, playing video games together and eating delicious food and being engaged and involved and really a part of the group. I had that in high school, and I miss it.

12. Definitely a cat person. Cats are super cute, less messy, quieter (usually), and can take care of themselves for the most part. Very low maintenance. I do love dogs, don’t get me wrong, but they are way too much work for me.

13. Inside. I like the outdoors sometimes, but I’m just not really that naturey. My computer is indoors. :P

14. Yeah, I can sing and play some guitar and piano. But I don’t write songs or anything, I usually do covers of others’ songs. And I haven’t really done anything in a while.

15. Ohhh boy. I’ve read a lot of books, this is hard to answer. Harry Potter is definitely up there. The Hitchhiker’s Guide series. Dresden Files? I’m not really sure what else.

16. Definitely not. My family and upbringing affected who I am a lot, as I think it affects everyone.

17. Maybe? Probably not. There’s more to me IRL than fandoms and memes :P

18. According to Pottermore, a Manx Cat. It’s probably accurate. I’m pretty catlike.

19. I’m probably a muggle, but Ravenclaw. I’m an awful student but I’m always interested and love to learn, as long as there’s no time limit or essays to be done. I’m more of the “read a random part of Wikipedia for hours at 3am” kind of person than the studious good student kind.

20. Well, I haven’t read Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia so I guess my default answer is Hogwarts. Except not the same years as Harry, Hogwarts was kinda fucked during that time.

21. No, I don’t think so. It takes me some time to get to know and trust people, but once I do, my love is strong.

22. Spending time on my computer. Playing video games (which may overlap with the first one). Sleeping. Eating. Talking to people.

23. 2 or 3 times a year. I love my family, and while I’m glad I moved to California, I would love to see them more often than I probably will, living this far away. Plus my sister just had a baby and I’d love to meet her.

24. My sister Desirée, definitely. I’m 2 years older than her but we have twin telepathy, always have. We can still finish each others’ sentences and I’ve barely seen her in the last few years. I’ve also noticed I’m starting to pick up my boyfriend Joe’s mannerisms. But that probably comes with being so close to somebody for a couple years.

25. Noooo. I was just talking to Joe about this earlier, I’m an extrovert with social anxiety. Which sucks, because I want to make friends and be with people all the time but I’m too scared. I couldn’t be a hermit because I need socialization to stay sane.

26. Gender, female. No doubt. I’ve never questioned my gender. But sexuality… bisexual, leaning towards women. I identified as lesbian for a while, but then I fell in love with my boyfriend. That shook things up a bit. I still like women more, but I do like men too.

27. Ehh. I’ve been insecure about my body lately. I’ve put on a lot of weight. But my overall appearance outside of my weight, probably. How I dress on a day to day basis shows a lot about me. How I’m usually in pajamas because I’m lazy and it’s comfortable, but when I try and put on makeup and stuff, I look really nice and it shows that effort.

28. 8? People can irritate me, but I don’t get angry easily. It’s really hard to piss me off. I’m a lot of things, but angry is not one of them.

29. Right now? Idk. Something upbeat and happy, probably. I feel good, better than i have in a while.

30. When I was a senior in high school, my senior quote I chose for the yearbook was “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” It’s so cliche, it’s not true for a lot of people, and I wish I had a better answer (both back then and now). But it kinda fits for me. I’ve been through a lot of shit but I’m getting through it and it’s making me better equipped to deal with the shit the future throws at me. I am getting stronger, slowly but surely.

[dannyphannypack]

Hey I've always enjoyed danny phantom (i even bought the complete series) but i was never in the fandom on tumblr. Do you think you could explain a few things for me? (If you have the time) can you explain the hate butch gets, trans danny, why everyone hates lost planet, and this war people talk about (i think it was within the fandom and a few years back, people talk about how it was the worst thing). I started getting into the fandom and I'm hella lost and maybe you can clear this up for me.

hoy boy, my friend, i had to pull out my laptop for this one. let’s see if i can help ease your confusion without typing ten pages of text.

- the phandom war/the hate butch getsbutch hartman has always had a hard time leaving his fans alone to discuss their headcanons and ships in peace. he’s a conservative christian, and therefore makes a lot of people angry when he invalidates/discredits their gay ships or trans headcanons. he’s very “this is my show and i’d like it if you didn’t stain it with your LGBT+ bullshit,” though he’d never say that out loud. so anyways, a little while ago (i don’t know the exact year) butch started talking to the phandom, discrediting their headcanons and ships, etc etc. it created a sort of rift in the phandom, with one side believing that whatever the creator says goes and the other side just really angry that butch stuck his foot out and tried to maneuver the phandom where he wanted them to go. fighting pursued. not sure how it ended, though. i do know, however, that a large reason why danny phantom fanfiction is largely angst/torture is because it was a nice inbetween for those that didn’t want to get involved with the fighting or for those who had their fluffy ship invalidated. fortunately, i wasn’t there for that whole escapade. recently, channelfrederator on youtube posted this video, and in it he goes out of his way to state that danny is the only boy wearing a tanktop in the pool scene in one episode because he burns easily, even though his shoulders and a bit of his chest are still showing, once again invalidating the trans danny headcanon (many of the people who consider trans danny as almost canon use that specific scene as proof, so you can understand the frustration that followed). everyone is just kinda generally mad at butch for a) supporting trump, b) discrediting headcanons, and c) not being a very good creator. the episodes that butch worked on for the show (namely season three) weren’t that good, and frankly, people think that danny phantom would be better off without butch. i kinda agree with them.

- trans dannyi kinda covered it in the above paragraph, but i’ll offer some more explanation here. basically, there’s many scenes that could be envisioned as proof of danny fenton being transgender. in the pool scene that i mentioned above, where he’s the only one wearing a tanktop, and in the same episode when he accidentally runs into the girl’s room, and in THE SAME EPISODE when paulina says “i’d tell you to go to the boy’s room, but i don’t think you’d qualify.” there’s another scene that sticks out specifically to me (and that i see floating around tumblr a lot) where danny tells desiree to get lost and she says something along the lines of “are you sure there is nothing you desire?” and reaches for his chest. immediately following that, danny gets suPer defensive, shouts “hey, get away!” and discovers he can shoot ectoplasmic blasts from his hands. there’s more proof, but i don’t think i need to get into it more. you’ll see tons of it here and there.

- phantom planetpoorly made. that’s all i can say about it. the show had so much more potential and the ending was, admittedly, a huge letdown. here’s a few things that i, personally, don’t like about the finale.

- when it starts, vlad’s ship or whatever blows up. and there’s fire. in space. there can’t be fire without oxygen that is not how science works oh no.

- hOW DANNY BECOMES HUMAN AGAIN MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER ??? HE SHOULD BE FULL DEAD ??? also why did he give up so fast like “o shoot no one likes me let me just gET RID OF MY SUPER AWESOME GHOST POWERS!!! ok.

- why does vlad need more money he’s already the richest person in the world and like ,,, third world countries don’t have that much money to give calm down vladdy

- i can’t believe vlad liTERALLY launched himself off of a podium like “henlo i’m a ghost follow me” and people just went with it. what.

- hOW DANNY BECAME HALF GHOST AGAIN ALSO MAKES NO SENSE ??? also where’d his suit come from. was he wearing that under his clothes what. what.

there’s so much more, and for the full run-down on the disappointments of phantom planet, i’m going to point you toward my friend’s powerpoint. abby did a really good job explaining my frustrations.

- ship namesyou didn’t ask for this to be cleared up, but when i first joined the phandom, i was confused about the ship names. i’m going to list a few of the more popular ones below, but just ask if you have any confusions or would like to know a specific one ^.^- amethyst ocean // danny and sam- gray ghost // valerie and danny- pitch pearl // danny fenton and danny phantom- pompous pep // vlad and danny- savant par // tucker and danny

yeah, this kinda became an essay. it’s a large task, explaining the ins and outs of the phandom. if you have any more questions or would like to know more about any of the things i answered above, please feel free to ask (or message me, whichever you prefer)! i’m going to head off to bed now, but i hope i helped clear some things up for you. the phandom is, quite frankly, a confusing place.

(unedited)

[alrightoddity]

*12 hours! Will be out on June 20th!

[alrightoddity]

hit the 32 minute mark for the danny phantom video essay (i am going insane) (frothing at the mouth) (i don't even know if i'm halfway there yet)

[alrightoddity]

1:21:36

see you soon.