#dp analysis

[picturejasper20]

The way Vlad's empathy works it is so bizarre yet fascinating to me because, at least speaking in more fanon terms, he can deeply care about others but these feelings of caring almost always come from the relationship he wished he could have with them and how he projects into them rather than from an actual real connection. As in the sense that he doesn't see people with their own agency, he sees them more as trophies, things that he can get through money and power. He may care about your safety and well being but he doesn't see you as a person.

In plenty of fanfics Vlad's desire to protect and help Danny comes as an indirect result of his own obsession of trying to make Danny his pupil/son, so he can't help it when he cares about him like he was his own son. Again, it isn't because he has got to know Danny personally, it is cause of how he projects himself.

Ironically, this way of caring it is what usually leads to him having a redemption arc or him making truce with Phantom. Since he realizes that he cares that much about Danny that he is willing to give up his previous plans to be there for him.

Even in A Glitch In Time a good part of his start for redemption arc seems to come from this, that when his emotional drive starts to change, this protective side for Danny starts to show, which was probably was always there, he just choosed to ignore it.

And you can see this with Dan too. While Dan is different from Danny and he is his own person, he is still in part Danny. A Danny who lost everything and got transformed into something else entirely in part thanks to the Vlad from his own timeline, who thought he was helping him. So Vlad can't help but to care about Dan as well.

I think there is a lot about how the other person has to have very similar experiences to his to being able to empathize with them. Going back to Dan, what finally made Vlad trying to help him was Dan talking about how he ¨didn't want to be alone again¨, something that Vlad could understand a lot. There is the fact that Dan is part Plasmius as well... so he shares Vlad's fear of loneliness.

When it comes to Danny, both share similar experiences in how they became halfas. How they both have to hide who they are from others and there isn't anyone like them on Earth nor the Ghost Zone (not including Dani and Dan). So Vlad can understand a lot of what Danny is going thorugh, since he experiences it himself.

In short, when it comes to empathy for Vlad it usually works when he projects the bond he wished he could have with a person and/or the person sharing very similar experiences to him. He struggles a lot with it outside of those specific situations.

[dani-halfa]

On Sam Manson’s case

Sam Manson is a weird case of a character because she is a main character in Danny Phantom and yet she doesn’t have exactly what i would call a ¨proper character arc¨.

On the surface, Sam Manson is defined by her sarcasm, intelligence,  brash attitude, individualism and morality. She is someone who often likes going against what it expected in society. She criticizes society issues and has desire to change things for the better. She rarely shows any fear of speaking up, regardless of who the person is. For instance, she stood up for Danny in ¨Parental Bonding¨ when Paulina was making fun of him. She is protective of her friends and often acts as the voice of reason in the group. 

Sam seems to be into supernatural things, she knew about the Fright Knight, also known as the ¨Spirit of Halloween¨ in ¨Fright Knight¨. This may come from being a goth or helping Danny with ghost hunting. This is an interesting aspect of his character that doesn’t get much exploration, which it is a pity because it has potential. So, with all these things that she has you would think the writers would came up with some interesting ideas for her character correct? Well, that comes the issue with Sam: They didn’t. Or well, they did, except its mostly defined by one thing. Her relationship and crush on Danny.

Like, there is nothing wrong with having the girl in the team falling in love with main protagonist. That’s completely fine!. The problem with Sam is that most of her episodes seem to be defined by the crush she has on Danny and she doesn’t have much episodes exploring her personality outside of that.

It doesn’t help that in Season 3 she is reduced to be Danny’s girlfriend as a good chunk of the episodes are about ship teasing the relationship between the two instead of exploring their characters.

Her goal in changing society is important in like two episodes and it leads to mixed results. (Mystery Meat and One of a Kind). There isn’t a bigger arc of her coming up with some project to help Amity Park or her school. The fact that her family is rich could have shaken up some plot threads. For example: Her standing up against something her parents are doing because she finds out that it is inmoral.

One episode that explores her character well its ¨Beauty Marked¨. Because of her individualism and no fear of speaking up, she inspires Dora to stand up against her abusive brother. This episode... has a few issues that have been discussed by other people in the past but i think at least it does a good job a showing Sam’s attributes having a positive impact on someone.

And yes, unironically, ¨Girls' Night Out¨ a Season 3 episode explores her relationship with Jazz and she learning to get along with her, which is weird that they did this at this point in the series and not before considering Jazz is an important character in the series and a part of the team.

The problem with ¨Beauty Marked¨ is that it doesn’t evolve Sam in a way that has an impact in the bigger narrative nor has much consequences for her later on. The same applies to ¨Girls' Night Out¨ since it is on Season 3, that has almost zero cohesive narrative.

"Parental Bonding" is sweet episode because it shows that Sam is into ¨girl things¨ but maybe avoids doing these things because she is afraid of being seen as ¨shallow¨. It could been interesting to see her trying to remain ¨unique¨ while learning to be into ¨girly things¨. Maybe Jazz could have helped her with that or even Valerie.

In contrast to Tucker, he has at least three episodes about him.  "What You Want", "Doctor's Disorders" and "King Tuck". While they don’t have much consquences of his character, they explore him quite well. "What You Want" and "King Tuck" explore his inferioty complext and desire to be admired by other people. How power can get over his head and makes not think things through. "Doctor's Disorders" is a good episode that has Tucker facing his fears of hospitals to save Danny from Spectra. As you can see, Tucker is allowed to some development outside his sidekick role. And this doesn’t count B plots from a few episodes.

To be honest, both Sam and Tucker feel like characters that the writers didn’t put much thought into them when it came to their character arcs. They are just there, sometimes helping Danny with his ghosts adventures.

The closest that Sam gets to character evolution is her learning to be less possessive of Danny and that she can’t force him to like her. ("Fanning the Flames"). There were moments that Sam expressed getting jealous of Danny paying more attention to Paulina than her. What bothers me is that her not confessing her feelings to Danny wasn’t properly adressed neither? Did she expected to be rejected by him? Was she afraid that it would ruin their friendship? This was never brought to explain why it was the case.

Eventually Danny returns these feelings to Sam.  (Frightmare- Claw of the Wild). By the end of the series they become an official couple and start dating (Phantom Planet).

Like i previously mention earlier, her character arc is mainly defined by her relationship with Danny and there doesn’t seem to be much outside that aspect. All of this is rather disappointing since Sam is a character that can be explored in multiple ways. 

A few ideas that come to my mind to fix this are: Explore her relationship with her parents, her coming with ideas to change society or Casper school, getting into witchcraft or showing an interest in the supernatural, making her go capturing ghosts on her own, meeting someone she cared about in their ghost form; to name some examples.

In all, Sam Manson is a character that is fun and had some potential to an interesting character but she wasn’t given the proper execution she needed to have a good arc.

[geekgirles]

I know this is probably going to make zero sense since this is just a half-assed concept brought to you by FEELS I always get from watching Fanning the Flames. But bear with me, please.

I love the episode as it is. Really. Not only because I'm Amethyst Ocean trash, but because it's just a great episode! It introduces Ember, the Sam/Danny dynamic follows nicely where their Fake Out Make-Out from last episode left off, Tucker has some downright hilarious lines...

It's just good.

But it always digs up the usually nonexistent thrill I get from some angst (which only ever rises from its grave when there's romance involved). I mean, the whole love spell situation is pretty heartwrenching, maybe even tragic, when you think about it.

One the one hand, you have Sam’s perspective. After what happened in Shades of Gray, she's barely starting to reach out and allow herself to wonder what it'd be like to date Danny, to date one of her best friends. Honestly, hadn't the spell happened, maybe those two would have ended up together sooner.

But it did happen, and it sort of put a halt to things progressing naturally but more quickly. Which is great, because with the way the show was written, it needed to happen. I'm not ranting, just pointing something out.

And because the spell did happen and Danny got all obsessive and clingy and Sam got a not-so-accurate-nor-real look into what a relationship with him could be like, she got scared. The love spell made things move way too fast for her liking and forced her to re-evaluate in record time if she wanted a romantic relationship with Danny or not. And, given the only experience she could use as reference was mostly negative, she chose that, no, risking her friendship with her best friend was not worth it.

And then we have Danny’s situation. After the spell was broken he was confused, for a moment he even believed his perceived relationship with Sam was real, but it wasn't. However, instead of going back to normal, the damage was done. Ember had fed the illusion with lies and it was up to Sam to snap him out of it by sending him crashing down—she had to break his heart. And boy did Danny remember the pain. His (romantic) love for Sam might have been a lie up until that point, but his heartbreak wasn't, and the pain remained.

Proof of that was the way he furiously attacked and took his pain out on Ember (that scene and the one leading up to it must be one of my absolute favourites from the show).

This is all devastating in a way, but then I unwittingly came up with a way to make the experience even more bittersweet, for lack of a better word:

If Fanning the Flames had taken place while Danny was dating Valerie which in turn would only happen if their relationship arc had been expanded for more than an episode (if we don’t count Reign Storm).

(On a side note, I have nothing but respect for Gray///Ghost shippers. You keep doing your thing, you legends 👍)

With this I mean there would be an added layer of pain to the whole situation. From all three parts involved. 

On the one hand, it’s true Valerie could have remained hypnotised by Ember like Tucker did, but on the other, the whole thing would be sort of pointless if she didn’t know something must have happened to Danny for him to suddenly ignore her and be all over Sam. This scenario could have been set up in two or three different acts, so to speak. 

On the first one, Valerie could have no idea what’s going on and initially think Danny’s just dumped her for Sam, which would upset her a great deal and make her angrily call off their relationship. On the second one, while conducting her own investigation regarding Ember parallel to Team Phantom’s she could have come to realise it was her doing Danny was acting like that. What she didn’t understand was why. All other victims of her brainwashing were simply obsessed with her, why would Ember need to have Danny, of all people, obsessed with Sam? 

And the third and final one would be post-spell, where Danny tells her some excuse (like, “I was ast the wrong place, at the wrong time” or something), and Valerie seemingly buys his apology, though some spike of suspicion still remains: was it all really just coincidence, or was Danny actually hiding something from her? And was it all just a spell, or does he really have feelings for Sam, after all?

Following up on that, there’s Danny. It’s only logical he’d be horrified at finding out he’d been (temporarily) dumped by his girlfriend because, due to some love spell, he’d fallen madly in love with his best friend. 

So his already frightening fury at Ember for the ramifications of her actions would only increase tenfold, because the pain from the experience would have doubled down as well. First, Sam has to break his heart to break the spell (ouch!), then he realises he’s been “crushing” on his best friend while he already has a girlfriend (double ouch!), and then he learns said girlfriend has broken up for him for reasons that were, quite literally, out of his control (YEOWCH!). 

To say he would be pissed would be an understatement. 

So the experience wouldn’t just leave him trying his damnest to make it up to Valerie and feeling guilty over something that wasn’t even his fault but, depending on the direction you want to take this, also mixed feelings? Because, why did Ember target Sam specifically, when she could have gone after Valerie just as easily during the battle? Was it because she was an easier target? Because, unlike Valerie who still hates Danny Phantom, Sam seemed to worry about his safety and Ember misunderstood the situation? Or did she see something else buried deep within their interactions? 

Could it be he actually has feelings for Sam?

And what better way to end this analysis than with Sam’s own feelings?

Ok, so in this scenario she would already be carrying a lot of pent-up frustration, jealousy, and heartbreak from seeing Danny and Valerie together, something she’s managed to hide...with questionable results. 

However, because she apparently wasn’t dealing with enough as it was, now a ghost diva has put Danny under a spell that makes him think only about her. Many other cartoons would play this as that golden chance to live out your dreams and experience what a real relationship with your crush would be like...only for the character to eventually grow frustrated of their crush’s obsessive behaviour under the spell. 

But this is Danny Phantom, and just like it (thankfully) wasn’t the case in the original episode, neither will it be here. 

Mostly because Sam has a few problems with the arrangement. 

First, it wouldn’t be a real relationship, because that’s something Danny already has with Valerie, not her. And as much as it pains her, the best she can do for her best friend is step aside (though that doesn’t mean she won’t remind him of the inherent danger in dating an enemy bent on his destruction at any given chance). Just like the sole fact that he’s been roped into it by a love spell meant to distract him only serves to drive the point that it’s nothing but an illusion further home. 

It’s not a real relationship until Danny has a say in it.

And second, because now it’s not just forcing her to consider if she wants a relationship with Danny before she’s ready; it’s a constant reminder of what she could have, but can’t, not really, because Danny is not hers, but Valerie’s.

And I just think there is something inherently heartbreaking in that. Not only are you forced to see the person you love with someone else, while being incapable of doing anything about it (among others things because it would just be selfish), but then you are presented with an opportunity of what it could be, but won’t. Sam would be forced to watch how, no matter the circumstances, Danny slips through her fingertips. 

And just...that’s just breaks me, you know?

I don’t know, I just think it’d be a great opportunity for character exploration and some drama lol. 

Well, this got incredibly long and I don’t even know if I made any sense, but thanks for sticking with me anyway! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter :)

[coralnoodle]

WHAT THE HELL IS LAB SAFETY!!

[starry-bi-sky]

Ugh im writing this on mobile but i’ve been thinking about it nonstop for an hour and I’m just- mmmmm thinking about Clone Danny and his wardrobe choice as Phantom. Cuz like, he doesn’t have any powers, right? He has no built-in secret identity and suit that he can change into in a flash of blinding circular light. If a ghost shows up he’s just got what he’s got on, and whatever he has in his bag.

And I’m just. I have a lot of thoughts about him and his canon self, thoughts that i dont think i can all fit on my phone and im. Thinking about the dichotomy between him and his canon counterpart. From an in-universe perspective, the halfa Danny Phantom looks remarkably human-like. Especially compared to the ghosts he fights, all of whom are unnatural colors, shapes, and sizes. From flaming hair to glowing eyes and pointed claws, there’s nothing about them that doesn’t scream “ghost!” “Inhuman!” “Unnatural!”

And then you look at Danny Phantom, the ghost boy fighting them. And he just… looks like a glowing human boy. The only unnatural thing about him is his white hair and green eyes - and green eyes is a natural human color. Maybe not the shade it’s in, but it occurs in human genetics. He’s about as close to human as he can get.

Think about that from an in-universe perspective, and then think about it with the idea that ghosts take pride in their ‘ghostly’ look. They pride themselves on looking scary; unnatural; inhuman. It’s a showcase of being unique, of their own individuality, of their interests and wants. Looking ‘scary’ is part of ghost culture, and if not scary, then unique and ‘inhuman’. They don’t want to fit in, they want to stand out.

And you look at Danny Phantom, as his canon self without any of the fanon customizations, and he’s none of that. He’s about as human-looking as a ghost can get. He’s got human-like skin, hell he’s even tanner than he is as a human! His hair is normal, his eyes are green but normal, his hands? Soft and round, not a claw in sight, and his teeth are blunt and ears are round.

His suit is all black, it doesn’t even tell you anything about him other than he probably died in a lab accident, and he looks like he’s straight out of a b-rate comic book. There’s no story to tell about him, he’s a book with the pages all blacked out in ink.

His name, if you take it as him only calling himself “Phantom” isn’t even all that unique. It’s a generic ghost term that you can find by googling ‘ghost’ and looking at its synonyms.

And then look at his behavior: yeah he fights ghosts, and fighting is all about ghost behavior. Its one of their social activities- but its clear from Phantom that he’s not being social. He’s being aggressive, he’s doing it for the sake of the living (which while fair, doesn’t make him look good in the context of everything else). Then he comes into the ghost zone, he doesn’t do much to integrate himself into the culture, and yeah he makes allies but it still doesn’t feel enough. He’s not participating in anything, he’s alienating himself.

All in all, Phantom looks like a ghost trying to pretend he’s human, that he’s still alive. And for a ghost culture that prides itself on not being alive? It’s insulting.

And then let’s circle back around to that human thing, but from a different angle. Probably one that’s more mindset than outside looking in. But Danny’s alienated by the rest of the town for ages despite helping them. And while him looking human likely has to do with his own mindset of viewing himself as “living, but with ghost powers” and thus reflects back as a ghost, it also makes it look like he’s trying to fit in with the humans.

“I am not a ghost” he says, with his human skin and blunt teeth. “I am human like you, see? See? I look like you.”

He’s making himself look approachable, friendly. ‘You can trust me, I’m not a ghost. I’m not like them. I’m not scary. I look just like you. I’m different.’ He looks about as harmless as a human child could be. He’s trying to be relatable. And in turn he’s giving his fellow ghosts a cold shoulder - i’m not like you, i’m better. I’m different. I’m not ghost. I may be dead, but I’m no ghost.

Danny is trying to tie his ghost self in with the living as much as possible - he wants them to think he’s almost human. The same way he wants to think that himself. He’s distancing himself from his ghost half and the ghostly qualities the others have. Whether intentional or not, he’s doing it.

He shows his face and goes ‘see? See? I’m just like you.’

And then lets look at clone Danny, mister not-a-halfa. Who doesn’t have his canon offensive capabilities, who only has his ghost sense and the ability to hit ghosts without gear, his scary eyes and pointed ears, and the ability to see weaker ghosts not visible to the mortal eye.

He has no ghost form, no powers. And yet the first time he goes out as Phantom, he wears a mask that looks like a skull. Instead of distancing himself from ghosts, he’s distancing himself from humans. And at first it stems from the need to be unrecognizable, the last thing he wants is for his parents to find out that he’s ghost hunting. To do that, he needs to hide his face. That’s the first step.

The next step is to act in such a way that people couldn’t possibly tie him back to Danny Fenton. He’s not distancing himself from ghosts, he’s distancing himself from humans. To do that, he acts inhuman. He wears his mask and wears baggy, shapeless clothes - his hoodie and his pants - and he learns how to act unsettling. His eyes glow green, unnatural and shining through his sunken-in, skull-like mask. But it’s not enough on its own. He must do more.

He wants to be the thing someone sees at night and turns the other way. See me and run, he says, crouched on all fours and crawling across a beam like a monster you see in a movie. Twisting his body in unnatural, fluid ways, like he’s not quite sure how having only four limbs work.

Run. He says, dead green eyes glowing through his mask, piercing through black night from the rooftop. I am wild thing. Come no closer, look no closer. I am not like you. I am not your friend. I bite. Run.

You cannot see my face. This is my face, I am not alive. I am not like you. I am an animal about to pounce.

He doesn’t want people to think he’s human, he doesn’t want them to think he’s anywhere close to it. Anything to prevent his parents from figuring out its him.

And the thing is, he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to appear ghost-like or inhuman to keep his identity safe, wearing a mask and wearing unidentifiable clothes is enough. But he’s choosing to act ghost-like; unsettling; scary.

And in doing so, he unintentionally participates in ghost culture. And while his clothes are not anything unique, or outstanding, his mask is. His clothes don’t tell anything about him, but that’s okay.

Imagine meeting this boy from a ghost perspective. This annoying, fleshy human boy who jumps into fights to stop you and catch you. You’ve heard stories of human ghost hunters, you know there are hunters on the other side. You have heard the horror stories, you have seen the scars.

And then this boy catches you. This human, fleshy boy who yells quips at you, who puns and insults you, who wears an unsettling mask and acts ghosty. He catches you, and you think you will be the next one on the chopping board.

And then you end up in the ghost zone, untouched. Unharmed. And you tell someone about it. You were caught and released by a human child who feels touched by death. And then you hear that the ones who’d been caught were freed by a fleshy human boy who was touched by death, and a boy who they call “Phantom”.

And, isn’t that the name of the child you fought?

And he talks to you, but then he’s in the daytime. There are living around. He doesn’t speak to them - he ignores them outright. He keeps his distance, he stays away. If he talks, it’s with his hands. They will not hear his voice.

I may be alive but I am no human.

And its just — ????? So good to think about. I’ll reblog later with more thoughts when I have my laptop, but god i just needed to get that out there.

[dekalko-mania]

One of the saddest dp scenes lowkey was in Kindred Spirits when Danny kept saying thank you over and over to Sam and Tucker for saving him when he thought he was really going to die.

They didn't even know exactly what they saved him from, just that he wouldn't stop thanking them. Like almost desperately.

It was played up as a wholesome moment and it was, but it's also kind of brutal when you think about it. David Kaufman did a really great job with this as well - you can HEAR the tremble in his voice at the beginning. Like despite his brave face and willingness to keep fighting, he was really terrified. The whole Vlad situation was really a wake up call - if he didn't have his friends to help him, then he might not even be half alive at all at this point.

It's also a bit of insight into what he's thinking during his brave/heroic moments. He hides the fact that he's often scared very well. Reminds me of that one quote - Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.

Scene attached for context but bro he would not STOP. Even they were like??? What is going on??

[terrestrialnoob]

DP x DC Idea

You wanna know something interesting? Ghost King Danny Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms, is perfectly empowered to kill Darkseid.

Darkseid's deal (at his strongest) is that he exists infinitely throughout all universes as extensions of a connected self that persists as a whole through the parts... So like, if he exists in one reality, he exists in all realities, so killing him in one reality isn't going to do anything. And then he can just, make another of himself to exist in that reality from a different one.

But if Danny is essentially a King of Infinity, why wouldn't he have the ability to kill every Darkseid that exists at the same time? This 14-year-old, has the ability to kill a god obsessed with power and control.

So, if anyone needs a super-evil, super-powerful enemy for Danny to fight in the DC universe, like Darkseid's one goal is to dominate the multiverse and literally mind-control every sentient being in existence. And usually, Darkseid is just "defeated for now".

[lunixiscool]

The way some people talk about Neil and Todd's relationship make me think we didn't watch the same movie.

Todd didn't ruin Neil nor did Neil become unhappy by being friends with Todd. Todd wasn't a burden to Neil. The reason Neil was so unhappy was because of his father and the expectations of others on him.

Neil doesn't see Todd as "an experience" and I think that claim really undermines Neil as a character. I understand why some people believe that but Neil is a very genuine character and doesn't create bonds with any of the poets "for the hell of it". Neils the type of person to show up at your front door if he hasn't talked to you in 3 days. Watching their scenes together, watching the relationship these characters develop, even the way Todd reacts to Neils death. It shows there's a lot more than what the camera showed us, especially when Todd screams at Cameron about Neil loving acting. Although obviously everyone knows that Neil loves acting, that part alone just showed there's a whole lot more conversation that we missed betweens these characters and whole lot more than an "experience"

TLDR: People mischaracterize the hell out of Neil

[oliver-jh]

One thing I really did enjoy about the Dead Poets Society book (even if I still don't like it more than the movie) is the emotion in it. The first scene with Neil's father feels uncomfortable in the book and its compelling. The anger, Todd's inability to comfort him, especially the early on mention of Neil hurting himself when upset. Then later on in the book, with the deskset scene, how helpless it feels. Neil wasn't a boy who could make everyone feel alright again, and I admire that about the book. (Because its more relatable) He was just a kid struggling to regulate his emotions. To explain them would have been impossible. The sudden bond between Todd and Neil also makes much more sense in the book because Todd is the only one who recognizes it. They were both so neglected it shaped them as people, even if it was different for both of them.

Also rip Neil Perry you would've loved gay marriage and therapy

[faeriekit]

DP x DC softens the edge of the harshest parts of the DC canon storylines and sharpens the finer parts of the Danny Phantom lore. That's why the blend works: everything plotwise is largely dependent on building a new storyline between them, not allowing one to really take over the other. DP is a fun mod on DC software.

[puckspoetry]

This is me if you even care 😗

[picturejasper20]

Some time ago i used to be frustrated that Danny and Valerie dating lasted on episode. I thought it should have lasted more episodes since it was a pretty interesting dynamic and conflict as a whole, but, looking back, it does make sense why it started and ended the same episode.

As Sam kept warning Danny, he was falling in love with someone who saw his ghost half as an enemy and she was a ghosthunter. It was not something that it was meant to work in that moment because Valerie didn't know Danny was Phantom.

So it wasn't only going to be a messy relationship, it was going to be a relationship based on constant lying and having to hide things from each other. And that isn't something you may want to have if you are looking to have a healthy relationship with someone.

As title of the episode says Danny was ¨flirting with disaster¨, because, yeah, it was a thing that was pretty much doomed from the start. It wasn't meant to work as long as Danny and Valerie felt that they have to hide things from each other.

Like, what if actually starting dating and later Valerie founded out that Danny had been lying to him about his ghost identity all this time? She would feel like she was being tricked or played for a foul and things would have ended a lot worse between them.

In hindsight it was a good thing that they didn't became official during that time, it was the best thing for both of them, at least until Valerie learned who Danny's ghost half.

While their relationship should have had more episodes to be explored later on, now i understand better why the dating plot only lasted one episode in a narrative sense.

[spencereidwannabe]

my favourite dead poets society reviews (also pls follow me on letterboxd ily @/spencereid08)

[home-of-renn]

There needs to be more content about Jazz - specifically about how she handles her brother's death.

I want to see more of Jazz's grief. The fact that she wakes up every morning and faces her little brother whom she raised when her parents didn't. The fact that she watches him eat and drink and put on his shoes and walk out the house every morning, while Jazz takes a single moment to sit at the now empty dinner table and process the fact that her brother died while the clock hanging on the wall ticks behind her and reminds her she can't be late.

I want more of Jazz knowing that grief is a part of life and mourning can be a healthy way to deal with loss, while struggling to come to terms with the fact that her brother died in the basement of the house that she currently sleeps in every night - all while her parents miss breakfast yet again in favour of tinker away in their lab.

I want to see Jazz fumbling her way through keeping up appearances while struggling to find some form of peace in between all the responsibilities she's juggling.

Sometimes it's when the glass in front of her mists up completely while she's in the shower and the water's so hot she can't see her reflection in the mirror and the steam stifles her breathing.

When she's alone in the freezer aisle staring at the packaging of Danny's favourite ice cream with only the sound of the refrigeration humming in her ears.

When she brushes her hair in the mirror and catches sight of the split ends that need to be trimmed.

When she's wading through the piles of dirty laundry in Danny's bedroom and sorting out which ones are most in need of a wash, only to look up and catch sight of the faded glow in the dark stars still stuck to his ceiling.

When she lays out her notes on the kitchen table while waiting for Dash to arrive for his tutoring lessons. The sound of footsteps walking up the driveway doesn't stop her from staring at the cracked tile above the sink, but the shrill sound of their doorbell has her stumbling from her seat, tripping over her feet while the glass of water in her hand goes rolling across the countertop.

I want Jazz to seek sanctuary in the fleeting moments of silence in her everyday life. She's still a teenager with no one to talk to. For all that she pesters Danny on speaking his mind and not keeping his worries to himself, she's an absolute hypocrite. But there isn't anything she can do about it. She's always been pitied as the most "normal" Fenton, and as long as she keeps it together and keeps herself moving then no one will notice how her parents never seem to leave the house anymore, or how she's the only one making dinner every night. No one will see the bags under her eyes, hidden beneath all the concealer and powder. People will look at her and see that they're doing okay - regardless of how many late assignments her brother hands in and the number of detention slips he's managed to accumulate.

I want to see her counting down the days till her 18th birthday while she chokes on the fact that her parents had a hand in killing her brother - that they still haven't noticed what's right in front of them, even though they should’ve. Love isn't enough to raise a child and it's something that Jazz has always been acutely aware of - something she's never had the courage to face - but now she feels goosebumps every time she hugs her dad and she's turning blue every time she meets her mother's eyes.

I want to see Jazz desperately trying to stop herself from falling apart at the seams. She's smart and far too self aware and struggling to keep her head above water. I want to see her dealing with her grief in the only way that she can with all the limited time and resources she has - all while swallowing down the guilt that she's fine and that she's okay and that she isn't even the one that died so how can she be the one feeling like she can't get enough air into her lungs when most days her brother doesn't even have a heartbeat.

[phantoms-planet]

Super/Fun Danny theory

I don't think Fun Danny and Super Danny are directly showing what Danny's ghost half is/obsession is, nor what danny would be like as a full human, what I DO think is that it shows a very interesting concept of how Danny views himself.

So obviously when Danny does separate into human and ghost as he goes through the ghost catcher his human self is lax, lazy, and a little selfish. His ghost self is high strung, putting pressure on himself to be a hero and on his "responsibility" to help.

In the flashbacks to moments before he gets his powers he doesn't really act the way Fun "human" Danny does. He doesn't act that way in the episode where Desiree changes his past either. He acts the way we see in the show normally, just without powers.

I don't think his ghost half was the side that had all the drive/passion and I don't think his more carefree side is strictly human.

What do I think the separation was? Danny's perception of who he is as a Ghost vs Human.

When he got his powers he had even more responsibility and pressure put on him. As a ghost he needs to fight other ghosts, keep amity safe, keeps ghosts safe from his parents/other ghost catchers, etc.

As a human he needs to keep up his grades, maybe his parents want him to go into a specific career, bullies? All normal kid stuff. Much less demanding than when he's Phantom.

I think Super Danny and Fun Danny is a result of how Danny views the two sides of himself. He knows he can goof off more as a human, let himself be more selfish and act more like a kid. He knows that as a ghost he almost never gets a break, especially as one of the few Good Ghosts willing to fight against the Bad Ghosts.

I also think it's impossible to separate Danny from his ghost side like that. As Phantom he's still Danny. He doesn't act any different. His ghost side is just Danny but dead, it's not a whole new personality or being.

[holadrawss]

Danny's dad is so autistic.

I was watching the second half of season 3 and it's so obvious that Jack is autistic through the whole show, but it also becomes clear that Jazz is pretty autistic herself?? and Danny is also clearly neurodivergent (personally I think he has adhd, yknow aside from my tourettes hc)

But like, clearly autism runs in the family. So I bring you: autistic Danny.