#Fenton raps in this one which is what should have happened in the show

[writebackatya]

NEW Home for the Holidays! starring the one, the only: DJ DAFT DUCK!!!!

Christmas Rapping!: Della Duck, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, and DJ Daft Duck serenade their loved ones with a performance of the greatest holiday composition ever written

[ganymedesclock]

So... What do you think about revisiting Danny phantom in general? Revisiting the fandom I've noticed a lot of fanfic that have Danny's parents finding out his deal rather violently, or generally having more violence/angst than the original show..

I’m assuming you’re sending me this ask because of my recent burst of Danny Phantom art, so, it’s probably not a surprise to say I’m doing a certain amount of revisiting myself, and certainly not about to shame anyone else for it. It was a very dear cartoon to me in many ways and left some enduring hallmarks on my own writing, and I can absolutely understand people feeling the same way.

That said, as someone who’s been in this fandom for a while, albeit quietly- there certainly is a thread of macabre interest in fandom spaces, one I don’t always know that I agree with, especially when it comes to the Fentons.

My personal verdict on the Fenton parents specifically is I think they are not handled fairly by canon. This is a problem that Danny Phantom as a show shares with Fairly Odd Parents, though I would argue the Turner parents in FOP are quite a bit worse at this.

Roughly, I think how the Fenton parents are canonically depicted suffers from a phenomenon that affects many parts of the show: DP, as a series, has a bit of a sense of confused priorities between comedy and drama, and as a result, what’s 'real’ in-universe and what’s “just supposed to be a joke”. The kind of humor that DP tends to spring for is exaggerated or shocking behavior- it also tends to be a humor that hinges on the idea that other people are generally inconvenient to the main character. So humor-characterization is inconsistent here- Jack is negligent until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as overbearing (see: Girl’s Night Out and other cases he desperately wants to bond with Danny) he’s a recluse only loved by his wife until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as having an active social life (Masters Of All Time and that he and Maddie are going to a themed party so they’re dressed ‘weirdly’ in public)

A big victim of this is Jack’s sense that ghosts aren’t people and his desire to dissect them. Because here is the thing: it’s all talk, in the worst way. It hinges on the idea Jack- someone who knows enough of what he’s doing that along with Maddie and, in the past, Vlad- ripped two different holes in reality hard enough to permanently alter someone’s relation to undeath- has never seen a ghost before the series as he says in Mystery Meat.

The series has a big problem where it hinges on the Fentons’ inventions and expertise but also wants to treat them like idiots constantly. And if you notice how much I’m talking exclusively about Jack- that’s part of the problem. Maddie, in many ways, outside of episodes that throw her a bone, despite constantly being told by people she’s too good for Jack, is really treated as an extension of Jack. Masters Of All Time even suggests that her choosing Jack in the first place was just a path of least resistance between her two college friends, and she’d have married whichever one stuck around. 

The Fentons are not respected as experts, so Jack is given his ignorant line about dissecting a ghost. The Fentons need to remain exaggerated, ridiculous, an inconvenience to Danny- so they threaten his alter ego and point guns at him, but this is funny and not serious and not a reason to be worried about them as parents, because they are not on Danny’s level. Nobody is ever on Danny’s level. There is literally an episode called The Ultimate Enemy. The antagonist is an evil future Danny. The only person who could ever be Danny’s ultimate nemesis is Danny himself. 

And when the series stops milking the Fentons for jokes about how they’re so stupid and how Jack is an idiot and Maddie married that idiot but even she doesn’t respect him even though she loves him and dutifully follows him everywhere and god how can these people care about ghosts they’re so ignorant and out of their league- 

-then it kinda shuffles its feet awkwardly and goes, yeah. the Fentons love each other, and love their kids.

Yeah, Jack has framed photographs of Maddie, Jazz, and Danny on his personal workstation.

Yeah, in Mystery Meat Jack was seriously debating walking away from his lifework because it upset one of his kids. 

Yeah, every time in canon the Fentons find out Danny’s secret they’re immediately all in supporting him.

Yeah, even not knowing it’s Danny, Jack has an amiable conversation with him in Million Dollar Ghost and the ghost containment units designed by the Fentons get some jokes about that they’re a little cramped but they aren’t horrifying prisons of inhumanity- and as soon as Danny Phantom the ghost boy has a good point, Jack lets him go on purpose. 

Yeah, Jack is a competent ghost hunter who can take on Skulker and win as well as beat down the giant lake monster Skulker brought with him in Girls’ Night Out and would do this in a heartbeat, no jokes and no sidetracks, because that monster just chewed on his baby boy and nobody does that to his baby boy.

Yeah, Maternal Instinct is an entire episode of Maddie throwing hands with (or deceiving and manipulating) literally anything she thinks was responsible for getting Danny in this dangerous situation.

...And then the series says “but that’s not funny! Here, have jokes about the Fenton Stockades, that exist and have spikes and Jack wants to put his kids in them for time out, when the spikes apparently don’t hurt given Jack is not injured for being put in there. Here, have a joke about Jack attacking Jazz with a vacuum cleaner because he gets hellbent on the idea she’s possessed for no good reason. Here, have an uncomfortable joke about how badly Jack Fenton wants to vivisect a ghost while it screams. Funny funny funny. Why- why are you flinching?”

It basically creates a comedic situation where the show is constantly winding up like it’s gonna punch you- with the idea that the Fentons are bad parents and this has consequences for Danny and Jazz personally- and then laughs in your face if you flinch. It’ll never actually punch you- but it will sure keep swinging its hand really close to your face and laughing at your reactions.

This is, I’m just gonna say- one of the worst elements of the series, this weird relationship it has with “hahaha are we depicting an abusive family or not? ;)” where its actual point is that Jack Fenton is a person who should be shamed for being overzealous, for caring about this niche field, because nobody cares about ghosts! (unless the entire premise of the show does) Nobody wants to think about ghost science! That’s LAME! (unless Vlad does it)

So I think ultimately this creates a polarizing experience in the fandom. What part of this information do you take?

Do you take, say, my personal approach, which is: 

“Hey, so it’s pretty clear and consistent that the Fentons love their kids and wouldn’t hurt them. The Fentons are nice people. They can be obsessive or headstrong but there’s nuanced and salient ways to examine this in the basic framework that they care, both about their family specifically, and in general- and while I think they can have flaws or conflicts with their kids, and with ambient ghosts in the world, I really don’t think they’re in danger of torturing a sapient entity in their basement and it frustrates and annoys me that canon ‘makes a joke’ of them doing these things because it thinks they’re so incompetent that these things are not really malicious actions, when- whether or not you successfully shoot them, it takes a certain kind of person to point a weapon you know is dangerous at something that looks, and talks, like a fourteen-year-old, especially when you’re a parent who has probably at least once in your life worried about something happening to your kids, and the ghost of a teenager means something happened to someone’s kid, in a general sense.

So my end conclusion on the Fentons is I think they are being depicted in a kind of metatextual bad faith, that they are not cruel or malicious people, and in my personal take or understanding on the series, I’d massively dial down those elements, and if any remain, take them seriously as problems they have in their relationships with other people.”

Or do you take an approach more rooted in,

“If the Fentons are shown to be negligent parents they are negligent parents, I’m going to examine and depict them as that, and I find this very hard to forgive, so it’s going to have real and nasty consequences.”

Both are basically valid. The place where I tend to get a little uncomfortable is twofold:

First, I think sometimes people just really want some fictional tragedy to either create or consume, and to that end, you aren’t going to get much juicy drama out of the Fentons being reasonable people. This isn’t evil or unforgivable, but for me, it’s definitely my least favorite fannish content to create or consume. I’m no fan of angst for angst’s sake, and I feel like there’s enough misery and heartbreak in the world that I’m not interested in wallowing in it unless it’s got something interesting to say.

Second- and this is a point I’m gonna be saltier: A lot of abusive Fenton fics that refuse to forgive them for the poorer-taste jokes the series makes, simultaneously give Vlad a blank check, when he has done targetedly malicious things to Danny. 

Now- do I also have a more sympathetic read on Vlad, and feel like canon also gives him a bad rap? Yeah! But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, “I can’t forgive the Fentons for stuff that was tagged onto them because canon thought it was funny, but I’m gonna editorialize Vlad’s depiction to lionize him as the ideal parent figure for Danny to run into the arms of.”

And the main reason I get so worked up in this, is I feel like Jack in particular (when Maddie is characterized as subordinate to Jack, following his cues, etc., and that’s its own demon) is... characterized as kind of a mocking caricature of traits that I personally recognize as an autistic and ADHD person.

Because the reality is? In many practical ways, I am Jack Fenton.

I like a bunch of weird stuff people find unacceptable or gross, like bugs

I’m hyperlexic (that means I talk, a lot)

Scatterbrained, forget words or where I left something or, sometimes, to do something important

Passionate and excitable including and especially in situations where it’s not normal, or expected, to have this much energy

I absolutely can forget birthdays, even for people I love dearly that mean the world to me! It’s horrible! There’s almost nothing I can do about it! My brain refuses to hold onto this information reliably and no amount of caring fixes it.

And being this way, living like this? My worst nightmare has always been that people think I either don’t care or that I’m just too much of a stupid, flippant buffoon to get right.

The thing about Jack is he’s “a person like me” and he’s “a person like me” who was designed to be a joke. We’re clearly expected to view him as untrustworthy, stupid, just like a big dumb dog of a man who barks in the wrong directions, who sometimes, when it counts, fetches a stick like he’s supposed to. Good job, Lassie. You got little Timmy out of the well.

And I am going to say with certainty and confidence that feeling like this is how people see me is the most unbelievably crushing feeling I have ever experienced in my life. That my excitement and passion means I’m unprofessional, stupid, don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s nearly painful for me, as an adult, to watch Danny Phantom because the show can never get off Jack’s case. And the few times it does, he hauls overtime arduously to make a difference, to help, to build something that will protect others, to put his own life on the line to stop hostile ghosts.

And immediately, then he goes back to being stupid stupid dog man. ha ha. why does his wife love him? no wonder his kids don’t ever want to be seen with him. no wonder his best friend is trying to kill him and he doesn’t even know, the big idiot.

(never mind that we see a scenario where he does know. and admits he would’ve forgiven Vlad anyway. but he can’t forgive Vlad hurting Danny.)

So to rein in this wild tangent: I’m not saying all must love Jack Fenton and despair. I’m not even telling people to hide their angst. If I have a sincere request, it’s this:

If you’re inclined to thinking of Vlad as a cool, troubled, complex person (as I do!) and are haunted by the implications of The Ultimate Enemy specifically for Vlad, that when Danny lost everyone else in his life that Vlad really genuinely tried to help, and was not gloating and happy and victorious to have Danny as his protege, and when that went badly, he was haunted to the end of his days by not having been able to help-

-but immediately turn around and think Jack is just a rotten awful person who’d absolutely hurt his own kid in spite of canon to the contrary (when there’s just as much, if not more, canon of Vlad being willfully hostile)

It might be good to examine why you’re feeling this way, and if this might not come down to the fact that even when canon has people call Vlad a desperately lonely fruit loop, it has a lot more respect for him than it does for Jack, and this isn’t because it’s actually taking a stance against any of the qualities it gave Jack that someone might find disagreeable- it’s because Jack’s just “a big old fat idiot nobody likes, right?”

and that’s... not something comfy to buy into.

[five-rivers]

Hello!  This is a phic phor the phight.  The prompts are from @thecommrade and @charcoalhawk.  

(Edited: Added a ‘read more,’ like I initially intended to.)

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Chapter 1

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“Can you be any more awful?” asked Danny, tugging at the collar of the suit his parents had forced him into.  Finding loosening it to be a useless, futile endeavor, he instead put his energy into glaring at the person ultimately responsible for his current discomfort.

“Mind the scary-eyes, little badger,” said Vlad Masters, the billionaire tech-mogul mayor of Amity Park who also happened to be Danny's arch-nemesis, as he adjusted his tie and hair in a mirror.  “It wouldn't do for the public to think that you were possessed, now would it?  Not to mention the reaction of that new accessory of yours.”

If possible, Danny's glare became even less amused.  “They wouldn't know possessed if it smacked them in the face.”  He fiddled with the white and green 'watch' locked around his wrist.  The suit hadn't been the only thing his parents had forced him into.  It wasn't as bad as the Specter Deflector, but the Fenton Watch was remarkably unforgiving of even the smallest expression of ghostly power.  

Vlad smirked and turned away from the mirror.  “Likely not,” he said, smugly.

“You're the worst person ever,” said Danny.

The two of them were currently sitting in a small, but well-appointed, room in Amity Park's town hall.  The room was a sort of dressing room, included so that the mayor and city council could get ready for important public appearances in peace, even when they couldn't go home.  

Vlad was about to have an 'important' press conference, one where he announced a new 'charitable enterprise.'  Really, it was just a new and exciting way for Vlad to make Danny's life difficult with his ludicrous amount of wealth and fame.  

“Oh, yes, I'm just terrible for wanting to give you a decent education for free.”  Vlad turned, a disgustingly self-assured smile on his face.  “Why, anyone would just be horrified.”

Danny pressed his lips together, and clenched his fists.  “You just want to make it hard for me to protect Amity Park.”

“Let's be honest, Daniel,” said Vlad.  “The only thing you're doing with your hero act is stroking your own ego.”

“And you'd know all about that,” said Danny, bristling.  He had to tamp down hard on his natural impulse to wake his core and tap into his ghost powers.

“I never claimed to be perfect,” said Vlad airily, relaxing into a chair.  “You, on the other hand, claim to be, what was it? Protecting Amity Park?  You're only fooling yourself, Daniel.  You haven't protected anyone you haven't put in danger first.”

Danny's eyes flared, and then he yelped with pain as the Fenton Watch zapped him.  He hissed through his teeth, and rubbed his wrist.  It was ironic.  His ghostly mannerisms showed through more strongly when he was forced to suppress the physical aspects of his ghost half.  

There was a sharp rap on the door.  

“Mr Masters?” said Vlad's secretary (who looked disturbingly similar to Danny's mom).  The door eased open with a squeak.   “They're ready for you now.”

Vlad rose to his feet smoothly.  Danny's scramble was much more ungainly, and Danny had to remind himself not to compare himself to Vlad.  Vlad was thirty years older than he was, and a massive jerk.  Comparing himself- No, comparing Fenton to Vlad would only result in self-esteem issues.  Comparing Phantom to Plasmius was, unfortunately, often necessary.  

Ugh. His life was a mess.  

“Come along then, Daniel,” said Vlad, cheerfully.  “We can't keep our public waiting.”

Danny grumbled under his breath, only every third word was in English.  He trailed behind Vlad, lagging as much as he possibly could with the secretary clicking along right behind him.  What was her name again? She was a relative newcomer to Amity Park, an import from one of Vlad's businesses, and Danny had yet to figure her out.  

They walked out of the town hall's wide double doors, Vlad waving at his oh-so-adoring fans and Danny squinting against the sudden bright sunlight.  Danny felt like a goblin, like a little gremlin, like some kind of cave dweller.  He wanted nothing so much as to crawl into a dark corner somewhere and haunt it.  The space under his bed sounded very nice, right now, or perhaps his closet, or the crawlspace under the stairs.  He wanted to sink through the ground, he wanted to disappear.  

He forced down the ghost inside him.  It wouldn't do to get electrocuted by the stupid watch, or, worse, actually become intangibility and invisible.  

They walked to a platform that had been put up in front of the town hall a couple of months ago, so that Vlad could issue his proclamations in style.  Danny made an effort, he really did, to look presentable, to look like people would expect him to look, based on the face value of Vlad's announcements.  He even waved at his parents, who were in the front row of spectators.  He was pretty sure that he was failing to appear even the slightest bit enthusiastic, though.  

He sighed, and tried to pay attention to Vlad's speech, now just trying to ignore all the news crews that had come to film the billionaire's 'big announcement.'

“Blah blah blah blah blah,” Vlad was saying.  “Big scholarship blah blah blah.  Going to make Danny go to a stuck up private boarding school on the other side of the country.  Blah blah blah. Opportunities for troubled youth.  Blah blah.  I'm secretly evil. Blah”

Okay, so Danny wasn't really listening.  But who could blame him? He wasn't used to events like this, and he already knew what Vlad was supposed to be saying.  He'd repeated it a Danny and his parents often enough.  

Danny, unwillingly, let his eyes wander nervously over all the news crews. There were some big names in there, which didn't quell his anxiety at all.  The way all their cameras were pointed at him, the lenses flashing in the sunlight, the sleek, tech-adorned bodies gleaming, reminded him uncomfortably of weaponry, specifically anti-ghost weaponry.  

He wrenched his eyes away, choosing instead to examine the buildings across the road from the town hall.  They were some of the tallest in Amity Park, and, unfortunately, also some of the most boring.  Just like Vlad.  Ancients, but he liked to hear himself talk.  

Danny's eyes caught on a strange shape sticking out from a window on the second floor from the top of the central building.  He frowned softly at it, trying to identify it.  Was it some kind of flagpole, or..?

His eyes went wide and he threw himself sideways into Vlad.

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The moment Daniel impacted Vlad's side, Vlad realized that he should have expected some kind of trouble from the truculent boy.  Really, though, what did he plan to accomplish by assaulting Vlad in public, on television?  He never thought things through, honestly.  

Now Vlad was faced with a choice.  Daniel was far too light and, with only human strength available to him, too weak to actually knock Vlad over, so Vlad was in control of the outcome of the situation. He could either play it off as an enthusiastic hug, he was a a juncture in his speech where that reaction might have been expected from Daniel if he wasn't insistent on being so stubbornly ungrateful, or he could take the fall.

He had no time to decide.  

Oh, cheesecake, he might as well go along with whatever would cause the most uncertainty and distress in Daniel's life.  He was, as the child said, an evil jerk, after all.  

As he began his dramatic fall, he heard a sharp crack, and his vision was sprayed with red.  

He hit the wood planking of the platform with a thump, and looked down at Daniel, who was covered in red, with annoyance.  Had Daniel brought some kind of dye-filled balloon up on stage with him as a poorly advised prank?

But even as that thought finished crossing his mind, he knew that it was false.  The brain he was so proud of was putting together the pieces.

Maddie screamed.