#jack and maddie canonically love and support danny without much thought

[glow-and-vamp]

Metamorphosis

The change inside the chrysalis is slow and gradual. The body digests itself from the inside out. The old body is broken down into imaginal cells but not all the tissues are destroyed. Some old tissues pass onto the creature's new body.

[wyst]

some thoughts on a path Vlad might have taken were Danny Phantom not a Nicktoon:

this AU (tentatively titled Mastered AU) begins in season 1 ep 7 "Bitter Reunions", which proceeds kinda like canon for the first half before going off the rails. this is all about how a more cunning, sneaky Vlad might accomplish his goal of becoming Danny's father.

step one: Vlad seriously turns down the obvious creep factor. openly hitting on Maddie or slighting Jack would make things more difficult for him in the long run, after all. Vlad's a billionaire CEO - he's got more than enough experience shorting stocks and forcing mergers to recognize the merits of not showing your hand early. he can behave for a while, if he must.

step two: once Vlad catches Danny shifting from ghost to human the night before the reunion, he throws away the whole 'Murder Jack' plan (for the moment). this means no Skulker, no halfa trap, and no more surveillance vultures. Vlad focuses instead on catching up with Maddie, and on befriending Danny and Jazz. he makes an effort to treat Jack like he did in college, pre-accident. without a big ol' ghost fight, the reunion proceeds as normal. Vlad relies on Jack's social difficulties to embarrass the kids and to frustrate Maddie. once Jack has made a real mess of things -- think 'makes unfounded assumption that a guest is possessed, then attacks them' level mess -- Vlad gently offers each of the non-Jack Fenton's his number and use of his home if things in Amity ever get to be "too much". Vlad could absolutely let get Jack arrested for assault, however, he'd find it more useful to talk the assaulted guest out of pressing charges, gaining Maddie's, Jazz's, Danny's, AND Jack's goodwill. Maddie is angry enough at Jack's blunder that she insists he sleep in the GAV.

Maddie, Danny, and Jazz all have separate conversations with Vlad before bed or during the night. in those convos, Vlad continues to portray himself as a supportive adult AND casually fishes for info on the Fentons' home lives. Vlad does not have a great chat with Maddie. their interests and senses of humor do not jive, she thinks his mansion is tacky, etc. Vlad begins to contemplate whether he still loves Maddie, or if like Gatsby, he's fallen for the idea of her. also in these night convos, Danny complains how messy the lab is, and how cleaning it is one of his chores.

once Vlad has all this new info, he throws himself into a new grand plan: Steal a Family. the parts of the plans are:

1. buy another mansion in Amity (neighbors w Sam would be optimal). have the home thoroughly inspected and ensure its safe and well-prepared for kids. begin the process to become a foster parent.

2. get closer with the Fentons and simultaneously try to make Jack look bad as much as possible (casually, sneakily tho - things like suggesting situations/events he knows Jack does poorly with). spend time with them, especially Danny (eg "My new mansion came with a big rooftop telescope. I don't know much about stargazing - perhaps you could come by and show me the ropes?")

3. publicly become a Trusted Adult to the Fentons. be a shoulder for Maddie to cry on (eg "Oh no darling, he forgot your anniversary again? How thoughtless! I'm so terribly sorry... maybe you'd like to join me and the kids at the movies to take your mind off of things?"). as part of this, help out when possible. offer to pick Danny up from school when Jazz is tutoring, or to take the kids to/from the mall when the Fentons are inventing. this establishes Vlad as 'family friend' or even 'honorary uncle' in the town's eyes.

4. once sufficient time has passed (3-6 mos... before s1e11 "Shades of Gray"), orchestrate a CPS report on the Fentons. maybe he mentions Danny's lab chores to another adult who then reports. maybe he overshadows Lancer and files one because of Danny's suspicious injuries and evasiveness. maybe he slowly helps Jazz understand the abusive elements of the Fenton house (contaminated food, unsecured dangerous lab equipment, Jazz's parentification, etc) and she makes the report herself. regardless of how, a report is filed seemingly without Vlad's interference.

5. CPS comes. by this point, Vlad has decided that Maddie is no longer the one he wants; Jazz and Danny are far better prizes. he doesn't defend either Maddie or Jack beyond an initial 'they're good people, i'm sure they're good parents!' but once informed of the allegations, is cooperative, quietly appalled, and outwardly guilty that he didn't do something sooner. CPS decides on the kids' immediate removal - who is their go-to emergency placement ? Vlad Masters, the family friend with a recent foster license.

6. profit. he's got the kids - all he has to do is keep them. now's the time for a reveal: in the interest of Trust and Honesty at home with his new wards, Vlad reveals his halfa status.

now, how well Vlad's plan goes is up in the air. how does Vlad prevent an early reveal via Danny's ghost sense? does Jazz see through Vlad's nice-guy persona? can he stick to these steps, or does he become invested enough in the kids' safety to call CPS early?

now that i've written all this, i have an alternate take: what if Vlad does a halfa reveal at the Wisconsin mansion while the others are sleeping? he could help cover for Danny's ghost fighting with a business internship after school, thereby ingratiating himself with his New Son from the get go.

the question hanging over this whole AU is: will Vlad remain evil underneath all his plotting, or will he change for the better as he 'fakes it til he makes it' to get Fenton Fatherhood? here are two scenarios: a) he's still evil lol. his power over Danny and Jazz means he can slowly twist them towards his kind of morality - and he does. b) Vlad realizes he's met his end goals and is actually, for once, happy! he resolves to do right by the Fenton kids and to try and preserve this newfound happiness at all costs.

anyways these are all a ton of ramblings! i'll nail down the timeline and what i want to happen in Mastered AU eventually. i have plans to use this idea in a longer-form fic, but i am tired and a slow writer lol. i'd love to hear others' thoughts on how a less-obvious Vlad might go about becoming Danny's (and Jazz's) father :]

[oraclemilf]

ok but i'm loving your takes on the female characters - like it's very disconcerting to watch this show with a lot of girls and then have almost none of them be actual friends, and when they interact they're either fighting or it's about a boy. a lot of them r reduced to stereotypes too like with sam and her "i'm not like other girls" spiel and paulina's... entire thing lol. i'd say at least valerie is well rounded but she never rly interacts with the other girls positively :/

“and like it's an older show where those kinds of messages were everywhere in kids media especially but it still sucks lol at least we can take what we like from fanon and totally change it into our own because butch really did them dirty” 2/2  

Yeah exactly. Not to be feminist on main but holy fuck do the girls in DP have issues. Like I get the whole argument that “it's an early 2000s show what can you do” and “all of the characters were shittily written” but the reason most of the female characters are bad in DP is specifically because they were written through a misogynistic lens. Like the show presents itself as having strong female characters but really all they do to break the gender binary is being able to fight. (I will give them points for letting the girls get kicked and punched the same as the men but that is the ONLY praise they are getting out of me.)

To expand on the “takes” in my previous ask: 

 -Dora, Ember, Desiree, Kitty, and Spectra all had boy/appearance-based backstories. Like seriously, the only female ghost I can think of whose backstory wasn’t entirely based on a man was Pandora and she appears in literally one episode for literally half the episode. (Also if you look at the myth of Pandora it's literally about a woman created by the gods to be the downfall of man so she doesn’t get any feminism points either.) Like listen. I’m not arguing that all the female ghosts should be totally retconned so they never interact with men at all. In fact, I think Kitty,though she has a heteronormative ultimate power, Dora, and Desiree’s backstories work really well for their characters. But Ember and Spectra? Why should Ember die because “she was so sad she was stood up she slept through a house fire” wtf?That literally doesn’t really work with her musician motif at all? How would that even work? Bitch did you have no alarms? Nobody was screaming or anything? Like its so astronomically stupid.  @grimgrinningghoul​ has some cool ideas for alternate Spectra motivations in this post so I really won’t get into that here but women being only motivated by their appearance is such a stale take. 

-Maddie legit says "behind every genius woman is a genius man" This is self explanatory really. Like come on girl seriously. But yeah, to elaborate on Maddie they could have had a great strong mother figure. I mean she was a scientist and a black belt for crying out loud! Then they kind of back track because you can’t make women too self-sufficient and have her practice traditional housewife roles, always take a back seat to Jack (even though she’s usually in the right) and have her put up with Vlad’s creepy advances far too much. Not ALL of these things are bad mind you and I probably wouldn’t mind her character too much besides for this one line but looking at it from a broader perspective it doesn’t really come together to make the best picture you know? Also, her sister Alicia - who was probably the most gender-non-conforming character in the show, is treated like she’s a joke or trashy by the narrative. (Don’t even get me started on the constant body-shaming either)

Paulina, Sam, Valerie, Jazz and Dani’s arcs all center around another male character (Danny) Ok this one is a tad more controversial because like yes, I understand Danny is the main character. It makes sense that most character growth is facilitated through him. Hell, even really progressive shows like Steven Universe filter character growth through the main male character. However, there are a couple key distinctions I’d like to point out. For example, Steven Universe has a Third-person limited omniscient POV. meaning all actions in SU are filtered directly through Steven’s perspective. This isn’t the case Danny Phantom, which has a Third-person objective POV, meaning that the story can follow many characters separate from each other, not just Danny. Also the female characters in Steven Universe are already 3 dimensional fully established characters without Steven and it’s even touched on in universe that the characters learn and grow without Steven’s help. This isn’t the case in DP. Paulina's main narrative shift is from being crazy about boys in general to being a devoted fan of Phantom. Sam’s whole arc is about getting together with Danny. Jazz’s arc is about learning how to best support Danny in ghost hunting. Val and Dani were probably two of the better female characters - despite still having Danny-centric arcs. Unfortunately, not only were their plans for character development cut short but any girl-power lines they may have had (something about there being no weak girls idk I’m too lazy to find it) feels fake and pander-y because of all the previous bad examples. 

TL;DR I know it's easy to be like “who cares we don’t even respect canon anyway” but I think when source material perpetrates bad messages it’s important to view the content you are working with through a critical lens so you don’t maintain harmful ideas within your own work.

((sorry I hijacked your ask to get on a soap box but I had THOUGHTS about this topic))

[katyaton]

Danny Phantom Fic Rec

Alrighty, so someone requested that I compile a list of some of my favorite Danny Phantom fics! Now for those who frequent the fandom a lot, you’ll find that most of these are fandom classics, so you may not see anything new here, but regardless I thought I’d put some of my favorite into a list. 

Phantom of Truth by HaiJu

*** I know I’ve already rec’d this before, but I can’t go without mentioning once more. This fic is groundbreaking, honestly. I can’t recommend it enough. The interaction between Danny and Maddie is one of the most twisted yet heartbreaking things you will ever read, and the science that is worked into the story is so masterful in how it plays upon countless subtle details in canon. This and its sequel are masterpieces. (Warning for extreme violence)

Roughing It by Haiju

***Danny and Maddie are lost in the woods together, and as much as Maddie despises Phantom, she has to bury her pride and team up with him when they find themselves in a perilous situation. Revelation fic!!! 

Lab Rat by AnneriaWings

*** This fic is the definition of angst, both emotionally and physically. It has to be one of the most difficult fics to get through that i’ve ever read, but if you’re a big fan of angst, I definitely recommend it, as well as the sequel. (Warning for extreme violence)

Star Shots and Nova Shots by Cordria

***Both of these are collections of one-shots that sometimes span a few chapters. All of them are amazing and explore so many aspects of the DP universe that the creators never really capitalized on. The rest of Cordria’s fics are amazing too. I highly recommend this author! 

I’m Still Here by Cordria

***Danny gets trapped in the ever impenetrable Fenton thermos, only to be released decades later. But the world has changed so much, and Danny is still just a 15 year old kid. How on Earth can he adapt to this brave new world? Super good read, albeit heartbreaking. Definitely check this out! 

Masks by Cordria

***We can all agree that Lancer was an underrated character, right? This fic explores his perceptiveness that we see in the show, leading him to question why one of his students, Daniel Fenton, is acting so oddly. Lancer begins to investigate it himself when Danny refuses to talk, leading him to some … interesting revelations. Such a good fic! Danny needs more supportive adults in his life for sure. Be sure to check out the sequel as well! 

Checkmate by pearl84

*** We all know there was a lot left unsaid between Danny and Vlad in the series. They have such a complicated relationship, and honestly it’s not hard to see that although they are bitter enemies in canon, had things gone just a bit differently, they very well could have had a mentor/student relationship. In this case, though, Vlad goes about it all wrong, kidnapping Danny and forcing his hand with a loved one’s life at stake. This fic delves into so much psychological angst as a result. The characters, especially the subtle nuances of Vlad’s personality, are so well explored here. Definitely one of the best DP fics out there. Be sure to check out it’s sequel as well! (Warning for extreme psychological angst/trauma)

Dawning of a Sun by pearl84

***This fic also explores a Danny/Vlad father/son relationship, but this time it’s an AU in which Vlad managed to become the ghost king, defeating Pariah Dark. In this story, he finds Danny, who, after carelessness on his parents part, turns half ghost in the portal when he’s just a baby. When Vlad finds him, rather than destroy him as some would like, he decides to take him in as his own … without ever telling Danny he’s not his father.

Chained by Lightning Streak

***Valerie and Danny certainly have one of the more interesting relationships of the show, in my opinion. Valerie’s bitter hatred for all things ghost, and more specifically, all things Danny Phantom, contrast so sharply with how she treats Danny Fenton. In this fic, Danny has been captured by the Guys in White, and when Valerie discovers him captive and defenseless, it draws her preconceived notions about Phantom into question, altering her world view as her foundations of her long held grudges begin to weaken. I’m personally a huge fan of any Valerie/Danny fic simply because they’re relationship is so complex and fascinating, and this fic explores it in spades. 

In the Stitching by Colette Amelia

***I think we can all agree that the crap ending Phantom Planet left us with was extremely unsatisfying on so many levels, but particularly when it came to his parents reactions to his powers. While the Fenton family is on an outing, little clues about their son start to fall into place, and soon enough, Jack and Maddie discover the truth. Cognitive dissonance arises when they realize how awful they’d been to their own child. This fic is a lot lighter on the angst. A fantastic revelation fic that we all needed, in my opinion!

Alright, so that’s all I have for now, but keep in mind this is by no means an exhaustive list! There are so many good DP fics out there they I haven’t included, as well as a multitude of DP crossovers that I haven’t even touched on, so, please, don’t limit yourself to just these!